We talk a lot about scaling your business, but nobody talks about what it actually takes to scale yourself as a leader first. The truth is, if you're frustrated with your team, resentful of clients who don't show up, or exhausted from giving so much to people who take without reciprocating, the problem isn't them. It's you. And we know that's hard to hear because we've both been there. This episode is about the shift that happens when you move from startup survival mode into actually leading an established business, and why the boundaries you didn't think you needed in year one become non-negotiable by year three.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why having the same team for a full year changes everything and what it takes to actually get there
• The startup to scaling transition and how your leadership has to evolve when you're no longer just trying to survive
• How to recognize when your ego is disguising itself as generosity and why saying yes to everyone is actually hurting your business
• The red rope analogy and why raising your standards for who gets access to your business is necessary as you scale
• The mirror test: how to look at yourself first when something in your business feels off or out of alignment

If you're in that messy middle stage where you're no longer a startup but don't quite feel established yet, or if you're realizing that the way you led your business in year one isn't working anymore, this episode is for you. Because you can't scale your business without scaling yourself first. And sometimes that means getting brutally honest about the people, energy, and situations you've been allowing in. We are imperfect leaders leading imperfect human beings, and that's the whole point.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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We get asked all the time how to become a better leader. And here's the truth nobody wants to hear: it starts with you doing your own inner work first. You can't empower your team if you're not aware of your own stuff. You can't lead people through transformation if you haven't walked through it yourself. This isn't about reading more leadership books or implementing better systems. It's about radical ownership of who you are, what you're creating, and what's getting in your way.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The "I am and I create" framework that will shift how you see yourself, your business, and your leadership
• The four things your brain is constantly seeking (feel good, be right, be in control, look good) and how they keep you stuck in patterns
• Why "I cannot, so I should" is laced with guilt and shame, and how to shift to "I am, so I choose to, and I will"
• The practical ways to invite your team into their own heartwork journey once you've done the work yourself
• Why you have to actually let go when you delegate and how to build trust without micromanaging

If you're tired of surface level leadership tactics and ready to do the real work that creates lasting change in yourself and your team, this episode is your starting point. Because the quality of your leadership is a direct reflection of the quality of your inner work. Stop trying to fix your team and start looking at what you need to own first.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]
• Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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We get asked all the time how we convert so many people from pain-based care into wellness and lifestyle adjustments. The answer isn't one magical conversation. It's a hundred small ones that happen from the moment someone sees your website to the moment they sign their wellness plan. You're either guiding the conversation proactively or you're scrambling to convince someone reactively. And one of those feels good, the other feels like you're selling something you shouldn't have to sell.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why wellness care needs to be communicated from the first phone call, the tour, the paperwork, and every touchpoint before someone ever gets adjusted
• What table talk is and how we use our EHR system to prompt specific conversations at specific visit numbers so nobody falls through the cracks
• How to prep conversations at certain visits, reinforce them along the way, and have specific talking points throughout their journey before they finish their initial plan
• Why sharing stories of other patients (especially the hard cases and the flare-ups) builds more trust than only celebrating the wins
• The practice of tracking objections and questions to figure out where you need to add table talk earlier in the journey so you're not reactive

If you're noticing people dropping off after they feel better, or if you're having to convince people to stay instead of them already expecting to transition into wellness, this episode is your blueprint. Guide the conversation. Don't wait for them to make assumptions in their own heads that you then have to work backward from.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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We're getting ready to close out 2025 and step into 2026, which means vision casting season is here. But before you start setting a million goals that you'll feel like crap about not hitting, we need to talk about the difference between goals and objectives. Goals are specific, time-bound, results-driven. They aim for a destination and if you don't hit it, you can feel like a failure. Objectives are broader, flexible, focused on the journey and the learning along the way. They keep your hands open to magic you didn't even see coming. This episode is our full download on how we do vision casting and annual planning with our teams, why we celebrate before we strategize, why you don't need to plan the whole year in one meeting, and how to create space for your team to dream instead of just checking boxes.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The metrics we actually track in our practices and what we do with that data to inform where we're going next
• The homework we give our team before vision casting so they come prepared to celebrate and dream
• How to structure the meeting so it feels expansive instead of suffocating, and why the order actually matters
• How to break your vision down from big picture objectives into quarterly focus and then monthly actionable steps
• The invitation to loosen your grip on outcomes and celebrate the humans in front of you instead of just checking boxes

If you're someone who sets goals and then beats yourself up when life happens and things shift, this episode is your permission slip to loosen your grip. Celebrate where you've been, understand where you are, and dream about where you want to go. That's what vision casting is actually supposed to be.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]
• Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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Custom cowgirl hats, fine line tattoos, cold plunges, and conversations that cracked people wide open. We just got back from Scottsdale for our second Expanders retreat with Stephanie Wigner and we are not the same. This is what happens when you stop competing and start calling each other forward. When the goal isn't to impress but to go deeper. When guards come down, ego gets checked at the door, and nobody's pretending anymore.

This weekend was about expansion in every direction. Quantum friendships that actually make you better. Honest conversations about how hard you're really working and whether it's even the right kind of work. Recognizing when your ego is trying to lead and choosing presence instead. Learning the difference between storytelling and story-selling. And being reminded that the rooms you choose to be in will either lift you up or keep you comfortable. This is our unfiltered download of everything that shook us, stretched us, and reminded us why we do any of this in the first place.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The difference between storytelling and story-selling, and why your content might be missing the part where you actually invite people into transformation
• Callan and Steph's conversation about working 60 to 80 hour weeks for a season, and why that's different than committing to a busy life forever
• Why your brand needs to answer simple questions for people who are struggling, not complicated explanations of what you do
• The ego activation that happens in rooms like this and how to recognize when you're performing instead of just being present
• How to evaluate whether your mentorship groups are actually encouraging growth or just creating competition

If you're in containers, masterminds, or mentorship groups right now, take a minute to ask yourself: are these people making me better or am I just trying to keep up? The rooms you put yourself in matter. And the friendships that come from those rooms can literally change the trajectory of your life and your business.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Join our community: The Heart Work Life Facebook Group and download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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If you're noticing your team struggling to close care plans, if you're hearing resistance when you raise prices, if there's a heaviness around financial conversations in your practice, this episode is your invitation to go deeper. We're talking about how to create space for your team to examine their money beliefs without shame. How to get them dreaming again about what's actually possible instead of staying stuck in what currently is. And most importantly, how to lead this work from a place of your own vulnerability and honesty, because your team will only go as deep as you're willing to go first.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why your team won't convert high-value care plans if they don't personally believe they could afford what you're selling, and how that energy shows up in every patient interaction
• The importance of starting with yourself and sharing your own money struggles before expecting your team to open up about theirs
• How to use resentment as your indicator that you've crossed a line in giving, and why that signal matters for both your personal life and your leadership
• The practical exercises we've done with our teams: fake money guns, gratitude journals, scavenger hunts with real cash, and abundance vision boards
• Why you need to understand what triggers discomfort in your team around money before you can actually help them shift their perspective

Money is energy. Abundance is a choice about how you interpret what's in front of you. And leadership is about inviting people into new perspectives without forcing them into change they're not ready for. This work matters because it's not just about your business thriving. It's about helping your team break generational patterns and step into lives they didn't know were possible.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]
• Join our community: The Heart Work Life Facebook Group and download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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Dr. Jess Bohlke was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 20 years old. Doctors told her she had five years to live. That diagnosis became the catalyst for everything she's built since: a thriving chiropractic practice, a family, a life she genuinely loves. But here's what she's learning now, eleven years later: surviving and thriving are not the same thing. And the hustle that got her here won't take her where she actually wants to go.

This conversation goes deep. We're talking about what happens when you build a beautiful life but realize you've been too busy building to actually live in it. Jess has spent the last seven weeks bedridden with a health crisis, and what she's discovered in that stillness is changing everything about how she shows up as a mother, a leader, and a human being. If you've ever felt like you're performing for your worth, if you're great at creating and building but terrible at just being, this episode is for you.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The validation that came with a cancer diagnosis: when your body was telling you something all along and you finally had proof you weren't weak or crazy
• How to strip away the complexity of any health condition and remember that your body was designed to regenerate from the inside out, whether it's a paper cut or stage three cancer
• Why Jess invested in a team bigger than she technically needs, and how that one decision changed everything about her leadership and her life
• The gut check for overgiving: if you're feeling resentment or giving out of fear of losing someone, that's your sign you've crossed a line
• What the audience would be screaming at you if your life were a movie, and why that question might be the most honest mirror you'll ever look into

You can't lead other people until you're leading yourself. And you can't lead from a place of wholeness if you're asking your team, your patients, or your family to fill a void inside you. This conversation is about learning to lead from overflow instead of lack, and about finally giving yourself permission to be present in the life you've been working so hard to build.

Connect with Jess:

• Instagram: @drjessbohlke, @journeychiro.kc
• Website: drjessbohlke.com, journeychirokc.com

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]
• Join our community: The Heart Work Life Facebook Group and download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

Support the show

The word "sales" makes most of us want to run in the opposite direction. We didn't become chiropractors, coaches, or service providers to be salespeople. We did it because we genuinely want to help people transform their lives. But here's the uncomfortable truth we're diving into today: if you can't close the sale, you can't create the transformation. And that's not just bad for business. It's bad for the people who desperately need what you offer.

This episode is about reframing everything you think you know about objections. They're not actually objections. They're invitations. Invitations to establish authority, to tell stories, to help people see the value they can't quite see for themselves yet. When someone says "I can't afford it" or "I need to think about it," they're not necessarily saying no. They're asking you to help them say yes. And if you're not confident enough, eloquent enough, or practiced enough to handle those moments, you're not just losing a sale. You're potentially changing the trajectory of someone's entire life.

🔥 In This Episode:

• How to handle "It's too expensive" without immediately discounting your service or scrambling to justify your worth
• The scale question that changes everything: "On a scale of 1-10, where would you put yourself?" and how it helps you isolate what's really holding them back
• What to do when someone needs to "talk to their spouse," including offering to record yourself so they can share your actual words instead of their overwhelmed version
• Why silence after presenting your offer is your best friend, and how filling that space with nervous energy is sabotaging your sales before people even respond
• Role playing isn't optional: record yourself answering common objections, listen back, and ask yourself "Would I buy from me?"

If you don't show up with passion, fire, and conviction for what you do, that energy will transform someone else's ability to say yes or no. Sales isn't about being salesy. It's about being so grounded in your impact that you can lead people through their own fears and into the life they're asking for.

Connect with us: 

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast 
• Email: [email protected]

Join our community: The Heart Work Life Facebook Group and download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

Support the show

If you've been listening to this podcast, you've heard us talk about Pablo. Our mentor, our coach, the catalyst who nudged us to start this whole thing in the first place. He's the one who saw through the noise when we couldn't see ourselves clearly, who asked the questions that made us uncomfortable in the best way, and who has walked alongside us through our deepest transformations. Today, you finally get to hear from him directly.

This conversation is a gift. Not just because you're hearing Pablo's voice and his story, but because his journey from professional tennis coach to heart work guide is woven with the same pain, false identities, and breakthrough moments that so many of us navigate. He doesn't do surface level work. His work comes from a place of having lived it himself, from bleeding life away from his own heart for years before discovering what it actually means to be real instead of good.

🔥 In This Episode:

• How Pablo's childhood trauma and his name change from Juan Pablo to just Pablo became the false identity he built to survive, and the journey of discovering who he actually was underneath
• The powerful truth that the tennis court (and life) is a mirror, and getting upset is just breaking the mirror because you don't like what you see
• Why gratitude journals and self help books can start conversations but will never dive you into the actual wounding, and what makes Pablo's work different from traditional therapy
• The blueprint concept: we're all given different questions in life, so copying someone else's answers will only destroy your own way because you're using the wrong North Star
• Control, resignation, or active surrender: the three places we live our lives, and why holding life loosely is the only way to stop the exhausting cycle between forcing and preventing

Life is not about being good. Life is about being real. This conversation with Pablo shows you exactly what that means.

Connect with Pablo: 

• Website: https://www.tzs.world/ 
• Instagram: @pabgia and @thezonespace 
• Newsletter: Join here 
• Books: Holding On Loosely and The Modern Fig Leaf

Connect with us: 

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast 
• Email: [email protected]

Join our community: The Heart Work Life Facebook Group and download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

Support the show

ONE FULL YEAR. AND WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED.

What started as a wild idea during a Marco Polo conversation has turned into a full blown movement. Dr. Sara and Dr. Marisa are popping champagne (metaphorically) and celebrating everything this first year has been: the vulnerable conversations, the incredible community that showed up, the first live event that proved people are hungry for this deeper work, and the evolution from nervous first timers to women who flow freely and unapologetically into the realest conversations.

This isn't your typical anniversary recap. This is a celebration of what happens when you stop overthinking, start trusting, and let something organic grow into exactly what it's meant to be. From top downloaded episodes to the behind-the-scenes reality of building something meaningful, this episode is pure gratitude, pure fire, and pure excitement for what's coming next.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The top episodes that absolutely crushed it this year and why "From Hot Mess to Heart Yes" still hits exactly what people need when they first discover the podcast
  
  
  
• The real talk about what it takes to keep showing up: family processing your vulnerable stories, the social media grind, and why their most recent episodes are always their favorites because growth never stops
  
  
  
• How this community has shown up in the most beautiful ways, from patients using episodes as lifelines to listeners sharing feedback that keeps the fire burning
  
  
  
• Why year one was about throwing seeds in a garden to see what grew organically instead of forcing it into a box, and how that freedom created something even better than they imagined
  
  
  
• THE BIG NEWS: Year two is bringing limited in person events, deeper transformational containers, and an invitation for those ready to do the actual work beyond free content
  
  
  

Here we are, one year in and absolutely THRIVING. We've built a community that's hungry for authentic leadership and heart-centered growth, and this is just the beginning. Year two is about to be absolutely electric.

Connect with us: 

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast 
• Email: [email protected]
• Join our community: The Heart Work Life Facebook Group and download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

Support the show