257 | What My Father's Death and a Record-Breaking Heat Wave Taught Me About My Business

257 | What My Father's Death and a Record-Breaking Heat Wave Taught Me About My Business

This past month handed me two things I didn't plan for: my father's death, and a record-breaking heat wave that made our apartment in Bordeaux uninhabitable for two weeks. Both came back-to-back, with no warning and no gradual transition. Just: life arriving and asking everything to hold. In this episode, I'm sharing what those two experiences revealed about my business and why I think this is one of the most important (and least talked about) aspects of building a sustainable business as a woman. Because here's what I know now: your business either holds you during the hard seasons, or it doesn't. And the gap between those two versions isn't luck. It's a design choice — one we need to make long before the crisis arrives. I'm also talking about the IFS parts that make it so hard for many of us to build this kind of infrastructure, the longer arc of where I am in my business right now, and the one question I want to leave you with that will show you exactly where your next layer of work is. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: You've invested in healing. You've grown your business. Your work changes lives. So why doesn't your income consistently reflect the depth of what you offer? Discover what's missing between your inner work and sustainable business growth in my free live training, Open Channel. Created for spiritually mature women entrepreneurs who are ready to build a business that's steady, profitable, and true to who they are. Click here to join. [https://www.programs-saraavantstover.com/training] Follow me on Instagram @saraavantstover [https://www.instagram.com/saraavantstover] Subscribe to my Sunday newsletter on Substack [https://saraavantstover.substack.com/]. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your support helps us reach more spiritually attuned women entrepreneurs who need these insights. Thank you for tuning into the her Self podcast, and I’ll see you next week.

256 | Signs You're in a Codependent Relationship With Your Business

What if the most exhausting, dysfunctional relationship in your life is the one you have with your business? For many of us — especially those doing soul-led, heart-centered work — the line between who we are and what we do has become almost invisible. We don't just have a slow week. We are a slow week. Rest feels unsafe. Worth lives in output. And somewhere along the way, devotion became dependency. In this episode, I'm sharing what living in France is revealing about work, identity, and the kind of exhaustion that comes from fusing with your business rather than being in relationship with it. This is an invitation to untangle, to choose sovereignty, and to discover what becomes possible when you stop being your business — and start truly leading it. Resources: * her [https://www.herselfceo.com] Self CEO [https://www.herselfceo.com] * Subscribe to elle-même [https://saraavantstover.substack.com/], Sara's Substack * Joie de Vivre Retreat [https://kripalu.org/experiences/healing-heartbreak-womans-path-devastation-rebirth]at Kripalu * The Self-Led Woman Retreat [https://kripalu.org/experiences/self-led-woman-internal-family-systems-and-spiritual-leadership-retreat]at Kripalu * Connect with Sara on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraavantstover/] * Connect with Sara on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/saraavantstover]

255 | How Substack Is the Platform That Finally Rewards Women of Depth

If you've been exhausted by what visibility has required of you (the hooks, the reels, the constant performance for an algorithm that doesn't align with your values), keep reading. Two months into launching my own Substack, elle-même, I am going all in on the platform I believe finally rewards what women of depth have always brought: real voice, earned trust, and ideas that can't be flattened into a caption. In this episode, I share what I've discovered about Substack as a visibility path for women in spiritual entrepreneurship: why it feels like social media did back in 2010, why I believe it's structurally aligned with a more feminine, relational way of being visible, and why I'm helping the women I mentor get over there too. If you're a healer, coach, therapist, teacher, or wisdom-keeper who wants to share your work in ways that feel enjoyable and authentic to who you are, I encourage you to listen in today. Resources: * Subscribe to elle-même [https://saraavantstover.substack.com/], Sara's Substack * The French Art of Slow Living [The French Art of Slow Living ]Retreat at Kriplau * The Self-Led Woman [https://kripalu.org/experiences/self-led-woman-internal-family-systems-and-spiritual-leadership-retreat] Retreat at Kripalu * Connect with Sara on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraavantstover/] * Connect with Sara on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/saraavantstover]

254 | When Your Business Finally Reflects Who You Are

There's a particular kind of relief that comes when your business finally starts to reflect who you actually are. And I need to warn you, not every business conversation sounds like this one! In this episode, I'm joined by three women from the current cohort of her Self CEO — Courtenay Mastain, Reise Tanner, and Anna Pell — for an honest, intimate conversation recorded at the very end of our journey together. What you'll hear is rare: a real-time glimpse into what shifts when your inner work and outer work happen in the same container. These women come from different backgrounds, different businesses, and different seasons of life. And yet the thread running through all three of their stories is the same. When your business finally reflects who you are, everything changes. If you're standing at your own kind of threshold, you'll find yourself in every one of these women's stories. Doors to the April cohort of her Self CEO are open for a short time now. Learn more and join us: herselfceo.com [http://herselfceo.com] Resources: * her [https://www.herselfceo.com] Self CEO [https://www.herselfceo.com] — doors open now * Subscribe to elle-même [https://saraavantstover.substack.com/], Sara's Substack * Connect with Sara on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraavantstover/] * Connect with Sara on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/saraavantstover]

253 | You Don’t Have to Exhaust Yourself to Deserve Success

There's a belief many accomplished women carry that we rarely say out loud: if it didn't cost you everything, it doesn't count. In this episode, I trace a pattern that followed me from late-night finals in college to leading week-long retreats around the world. The belief that success and depletion are two sides of the same coin. And I share the moment a therapist asked me a question that changed everything. We explore what happens when accomplished, high-functioning women stop performing leadership and start participating in it, and what becomes possible when you let go of the belief that it all has to cost you everything. If you've ever worn your exhaustion as a badge of honor, this is your invitation to set it down. Resources: 1. Join the free workshop [https://www.programs-saraavantstover.com/open]: Open Channel 2. Subscribe to Sara’s Substack [https://saraavantstover.substack.com] 3. Connect with Sara on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/saraavantstover] 4. Connect with Sara on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraavantstover/]