We were exploring what it means to become the anchored woman: who you are at your roots, underneath all the roles, the responsibilities, the adapting, the performing, the never-ending expectations of the world.

And I asked her: what belief are you ready to leave behind?

She said: “When is the other shoe going to drop?”

She’d been carrying that fear her whole life. Living in low-grade vigilance. Always prepared for the worst.

And when I asked her where that fear lived in her body, she said her jaw and her shoulders. Like a heavy backpack she’d been carrying so long she forgot it was there.

And then I asked: “If you put the backpack down, who would you be?”

She got quiet.

And then she said:

“I’d be barefoot.”

That’s the woman I’m becoming. The one who doesn’t need the boots anymore. The one who trusts the journey enough to feel the ground under her feet.

That’s what we do inside Atelier of Life. One hour a month, we meet the woman we’re becoming 💜

We honor her, we connect with her, we get to know her and allow her to guide us into the person that has always been within us.

The full replay, the tapping sequence, the audit prompts, and everything that came up in the room is waiting for you below for Atelier paid members.

If you’ve been curious about what it actually feels like inside Atelier, this is your window in. Doors are open and you get access to all past calls 🌸

Read more

We spent our time focused on one word, one energy, one intention: Spaciousness

Spaciousness as a feeling, as a practice, as something that, when you first invite it in, actually feels uncomfortable before it feels like freedom 🌸

We reflected on questions that you don’t usually make time for 🫠

• Where in your life are you feeling the most squeezed?

• What are you saying yes to that isn’t a real yes?

• Where have you replaced pleasure with pressure and barely noticed?

• What would you do with one extra hour if no one needed anything from you and they loved you just the same?

That last part “and they loved you just the same” came up in the room and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Because so many of us are over-functioning not because we have to, but because somewhere along the way we decided that doing less meant being loved less.

That’s the work we’re doing inside Atelier of Life 💜

If you’ve been curious about what it’s actually like in the room, this post is your window in. The replay is waiting for you behind the paywall

Come join us, our next gathering is August and the word is Becoming 🌸

Welcome back, and if you missed today live, I’m so glad this is here for you 🌸

Here’s what we covered so you can watch with intention:

We opened with the body, not the brain, meaning I asked everyone to feel the word spaciousness before we talked about it.

• Where does it land?

• Where do you feel open?

• Where do you feel contracted?

Because spaciousness isn’t just a calendar thing, it lives in your creativity, your finances, your relationships, your body. All of it.

Then we talked about why increasing your capacity for spaciousness feels so hard at first.

This was the part I really wanted to name out loud: the discomfort of slowing down is real.

Our nervous systems were wired from age 5 to equate busyness with worth so when you start creating space, your brain reads it as danger. Am I falling behind? Have I earned this? That unsettled feeling isn’t a sign you’re doing it wrong. It’s your nervous system learning a new language.

And here’s the science underneath it: when cortisol is high, your prefrontal cortex (the part that makes your best decisions) goes offline and checks out.

Spaciousness isn’t lazy. It’s literally where your best thinking, your best creativity, and your best work come from. You cannot hustle yourself to a solution.

Inside the call, we built our Nervous System First Aid Kit

Three things to reach for when the discomfort of spaciousness creeps in:

1. Name the feeling out loud: “My nervous system is catching up. This is not an emergency. This is growth.” Say it. It interrupts the spiral.

2. Anchor your body. Something somatic — fidget with your jewelry, hold a crystal, feel your feet on the floor. Give your nervous system a handhold.

3. Give it to the bonfire. That thing you’re anxious about — the unmet goal, the guilt, the “I haven’t earned this” — give it a symbol and place it in the fire. You don’t have to solve it. Let it alchemize.

The we did a Spaciousness audit: Five questions, soft music, real writing.

One of my favorite moments on the call was when someone said “if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no — but that hasn’t translated to work yet.”

The four-day work week but still taking Friday meetings, the text messages after hours, the lunch breaks that aren’t really lunch breaks.

We know the rule and we just haven’t applied it everywhere yet. That’s the work.

We did EFT tapping together and it felt SO good!

We tapped on releasing the belief that busy = worthy. If you’ve never done tapping before, the replay will walk you through it. Do it with us, it works and feels so good!)

Side note: Go to minute 53 if you want to go straight to tapping.

And we closed our beautiful space with an affirmation:
I am choosing to make room for myself.

I am choosing to make room in my life, in my bank account, in my home, in my body.

I am learning to feel worthy even when I rest.

I am learning to connect with the part of me that feels safe and spacious.

I choose to trust that journey.

I am joy. I am alive. I am spacious.

🎥 Watch the replay here

3 reflection questions to sit with after you watch:

1. Where in your life are you squeezing yourself the hardest right now and what would it feel like to loosen that grip, even by 10%?

2. What is one thing you’ve been saying yes to out of obligation that isn’t a true yes and what would it look like to change that this month?

3. What’s one thing you’re adding to your Nervous System First Aid Kit?

Our next seed for August is Becoming 🌱

August’s gathering is coming. Keep an eye on the chat for the date and if you have a big milestone like one of our members, you already know why this one is going to be so good 😍

See you in the room and honored to be sharing this space with you!

xx Stéphanie

Hi! I’m Stéphanie, a certified executive coach + energy practioner supporting leaders + founders. I’m a mom, living in NYC with my family running my business powered by joy, vulnerability and a huge vision.

If you’re into personal growth, leadership, entrepreneurship, energy and all things being human, welcome 🫶🏽

Want to go deeper? See below :)

Here’s how I can support you:

🌸 Share in the chat: what’s one thing from today’s call that’s still with you?

💜 Her Purpose Collective is my intimate mastermind for women founders ready to scale with intention. 6 women max, high touch, real results.

✨ 1:1 Private Coaching for the executive, founder, or leader who's done performing success and actually enjoy the life you’re building while you build it.

🎙️ And if you want more of this energy between calls, find me on Instagram, I show up there daily!

And the feeling is…

Spaciousness (!!!)

Ahh just writing it down, allows me to take a deep delicious breath.

Ever since I fell and hurt my knee, I’ve been re-evaluating my life and I keep coming back to ✨ spaciousness ✨

And honestly? It was one of the most clarifying things that happened to me this year.

Not because rest is some magical productivity hack but because when I stopped doing, I finally had room to feel, to think, to want things, to remember who I am when I’m not in motion.

That’s spaciousness. And most of us are starving for it without even realizing it.

So this July, that’s our seed inside Atelier of Life 🌱

What spaciousness actually looks like (it’s not just a spa day)

I want to be really honest with you about this because I think spaciousness gets romanticized in a way that makes it feel unattainable. Like you need a week in Tuscany to access it.

You don’t.

Spaciousness lives in the small things, in the every day things that some times we take for granted.

Here are some places to find it this month:

In your joy 🎨
Is there something you’ve been wanting to do just because it sounds fun? A pottery class, a painting afternoon, a solo lunch date, a bookstore browse with nowhere to be after? Spaciousness isn’t just empty time, it’s time filled with things that have no agenda. Book one thing this month that exists just because you wanted it.

In your calendar 🗓
Look at your week: Is every slot filled? Can you protect even one 90-minute window that has nothing assigned to it? Not to be productive but just to be available to yourself. Block it and name it “me” if you have to. Guard it like a meeting with your most important client, because it is!

Read more

I’ll be honest, I’ve been thinking about this call for weeks.

And it was everything I hoped it would be and more 💜

Today we did something most of us never make time for: we stopped, we paused, we reflected. We looked at our actual lives, not our calendars, not our to-do lists, not our goals. Our lives. And we asked: is this still what I want? is this working for me?

That’s the work of Atelier. And it starts here.

This Month’s Seed: Steady Foundation

Every month in Atelier we gather around a seed: a single word or phrase to plant, tend, and carry through the next 30 days.

Before we can design anything new, we have to see what’s actually here, not what we wish were here, not what we’re performing but what’s actually here, present in our lives.

What we covered on today’s call:

We did a full Mid-Year Life Audit using these 8 areas called The JOY Wheel. JOY stands for Journey of You!

So grab a notebook and score yourself 1–10, trust your gut with what comes first, no overthinking (no judgement, just curiosity)

Read more

For years, I’ve coached founders, executives, ambitious women, and creatives who are outwardly successful but privately exhausted.

Leaders who know how to achieve, perform, lead, and produce.

But who are quietly asking themselves:

“Is there another way?”

(Please tell me there is another way.)

In yesterday’s post, I shared how an unexpected fall forced me into a pause I didn’t know I needed.

The response was overwhelming.

So many of you wrote back saying some version of:

“I’m tired too, I can relate”

“I’m successful, but exhausted.”

“I keep telling myself things will slow down after this next project, launch, milestone, promotion, season of motherhood...”

and yet, nothing changes.

And that’s what made me realize:

This isn’t just my conversation.

It’s ours.

Does any of this sound familiar?

You told yourself January was going to be different.

You had a list. A vision board, maybe. A note in your phone.

The book you wanted to write.

The class you wanted to join.

The business or side hustle that you wanted to start.

The marathon you wanted to train for.

The vacation you wanted to plan.

Six months have passed and how many of those things have actually happened?

And before you answer, let me be the first one to say: you’re not lazy, you’re not failing…You are busy being everything for everyone else.

You’re the one who keeps the household running.

The one who shows up for her team, her clients, her kids, her partner.

The one who says “I’ll do that when things slow down” and then things never slow down.

The one who’s scrolling at 10pm wondering when exactly did I stop doing the things I love?

You’re not burnt out because you’re weak. You’re burnt out because you’ve been carrying everything, except yourself.

Here’s what nobody tells you:

You don’t lose your life all at once.

You lose it slowly.

One skipped workout.

One “we should grab lunch” that never gets scheduled.

One month where you meant to start that thing, and then didn’t, and then quietly stopped telling yourself you would.

And then one day you look up and think:

Wait. What do I even like anymore?

That’s not a crisis. That’s just what happens when there’s no one holding you accountable to you.

Not your job, not your family, not your goals.

You.

And perhaps the real goal isn’t to build a life that only works when we’re operating at 120%.

Perhaps the goal is to build a life that can hold us. That is…just hold us.

What if once a month, someone held that space for you? Your goals, your wants, your ideas.

No agenda to perform for. No one to take care of. No deliverable at the end.

Just you, looking at your own life with fresh eyes. Asking, reflecting, auditing: Is this still what I want? What needs to change? What have I been putting off?

What would feel like a full breath right now?

That’s Atelier of Life.

A community for women who are ambitious, growth-minded, and ready to stop putting their own life last.

Think of it as spring cleaning for your life, every single month.

Introducing Atelier of Life ✨

A community that includes a monthly virtual gathering for ambitious women, leaders, mothers, creatives, who want to create lives that can hold both success, spaciousness and freedom.

Women who know how to achieve but are ready to learn how to receive.

Women who are building businesses, careers, families, relationships, and meaningful lives and want to do so without abandoning themselves along the way.

🌸 A space for deeper conversations.

🌸 A space for reflection.

🌸 A space for growth.

🌸 A space to be seen for the fullness of who we are.

🌸 A space where we don’t just workshop our businesses or the things that aren’t working.

A space where we workshop our lives, our desires, ourselves.

Together, we’ll explore what it means to build the emotional, energetic, and practical capacity to hold a bigger life.

Inside Atelier of Life, we’ll explore what it means to create a life that feels expansive, sustainable, and deeply your own.

We’ll talk about:

Leadership.

Goals.

Relationships.

Purpose.

Money.

Motherhood.

Energy.

Identity.

Visibility.

Wealth.

Capacity.

And the seasons of life that ask us to become someone new.

And the often-overlooked question:

How do we create a beautiful life while we’re living it—not someday after we’ve accomplished everything?

This is the room for the woman who reads personal development books on the treadmill, who has a dozen ideas and no time to execute any of them, who knows exactly what she needs to do and just needs a place to actually do it.

As a Founding Member, You’ll Receive:

✨ One live Atelier of Life virtual gathering each month

✨ Access to our private members-only community space

✨ Access to replays of every session

✨ Thought-provoking prompts, reflections, and exercises

✨ Meaningful conversations with a community of growth-minded women

✨ The opportunity to intentionally design a life that feels aligned, expansive, and sustainable

Founder Pricing

My goal is to welcome the first 50 Founding Members into Atelier of Life.

Founding Membership is $108/month.

Founder pricing will never be offered again and is only available to this inaugural cohort.

Founding 50 Benefits

✨ Founder pricing locked in for as long as you remain a member

✨ Access to every monthly Atelier gathering

✨ Access to our private members-only community

✨ Access to all replays and future workshop recordings

✨ An exclusive Founder’s Circle Retreat later this year where we’ll reflect on what you’ve created, what’s emerging next, and how to move toward it with more trust, intention, and ease

✨ The opportunity to be part of building something meaningful from the very beginning

Because this is our inaugural cohort, I wanted to do something personal.

In addition to everything above, the first 25 members who join will also receive:

✨ A personal welcome package mailed by me

✨ A private reflection form where you’ll share the season of life you’re in, what you’re longing for more of, and what you’d like Atelier of Life to help you create

✨ A personal voice note from me reflecting back what I hear, what stands out, and the intention I’d invite you to hold as you begin this journey

Not because you need another membership.

But because meaningful transformation begins when we feel seen and by the life of me: I WANT YOU TO FEEL SEEN! Every part of you to feel seen, acknowledged, validated and loved.

This Isn’t Just a Membership

It’s a tribe.

It’s a room.

A conversation.

A community of women intentionally creating lives they don’t need to escape from.

Women who want success and spaciousness.

Ambition and peace.

Growth and joy.

Women who are no longer interested in building lives that only work when they’re operating at 120%.

If you’ve been craving more space, more intention, more meaningful conversations, more depth, more joy...

And a different way of moving through life than constant urgency...

I’d love for you to be one of our Founding 50.

Enrollment for the Founding 50 is now open, and I’d be honored to welcome you into the room.

Because perhaps the most important thing we’ll build together isn’t more success.

It’s the capacity to hold the life we’re creating.

This is for you if...

You’re the mom who loves her kids fiercely but feels like she disappeared somewhere inside the carpool and the meal prep and the permission slips.

You’re the corporate woman who’s climbed the ladder and still feels like something’s missing at the top.

You’re the entrepreneur who started her business to have freedom — and somehow ended up more trapped than before.

You’re the high-achiever who’s great at setting goals and terrible at slowing down long enough to enjoy the life you’re building.

You’re the woman who knows she needs more intention in her life. Who’s been meaning to be more intentional. Who has “be more intentional” on her to-do list... somewhere.

You’re not broken. You’re just overdue for a life audit.

✨ JOIN ATELIER OF LIFE by adding your email and selecting the monthly option below. There’s also an annual option if that’s more your vibe ✨

We’ll talk about the things that actually matter.

Not just productivity hacks and morning routines.

Inside Atelier of Life, we go deep on:

Leadership and identity. Goals and grief. Relationships and resentment. Money and meaning. Motherhood and ambition. Energy and exhaustion. Visibility and fear. The seasons of life that ask you to become someone new — and the pressure to keep it together while you do.

And the question underneath all of it:

How do we build a life we love while we’re living it, not someday after we’ve accomplished everything?

A few questions I hear a lot:

“I’m already in so many things. Why would I add one more?”

Because this isn’t one more thing to manage — it’s the one thing that helps you manage everything else. One hour a month, on purpose, for you.

“Is this a coaching program?”

No. It’s a community. Think of it less like a course and more like a monthly dinner with women who challenge you, see you, and refuse to let you disappear.

“What if I can’t make it live?”

Every session is recorded. You’ll always have access.

“Is $108/month worth it?”

Ask yourself: what has it cost you: in time, energy, and joy to keep doing this alone?

Are you ready to audit your life?

If you’ve been craving more space, more intention, more meaningful conversations, more depth, more joy...

If you’re tired of saying “I’ll do that when things slow down”...

If you’re ready to stop letting your life happen to you and start building one you actually chose...

I’d love for you to be one of our Founding 50.

Enrollment is open now. I’d be honored to welcome you into the room.

✨ JOIN ATELIER OF LIFE by adding your email and selecting the monthly option below. There’s also an annual option if that’s more your vibe ✨

Because perhaps the most important thing we’ll build together isn’t more success.

It’s the capacity to hold the life we’re creating.

See you inside the atelier!

xx

Stéphanie

I fell so hard, I heard the pulse of the earth inside my body.

Last week, I fell.

Not the metaphorical kind of fall we often talk about in personal development.

I mean I literally fell.

Hard.

The kind of fall that knocks the wind out of you. The kind that leaves your body aching days later. The kind that forces you to stop moving long enough to notice what has been moving you.

As I laid there in shock, hysterically crying, feeling the impact ripple through my body, the pain was so much deeper than my swollen and bruised knee swollen, it was deep pain. A disappointment, grief, sadness that I had kept stuck unconsciously for months that had to come out from my body.

Thankfully, it was close to my home and someone who works in my building saw the whole thing. He help limp back home where I cried some more in the lobby because I didn’t want my daughter to see me crying this hysterically hard.

(Don’t get me wrong, she sees me cry plenty, but this was a hysterical cry that I think would have been too much to take in for a 4 yr old)

When I finally calmed down a bit, I went upstairs, crying a bit more tenderly, laid in bed with fresh tears streaming down my cheeks, I thought to myself:

“Maybe this is what I’ve been asking for all along”

Not the fall itself.

But The Unexpected Pause.

Because if I’m honest, I have spent much of this year moving quickly while longing for slowness.

I’ve been building while craving spaciousness.

I’ve been creating while yearning for stillness.

I’ve been holding big visions while secretly wanting a little more peace.

I suspect I’m not alone in these thoughts, desires, wants.

Many of us are living inside a contradiction. I see this daily with my private 1:1 coaching clients.

We say we want a slower life.

We dream about mornings without rushing.

We fantasize about having more time to think, to breathe, to simply be.

Yet somehow, we continue moving at a pace that leaves little room for any of it.

We become incredibly skilled at managing our lives while quietly losing touch with ourselves.

And then life intervenes…

Sometimes gently. Sometimes not.

This can be in the form of a diagnosis, a loss, a layoff, an unexpected ending. And in my case: an injury.

A moment that interrupts the momentum and asks a question we weren’t planning to answer:

Who are you when you can no longer move at the speed you’ve become used to?

That question has been sitting with me all week.

Because slowing down voluntarily feels very different than slowing down because you have no choice.

When slowing down is your idea, it feels empowering.

When life chooses it for you, it can feel frustrating, inconvenient, even frightening.

I started to notice how much of my identity is tied to being productive.

How much of my self-worth is connected to getting things done.

How uncomfortable it can be to rest when there is still so much left on the list (the damn list (!!!!!)

But underneath the frustration, I found something else.

Relief.

Not because I was injured.

But because for a brief moment, all the reasons I couldn’t slow down disappeared.

The decision had been made for me and the urgency loosened its grip.

The world did not collapse, the emails waited and the work remained.

The people who loved me still loved me (thank you for the sweet texts, calls, DMs!)

The important things somehow stayed intact.

And in the quiet that followed in the days ahead, I found myself reflecting on:

What if peace isn’t waiting for us on the other side of accomplishing everything?

What if peace is available long before the list is complete?

What if the life we’re trying so hard to create actually requires a different pace than the one we’re currently living?

I don’t have all the answers…

I’m still limping, still healing, still learning.

But this unexpected pause has reminded me of something important:

The goal isn’t to build a life that only works when everything goes according to plan.

The goal is to build a life that can hold us when life inevitably asks us to slow down.

A life that doesn’t depend on over-functioning and that doesn’t require constant urgency.

A life spacious enough for both ambition and peace.

A life that allows us to hear our own heartbeat before we have to hear the pulse of the earth.

So dear reader, here’s an invitation for you that I am sitting with as well:

Let’s not to wait for life to force the pause.

Let’s create small moments of stillness now.

• A longer walk.

• A slower morning.

• An unfinished to-do list.

• A deeper breath.

• An early night in bed where we get a healthy 7+ hours of sleep.

A moment of presence and a deep breath in the middle of an ordinary day.

Because sometimes what we’re searching for isn’t more time…it’s permission.

Permission to ourselves to stop running long enough to remember that we’re already here.

Today is “it!”

This is it, you’ve arrived, you’re here. And it’s about time to we learn how to enjoy it, live it, be it.

And maybe that is where peace, contentment, joy begins.

Thank you for being here, and here’s to building a life that feels soft, safe, big, empowering and aligned with our pace of life.

xx

Stéphanie

P.S: As I was recovering this past week, I realized this fall brought me face-to-face with a question I’ve been asking for years:

How do I design a life that doesn’t depend on over-functioning?

A life that can hold ambition and peace.

Success and spaciousness.

Growth and joy.

Wealth and freedom.

I’ve been quietly creating something around this idea for a while now, something I’ve never offered before. And this fall what the catalyst of helping me put all of the pieces together.

I’ll be sharing more tomorrow.

For now, I’d simply invite you to sit with the question:

What would become possible if your life didn’t require you to operate at 120% all the time?

Today, this Substack gets a new name.

Welcome to the Atelier of Life.

If you’ve been here under “Joyfully Empowered” — thank you for being with me since day 1!

As I enter a new phase of life, where I am showing up more me than ever while also workshopping through life, I wanted this space to represent that as well.

An atelier is a workshop. A studio. A room where the hands and the heart are both at work. Where the unfinished pieces are visible and welcome. Where craft is honored and revision is the whole point.

Where performance and perfectionism is left at the door.

That’s what this place is for now. A room to workshop your life. The marriage, the work, the identity, the wealth, the side hustle, the next chapter — whatever’s on your bench right now.

The thing that is present in your life but you haven’t started to workshop it.

For now, the podcast keeps its name “Joyfully Empowered” — more on this soon!

Some of what’s coming here in the next few weeks:

A few essays, letters, posts that I’ve been writing for months, finally ready to share.

A closing of some old work — I’m retiring three courses I built in earlier chapters of this business. They served their purpose. They’re not who I am now. (More on that in late May.)

And the opening of something I’ve been quietly building for a long time: a monthly room, a space where we actually do the work, together. (More on that very soon too!)

If you have a friend who’d love this kind of writing — the kind that takes your actual life seriously and joyful at the same time— I’d be honored if you forwarded this to them.

The new room has space and I am so honored for you to be a part of it 💜

Stay tuned as I am bringing you along this journey that I am workshopping and giving myself permission to show up in all the ways.

— Stéphanie

Hi, hi! What a wave of excitement to come back to this little sweet and empowering corner of the world 💜

It’s been a while. Five months, give or take.

I didn’t mean to disappear from here. I meant to take a Sunday off and ended up taking a season 🙃 Looking back, my mind, body and heart needed it the space, the break, the expansion while transitioning.

The truth is, I needed to make space to create a new version of my work, my identity that I had outgrown. And the only way I knew how to do that without it be overwhelming was to go quiet, go in and let the next chapter come find me.

And it did.

Some of what’s been happening on my side:

Holding my one-on-one clients close.

Listening to a lot of founders, executives, CEOs, mothers, immigrants like me — who built the right life on paper and feel a quiet contraction where there should be expansion.

I also became a Professor! I teach a class to an amazing group of college students and I have been loving that part of my work.

I’ve been watching what wants to be different and creating space for it to sprout.

Thinking about wealth — not the kind you’re sold, but the real kind.

The kind that creates freedom, sovereignty and a life that replenishes you while you are experiencing it.

I’ve been workshopping my own life, in other words. Stronger bond in my own marriage, motherhood, whether to have another baby and how to grow a business that doesn’t grow at the expense of me.

And I’ve been creating something, I’m not ready to fully tell you what it is yet (soon!)

But here’s what I can say: this Substack is changing. The name, the focus, the room itself.

It’s becoming a place to gather around a different conversation — one I’ve been wanting to have for years and didn’t have the voice for until now.

Isn’t that the greatest thing about going within? You find your voice.

If you’ve been here a while, thank you for staying.

If you’re new, welcome!

I’ll be writing more this month than I have all year and I am excited, honored and feeling alive with bringing this new body of work, energy to each of you.

For now I just wanted to say hi and tell you I haven’t gone anywhere!

And that whatever you’re workshopping in your own life right now — your own marriage, your own work, your own identity — there’s a room being built for that.

More soon 💜

— Stéphanie

In a world obsessed with faster, louder, and more — some women are choosing slower, softer, and intentional.

When Maya Ojalvo created Safta, it wasn’t a business plan. It was a longing.

A longing for home — not as an address, but as a feeling.
The smell of fresh coffee and cookies after waking up from summer naps.
The sound of her grandmother’s laughter echoing across cultures.
The touch of a handmade textile that feels like ancestral memories.

Maya calls Safta an invitation to return…
To return to the self.
To the matriarchal wisdom that teaches us beauty in slowness.
To the ritual of making ordinary moments sacred.

In our conversation on the Joyfully Empowered podcast, we explore:

✨ The story of how a third-culture childhood became her creative compass
✨ The courage it takes to build a brand rooted in slowness in a fast-paced world
✨ The rituals that keep her grounded as a founder
✨ Why honoring our matriarchs is the most radical act of self-love

This episode feels like a warm childhood kitchen — full of aroma, memory, and meaning.

If you’ve been craving a slower rhythm or wondering how to build something that feels like you, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

🎧 Listen to the Full Conversation

🎙️ Listen to “Maya Ojalvo: The Art of Returning Home”

Available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Substack

Thank you for being part of this community — for reading, reflecting, and daring to live beautifully!

xx

Stéphanie

💌 Resources and Links

• Subscribe to Joyfully Empowered on Substack

• Ready to begin your transformation? Check out Stéphanie’s Self-Paced Courses including The JOY Method here

• Inquire about 1:1 work including coaching with Stephanie here

• For brand partnerships & employee wellness: Email team@stephanievirchaux.com

It’s showing up to the meeting, hitting every deadline, smiling in the Zoom window — while your inner spark feels quietly dim.

That’s the sneaky thing about burnout. It doesn’t crash in one day; it creeps in slowly, disguised as ambition.

According to the World Health Organization, burnout is now officially classified as an occupational phenomenon — not just stress, but full-body energy depletion that impacts focus, creativity, and even hormonal balance.

And a 2024 Deloitte study found that 77% of professionals have experienced burnout, but more than half didn’t realize it until it was too late.

For women in leadership, that number is even higher. Because we normalize “fine.”

We power through.
We perform through.
And somewhere in that overfunctioning, we stop feeling like ourselves.

So how do we catch burnout before it catches us?

We reconnect to our rhythm — through rituals.

Rituals aren’t just candles or morning meditations.
They’re micro moments of remembrance — small acts that whisper to your nervous system:

“You are safe. You are guided. You are allowed to slow down.”

These intentional pauses shift your brain from survival to regulation. They help you rewire chaos into clarity.

Neuroscientists call it the ritual effect.

I call it the Feminine Leadership Reset — because the moment you restore your rhythm, everything else begins to align.

5 Rituals That Rewire Your Energy & Reignite Joy

(Each one takes less than 5 minutes — but the ripple is massive.)

1. The “Anchor & Expand” Minute

After a meeting, place your hand on your heart and take three full exhales:

“I am grounded. I am safe.”
Then open your arms wide, breathe in deeply, and affirm:
“My next action is powered by calm and intention.”

🧠 Why it works: It completes the stress cycle and signals closure to your nervous system — preventing energy leaks and mental fatigue.

2. The “Touchpoint Transition” Ritual

Choose a personal object (a stone, mug, or scarf) that marks your shift from doing mode into being mode.
Each time you touch it, say:

“I release tension. I welcome flow.”

💡 Why it’s powerful: You’re conditioning your brain to anchor safety and ease, turning everyday transitions into moments of emotional regulation.

3. The “Future-Self Tape & Activate” Ritual

Record a 60-second voice memo to your future self one year from now.
Speak as if you’re already living your next evolution — the version of you who’s calm, magnetic, and abundant.
Then listen back immediately and write one aligned action for today.

🌙 Why it works: This ritual activates visualization, self-trust, and leadership embodiment — it bridges who you are and who you’re becoming.

4. The “Sacred Pause” Ritual

Choose one daily transition (like walking to your next meeting).
Slow your pace by 50%, taking six deliberate steps:

• Inhale: “I gather energy.”

• Exhale: “I release what’s heavy.”
  At the end, set one intention for the next hour.

🌿 Why it works: It turns movement into meditation — regulating your body without needing extra time.

5. The “Energy Check-In” Ritual

Once a day, ask yourself two questions:
1️⃣ “Where did I give energy and feel aligned?”
2️⃣ “Where did I give energy and feel drained?”
Then choose one act of reclamation for tomorrow — maybe saying no, taking a walk, or delegating something.

🔥 Why it’s game-changing: You start managing energy, not time. And that’s the foundation of feminine wealth.

💖 Why this matters

When women in leadership restore their energy through ritual, they don’t just prevent burnout — they amplify their impact.

✨ Your clarity improves team communication.
✨ Your presence creates calm in every room you walk into.
✨ Your joy becomes the strategy.

Rituals don’t just protect your energy.
They expand it.

Your Invitation

If you’ve been feeling off — not broken, just tired, uninspired, or low-key numb — that’s not failure.
That’s feedback.

This week, choose one ritual from this list.
Commit to it for seven days.
Notice what shifts.

Because you don’t need a bigger to-do list — you need a softer way to be.

🎧 Listen to this episode on the Joyfully Empowered Podcast
→ Burnout to Balance: The Ritual Reset Every Woman Leader Needs

And if you’re ready to deepen your energy rituals and feminine leadership practice, join me inside Her Purpose Collective — where intuitive strategy meets sustainable success. ✨ Learn more below

May you follow your joy, always & in all ways!

xx

Stéphanie

Ready to built your own empire doing it your way?

✨ Join us inside Her Purpose Collective! ✨

This is where leaders come together to build wealth, confidence, and freedom on their terms.

Inside, you’ll get:

🌀 Choose Your Adventure:

• Option A: Weekly group coaching calls for high-touch support and momentum in your business. Click here to learn more + enroll

• Option B: Monthly tune-ups if you want spaciousness and focus while still staying accountable. Click here to learn more + enroll

🌍 A Supportive Community of Women Entrepreneurs:
No more building your business in isolation. You’ll be surrounded by ambitious women who get it, celebrate your wins, and hold you through challenges.

💡 Clarity + Strategy:
Bring your biggest questions about offers, pricing, or leadership — and leave with clear, aligned next steps you can actually implement.

🔮 Energy + Mindset Shifts:
Because growing your business isn’t just strategy — it’s inner work. We’ll rewire beliefs, strengthen your confidence, and anchor into joy while you scale.

🪞 Built-in Accountability:
So your goals don’t just sit on paper. You’ll have a structure (and a sisterhood) that keeps you moving forward.

✨ Founding Members Bonus (limited time):
If you join now as a founding member, you’ll receive:

• Exclusive locked-in pricing that will never be offered again.

• A private 1:1 onboarding call with me to map out your vision and goals (Valued $1250)

If you decide to join, let me be the first one to welcome you in to Her Purpose Collective!

My friends, hello!

I am so excited for this week’s episode featuring Kayli Mylius from The Intentional Muse!

The Intentional Muse, a monthly print newspaper and community designed to help women live more artful, intentional lives! When you listen (or meet Kayli IRL!) you realized that she lives her life like THE MUSE that she is!

While reflecting being a muse after we recorded the episode, it reminded me of what I teach inside The JOY Method…

Maybe the journey isn’t about becoming someone else, it’s about becoming who you were always meant to.

That to me, is the definition of being your own muse: being, becoming who you’ve always been. Your most authentic self.

Kayli’s gave all of the readers of Joyfully Empowered a super generous code to get your first free issue! Scroll to the bottom to get it :)

Remembering the Spark

Imagine waking up and realizing that maybe you already are who you’ve been waiting to become.

That’s what happened to Kayli Mylius, founder of The Intentional Muse. She created a monthly print newspaper and community for women who crave meaning, artfulness, and depth in a fast-paced world.

She started because she noticed a gap — an ache, really — in how women were living: constantly producing, rarely creating.

“I wanted to build something that helped women remember that they already have what they need within them,” Kayli shared during our conversation.

Her spark came from a deep desire to slow down, to live beautifully — not busily.

Reflection: What small dream or whisper keeps resurfacing for you — even when you try to push it aside?

That whisper is your muse stirring.

The Challenge — Living Against the Grain

Launching a print newspaper in this day and age?
Wild.
Unscalable.
Impractical.

Kayli’s courage came from choosing integrity over approval.

She said no to the algorithmic pull of “more, faster, louder” and built something timeless — tangible, slow, and soulful. Something that she was craving.

Every creative woman reaches this crossroads: follow the world’s rules, or follow her rhythm.

Takeaway: Staying true to your art means standing apart from the noise.
Even when it feels lonely, your alignment is your advantage.

Try this: Think of one area in your work or life where you’ve been following the “should.” What would it look like to do it your way this week?

The Transformation — Embodying the Muse

Kayli’s shift wasn’t just about starting a business.
It was an energetic recalibration.

She redefined success from “doing more” to “being more herself”
She replaced productivity hacks with creative rituals.
She anchored her days in intention, not urgency.

“Rituals are how I come home to myself,” she said.

Take this from her:

• A daily walk without your phone (let your ideas breathe).

• One “art hour” per week — no agenda, just play.

• A Sunday ritual to reset and reconnect (no guilt, just grace).

Remember: You don’t find the muse. You become her — through presence, boundaries, and beauty.

The Embodiment — Living Artfully, Every Day

Today, Kayli’s work reminds women that creativity is not a luxury.
It’s a spiritual practice.

She embodies what it means to live as your own muse:
choosing intention over impulse,
art over algorithm,
presence over performance.

The question isn’t if you have muse energy.
The question is: How will you live it today?

Journal Prompt: What decision could you make today that reflects your muse energy?
Maybe it’s saying no. Maybe it’s saying yes. Maybe it’s giving yourself permission to create, rest, or begin again.

🎧 Listen to the Full Conversation

If you’d like to hear our full conversation — filled with laughter, truth, and a sprinkle of rebellion — you can listen to the podcast episode here 👇

🎙️ Listen to “Living as Your Own Muse: Creativity, Courage & Intentionality”

Available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Substack

Get your first issue of The Intentional Muse for free! Use code JOYFULMUSE at checkout!

I absolutely LOVE this monthly newspaper, it’s truly a breath of fresh air! And I am a contributor so every once in a while, you’ll see an article written by yours truly ;)

Thank you for being part of this community — for reading, reflecting, and daring to live beautifully!

xx

Stéphanie

💌 A Note for Paid Members

Paid members of Joyfully Empowered get exclusive access to:
🖋️ This Month’s Live Workshop: Activate Your Muse & Feel Inspired in Your Every Day Life
📥 A guided PDF with journal prompts + creative practices
💫 Access to our monthly Pep talk “The Alignment Drop”

If you’re not yet a member, you can join now — and get access to all benefits! (plus you can cancel at anytime)

Resources and Links:

• Subscribe to Joyfully Empowered on Substack

• Connect with host and certified coach ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephanie Virchaux

• Ready to begin your transformation? Check out Stéphanie’s Self-Paced Courses including The JOY Method here

• Inquire about 1:1 work including coaching with Stephanie here

• For brand partnerships & employee wellness: Email team@stephanievirchaux.com
  

And yet—something inside of you feels… off.

That’s the moment I call The Achievement Hangover 🫠

It’s what happens when your identity is built on performing, producing, achieving—
but your energy isn’t aligned with your success.

You are not aligned with your purpose. You are operating on what you think others want but you haven’t checked in with yourself to see if that’s what you actually want.

I see this pattern in almost every high-achieving woman I coach:
They’re brilliant, capable, and wildly successful… yet running on empty.
They’re leading from depletion instead of alignment.

👀 The Problem 👀

Most leadership advice still teaches you to push harder, organize better, delegate smarter.

But if your nervous system is constantly in “go mode,” no amount of structure will bring peace.

The result?
You hit your goals—but lose your joy.
You show up strong—but feel disconnected.
You start to wonder: Is this what success is supposed to feel like?

The Proof: My Own Growth

When I left corporate and started leading my own coaching business, I thought freedom would automatically mean fulfillment.

Instead, I found myself chasing the next milestone, the next launch, the next client.

I kept running the same mindset programming that I had when I was in corporate.

Until one day, I realized:
If I keep chasing the next milestone and I don’t re-define success, my business will also feeling depleting.

That was the wake-up call.

Because the truth is, burnout doesn’t mean you’re weak.

It means you’ve been doing the things that you thought you had to do, instead of the things that you want to do and are within your zone of genius.

Here’s a proven framework that I teach to my 1:1 coaching clients to learn to achieve their way, on purpose and without the burnout.

Read more

This week on Joyfully Empowered, I sit down with my longtime friend and powerhouse entrepreneur Jenna Schebell, founder of The College Navigators — a woman who turned two decades of insider knowledge into a movement that’s changing how families approach the college process.

Jenna and I go way back and I am so honored and excited to share her story of how she’s built success on her terms!

Jenna’s story is such a masterclass in feminine leadership: she’s seen both sides of the admissions table, built not one but multiple thriving businesses (including Moose Oliver Designs), and somehow still manages to show up for 145K (!!!) people on Instagram with clarity, warmth, and wisdom.

What I love most about her story is that it’s not linear. It’s layered. It’s honest. And it’s proof that confidence doesn’t come from knowing every answer — it comes from trusting your voice in rooms where everyone else is trying to sound the same.

In this episode, we explore:
🎓 The truth about college admissions — and the myths that are keeping parents and students stuck.
💡 The mindset shift that helped Jenna go from counselor to CEO — and how you can apply it to any area of your life.
📱 How she built an audience of 145,000 while staying authentic and grounded in her mission.
🔥 The one mantra she wants every parent to repeat during the college process.

And my personal favorite — what she’d tell her younger self, filling out her own college applications. (Spoiler: it’s something we all need to hear.)

This conversation is so much more than college talk. It’s about courage, clarity, and creating your own path — whether you’re applying to schools, building a business, or redefining success on your own terms.

🎧 Listen now to hear Jenna’s journey from educator to entrepreneur — and how she’s empowering thousands of families (and herself) to do it their way.

“Confidence doesn’t come from doing what’s expected — it comes from trusting yourself”— Jenna Schebell

👉 Listen to the full episode here

I’d love to hear from you, comment below and let me know!

Keep on following your joy, always and in all ways!

xx

Stéphanie

Ready to built your own empire doing it your way?

✨ Join us inside Her Purpose Collective! ✨

This is where leaders come together to build wealth, confidence, and freedom on their terms.

Inside, you’ll get:

🌀 Choose Your Adventure:

• Option A: Weekly group coaching calls for high-touch support and momentum in your business. Click here to learn more + enroll

• Option B: Monthly tune-ups if you want spaciousness and focus while still staying accountable. Click here to learn more + enroll

🌍 A Supportive Community of Women Entrepreneurs:
No more building your business in isolation. You’ll be surrounded by ambitious women who get it, celebrate your wins, and hold you through challenges.

💡 Clarity + Strategy:
Bring your biggest questions about offers, pricing, or leadership — and leave with clear, aligned next steps you can actually implement.

🔮 Energy + Mindset Shifts:
Because growing your business isn’t just strategy — it’s inner work. We’ll rewire beliefs, strengthen your confidence, and anchor into joy while you scale.

🪞 Built-in Accountability:
So your goals don’t just sit on paper. You’ll have a structure (and a sisterhood) that keeps you moving forward.

✨ Founding Members Bonus (limited time):
If you join now as a founding member, you’ll receive:

• Exclusive locked-in pricing that will never be offered again.

• A private 1:1 onboarding call with me to map out your vision and goals (Valued $1250)

If you decide to join, let me be the first one to welcome you in to Her Purpose Collective!

This season is all about women, entrepreneurship, purpose and doing things our way.

We’re kicking off the season with a solo episode of what’s it’s been like for me to create a business with a solid foundation. No matter what life has brought me, I’ve been able to stand on solid ground since day 1.

I believe this is possible because almost 9 years ago, when I started my business, I re-defined what success looked like to me. That made all of the difference (I talk about this more in depth in the episode!)

This season is dedicated to women and following our purpose.

Women in business face real challenges: bias, imposter syndrome, and the endless juggle of work + life.

But we’re also rewriting the rules.

More of us are building businesses that reflect our values, energy, and deepest desires — and that’s exactly what this season is all about!

Inside Episode 1 of Season 2, I share the 4 principles that guide how I do business my way:

🌟 Authenticity & Values

The most powerful thing you can bring into your business is yourself. When you lead from intuition and values, you attract aligned opportunities and clients who get you.

🌟 Designing Business on Your Terms

Forget “balance.” It’s about integration. Creating a business that supports your life, not the other way around. Boundaries, flexibility, and rhythms that fit your world, your routines and the life that you’re creating.

🌟 Resilience & Mindset

Challenges will come — imposter syndrome, setbacks, “prove-it again” bias. Resilience means reframing failures, celebrating small wins, and remembering you are not alone. Community as a business owner has been a non-negotiable for me.

🌟 Redefining Success

Success doesn’t have to be a number. It can be freedom, joy, impact, creativity, or time. You get to decide what it looks like for you.

As a certified coach, I love a good accountability moment so here is yours!

Write your own “My Way of Success Statement.” Ask yourself: What does success look like if I stop following “shoulds” and start leading from intuition + joy?

Ready to dive in?

🎧 Listen to Episode 1 here on Substack or head to Spotify or Apple — and share with those who you know need to hear this!

Are you craving a space to go deeper within your purpose?

Join us inside Her Purpose Collective!

This is where women entrepreneurs come together to build wealth, confidence, and freedom on their terms.

For more details + to join — see below!

Enjoy this episode! May you follow your joy, always & in all ways!

x

Stéphanie

✨ Join us inside Her Purpose Collective! ✨

This is where women entrepreneurs come together to build wealth, confidence, and freedom on their terms.

Inside, you’ll get:

🌀 Choose Your Adventure:

• Option A: Weekly group coaching calls for high-touch support and momentum in your business. Click here to learn more + enroll

• Option B: Monthly tune-ups if you want spaciousness and focus while still staying accountable. Click here to learn more + enroll

🌍 A Supportive Community of Women Entrepreneurs:
No more building your business in isolation. You’ll be surrounded by ambitious women who get it, celebrate your wins, and hold you through challenges.

💡 Clarity + Strategy:
Bring your biggest questions about offers, pricing, or leadership — and leave with clear, aligned next steps you can actually implement.

🔮 Energy + Mindset Shifts:
Because growing your business isn’t just strategy — it’s inner work. We’ll rewire beliefs, strengthen your confidence, and anchor into joy while you scale.

🪞 Built-in Accountability:
So your goals don’t just sit on paper. You’ll have a structure (and a sisterhood) that keeps you moving forward.

✨ Founding Members Bonus (limited time):
If you join now as a founding member, you’ll receive:

• Exclusive locked-in pricing that will never be offered again.

• A private 1:1 onboarding call with me to map out your vision and goals (Valued $1250)

If you decide to join, let me be the first one to welcome you in to Her Purpose Collective!

But by the time they come to me…
They feel drained. Stretched. Like their passion has quietly turned into depletion.

And the missing link?
Rituals.

I’m talking about real, regulated, science-backed rituals.
The kind that reset your nervous system and …

Read more

🏋🏽‍♀️ Half-way through day 1: I went to the gym on a day that normally I don't go.

🍕 End of day 2: I picked up a new book and made homemade pizza with my daughter.

🔥 Beginning of day 4: I felt like a new person and came to the…

Read more

• The market’s shifting.

• Teams are stretched.

• Decision-fatigue.

And strategy changes… weekly (if not daily)

Here’s what I’ve noticed with the founders and CEOs that I am coaching:

>> The ones thriving right now aren’t t…

Read more

I am a summer baby, born on July 14th (special nod and wink to Bastille Day in France!) and I have true true true summer baby energy.

Give me sand, beach, a bathing suit and all the sunshine and I am in my happy place! (and one the other hand I LOVE the seasons and living in NYC 🤷🏽‍♀️)

Today’s episode came from the JOY Community on Instagram (shout to Kayla!) for asking how to manifest health, wealth & joy from a place of trust and abundance.

I said HELL YEA this is the perfect question to answer in the final episode of Season 1 of Joyfully Empowered, the pod.

I have recorded 30 episodes (!!!) so far — it has been so much fun and has not felt at all like a chore, like another thing to check off — it’s been pure joy!

In this episode, I dive into summer energy hacks to manifest wealth, health and joy:

• I share Ayurvedic wisdom on “Pitta” energy and how to harness it for our success

• How to use sunshine (nature’s dopamine) to strengthen joy in your heart

• A little “radiant ritual” to structure your days and truly enjoy the vitality that the energy of summer brings

• PLUS! In season 2, I am calling all business owners that want to share their business/product/service to email me (team@stephanievirchaux.com) so I can sponsor your brand on Joyfully Empowered (over 12 countries that listen in and over 1000 downloads as of today!)

This is super fun one that you won’t want to miss!

Listen in Apple, Spotify or watch here on Substack :)

Season 2 will be coming back in Fall 2025 and I am excited to share all the magic that Joyfully Empowered has to bring to your life ✨

Stay connected on Instagram, have an amazing summer & until soon!

xxx

Stéphanie

💌 Resources and Links:

• Connect with host and certified coach ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephanie Virchaux

• Ready to begin your transformation? Check out Stéphanie’s Self-Paced Courses including The JOY Method here

• Inquire about 1:1 work including coaching with Stephanie here

• For brand partnerships & employee wellness: Email team@stephanievirchaux.com

“Hold yourself accountable, not to the outcome, but to trying in the first place.” – Louis Melendez

I just sat down with my longtime friend—and sales powerhouse—Louis Melendez on the Joyfully Empowered podcast, and the man DELIVERED.

Think: millions in ad sales at Yelp, millions more raised for charity, and a side-hustle that turns boardrooms into rap studios 🎤

Below are the three nuggets that lit me right up.

Read them, try them, and then pop over to the full episode for a full break down of:

• Louis’ proven confident communication framework that works with any scenario

• How he started a side-hustle of team-building creating their own songs into a full blown business (Shout out to Freeflo.nyc!)

• His early days at Yelp selling millions of dollars in digital ads (and the famous Yelp hall of fame)

• Why he thinks I’m the OG hustler

• How he landed a partnership with Serhant Brokerage

• And so many more laughs and gems in the full episodes

Ready to dive in? Listen to episode on Apple or Spotify

For the video version? Go to YouTube or here on Substack :)

Check out these nuggets I got from our conversation as a little something, something before you dive in to the full episode!

1️⃣ The One-Sentence Litmus (aka “Pitch Less, Land More”)

“If you can’t say it in one sentence, you don’t understand it deeply enough to inspire action.” – Louis

Why it matters
Our scroll-happy brains skim first, care second.

Clarity is the ultimate energetic flex—and Google agrees “One-sentence pitch” searches are exploding because short is sticky.

Your joy-practice when drafting a pitch, proposal or negotiating your next raise:

1. Draft your ask (raise, boundary, client fee, etc)

2. Delete every filler word

3. Read it out loud. Does it flow, feel good & it’s concise? It’s time to hit send!

2️⃣ Silence Sells: Let Your Prospect Talk 70 %

“The most aggressive sales move is silence.” – Louis

Energetically, holding space tells the other person, I see you.

Neuromarketing backs it up: buyers talk themselves into “YES” when they own the room.

Tips to try it on your next call:

• Open with an open-ended question

• Take notes on THEIR wording.

• Mirror those exact words when you recap. This is key when building trust

3️⃣ The Energetics of “No”: Excitement · Impact · Energy

Louis runs THREE companies! His filter?

Do this Filter Inner Check-In Question (Self-Score (1-10) when making a decision:

• Excitement: Does this spark excitement in my gut?

• Impact: Will it move the revenue / mission needle?

• Energy: Do I realistically have the bandwidth?

Anything averaging under 7 gets a loving “Not now.”

⚡️Ready for the full episode?

🎧 Listen here → Joyfully Empowered on Apple | Spotify | YouTube

🔥 Connect with Louis!

• Have Better Conversations: Communication & Confidence Coaching

• FreeFlo: Unlike other team-building activities, you'll take home something special: a professionally mixed and mastered track to relive and share your musical adventure.

Let’s raise the collective communication vibe—one clear, on purpose sentence at a time.

Until next time, follow your joy—always & in all ways

xx

Stéphanie

💌 Resources and Links:

• Connect with host and certified coach ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephanie Virchaux

• Check out Stephanie’s Self-Paced Courses including The JOY Method here

• Inquire about 1:1 work including coaching with Stephanie here

I’ve been in the spiritual world for quite a while and when this prayer found me, it’s had a profound shift in my life ever since.

It’s been over 10 years since the Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono has been a solid, consistent, miraculous, joyful, powerful practice that never fails me.

In the latest episode of Joyfully Empowered, I’m diving deep into the origins, meaning, and modern use of this ancient spiritual technology.

But before you tune in, here’s a meaningful overview of what makes this prayer so impactful — and how you can begin practicing it today.

🌺 What Is Ho’oponopono?

Ho’oponopono means “to make right” or “to restore balance” in Hawaiian. It’s an indigenous forgiveness and reconciliation practice that was traditionally used by Hawaiian families to resolve conflict and restore harmony — not just externally, but spiritually and emotionally as well.

The practice was originally guided by a kūpuna (elder) or kahuna (spiritual leader), and centered around community healing, truth-telling, and restoring the flow of love.

🙏 Honoring the Roots

Today, Ho’oponopono is often practiced as a personal, internal mantra — but it’s important to recognize that it comes from a living cultural tradition of the Native Hawaiian people.

This sacred ritual was modernized by Morrnah Simeona, a Hawaiian healer and spiritual teacher who reimagined it as a self-healing prayer accessible to all.

Her student, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, helped spread the message globally through his work as a psychologist. Inside the episode,

We use this prayer today not as a trend or tool, but as a gift from a deep spiritual lineage — one that deserves our respect, gratitude, and care.

✨ The Four Phrases That Shift Everything

At the heart of Ho’oponopono are four simple but profound phrases:

I’m sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you
I love you

These aren’t just words — they’re energetic codes. When spoken with intention, they help us take radical responsibility for our internal world, release heavy emotions, and return to a state of divine love and clarity.

💜 The Story That Touched the World

One of the most famous stories about Ho’oponopono involves Dr. Hew Len, who worked at a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane in Hawaii.

The ward was chaotic — violent patients, burned-out staff, and a deeply toxic environment. But instead of offering traditional therapy, Dr. Hew Len reviewed patient files privately and practiced Ho’oponopono internally, asking:

“What is in me that created this?”

As he cleansed his own energy using the four phrases, the entire ward began to heal. Over time, patients recovered, staff returned, and the unit was eventually closed because there were no longer enough patients to treat.

He later said:

“I didn’t heal them. I healed the part of me that created them.”

This story is a powerful reminder: healing begins within.

I go more in depth about this story inside the episode.

💫 How You Can Practice Ho’oponopono Today

You don’t need a specific ritual or setting to start. Here are a few powerful ways to integrate it into your life:

• At night before bed to clear emotional residue from the day

• During conflict — silently repeating the phrases to yourself

• Inner child or shadow work — healing past versions of you

• Money & abundance healing — releasing inherited scarcity beliefs

• Parenting or partnership triggers — to soften, not suppress

You can whisper it, journal it, repeat it in meditation — the key is your presence and sincerity.

🎧 Tune In: Joyfully Empowered Podcast Episode

In this week’s episode, I go deeper into:

• The true history and origin of Ho’oponopono

• The energetic principles behind why it works

• The real story of Dr. Hew Len (and why it still inspires global healing)

• How I personally use it as a spiritual reset when I feel overwhelmed

• My favorite daily practice to use this prayer with intention

Whether you're navigating relationship tension, emotional burnout, or just craving spiritual clarity — this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or here on Substack :) 🎧

and if you love the episode, leave a review or 5-star to help me continue spreading the word on Joyfully Empowered!

Let this sacred Hawaiian prayer remind you: you are never too far from healing, love, or balance.

May you follow your joy always & in all ways!

xx

Stéphanie

💌 Resources and Links:

• Connect with host and certified coach ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephanie Virchaux

• Check out Stephanie’s Self-Paced Courses including The JOY Method here

• Inquire about 1:1 work including coaching with Stephanie here