The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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At the end of 2025, I remember sitting on a call with my former group coaching program clients, squirming.

Someone had asked me one of those questions business coaches get a lot: How should I write this email so it will land best?

I realized, as I hedged, that I didn’t want to give the person an answer.

Or, more honestly, I DID want to answer them. I wanted to yell loudly that no one could guarantee that the email would land well. That there was no secret recipe to success. That all the questions people were asking about offers and strategies and services were pretty much entirely missing the point.

It took me a while to see this. Since 2020, I’d been a mostly satisfied business coach for freelancers, answering these exact kinds of questions on 15+ hours of calls per week. I helped you figure out your pitches, your website, your emails. I positioned you towards what I knew— after coaching hundreds of people— was probably the best practice and the most likely chance at success.

But so often, someone would thank me profusely… and then take absolutely zero action. Or worse, they would try to take action and be met over and over with rejection.

It was in 2025 that I started to notice a clear distinction between the clients I coached whose businesses were thriving, and the ones who’s weren’t.

It wasn’t their emails or their website, or the language in their LinkedIn bio. It wasn’t their funnel or their email strategy.

No, the distinction between the ones who had big results, and those who didn’t, was underneath all those tactical pieces.

It was, to put it in simplest terms, their inner sense of belonging.

During those calls, in the final months before I closed the group coaching program entirely last year, I tried to explain this. I would say something like:

If you want results, the best chance you have is showing up and dedicating yourself to this community— to being seen in the highs and the lows, to settling in so you can feel SAFE HERE.

Because once you feel safe, you become more creative. More creativity means more ideas that are unique to you, and outside the box. More creativity = less scarcity. And once you try out those unique ideas with an experimental mindset — not afraid to mess up because you are already safe and you already belong— you get data, which makes your future actions more precise, which THEN leads to a very effective strategy that’s tailormade for you.

^^ This is how you send an email that lands.

Which is why no coach can give you a perfect recipe.

Said another way: It’s not about WHAT you do, it’s about HOW you do it.

It’s taken me a long time to be able to put this into words. What I say often, these days, is I can’t give you my strategy. I remain 10000% convinced that you must arrive at it yourself for it to work. Because if I give you a strategy I’ve used but you’re still curled up in a ball of fear and scarcity and panic? No dice. If I help you write emails that come laden with an energetic tone of “please choose me” because you’re afraid you’re not worthy, I guarantee you that no one will respond. Or if they do, they’ll be people who resonate with your tone scarcity, which will turn into many, many more problems down the road.

Your internal safety — self belonging, self knowledge — matters more than pretty much anything else when it comes to this business design game. Why? Because words are a tiny part of communication. The energy beneath it reads, whether you want it to or not.

When you come into this work needing something and expecting to get it from someone else, you’ve already lost. Which threatens the very infrastructure of so much of the business coaching industry, no?

Think about it: The Yap Challenge won’t make you rich like Jessi Jean. Not because her curriculum is bad — I’m sure it’s quite good, actually, and it probably gives you a small dose of her energetic approach to the world. But her success, in the first place, came from learning how to belong to herself!!! She showed up online regularly, learned how to be cringe and have her own back, and did not need you to like her. In doing so, she magnetized HUGE results.

It’s not the hooks. It’s about her energy of self trust.

Any coach out there who’s offering a playbook you can follow to make a kajillion million bucks or go viral or find dream clients MUST be approached with skepticism, more than ever before. Because the market is shifting faster than ever. And believe me when I say: What helps you win isn’t the strategy. It’s the way you belong. (Also, once you belong, you probably won’t even care about winning, but that’s another post for another day.)

What I know is that so many of us are coming online looking for proof that we are good, that we are lovable. Of course we are, because we’re also being separated more than ever before. For many of us, 95% of our interactions are now happening online. But here’s a hot take: I don’t think the internet can create any of the belonging we seek. Only people— uncomfortable, messy, chaotic, honest PEOPLE— can create that kind of safety within us.

And that, unfortunately/ fortunately takes time.

These days, I find myself wondering often if I am a business coach. Don’t get me wrong, I loveeeee a good business strategy session. I love experiments. I love games. I can see business models like puzzles, and adjusting them to bring them into integrity brings me joy.

But as I get further into my mastery as a coach, my integrity will not allow me to give you a strategy without looking at your foundational beliefs about your own value, without inviting you into being deeply known first.

Just this last week, our World Builders’ Air Council wrapped up — a 6 month sacred circle program. This cohort had 9 individuals in it, plus a supporting coach and me. As a cohort of 11, we moved through all kinds of wild experiences together: Divorces, client losses, launches, full time job offers, big revenue bursts, the deaths of family members, kids going off to college. I could go on and on.

We were together for 26 weeks total. And the results people took away from the program spoke to something I struggle to explain, but showed up in our final call together. We all sobbed as we reflected each other’s magic to one another. The group KNEW each other so well — and when you feel seen, you melt. You come home. The results looked something like this (their words, not mine):

I am in charge of my life now.

This has been the most transformative year I’ve had in myself and in my business.

I now know I can just declare what I want, with confidence, and it will likely be met with consideration because of my own confidence.

I just find myself so “sure” of myself and what’s next.

I’m feeling internally sourced instead of second-guessing myself or looking at other models of doing and being.

Yes, these humans made more money and got more followers and all those other things. But if I had to trace their results, they look something like this:

Show up vulnerably with a group of people who are committed to you → make an effort with those people → be coached with precision, by people who care about you → face your shadows and internal blocks bravely → settle down in your nervous system over time because for possibly the first time, people have your back → suddenly have 97 ahas about your work and your identity → start to implement without needing permission and generate big results without attachment.

I could go on about the research on co-regulation, but I won’t. That’s a full post for another time. I’ll only say: There’s still so much to learn about shared energetic fields, but I think it’s a huge part of why some programs out there give us the ick. On some level, we realize the energetic field is poisonous. Choose wisely. Because a loving, kind, creative energetic field can make all the difference.

And also: We’re so apt to think that the results we seek will make us feel the way we want — free, connected, easeful, confident, etc. As it turns out, people’s love can also help us feel that way. And often, we have to CHOOSE to feel that way, to opt into community, even when it’s inconvenient to do so.

There is no journaling prompt for this, no big takeaway, only this:

When you invest in your business, please invest in belonging first. In showing up over and over with the same group of people. In being known, actually known, deeply known (as you really are, not as your performative self).

This is the foundation so many people are missing right now— and I think it’s because it’s so simple yet tremendously challenging. Because it requires vulnerability and investment. Because it’s non linear.

But I’ve coached thousands of founders and creatives now and I can tell you this: When you belong— to yourself, to those around you— you feel safe.

The safe person is the one you want to hire.

Rather than paying for a strategy you can copy, consider learning how to BE that safe person for yourself and a sacred circle of humans first.

And so it is.

xo,

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Book a 1-1 Seer Session with me to get clarity on your mission as we enter September.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters. Here, we study the seasons, ask big questions about intuition, creativity and career, and embrace new ways of moving and being.

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Before we get into it: I recently met Elysha Johnson, the founder of Open Tabs, during a coffee chat. She helps ambitious women rethink the way they work — in business and at home — so success stops being so exhausting. I adored her perspective and wanted to point you towards her work because I think many of us need this right now. She writes honestly about what it actually looks like to rest and stay productive inside the demands of a full (sometimes overflowing) schedule.

read her work here

We’re officially in Virgo season, friends. Can you feel it? The Virgo sign depicts a young woman (a “virgin”) carrying a sheaf of wheat — and what I LOVE is that in ancient times, a virgin was a term for a woman who belonged to herself and didn’t rely on anyone else. The wheat she’s holding symbolizes harvest and hard work — bringing things to practical use.

All of that put together points us toward a month (August 22- September 23) of earth magic. Of productivity without drama, of reaping what we’ve sown, of belonging to ourselves more than ever as we step through this eclipse portal.

As I sat with this theme those of us who are World Builders this month, a few themes arose that I want to bring to you to consider:

Virgo theme 1: Setting emotion aside and just Doing The Thing with neutrality.

Virgo is known to be very orderly — very “all my ducks in a row,” and a bit of a perfectionist at that. While the perfectionism over-shoot can be unhelpful, what we learn from Virgo is that sometimes order can help us move. Sometimes putting things into an actual strategic plan can aid us more than it suppresses our freedom. Sometimes we need to separate our emotions from our actions.

Personally, this month has really pointed me towards owning my emotions and keeping them out of my business. As World Builders grows (and she’s growing A LOT!!!), I need to think of it like a job. A job I love! A job I’ve given myself! But with more people working for me and more people joining the spaces I curate, my emotions about a thing matter less than my ability to hold down the fort — to hold a strong vision, and to show up steadily for what I’m building. This isn’t self denial; it’s more like maturity.

This is likely true for you, too. This month of August has been a doozy for many of us. Okay, scratch that — 2026 has been a doozy for many of us! The emotional waves and identity shifts and panic cycles have been profound. But this month — for the next 30 days, until the end of September really — the invitation is to set up a boundary around your work. To approach it from as much neutrality as you can muster. To be in that CEO/ grounded leader energy you’ve been working to establish.

For example: I sat down last night and created a 4-month revenue and action plan to scale World Builders’ revenue significantly, to create stability for me and my team, and to operationally design our company so more people can join and be held with integrity. It felt like an “okay, just do what you know without being dramatic” kind of moment. And that’s what Virgo is saying to all of us:

It’s time to take action without emotional clutter. It’s time to peel back what isn’t working and choose efficiency. It’s time to cross your t’s and got your i’s. No shame, no spirals, just pen to paper/ fingers to keyboard/ mouth to mic.

The questions to walk with:

• What does it look like to show up for the vision of the world I want to build this month, with action at the center and emotions processed but not interruptive? (Ie. What do I continue to do, and what do I set a boundary around and stop doing?)

• What does it feel like when everything is In It’s Place with my work and life?

Virgo theme 2: Picking new rhythms and routines that match who you’ve become.

If you’ve been here for a while, you I chafe at routines. I prefer to call them rhythms, because I’m not the girl who can show up every day at the same time, to do the same thing, in the same place. I know I’m not alone in that.

But at the same time, I’m also SURE that you can feel that back to school energy in your bones right now: The desire to get back to exercising, or to recommit to meditation, or to simplify your diet. I honestly think THIS is the routine reset moment for most of us (not in January) — the natural moment to come back home to our bodies after an expansive, wild, feral, hot summer.

I sat down the other day at my altar, and was immediately hit with a desire to have AN HOUR of quiet time each morning before my family wakes up. Y’all, I am not a morning person — at all. But that’s what my body, soul and heart are asking for, so I’ll be spending the next 30 days attempting that routine.

Virgo is an earth sign, which means it’s going to ask you to come back to your own personal earth: your body and your seasonal foundations. Our nervous systems love a routine, an expected pattern. AND, it’s worth saying, that pretty much everyone I know has changed a lot this year — which means your rhythms probably need to change to match who you’re becoming, too. If you need ideas for frequency tune ups, because this is THE WORK for most World Builders (to choose the frequency you’re working at, rather than being buffeted by everything around you), I wrote about it a few weeks ago:

The questions to walk with:

• How have you changed since April (the last fire sign month) when it comes to your identity and mission in the world?

• What new rhythms could you put into your days to support the person you’re becoming?

Virgo theme 3: Expanding from the earth (deep roots) not the fire.

First, I pulled an “earth magic” card from my favorite oracle deck a week or so ago, when I asked about what I was meant to learn in the eclipse portal. Then, last week, I got very sick with a UTI that went up into my kidneys (do not recommend, but also very revealing as the kidneys are tied to foundational energetics and anchoring the breath in Chinese medicine). Then my acupuncturist CALLED ME OUT for taking action from *waves her arms around* all the airy and fiery inspiration rather than my rooted, earth-centered knowing. She said my body was overwhelmed, depleted, struggling to organize itself. (She’s not wrong!!!)

All of which is to say: There are several ways to create action. During a “do it” month like Virgo season, you may tend to revert back to your older patterning (same, girl) if you’re not paying attention. For most of us, that’s a very scattered, big action pattern with emotional waves that feel exciting and also terrifying. Yes, it gets things done. But it depletes us.

But there’s another way to expand, and that’s via a deep root system.

Virgo season invites us to think about how to grow from deeper rhythms, from a connection to our foundational needs and selves. Also, we just came out of Leo season, which has a very delulu vibe!! It was fun — AND now we’re being invited to slow the pace down just a wee bit. Because we need to be anchored/ rooted. Meaning: If the tree grows too fast up and out, it will fall over. It needs to reach down AND up in equal measure.

What does this mean in practical terms? For me, the quiet hour at the beginning of the day is part of it. That anchors me into not just what feels exciting (because many things feel exciting to me, hi shiny object syndrome) but what feels true. For me, rooted expansion is about the discipline to actually say no to many things so I can focus on a few. It’s also about making sure my fridge is stocked with nourishing food (prepped on Sundays) and my calendar leaves space for exercise. It’s a foundational, steady, quiet kind of growth.

The questions to walk with:

• What’s on offer right now that’s just a shiny object, and what’s an actual, deeply rooted, soul’s path action I’m drawn toward?

• What distinguishes one from the other?

Virgo theme 4: Harvest = hard work entered into with consent.

So many of us have trauma related to hard work. To productivity. To hustle culture.

I get that. Most of you here are retired corporate stars. And sometimes Virgo can be a bit triggering for us, because it IS asking us to work hard.

Seasonally, we’re entering harvest right now. And if you think about a farm, THIS is the season of hardest work. We’ve been tending to crops all summer. And now? This is the final burst of action. For the next 60ish days, we show up from dawn to dusk. We pick, we preserve, we distribute. Then we settle down for a long winter’s rest because what we’ve gathered will last us through a slower season.

Virgo asks us to focus on that harvest. It also asks us to COMMIT to that harvest. (Trauma is so often caused by not consenting to the way things are. For those of us in hustle recovery, choice is everything!! This month, you’re being asked to choose. To show up for what you’re building. To be brave. To say yes to the routines. To expand in that rooted way. It’s very, very athlete coded.)

This month is going to feel very to do list-oriented, like showing up for what you’ve been talking about but not really following through on. I think this might feel like a relief for many of us, honestly. Let the harvest begin.

The questions to walk with:

• What action or ritual could I set up to commit to the energy of Virgo — of showing up for harvest — with intention and consent?

• And, knowing what I know about myself, what does it look like for me to step into that action-taker mode and make it healthy/ safe?

The message to take with you:

You’re ready. You’re ready to take the idea from your notebook and start bringing it into the world. You’re ready to design a game plan to grow your audience. You’re ready to make that money you’ve been resisting. You’re ready to invest. You’re ready to get back into movement and meditation.

YOU ARE READY FOR WHAT YOUR SOUL IS CRAVING!!

The pattern of this spring and summer has been preparing you for this, like the main character in a novel. The changes in the world have exposed what’s not working in your life. You have clear eyes, now. You’ve wrestled with your identity, your belonging, your wounding all summer. You’ve grieved. You’ve patiently waited during this eclipse portal (August 12- August 28). And now, it’s time. It’s time to set emotion aside (not ignore it, but not act based on it) and DO.

It’s time to act. (Act comes from the root to drive.) It’s time to choose the action that comes from your inner knowing. It feels like a quiet action, to me. The kind you don’t share with the world. The kind you just show up for because something in you knows its time.

AND: August 27th and 28th (depending on where you are) is the partial lunar eclipse in pisces AND the full moon. It’s a great day to release. To say goodbye to whatever you’ve been lingering on and working through these last few weeks. To close the loop and open the next era.

It’s a great day to make that commitment I talked about above. Because the universe has your back — I believe this very much — but to see results, the universe also requires YOUR active collaboration.

Virgo season says: Let’s drive.

The best is yet to come.

xo,

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Book a 1-1 Seer Session with me to talk about your unique harvest plan for this fall.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

Alright, my friends. Many of you have asked for an altar training this month, so I’m dropping every detail of my altar-building approach here.

I sit with my altar at least a few times per week, if not daily. Sometimes it’s a simple five minutes, and sometimes it’s a full hour. This space is where the idea for The Council dropped in. It’s where I started to play with my intuitive ability a few years ago. It’s where I processed my many emotions all spring, and a place I turn to when my nervous system is wildly whacked out from parenting. Most of my business strategy work starts here. Yes, really.

For me, altar work is about coming home to myself and listening to what’s true for me rather than emulating other people.

A few things to note before we dig in:

First, “altar” comes from concepts meaning elevated, high or to burn/ sacrifice. As I said above, for me setting up an altar is about creating a sacred moment for myself, apart from your regular life. Altar building does not need to hold religious connotations, although it might for some people.

Second, you can set up an altar anywhere with just about any materials. Your altar could be your desk space, a tree stump, a blanket on the ground, or a stone surface. There are a lot of approaches to creating altars across different spiritual perspectives, but I’d encourage you to choose what works for you and leave the rest. What I’m sharing today is 100% unique to me; it’s inspiration, not a rule.

Third, I owe a lot of my practice to teachers like Nisha Moodley and Camille Craft. Both women helped me come up with sacred rituals that felt uniquely me, with foundations mixed in. Nisha helps women create altars for the soul of their work. Camille teaches ritual basics, especially tied to money. And this is how altar trainings have worked through the ages: A person you respect passes her knowledge down to you. You edit, adapt, then pass it down to someone else as well.

Materials to grab for your altar

If you’d like to actually set up your altar while reading this post, you’ll need:

• A clear surface. The stone base I’m using in these photos was something I found at TJ Maxx (very cheap, highly recommend). Stone is much easier than wood when it comes to cleaning melted wax.

• Candles. I use single-burn ones from my local witchy shop. Tea lights will work. One single bigger pillar candle is just fine as well. In the ritual below, I’m using four single burn candles.

• Something to clear your space (optional). Sage, palo santo.

• A deck of oracle or tarot cards (optional)

• Ornamentals: Flowers, shells, spices, stones, crystals

• A bit of salt and a spoon

• A journal to write down anything that comes to you

Step 1: Cleanse and clear your space

Before I begin my practice, I typically open the session with breathing and lighting a stick of sage to cleanse myself and my space. To me, this is a practice of being intentional about what I let it and what I’m releasing. I exhale out anything stagnant, anything left from past ritual, anything from my day I don’t want to carry into the space with me.

An altar practice is about creating a small container where life’s pressures cannot intervene. I have an owl tattooed on my arm for this reason — as a reminder that my wise self needs space and quiet to process and listen.

Step 2: Set up your altar

Salt represents a protective boundary in this practice, and I love the intentionality of it. A salt circle made clockwise on your altar indicates that you’d like to manifest (to invite something new into your life). A counter-clockwise circle indicates that you’re showing up with the intention to release something(s).

My friend Annie often says that magic is simply focused intention. And in a busy world, that focused intention can create wild results. This is why we use salt: It’s about declaring this space sacred. A circle is also a closed loop — nothing comes in or out — which is why it’s the style of facilitation I prefer for our Councils. It’s safe by design.

Next, you’ll pick four objects to place at the north/ south/ east/ west points of your altar. I’m using crystals here, in the photo below. Out loud, you’ll invite in the directions as you place your items:

• “I invite in the energy of east, of air and springtime and illumination, of flow and hope.”

• “I invite in the energy of west, of relationships and harvest, of water and fluidity, of change that honors expansion.”

• “I invite in the energy of north, of a winter’s retreat, a dark cave, the shadowy realizations that become eventual foundations for our lives.”

• “And I invite in the energy of the south, of heat and fire, of summer and activation.”

“And so it is.”

Then: Candles. Place one in the center, or set them up at the four corners. With the candles, I’d encourage you to pick a set up that feels creatively interesting and intuitively correct for you. Sometimes, I practice with one candle. Sometimes, six! This is where you may want to revisit that intention of inviting something in or releasing something, and ask what candle set up represents that action, for you.

Step 3: Add ornamentals

Sympathetic magic is the concept of choosing like objects to magnify your intent. As you can see below, for this altar, I chose shells (to invite in the power of the ocean, and to represent clairaudience — clear hearing); flowers from a local farm in a deep purple, which represents a regal/ queen energy; snapdragons, which are bursts of color that feel like the abundance of late summer; and a few stones. This altar looks (and feels) like wealth to me.

Some options to play with:

• Bring in specific colors to represent how you want to move (green = growth and harmony; white = fresh starts/ purification; etc)

• Grab spices from your kitchen (cinnamon = wealth, warmth and protection; oregano = joy, basil = divine connection; etc) and roll the candles in these before you set them up

• Pick items out from your yard (veggies from the garden, fall leaves, feathers)

• Create a card with symbols or words that feel important to you right now

• Add coins or anything representing wealth to an altar for a money ritual

The idea is to create a work of art that’s full of intention, where each item brings meaning to the tapestry. Think seasonal, invitational and colorful. That said, sometimes my altar just has one candle and a circle of salt. (Sometimes the symbolism of simplicity is what serves us best.)

Step 4: Open up the ceremony

Out loud or in your mind, say: “I now invite and invoke the highest and most optimal energies to come into my space and support my understanding, well being and clarity.”

Candles still unlit, close your eyes and imagine a grounding cord from your tailbone, reaching into the floor all the way towards the center of the earth. Breath and imagine that center channel opening up: Inhale, draw energy up. Exhale, send it back down. Many of you will be able to create a scene in your mind from here (or you can join any of our World Builders programs to study with visualizations). This part is up to you and at its most complex, you may step into a scene with wise guides and ancestors and spirit animals. At its simplest, you might simply sit in the stillness for a few moments.

When you’re ready, no matter the scene you’re in, bring forward the question or intention of the ceremony. Then ask those wise guides (or simply your wise self) what is obvious in the situation. If something is clearly ready to be released, write it on a piece of paper. If you’re looking for an answer (or you’d like support with your release ritual), pull an oracle or tarot card.

You may feel a nudge to pull more than one card, which is fine. This is all a practice of listening to your intuition!

Continue to follow nudges: Write, visualize, breath. If you need to move your body, do so. I like to turn on binaural beats to help me settle in, and I often wear noise cancelling headphones because children. Sometimes my ceremonies are two minutes long. Sometimes, they’re two hours! Depends on what I’m working with.

Step 5: Light your candles

As the final step, once you’re ready, you’ll light your candles. I like to speak intentions into being as I light them. For example, if I’m releasing something, I’m going to say that releasing statement out loud as I light the candles. “I release tension, a lack of self trust, and my worries that someone might judge me.” Each candle gets a piece of this intention. Then I would burn the paper with those words on it, sitting there for 30 seconds with my eyes closed, imagining the weight of that pressure falling off my shoulders.

If I’m intending to bring something new into my life, I’ll speak that into existence as I light the candles, too. For example: “I am now ready to receive more ease, a body that feels safe, and new clients.” Each candle gets one of these intentions. Then, I’ll sit and imagine everything working out, as if I’m watching a movie and seeing myself receive the intentions I’ve put into the candles.

Before you wrap up, thank your ancestors, wise guides and yourself for the intentional time: Hand on your heart, deep inhale and exhale. It’s important to intentionally close the loop.

I try to let the candles burn all the way down to solidify the intentions; fire is a form of activation, so the idea is that you let the fire burn all the way through. If you need to leave the house, you can put them out, then return later to re-light them. If you’re using a pillar candle, let it burn until darkness falls or until you go to sleep.

Bonus add ons:

1. Adding a mirror to your ritual brings in the energy of amplification and seeing yourself clearly. You can play with this symbolism by building your altar on top of a mirror (so beautiful!) or setting a small one next to the candles.

2. Water is another tool often used in altar work. Placing a glass of water next to or on your altar infuses that water with the symbolism you’re working with. Many people like to take that water and any ornamentals (like flowers) into a sacred bath later that day.

3. You can return the elements of your altar to the earth after you’re done with the ritual. I like to do this with any salt or flowers or garden items I’ve gathered. I also wash my stones with water and put them back into their storage space after using them.

4. You CAN use the same altar set up for multiple ceremonies, especially if you’d like to contemplate one challenge or issue for an extended period of time.

Questions? Thoughts? Experiences?

I’m here for all of it! We study intuitive work like this in the Council, as well (check out the month 5 curriculum) and I often lead sessions like this in The World Builders Collective, too.

Happy ritualing.

xo,

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Book a 1-1 Seer Session with me to talk about your unique harvest plan for this fall.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

Feeling tension about money? My signature money program, THE ACHE, is now open for self-paced enrollment for the month of August with $50 off using the code GRATITUDE as a thank you to y’all for supporting my work here. (I have 30 paid subs now!!!!) The ACHE is an immersive program built to help you understand the difference between wealth and money, come up with new ways of acknowledging your own financial trauma, and offer perspectives about how money wants to meet you in your next era (with play! joy! creativity!).

Learn more here

This morning I took some time to reflect on the past eight months of my personal financial growth and panic. Today, I want to share some real-life numbers and real-life decision making with you because I think this kind of transparency matters in helping us all grow towards less stress, less trauma and more expansion with money.

For those who are new here: I’ve been in a massive business pivot for the past year-ish. I’ve gone from running a mostly 1-1 focused coaching business, to birthing World Builders, a collective with Councils mixed in. I’ve gone from straight business coaching to spiritual, community based programs that bring us back into connection with each other and ourselves. And I’m “on the other side” now — kind of. But Spring was INTENSE!

The trajectory looked something like this:

January: Closed down my long-time, business-focused group coaching program! Felt relief. Also felt scared. Had 22 1-1 clients I was still working with, so also felt exhausted and annoyed at my very full calendar. But the money was solid ($25k/ month), I had more time than before/ was carrying fewer people than before (wild, lol), and I was excited about the newness ahead. I could see World Builders as a body of work and she wanted my attention.

February: Met with my new coach for a 1-1 VIP day to set course. Invested heavily in myself and my own growth (acupuncture, personal training, coaching). Started selling a new Council, brought in a supporting coach for that Council, then realized I was now responsible for paying two people (both contractors) which felt scary. Got clear on the World Builders roadmap for 2026: Overwhelm! Joy! WTF am I doing energy!

March: Went all in on building systems for World Builders with my ecosystem architect, Andrea, thus speeding very far ahead of my audience (oops). People were like… what are you doing?! Panicked when I realized many of my former clients/ people didn’t get what I was building. Enrolled that new Council anyway with 9 incredible humans. Cried about unsubscribes, because there were many. Got a tattoo — a big one — that I constantly saw in my future self meditations. The old model of my 1-1 work started to fall away and my revenue started to drop with it.

April: Panic: Wow, revenue is dropping fast. All my former 1-1 clients finished up this month. Released a spring course catalog for World Builders with seven programs and immediately curled up in a tiny ball of panic. Didn’t want to deliver. Didn’t want to do so much alone. Didn’t feel like I was in alignment but also didn’t know what else to do. The old way of selling wasn’t working financially or strategically, but I didn’t have a new way yet. Money went stagnant because the old source was drying up. Felt myself retreating into survival mode. Hated it but couldn’t stop it. Down into darkness we go.

May: Fought the machine aka myself aka the old business paradigm I’d used for the past six years. Tried so hard to sell in the old way, to stay in my old identity, to be like I CAN HELP YOU because it felt safe. But the incongruence in my body made me nauseated. Literally got sick 3x. Revenue held in a mid-range, kinda okay but still scary way, dropping from $25k months to $17k. Felt too close to the “edge” with what our family was spending. Somehow also bought a new car (why?!) after receiving money from my late grandmother. Then had a “come to Jesus” moment about our spending, leading to me canceling the last six months of a coaching package with my coach because the math didn’t math. Felt so angry with myself for not being responsible. (An unfair assessment from the Jenni of August, but it felt very real at the time.) Took my business model to my husband and he was like: This isn’t working?! Your product seems broken. Felt like I was all alone in the wild west of an identity crisis and didn’t know how to solve it. Felt wildly grateful for friends who lovingly held me. Also: Still had to pay my contractors and somehow, also myself as the primary earner for our family. Ouch. Paid everyone but used up the cushion in the business doing so.

June: Financial bottom out. Had my lowest revenue month in years ($14k, which I know sounds like a lot but isn’t in a business like this). Panic. Frustration. Tears. Coming to grips to the actual numbers, with needing to change our family’s financial foundations because running a business with a constant financial grip felt like it might suffocate me. Forced to pull a lot of money out of savings to make things work, forced to reassess essentials in our family budget, forced to carry a debt on my business account. Also, though: Solutions! Husband stepped up to take on more hours and thus make more money, considered changing our kids’ childcare situation (emotionally so hard!) to reduce expenses massively, enrolled another Council to increase revenue with a new model (more accessible, less delivery, no supporting coach needed). Started to see The Collective clearly take shape as I talked to members, started to see myself clearly as a leader — because I was leading myself out of a compressive cycle. Realized: Oh, was this all about self accountability?!

July: Understood I’d have to go all in on the path ahead. No going back! Said yes because WTF, this is all a video game anyway. Lost any sense of embarrassment or performing. Bye bye, ego. The Collective started to take shape. TWO Councils enrolled. Officially pulled my kids out of childcare for the entire rest of the summer to reduce overhead. Cried about it a lot, then made an adventure list and got excited. Adjusted my schedule to work far less. Revenue came back powerfully, with a $21k month. Finally started to see things in a new way and realized I’d have to lead with my heart and my vision, not my fear. Realized that in all that fighting and wailing and panic, I’d somehow become the person I needed to be to save me, to lead not just a business but a movement!!

August (now!): Writing a new book about new paradigm profit, which I obviously had to live through to write. Working two days per week and playing in the sun with my kids. Facilitating three Councils. Living the calendar I begged for last year. Still not massively expansive with money but back in the safe zone and trending upward ($18k+) in a sustainable arc that’s on track for $25-30k months, not on a wild rollercoaster, not centered on me delivering everything. Realizing all my old rescue strategies do not apply and somehow calm about this. Studying energetic management and new paradigm norms like a MOFO and bringing on more team members (five and counting). Tons of collabs taking shape. Letting people support the vision. Thinking every damn day: Did I make it? I think I made it?!

Truthfully, there were MANY moments during the past 8 months when I wanted to quit. When I could not see what was coming for me clearly and felt utter panic and nausea. When the math wasn’t mathing and I couldn’t make myself hustle one iota more in the old way. When I thought: This is it. I have to get a job. After 15 years in business, this is the one that gets me!!! All is lost.

And to be honest: Much WAS lost. That’s the past that feels important to say!! I had to get over my ego so many times. I had to let go of things I said I never do so I could become the person meant to lead this mission, who does those things. I lost relationships, my connection to my community, and my own sense of harmony related to my work. I lost my center for a while there, thanks in large part to AI (more on that soon.) I became obsessed with making a million dollars, then lost my self confidence when I realized my integrity would not allow me to get there in the “standard” way. I lost my old self in this process, and much of my old audience, too.

And yet, I’m coming out the other side realizing much of what I shed, I am glad to be rid of. I feel lighter, clearer, closer to my more essential self, to my soul’s actual expression. Because that’s how this works in feminine growth:

We descend into the cave. The cave is dark and scary. Things die down there. Shadows come out to play down there. We see it all. We experience it. We tell tales of it. But we survive. And when we walk out of the cave, when we remember and ascend again, we return new. We’re reborn. Over and over and over again.

All I keep thinking this month is: THANK GOODNESS I’M HERE. And also: I asked for this/ lol/ laugh/ cry. In January, I literally did a ceremony with my coach where I dedicated myself to being the steward of World Builders, to stepping into being a visionary leader required for this mission.

The curriculum was more brutal than I expected. I will end 2026 with almost nothing I entered with, apart from my family and my marriage. And I think it’s probably true that I couldn’t take a lot of my old life with me — and certainly not my old financial perspectives — if I was going to be this kind of leader. That feels like relief and also, grief.

The financial nose dive is not new to me. I’ve seen it about a hundred times in my clients’ lives, in exactly the way I described above: They commit to a pivot, then everything falls apart and it is PAINFUL. Revenue sometimes slows to a complete halt because the old pathways/ old habits you’ve used to receive money are crumbling. And then, when things get bad enough, you rebuild — and typically, you rebuild better from this new perspective. Often, it’s also this financial necessity that forces a willingness to try something totally wild. And, of course, that wild one is the thing that often works.

There are a few lessons I want to pull out of this, for all of us. I’m putting these behind the paywall because they are very specific and share details about my family’s finances and decisions — and because the VIP tier of this space is where you come to commit to not just consuming, but TAKING ACTION. The action lives below.

Why does this matter? Whether you like it or not, we’re all moving toward a new financial paradigm. This month (eclipse season starts TODAY) is a great time to start to get very clear-eyed about what’s happening in bank account, what programming you’re still operating on when it comes to your money, and what’s actually essential versus what’s a desire that’s coming from your ego. Either you go now, or you go eventually — but we’re all going at some point! The longer you wait, the more work you’ll have to do to unravel what’s been.

I wrote about upcoming financial shifts in this post a while back:

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The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

It’s August! And because I’ve been talking about the themes of August near-constantly with all my Council members, I wanted to layer them into a full post for y’all, too.

As a reminder, today’s post is free but supporting my work here (via shares or financial backing) helps me spend more time writing, designing and building curriculum for you!

Alright, August! Which comes from the root word augere which means to increase, to make bigger, or to be sacred and majestic. That sets the tone!

First, I’m going to share many of the happenings in August. This isn’t an exhaustive list but it does draw from many different spiritual and cultural practices. Then, I’ll outline a few themes I’m seeing with some apt journaling prompts/ a game plan to help you stay steady throughout a month that may feel emotionally confronting but can be full of magical surprises if we’re willing to surrender control.

Here’s what’s happening this month:

First harvest festivals: Lughnasadh & Lammas

These two festival types mark the first grain harvests of the year. Typically, these festivals remind us that it’s important to express gratitude BEFORE abundance is guaranteed. The gatherings involve using the first grains to make bread, which is then shared with your local community. They also focus on the element of fire as a reminder that abundance requires sacrifice, that labor becomes nourishment, and that honoring community and nature is what makes future life possible. That seed we planted in the spring, then tended to during early summer, is now becoming a resource that creates community and nourishment. That’s profound!

If we look at the wheel of the year, we also notice these same early harvest themes. We aren’t in peak summer anymore per this calendar’s perspective, but we’re also not in full Autumn. This mid-season, in-between moment (can you feel it?) contains whispers that momentum might pick up soon, that the heat is headed away from us and not towards us. The grass starts to become gold, nights are getting colder and shadows are lengthening. But also, fruits are ripening and vegetables are ready to be picked! It’s a reminder to savor, to pick, to prepare. A new season is on the horizon.

The New Moon in Leo: August 12th

The New Moon in Leo on the 12th will ask us to notice what we can’t take with us into this new season, and to simplify anything that’s getting in the way of our progress and causing bloat.

Leo carries main character energy (more of that below) but it’s also a bit more cautious and avoidant of criticism than some of the other fire signs. And this month’s new moon asks you to consider what it would look like to let your main character energy come from your vulnerable heart space, not your ego and not from a performance that might feel safe but lack resonance. September brings a fresh creative cycle, but you’ll need to clear house a bit before you get there.

Speaking of Leo season (which will turn into Virgo season later this month…)

This past month, Leo has been inviting us to let our heart light become visible. And most likely, you thought becoming visible would mean feeling or looking more shiny or more professional. But instead, this month probably pointed you back to yourself. It’s probably still asking you to consider what it looks like to love yourself and the world, out loud. THAT is main character energy — the embodied kind, the kind that also requires reflecting on how much isn’t necessary in your life once you realize you’re already safe, when you’re just allowed to be you. Leo is also inviting us to think about what has grown this year that’s finally ready to be expressed.

Later this month, on August 22nd, we’ll turn towards Virgo season, which is a season of routine, action and goal setting. It’s giving back to school energy in a big way! What I’ve been telling my clients is that we’re still (until August 22nd) in a period of Leo-driven consideration. Some action, yes — but a lot of that action right now is less about building and more about clearing, simplifying, and centering essentials. It’s self-focused action. The Virgo vibe that’s headed our way? It’s the work hard/ big harvest energy. Right now, you’re calibrating in Leo to be able to harvest in Virgo and hold that effort sustainably.

Lion’s Gate: August 8th

The Lion’s Gate Portal (8-8) is a heightened period of manifestation, personal transformation and spiritual awakening. There are many takes on this day (and it technically spreads over two weeks), but I like to think of it as a gateway or an invitational gate. If we decide to step through that gate, it means we’re setting very clear intentions and releasing all the bloat so we can be met clearly by what’s on the other side of the threshold. It’s a great day for ritual work before we step into the Eclipse Portal.

And last but (definitely) not least: Eclipse Season

We have two Eclipses this month: One total Solar Eclipse on the 12th (yes, the same date as the new moon) and one partial Lunar Eclipse on August 27th/ 28th (also a full moon in Pisces). This means we’ll spend most of this month either in the shadow of an eclipse, or in the depths of the eclipses themselves.

Symbolically, many people consider Eclipses to be cosmic accelerator periods that fast track life changes and personal transformation. In many spiritual traditions, you don’t manifest or plan during this time; instead, you allow the universe to present you with items for review. You can think of it as being shown where you’re not in alignment, and being pulled out of autopilot mode so you can evaluate your path, your spending, your relationships and your actions.

I like to think of this period as an invitation into co-creation with the universe, and a willingness to accept criticism for the overall good of what I’m building. Because during this time, we (the humans) aren’t in the drivers seat! We’re letting the universe drive and responding in due course — which means you’d better expect the unexpected. The second Eclipse is happening on a Pisces full moon that focuses on emotional release and letting go of what no longer serves you, basically as a capstone to all that you’ve learned in the two weeks before.

How to use all these dates & happenings for growth this month

If you look at the events above, you’ll start to see a transformational arc. It goes something like this:

• The first week of the month asks us to celebrate the first harvest, no matter how small it is, and to share that celebration with others. This is an act of hope!

• During this first week, we will also become very aware (this has been happening since July) of what isn’t working anymore for us financially, relationally, personally and in our work.

• The second week of the month gives us a very clear moment (8-8) to intentionally release the things that aren’t working, then to open ourselves up for something new. This is a beautiful day for declaring that yes, you’d like to go on the eclipse-driven momentum ride for the rest of the month.

• Later that week, the first eclipse and the new moon solidify an energy of clearing away anything non-essential. On this day, ask how your heart wants to show up, and how you could step into leadership in a way that helps you love yourself and others more.

• After that, we’ll head into an Eclipse Portal that invites us to surrender all the way, to confront ourselves and our patterns as the universe demands, and to choose differently when we’re faced with these things. If we choose differently than we might usually during this portal season, things can change quickly.

• During the second to last week of the month, you’ll start to feel Virgo energy rolling in: An invitation to choose routines, to embody this new self, to create order.

• And at the end of the month, the full moon and lunar eclipse will make space for you to have a big cry. To cleanse. To release. To grieve with relief mixed in. To step into September lighter.

How can you use this trajectory in your favor?

Journaling & Action Prompts:

The first week of August:

• What small win/ harvest can you celebrate right now? And how can you bring others into that celebration?

• What is clearly not working anymore? What feels like excess, or over-complication? What is causing you more stress than it’s worth?

The second week of August:

• Plan a ritual session for 8/8. Write down what is not serving you/ what feels like excess that’s causing suffering. Be specific. Light a candle, read each thing you want to leave behind out loud three times, then declare, verbally, your readiness for something new. Burn the paper.

• What does it look like for you to unclench and un-grip enough to receive miracles and surprises for the rest of the month?

• If you were planning for an expansive life full of best-case scenarios, how would that change the way you move and respond to people, to life?

• How can you help your body relax these next 2 weeks so you can receive and notice more?

The third week of August:

• Every time you’re confronted with a situation that feels similar to one you’ve faced before, pause and ask: What does the version of me who trusts herself and the universe do in this situation? Then take a different action that you normally might.

• Practice responding differently by wearing different clothes, meeting up with new people, embracing a new routine and listening to new music.

• Keep note in a journal of what is being presented to you for evaluation.

The fourth week of August:

• Daily: Tune into your emotions. What is coming to the surface that wants to be expressed?

• Daily: Pay attention to your body. Where are you gripping?

• What have you ignored that now needs to be grieved, felt or expressed?

• Where does joy simultaneously exist for you, even in grief? Notice 3 moments of joy and write them down before bed, each night.

• What has been revealed to you this month that heals an old wound or helps you see yourself in a new light? What did you learn?

I might be a bit of a masochist for loving Eclipse seasons, but I do always call myself a shadow worker. I love sitting with you as you face the darkness because I know it’s one of the truest paths to feeling more free. And this month has the potential to offer us a lot of that! But it’s also asking us to feel every expansive human emotion, to not go it alone, and to celebrate even as we scream with fear on this magic carpet ride.

The themes I see, if I had to give you some takeaways:

• The more you can surrender, rest and relax your body this month, the more you can receive during Eclipse season.

• The pace of August may feel fast, feral and surprising. You’re not doing it wrong if it feels that way.

• There’s bloat you’re being asked to get rid of/ clean up. You likely don’t need to spend as much money, work as hard at your job, or perform as much on social media/ within your relationships.

• The ease you’re seeking comes from choosing simplicity this month (and yes, that might mean getting rid of things you once loved).

• It’s an act of hope to celebrate early harvest, but that energy of hope is what will carry you through the full harvest season ahead.

Off we go into the ECLIPSE! Rooting for you always.

xo

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Book a 1-1 Seer Session with me in September to chart your course for the remainder of the year with that Virgo planning energy beneath your wings.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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Feeling tension about money? Our signature World Builders money program, THE ACHE, is now open for self-paced enrollment for the month of August with $50 off using the code GRATITUDE as a thank you to y’all for supporting my work here. (I have 30+ paid subs now!!!!) The ACHE is an immersive program built to help you understand the difference between wealth and money, come up with new ways of acknowledging your own financial trauma, and learn about how money wants to meet you in your next era (with play! joy! creativity!).

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I’m sitting on the upper deck of our rental house on the Oregon Coast as I write this to you, watching the sun slowly set over the moody ocean. We’ve been here for the past week and I’m amazed by how much perspective the trip has given me. Often, it takes getting out of your everyday life to see what has changed, to admire what you’ve built, and to clearly receive what comes next.

On this trip, I’ve had nothing short of a MAGICAL experience with my business. While I’ve been resting and playing with my kids, my FOUR (yes, four!) team members have been holding down the World Builders fort: Building out our new community space (which literally launches next week), coaching Council cohorts, and answering emails/ making sure our members are well cared for.

It used to be that my business stopped when I stopped; on this trip, I realized for the first time how much that has changed since January. My business is now BIGGER than me.

And it gets better: While hanging out here on the coast, I kicked off my newest Council cohort (and simultaneously wrapped up that $35,000 launch), meaning I’m hosting THREE Council groups at once right now. I also announced that my best friend and I will be co-hosting The World Builders podcast going forward. And Linds and I are also collaborating on building a few programs/ planning retreats for the fall and winter — while also giggling insanely about aliens and unhinged side quests. It turns out, business really can be fun.

I ALSO dropped wayyyy into my intuitive zone while spending time next to the ocean, and I got a full download about my next book!!

What I want you to hear is that THIS is what it looks like for me to work now: 15ish hours per week. Deeply embedded in my life. Taking care of myself with devotion as part of my work, not my reward for making money.

I had a moment, this week, when I thought: Finally (finally!), I’m in the energy of receiving, of asking the universe to let me see how good it can get. And hear me when I say, I’ve been crawling out of a very dark hole for a while. I was not feeling anywhere near hopeful, joyful or ready for this just a few short weeks ago. It feels like a fast changeover, and one I also know was developing in the darkness of my spring season.

Below are the lessons I’m learning in real time about this whole strategy of receiving. (Lest we forget, strategy actually comes from root words that refer to leadership. Meaning: I’m talking about letting receiving lead.) This is the new way forward you hear folks talking about (ease, impact, joy-led, life-centered) but if you’re like me, the how probably seems like something you can’t quite understand, like a portrait you’re squinting your eyes at long and hard.

Today I’m going to give you the HOW — the way to center your own security and creativity AND make money AND experience joy (all at once, not waiting until you have one to get the other).

Let’s dig in.

How to receive, step 1: Energetics before action

During the past few months, I’ve set my focus on my energy — meaning, how I show up to my days. For most of my life, this has felt like a side effect (ie I feel the way I feel because of what is happening to me). Only recently did I realize that I could tune the dial on my energy first, so what I feel could impact what happened to me!!! (I wrote about that here.) And this is honestly the root of these huge shifts in my business — including my revenue literally DOUBLING from May to July.

For example: This week, on the beach, I made a point to go on a solo beach walk every day. I aimed to walk alone before I interacted with a single person. Then I came home, stretched, and checked in with my actual body and soul to ask what was needed for that day, all before I engaged with the rest of the house. (This required a lot of vocal boundary setting AND a willingness to be flexible when plans changed.) I followed all this with a protein-filled breakfast, then also carved out 2-3 hours each afternoon for my own creative and intuitive work.

I felt a lot of internal guilt about taking time away but this routine meant I was much more pleasant to be around, had a larger patience reserve than usual for my kids, and am actually leaving this trip super energized.

And here’s why this matters: The energy you bring to what you do makes all the difference. This applies to everything — business, life, friendship, travel. When I bring an energy of exhaustion, victimization and a clenched jaw to an experience, I struggle to see the good. I’m like a locked up container, with no capability for flow or joy.

Over the past few months, I’ve learned that my own openness and clarity are what allow me to see possibilities where I would have ignored them otherwise. And yes, those possibilities lead to money and clients — but also to epic collaborations and tiny joyful moments like hunting shells with my kids and finding dozens of intact sand dollars so beautiful I cried.

I honestly don’t notice those sand dollar moments if I wake up and immediately dive into taking care of everyone else, or answering emails, or trying to protect myself from over-stimulation. I CAN see that beauty when I empty myself out enough to listen, and I have to do it on purpose.

If I were to write it in an equation, it looks like this: clear energy → tune into the body → intentions & desires for the day become obvious → take actions that match these intentions → delight in wild and surprising responses to said actions → reset and clear energy again.

If this sounds simple, I suppose it is — but simple can be challenging. And also, it’s worth it. I had this one bright moment last week when I looked in the mirror and thought, I am going to wear whatever I want because I love my body and don’t care what other people think of it. And that’s the result of pausing long enough to listen, because in presence we find love.

How to receive, step 2: Physical melting

Let’s talk more about bodies, because I’ve come to understand that our bodies are tuning forks. They are the best way we have to convey our intentions in this world.

For a long time, I would ask my guides for direction and they would tell me to melt and lean back and let go. All of my clients hear these words constantly, too. Melt. Surrender. Exhale.

Here’s why: clenched, gripped bodies cannot receive. Think about trying to hug someone who’s incredibly rigid. You can’t truly melt into one another, which means you cannot truly connect. There’s a broken link between what you wanted to convey and what’s received.

This is true with everything we want in our lives, too. I believe desires are road maps; you have a craving for a reason. It’s not the desire that’s the issue - it’s that there’s a block in the channel. The thing you want cannot get close enough to you if you’re gripped to high heaven.

Energetically, this makes sense to me. I wrote about flexibility in my first book and remember saying something like: Rigid items and beings break when they’re hit with force; flexible items can bend and adapt.

But practically, I struggled with this one for a long time. I’m a jaw clencher; I walk around holding my breath and often go to bed completely exhausted from how much I feel like I’m holding — even if no one is asking me to hold their stuff.

The steps that have changed the game for me? Breathing, for one thing. Actually noticing when I’m holding my breath and taking a pause to exhale, then inhale. But also, REST. Napping, working for just a few short hours per day, tending to my body with love and care at bedtime (red light, no phone, early sleep). Yin/ restorative yoga has helped, too, as well as dancing and snuggling with my little ones/ husband.

In short, it wasn’t the mental melting that I needed so much as the PHYSICAL melting and I’m guessing the same is true for you. I dare you to think about the ways the universe seems to act on your behalf when you’re napping by dropping clients into your lap, or solving a complex issue.

And if our bodies are tuning forks — if we are actively attracting what we’re putting out into the universe — than being a MATCH for receiving means becoming a receiver. Do you get that? I think I’m finally getting that by learning how to receive help! Support! Gifts! Surprises! THINGS OUTSIDE OF OUR CONTROL, even. It’s a body thing, not a mind thing.

How to receive, step 3: “This is just for fun”

This is where we begin to get into strategy. And y’all, everyone comes to me asking for the right strategy. They want the WHAT but what I’m realizing we all need more of is the HOW. The approach. The energy you’re bringing to that thing.

If you come to me and ask for a strategy to help get your business out of scarcity mode, a scarcity-based strategy IS NOT GOING TO HELP YOU. I mean, maybe it will help you for a week. But then you’ll be back in my coaching room asking about the same thing four weeks later. Instead, you need a new approach. A new way of walking towards the thing you want. You need to adjust that tuning fork.

What I’ve realized, these past few months, is that before I nail down anything else (pricing, dates, scope of a program, launch plan), I need to define the energy of that container or space. I need to NAME how I want the thing to feel to me and other people.

The energetic (“how”) dictates the “what.” For example, Lindsay and I are working on an alumni program for members of our communities. Before we did much, we defined the energy of the space, which was up-leveling people to be able to MAINTAIN their life force (creative) power. That helps us see how every other piece wants to move because every piece needs to center our own creative life forces.

Both of us are obsessed with our projects feeling like play, collaboration and “this is just for fun” energy, too. For me, the most recent Council launch was an example of this because I didn’t need it! I’d already launched one Council! So it got to feel fun and light and peaceful. And that energy created expansive results (10 new Council members, $35,000 in revenue, with lots of interest for the fall cohort as well).

I know this perhaps sounds bananas to your linear brain, but did you know that YOU CAN MAKE MONEY WHILE HAVING FUN?! While experiencing joy? While hanging out with your besties? While taking a nap and eating snacks and looking at butterflies?!

I told my husband that building with Lindsay feels, to me, like working on a crafting project as an 8-year-old. We’re really just chasing delight, almost like a game of imagination. And that’s how I know everything we’re building is going to work.

How do you get there? You ask the question about how you want something to FEEL first. And if it’s feeling heavy, pressure-filled, grippy and/ or boring? Pick another lane, my love. Reshape that thing til it makes you giggle a bit, til it feels like home or like a playhouse or like a circus. Anything other than just plain “normal.” That normal box is way too small.

How to receive, step 4: Get that ego out of the way

The rest of this piece is for paid subscribers only! I’m sharing below about setting up the kind of STRUCTURE in your work/ business that allows you to receive, and how to manage letting go of control/ what to do when your ego puts up a fight against surrender.

You’re warmly invited to join the VIP tier, which comes with extra lessons, behind the scenes posts about numbers/ finances/ money, and much more, and it’ll immediately unlock the rest of this post. THANK YOU for being here either way!! xo

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The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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Working on your website? I love Carolyn’s Get Your Site Together Challenge — she’s run it before, and many members of our community have joined her. The program is free! It starts next Monday.

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Last week, a member of the World Builders Air Council asked me a question that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about:

“Why do the things that bring me joy make me the least money?”

I didn’t have a tidy answer in the moment, so I sat with it for a few days. I talked with many of my friends about it. And what came through is that this isn’t really a money question — it’s a belief question that also points in the direction of us needing an ENTIRELY NEW PARADIGM (mentally and structurally).

First, mindset: If some part of us doesn’t believe our joy, our creativity, our most alive expression can be profitable, we quietly build businesses that prove that belief right. We don’t prioritize the joy. We don’t spend time on art. We don’t even TRY to think about how to make money from these things because we’ve already decided it isn’t possible.

And second: The “old” playbook of making money (perform, convince, hustle) doesn’t work for these new-era creations that are coming through for so many of us. And believe me, I’ve been right there. All spring, I tried to create revenue in World Builders from that old place, and then I watched my whole financial infrastructure crash.

I ended up recording a whole podcast episode about about new paradigm archetypes for profit — things I’m learning to use, and approaches my clients are starting to adopt, too. Think things like partnership, resource sharing, lowering the bar on what we actually need, and patronage. I don’t have all the answers to this one yet, but I DO think there’s a profound invitation here for us to think differently about money, creativity and joy.

Tune in here

Rooting for you!

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Book a 1-1 Seer Session with me to talk about building a model that supports your unique work, rather than using a default model.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

My friend Stacey is running a program called Site Seen in beta, to help you create a sales-centered website that actually converts clients! She’s INCREDIBLY good at this and anyone would be lucky to work with her. Apps close on the 29th!

Learn more about Site Seen

My husband is a nurse and recently, we were talking about why hospital systems often feel so broken. He explained that hospitals are full of good hearted people who want to prioritize other people — their care, their emotions, their experiences. But at the top of the hospital system, the board and C-suite is full of folks whose main priority is the business. That creates massive conflict because, he said, what’s good for business (what turns the best profit) is rarely the same as what’s good for people.

I understood what he was saying. Over my eight years of running a business full time — and six years before that of running a business part time — I’ve encountered so many moments of choosing between what was best for humans (me, my family, my clients) and what was best for my business in a statistical sense. I’ve also been hurt in situations where beloved humans made business decisions that hurt me.

As my husband and I talked about this conflict, I realized I wanted to write about the moment when what’s good for you — what your soul wants, what your heart wants — comes DIRECTLY into conflict with “good” business decisions. And I also wanted to look critically at whether it’s actually true that what’s good for people isn’t what’s good for business.

First, let’s look at what you’re traditionally taught to prioritize if you’re focusing on classic business success. While I don’t have my MBA, I’ve been coaching business owners for a LONG time. And I can tell you that in most circles, a healthy business is considered one with:

• Financial stability (positive cash flow, solid profitability, moving you towards your financial goals)

• Long-term strategic alignment (the decisions we’re making aim us towards long-term goals rather than short-term fixes)

• Risk management (legal, financial and operational risks are low)

• Customer impact (the people buying the thing are having a good experience, sticking around, and sharing their experience)

What’s good for human beings who run businesses and those who benefit from their services (this is just my opinion!) often includes:

• Seasonal, cyclical operation (flexibility; moments to slow down, then other moments to speed up)

• Preventative, root cause care (giving people the tools to help themselves, even if that means they don’t stick around forever)

• Community support and connection (others to support you when things get hard)

• Mental and physical well-being (created by all of the above, plus a stable financial foundation and nourishment from food, movement, etc)

• Purpose/ meaning

The pieces of this that most often come into conflict (in my coaching practice, at least) are flexibility (because a business typically wants predictability, while a human might want to change their mind), purpose/ meaning (sometimes our souls want things that aren’t financially lucrative right away — or ever) and risk management (because community building, preventative care and seasonal operation can be inherently risky from a business sense).

But as I was making this list of what’s good for people versus businesses, I also started to wonder: Perhaps it’s not inherently true that what’s good for humans is always bad for business, or vis versa. I started to pull up studies, and quickly found one from Deloitte stating that companies with a higher percentage of engaged employees often make up to 2.5 times more than those who employ people who are less engaged. Organizations that prioritize people’s well-being also appear to achieve more consistent results and have more resilience. And those businesses are attractive to customers and employers, too, making sales and marketing processes less pricey.

So, at least based on my research, this conversation requires a bit more nuance. Maybe it’s more fair to say that running a human-centered AND successful business is uncommon — and more complex than following a profit-centered model. More on that in a moment.

I was saying to my husband, during our conversation, that I make human-focused decisions OFTEN — and sometimes they DO feel like they come at the determinant of my business. Back in December 2025, I closed my group coaching program, SUSTAIN, giving up thousands of dollars in revenue each month and possibly losing the support of many humans who’d followed me for years. And I made that decision because I, personally, needed a change — because I knew World Builders was coming through and I needed to clear space (also because I knew I wouldn’t be a business coach forever).

When I started World Builders this year, I prioritized support from other people (coaches to support the Councils, added hours for my admin folks), despite that massively impacting the business profit — because I knew I couldn’t build this alone, and I needed to learn how much help (and what kind) would be most effective. When my revenue dropped wildly in the spring, this became SUPER pinchy. My bookkeeper even called me out on the low cash flow. But I remained steadfast: I had to try to do this in a way that centered my health; I wasn’t willing to grow if I would end up totally exhausted.

But what I’ve also learned, this year, is what I was saying above. It turns out, I need BOTH. As a founder and CEO, I cannot always choose humans over profit, or the business will shut down completely. I’m responsible for the cash flow and for paying five contractors; they rely on me, and I do have to make financially motivated sometimes.

But also, without the people, my business wouldn’t exist. The whole POINT of what I’m building is the people! So I think it’s correct to say that I’m learning how to choose both things at once, which isn’t modeled very well in the business world.

My husband and I spent a while talking about why hospitals haven’t yet learned to prioritize both people and profits, and we landed in the same place: It’s hard to do.

And this topic has come up over and over again in our Councils this week: Many of the women I work with have BIG visions, and they often feel like they’re going to have to choose between people or profits. Either they make meaning and stay poor, or they make a lot of money but lose meaning. I maintain that this is NOT REQUIRED OF US, but it takes a person willing to think outside the box in order to find a different model.

One of my clients recently shared a dream of hers: She wants to go in on buying a mansion in her town with several friends. They’d like to then turn that mansion into a retreat center where artists and teachers can come for free, to create. The center would be funded by folks in town with money to spare — collective resources used for good. Each of the people who come to the center would be asked to make a piece of art for the community, and they’d also go into local sober living houses to create hope, art and connection.

I shared this with my husband and explained that there are few models built to make this kind of thing easy. Yes, okay, you can become an LLC or a non-profit or a foundation. But as of now, there’s no cookie-cutter option that makes a profitable, equitable, service-based organization EASY to set up. Our world is designed, right now, to support quickly scaling, venture-funded companies, or to support local small businesses that have similar structures. Want to color outside the lines? You’re left to your own devices to make things up.

And I think it’s incredibly helpful to remember this, as a World Builder. You’re CHOOSING to do this thing differently. You’re CHOOSING to pick a new model of operation that centers people AND creates profit. Of course that’s going to feel completely ridiculous and delusional sometimes. And also: Those of you who are here are, in many ways, built for this. What’s obvious to you isn’t always obvious to others.

As we set up World Builders this year, I’ve spent HOURS — days!!! — thinking about how to support people well (to treat them with respect and create badass results in programs that vary from accessible to high commitment) while we also generate a profit.

Truthfully, I think — on this 4th version of The Council that I just finished launching— I may have finally hit on a framework that works, in micro. The framework integrates:

• Lower costs for my business (the simplest format we can offer, with a curriculum that’s very landed, and no supporting coach — just me!)

• PLUS more accessible pricing for the members ($500/ month rather than $1000+)

• Systems and structures that support the cohort moving without me having to hold every piece of info/ curriculum in my head

• A meeting rhythm that gives me enough space to actually act as the CEO of WB as other pieces of the ecosystem grow

The first Council was $1500/ month — ideal for pricing, but I ran it myself and it included 1-1 coaching, so I was drowning in meetings and hours. However, the outcomes were EPIC.

The second and third Councils were $850/ month — without 1-1 coaching past month 1, with a supporting coach — but the supporting coach made margins quite slim, and I was still spending dozens of hours per month creating deliverables for members. Again, epic outcomes!

The fourth version is more scalable, less high touch, and hopefully it works for me AND our members. The margins will be better (we had 11 people sign up) and the hours are lighter. Members will be asked to support each other more often, which is usually what creates those epic results. And it’s taken me FOUR ITERATIONS and a year of experimentation to get there!!!

Traditional business coaches would have simply told me to scale the program up, to add more people, right away. But this is where the complexity comes in: I wasn’t willing to risk the outcomes people might have, or to overload myself when I know my bandwidth is essential. The smaller group IS part of the magic; the intimacy is important for the integrity of the program. So now, I don’t want 20 people in that room — even if it means we have more Councils launching more often.

Other coaches would have (and did!) tell me to focus entirely on 1-1 work, but that meant a waitlist a mile long and again, drowning my own capacity so I couldn’t build an organization (a legacy) that’s bigger than me.

What I’ve created this round is a middle-of-the-road, hybrid option that I’ve never seen anyone else operate. Is is a mastermind? Not really. Is it 1-1 coaching? Nope. Is it a group coaching program? Also kind of, but no. We’ll see how it goes (it starts today!).

As I sit with World Builders as a whole ecosystem, I’m continually faced with questions like:

• How do I create participation and collaboration at an accessible price point, while creating steady revenue?

• How do I pay my team a great wage — not over or under, but right-sized — with opportunities for growth, in a business that’s still a bit unpredictable?

• How do I invest in the future while also keeping us solvent in the short term, and without taking on investors so I can maintain flexibility and integrity for the larger vision?

• What does it look like to monetize community and collaboration — which are inherent human processes — and turn them into a business model?

• What if the business grows too fast and people’s experiences suffer? How do I build systems and structures to ensure that client delivery remains central even if we have 500+ members? (We’re at 120 now.)

• How do I protect us from legal risk, as the community grows, without blocking connection and intimacy via heavy-handed contracts and by-laws?

• Do I set up World Builders as a non-profit eventually, or grow out one arm that acts as a foundation?

It’s a dance, to run a human-centered business that also earns well. It’s still revolutionary, still not the norm. It’s easier to head straight into decisions that always prioritize money, frankly. And if I did that, perhaps I’d have more money to build with right now. But I also maintain that relationships are currency, too — that choosing people LEADS to profits. That’s what I hope World Builders becomes an example of.

Thanks for dancing with this one with me! Comments are open to paid subscribers only — I’d love to hear how you think about this complexity, too.

xo,

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Book a 1-1 Seer Session with me to talk about building a model that supports your unique work, rather than using a default model.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

This is your last week to sign up for the Water Council, which kicks off July 27th! The Council is a 6-month sanctuary for becoming, a place to name your body…

Read more

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

I’m hosting a community seer session tomorrow, Thursday 7/16, to give y’all a taste of what it looks like to be in community with other creative, intuitive and ambitious world builders. We’ll do an activity together, then you’ll get a chance to receive intuitive/ strategic feedback on something that’s blocking you right now. It’s free! If you’re curious about what it’s like to be in the World Builders ecosystem, this is a great place to start.

Sign up here

Seasons fascinate me. When I started to move via the seasons — outside my window, inside my body — I started to feel far better in my body and mind than I ever had before. I think that’s because I was no longer forcing myself to be somewhere, or someone, that wasn’t a fit. I always had permission to evolve, just like my garden.

When I started working on this post, I wrote that I’m currently in a downshift season, kind of like the end of fall moving into winter. I said this because I’m thinking about reducing the number of hours I have my kids in care so we can all luxuriate in the summer heat. I’m bringing in folks to support World Builders but not rushing the timeline on any of it. I’ve spent 6 months building and pushing and evolving and becoming and it’s not that I want to stop working altogether, it’s just that I have less fire and more tempered energy right now.

But as I worked on this post, I realized: It’s not just a downshift. It’s more learning how to sustain all the strength I’ve built over these 6-7 months of challenge. Said another way: I’ve finally embraced the spaciousness I was craving last year — allowed myself to have it — and my calendar is certainly reflecting that priority, as I have a lot more open space right now. Now, it’s about learning to create spaciousness not just here and there, but as a matter of practice; it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

Today I want to talk about how to name the season you’re in. Doing so will give you massive clarity about where you’re at AND allow you to set appropriate expectations. We’ll start with the different types of seasons you might encounter — first by category, second by speed. Then, if you’re a paid subscriber, we’ll play with how to knit all that knowledge together into an expectation map for the season ahead with a really cool seasonal naming process.

The types of seasons you might encounter

First, let’s acknowledge that seasons refer to segments of time that might be as short as a few weeks, or as long as a few years. Historically, the concept of a season referred to when planting might occur for the most optimal harvest (I still love that definition for us). But it’s important to remember that seasons don’t just refer to the shifts outside our window. Seasons can also happen within us, and they have no set time limit.

I think of seasons in four layers:

Layer 1: Nature-driven seasons

In Native American cultures, we typically break up the year into four seasons: Winter, spring, summer and fall.

• Winter = darkness, rest, death, recovery, learning

• Spring = hope, planting, planning, new buds and blooms

• Summer = fire, light, sustained tending, heat

• Fall = harvest, composting, reviewing what we’ve learned

In Celtic traditions and several Chinese medicine traditions, there are actually eight seasons in a year. But no matter which map you adhere to, you will certainly notice that the energy, amount of light, desired focus area, amount of social interactions available, and weather all shift on a predictable rhythm outside your window.

Considering nature-based seasons while building your world includes:

• Adjusting your wake up/ sleep times based on the light outside;

• Taking on more or less clients as your energy ebbs or flows with the amount of light and heat;

• Planning vacations and off time at certain points in the year;

• Setting your launches & content so they align with the seasons.

Layer 2: Body-driven seasons

If you’ve had a baby, this one may feel obvious to you. Same for those of you with chronic illness, or anyone who’s been through seasons of hormone shifts, sickness, mental health dips, or anything else that pertains to your body. (Probably all of us??)

Sometimes, despite how we want to feel, our bodies ask us to slow down, pull back, speed up or try something new. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially if there’s a tension between our minds and bodies. It can also be tough when this body-driven season is misaligned with the season outside our windows — for example, having a season of postpartum retreat or chronic illness smack dab in the middle of a social summer.

Considering body-based seasons while building your world includes:

• Implementing a red light/ yellow light/ green light approach to planning your days and weeks;

• Pushing back deadlines to accommodate your actual physical needs rather than trying to muscle through;

• Adjusting your offers & pricing to meet your body where it’s at, knowing it will change again soon.

Layer 3: Internal seasons

Our hearts and souls can also drive us into seasons of growth and shedding which, again, can be counter to our bodies or the seasons outside our window. This is confusing! When I think about internal seasons, I think about identity shifts, relationship changes, spiritual awakenings, chasing your soul’s work after a season of burnout, or rethinking your priorities/ values. The idea is that everything might look aligned on the outside, but within we’re still craving something new.

Considering internal seasons while building your world includes:

• Rethinking your values & priorities on a regular basis;

• Seeking community or coaching support to explore what your mission in the world might be;

• Giving yourself the ability to compost & rewrite the script even when this is inconvenient.

Layer 4: Context-driven seasons

Finally: Sometimes we’re pushed into a new season simply because of those around us or political/ economic shifts. Sometimes our kids or partners require new conditions for thriving. Sometimes the government makes terrible decisions that ask us to adjust course to stay well. Sometimes there’s war, genocide and cruelty abound, and we feel the need to take a stand.

All of this isn’t driven by what’s within, necessarily — although it can become a seasonal shift motivated by both context and your soul’s desire over time. In the case of a contextual shift, change might feel a bit forced, which can breed resentment and ask you to step up in ways you might not have planned to do on your own.

Considering context-driven seasons while building your world includes:

• Checking in about what’s best for your family on a regular basis (whether or not you’re partnered or have kids, this one applies — your family system can also be a chosen family);

• Keeping tabs on the needs and expectations of your community (local) and shifting the way you spend money or offer time;

• Moving to a new place or considering a different work set up to meet the current moment.

These are the types of seasons I see most often when I’m working with folks who are seeking change. Often, a shift you’re making comes from some mix of the above — a contextual shift that becomes an internally-motivated change; a nature-driven season that impacts the calendar which changes your family’s contextual decisions; a body-driven slow down that inspires a full-on revisiting of your identity and work path.

All of this is normal — by which I mean, it’s not a problem to shift from season to season. It’s the most healthy thing you can do! What causes people to be unwell is trying to stay in a season they’ve outgrown.

Naming your seasonal speed

I mentioned at the outset of this post that I first labeled this as a downshifting season for me, personally. I’m craving slowness. But back in January, I was in LFG mode — I was upshifting, building, dreaming, feeling financially ambitious. I’m sure I’ll cycle back there again! Here are the three speeds I see show up most often for folks like us (and please remember that all of these exist in gradients):

The upshift

You’re all in. You want to grow, to earn big, to create visibility. You’re ready for expansion — craving it, in fact — and you actually want to put time and effort towards that growth.

Signs of an upshift are having a vision that’s been baking and is now ready to implement; feeling antsy all the time, like you actually WANT to work/ get ripped/ remodel your house/ get a hair cut; an opening in time (or a seasonal shift to more light) that makes expansion feel more doable; and jealousy when you see others grow.

The downshift

You’re tired and want a break. You couldn’t hustle if you tried. You’re having an existential crisis while also feeling clear, somehow all at once. You just need a moment/ a nap/ some space to not make decisions. You’re looking for all possible ways to simplify and create efficiency.

Signs of a downshift are resentment about your full calendar; jealousy when you see others chilling out; an inability to get yourself to move even though you probably “should;” general uncertainty about where you want to go; physical exhaustion.

The purposeful plateau

Then there’s the in between: Noticing that you’ve reached a place where you could just let things roll without messing with them, and making a choice to do that very thing. I sometimes call this cockroach mode, which my clients think is hilarious. Just let it skitter along, babe!

Signs of a plateau are an in-between level of energy: Wanting to keep things moving, but not wanting to build them out or tweak much; a sense of gratitude that the “machine” is working and you can just do a few things every day; and neutral energy — less boredom, more casual acceptance.

Putting the layers all together

This is where my paid subs get to dive into the coolest prompt to help you name your season — I can’t wait to hear what you unravel with this one! (Remember: You can get a free week or a free pass for one post! We’d love to have you in this crew.)

This is where you go from picking ONE of the layers above and turn that assessment into something much more nuanced. When I did this, it gave me a bunch of ahas about why I feel the way I do right now.

Read more

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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Today’s discussion is a perfect example of what we study in The Council, my sacred circle program that helps you remember your own power & the power of being in a room with other women. In The Council, we work on embodying your confidence, intuition and sense of community. I’ve just opened up the Water Council — a new cohort — and we kick off July 27th.

Learn more here

In 2022, I lost two key friendships. One was my former business partner; the other was my childhood best friend. As I started to make more and more decisions that were right for me — setting boundaries with my work, moving to a mountain town, learning how to juggle parenting and work, and starting to dive into somatics & psychedelic work — the relationships I’d built on old foundations became shaky.

I started 2022 with these two women as central pillars of my existence. I ended it the same year watching one get married with someone else as her maid of honor (while I sat in the back, feeding my baby, trying not to cry), and with legal fees piling up as I attempted to extract myself from a shared business with the other.

Losing both of these people in one year was brutal. Painful. Traumatizing. It left a rift in my heart so wide that I felt like it might never close.

People warn you about how to deal with a romantic breakup. But when it comes to friends? I truly didn’t see the grief coming.

It’s interesting that I finally feel ready to write about this now. It’s taken me the better part of four years to mourn, and to recover from the anger and betrayal I’m sure both women felt as much as I did.

But I felt like I needed to bring this to Substack today because I want to talk about relationships, trust, collaboration and how we can move back towards connection even when our nervous systems are terrified to get close to people again. And we can’t talk about that without talking about this.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had DOZENS of conversations with women who are tired of doing it alone, who want to call in community. But the truth? They’re scared — scared of being in a small group with people who might annoy them. Scared to cede some control to another person, even though the weight they’re carrying alone is staggering. Scared to be fully seen and known by a group of people who might love them or judge them or eventually leave them, because they’ve tried that before and been burned.

Somehow, the agonizing truth is that every time we heal or grow, our relationships will shift because we shift, we change, and we (often) need to seek new matches. Some people are in our lives forever, but most are only in them for a season. Thus, it stands to reason that ALL of us will have a galaxy of failed, ended or dissolved relationships trailing behind us. And still, if we want to belong, we must try to create belonging again.

Many of us are scared to say yes to the community we crave because friendship is messy. Because relationships are always a risk.

Before I dissect this, I just want to say: This craving for community is the reason I opened up another cohort of The Council, my sacred small group program for creatives, starting in late July. That program is my answer to this deep ache many of us are experiencing in this moment — this deep desire to return to one other, along with uncertainty about how to do that.

When I started The Council program last year, I figured it would be ideal to coach all my clients together — a mix of 1-1 work and group programming. But over time I realized: I also had to teach everyone how to relate to other women in a sovereign way. It’s maybe less that we don’t know how to do it anymore, and more that we’re gun shy. We’ve been burned and it takes a lot of bravery, courage and discomfort to say yes to inter-dependence yet again.

Below is the “recipe” I’ve learned (from my own experience) that I now teach lone wolfs like me.

Your baseline relationship experiences

When I teach about client relationships, I start by taking us back to our parents or caretakers — the first relationships we knew. When we start to draw lines between our parents and our clients, or our parents and our friends, or our parents and our romantic partners, patterns emerge.

I grew up with a highly critical father. He was loyal, kind and precise. He could also be quick to anger. The mirror of this in my past business partnership? Oof.

For years, I also sought out clients who were like him, who would say cruel things to me but frame them as loving. Once, I shared something a client had said to me with my coach. She was floored. You don’t deserve to be talked to that way, she said. And I knew she was right — but I truly hadn’t noticed that it was toxic until she said it aloud. I had simply sought out relationships that were familiar to me.

Since my double friend breakup back in 2022, I’ve had to face the relationship dance of my childhood in a profound way — to face the gap between what I was shown as a child, and what I want now, as an adult.

What to walk with:

1. How did your caregivers teach you to relate when you were a kid?

2. What was required (what did you have to do) to receive love?

3. What was framed as a normal relational behavior in your childhood home, but was actually kind of f-ed up?

Paving a new way — with examples

Over these four years, I’ve learned what it’s like to be in right relationship — with boundaries and the ability to be who I am, to shift and evolve, without shame. I’ve learned how to own when I’m off-base, how to be gentle with myself because all I knew growing up a co-dependent household built on a traumatized lineage.

This is what I teach in all my programs, now: Radical self-sovereignty and personal responsibility as something that brings us together, rather than pushing us apart.

We do our best, too, to model inter-dependence within the business model we’re constructing.

Andrea, my ecosystem architect, is a beautifully-boundaried partner who stands her ground, shares the silliest details of her life with me, builds incredible systems in our business, and holds me accountable when I’m trying to launch 97 things at once. We work entirely async. It’s fun, playful and a highly competent relationship.

As I work on building out The World Builders Collective (coming soon!), I’ve set it up to be run almost entirely by other people — people who will steward the space, invite others into collaborative support, and innovate based on their own ideas. This helps folks see that our leadership is non-hierarchical, owned by many, but with strong facilitation.

When I operate The Council, I also almost always bring on supporting coaches to hold space for the group, mostly as a reminder for me to step back so everyone else can step up and we can all grow. Again, this models a non-heirarchical approach to leadership that’s not just talked about, but actually demonstrated.

In The Council, I also teach the “how” of sacred, sovereign relationship. I teach how to set boundaries, how to support one another in equitable trades, how to build reciprocity without codependence. These are literal trainings you go through as you onboard into the program. Most of us have no idea how to partner in this way.

We also ask our Council members to create a set of agreements, together, up front. They define how they want to show up, what they want to prioritize, and what behaviors will be in and out of bounds. Again, modeling the setting of appropriate expectations (rather than unspoken ones).

The list of “hows” for sovereign relationships go on and on:

• As a conflict averse human, I’ve had to learn to be much more comfortable with conflict. We have processes for conflict resolution built as SOPs, with layers between me and the folks having issues but proper escalation protocols as well.

• I’ve learned to set up contracts and structures that create clarity for all parties — terms of service, written expectations.

Some of this is internal modeling for me, too: I trust my body more, when I consider inviting someone into a closer relationship with me. I listen to her signs, her avoidance, her tension.

The hard truth is that I wouldn’t know how to teach any of this in The Council if I had not experienced that shattering back in 2022, if I hadn’t been forced to look at all the relationship patterns that weren’t serving me, if I hadn’t learned to state my needs up front so that the people I was partnered with weren’t stunned when I revealed them later.

And I think that’s how this goes: We learn what we’re meant to teach, in painful but ultimately growth-edged spirals. Perhaps there’s no way to learn any of it without seeing its opposite, anyway.

Right relationship as legacy building

We are all the wounded walking, when it comes to relationships. For many of us here: We were not mirrored appropriate relationships in our childhood. Our parents did not have awareness around emotional maturity, around how to create secure attachment. So much of this language and behavior is new. And how profound is it that we get to create a new legacy? How challenging, too.

If you’re craving support and also scared to receive it: I get it. The Council tends to be a place where the women who’ve been told that they’re too much, who’ve experienced rejection after rejection, come for healing. They come to learn how to engage with intention, kindness and power. And yes, that can be uncomfortable at first. You may feel defensive, annoyed or even confronted by other people’s shares and needs.

But the result is a homecoming so profound it’s hard to explain. The result, I think, is healing your relationship wounds by choosing something different on purpose. It’s not an accident that the program, itself, was built on the bones of my own pain, my own realizations, my own desire to be held and known without toxicity.

Here’s what I know:

Independence = to move away from

Interdependence = to hang from one another, like cells that group so they can survive. Or: To agree to a state of mutual reliance where individuals support each other emotionally, socially or financially without losing their personal autonomy.

It’s that, isn’t it? The thing we’re craving. The thing we somehow forgot to do — the ache we thought money would solve. It turns out, this desire for reliance and support can only be soothed by other people holding you, by coming back into a supportive, safe way of moving together.

There’s no beautiful sum up for this post except to say this: I see you. I know you’ve been burned. It takes a lot of courage to try again, to acknowledge that every relationship has two sides and most ruptures leave everyone hurt. And yet, somehow, it’s still worth it to say yes again, to belong again, to be seen again, to try again.

Perhaps this is the whole point of life, even: To reach out a shaking hand yet again and hope to be met with love.

I’m rooting for you.

xo,

Jenni

PS. For paid subscribers only, I’m offering a 2-card reading about how to expand, evolve & grow your relationships below the fold. Voice note + journaling prompts + the cards are all there! Sign up for a free trial to access that info. They’re super on point.

Journaling prompts:

• Make a list of all the “not enough” or “too much” parts of you. Ask: Is it true that these things make me wrong or dangerous?

• Consider who might be an ideal partner for you, creatively. Name values, life stages, locations and styles of work that seem to be an ideal match.

• Write about how you’d redefine your creative process if you moved from solo creation to collaborative creation? What changes?

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Learn more about the Water Council, where we do this coherence work together over 6 months.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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Today’s discussion is a perfect example of what we study in The Council, our World Builders sacred circle program that helps you build a meaningful relationship to life and work, alongside others who are kindred spirits. I often say that this program is my (non-toxic) version of church! In The Council, we work on embodying your confidence, intuition and sense of community. I’ve just opened up the Water Council — a new cohort — and we kick off July 27th.

Learn more here

Building toward a better planet? Climate Insiders is a newsletter for climate tech founders who are raising money. It covers the fundraising process in plain language: investor lists, pitch decks, data rooms, term sheets, and cold outreach. Even though I’m not currently raising money, I love learning about how to that space works. And, every issue comes with a practical resource founders can use the same day they read it.

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Earlier this spring, I became obsessed with salons — small group gatherings of like-minded humans, designed to help us share information on a deeper level. Intellectual salons have a long history; they originated in 17th-century France and became popular during the Enlightenment. In most cases, these events were hosted by influential women called salonnieres (are we surprised?!). Their job was to create a safe environment for unfiltered intellectual discourse.

No wonder I was obsessed with salons — and no wonder this speaks to the way I run my Council program, too. This style of gathering & sharing ideas fits into the world I’m building quite profoundly.

In May, I hosted my first salon; I started by gathering community builders. One afternoon, six of us gathered to share ideas about what was working in our worlds and what we were frustrated by. Each woman who joined was running some kind of community-based program, most in the small to mid-sized range. We each walked away highly motivated by what we learned. And, perhaps most importantly, we also left feeling seen; many of the challenges we thought we were experiencing alone turned out to be shared by all.

Today, I want to share the large-scale themes that came up in our discussion. If you’re a community builder, I know this will be incredibly useful to you. But I’ll also remind you that right now, most businesses need community aspects in order to succeed. We’re seeing a mighty cultural return to sacred circles, to interdependence rather than independence. It’s time to think about how you’re encouraging collective support in your business, even if you haven’t traditionally focused on that piece.

This post is just for paid subscribers but as a reminder, you can always opt for a free week of that tier to get a feel for the programming! If you’re a community builder, I’d highly recommend popping behind the paywall to read this whole thing, which includes the most effective forms of marketing, what we’ve learned about the actual product we’re selling in community management, what people are earning from community models right now, and how to get out of your own way so you don’t burn out.

Alright, onto the trends!

Read more

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

Today’s discussion is a perfect example of what we study in The Council, my sacred circle program that helps you remember your own power & the power of being in a room with other womxn. In The Council, we work on embodying your confidence, intuition and sense of community. And yes, we do practical work as well — personal brand plans, resourcing docs, and beyond. But this is the space where you learn how to let your belief — your trust that you CAN build a world based on creativity — sink deep into your very being. I’ve just opened up the WATER COUNCIL, with a choice to participate at a foundational level or higher level, and we kick off July 27th.

Learn more here

If you love this newsletter, I think you’ll love Grounded. Every week, psychotherapist Rachel Vora writes about the psychology underneath high achievement; the workaholism, the relentless drive, the patterns most high achievers don’t even realise are running the show. She writes from the therapy room, for founders and high achievers who are ready to understand themselves more deeply. Check it out here:

Grounded

The psychology of high achievement by a psychotherapist specialising in workaholism.

By Rachel

If you’re like me, you probably wake up heavy many mornings — full of anxiety, existential dread or concern. We’re between two paradigms right now:

• An older one that suggests we have to try really hard and climb the societal ladder to succeed;

• and a new one that points us back towards community and energetic attunement as a way to stay safe.

That in-between phase can cause wild panic in our animal bodies. The future is uncertain. The past is fading away. Who do we become? Why are we here? Where do we go next?

Most of my clients are surprised when I share that I, too, wake up with that heaviness pretty much every morning. But what has shifted, for me, is the understanding that I don’t have to STAY there. I can choose the frequency level I want to step into each day with. I can choose coherence.

Today I want to explain what I mean by that, because I think this is one the biggest skillsets we need to lean into in the new paradigm — one of the key anchors and practices that will keep us well when everything around us feels uncertain.

Let’s start with the definition of frequency:

“Frequency” can feel like a woo word. In spiritual circles, it is usually used as a way to explain the quality of your energy and emotional state. In psychological and biological research, scientists might use words like “nervous system attunement” or “emotional agility” to describe what’s basically the same idea: You can shift your attention, emotions or behaviors, and this will create different outcomes for your life.

When I was doing research for this post, I became fascinated with the root etymology of frequency. Frequentia (Latin) comes from the concept of something that is numerous or repeated. It initially referred to a crowded space, and eventually became a physics term used to describe a rate of recurrence. Frequency is, thus, about repetition and about the contagious nature of being in a crowd of people.

In physics today, frequency still refers to the number of times that a repeating event — a complete cycle or vibration — occurs in a specific unit of time.

As I read about all of this, I started to realize that a “complete cycle or vibration” is probably the most accurate way to describe what we’re talking about when we refer to high frequency people (and low frequency people). “Raising your frequency” actually refers to feeling more alive, more connected to yourself and others, and experiencing less internal static so you can make change. The reason why this happens is because we allow ourselves to complete cycles. We become more coherent — our life force can flow freely. We are yin and yang, ebb and flow, dark and light. We bring all pieces together.

What I don’t love in spiritual circles is that a “high frequency person” is often labeled as someone who doesn’t struggle, as someone who is all joy and love and light. But a grieving person can have a very high frequency if they are coherent (meaning “together” or “holding together in unity with oneself”). A calm elder can also have a high frequency from a state of calm. The actual emotion is not what makes someone high frequency; their willingness to be a whole human is. In other words: A person who’s pollyanna-style positive can actually be low frequency — energetically dense, not clear. And that’s because they are disconnected from what’s true.

A moment for coherence:

As I said above, coherence is about holding together in unity. It’s about being true to yourself all the way through, about an alignment between your values, actions and environment. When you are coherent, your inner and outer worlds match — which eliminates chaos and creates trust. This concept maps across LOTS of different modalities, across spiritual practices, nervous system trainings, and beyond. It’s not spiritual woo; it’s literally science when we say that we are attracted to a person’s energy.

Why does this all matter?

A person who is not coherent — or low frequency, if we want to use that term — is often chronically stressed. And when we’re stressed, research shows that our attention narrows, our creativity decreases, we’re much more attuned to stressors and threats, and future possibility becomes nearly impossible to consider. Our view of the world narrows. We struggle to create change.

When we are high frequency, or coherent, we have more curiosity, widened perspective, increased empathy and a lot more flexibility. This perceptive quality changes the actions we take, which changes our lives. We are steady, we are prepared, we are grounded.

If we wake up in the morning and we have a choice between these two modes… I know which one I’m picking!! And I want to say yet again: This isn’t about not feeling sad or frustrated or anxious. It’s about being true to yourself, fully expressed AND brave enough to see those emotional waves all the way through, to stop blaming yourself for how you are (to stop fighting the emotions that are rising) and instead to accept yourself. It’s this paradoxical softening, this willingness to experience, that actually creates the ability to shift “up” in frequency levels.

And the benefits of coherence are wide-reaching, which I’ll talk about below, too. Your business will become more magnetic. Your work will require less effort. Your relationships become more sovereign. Your health will improve. You can stand steady in a storm. This is why this skillset is IMPERATIVE for what’s to come.

So, the big question: How do we shift our frequency and coherence ON PURPOSE?? Below, I’m going to share all of the tools and approaches I’ve found in my research and personal experience. This is journalist Jenni coming on duty!! And this toolkit is something I’d usually reserve for paid subscribers only, but I want to give everyone a look at where we’ve been heading in the VIP paid tier. Below, I’ll walk you through six tools, then offer a perspective about how to thread this into your marketing/ sales, and how to develop a frequency ritual of your own. The frequency ritual is WILDLY COOL.

If you love this, I’d encourage you to try out the paid tier option this month! There’s a free trial option to use as well if you’re new to the paid tier, so you can check out recent posts about how to use gene keys, signs you may be psychic and beyond.

The Coherence Toolkit

TOOL 1: AWE

Research consistently shows that awe expands perspective and decreases self focus. This could happen when you’re looking up at stars, standing on top of a mountain, watching a baby learn to walk, listening to music that gives you chills or witnessing exceptional art. This is why you feel soothed when you’re in nature — because you’re remembering that you are a small part of a masterpiece, that you are not alone. Studies have shown that being in nature or listening to beautiful music can actually change the way your brain functions AND your energetic field. Beauty is also an important part of this toolkit; evolutionarily, noticing beauty tells the body that we are safe to be present — and it speaks to health, too.

Your job: Take a moment EVERY DAY to experience awe or notice beauty, on purpose, even for one minute.

TOOL 2: GENUINE CONNECTION

Not networking, not small talk, not performing. Genuine, real conversation about how you’re doing, or even just time spent in silence with a person who loves you. Co-regulation is a REAL THING for our nervous systems and often, our heart rates even sync up when we’re with loved ones (how cool is that?!) One deep conversation, or even just one hug, can vastly change your state for the day — much more than finishing your to do list or cold plunging.

Your job: Make sure you have 5-10 minutes per day reserved for connection with a person who loves you no matter what you do, who loves you for who you are.

TOOL 3: CREATIVITY

Humans have an incredibly unique ability to create. We write, garden, paint, cook, design and build worlds. And we LOVE doing it — our heart rates settle, we drop into flow state, and we are able to be present with what is. Creation often transforms our tension (which is just built up energy) into momentum. It’s a very human kind of magic — and you’ve probably noticed that the most creative people in your life have a magnetic quality to them.

Your job: Make sure creativity is part of your daily and weekly recipe. Find spaces for “non-productive” creativity — for the joy of making something because it feels good.

TOOL 4: TRUTH

Our coherence drops when we are maintaining a facade, when we’re performing. Because remember, coherence is about your insides matching your outsides. It’s about desires and values matching action. SO MANY OF US were trained to keep the peace and thus keep our actual thoughts and desires and emotions on lock. But when you finally admit: I’m not okay. I’m tired. This isn’t working for me, I want something else, I’m ready for a change, I’m angry, I’m actually doing well— something clicks into place. TRUTH is power. Truth is coherence. Truth is also less effortful to maintain.

Your job: Start recording “truths” in your journal or voice note app each morning. You don’t have to share them yet, but giving yourself space to speak them into existence is a great place to start. If you can’t even think of what’s true, start with your body — how does it feel? what is true this morning?

TOOL 5: PLAY

If you’ve ever been around kids who are fully in their joy, just playing because it’s fun, you know what I mean when I say this is also a state shift. We’re trained for productivity, for doing things for a larger purpose. That’s not a bad thing — but performing your life topples your frequency. The best way to get OUT of performance mode is to play. To do something just because it sounds fun. To wear an outfit that makes you feel fully expressed. To engage in a game of pretend with kids. To write fantasy. To make something for no reason at all.

Play actively reminds your nervous system that life isn’t just about survival, which is why it’s an essential frequency shift, a gateway into coherence.

Your job: Find a small way to play this week. What has no set “purpose” but would be enjoyable to you? Think: Making art, rollerskating, going on a hike with great music in your headphones, window or vintage shopping, side walk chalking with your kids.

TOOL 6: PRESENCE

We’re pretty well attuned to chasing stimulation — to doing more to achieve a result. But new paradigm energy is less about that and more about being with what is. About evaluating if more is actually going to make you happy. About being here, right now, in this moment, not ahead or behind. Many of the most coherent people you know are sitting with themselves, even just for small increments each day, and meeting what IS instead of trying to strategize themselves into what comes next.

An example of this: I was feeling wildly anxious a few weeks ago. And instead of doing more, I realized I needed to feel my way through it. I sat for 10 minutes experiencing anxiety in my body, noticing where it showed up, speaking words out loud, making faces and sounds. Rather than judge the anxiety, I sat with it. And guess what? Rather than spending the whole day anxious, it dissipated. It just wanted to be listened to. That’s presence.

Your job: The next time you pick up your phone to scroll and ignore what is, take 5 minutes to put your phone aside, lay down on the floor, and breath. No judgement, just curiosity.

Why this matters for the world you’re building

Coherent people are whole and settled within themselves. They don’t need someone to come save them. And humans are wildly sensitive to this — wildly attracted to it, too. Remember: most communication isn’t verbal. We’re constantly noticing facial expressions, posture, pace, voice tone, eye contact, emotional consistency, nervous system states, and beyond. This noticing is automatic — it’s a way we screen safety as mammals. When someone’s words, actions and energy all sync up, our nervous systems don’t have to do as much work to protect us. We realize that this person is not a threat, nor are they someone we need to take care of. We can relax.

This coherence effect creates trust. It also reduces friction.

Imaging being around someone who is super conflicted. Part of them wants one thing, part of them wants another. Part of them is confident, another part is terrified. There’s a massive tension that the person might not be saying out loud, but that you can feel the internal drag. Their energy is leaking.

This person feels less hirable, or less safe to get into relationship with, than the person who says “this is who I am, this is what I value, this is what I want, this is what I’m building.” That coherent person requires less work from you. You don’t have to guess about who they are, how to manage their emotions, what they want. You can relax. Your nervous system can relax. And THAT allows you to be more yourself — to be more alive, to do your own coherence work, to co-regulate with them in an upward direction, not a downward spiral of codependency.

Why does this matter for the world you’re building? I’m guessing you can see what I’m saying: Magnetism is a key to growth without efforting more. If you want to build a world, or expand your world, the old paradigm way would say that you need to work more, prove yourself, sell harder, and become someone entirely new.

The new way says: Spend more time on your coherence. STOP proving and start being. This magnetizes people to you so that instead of proving, you can just declare what’s true. If they want to come with you, great. If not, you are already safe in yourself.

Freedom is wildly attractive, especially right now. Someone who is less governed by other people’s opinions, by perfectionism, by proving, by constant self monitoring — someone who’s experiencing awe, play, joy, presence and connection on a daily basis — is a person we want to be around, because we want to be living that same reality.

And that’s the new invitation for sales, for marketing, for growth, for world building.

Your work is to take action, of course. But it’s ACTUALLY, foundationally, to pay attention to your own coherence ABOVE ALL ELSE. That’s step 1. Strategy comes later.

How to create a coherence ritual

I’m a big fan of creating a MENU for coherence each morning because I don’t always have the same amount of time or capacity for this work. It’s also worth saying that I DO think this is ideal to do in the mornings — but if you really can’t do it then, later in the day is better than not doing it at all.

I also want to note that I’m not a morning routine girl, so I kind of can’t believe I’m writing this. But giving yourself the opportunity for a state shift before you dive into the rest of the day is a huge advantage right now. Please note that this isn’t a routine — a rigid, harsh, shaming-myself-if-I-don’t-do it box. It’s a ritual. A ceremony. A way to get in touch with yourself before the world asks you to be someone else.

The menu:

Take 3-4 tools from the list above. Maybe it’s awe experienced in nature, or being in creative flow. Music can be an incredible tool for leaning into presence and beauty. It could be co-regulating with another person, too. Create a menu of 3-4 tiny things you could do each morning to change your state. Mine typically include:

• Tai chi or lymphatic drainage exercises (thanks to Kara Duval at Range)

• Music — especially high energy, beautiful, rhythmic music that I can dance to

• A snuggle with my kids

• Honesty journaling for 5 minutes

• Staring out the window for 5 minutes and noticing birds, flowers, the sky

If I have more time, I’ll go on a longer walk in nature or read/ write poetry.

I begin my ritual moment with 3 breaths in and out, and lighting a candle — again, only if I’m able. Sometimes it’s too chaotic with little kids around, and that’s okay. Then I set a timer for those five minutes and let myself be. When the timer rings, I take another long, slow deep breath and step back into my life.

Sometimes I repeat at bedtime with stretching, another round of journaling or sitting in stillness to talk to my guides, reading poetry/ painting/ sketching, or listening to a podcast that expands possibility for me.

Rinse and repeat.

What I notice is that these little moments — micro-doses of coherence — allow me to show up more as my creative, expansive self. They help me feel less trapped because I’m being more honest with myself and you. They drop me out of performance mode and into connection mode. And they turn my intuitive dial on HIGH, too, which means I make more aligned decisions all day long.

I’d love to hear, in the comments, what lands for you in this discussion. Will you share your ritual, with the options from above? I don’t want you to use AI for this one if you can help it — AI can pull you out of your own presence and I think it’s important that this creation comes from your heart and soul.

Rooting for you always,

xo,

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our new World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Learn more about the Water Council, where we do this coherence work together over 6 months.

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

After a dozen calls over the past week talking about how most of us feel simultaneously emotional and like we want to crawl into a hole, AND trying to make the most of summer — I decided that I needed to record a podcast episode about what’s going on seasonally. This week is also INSANE when it comes to the astrological shifts, so you’re not alone if you’re feeling all kinds of ways.

As a note: When I offer seasonal insights to you, I’m typically studying the shifts across a number of different systems: Western astrology, Native American seasons, the Celtic Wheel of the Year, and modern shifts in expectation (for example, holiday breaks or kids going back to school). When we layer all of these on top of each other, we start to see some profound themes that explain how we can lean into this current season rather than resisting it.

Right now, we have a bunch of things happening seasonally:

1. Cancer season (June 23- July 23.). Cancer rules home, family and your inner world. It’s an introspective season that feels like inner winter.

2. Mercury Retrograde in Cancer (through July 23rd). These bring up what was in the shadows — and this month, the shadows specifically focus on relationships. You will absolutely feel the sting of relational wounds, of the gap between what you were told would keep you safe and what you believe now.

3. Jupiter in Leo (June 30th through July 2027). This is a year-long exploration of expansion, abundance, luck and taking the stage. But it doesn’t start with the big expansion. Cancer season means it starts with introspection — with feeling.

4. Summer solstice (June 21st). Peak light! Longest day of the year! This is a signal of full summer mode in the Northern hemi — but also a reminder have we have 2-3 months until we get to the harvest. Regardless, right now you can see it all.

5. Litha (June 20th or 21st). A solstice celebration via the Celtic Wheel of the year, celebrating the fiery energy of the sun and how it sustains life.

6. The Strawberry (Capricorn) Full Moon (June 29th). This one represents abundance and the sweetness of summer — but also the discipline to let things ripen.

When we combine all of these happenings, we get a recipe for a month ahead that encourages introspection and asks us to feel. It’s a month of looking at your roots (family, home, relationships) and asking about the difference between what you were told would keep you safe, and what you believe now in adulthood.

I have a kajillion thoughts about this trajectory, plus four key messages for you to walk with over the next month, all of which are in today’s episode of The World Builders’ Podcast:

Tune into the episode

If you don’t subscribe over there yet, I hope you will!

xo

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our new World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Send in an application for the July Fire Council (3 spots left) or September Earth Council (8 spots left): Learn more here

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I’ve spent much of the past two years experimenting with psilocybin as a gateway into my own anxiety, purpose, psychic gifts and healing. I’ve wanted to write about it for a while — and I’ve spoken about my experiences with larger plant medicine doses on my podcast — but now that I’ve added a paywall to this space, I feel like I can share much more openly about how I use these plant medicines (and why).

Today’s post will give you information about hero doses (high doses of psychedelics), what I understood during my guided trips, why I chose guided journeys for those larger doses, and how I use psilocybin now on a smaller scale via micro-dosing. I’m going to share the resources I have and I’ll also answer your questions as best I can, too, in the comments! Keep in mind, however, that this is a catalog of my personal experiences. I’m not a plant medicine expert!

Before we jump into those super personal details, a bit of backstory:

I became incredibly curious about the use of psychedelics in the mental health space about six years ago, when I was still working as a professional journalist. My journalism focus areas were parenting, purchasing and psychology — and I have an undergraduate degree in psychology to boot. I completed my coach training (a heavily CBT-focused training) around the time that major psychedelic research came out and I started to follow it with fascination.

I’ve had clinically diagnosed anxiety since I was 16 — and probably before that. I was also diagnosed with postpartum PTSD and panic disorder in 2020 after having a wildly traumatic experience with pregnancy loss, then a pre-mature birth that landed my son in the NICU for two weeks while I was quarantined away from him. In other words: I’m no stranger to panic and tightly gripped anxiety. It’s my operating state.

I’ve been in cognitive behavioral therapy since I was 16. My mom is a therapist. I started EMDR after having my son and dealing with PTSD symptoms; EMDR helped but was incredibly hard and painful. Around that time, I also started low-dose anxiety meds. But while those things took my anxiety from a 9 to a 6.5, maybe, they didn’t seem to get at root cause. I could tell you the stories of why I was anxious (family lineage, situational conditioning) with incredible clarity. But that didn’t make the symptoms go away!!

Psychedelics sparked my curiosity. To define this quickly: Psychedelics are psycho-active substances that alter your brain chemistry temporarily. (Because you know I love root words: psyche = the mind and soul; deloun = to manifest). Common psychedelics you’ve probably heard of include psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, ketamine and MDMA.

Psilocybin is a naturally occurring hallucinogenic found in mushrooms. Clinical trials have shown that psilocybin, when combined with psychotherapy and integration, can produce rapid and substantial reductions in anxiety and existential distress. I watched study after study come out related to this — for veterans, for people dealing with complex PTSD, for those with chronic illness and life-threatening disease. All of the studies showed that psilocybin created psychological flexibility, like a temporary reset that allows the brain to form new neural connections.

Safe to say: I wanted to try this for myself. In the state of Oregon, where I live, it is much easier to access these services — many of them legally. In 2024, I started to get signs constantly that this was an important next step in my path; I would meet psychedelic facilitators in random places, be sent out on coffee chats with someone who’d recently had a profound experience, and even turned on my car once to a psilocybin podcast randomly playing over the speakers.

Okay universe, I said. I booked an exploratory meeting with a local facilitator. And while it would take me six months after that meeting to be brave enough to actually book the session, I eventually said yes.

Here’s what happened in that first trip, which was all about how to feel more free in my body — in a body that had felt trapped by anxiety and a sense of panic for as long as I could remember.

Read more

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

Subscribe now

FYI: I’m hosting a live ritual event next week on June 30th called The Inflection Point and we have a few spots left! Learn more here.

Today we’re talking gene keys, which I’m REALLY excited about. About a year ago, my former coach Amber Lilyestrom introduced all of her clients to gene keys during a life-altering retreat in her favorite beach town. I’d never heard of gene keys, and maybe you haven’t either. My science journalist brain naturally went full skeptic — but then I started to use gene keys with all of my clients and found that basically 99% of the reports were so confusingly accurate that I couldn’t ignore the tool. It was also incredibly helpful for most of my clients to have not just a tool of diagnosis, but a tool for contemplation. I’ll share what I mean about that more below!

First, let’s talk about what the gene keys are and how they work. Then we’ll dig into making meaning from them.

The gene keys were designed by Richard Rudd, who got an epic download and then spent 7+ years writing this massive TOME with every single detail he learned. Epic. Gene keys are part personality assessment, part astrological reading, part tool for contemplation. They aim to show you the highest, most optimal gifts you have (gifts that are uniquely you!), and how you can apply them — which, hypothetically, would lead you to having the most expansive, fully expressed version of your life possible. But each gift comes with notes on the corresponding shadow, too, so you can see what it looks like when you are fully expressed and also what it looks like when you’re falling into a fear spiral.

The gene keys contain 64 human archetypes, which Rudd drew from Western astrology, the Chinese I Ching and human genetic archetypes. The result is basically human design but much less “this is your type” and much more “here are some interesting things for you to walk with.” When you request a gene keys report, you put your birth date, place and time into the system and it spits out a unique hologenetic profile with the 11 keys that apply to you.

Each key is shared with 3 parts:

• The shadow: The lowest frequency of that gene key — what happens when you’re in fear, victimhood or conditioned behavioral patterns that keep you small. This is the trauma response you probably have fairly often, and it’s quite annoying to see it in writing, lol. But it’s not actually meant to be a bad thing — just a challenge that’s helpful to understand.

• The gift: This is the “standard” version of the gene key — the middle ground of what you can step into when you accept and understand your shadow. (My coach Amber described it like this: The shadow is the seed. The gift is the plant. The siddhi is the bloom.) This element shows you your unique creative genius, gifts and strengths.

• The siddhi: This is the highest expression of your gifts. It represents divine realization, full embodiment and higher states of consciousness. Again, the bloom!

The gene keys are also divided into three sequences — one about your core life’s work and vitality, one about your prosperity and career, and one about your emotional life and relationships. I’ll publish posts about each soon, but we’ll start with that prosperity sequence today.

What I love about using gene keys is that the system doesn’t put you into one linear type, nor does it diagnose you. It just says: Here’s something to contemplate — and the more time you spend in contemplation, the more you’ll get out of it.

I know this is all a bit heady, but stay with me. I’ll share my profile as an example!

I’m really baring it all for you, you’re welcome! Let’s talk about the one that gave me SO MUCH PAUSE when I first got my chart: The 52nd gene key of stress → restraint → stillness.

This is the gene key placement that tells me about the culture of my work in the world — meaning, my “company culture” would be one of restraint. It is ALSO listed in my purpose bubble which, yes, means that learning and teaching restraint is my purpose in life. Freaking slay me. I’ve always identified as a person who does a million things, who HATES being restrained. And here’s this tool telling me that restraint is one of the most essential gifts I can lean into. Let’s just say I was not buying it when I first got my profile. But let me explain it to you:

The shadow for the 52nd key: Stress. This means that my most common trauma response is stress, which is often defined in the gene key system as restlessness — or me drowning in collective anxiety in such a way that I rush, force outcomes, and make decisions entirely from my rational mind. (I told you these are quite on point! So rude!). This shadow traps us (me) in a loop where our minds try to control the timing of the universe.

The gift for the 52nd key: Restraint. This is about “the conscious act of will to pause and wait for the natural, divine timing of life.” Listen, I know this approach is profoundly helpful for me. But it requires patience and a whole lot of trust. It means pressing pause when I feel chaotic and reactive, so I can gain long-term perspective first. And when I run my business from this place, I feel so much better. I often make more money, too, and have so much more fun. I remove the tension, the push.

The siddhi (full expression) of the 52nd key: Stillness. A total trust in the universe and life itself. A quiet mind. Inner peace. Meditation. Being in effortless flow. I do have moments of this, but they’re rare! Still, it’s cool to know that setting my life and business up to make more space for this can only be a good thing.

What’s interesting is that I initially rejected all of this. I know I’m stressed, thanks, but I didn’t think I was the kind of person who could DO stillness. But when I sat in contemplation with this gene key — journaling on it, walking with it, thinking about it — I started to discover that there’s was a lot of truth living inside these insights.

What I’ve learned is that it’s less about being “perfectly” in your gifts, and more about noticing when you’re in the shadow so you can make a subtle-but-intentional choice to shift up towards the gift.

For example, when I feel myself being pulled into the shadow of stress, I get to ask: “What could I do right now to lean into the divine timing, rather than rushing? And: What doesn’t need to be done right now?” (This activates restraint.) And in fact, if I had to sum up ONE theme for my business this year, it’s restraint. I’m learning!

Okay, now onto applying this gene key matrix to your OWN WEALTH. Today you’re going to download your chart, listen to a quick tutorial about how to read it (if you want), then we’ll use the pearl — the center of the prosperity sequence at the top of your chart — to learn about how you might be blocking wealth (money, relationships, prosperity) RIGHT NOW, and how you could lean more into your gift to create wealth without pressure. All of that is below the paywall! And remember: You get a free week behind the paywall or a free paid post, so it’s worth signing up to check this one out! I promise these results are always totally mind-blowing.

Let’s do it!!!

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The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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First: When I talk about witches in this space, please know that I’m referring to human beings who are in tune with the seasons and cycles of nature, and with the power within themselves. Traditionally, the women referred to as witches in our society have been unmarried, independent and wealthy women who refused to follow the “rules.” We love them. We are them.

But whether you use the word witch or not, I’ve become wildly obsessed with the fact that SO MANY OF US have intuitive abilities that we don’t name as such, or have been taught to ignore. More and more often lately, in my coaching rooms, I have people coming in and whispering, “I think I can do that too?”

We’re remembering. Oh, how we’re remembering! Our power never came from climbing career ladders. It’s always come from within.

(If you’ve never read Mary Magdalene Revealed, I highly recommend it. There’s a whole book of the Bible which was removed and hidden, written by Mary — yes, the one you were taught was a prostitute. And no, she was likely not a prostitute. She was likely a priestess who may have practiced sex magic as a form of power, and she was also considered to be the feminine counterpart/ leader to Jesus’ masculine persona. In her writings, she doesn’t use the word God to mean someone up above; she writes that god = the good in you. Sin = separation from your soul. What!!!)

Anyway: Today we’re going to talk about intuition, and specifically the signs that you may have extrasensory ability lying under the surface. I want to start with walking you through the “types” of intuition that exist. It’s worth saying that there are SO MANY WAYS intuition manifests, so these are simply markers that might help you identify your skills. Then, below the paywall, I’m going to share some signs I’ve been seeing lately that point to you having much more ability than you might be owning. As a reminder: This paywall is new! You can read more about it here and do a 7 day free trial!

What is intuition?

Intuition comes from the Latin intueri which translates into “to consider, to contemplate.” It refers to an “inward directed gaze” or form of insight that allows you to “skip” mental processing and gain information/ truth immediately. It’s a knowing, a clarity that comes from deep inside and not after 72 hours of pro and con lists. It’s that kind of knowing you land on without anyone else’s input, the kind that occurs so instantly that it feels a bit staggering but also SOLID. It’s often like a quiet whisper, like owl energy. Strong. Clear. Immediate.

To me, intuition feels like accessing a field of information beyond what my rational mind brain can process. Our brains are actually relatively slow processors, and they “blank out” a lot of information in service of what’s most important for our survival. Having a body, and the ability to see and hear, can make it harder to access other forms of knowing and understanding because we’re distracted.

In other words: There’s a lot more information available to us than we notice or have capacity for.

“Styles” of intuition and psychic ability

There are many different expressions of intuitive ability, of extra-sensory perception. Most intuitive guides start by teaching the “clairs,” which are certain ways of perceiving. There are many, but the most common four are:

• Clairvoyance (clear seeing)

• Clairaudience (clear hearing)

• Clairsentience (clear feeling)

• Claircognizance (clear knowing)

Some people also experience clair-gustance (clear tasting), clair-tangency (clear touching), clair-empathy (clear emotion) and clair-salience (clear smelling).

There are also other ways your psychic or intuitive ability might manifest, like:

• Telepathy: The ability to exchange messages/ thoughts with other people

• Pre-cognition: The ability to sense future events

• Retro-cognition: The ability to perceive past events, almost like you’re watching them on a movie screen

• Psychometry: Receiving information about a distant past when you pick up an object

• Remote viewing: “Taking” yourself to a hidden location via your consciousness without physically being there

• Mediumship: Acting as an intermediary with spirits of the deceased

• Telekinesis: Moving physical objects (or influencing them) with only your mind

• Astral projection/ traveling: Separating your consciousness from your physical body so it can travel independently, often in dreams

• Channeling: Receiving bodies of work or messages from entities as downloads (not in your own voice)

Most of the people I work with either start with astral traveling (wild dreams!) or they realize they have one or two of the clairs already happening — especially the ability to see images projected, to hear words, or to sense what someone else is feeling.

My friend and mentor Annie Cattabriga-Alosa also taught me that once you develop one intuitive skillset, the rest will slowly blink on, too. I started with realizing I was very clairaudient — I’ve always “talked” to my guides in my head. But that turned on my awareness of my clairvoyance and precognition — my ability to see projected images and scenes for the people I work with. And recently, I’ve been experiencing A LOT of clairsentience, where I take on ailments and feelings from the people around me if I’m not careful.

Intuitive ability may seem like a “new” skillset for me, but it turns out that I’ve probably been doing this kind of tapping in since I was very young. The same may be true for you! I’ve always been a highly sensitive person, and my imagination was wild as a kid. I’ve astral traveled — left my body, gone to other worlds and dimensions — in my dreams for as long as I can remember. I also often “talked” to my guides but can vividly remember being told, around age three, that it was spooky and I should stop. The fundamentalist Christian church I was raised in definitely didn’t provide me with information or support that would have made intuition feel like a safe skillset.

For you, too, it may be that these skills have been around since you were little, but the world around you subtly or overtly communicated that you would be unsafe/ excluded/ punished for being as perceptive as you are. I don’t know about you, but being a perceptive child was NOT rewarded in my family past getting good grades. My truth — my ability to see clearly — often made people uncomfortable and angry with me. I know I’m not alone in that.

Our job now, in adulthood, is to reclaim those abilities. Why? Because there are SO MANY STUDIES that show trusting your intuition leads to lowered anxiety, heightened creativity, expanded confidence and growth without as much suffering. It’s an incredible ingredient for building a life you love — for building your world and THE world. But we also need to go slow with this kind of self discovery because remember: For centuries, witches have been killed, exiled and rejected for declaring their gifts. We are likely one of the first generations in the past 600 years to be able to speak the truth of these gifts without automatic rejection; that’s a huge, huge deal. Our nervous systems are still terrified, though, which is why we go slow. You can only go at the pace your nervous system will allow.

One final story before we get into the signs:

We had new neighbors move in about six months ago. I don’t know them well — there’s a guy around my age living with his mom, and she is very sick. About two weeks ago, I got a psychic message for him. It was bizarre; I don’t know anything about his life. We’ve probably spoken a total of five times. But I kept getting messages coming through, clear as day, obviously meant for him. I told his guides thanks so much, but it would be weird AF for me to share psychic details with him. He thinks I’m just a normal mom!!! But they would not relent. I woke up in the middle of the night with certain phrases, over and over again. I accidentally turned into his driveway instead of my own the next day.

Finally, I texted him: This probably sounds next-level insane, but your guides/ angels/ whatever you want to call them have something they want you to hear. I am psychic and keep getting the messages loud and clear. No pressure AT ALL but if you want to hear them, let me know and I am happy to share!

He came over to my backyard. He sat down at our patio table. And I told him what I’d heard.

Immediately, he was sobbing. I sat at the table, holding this man’s hands, telling him things there was no way I could have known. He told me he needed to hear this, that his health was deteriorating to such an extent that he was suffering. And then he went back home.

A few days later, he texted me saying he was moving to the ocean. He was making huge changes to prioritize his health, finally taking charge of his life after months in a freeze state — which was what some of the messages had been about. He told me, and I quote: I think the whole reason I moved next to you was that message.

What moved me so much is that I’ve gotten messages like that, for people, more times than I can count. I often don’t share them because I’m worried about freaking people out or causing chaos, worried they will be angry about what comes through. And that situation was such a reminder:

We need to say what we see, if the other party consents. It is a GIFT, not a shadow. A wild, wild gift — to them and us.

If you’re resonating with this, keep reading past the paywall to hear the signs that you, too, might have these abilities stirring. (Also: I believe that EVERY PERSON has the option to say yes to being intuitive. It’s not a sneaky skill only a few people have. EVERYONE can tap into extra-sensory information if they choose — but each of us will tend to access that info in a different way.)

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The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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Hi friends,

I have some updatesss!!! I’m really excited about them!

First, I wanted to say thank you for being here. I rarely track my subscriber numbers because it makes me feel too much like I need to perform, but the other day I realized there are nearly 2,300 of you here, which is incredible. I’ve been on Substack since 2022 (four years!) and this newsletter has gone through many iterations! First, it was Mindset Mastery, all about the psychology of running a business. Then, The Third Door (until I got in trouble for using that title) which became The Sustainable Solopreneur — and turned into my debut book. And finally, now, after a longer Substack break last year: The World She’s Building.

My work has changed so much since I first came into this space back in 2022. At the time, I was coaching mostly freelance journalists and co-hosting The Writers’ Co-op podcast. That evolved into me coaching solopreneurs — and over that time, I also realized I had wild psychic ability, which changed this audience again. Now, most of you are creative, multi-passionate founders and entrepreneurs who hope for a better world. You’re building something you care about and your brain is probably far less linear than most of the people around you. (Same!)

Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to honor the psychic, intuitive oracle within me, especially in this space — and also about what would be most helpful for all of us as we evolve in this tricky moment in time. What I’m seeing with everyone I coach, in The World Builders Collective and beyond, is that most of us are at a threshold. What’s old isn’t working anymore, for the most part (in business, in life, in the way we care for our bodies). What’s new still feels scary/ not trustworthy. And many of us — especially those of us who are highly sensitive and intuitive — don’t really know where to step next. We’re on that wobbly, in-between bridge, just trying to stay level.

Which brings me to the updates:

What I’m loving right now is intuitive updates that hint at the future. Tools that help me stay rooted in seasonality and in my body. Growing my intuitive practices into rites of passage, ritual, ceremony and psychic channeling. And being guided in activations that help me see myself and my work more clearly. Also: Community!!

Which is what this space is becoming. (SO EXCITED!)

Moving forward, I’ll be sharing A LOT more content like the above, and putting up a very low-cost paywall to help me fund that focus. Many of you have actually stayed in a paid subscription tier for years despite me not doing anything special, which is just about the most magical thing I can imagine. But if you’re not in that group, the paid subscription tier is just $8/ month or $88/ year. What you’ll get in that tier:

• LOTS of extra content meant to help you make sense of what’s coming for us/ what’s happening now. The top half of most posts I’m sharing will be about the “what” — what’s happening, what I’m seeing. That part will be free. But behind the paywall, you’ll find the “how” — the activations, the ways to implement and/or make sense of that thing in your life right now.

• Private posts that I can’t share widely (about things like psychedelics, business relationships, parenting and my own beliefs about soul’s purpose, as that evolves)

• Access to the comments section, where you can share with me what you’re learning and get REAL TIME feedback!

• Some other fun things I’m still experimenting with, like subscriber chats and invitations to live events, or the ability to submit questions for me to answer on my podcast. LOTS of surprise and delight coming soon, as I play.

If you choose to remain in the free tier, which I love you for and will always and forever honor, then you’ll still get posts from me — but just that top part, without the activations. Occasionally, I’ll share free posts about what I’m building right now, too. Post frequency is also likely to increase because I’m excited about this, probably to 2x per week!

What you can expect coming soon in the content line up:

• A series about what gene keys are and how to use them to figure out your unique marketing strategy, sense of purpose, relationship set up and money approach

• A ritual 101 series with lessons on how to release, how to manifest, and how to honor seasonal shifts

• Imagination activations (visualizations and writing prompts) to help you find your way out of business & life challenges

• Tuning the dial of your frequency — what that means, how to do it, and how it’ll impact your sales

• Community trends, themes and things to watch based on a recent salon I ran

• The cycle of change and how to anchor yourself psychologically when you’re in a season you don’t want to be in

• Toxic versus clean money frameworks & how to move towards a new way with money

• Lessons on what it looks like to trust & receive when you’re trained to hustle and muscle

You can also see what this new format looks like in a brand new post I just wrote:

I am OBSESSED with the process I shared inside this post. Typically, the second half of posts like these will be for paid subs only, but it’s a perfect example of where this work is going in the coming months.

As always, we’ll be experimenting together, so I am deeply excited about your feedback as well! Here’s your to do list:

1. Check out the new post about how to build your world to gut check how this new direction feels to you

2. Upgrade to a paid subscription if you’re all in (there’s a 7-day free trial option so you can check it out via the two posts that will drop next week)

3. Tell your friends if you already love what’s going on here! I am always DEEPLY GRATEFUL for your shares, they mean the world as I build my own little engine that could.

Thanks for being on this ride with me. I can’t wait to send you more teaching, insights and yes — even channeled messages now and again if I get brave enough.

Here’s to building the worlds our ancestors dreamed of!

xo,

Jenni

How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our new World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Send in an application for the July Fire Council (3 spots left) or September Earth Council (8 spots left): Learn more here

The World She’s Building is a learning hub full of trends, noticings & practical activations for intuitive, soul-led humans seeking meaningful work and a meaningful life, hosted by Jenni Gritters.

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Hi friends,

Today I want to teach you how to get started with building YOUR unique world. Because as we’re all seeing, business & community building have changed wildly in the past few months — and I love how this conversation about the world you’re building, the beliefs you have and the things you hope for, can change your entire energy related to your business. It can make this whole thing FUN again. And it’s also exactly where the market is headed. Great news for all of us.

First, a note on why society at large is moving in this direction:

What we’re seeing in June 2026 is marketing moving from a tactical, linear process of sending emails and reminding people of what you’re up to/ trying to sell them into a product suite that will solve their problems → towards an invitation to join you in a certain worldview. To link their identity with yours. To say yes to moving forward a certain ethos or way of seeing.

Why? For many reasons, but centrally because AI-driven content is so flat and excessive that people are exhausted by the sheer number of words coming across their screens on a daily basis. They don’t want more words. They want TRUTH. Felt experience. An invitation into change.

This is GREAT news for those of us who’ve always been in this game for more than just the linear money-making and product delivery. And it also means that some of the old ways you’ve been operating may no longer apply.

I also know that something is shifting on a larger scale, almost like a societal identity shift. Many of the concepts we’ve taken to be truth — needing to rely on the government and bigger companies to keep us safe; speaking up being dangerous; buying into a system of buying a house and having kids to find happiness; unending purchases as a way to soothe anxiety — have fallen apart. We’re disillusioned. We’re pissed off. We’re exhausted. We all know the game is fraught and now we’re left wondering:

What comes next?

Okay, now we’re going to talk about worlds.

If you’ve been here for a while, you know I’m OBSESSED with root words. I love me some etymology. And the root of world is so cool:

“World” traces back to the Old English woruld which has two parts:

• Wer = human

• Earld = age or era

Historically, that means a “world” refers to the domain of human existence and perceived time — in contrast with the divine realm, and also in contrast with the uncultivated earth. By that I mean: When we’re talking about worlds, we’re talking about a very human experience of creating a narrative — of having a particular experience — in this moment, in this place.

A world is incredibly 3D. It’s a very, very human concept. And it’s deeply tied to storytelling, to meaning making, to saying out loud what we see and feel. A world is also about what we PERCEIVE to be true — and what we perceive is then what we create because we believe it's possible.

WHEW.

Stealing tactics from other industries:

I got obsessed with world building as a business and movement-design concept a few years ago. As a child I was convinced I’d be an author when I grew up (she was right!) and so I attended writer’s workshops almost every weekend in my town. I believed I’d write fiction, so I studied world building all the time. But over the years — and especially as a journalist — I forgot about it.

Then I met and we started talking a lot about how the things we write often manifest in real life; about how the process of believing in something, of constructing a whole epic scene around it, makes it more likely to come true in the 3D. (We recorded a whole podcast about this a while back!) This brought allll that world building obsession back into my life, combined with a video game-obsessed husband who’s always and forever describing the intricacies of game worlds to me.

Then I learned that being a world builder is an actual job! World Builders create immersive lore, cultures, geographies and environments for video games, movies and fiction books. They are masters of imagination. They create webs of existence in their minds, and turn it into tangible reality.

And that made me super curious: Why is everyone in business operating off the same 8-10 archetypal structures? When there are MILLIONS OF WORLDS we could possibly design instead?

Long story short, I built The World Builders Collective with lots of lore in mind. Each Council cohort has an elemental house focus (air, water, fire, earth, ether). I send welcome letters with custom wax seals to every new member, poetry included, on archaic paper. We have a shared value system, shared ethos, shared hopes, shared perspectives — and variability in how those express, too. The branding for World Builders is very clearly ancient-meets-modern; it feels like hanging out in an old stone castle with your wisest friends, mixing magical potions, dancing AND making political chess moves.

Because that’s what it’s like to build a world.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how this world building process should be standard, necessary material for EVERY PERSON RIGHT NOW, but especially those of you who are already in full on questioning/ breakdown mode about the way the system has served us and screwed us. Yes, the robots can come up with some summary of what you believe. But I’m much more curious about what YOU see as a possible future. How can you use your imagination, your creative intelligence, your hopes for GOOD right now?

Below, I’m inviting you to join me in an actual world building process: A series of questions and considerations to dance with as you step into whatever version of you and your work comes next. Typically, these activation sections of the newsletter will be for paid subscribers only. But this one is open for all! If you enjoy, I’d LOVE for you to join our World Builders’ crew by clicking that upgrade button once you’re done writing. And: Please share what you come up with in the comments, too (you’ll need to be a paid subscriber to do so!)

Let’s do this:

How to build a world

We’re going to walk through 4 layers together, then we’ll put it all into an epic world builders’ statement at the end. Lots of writing ahead!

Layer 1: What’s already happening

First, we start with what you’re already teaching about, helping people with and tactically doing in the world. Because despite it being possibly unintentional, you are already building a world. There’s a tight network of actions, beliefs and personality expressions that make up your worldview. To get at layer one, we’re going to do some writing:

• What do you spend most of your time doing right now?

• What skillsets have you developed over your career?

• How do you help people best?

• What might your colleagues, clients or friends say about you and your work? (Ask 2-3 people if you don’t know!)

• What is your central mission right now (if you know it)?

• How does that mission show up in your career and/ or business?

• What do you tell people when they ask about your work? How do you describe it?

Layer 2: Why you’re the steward of this world

Each of us brings a complex, layered archive of experiences to our worlds — which is why even if I’m doing the exact same work as you, it will look completely different.

For example, I was raised in an evangelical fundamentalist culture and family. I worked as a journalist for a decade. Both of my parents struggle with PTSD and anxiety. I was born into a family where everything looked okay but felt dangerous in some un-namable way. I realized I was psychic in my mid-30s, although I’d probably been using those skills for decades. I’ve run 5 businesses, almost all of which were community and content-centric. I’ve worked as a classroom teacher and conference coordinator. I’ve gone through burnout. I endured a traumatic pregnancy loss, am a mom to two kids, and I live in the woods. I’m an enneagram 7, a 3/5 generator and alllll astrological fire (aries sun, aries moon, leo rising).

And all of that makes SO MUCH SENSE if you look at World Builders. All of the threads of who I am make me the ideal person to run an organization like this.

Now, your turn!

How did you end up being the person to carry this body of work, to bring it into the world? Name how you grew up, your career experiences, the nervous system lineage you come from, where you live now, your types (gene keys, enneagram, human design, meyer’s briggs).

Layer 3: The ethos of that world

Now it gets fun! We’re going to write about what we believe. These questions are meant to be a bit itchy and expansive. They might make you scrunch up your face and opt for a walk. But I promise they’ll take you somewhere that starts to make a whole lot of sense.

Here’s the prompt: In the world you’re building, what might be normal that isn’t normal elsewhere? Think: Beliefs, ways of being, actions and tools. Also:

• What does power look like in the world you’re building, and where does it come from?

• What are people working towards in the world you’re building?

• What does wealth look like in the world you’re building?

Because I know examples are helpful: In The World Builders Collective, we believe that creativity, imagination and intuition are central intelligences. We’re really excited about bringing what’s “old” back into style: Cyclical, seasonal living; collective resource sharing; rites of passage and ceremony; non-linear thinking that busts structural norms; and unique ways of moving with money that point more towards stewardship than hoarding. Here, being “neuro-divergent” isn’t a thing — your divergence is seen as actually being a human. We believe anxiety is a normal response to being a human in this world. We believe honesty is a gift. And we take actions that are super generous but with boundaries. We use tools that are both modern and ancient. We focus a lot on deconstructing our own beliefs and indoctrinations because in this world, wealth is about freedom, relationships and influence. In this world, we’re working towards the self-safety and belonging required to make big changes in the systems around us without it feeling wildly risky.

Whew. I love this one. Go go! Start writing.

Layer 4: The future of that world

Finally: You’re going to write about what you hope for. Take that question about what people are working toward and imagine this:

If 10,000 people joined this worldview/ belief system in the next decade, what would change in culture? How would we move and connect?

Also: What do you hope for?

Put it all together

Now you’re going to take everything you wrote and begin to put it into a structure that will help you see that you ARE building a very tangible, very real world already. Here’s the prompt:

“I’m [your name] and I’m building a world here [XX] is normal and [XX] is something we question every day. In this world, people believe [X] and hope for [X]. Our leaders are [X] and power comes from [X]. I’m the steward of this world because [1-2 sentences about how you came to be here]. When I invite people into this world, I’m inviting them into [x belief], [x action] and [x hope].”

If you want to get expansive with it, think about if there are any colors, scenes, smells or textures associated with this world’s description.

And if you want to get even BIGGER with this, pop everything you wrote into an AI engine of your choosing with this prompt:

Please use the information I shared above, plus knowledge about [add any insights you have here about your human design, gene keys, enneagram, etc] to help me come up with a beautiful narrative summary of the world I’m building. In this summary, I’d like you to highlight my worldview (what I believe to be true), what I’m inviting people into (behaviorally, and belief system-wise) and why this world matters right now. Please also include any notes about how I might shift or change my current relationship to my work to make more space for this world I’m building. List 2-3 small next steps I could take to create more alignment. Come at this from a perspective of a brand strategist who operates from an intuitive, soulful perspective. No over-nicing me, just reflect back to me what I already know is true.

I can’t wait to hear what comes up!! (You’ll be able to share your insights/ your narrative summary in the comments below if you’re a paid subscriber aka VIP!)

xo,

Jenni

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How to Join The World Builders Collective right now:

1. Try out our new World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Send in an application for the July Fire Council (3 spots left) or September Earth Council (8 spots left): Learn more here

The World She’s Building is a weekly-ish newsletter from World Builders’ founder, coach, strategist and intuitive guide, Jenni Gritters. Part strategy memo, part internal dialogue, part blueprint-in-process, this is a space where you’ll get to watch the build of a sustainable, cyclical, highly ambitious business ecosystem, in real time. Come for the experiments and visionary ideas, stay for the psychological guidance and intuitive hits.

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Do you have time this week to help me with some market research in exchange for coaching? I’m opening up Purpose Pods (just three of them) over the next few weeks. You’ll spend the first 15-20 minutes with me asking you questions about how to make World Builders an incredible fit for you. Then you get 15 minutes of coaching from me! Four people per group, which also gives you the benefit of meeting wonderful humans. This Wednesday’s group has a few spots left!

Join me on the 17th!

Join me on the 24th!

Join me on July 1st!

AND: My favorite human Janna Carlson is teaching a workshop on the 22nd all about how to build an affiliate program and referral partnerships that actually work. I highly recommend joining this, as marketing is heading more and more in that direction. I’ll see you there!

Register here

Hi friends,

The Initiation launch is over, and I wanted to take the time to reflect on learnings publicly so y’all can steal these strategies if they resonate with you! Let’s do it.

About the program:

The Initiation is a 4-week, $199 immersive learning pathway designed to help you stabilize your money — either via focusing on your relationship to money, or by making adjustments your business structure. Probably both! It’s designed to be a bridge into The Council program and give people a taste of working with me, without the high price tag.

Symphony actions I took during the launch:

I wrote a while back about how I think about my launches like symphonies, which you can read about here. For this launch, my symphony included:

• One live (free) workshop (The Current)

• One self-paced money diagnostic (The Reckoning)

• Direct invitations to our World Builders’ inner circle members (folks who’ve already attended programs)

• Asks for our affiliates to share The Initiation

• 20+ wealth audit sessions (1-1 market research sessions)

• A long-form essay series called Math & Magic, published here on Substack, all about wealth grips

• Podcast content that was focused on this topic, plus little “ad” spots

• A series of marketing emails (which became increasingly f*ck it coded as I got exhausted by sending them)

• Social media shares across my LinkedIn and Instagram (personal and company account)

Total revenue and attendees:

Both current and future (July enrollment) Council members got The Initiation for free, and many folks used a $50 off coupon, so my total revenue earned for this program was $4460. 41 people enrolled!

What worked:

Let’s go back to that symphony list:

The Current masterclass (free) was by far my biggest conversion event. The masterclass alone had a 25% conversion rate, which is really high for a free workshop. (That means 25% of the people who attended decided to join The Initiation.) I gave everyone at that workshop a $50 coupon to use, and put a time limit on when it needed to be used by. This worked great!

The wealth audits were market research conversations (1-1) that I ran for the month of May, and almost everyone I spoke with either jumped into The Initiation or is now in talks with me about joining The Council, if they weren’t already registered. I still need to run the analytics on that process, but the high conversion there makes sense — if I show you what I see in a 1-1 call, then I have a program open that can help you fix that thing, you’re likely to say yes! (It’s also important to note that this has always been true in my business. A 1-1 call costs me more of my time but is also the most effective way to fill my programs, and I love getting to know people well before they say yes to a group program!)

The Reckoning is a free, self-paced money diagnostic that I built after running The Current live; it’s similar content, and designed to point people towards The Initiation or The Council, depending on their situation. I had 20 people sign up for that experience, all straight from Substack, and four signed up for The Initiation from that. (That number might sound low but if you look at industry rates, it’s actually SUPER high for a conversion off a free resource!)

I also saw that most of our other conversions came from folks who were already in the World Builders’ inner circle — they got $50 off the program, too, and it was an easy yes since they’d been in the room for other programs already.

All in all, this proves out that for me, live workshops & long-term relationships drive most of my sales. I already knew that for higher ticket programs, but it’s true for lower ticket programs too! And while it’s true for me personally, this trend is also proving out for World Builders as an ecosystem that’s growing beyond me.

What didn’t work:

I absolutely hated sending emails over on Kit during this launch. It felt like a huge content lift (since I was already running a long-form series here on Substack) and I got lots of unsubscribes each time I sent an email. This was not ideal for my nervous system, but rationally I know that this was also an important pruning phase because I’ve changed my work a lot since most of those people (often freelance writers and journalists) joined my world. I didn’t see a significant increase in sales from sending those emails, though, and I was constantly torn about whether or not to send them at all. Typically, email marketing is REALLY great for lower ticket launches like these. This time? Nope. I’ll share more about what that taught me below.

Second, the long-form series here on Substack was an interesting “kind of good, kind of a lot” vibe. I gained about 50 subscribers from the series, which is solid. And as I noted above, some folks converted over to The Reckoning, which is also awesome. I saw a few sales from it. But it was a high content lift for a lower priced program and I found my energy flagging halfway through. Next time, I’ll put less pressure on that kind of content during a launch season! I’ll also put some of that content in a paid tier in the future — more on that below.

I also didn’t do much work to encourage my affiliates to promote the program, so I didn’t see any direct sign ups from their shares. But that’s mostly just on me and my prep (I was exhausted by the time I got to that point on my to do list) — and I often see that folks convert into free or low cost workshops more than paid programs anyway, when it comes to an affiliate recommendation.

LinkedIn was a full-on dud for sales (better for invites to the free workshop, nearly useless for The Initiation itself) and Instagram (especially my stories) led to a few sales. We’ll give Instagram a neutral score here, so long as it stays fun for me, and LinkedIn gets a “just teach, don’t sell” takeaway. Sigh.

What this launch taught me:

This one was a bit of an emotional doozy.

The lower price point: First, it’s worth saying that selling these lower-priced programs can create a lot of emotional resentment. It is hard to be shouting about something like this for a long time because you know the revenue probably won’t be equal to the amount of effort. BUT: I learned that if I know the purpose of the program for my ecosystem (in this case, leading into The Council program, and being super accessible), I’m able to put appropriate expectations on the container. This program isn’t a financial play. It’s a relationship building tool. Knowing that, I was able to calm myself down a little when the numbers weren’t as high as I wanted them to be — and I also had a few clients buy higher ticket 1-1 support packages this month which put less financial pressure on this launch as it went along. (I outlined all of this in my cash bridge post a few weeks back.) As always, the less pressure I put on something, the better it usually sells. (This is hard to engineer in the moment, though, if the financial pressure is a real factor — which I know it is for many of us right now.)

Email marketing: Honestly, I’m seeing a lot of the business women I adore changing their launch approaches, just like I realized I wanted to do during this launch. Lauren of Love literally left her Instagram this week and told everyone she’s opening the cart for her new program for ONE DAY. Camille Craft is doing the same with lots of launches in short bursts. Lois Mac has been writing about this, too.

What I mean by this is that the “send people a kajillion countdown email reminders about the program” era is gone. Dead. Dried up. Instead, you hold your worldview (which you create over time) and you invite people to be part of it in lower ticket, easy ways. (Think, a paid Substack tier, a lower priced collective.) When there is an enrollment event (a thing you want to invite people into), you just open the doors or the waitlist, let them choose if the thing will be helpful to them, then close those doors.

I could feel the tension of not doing this, during the launch, in my whole body. Yes, it’s helpful to remind people when the program is closing. But needing to convince them or prove something to them over email just isn’t it anymore. None of us want that. What I know is that I’ll be doing a lot less email marketing in the coming days. If folks want long-form, they can get that here on Substack or on my podcast.

I’ll also note here that it felt like I was working so hard on this launch — in a lot of directions that were wasted energy. I told my husband, who’s a nurse: “Imagine if you did the same procedure over and over again for 5 years… and then one day you showed up and you couldn’t do it that way anymore but no one can tell you the new way.” That’s business right now.

What I know after doing this business thing for many years is that the only way to see what you don’t want is to experience the tension — but it can be a brutal learning curve!!!

Program messaging & my identity: I’m in a weird in-between land of not wanting to be a “fixer” anymore — but also bridging from an older professional identity where I really loved that coach/ practical fixing mode. I’m moving into more of a gatherer/ facilitator role, although still loving a bit of 1-1 coaching. But honestly, people are getting much better results in my group programs rather than my 1-1 rooms at this point (with a few exceptions for super high level VIP 1-1 work).

When I brought The Initiation into the world, I realized that it felt like the old identity — the “I will fix you” vibe. That was tricky to sell because emotionally, I didn’t want to be there anymore. But: I also knew the people in my world needed that kind of more practical money support. What I realized, about halfway through the launch, was reframing the program into a “money study for creatives” that focuses on our unique World Builders perspective (rather than a “come in here to fix your money” vibe) felt a lot better. Once I made that switch to center the worldview and the community, I could feel the sales moving much more smoothly.

Launches are always a sum of their parts. Throughout the process of launching The Initiation, The Council also started to fill. Right now, we have 7 spots taken for our July Fire Council (which means there are 3 spots remaining max, but there are also 5 people considering those spots). The long and short of this takeaway is that yes: The Initiation brought in $4400. But it also secured a program that brings in $51,000 minimum, over the next 6 months. And I even have three people already booked out for the September Council, which means it’s very likely that I could just stop selling anything publicly for the rest of the year. WHOA.

Practical outcomes: This launch inspired some adjustments to my life and biz, which I’m going to list below (and will dig into more in the coming weeks!).

1. Substack adjustments: I’m going to be evolving this space a bit. I’ll be re-introducing a paywall for some really practical work together (yay!) in just a few weeks, and spending a lot more time here focused on the trends and patterns I’m seeing in the market. Think of it as me running this space from my oracle and community builder persona — so paid subs will also get access to gatherings, alongside ways to implement the new patterns I’m seeing in world building, in your own life.

2. My husband is changing his work: Interestingly, one of the biggest and best outcomes of this launch for me personally was me asking my husband to hold down the fort a bit more financially. If you’ve been following along, you know he left his nursing career four years ago to be our primary parent, and he has slowly gone back part-time. He’s now looking at leadership roles in his nursing career! The reason for this: It’s so hard to launch with all the financial pressure of our family’s well-being on my shoulders. Him helping with the stable foundation is key for all of us. We’re both really excited about this.

3. I’m doing a lot more market research: During this launch, I heard over and over again that everyone wants a Collective/ community space in World Builders. So I started actually reaching out to inner circle folks and asking them what they see for that communal space. World Builders was always meant to be more than just me — and this launch, for whatever reason, opened my eyes to the fact that I can’t build based on my needs alone anymore. It’s too much of an echo chamber! So I’ve been having conversations every day (and will have more happening this month in those Purpose Pods) about what world we want to build for ourselves.

4. The podcast is getting a fresh approach: I’ve loved interviewing people for season one (24 episodes!) but this launch made me realize that spending more time in that oracle persona feels good to me and to y’all. So season two will contain 2x per week transmissions and pep talks — like little doses of coaching and intuitive perspective. I’ll run the podcast that way at least for the summer.

5. I’m taking a damn break: I’ll be quieter here for the next week or two as I pivot the space (the branding, the paid tier element). I’m also taking a podcast break. This is a long time coming… I’ve been building relentlessly since January and this mama needs a PAUSE! (I’m also in a 12th house transit, IYKYK.) Ironically, the less I push, the more my work seems to move of its own accord.

The thing I almost always forget, and then re-remember after a launch, is that launches (which I think are dying anyway as a term/ concept, more on that soon) are really more about emotional excavation than the response we get from other people. When you have to stand, vulnerably, in the bright light of your truth — in the wobble, the confusion, the pressure — you see everything you’ve tried to keep hidden. You see the shadows, the belonging wounds, the ways your old protective strategies don’t work anymore when you’ve put yourself fully out there. If you’re listening during a launch, you get an opportunity to learn so much about yourself and your people, about where the market is shifting. I know no better route to personal growth than a big launch moment. But yes, it’s also exhausting. And yes, we need integration and recovery — always.

So here’s to growth. To evolution. To change. And to a bunch of poolside days for me over the next few weeks while I sketch out my next invitation. If you want to hang out with me and talk shop about the world we get to build together, the Purpose Pods are running on:

• June 17th (3 spots left)

• June 24th (3 spots left)

• July 1st (4 spots left)

I’d love to meet you, talk about where you feel wobbly, hear about your “wave my magic wand” requests for a World Builders collective space, and introduce you to some heart-centered humans who will likely be your supportive friends for a long, long time.

Rooting for you always,

xo

Jenni

How to Join the World Builders Universe Right Now:

1. Try out our new World Builders’ Archetype quiz and let us know what type you get! This quiz will help you see how you build, and what that means for your evolutionary edges, superpowers and money patterns.

2. Send in an application for the July Fire Council (potentially 3 spots left) or September Earth Council: Learn more here