LISTEN TO EPISODE HERE | WATCH EPISODE HERE

3 Truths That Would Have Saved Me $160K and 5 Years

If I could go back and whisper something into the ear of the woman I was five years ago, I would say this: You are not broken. You are just remembering who you are.

There are three truths that would have saved me over $160,000 and five years of spirals, second-guessing, and burnout masked as ambition. They would have kept me rooted when I was tempted to chase someone else’s blueprint. They would have reminded me that sustainable business is not just about performance. It’s about presence.

If you’re a soul-led coach, creative, healer or entrepreneur trying to build something that truly feels like home, not just something that performs well on paper, this is for you.

Because here’s what most business spaces won’t tell you: you can do everything "right" and still feel like something’s missing.

You can hire the mentors, refine the funnel, create the content calendar, hit the milestones, and still feel unsupported.

You can be fully booked, praised by your peers, and still feel invisible inside your own work.

You can lead a program with dozens of clients, yet feel like a fraud.

And the worst part? You start to believe the problem is you.

But it's not.

You’re just remembering how to lead from a different place. One that doesn’t require you to hustle your way into worthiness.

Let’s name the three truths that would have changed everything for me.

Truth #1: You Are the Strategy

Not your 90-day content plan. Not your niche statement. Not the perfectly curated brand aesthetic.

You.

The single most powerful strategy in your business is the energy and integrity you bring to it.

In the early stages of my business, I outsourced my power to every strategy I could find. If someone promised a 6-figure roadmap, I bought it. If a mentor told me to write my content a certain way, I followed it to the letter. I printed the scripts, tweaked my bio, and launched the offers I was told would sell.

Some of it worked. Clients signed up. Payments came in. From the outside, I looked successful.

But I felt hollow.

My voice felt borrowed. My offers felt manufactured. My business felt like a machine I was constantly feeding, rather than an expression of who I am.

I was exhausted. And disconnected.

Because strategy without soul becomes a performance. And performance, over time, leads to burnout.

What shifted everything was this simple but radical truth: strategy is not the script. It’s the state you’re in when you show up.

When you build a business that is grounded in your nervous system, your values, and your energetic truth, you begin to magnetise clients not just with your offers, but with your presence.

That’s when things click.

You don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to be here.

Your job is not to mimic someone else’s blueprint. Your job is to be the current.

Because when you build from that place, your business stops being something you manage, and starts being something that holds you.

When you're the strategy, you become more than a brand. You become a beacon. People are drawn to resonance, not perfection. When your business carries the vibration of your truth, those who are meant for you will find you.

There’s deep relief in this. No more pretending. No more pressure to constantly perform. Just you, standing in your essence. And that’s what truly magnetises.

Truth #2: Every Investment Sends an Energetic Signal

We’ve all heard it: "If it scares you, it's the right move."

But here’s what most people don’t say: Scary only leads to expansion when your nervous system is ready for it.

I once invested $30,000 into a high-ticket mastermind with a mentor I deeply admired. The pitch was seductive: scale with ease, embody your next level, become magnetic.

I wanted that. I was desperate for it.

I was also terrified.

But I told myself the fear was a good sign. That the stretch would force me to rise. That putting that money down meant I was serious.

What actually happened was this: my nervous system collapsed. Within weeks, I went silent. I couldn’t show up in the group. I doubted every piece of content I created. I questioned everything I’d built. I felt smaller, not more powerful.

Not because the container was harmful. But because I wasn’t resourced to receive it.

I had placed all my hopes in the mentor, expecting her process to fix me.

It didn’t. Because I wasn’t ready.

Here’s the truth: every investment you make sends an energetic signal. Not just to your business, but to your body.

If your body doesn’t feel safe to receive the growth, the money, the visibility—it will shut down.

Your subconscious will interpret the investment not as an opportunity, but as a threat.

That’s why so many people ghost their own programs. Not because they don’t care, but because their systems go into freeze.

This is why I now ask different questions before I invest:

• Am I anchored in the identity this investment calls me into?

• Can I be seen at this level without spiralling?

• Am I choosing this from trust or desperation?

If the answer is fear, I pause.

That’s not resistance. That’s wisdom.

Because sustainable growth is built on safety.

When your nervous system is regulated, everything expands. Your capacity increases. Your decisions become clean. Your business becomes a place where you can grow—without fracturing.

The energetic signal doesn’t come from the size of the payment. It comes from the clarity and conviction behind it. You can make a modest investment and feel expansive. You can drop tens of thousands and still shrink if your body isn’t on board.

Learning to listen to your body before your ego makes the choice is a skill. One that will save you thousands—not just in money, but in emotional labour, recovery time, and confidence.

Truth #3: Strategy Without Identity Will Always Crack

I once had a business that looked perfect on the outside.

Clients. Revenue. Waitlists. Praise.

But internally? I felt trapped.

I was over-delivering. I was carrying emotional labour I hadn’t agreed to. I was answering messages at night. I was constantly "on."

And the truth? I had built a brand rooted in people-pleasing and proving.

It looked aligned. But it wasn’t anchored.

Because my strategy wasn’t built on who I really was.

I’d created offers that met the market’s expectations, not my own.

And slowly, the cracks began to show.

What I’ve learned is this: strategy that doesn’t reflect your core identity will always break under pressure.

Because it’s not real.

Real strategy is built from the inside out. It reflects your values, your gifts, your capacity, and your cycles.

When I started rebuilding from that place, everything softened.

I raised my prices. I redesigned my offers. I wrote content that actually sounded like me. I honoured my energy, instead of overriding it.

And suddenly, clients arrived with ease.

My income stabilised. My calendar cleared. I started enjoying my work again.

Because I was no longer hiding.

This is what it means to lead from identity.

To let your business be a mirror, not a mask.

When you embody your identity, your brand becomes unforgettable. You stop trying to be relatable and start being real. You stop hustling for validation and start radiating clarity. You become an energetic match for the clients, opportunities, and growth you’re truly aligned with.

How to Make This Tangible

You don’t need to burn everything down to apply these truths.

You can start now.

Step 1: Redefine Your Strategy From Within

Take 15 minutes to journal:

• What parts of my business feel heavy, performative, or forced?

• Where am I mimicking someone else instead of trusting myself?

• What would a business that honours my nervous system look like?

Let your answers guide your next steps.

Step 2: Audit Your Investments With Compassion

Before signing up for a program or mastermind, ask:

• Who am I becoming through this investment?

• Is my body regulated enough to receive it?

• Am I making this decision from trust, or urgency?

If the answer feels shaky, pause. Regulate first.

Step 3: Build Strategy on the Foundation of Identity

• Sell from truth, not trend.

• Create containers that reflect your energy, not just industry standards.

• Launch from presence, not pressure.

Let your strategy emerge from who you are becoming.

Sustainability is not a fluke. It’s a result of building something that aligns with how you actually want to live. When you lead with identity, you create offers that energise you. You attract clients who respect you. You show up not to prove, but to serve.

What I Would Tell the Me Who Didn’t Know This Yet

I’d tell her:

You don’t need another template to prove you belong. You don’t need to discount your brilliance to be chosen. You don’t need to rush.

You are already enough.

Your power doesn’t come from hustle. It comes from honesty.

Let your business be an ecosystem that supports you, not a stage where you perform.

You are allowed to change your mind. To pivot. To rest.

And the clients meant for you? They’re waiting for your truth.

Not your polish.

There is so much more available to you when you stop outsourcing your power. When you reclaim the truth that you are the strategy, everything shifts. Growth becomes nourishing. Visibility becomes empowering. Business becomes an extension of who you are, not a mask you wear.

A Final Word

If something in this post stirred you, if a part of your body softened while reading, or a quiet voice inside whispered, "This is it," then you’re not alone.

You’re not late. You’re not broken. You’re just remembering.

Your leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about becoming more of who you really are.

The version of you who can lead with tenderness and truth? She’s already here.

Let’s build the business that honours her.

Come say hi on Instagram @jessica.read.ilc I’d love to hear what landed for you.

Your Invitation to Reconnect With Your Truth

If you’re still here, reading this line, I want to offer you something deeper. An invitation. Not into a program, but into a new way of relating to your business.

Because the truth is, most of us didn’t become entrepreneurs just to make money. We became entrepreneurs because we wanted freedom. Freedom to create. Freedom to choose. Freedom to show up in ways we couldn’t inside a traditional job.

But somewhere along the way, the freedom we craved turned into another kind of cage.

We started building businesses that looked good online but didn’t feel good in our bodies. We started following strategies that drained us, not because they were bad, but because they weren’t ours.

And now, many of us are in a reckoning. A remembering.

Remembering that our worth is not tied to our income. Remembering that our value doesn’t require over-delivering. Remembering that our leadership can be soft, slow, intuitive, and still powerful.

This is the revolution. Not in burning down what we’ve built, but in gently reshaping it to honour who we are now.