45. Integrating Astrology, Ayurveda, and Yoga Philosophy into your Business | Meaghan Dunham

Join me and special guest Meaghan Dunham, an Intuitive Business Coach and energetics educator. In this episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories, Meaghan shares her experience as a coach who integrates astrology, Ayurveda, and yoga philosophy into her business coaching. 

She uses these unique modalities to help women entrepreneurs overcome plateaus and make intentional, aligned business decisions. 

Learn practical tips on using Ayurvedic time blocking, the importance of slowing down and reflecting, and how to build confidence by shaking up your usual routine.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Andrea here, your host and passionate business coach and scaling strategist for Soulful Service Providers and Coaches. Welcome to another episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. Have you ever wanted to look behind the curtain of your fellow entrepreneur's business to see what actually went into scaling it?

[00:00:22] Well, you are in for a treat because that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth behind the lessons and the stories behind what it truly takes for sole preneurs to scale their businesses intentionally. I'm hoping that their stories will help you to unlock the true potential of your business so you can create your own soulful, abundant and aligned laptop lifestyle through intentional scaling.

[00:00:46] So whether you're just starting out on your scaling journey or you're a seasoned entrepreneur seeking inspiration, this episode has something incredible in store for you. Are you ready to rise, grow and create? Create a business that fully supports your dream life. Well, let's [00:01:00] dive in before we begin.

[00:01:02] Make sure to hit that subscribe buttons. You never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:11] Hello, my friends, and welcome to this episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. I am so excited today because we have Megan Dunham here, who is an intuitive business coach and energetics educator. Hello, Megan. How are you?

[00:01:25] Meaghan Dunham: Hello, I'm doing well. I hope you are as well.

[00:01:29] Andrea Elibero: Oh, yes. Doing very well today. So I want to dig right into things, but let's do a proper introduction. So tell us a little bit about what you do in your business, who you help, and how you do it. for having me. My pleasure.

[00:01:45] Meaghan Dunham: Hmm. So, um, long story short, I consider myself to be a business coach. So I support women who are working in the spiritual, holistic and creative spaces, um, [00:02:00] who are looking to move into the next. phase of their business. Um, they're usually at some sort of plateau and they come to me for one to one coaching to move them from that plateau and start walking back up the mountain again.

[00:02:17] Um, I do one to one coaching. Obviously I've been doing that since I started my business. But, um, one of the newer things that I started doing recently that I'm really excited about is energetics education, which is teaching women, the women that I work with, how to use things like astrology and Ayurveda and yoga philosophy to support them in realizing their business goals.

[00:02:40] Um, I find that a lot of what I, what I have learned through the years of kind of discovering these modalities is that, um, It is a, an experience that cultivates a lot of, uh, emotional intelligence skills like self awareness. And [00:03:00] those are the types of things that we need as business owners to get us to the next level.

[00:03:04] So it just kind of felt natural that I kind of brought the business coaching and the energetics together. And yeah, it's been a really fun and exciting and tumultuous journey. But, um, I do feel like, you know, The work that I do and the people that I work with, um, it's really making like a huge impact and lots of really fun things are happening.

[00:03:26] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, totally for sure. And let's talk about, uh, yoga philosophy for a moment because, so I was, as everybody else, I was also a certified yoga teacher. And when I went through the program, it was really heavily focused on yoga philosophy. And I, and this was 2018 and I still carry a lot of that with me today and it really changed my life in a lot of ways.

[00:03:51] So I'm curious what. What you bring in from that philosophy, like, if you can give us a couple of examples, that would be really cool.[00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] Meaghan Dunham: So yoga, as most people have gone through training, no yoga is more than just the movement, right? That's what we call Asana and that's just one piece of it. Um, what really stuck with me were the first two limbs of yoga is what we call them, which are the Yamas and the Niyamas. Um, how we treat other people and then how we treat ourselves.

[00:04:21] So I started, um, really kind of reflecting on those particular principles and how they could support business owners. And I actually did an email series at the, um, beginning of this year about that specific topic, because I found that things like, for instance, let's say ahimsa, which means non harming, um, could be translated Really easily into the work that we do as entrepreneurs, um, both in the ways that we interact with people like clients that we're working with, um, by let's say creating, um, very transparent, um, um, [00:05:00] contracts with people, right?

[00:05:02] That's an example of a HMSA. Um, but also taking care of ourselves as well and not harming our physical bodies, our mental bodies, our emotional bodies in the pursuit of, um, Creating our businesses. Um, so yeah, that's just an example

[00:05:18] Andrea Elibero: Yeah,

[00:05:19] Meaghan Dunham: what I have used yoga philosophy to, um, you know, kind of into how I've integrated it into the work that I do.

[00:05:28] Andrea Elibero: that's so neat. I love that perspective and that take on it and when you were saying ahims, the first thing that came to my mind was the ethical marketing and things like this because there's so much out there that's not and so I was like, oh, yeah, you know a hundred percent and it's just it's really neat to view it in that lens and kind of incorporate all of that together and Very cool.

[00:05:51] Um, and then how about if we take the next one, how about Ayurveda? So how do you integrate Ayurveda into your business coaching?[00:06:00] 

[00:06:00] Meaghan Dunham: So a lot of people don't know about Ayurveda. Ayurveda is a 5, 000 year old science of living that comes from India, the same place that yoga comes from, or the yoga that most of us practice. It's a sister science. And it's all about aligning our bodies with nature and the world around us and making sure that the elements that are inside of our body are not being agitated or, um, overcompensating.

[00:06:30] During different seasons of our life and also during the different seasons that are shifting and happening around us in the world. So one of the things that I use Ayurveda for specifically in business is something that I have coined called Ayurvedic time blocking.

[00:06:49] Andrea Elibero: Okay, go into this more. Okay, Ayurvedic time blocking. I'm intrigued. Yeah.

[00:06:53] Meaghan Dunham: Yeah. Um, so there are particular times of the day that are associated with the three main [00:07:00] doshas of Ayurveda. We have the Kapha dosha, which is if we think about the elements, it's earth and water. And when earth and water come together, we think about mud, right? So it's very grounding and slow energy. And then we have a time of day that's associated with Pitta.

[00:07:16] Which is water and fire. It's more outward moving, very fast, um, and very, um, directional.

[00:07:25] And then we finally, the third dosha is called Vata and Vata is air and space, or sometimes people call it ether. Um, and that is creative and playful and flexible and like, you know, moving around quite often. And so I go into the specific times of day and I'm actually looking at my computer because I have on my, um, Um, background, I have my daily routine and I've listed, okay, coffee time is from six to 10 a.

[00:07:54] m. Pitta time. Um, you know, I go down the list and I actually align [00:08:00] the tasks that I do according to the Ayurvedic dosha and which energy is more present at which time of day. Okay.

[00:08:12] Andrea Elibero: a moment, because everybody's different energetically. So are people's time of day for each of the doshas unique or this is because this is based on ancient philosophy these times are pretty standard like in terms of let's say you know like 4 a. m is like the time that you go meditate you know it's a very auspicious time that type of situation okay

[00:08:40] Meaghan Dunham: so ka time is always from six to 10. Six to 10 in the morning, and then six to 10 in the evening. Um, pit to time is always from 10 to two, and then thought to time is always from two to six. However, um, you then can go a layer deeper and understand your own dosha, right?

[00:08:59] We [00:09:00] each have a combination of these elements inside of us. And from that perspective, you can, um, create a routine that works for you. So. As an example, I am a primary Pitta dosha. So I have a lot of fire and water inside of my body. So for me, I don't necessarily have to leverage the strength and power and, um, focus of Pitta time because I already have it inside of me.

[00:09:33] Um, so I wouldn't necessarily need to use that time as, um, As intentionally as someone who is maybe more of a Cofidutia. Um, because they're more grounded and more slow. Um, so yeah, just things like that. Mm

[00:09:50] Andrea Elibero: And oh, and the last one, the last one I saved the best for last is the astrological part of the energetics. So if you could give us an overview of that, [00:10:00] that would be amazing.

[00:10:01] Meaghan Dunham: Mhm.

[00:10:01] So there are a lot of people who infuse astrology into business. There are people who basically do this as you know, their entire living. And so I feel like there are a lot more resources for this particular modality than the other two. But what I like to do with astrology is I like to come at it from a holistic perspective.

[00:10:26] So I, before I start my one to one coaching container, I always do an astrology reading for my clients to have an understanding of what their chart is. I use Western, um, astrology. I use the tropical system.

[00:10:41] Um, and we do a very detailed analysis. Of their particular birth chart. And from there I can see what their natural strengths are and where there may be, um, like vulnerabilities for them particularly.

[00:10:59] [00:11:00] And it not only gives me really great insight as a coach into how to work with them and how to best support and communicate with them, but I think it also gives them permission to experiment and to be more open minded about. Not only, you know, where their strengths are and how they could leverage those, but also to be a little bit softer with themselves when it comes to their vulnerabilities.

[00:11:26] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, and the other thing that I want to highlight from everything you're describing here that I think is really cool is that you took all these things that you love in your, I imagine that you love in your personal life and infuse them into your business, not just for you, but infuse them into your offers and really built your business around this and things that people may not necessarily associate right away with business.

[00:11:52] Meaghan Dunham: Mm hmm.

[00:11:55] Andrea Elibero: to highlight this because you literally can make your business what [00:12:00] you love, right? And the things that you want it to be so that you're obsessed with it, you know, so that you're so excited to do it every day. And it really is also something that makes you stand out.

[00:12:10] It makes you unique and you then get to show up as your best, highest self in your business every day. Given that, I'm curious if this was something that just sort of came naturally to you, how you figured what the story was in terms of how you're like, oh, like I'm, you know, business coaching, I'm doing these things and, and then let me add in these layers and kind of how that came together.

[00:12:37] Meaghan Dunham: Ah, that's a good question. So when I first started my business in December of 2020, I was strictly a marketing coach. I had just come off of working a nine to five at a startup in the marketing department. And I also have a master's degree in education. So I kind of fused those two things together and thought, Oh, I'm going to do marketing coaching.

[00:12:58] I saw that there was a need for that. [00:13:00] Particularly here in my community. Um, and I did that for, uh, the better part of about a year and a half and realized that although I was really good at it, and although my business was very successful, uh, financially,

[00:13:18] it was not feeding my purpose. It was

[00:13:21] Andrea Elibero: important. Yeah, so important because there are so many times and I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I want to pause you there just because to make this point, because this is what I see over and over again, you know, that, that there are so many people with a quote unquote successful business, but there's like either they're bored or especially the service providers, you know, or they feel like they can't do something out of the box.

[00:13:45] They can't do something. extraordinary or make it, you know, like, Oh, I have a successful business. I should be grateful for this. This is what I wanted. And now this is what I do, I guess, you know, so, so continue on with your story, because I, I really just wanted to [00:14:00] highlight that as something to really be aware of, you know, for the listeners to say, where are you in your business?

[00:14:05] And do you love it? You know, and then if not, you have the permission. You are able to change it and make it into something that you love. So, so go on with your story and how you did that.

[00:14:18] Meaghan Dunham: Yeah. So I think that it really took something pretty dramatic for me to begin to make that shift into doing something that I really loved and to infusing that. I knew that I loved the coaching aspect of working with these people one to one particularly. Um, but I also just felt like there was something missing.

[00:14:38] Um, and so unfortunately in, um, December of 2022, I was hospitalized twice on Christmas Eve. For complications from COVID. Um, and yeah, I mean, it was tough, but I think it was ultimately the push that I needed to take a step back and to [00:15:00] reflect on what I was doing to myself that had gotten me to that point.

[00:15:06] Andrea Elibero: So in terms of going, going, going, pushing yourself, running your business, these types of things, wearing yourself out, essentially. Okay.

[00:15:15] Meaghan Dunham: Yes. And I can't remember the quote, but There's a, there's a quote that I read somewhere that says something, you know, like if you're just keeping busy, but you don't have any purpose, then you're going to burn out. But if you, if your purpose is driving you, then you'll have a lot more energy to accomplish things.

[00:15:36] And I think that is what I realized is that I was not putting my best foot forward. I didn't have as much energy to do the things that I needed to do in my business, because I felt like. I mean, honestly, I kind of felt like I was back in a 9 to 5. Um, it

[00:15:54] Andrea Elibero: and this happens, yeah, this happens, right? And because we grow and we evolve also as [00:16:00] people, so naturally our businesses should grow and evolve. And it's interesting because I feel like there's a lot of resistance out there to that thought, to that concept, especially when you're successful, when you're making money, right?

[00:16:13] So, so, yeah, So you were able to Take a step back and think about it And is that when did it come to you naturally or just kind of it took it was an evolution in terms of picking These three modalities and kind of changing up what you were doing

[00:16:32] Meaghan Dunham: So I knew that people were, were responsive to astrology and that's where I began because I was getting a lot of people constantly. I did a training, a couple of trainings in 2018, 2019. Um, and you know, just kind of like in my inner circle of friends and that sort of thing. I was. Doing astrology readings and I was giving people information and then soon people were asking me questions all the time.

[00:16:57] I kind of was like the go to person to [00:17:00] ask those types of questions too. And I thought, well, the people that I'm working with already are in the space of being open to astrology. So why not just try to kind of infuse it into the work that I'm doing? So the first thing that I did last year around my birthday was that I actually started offering astrology readings as a paid service in my business.

[00:17:21] And I think I booked 22 astrology readings in three months. Um,

[00:17:29] and that was the validation that I needed that yes. Okay. People are looking for this. They want it.

[00:17:33] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm. And this was separate from from marketing coaching. This was

[00:17:38] Meaghan Dunham: Yeah,

[00:17:42] Andrea Elibero: nice. Mm hmm.

[00:17:43] Meaghan Dunham: so I started there and some of the astrology readings were, you know, very personal, but then a lot of the read, probably about half of the readings I was doing a lot of business Thank you Stuff as well, because the people who were coming to me were entrepreneurs.

[00:17:55] They were already in my community. And, um, and so I was just kind of saying like, [00:18:00] Oh, well, let's look at this placement and see how that can show you where you're supposed to be going. You know, I remember I worked with a woman who was in the medical profession and I was able to see all of the parts in her astrology chart that were pointing her toward working in that particular profession and she felt so validated afterward.

[00:18:19] Um, and, and that just really. You know, lit a spark underneath me. Um, and I don't remember exactly what the impetus was for it, but I decided that I was going to start teaching masterclasses, so that was kind of my second step because I also knew. Um, you know, just from my previous years that although I was very successful in doing one to one work,

[00:18:43] Andrea Elibero: hmm.

[00:18:43] Meaghan Dunham: I had scaled it to its max

[00:18:45] Andrea Elibero: Yep.

[00:18:46] Meaghan Dunham: and I needed to start diversifying because otherwise my business was only going to be.

[00:18:51] Making so much and doing so much and, um, I needed, I needed to do more.

[00:18:57] So I thought, okay, the astrology [00:19:00] readings go first. That's great. Now let's do these masterclasses. And so I did quarterly masterclasses last year on a lot of different topics. They were all business related, but they were infusing astrology, Ayurveda, human design, yoga philosophy.

[00:19:15] And that's where I really started to get the confidence, um, and even the clarity to be able to bring all of these things into my one to one coaching.

[00:19:27] Andrea Elibero: Very beautiful. The other thing I want to pull from this discussion is that it's also a journey. So it's not that you one day were, I am a marketing coach and the next day you woke up and had this full fledged framework, you know, infusing these three modalities and it was a seamless journey. It was a journey.

[00:19:51] So I think this is also really important for people to hear that. And this is common, right? So especially when we're like, Ooh, you know, it's a lot [00:20:00] of playing around. It's a lot of experimenting. It's a lot of being open to that and seeing what happens and shifting as you go and then landing on this thing that is really lovely and who knows what will happen with it in the future, you know?

[00:20:12] So it's, so it's like trusting yourself and your intuition and all of these. These things to go on this journey and know that you can change, you can evolve, you can bring your audience with you. People are still going to, they're going to be interested in this. You don't have to be stuck in doing what you're doing just because you've been doing it for X amount of time.

[00:20:32] And then you also said you brought up a lovely segue into confidence. So building up your confidence. And before we started recording, this was something you had told me you were Really excited to speak about is this aspect of when you're stuck in your business, what do you do like in terms of confidence to get you to the next step.

[00:20:58] So can you speak about that a [00:21:00] little bit?

[00:21:01] Meaghan Dunham: So what I have found is that the reason why a lot of people lack confidence is because they don't know what step to take next. They feel like they have to have a perfect plan before they take the first step. And I find that a lot with women particularly, which is I would say like 99 percent of the people that I work with.

[00:21:27] Um, And so one of the things that I like to do, especially, and this is so fun for me, particularly because I can see it in my own personal astrology chart is that I like to shake things up for people. So I asked them, okay, what, what are you currently doing? Right. And we kind of brainstorm and we write down all the things that they're currently doing.

[00:21:49] And then I asked them to do something completely different.

[00:21:52] Andrea Elibero: Publicly. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-Hmm?

[00:21:57] Meaghan Dunham: for instance, I have a client [00:22:00] who felt like she needed to show up on Instagram, right? But she felt blocked every single time she, um, she, um, thought about posting to Instagram. So I said to her, I, you know, I kind of asked her like, what are your blocks? Why do you feel like you're kind of feeling frustrated every time you try to like log in?

[00:22:22] And, um, we came to the conclusion that she really needed to be focusing more of her efforts on stories rather than on her feed posts, because she felt more confident in being able to show up authentically and just spontaneously in her stories. Um, so we created a nine feed static grid and, um, you She was then able to feel that release of pressure about having to create this content for her feed posts every, you know, two to three days or whatever.

[00:22:56] Um, and then she could just focus on the place where she felt lit up and the [00:23:00] place where she knew that people were interacting with her. Um, and it was something that she had never thought about. Right. But that was a strategy that other people, like it's a common strategy. Um, and typically it's just. that they're so focused on that one task that they're not able to see the other options that are available to them, even if it's something that, um, is like a very common thing.

[00:23:27] Andrea Elibero: No, for sure, and I wouldn't even underplay this because I think this is the magic of coaching, of getting somebody else, of having somebody else there to reflect back to you. You know, what's going on and being and somebody else who's able to see the bigger picture and able to pull out those blocks because this happens, you know, with my clients as well and me with my coach, you know, and I'm sure you had the same experience, right?

[00:23:51] You're like, well, that was silly, like, obviously, you know, after you do it, obviously, that was the path. But when you're in it, and you're so hyper focused, [00:24:00] that you get totally stuck. And It's hard to do these things for yourself and this really is the magic of having somebody see you and really see you and help you to see beyond this fishbowl that you are in.

[00:24:17] And also I love the fact that you are able to take Somebody who was stuck in like, this is what I have to do. This is what they tell me, you know, and you're like, Well, no, there's another way and this way feels more aligned with what you want to do. So in essence you're going to be more confident, like you're going to grow the confidence, right?

[00:24:33] Because you're gonna show up and do the thing that makes you happy and then maybe in six months from now in a year from now maybe you'll want to post on your feed, you know, maybe it'll change and I think that that's a really beautiful as well. And it's so important when somebody is Kind of treading water, you know, and just kind of spinning around in circles.

[00:24:53] What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? So it sounds like baby steps was not really, it's really a big deal because it really opens up everything and changes [00:25:00] everything.

[00:25:00] Meaghan Dunham: Yeah. I think it's just, um, a lot of times for me, what I noticed with my clients is that they're just looking for someone to give them permission to do things differently.

[00:25:08] Andrea Elibero: Yes. Yes. Right. Because there's so much out there of of the, well, this is the strategy that's going to work. And this is the magical thing. And this is what I did. So it's going to work for you too. Right? There's a lot of that out there. And When you actually dig into it and see it's every single strategy, you know, has, has this message behind it.

[00:25:29] There are people like this for everything. So the key here is that it's the strategy for you. Every strategy works, but it's the one that where you can shine, the one where you're, where you feel most aligned, the one that you can commit to and be confident in is the one that's going to work for you.

[00:25:46] Meaghan Dunham: And I think that's why understanding a person's astrology chart is so impactful, right? So with this particular client, she has a lot of Gemini energy and Gemini is a very fluid and flexible energy. It likes to do things [00:26:00] differently from moment to moment, and it likes to have permission to change and try new things.

[00:26:06] And that's why. I think it worked for her because she needed to do things a little bit differently. She needed to be more spontaneous and this strategy gave her permission to do that.

[00:26:20] Andrea Elibero: I love that. That's so cool. Very, very cool. Can you give an example? so the other thing that we chatted about was the power of slowing down and the power of reflection so When somebody so I want to have you speak to it first. I'm like wait, I can get on my Soapbox about this, but no I will hold back So when somebody is stuck What is the power of slowing down?

[00:26:47] Mm,

[00:26:49] Meaghan Dunham: So this is where I liken things to Ayurveda. There is a cycle in Ayurveda of [00:27:00] ideation, implementation, And then introspection, right? But what often, what often happens with people, particularly in today's society is that there's ideation implementation, ideation implementation, but then there's no gap

[00:27:16] Andrea Elibero: yes.

[00:27:18] Meaghan Dunham: and that is where, that's why people get burnt out.

[00:27:22] Andrea Elibero: Mm

[00:27:22] Meaghan Dunham: That's why people get stuck.

[00:27:24] Andrea Elibero: hmm, mm

[00:27:25] Meaghan Dunham: And that's why I think there is so much frustration. Um, so I think it is really important to rewire the way that we look at creating something in our business so that we save space for ourselves. And it doesn't necessarily have to be at the end of the process. Right. But I think that typically that's when it makes the most sense, um, to reflect.

[00:27:57] on what has happened so [00:28:00] that we can give our ourselves the space and the time and the, um, the, uh, just ability to make room for new growth. Um, it's kind of like, if you think about, um, after a harvest, right. Of, of like a plant, for instance, let's say corn. Um, there's a lot of stuff that's still left in the field that farmers have to go through and they have to like dig up.

[00:28:33] Right. And then, and then they have to prepare the soil again. And there's this period of rest that happens where nothing is being planted and it's just quote unquote, barren soil. But what's happening is that there's this regeneration process that's being allowed to naturally occur in order for growth to be primed and ready to begin again.

[00:28:56] Andrea Elibero: So, um This I am 100 percent on board [00:29:00] with and I'm asking the question from the viewpoint of somebody who I feel like this could trigger a lot of anxiety in somebody right who says well, but then I'm not making money. I'm not doing anything I'm not you know, and I can see the cycle happening. And so what would you say to that?

[00:29:17] Meaghan Dunham: Mm. That's a really good question. Um, obviously I want to speak to the The fact that right money is a wound for a lot of people. And I don't even know if I want to use that word. Um, money can be a sore subject for a lot of us because yes, we like, we have to make it right there. There are no other options in order to survive.

[00:29:40] We have to make X, Y, Z. Um, that's just how our society works. And so I never want to tell someone to take a break and not bring any income into your business. That. You know, that's irresponsible. Um, but I do think that what we can do is we can layer, right? [00:30:00] So if you and that's why we talk about diversification, um, and having multiple streams of income.

[00:30:06] In our business. So let's say you bring on a one to one client and you have gone through the three months with them and you're finished. Um, and then perhaps you are, you have a masterclass that's happening around the same time. You could have the implementation and the introspection of two different layers of your business happening at the same time so that you are still bringing in income.

[00:30:31] You are still supporting yourself financially. But you are also still making space for reflection.

[00:30:42] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, so it's really a strategic. So you're going into this, not like, okay, like there's a plan. So it's a really kind of a strategic slowing down and reflection period where you can do this while you're feeling safe and you can do it and still feel supported and, and all [00:31:00] of these things, right? Yeah. And, and the other thing, so I'm going to answer my own question, is that, uh, you were speaking to burnout before, and I don't know if you've gone through this, but I have gone through this, and it was a long recovery process.

[00:31:15] So, without the, it was a long recovery process in which my income significantly decreased, because I literally couldn't do it anymore. So, Without, if I had a space or I created a space of slowing down of reflecting of these things, if I had done that, then I wouldn't have gone through the burnout perhaps, and then I would have been more financially secure overall, right?

[00:31:39] So it is a preventative measure. It's a self care measure that you need to do in order to really take care of yourself, to have Your business be sustainable. Because you can't just go go go go go go go. Like you literally cannot do this all of the time. It is not

[00:31:56] Meaghan Dunham: mm.

[00:31:57] Mm mm. Yeah, yeah, I think that our [00:32:00] society is very reactive.

[00:32:01] Um, and I, you know, I talk about this with the people that I work with, especially in holistic medicine. That there is a real focus on, um, pinpointing the problem and not doing anything until the problem has already arisen rather than taking the time and energy to be aware of the warning signs.

[00:32:25] Andrea Elibero: This is I'm laughing because I'm a former health care provider. So

[00:32:29] So as a I was a nurse and I worked in clinical trials research and the thing that I was so Unaligned for me that was so Like, not the reason I left, but a big reason why I do what I do now is that I was working liver diseases and the medication in clinical trials research and the medication I was testing was for something to help treat fatty liver, which you get a lot as a comorbidity of symptoms along with high blood pressure and, and high cholesterol and diabetes and all of these things [00:33:00] 90 percent of the time from being overweight, right?

[00:33:02] So instead of our society focusing on preventing, This and you know, we're focused on developing another medication for it, right? So this is this the parallel as to what you're talking about as well. And so I'm like, yes Like please like let's and the same thing in business. No, so Instead of working ourselves to death and then burning out and doing all of these things at the beginning let's build in a plan to protect ourselves and to hold ourselves and keep ourselves healthy and And just take care of ourselves so we can continue to do this.

[00:33:39] Meaghan Dunham: And I think that that is a really important part of entrepreneurship as well as financial literacy. Um, I think that it is important to be thinking long term because we know as entrepreneurs that we are going to have volatility in our income from [00:34:00] month to month. Quarter to quarter year to year. Um, it's important to pay attention to those patterns that are happening.

[00:34:07] And this is something that I also do with my clients as well. Like we kind of take a look at the backend of what are they bringing in? When are they bringing it in? Are there seasonal patterns that are happening? Can we pay attention to your profit and loss so that you are not, um, you know, spending so much money on things that are unnecessary in your business.

[00:34:27] It's all about being. a strategic long term thinker. Um, I think that that is where we can sometimes, um, and you know, myself included at the beginning of my business, um, make mistakes is thinking that things are always going to be exactly as they are in this moment. Um, when in fact that's just never going to be the case.

[00:34:52] Andrea Elibero: That is true. And Alongside along those same lines, right? So planning and so that way if there [00:35:00] is a month where something happens or you need to take off or there's, you know, whatever that, right, you are prepared. And in this way, it's another thing just to reduce the anxiety and to increase the the balance of your nervous system and, and just to feel safe and protected while you're on this journey of having a business.

[00:35:17] So amazing point. So do you have a, for somebody who is pivoting and changing and growing and scaling, what is your top tip or this top thing that you would like to leave everybody with today?

[00:35:34] Meaghan Dunham: So I was thinking about this question and one of the things that I think is important is to do a risk assessment for yourself before you decide to make a decision. And not to say that you shouldn't take a risk, right? Of course we have to. As entrepreneurs, it's important [00:36:00] to take risks, to learn where your comfort zone is and to, um, grow and, and to stretch yourself.

[00:36:10] But I think it's also important to check it in with yourself and ask any Are these decisions that I'm making honoring my energy? Are they intentional? Are they, um, is this going to, you know, push me past my, my limit and to just like, have a really honest conversation with yourself

[00:36:33] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. And it's Yeah, and it's kind of like shifting from reactive to proactive and intentionality and just again It's along these lines of taking a pause and not just saying okay, I'm gonna do this You know and just kind of like going off and not really being conscious of what you're doing. So I think that's Lovely and a very important tip for everybody Oh,

[00:36:59] Meaghan Dunham: came up [00:37:00] with a decision tree that I created that I use for any large decision that I'm going to be making in my business. Um, and I would love to read those questions cause I think that maybe they would be helpful. I have, I have it on a sticky note here.

[00:37:15] Um, so the first question is by making this decision, am I abandoning myself? The second question is, is this an intentional and equitable agreement?

[00:37:35] And the third question is, when I think about this commitment, does my energy feel scattered or focused?

[00:37:44] Andrea Elibero: Such important and deep questions on your decision tree.

[00:37:49] Meaghan Dunham: Yeah. And so I, I think that's I came up with this decision tree and then we kind of talked through what the answers might be and ranking the answers because sometimes the answer might be no, but [00:38:00] if there's only one no, but two yeses, what does that mean? Um, and I can tell you that this, I have it right here, right above my computer has helped me make decisions that do feel like growth opportunities, but don't, um, Don't push me past my limit.

[00:38:22] Andrea Elibero: Love it. Love all of that. So thank you for sharing everything that you shared today. Please let everybody know how we can stay in touch with you. And if there's anything else, any free gifts or anything else like that, you would like to share.

[00:38:35] Meaghan Dunham: Sure. Um, so I am very active on Instagram and threads on social media. So if you'd like to connect with me at Megan dot M dot Dunham, I'm sure there'll be in the show notes. Cause my name is kind of hard to spell. Yes.

[00:38:53] Andrea Elibero: you never know, right, which one it is. So yes,

[00:38:55] Meaghan Dunham: Um, and sometimes [00:39:00] people will ask me, is it Megan? Um, the funniest one I ever got was Miaghan.

[00:39:05] Andrea Elibero: Oh, oh, that's, that's an interesting one. You should go by

[00:39:08] Meaghan Dunham: Um, so that those are my social media platforms. I'm super active there. Um, please, you know, give me a follow drop into my DMS. Um, I'm actually really loving threads recently. So

[00:39:23] Andrea Elibero: My God, me too. Yeah. If you're not, I recommend it. Don't you feel like it's such a, at least right now before meta ruins it, I don't know, but it's such an amazing community and everybody asks questions and like people are so open there and they're not being just like, oh look at all the amazing things I'm doing.

[00:39:41] They're, they're sharing and asking questions and people are helping each other. It's a really amazing environment. I really love it over there.

[00:39:47] Meaghan Dunham: It's very still. Oh, it's very supportive. It's very like age of Aquarius, which we can talk more about with astrology, but it's like, yeah, everybody's in community and supporting each other. And I just love it. Um, and [00:40:00] then, yeah, my website is meganmdunham. com, um, and I am actually going to share with you a specific link, but I am opening a membership community.

[00:40:12] We're having our first meeting on June 3rd. Um, but then of course. You know, we'll have lots of meetings after that. And for any listeners, I would love to offer a free month subscription to that community. It's the intuitive entrepreneur collective

[00:40:27] Andrea Elibero: Oh, amazing. What do you do in

[00:40:29] Meaghan Dunham: Yeah. So it is a collective of women in business who are focused on a more intentional and slow way of doing business that really, you know, keeps in mind our energy levels and our nervous systems.

[00:40:46] Um, but then is also supportive of our goals. And, um, it's just like a really beautiful place for us to come together and learn about these energetic modalities and how they can support us in building the [00:41:00] business of our dreams.

[00:41:01] Andrea Elibero: Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. I love this conversation. And you guys go check out all of the things that Megan has. And thank you so much for being here.

[00:41:10] Meaghan Dunham: Thank you.

[00:41:13] Andrea Elibero: Thank you so much for joining us today. I really hope you found inspiration and insights from today's episode. You know, scaling your business intentionally and from the inside out is a transformational process, but I'm here to support you every step of the way. Head on over to dancingleafsolutions. com slash resources for free tools to help you do just that.

[00:41:39] And thank you again for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community, your presence and dedication to growth, inspiring me every day.