Authenticity. Parenting as Entrepreneurs
/I have a draft post waiting in the wings, intended to share my lens on mindful entrepreneurship. It will happen someday, when it needs to organically, but today, parenting as an entrepreneur is the definition of mindful entrepreneurship — for me. I hope what you find here allows you to own what that truly means for you. My e-mail “Conversations with Crystal-Marie” goes out tomorrow, if you want more encouragement on this one.
If you've followed me here, on social media or on my e-mails, “Conversations with Crystal-Marie”, you already know that I really, consciously believe that:
We create and manifest with our thoughts and words, literally.
What we focus on we get more of—it expands in our experience—whether we focus on what we love or fear.
We release our subconscious—which is where we truly manifest from—to its full capacity in love as we go within and discover our truth.
That last one, the subconscious mind, is what makes or breaks our capacity to actually manifest the lives we say we want. Why? Because our subconscious beliefs are pretty much programmed by the time we’re six (6). That means we have to undo any trauma or misprogramming or walls we put up on fear or anything else that has taught your subconscious mind to “protect you” by limiting your sense of possibility. That journey of self-discovery is unique to everyone. May you honour what is best for you.
Attracting the life you want starts in the mind
I used to say life can be both awesome and terrible at once. This period of global change we’re living through has magnified and yet somehow reframed that for me. I do not believe that suffering is necessary for learning—or unlearning to discover what's already within. This period has made me realize that, once we have truly honoured (blog post on not ignoring the victim moments), faced, healed and released our negative emotions in each experience—as they arise, where possible—we free our energy to focus more and more on what's going well. That reprograms our minds to be thankful for what’s wonderful around us and expect more and more wonderful experiences. We begin to do that with fewer and fewer limits or caps on what's possible for us, moving forward. Further releasing our subconscious minds to support us, truly, in creating.
Stepping more wholly into my truth
It took me a while, but this began at the end of 2019, and showed up with the removal of Successiory as my business name to live and provide services simply as myself, Crystal-Marie Sealy. It clearly began within me before, this desire to simply be myself in all areas, as opposed to professional and personal, but my hard-won lessons on managing energy to stay alive made it easier and easier to live it. Today, it's showing up as presenting myself—in my business as well—as mother first and business second, at this stage of my journey. Literally, I cannot tell you how many opportunities, synchronous connections and ease and flow, flooded in, the second I stopped keeping that private. Personal and private are separate for me, and most introverts may tell you the same. This truth, however, is personal.
As soon as I released all of my resistance around it, things flowed. I finally published one of my children's books, “The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children”, and everything flowed! The Illustration ideas came to me to create quickly, my daughter was in a less attached phase, the librarians invited me to sell my books on-site and the Montreal Gazette decided to send a photographer to the event. All of the books that I had on hand sold out, so I had to order more.
Then, “Women in Business with Kids” summit. I had to blink when I saw the invitation to speak at this summit. It’s not yet being publicized, but in January the intention is for Actions of Compassion to host this summit in June, to encourage women in business—who may not be sure how to pivot once they become parents—to feel empowered to do what is aligned with their unique set of circumstances. I blinked because in my time as an entrepreneur in Toronto, I had not met any warm conversations around being a mother (or parent) in the entrepreneur space. This was refreshing! I’ll follow up after the summit, but I had to share it as a powerful, immediate manifestation and affirmation of the direction I committed to.
My Transitional Business Model
I still believe in my signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" framework, but when I applied it to my own life, my pricing, lean process and feasible schedule were based on life before my daughter. Today, my rhythms have shifted to accommodate a whole other person. I’ve since learned that Mommy-brain is a phenomenon where your brain literally expands, creating new neural pathways, shutting down “irrelevant” ones and shifting priorities to accommodate living for yourself and another (or several other) people. That’s recognized by psychologists as well—it was a psychologist who told me that while I was pregnant. It’s not the brain fog we think it is, just because our minds have deemed irrelevant, things we valued highly before. It’s beautiful.
Business has transitioned to Lifestyle for me, and a lot of the “professional” rigidity that I never realized I’d worn has fallen away. As a feminine, introvert and empath, I now function in far more flow and in sync with my energy cycles and my daughter’s ever-changing rhythms. I release all engagements that are demanding and rigid and honour what is compatible, far more readily now than I did before. Based on my mindful entrepreneurship framework:
Feasible Schedules: have been given over almost fully to gentle, responsive, attachment parenting (there’s a lot of information out there on these), so I honour my daughter’s needs and, when she’s in a great sleep phase, I have more energy for my writing and keynotes. Lately, that’s been a solid two weeks a month, but there are ebbs and flows. I have made peace with closing consulting until she’s older. That has been energizing!
Lean Process: this one stands. I’m not offering consulting services anymore, but for keynotes, my speaking engagement process has not changed.
Pricing: conveniently, my keynotes allow me to operate far less and earn a livable wage while operating on my own innate schedule, and my books are, in a sense, passive income.
If you’re curious, you can learn more about my framework here, in my consulting services section, and if you hire me for my keynote on it.
If you follow me on social media, then, you’ll see more than just the occasional post on my parenting lens—not to influence, but to support others who may share these values and feel perhaps isolated. I hope that’s what our “Women in Business with Kids” summit will be as well.
What’s Your Approach?
In all of my writings, speaking and engagement, I hope my invitation remains clear. In honour of your individual sovereignty, may you embrace what resonates and release in peace what does not—here and everywhere else in your life.
You see, what I have found important to continued success with your transition to parenting as entrepreneurs, is making sure it’s created around what you and your family need. Whatever your path to finding that, and whatever community and support you need to make it happen, I hope it shows up with pure synchronicity, ease, flow, joy, love and abundance for you.
In Love, Light and Shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves.
About Crystal-Marie Sealy
Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is currently a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her new children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity and focused productivity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Good-bye rate race. Hello blue ocean. Earn more. Work less. Live abundantly. Connect with Crystal-Marie at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com
