Money, well-being and the feminine professional
/Some time ago, before I'd rebranded under my own name, I'd posted this quote on my Facebook page:
"Set sustainable #pricing to stay in business. Note: Price negotiators won't notice if you go out of business." #Successiory
Makeda N. McKenzie, founder of the Caribbean Mindfulness Institute, mindfulness practitioner, and friend, made my day by commenting that,
“Btw bc of your page and posts like these I've become sooo much more intelligent and firm abt my pricing. It's actually taken a lot of the pressure off. Thank you!!!”
This reminded me that what I do is not within a vacuum. My life really does, truly, have the impact that I had hoped it would.
My response was a bit personal, given the nature of our relationship, but I hope it awakens a sense of possibility within you.
“OMG. I'm so happy to hear that…! It's true, right? So many in the well-being space attach money to greed, then go out of business because they don't get paid, but #Money is #energy. It wants to take care of us. It's part of that #flow. In our current business system, it's its own form of #gratitude and appreciation. Hugs!!!”
Beyond the occasional sentiment that shows up when you see posts like that online, what is the ongoing rhetoric in your mind about money? When messages like this really resonate, do you reflect and let it sink in and inspire a shift in your relationship with money, if it sits well? Or does your well-intentioned shadow self take up far more time telling you “beware of greed”, or something more compelling, to keep money at arms-length, for you?
There are money coaches who help us unlearn the things we've been taught about money, things that keep us away from money. Getting clear on your own inherent beliefs about money, so you stop limiting what's possible, will get you miles ahead much faster. It will also make pricing strategies you create with me other other consultants, more readily actionable, and easier to stand firmly on.
Why Money Matters
I began writing this one some time ago, but this LinkedIn question from a childhood family friend, copywriter and fellow entrepreneur, Stefan De Las, reminded me to complete it.
My passion has always been to support people in:
trusting themselves, their individual sovereignty, and
standing their ground firmly and happily - gentle resilience is powerful and energizing!
In life and business. Self-acceptance, authenticity, mindfulness and self-care to overflow, are not buzzwords for me. I had a few health scares that made them real.
I learned in my late twenties that the best way to support others, is to lead by example. Self-care. Giving that support could not come at the expense of my own well-being - health, wealth, relationships or otherwise. Today, as a Mom, that lesson is sealed in.
It's why I do what I do, the way that I do. As a keynote speaker, even my business talks are motivational. As an author, that is true as well. As a strategy consultant, I manage scope creep by ensuring I am clear about what I offer - and don't - and do the same for clients. For more high-energy clients, I turn scope creep into additional revenue.
This is why, for service professionals, pricing matters. Product industries have clearer, tangible lines in the sand about cost of production, salaries and overhead. It's why you won't dare go to a grocery and expect to get that head of lettuce if you're a penny short. Knowledge industries, however, are not so clear. If you don't know your worth, low pricing:
attracts those who will burn you out, ask for more and try to pay even less,
repel those you can actually serve well because, to them, “if you're priced so low, maybe you don't know what you're doing.”
For myself, and my clients, the reminder is this - get paid what you're worth, and what you need to, to thrive, not just survive. That way, clients get your undivided attention - your mind is not on bills.
Embrace your Feminine
There is such beauty and palpable power in the dance that honours both masculine and feminine. The masculine protector and provider archetype, the feminine the creator and receiver archetype. It goes far deeper than this. “The Alphabet versus the Goddess” by Leonard Shlain (R.I.P.) sheds some light on the need for both. I am building a whole list on GoodReads!
In the feminine art of receiving, money gives you back your time and creates space, so that you can slow down enough to actually be present in the moments that matter. The ripple effect, as you help clients earn more - if they implement - is that they too receive more time and space, to do the same.
The overflow of your well-being, including your wealth, is that it awakens the same energy in others. If you give (the masculine) that wealth or create magic in receiving (the feminine), allowing, that wealth, the energy of wealth still overflows from you, to those you engage. Here, ease and flow are born, and that energy creates abundance.
I understand that it seems unnatural, in the feminine, that we are the only beings on our planet that pay to live here - a consensus I have found among my feminine (not feminist) peers. Until the system changes, though, know that love energy continues to show up in what is available - in how we engage with it. Today, that energy shows up as many things:
self-acceptance and self-love (embracing diversity, uniqueness) instead of comparison (conformity, sameness),
collaboration instead of competition,
self care to overflow instead of selfishness to the detriment of others,
paradox instead of contradiction,
… and money. Money gives our love greater reach.
I would also like to invite you to consider that doing business in a feminine way - whatever that looks like for you - is also more readily supported by increased revenue. This often means a greater command of your schedule - of the additional time and space that your wealth has created.
The Inherent Invitation
In everything I say or write, remember your individual sovereignty i.e. your wisdom, your innate ability to make the best decisions for your own life, in your own time, without advice. In fact, that stands, with everything you read, see, hear, from everyone else too. From there, I invite you to let in what resonates, here, and peaceably release the rest.
The invitation inherent in this article, is to get paid, and release any guilt or shame around that. (If it helps, I share how releasing our own judgements can free us from that guilt, in this video). I say:
Acquire wealth. “The Science of Getting Rich: The Proven Mental Program to a Life of Wealth” by Wallace Wattles, inspired me.
Contain, grow and save it long enough to meet your needs and enjoy some of your desires. This is your own, personal wealth baseline. It sparks excited, creative energy.
Share of the overflow. It is here that the sense of healthy excitement in generosity is born. This is different from the sense of obligation that feels like “we all suffer together”. It is thriving, making that sustainable, and only when you're stable, helping others to do the same.
There is only abundance, so we can all thrive. When you have an excess of time, energy and money, that's when you can give consistently; not when you're drowning. Giving can be monetary, client discount, pro bono, all that it is recommended you do not do until you can really afford to.
I hope this inspires you. You are worth it, and so are those who truly need you, whole. 😉
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About Crystal-Marie
Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, keynote speaker, author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her business talks are around mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity and focused productivity. She also delivers corporate training around client-centric social media strategy. 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. Serve better clients, better. Connect with Crystal-Marie at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com
