That Tiny Voice is Telling You Something | Ep. 017 - Emily Johnson

Join host Lynn Debilzen in this inspiring and down-to-earth interview with Emily Johnson on Redraw Your Path!

In this interview, Lynn learns about Emily’s journey working in the alcohol industry to pursuing a career in holistic nutrition, and how this shift marked the beginning of Emily's personal development journey. Their conversation touches on:

• Ways to listen to the little voice inside of you even when it’s buried or hard to hear
• How to take stock of who inspires you and who you spend time with, and how important that awareness is to achieving your goals
• Strategies for dealing with burnout and the importance of listening to one's intuition when making significant life changes

Tune in for a dynamic discussion on life and growth!

About Emily:

Emily is a Burnout Coach for female professionals helping them stress less and live more.

Connect with Emily:
Website: https://www.alignwithemilyj.com/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-burnout-podcast/id1531157512
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-johnson111392/ 
Find her on other socials: @alignwithemilyj

Resources mentioned:

• Lauryn Evarts Bosstick: https://www.theskinnyconfidential.com/about/ 
• The Rest Deck (Tricia Hersey @thenapministry)

Connect with Lynn:

• www.redrawyourpath.com
• www.lynndebilzen.com
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynndebilzen/

Transcript

Lynn: 0:00

Hey friends, I'm Lynn Debilzen and welcome to Redraw Your Path, a podcast where I share stories of people who have made big changes in their lives and forged their own unique paths. I talk with guests about their moments of messiness, fear, and reframing on their way to where they are now. My goal is to inspire you about the shape your life could take. So let's get inspired. Hello, hello, my friends. I hope you're having a great week. I'm really excited to share this lovely interview with Emily Johnson. Emily is a burnout coach for female entrepreneurs, helping them stress less and live more. Emily has the best bio ever because it's one sentence. full disclosure, Emily and I worked together. I hired her as a coach to help me with burnout and burnout prevention and Honestly, it just had really phenomenal results in her program. so I invite you to listen to this interview, hear how her path has been shaped and also to start applying some of what she shares to your own journey. Enjoy and let me know what resonates. Emily, it is so great to see you and have you on Redraw Your Path today. How are you?

Emily: 1:23

I'm fabulous, Lynn. It's so good to be here.

Lynn: 1:26

Awesome. okay, so let's, let's dive right into it. I want to hear a little bit more about your background. So can you share with listeners some context about where and how you grew up?

Emily: 1:40

Absolutely. So I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. And I am the middle child, well at least for 10 years, one of four kids. So you could say that my upbringing was a bit chaotic. There was always, a lot of rambunction in the house, my mom had kids starting at 21. And so there was a lot of energy in the house. which was beautiful and amazing. I have a lot of memories of playing outside with neighbors. We did move around a lot, which is interesting. now that I'm very much into the personal development world, I'm always like analyzing, Oh, I moved four times and it was really hard for me to make friends in sixth grade. And that's why I'm like this. so it all is part of the journey,

Lynn: 2:20

did you move around within the Bay Area? So you were always in the same, region?

Emily: 2:25

So this was pretty crazy. I was born in, the Bay Area and then at seven years old, we moved to Los Angeles. So that's a pretty significant move at that age. And then I was there for two years and then moved back to the Bay Area. but in different areas. And so it's not like I just nestled back into the friends that I had and I moved in sixth grade and people where I grew up were so catty. And I just had a lot of experiences with bullying and I had a really hard time making friends. And, I think that has a lot to do with, some of the things I'm working through these days, but besides the point, maybe we'll get into that later. But, there was a lot of love in my childhood, absolutely. And I definitely grew up very privileged and I had everything that I need. yeah, here we are.

Lynn: 3:07

Cool. I love that. Thank you. And thanks for elaborating on staying in the Bay Area, moving around. one joke that, my boyfriend and I have right now is every time he referred to the Bay Area, he said, the Bay Area of California. And I finally had to be like, hey. Hey, I know I'm in the Midwest, but I know what you're talking about. So, okay. So grew up at one of four children. it sounded like to your mom was pretty young and lots of chaos. I love the word rambunction in the house. you said when you came back to the Bay Area, you, really experienced cattiness and like bullying and things like that during your childhood?

Emily: 3:48

Um, have a lot of, unfortunate memories of bullying starting in sixth grade because I was the new person. I didn't have any friends and the area I grew up was a very privileged area. And I think with that comes more cattiness, it comes more superficial vibes and, that can be anywhere in the world too. But I think specifically the area I grew up was a bubble of very privileged people. And with that is. Parents raising more kids who aren't self aware, who aren't very kind, who aren't the best sharers, have the best manners, that kind of thing. while there were beautiful people in the communities that I grew up, there was, there was also that. And so with that, I experienced bullying and that actually was a huge part of, my journey, I would say, is experiencing that from a young age. And then even through high school, it was,

Lynn: 4:42

kids can be really, really, really tough. And I think especially girls. And it's interesting that you mentioned privilege because I think where there is no drama, we create drama and, and division. And that can be really, really tough for, kids and especially teenagers growing up. do you feel like with your upbringing, did you gain any, were there any external pressures or expectations placed on you or like molds you didn't ask for from your family?

Emily: 5:18

That's such a good question. And I was reflecting on this today. I think the biggest thing that has stuck with me today is my, my parents, neither of them came from very wealthy backgrounds. And so my dad had his programming of I need to work really hard. I need to make a lot of money. I need to provide for my family. And so he was always really hard on himself to be successful and to succeed and to provide and be that masculine energy in the house. And I think he's always been really hard on himself. And All of my siblings, including me, we're all very hard on ourselves. And that's all part of the journey I'm on now too, is recognizing that, accepting it and doing the work that I need to, to not be so hard on myself and to, take the pressure off, which, I could talk about for hours, as you know, Lynn, so I would say that was a big belief in our household was, be successful, start a business, make money, like to be happy. And yeah. whatever. that was something that I experienced, but I will say my parents were very Open minded in terms of us pursuing our own interests and passions. And they did instill in us, like anything's possible. If you work hard, if you want to go, you know, work towards a dream, do it. And I don't think I would be on this entrepreneurial journey if it wasn't for their, that belief system that was also instilled in me.

Lynn: 6:37

That that's really beautiful. And it's interesting because I hear when you said he really pushed you all to be successful and really work hard. I didn't hear academics come out in that necessarily, but a focus on success being and correct me if I'm wrong, but success being seen through the lens of are you making money? Are you able to, thrive in the financial aspect? Was that? Was that true? Did you feel that?

Emily: 7:04

Yeah, definitely. And. It's funny that you mentioned academics because my, my, so my first sister, she was very, first sibling energy went to a great UC, Davis college and, she was really academic. I was, and I'm the second child. I was not academic at all. I honestly barely graduated high school. I was like, C's get degrees. I don't care. I almost didn't go to college. I didn't even want to go to college. and I was very much I'm just here because I have to be here and I hated school. and they were never putting that pressure on me to do well in school. It was kind of odd like looking back, they let me just kind of be a bad student, they would ground me but they weren't the best motivators to get me to take school seriously. yeah, there was no pressure with academia, which is nice in a way, because it allowed me to figure my shit out on my own, and I didn't really have that, you have to be a doctor, or you have to be a lawyer, or get into finance, it was never like that. It was more, it was almost like they were two hands off, if that makes sense.

Lynn: 8:10

Ah, interesting. It's interesting, doing these interviews and talking with guests, there's such a spectrum of, ways the parents can be, and they never get it right, right? Or they always get it exactly right, and, kids just learn from that or they learn certain messages either way or whatever way it is. I'm curious and, and then I want to hear what you're up to now, but like I'm curious when you think back to high school Emily, what was the path or what was the life path you saw for yourself? Were you thinking about that at that time? Mm

Emily: 8:48

no, I was very much live fast, die young mentality, I lacked a lot of confidence. I lacked self love. I was just so disconnected from who I was and who I wanted to be. When someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I couldn't tell you. I'd be like, I don't know. the role models I had growing up are ones that I do not look up to now. Let's just put it that way. And I think too, I grew up in that era of Paris Hilton, girls next door. And so I looked up to these beautiful celebrities who weren't really making a difference in the world. And I, that was like kind of the path that I thought I would be on was, just get by on my looks and not really have to worry about getting a job. And I just didn't really allow myself to think that I was possible of doing what I'm doing now, essentially.

Lynn: 9:44

Yeah, it sounds like something really like meaningful or impactful on the world. You were thinking like, probably not consciously, but you were thinking like, we'll keep it pretty surface level, just kind of coast on and see what happens.

Emily: 10:02

Definitely. And I definitely had a mindset of, marry a man who's going to provide. that was always my mindset for a good chunk of my life, which is fine if that's your path. But now that I'm more connected with my authentic self, that's definitely not the mindset I have.

Lynn: 10:20

Yeah, well, okay, let's talk about the authentic self. I like to bookend with guests. So we started with where you grew up. Let's hear about, where and how you're currently spending your days.

Emily: 10:33

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm married now. I'm in Canada, Vancouver. I, spend my days Growing my business. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a burnout coach for female founders, women in business. And currently building a business, building my career and working towards being a better version of myself every single day. Not perfect, but inspiring others to do the same as

Lynn: 10:58

Awesome. Love that. Thank you for sharing. And full disclosure for listeners, that's actually how Emily and I met. listeners know, or will know eventually, I've suffered from burnout like three different times, three different cycles. And, as I was going through a job search and then, I decided to start a business, but had no idea what that was. I could feel myself going towards burnout again. I joined one of Emily's programs and it was so, so helpful, for me just to get some, some supports in place and be able to prevent myself from going down that path again. so awesome. Okay. we know where you started right now you're building a business. You're helping women entrepreneurs. focus on burnout and recovering and preventing that. let's go back in life again. what was the first big way that you redrew the path that Emily was taking?

Emily: 11:51

Yeah, this is This was by far the biggest moment of, of my personal development journey. This is kind of when my personal development journey began was when I was working in the alcohol industry. So I was a alcohol rep for brands like Kettle One, Smirnoff, Don Julio, Captain Morgan. And, That was my job was to market and sell these big brand alcohols in San Francisco. And that was in my twenties. It was really fun. I drank a lot. I was partying a lot. I was out like every night. My lifestyle did not reflect my deepest core values, which I wasn't aware of at the time, but I had this little voice in my head telling me, this is not your path anymore. You're meant for something different. There's something else out there for you career wise and life wise. And so I listened to that, after 10 million hangovers, I was like, okay, I'm done after dating losers. I was like, okay, something's got to change because I was kind of going down this pretty self destructive path in my twenties and started in my teens. And I don't know, it's it's like my intuition finally spoke loud enough that I was said, okay, I'm ready for something different. And I think by having those thoughts of okay, let's, let's change, let's do something. The universe listened and it responded. And so I had an opportunity to move to Canada, pursue an interest in holistic nutrition, and that's kind of the first part of my journey was leaving the alcohol industry and pursuing something that I was interested in, which was holistic nutrition.

Lynn: 13:35

I love that. I love that. Okay. I'm so curious because you mentioned that little voice inside of you, your intuition. how did that show up for you in the beginning? what was the first moment that you realized that little voice was showing up?

Emily: 13:52

Okay. So what I used to follow, I still follow this one woman on Instagram. She's really big. It's Lauren Everett. She's big blogger. And she influenced me to start journaling. And I remember I had just ended a relationship with this like toxic guy. And that triggered me to feel like, fuck this. Like I don't deserve this. Like I need to make some changes. And so I started journaling and I just, just like random little journaling moments that I started to have in my morning routine and I started developing a morning routine and I started to build this self awareness without me realizing it at the time, and I started to kind of cultivate this massive life transformation. I had no idea that was about to happen. It was that little voice kind of keeping me going of, try out journaling, try out blogging or, look into pursuing a career in health and wellness. I had this like tiny voice and it was like these little moments that kind of triggered me to just think differently and to look at my surroundings and realize okay, the way I'm living my life is not aligned with how I see my future in five, 10 years.

Lynn: 14:59

So you started surrounding yourself. it sounds like with this person, this woman on Instagram, and you started surrounding yourself with some different Messages. And then you started creating a routine for yourself. I'm assuming, okay, so flashing back to my time in like the service industry and when I was like a Miller girl, like this is 20 years ago, Miller girl. And I was a Bud girl and would

Emily: 15:22

So is I.

Lynn: 15:24

And so I'm imagining your morning routine is at like 2. 30 PM in the afternoon because

Emily: 15:30

totally.

Lynn: 15:31

that's how the day goes when you work in that industry.

Emily: 15:36

Absolutely. Yeah. And it's funny because yeah, like I would. I would wake up, I would do a morning routine, whatever, but. Yeah. Like after, after you wake up with a hangover and you're like, okay, like I can't take care of myself today. that was getting really, I was just getting so tired of having to drink for my job and to be social. I was just getting really burnt out of that. And one other thing I really want to touch on too, with listening to that voice is also a huge thing for me when I decided to make these massive life changes was I looked up to people or I asked myself like, Who do I look up to right now? And the people I felt really inspired by were not sitting in a bar stool at 4 p. m. On a Tuesday. Right. Yeah. So that was also a huge part of my journey was just following what made me feel good.

Lynn: 16:25

I love that. How did you decide on holistic nutrition? how did you realize that that made you feel good?

Emily: 16:33

Well, I've always loved cooking ever since I was a child. My parents are big cooks and I just loved being in the kitchen from day one. but I wanted to learn how to cook healthy and I truly, I thought Studying holistic nutrition was going to be so basic of like spinach has vitamins and minerals and this is how you make an omelet. Like I literally thought going to nutrition school, that's what I was going to learn. But I've quickly found out holistic nutrition studies is a mind body soul experience. And I learned our Ayurveda, I learned biology, I learned how our organs function. I learned so much more that I ever could have thought I was going to learn when I signed up for this, this course, so this whole year of learning. So it's pretty funny how I thought it was going to be one thing and it ended up being like so much more in depth, which was a good thing at the time for me.

Lynn: 17:20

Yeah, well, and it sounds you almost thought, you're gonna get some, culinary experience and figure out how to do the things. And it seems like you got, much more than you were hoping for in terms of a transformation. Is that true? Hmm.

Emily: 17:39

Oh, for sure. I love this example because the Emily who's began nutrition school in 2019. Was completely different than the girl sitting here right now. I remember meeting a girl the week I started school who didn't drink alcohol and was vegan. And I had so much judgment on her. And that just goes to show like the type of person I was, right. I was like, boring. She doesn't drink and she's vegan. ew. That was like my mindset. And it's so funny because now it's like, Oh, I just appreciate, a vegan approach. And I appreciate, and I really admire people who don't drink. I think that's the coolest thing ever. And so my whole point is I was like, Oh yeah, like this is going to be an interesting year, like whatever, we'll see what happens. And it honestly catapulted me into this whole world of health and wellness, which I am so grateful for.

Lynn: 18:30

I love that. And it sounds like you grew to accept not just others, but yourself as well through that process.

Emily: 18:40

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

Lynn: 18:42

Cool. can I ask, do you remember, as you were going through that year, what you saw for yourself as like an endgame or, or even just what you saw for yourself as a next step after that program?

Emily: 18:57

Yeah. so earlier I mentioned the people that I looked up to, they were all in the health and wellness space. I just really admired people who were making a living making recipes and creating workout plans. I'm like, this is the dream. And so I went to nutrition school with the intention of starting a business. so that was always kind of the, the idea of growing online business, help others and serve

Lynn: 19:22

I love that. I love that. okay. So you headed up to Canada to go to school, Was school in Vancouver also?

Emily: 19:30

It was in Vancouver.

Lynn: 19:31

Okay. so what was the next big way you redrew your, path?

Emily: 19:36

Yeah, I think. Just embarking on the entrepreneurial journey in itself has been the most spiritual experience that I have ever been on. It's opened my eyes and perspectives towards healing and my own development journey, and that was just a massive wake up call. To I guess, step into this next version of myself, because as as a business owner, you, you have to be good. Like yourself has to be good in order to thrive in your business, in order to serve others best. And so there was a huge learning curve and there still is a massive learning curve as I continue to grow and scale my business.

Lynn: 20:21

Girl, that's why I listen to your podcast because you're reminding me of that all the time. So I was like, you have to take care of yourself first. You have to be good. I love that. okay. So you knew you were going to, go into business and then it ended up becoming much more of a spiritual journey than you thought. What was that about? Can I ask more? can, can you dig into that a little bit more?

Emily: 20:45

Oh, absolutely. when you start your business, you are so bushy tailed and wide-eyed, and it's, you're running on that excitement piece for so long, and then you start to feel like you're on the hamster wheel. And if you don't prioritize your mental, spiritual, physical, emotional self, then. You're not going to succeed in the ways that you want to succeed. And so by starting this entrepreneurial journey, I had to really learn about myself, my triggers. I had to become the most self aware version of myself as I could. I had to learn to not be so reactive, right? When you're in a business and you get a rejection, you can't let that spiral you for a day or a week because you, you gotta keep going. Right. I mean, I'm so grateful because if it wasn't for entrepreneurship, I don't know if I would be so committed to becoming that best version of myself then had I not started a business.

Lynn: 21:49

I love that. I love that. And, and it sounds like through that, and even just going back to the Emily that was working in the alcohol industry, you weren't committed to being the best version of yourself at that time. you were committed to just having fun and, Doing all the crazy things and enjoying life and not even thinking about, who is the best version of me. so at that point, your business was specifically a nutrition business, right?

Emily: 22:17

Mm hmm. It was.

Lynn: 22:18

Okay, okay. So I know that's what, not what you do now, technically. so what big turns came from that point?

Emily: 22:28

Yeah, absolutely. So I burnt myself out running my business or trying to run my business, I should say. And I kept noticing patterns. I first burnt myself out when I moved to Canada, I was a full time student. Again, I was working part time at this like really terrible gym and I was so stressed and I noticed how. I just, I didn't feel like myself. I definitely was fighting depression and anxiety, all of these really intense things that you go through during these massive life transformations. And so I saw this pattern of burnout, stress, anxiety, not feeling good enough, over and over and over again, since I moved to Out of the alcohol industry into this new massive life transformation. It's been a roller coaster, but with all of that, I finally healed. And again, I'm not perfect, but I've learned so many tools. I've done so much research and education. Getting yourself to be that best version of you so that you can show up to those things that are most important to you. so I decided to pivot from nutrition consulting to burnout coaching because I had gone through it so many times. And also more specifically, entrepreneurship is so near and dear to my heart. I love talking entrepreneurship. I love talking mindset strategies to get you there. To that space of, of growth and healing so that your business will thrive. And so that's when the pivot happened from nutrition to burnout. And it's been, I can't believe it's been two years now, since I've pivoted from nutrition to burnout. It's crazy.

Lynn: 24:03

That's awesome. Well, and I want to ask too, as you were going through, burning out yourself and you were probably holding this vision of well, I am like a health and nutrition coach. So therefore, I. am the epitome of health and nutrition, or should be, the, like, toxic word should. But, were you holding any narratives about yourself as you were going through that burnout? Or, what was happening in your mind, in terms of how you saw yourself?

Emily: 24:34

Oh, absolutely. I guess even more recently too, as a burnout coach and someone who is continuing to develop her skill sets and, do the things necessary to be successful. I still have those narratives of, Oh my God, like I spiraled today. Who am I to be coaching other women struggling with the same struggles. Right. And so I share this to share, I'm not perfect, but what I do know is that certain tools and certain mindset approaches can help you and that's what I'm here to do is to teach and to serve and also not to be a guru, not to be, this perfect superhuman, but it's to be authentic and raw and share that. Yeah, like I still experience a lot of moments of challenge in my journey and I still have that struggle of imposter syndrome or that negative narrative of, Oh my gosh, like I'm so burnt out. Like how, how am I supposed to help others when I'm feeling this way? But the good news is I have the tools in my back pocket to quickly bounce back versus two years ago when I was like, Hey, This is taking months to get myself back to a normal baseline.

Lynn: 25:41

well, and I love that I heard the phrase, who am I to? And, just that thought of, well, I do struggle with this. So who am I to help others? And I think just that reminder of having been through it and having that lived experience yourself, makes you probably the most qualified person in the world to help someone else through the same thing. So it sounds like you stepped back and took the time to rewrite those narratives for yourself and just get under some of those limiting beliefs. Emily, I did not prepare you to do this, but I'm curious. So one of the tools you taught me, that's made one of the biggest differences and I used it this morning is the limiting beliefs exercise with the voice recording. Can you share that with listeners? do you feel okay with just like giving an overview of what that is and how you use that tool?

Emily: 26:39

Oh, absolutely. So what I'll give a quick background on what limiting beliefs are, and then I'll share an exercise that you can do on a regular basis. So really quick. When we grow up from like zero to seven, our minds are very spongy and they're absorbing so much. And a lot of what we absorb is how we are showing up today. So you could say that as a 31 year old, you're showing up from a wounded place of a five year old, which is so crazy to think, but a lot of these patterns that we're holding onto are causing us to feel very limited in our lives. And so the first step to identifying limiting beliefs is, well, you have to be self aware, you have to start really reflecting. You can ask yourself some questions of, So let's say you want to heal burnout, but you're feeling so much resistance towards healing burnout. What you should ask yourself is, What would it mean and what would it look like to actually heal burnout? And I want you to list and think about all the reasons or all of the outcomes of healing burnout, what that would look like. And what you're looking for is a, an answer that makes you feel something. For example, if you're struggling to heal burnout and you ask yourself, what would it look like to heal burnout? It would look like I would rest more. And then maybe you have this limiting belief that rest equals laziness, which is not true. So subconsciously you think rest is lazy. And that's why you can't heal burnout, because maybe you grew up in a household where both your parents worked so hard and they didn't rest. And so you think that success equals working hard and struggle and challenge and so that's ingrained in you. And so, once you can identify these limiting beliefs of burnout. Thinking, for example, rest is lazy. Then you can start to create new narratives for yourself and new belief systems. And a way you can do that is just by making a list of affirmations that are opposite of those limiting beliefs. And the next step is that you can record a beautiful recording of your own voice of all of these more positive affirmations that support and debunk that limiting belief that you have. then once you have that recording, you can listen to it every single morning when your brain is in that theta brainwave state. So theta is that spongy absorbent state from zero to seven when you're absorbing everything that's theta brainwave. And so you're in that state right before you go to sleep at night and right when you wake up in the morning. And so by feeding yourselves these positive affirmations and new belief systems, you're rewiring your brain. And this is all just neuro linguistic programming. This is, hypnotherapy you could say. And so these are one of my favorite tools to teach my clients and I also do it every single morning and every single night.

Lynn: 29:25

Love it. It made such a difference for me. And at first when you were introducing this exercise in your program, I was like, okay, fine. And when I finally did it, I noticed a difference within a week. And it's interesting. and I love that the example you used was one on rest. Because one of the tools I now have is I bought, the rest deck from the nap ministry from Tricia Hersey. And so it's just like cards that talk about rest and they talk about rest as a way to fight oppression and to fight oppressive capitalistic systems. And just being able to reflect on that, but then also rewire my beliefs about burnout, but also money and health and all of the things. it's been really helpful and I, yeah, I listen every morning, to my, recordings and I, I love it and it makes me feel like this little surge of energy and, yeah, and I think it's something I'll continue to do and I'll continue to, get under the hood of what belief is stopping me from achieving this thing and, re recording again and again.

Emily: 30:38

Oh, absolutely. You'll see that months will go by and you're like, Whoa, so much has shifted for me. I have to rerecord this because this is no longer relevant because I've rewired my brain. And so I'm showing up differently. So yeah, it's such a good tool. I love it. I love that. You love it.

Lynn: 30:55

Yeah, I do. So thank you for sharing. Emily, any other ways that you've redrawn your path since kind of moving into focusing on burnout?

Emily: 31:05

Yeah, this is a, this is actually really great to share. I think you'll appreciate this. So I was in Mexico in December. my husband and I have been traveling for the last six months and our first stop was Mexico. We got a terrible food bug or stomach bug, whatever you want to call it. And then I got heat stroke like five days later. And so basically I was out of commission for two weeks and I'm sharing this because I did not feel like myself. I felt so drained and depleted. I was sick in a foreign country. I had to get a shot in my ass to, to feel better from heat stroke. It was terrible.

Lynn: 31:41

Mm-Hmm.

Emily: 31:42

when you're that sick, you like, do not feel like yourself. You don't feel like showing up. You don't feel like you just feel like I'm completely drained. I'm depleted that there, I have nothing left to give. And with that experience, I was questioning everything. I was questioning my business. I was questioning my career. I was questioning, what am I even doing on this earth? it was this weird epiphany that I had of, am I following my authentic path is this serving me as what I'm doing every day in my business, serving me. And I had this whole like, kind of just, yeah, epiphany, you could say of, okay, something's got to change. I don't feel aligned anymore with what I'm doing. And so with that came a small shift. It's not huge, but before I was focusing on burnout in professional women. And now I'm focused solely on burnout for female founders, entrepreneurs, women in business. And so it might not sound like a big deal, but that was an experience where I really had to get silent and listen and allow myself to not do anything for a good six weeks. I was like, I'm not showing up. I don't, I don't feel the energy to show up. I need to give myself a break and some time to sit with this. And that was a really recent experience where I had to redraw my path.

Lynn: 32:56

Yeah. I love that. Thank you for sharing. Also, don't love that you were sick and had heat stroke. As, as someone who, when I was a Peace Corps volunteer, I had heat rash for a year and a half, and yeah, it was. It's so miserable. And I, I know having just come up, come off of, being like down and out from the flu, like when you're sick, you do question everything. You think you're going to be feeling like this forever. can I ask, cause you said, so for six weeks, I just didn't do anything. And I made that quiet space. tell me how, how did you do that? what were some of the things going on in your mind that allowed you to do that?

Emily: 33:35

Well, I think the first step for me was I had to accept that I was not in a productive mindset and it was also the time around the holidays, the beginning of the year, and everyone is like, end the year strong, start the year off strong, and, that's the energy of the new year, which usually I would be on board with, but, I was like, Nope, I have no desire. And I listened to that. And so I, I just removed myself from social media. I don't think I sent any newsletters. I was very, I just didn't show up to the things I normally show up to every week. Of course I was supporting existing clients, but besides that, I literally wiped everything from my calendar. I'm like, I need some time to just be still and reflect and see what comes up for me. And so obviously as a business owner, that's really hard to do. Obviously as a burnout coach, that's hard to do. Right. But I really listened to that. and I said there's no point in showing up when I'm not going to show up at my best self. There's no point showing up when I'm not feeling aligned anymore. There's no point showing up and selling services that I just don't feel like fit the mold anymore for me. And And I'm grateful I listened to that because now I'm feeling so much more aligned and, excited versus feeling like I was pushing a boulder uphill, if that makes sense.

Lynn: 34:50

Yeah, I love that. And it sounds like, before that, your business was, I don't want to make any assumptions, but your business was probably, like, fine, you were helping people, but that that deep awakening of what is my purpose on this earth, what am I uniquely fit to do, shifted for you in that time. And that, that led to that values alignment, and the alignment with. your, purpose. Is that, is that right?

Emily: 35:21

Yeah, absolutely. I just, I'm not kidding. I was bedridden for two weeks. And so you're thinking a lot and It's so weird. It's yeah, it's like, it's like an awakening. So just okay, I feel like nothing matters except me feeling better right now. I don't care about anything else. And it also helped that I had a huge month of travel in January, which also I think is important to note because I originally thought, Oh yeah, I'll travel India for two weeks and still work and do the things I normally do. And I thought I was going to be able to show up and prioritize the business while traveling, but because I got sick, I was like, Nope. I'm actually just going to enjoy myself and I'm not going to put that pressure on myself and solely took a month off, which was, really, really, really nice to do. And had I not done the work to accept that and to trust, everything's going to be okay, nothing bad is going to happen by me taking time off. I wouldn't have been able to enjoy myself as much and just give myself the grace and the space to heal.

Lynn: 36:20

So the world didn't end when you

Emily: 36:23

Exactly. Exactly. Everything stayed the same. Nothing happened.

Lynn: 36:29

Cool. And your people that you're helping, probably loved you even more when you came back and have been sharing about this journey and realization. Because you're leaning into who you are authentically and sharing that with the world. Emily, any advice you would give to others who are considering redrawing their paths?

Emily: 36:53

Oh man, so much advice. I think the first thing is if there's a small voice telling you to do something that's not going away, that's your intuition and that's you having to listen to that. I think a lot of people are scared to listen to that or they think, they have fear, so they don't listen to it, but we grow when we're uncomfortable, we grow when we're scared. And so that tiny voice is telling you something for a reason, listen to it. I would still probably be in the alcohol industry had I not listened to that, I would have kept climbing the corporate ladder. and I would have been so out of alignment, five years Later, but that would be my biggest piece of advice is listen to the voice. Also, who do you look up to? Who inspires you? See if you can have a conversation with them, see if you can have a coffee with them, see if what they're doing is something that you would want to do. I think that was really big for me was I listened to who do I feel inspired by? Who has the career that I would want? and it's never too late. It's never too late to change your career, to change your path and to start fresh.

Lynn: 37:58

Cool. That is such helpful advice. And yeah, I think listening to that, listening to that voice, connecting with who inspires you, and even just whether it's just connecting from a person to person connection or doing that informational interview, and remembering it's never too late. Love, love, love that. I appreciate you so much. Where can people find you and is there anything you would want to share with listeners?

Emily: 38:30

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm really active on LinkedIn, Emily Johnson. That might be hard to find me. So find me through Lynn. I'm on Instagram aligned with Emily J and I also have a podcast breaking burnout. So definitely find me there. I do offer one on one coaching and I will be launching a community very soon for women in business. So I'm really excited about that. Make sure to follow along and stay updated. so yeah, those are all the ways you can find

Lynn: 38:56

Cool. Thanks, Emily. Yeah. And I want to plug that podcast. If you like what you heard today, definitely go listen to Emily's podcast because it is her, just dropping nuggets of wisdom all over the place. And it is, it is beautiful and so helpful. thanks so much, Emily.

Emily: 39:13

Thank you, Lynn. That was so much fun.

Lynn: 39:17

Thanks for listening to Redraw Your Path with me, Lynn Debilzen. If you like the episode, please rate and review. That helps more listeners find me. And don't be shy, reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn and sign up for my e-newsletter at redrawyourpath.com. I can't wait to share more inspiring stories with you. See you next week.