When life throws you a curveball, what do you do with it?
For Alli Villines, the founder of She Means Business, the answer was clear: transform the setback into purpose.
From the volleyball court to the boardroom, Alli’s journey isn’t just about success—it’s about resilience, mentorship, and redefining what it means to lead as a young woman. In a world where ambition often comes with pressure to "do it all," Alli is carving a new path—one grounded in self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and a fierce belief in the power of community.
In a recent episode of The Wild Sage Society podcast, host Marcie Walker sat down with Alli to explore how young women can embrace entrepreneurship not just as a career, but as a calling. Here's what we learned.
From Athlete to Advocate: The Power of a Pivot
Alli’s story begins with a dream familiar to many young women—one driven by discipline, competition, and the pursuit of excellence. A serious athlete with plans of a professional volleyball career, her identity was deeply rooted in performance. But a career-altering injury forced her to step away from the sport that defined her.
Instead of falling into despair, Alli leaned into a powerful question: “What now?”
That question led her to entrepreneurship.
With a fire to create something meaningful, Alli founded She Means Business, a nonprofit aimed at helping young women access the mentorship, confidence, and tools they need to thrive in business. Her pivot from athlete to advocate didn’t just change her life—it became a launching pad for others to rise with her.
“I always lead with—this is my story,” she shared with Marcie. “If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Empowerment
For Alli, entrepreneurship isn’t just about launching a brand—it’s a gateway to personal freedom and leadership.
“Young women need to see that they don’t have to wait,” Alli explains. “You don’t have to have the ‘perfect’ experience or the ‘right’ background. What you need is vision, support, and a safe space to grow.”
That’s exactly what She Means Business offers: mentorship, community, and real-world guidance that help young women bridge the gap between potential and purpose.
This nonprofit is more than a business—it’s a belief system. One where young women are taught to claim their power, embrace their story, and turn ideas into income. And Alli is walking proof that starting small—with a mission and a little courage—can make a big impact.
Mentorship: The Missing Link in Many Women's Journey
One of the most powerful themes of the episode was mentorship.
For Alli, mentorship wasn’t just helpful—it was transformative. Throughout her journey, she’s leaned on the wisdom of women who saw her potential before she fully did.
Now, she’s paying it forward.
“Every young woman deserves someone in her corner,” Alli shared. “Someone who reminds her that she’s capable—even when she doubts herself.”
Mentorship, she explains, is more than advice. It’s presence. It’s belief. It’s community. And it’s essential for women trying to navigate careers, relationships, and identity all at once.
Whether through one-on-one coaching or peer support in her nonprofit, Alli is committed to creating spaces where women don’t have to walk alone.
Boundaries, Burnout & Being Real
Of course, being a high-achieving woman comes with challenges.
Alli was refreshingly honest about the emotional complexity of ambition. She described the loneliness that sometimes comes with success, especially when others can’t always relate. There’s pressure to always perform, always smile, always say yes.
But Alli is learning the power of no.
“I make myself a client,” she laughed. “I have to audit my own energy constantly.”
She talks about time management not just in terms of productivity, but in terms of alignment. Are you working from your worth or your wounds? Are you saying yes from a place of pressure or purpose?
These are the questions Alli believes every woman in business should be asking.
Her personal practices—like reading, listening to music, spending time outdoors, and hosting small gatherings—are all part of her energy management strategy. They keep her grounded, connected, and able to show up with intention.
Owning Your Story
One of the most powerful takeaways from the conversation was the importance of sharing your story.
In a culture obsessed with perfection, Alli models what it looks like to lead with authenticity. She doesn’t pretend to have it all figured out. She doesn’t hide her struggles behind polished branding. She lets people in—and that’s what makes her relatable, magnetic, and deeply trustworthy.
“Your story is enough. Right now. Not when you’re more successful, more polished, or more experienced,” she says.
This kind of storytelling isn’t just personal—it’s strategic. Because when women own their voices, they unlock opportunities to connect, influence, and lead from a place of truth.
Ambition Without Apology
Too often, women feel pressured to choose: career or relationships. Success or softness. Ambition or alignment.
Alli refuses to choose.
She talks openly about the emotional tension that arises in romantic relationships when a woman is succeeding. It can feel threatening to partners who haven’t yet done their own growth work. And for many women, that can lead to dimming their light to protect someone else’s ego.
Alli’s message? Don’t shrink to fit someone else's comfort zone.
“You don’t have to lessen yourself for a partner,” she reminds listeners. “The right people won’t be intimidated by your success—they’ll be inspired by it.”
Action Steps to Step Into Your Power
Feeling inspired? Here are a few powerful steps you can take today to integrate Alli’s wisdom into your own journey:
1. Share Your Story
Whether it’s through social media, journaling, or conversations with friends—start owning your story. Speak your truth, even if your voice shakes. Someone out there needs to hear it.
Whether it’s through social media, journaling, or conversations with friends—start owning your story. Speak your truth, even if your voice shakes. Someone out there needs to hear it.
2. Audit Your Time & Energy
Where are you spending your energy? Are you working from alignment or obligation? Start each week by identifying your priorities—not just for your work, but for your wellbeing.
Where are you spending your energy? Are you working from alignment or obligation? Start each week by identifying your priorities—not just for your work, but for your wellbeing.
3. Seek (or Become) a Mentor
Reach out to someone who inspires you, or offer guidance to someone a few steps behind. Mentorship is a two-way street that benefits everyone involved.
Reach out to someone who inspires you, or offer guidance to someone a few steps behind. Mentorship is a two-way street that benefits everyone involved.
4. Set Clear Boundaries
Burnout doesn’t serve your mission. Learn to say no with love and clarity. Your energy is sacred.
Burnout doesn’t serve your mission. Learn to say no with love and clarity. Your energy is sacred.
5. Prioritize Simple Joys
Whether it’s reading, walking in nature, or dancing in your kitchen—make time for things that nourish your soul. It’s not indulgence—it’s sustainability.
Whether it’s reading, walking in nature, or dancing in your kitchen—make time for things that nourish your soul. It’s not indulgence—it’s sustainability.
Final Thoughts: This Is Just the Beginning
Alli Villines is just getting started. But her message is already leaving a lasting mark on the next generation of female leaders.
Through She Means Business, she’s proving that you don’t need a perfect resume to make a difference—you need heart, hustle, and a community that believes in your vision.
In a world that often asks women to be everything for everyone, Alli is showing us how to be something powerful for ourselves: honest, grounded, and unapologetically ambitious.
So here’s your reminder: Your story is enough. You are enough. And your dreams are absolutely worth building.
In a world brimming with division, burnout, and unprocessed emotions, the path to peace isn’t found in louder debates or better arguments—it begins within.
What if every conflict you’ve ever had—whether with a partner, a colleague, or yourself—wasn’t really about the other person, but about an unprocessed emotion rising to the surface?
This idea may feel radical, but it’s deeply liberating. Conflict, when seen differently, is not the enemy—it’s a messenger. A chance to heal, recalibrate, and reconnect.
From Music to Messages: Barbara's Journey of Spiritual Channeling
Barbara’s journey into the metaphysical began not with a textbook or a retreat, but with music.
“I started channeling through my music,” she recalls. What began as emotional expression soon evolved into spiritual messages. Over time, she realized her compositions carried more than melody—they carried insight. This channel eventually opened her up to something extraordinary: the voice of Albert Einstein himself.
Yes, that Einstein.
But Barbara isn’t interested in sensationalism—she’s committed to transformation. Through a process that blends spiritual channeling with grounded emotional practices, she developed what is now known as Conflict Revolution—a method to resolve outer conflict by healing our inner world.
What is Conflict Revolution
At its core, Conflict Revolution is the radical idea that all conflict—global or personal—stems from unprocessed emotional energy. And if we want to resolve these conflicts, we must start with ourselves.
Here's the foundational truth Barbara teaches:
“The root of conflict lies not in the other person, but in our own emotional reaction.”
She explains that when we feel triggered, it's not just the situation that's the issue—it's what the situation is activating inside of us. Often, this emotional energy is old, unconscious, and deeply ingrained. Left unchecked, it governs how we think, act, and relate.
Conflict Revolution teaches you to:
- Identify the emotional trigger (without judgment)
- Trace it back to its original source
- Dissect the emotion from the story attached to it
- Transmute the emotion through conscious processing
The result? Rapid personal transformation—and more compassionate relationships.
Channeling Einstein: The Science of Consciousness & Compassion
Barbara’s work is deeply spiritual but also surprisingly scientific. Through channeling, she received a unique interpretation of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory—an idea that consciousness, emotion, and energy are all part of a single, interconnected system.
According to Barbara, Einstein described compassion as the fifth fundamental force of the universe.
This revolutionary concept suggests that compassion is not just a virtue—it’s a power. One capable of influencing physical reality, reshaping relationships, and bridging the gap between intellect and intuition.
In Barbara’s words:
“Channeling Einstein changed everything. He helped me see how we can actually harness emotion as creative energy—if we’re willing to do the work.”
The Real Reason Peace Feels So Hard
Let’s be honest—most of us say we want peace. But when it comes to doing the deep inner work? That’s where resistance creeps in.
Barbara doesn’t sugarcoat it: “Resistance to inner work is natural. But it’s also what keeps us stuck in the same cycles.”
The ego clings to familiar patterns, even painful ones, because they feel safe. And the moment we step into emotional awareness, the ego panics. That’s why tools like Conflict Revolution are so vital—they help guide us through that resistance with clarity, grace, and grounded practice.
Intuition, Empirical Learning & Trusting Yourself
A key theme in this conversation is the power of intuition—but not in the mystical, inaccessible way you might expect.
Barbara teaches that intuition is actually empirical—something you learn to trust through experience. When you take a leap of faith and it leads to clarity, your nervous system starts to register that feeling as truth.
This creates a powerful feedback loop:
- You follow your intuition.
- It leads to alignment.
- You trust yourself more deeply.
- You make more empowered decisions.
It's not about perfection—it's about building faith through feedback.
The Human Dimensions of Healing
Barbara breaks human experience into three parts:
- Intellect: The logical mind
- Emotion: The energetic fuel of creation
- Intuition: The internal compass and creative blueprint
When these three are in conflict, we suffer.
When they are in alignment, we thrive.
That’s why her 12-week Conflict Revolution Challenge focuses on reconnecting these dimensions. Each week, participants explore emotional processing, conscious decision-making, and intuitive listening. The goal isn’t to become “perfectly peaceful”—it’s to become radically present and emotionally free.
Real-World Healing Requires Inner Work
Barbara’s teachings come at a time when the world desperately needs new models of peace. But she reminds us: it starts with the individual.
Her recent world tour was dedicated to spreading this message—that if we each take responsibility for our own inner conflicts, the ripple effect could change everything.
“Personal transformation is global transformation,” she says.
And it's not just theory—she’s seen it in real time. People resolving long-standing feuds, healing decades of trauma, and stepping into their power—not by changing their circumstances, but by changing how they respond to them.
Notable Quotes from the Episode
“Compassion isn’t just kindness—it’s a fundamental force of the universe.”
— Barbara With
— Barbara With
“You can’t fix the world by avoiding your feelings.”
— Marcie Walker
— Marcie Walker
Actionable Steps for Personal Peace
If you’re ready to stop outsourcing your power and start transforming your own energy, try these steps inspired by Barbara’s work:
1. Track Your Triggers
When something upsets you, pause and name the emotion. Is it anger, sadness, fear? Where do you feel it in your body?
2. Separate Story from Emotion
Try journaling about the situation—but focus only on the raw feeling. Avoid attaching a narrative. This helps you isolate and process the energy.
3. Practice Intuitive Listening
Take 5 quiet minutes each day to ask your inner self, “What do I need to know?” Write down what comes up—without editing or judging.
Actionable Steps for Personal Peace
- Barbara With’s books and world tour details at barbarawith.com
Final Thoughts
The journey to peace isn’t always comfortable—but it’s worth it. Through her work, Barbara With shows us that true change begins with radical self-responsibility, intuitive trust, and the courage to process our deepest emotions.
Whether you're navigating a personal challenge or yearning for a more compassionate world, this episode is your invitation to begin.
🎧 Listen to the full episode now on The Wild Sage Society podcast.
If you've ever felt icky about sales—like it's pushy, manipulative, or just not you—you're not alone. But what if sales wasn’t something to dread… but something to master?
In a world that’s flooded with automation and cold outreach, Glenn Poulos, co-founder of Gap Wireless and seasoned sales strategist, reminds us that the heart of sales is—and always will be—human connection.
After decades of hands-on experience and countless deals closed, Glenn brings a refreshing take on what it really means to sell with integrity, strategy, and staying power. Whether you're a business owner, entrepreneur, or someone trying to improve client engagement, this breakdown of his insights will change the way you see sales forever.
Why Sales is the Heartbeat of Business
Let’s start with the truth most people avoid: Nothing happens in business until something is sold.
That course you’re building? The service you’re offering? The big impact you want to make? None of it moves until money changes hands.
That’s why sales isn't just a “department”—it’s the core of your success. Glenn emphasizes that you can have the best product or service in the world, but if you can't communicate its value and close the deal, you're stuck.
So the question becomes: how can you do it in a way that feels aligned, effective, and, dare we say—fun?
Face-to-Face Wins Every Time
In today’s digital-heavy business world, it's easy to hide behind screens and scheduled posts. But Glenn encourages entrepreneurs to go back to the basics: personal engagement.
He swears by the power of mini tours—short in-person visits that build trust, strengthen relationships, and ultimately, close deals. It’s in these face-to-face moments that you can truly read a room, adapt your approach, and—most importantly—paint the picture of what life or business looks like after saying yes to your offer.
"You need to literally paint the picture." – Glenn Poulos
These small, personal connections make a massive difference. And if you think face-to-face is outdated, think again. In the world of high-stakes sales, it’s the personal touch that closes the deal.
Redifining the Sales Mindset
One of the biggest takeaways from Glenn’s approach is this: sales isn’t pressure—it’s service.
When you reframe selling as helping someone solve a problem or improve their life, it becomes an act of generosity, not coercion. You're not pushing something they don’t need—you’re offering something they might not yet know they need.
And that shift changes everything.
So if the idea of "selling" makes your stomach twist, ask yourself: What if I treated this like an act of service? What if I simply got really good at understanding needs—and offering the right solution?
Entrepreneurship Isn't Glamorous - It's Grit
Glenn doesn’t sugarcoat it: building a successful business takes longer than you think and costs more than you plan.
That’s not to discourage you—it’s to prepare you. Because resilience isn’t optional when you're building something meaningful.
Glenn’s journey with Gap Wireless wasn’t all smooth sailing, but the hard-won lessons he shares about navigating setbacks, building systems, and investing in people are what ultimately led to success.
"Don’t be a pain in the ass." – Glenn Poulos
Yes, he said it. And it’s a perfect reminder to lead with professionalism, respect, and clarity. The best clients and customers are drawn to leaders who make the process easier, not harder.
Systems Build Freedom (and Sale Value)
If you're building with the long game in mind—especially if you want to one day sell your business—Glenn offers this wisdom: systems = freedom.
Document your processes. Create consistency. Build a team that knows what to do without you micromanaging everything.
Not only does this reduce burnout—it also makes your business far more attractive to buyers.
Thinking about selling one day?
- Start putting strong systems in place now.
- Understand what adds to (or decreases) your business’s valuation.
- And yes—talk to a broker. It could mean the difference between a stressful fire sale and a dream exit.
Also worth noting: be mindful about naming your business. Limiting your name by location or niche can limit your growth and resale value. Think bigger.
Personal Branding: A Blessing and a Challenge
While building a business around your personal brand can be powerful, it can also create challenges when it comes time to step back or sell.
Glenn encourages entrepreneurs to be intentional about what parts of the business rely on you, and where you can create more autonomy. Buyers often want the brand, not the person behind it.
If you are the brand—great. But make sure your business has assets and systems that extend beyond you.
Sales Vs. Marketing: Know the Difference
A common trap? Thinking that marketing = sales. Glenn makes it clear: they are not the same.
Marketing builds awareness. Sales builds revenue.
You need both—but don’t expect one to carry the weight of the other. Your sales process should be proactive, intentional, and relationship-driven. That means making the call, having the meeting, asking the questions.
Marketing may open the door—but sales walks through it.
Action Steps to Elevate Your Sales Game
Here’s how you can start integrating Glenn’s wisdom today:
🔹 Rethink Your Sales Mindset
Ask yourself: How can I serve today? Approach sales from a place of empathy and value.
Ask yourself: How can I serve today? Approach sales from a place of empathy and value.
🔹 Try a Mini Tour
If you’re in a business where personal connection matters (and let’s be honest—it always does), schedule some short in-person visits. A little facetime goes a long way.
If you’re in a business where personal connection matters (and let’s be honest—it always does), schedule some short in-person visits. A little facetime goes a long way.
🔹 Systematize Everything
From onboarding to invoicing, make your business easy to run—and easy to sell. What can you automate or delegate?
From onboarding to invoicing, make your business easy to run—and easy to sell. What can you automate or delegate?
🔹 Separate Sales from Marketing
Review your current strategy. Are you waiting for leads to convert themselves, or are you actively guiding them through a sales journey?
Review your current strategy. Are you waiting for leads to convert themselves, or are you actively guiding them through a sales journey?
🔹 Think Long-Term
Whether you’re planning to sell in 1 year or 10, start preparing today. Systems, processes, and intentional branding matter.
Whether you’re planning to sell in 1 year or 10, start preparing today. Systems, processes, and intentional branding matter.
Final Thoughts: Sell with Purpose, Build with Vision
At the end of the day, sales isn’t about scripts or slick lines—it’s about connection, clarity, and service.
Glenn Poulos proves that when you lead with intention, put people first, and stay committed to the long game, sales becomes not just a skill—but a legacy.
So whether you’re in the early stages of business or preparing to scale and sell, ask yourself: Am I building a sales system that reflects the heart of my business? Am I showing up in a way that feels true—and works?
Because the truth is: You don’t need to sell harder. You need to sell smarter. And that starts right here.
Late August carries a unique kind of stillness—a sacred pause between seasons. The fire of summer begins to soften. The light starts to tilt. Nature prepares to let go.
For centuries, cultures around the world have honored this time as a portal of transition—a return to rhythm, reflection, and deep remembering. And for women especially, the Fall Equinox can serve as a mirror and medicine: a time to recalibrate from the outside-in and recommit to what matters most.
In this blog, I want to offer you a space to reflect on your inner rhythms, honor the power of seasonal transition, and prepare for something deeper: a return to yourself.
This sacred seasonal threshold also marks the relaunch of my Women’s Holistic Health Coaching & Mentorship Program—because this isn’t just about healing symptoms or learning protocols. It’s about anchoring into a way of being that honors your whole self.
Late Summer is a Threshold
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, late summer is associated with the Earth element—a time of nourishment, digestion, and grounding. It’s the season of the spleen and stomach, both physically and symbolically responsible for how we take in, integrate, and metabolize life.
If spring is for planting and summer for growing, late summer is the pause before the harvest.
But how often do we truly pause?
So many women move through life in perpetual summer: overdoing, overgiving, overfunctioning. Always producing. Always pushing.
And yet, the body—especially the female body—is cyclical. Rhythmic. Seasonal. She was never meant to live in constant output.
The Wisdom of the Fall Equinox
The Fall Equinox, arriving around September 22, is the moment of equal light and dark—a moment of balance. It invites us to ask:
- Where have I been overextending?
- What in me is ready to be released?
- What needs tending before the inward pull of winter?
The Equinox reminds us that letting go is a form of health. Just as the trees begin to drop their leaves, we too are invited to shed what no longer serves.
In the body, this might look like:
- Releasing inflammation
- Releasing toxic thoughts or people
- Releasing perfectionism and hyper-independence
- Releasing unintegrated trauma or stories about who you "should" be
This is the energetic soil from which true holistic healing grows.
My Own Equinox Reckoning
I didn’t always live seasonally or rhythmically. In fact, for most of my adult life, I lived in chronic override. I pushed through health symptoms, emotional fatigue, and the whispers of my intuition because I thought success required sacrifice.
But the body has its own laws. And eventually, mine called for a reckoning.
Over time, I began to see the connection between my autoimmune symptoms and the relentless stress I had normalized. I saw how deeply my nervous system needed restoration. I saw how I had abandoned seasonal self-care in favor of external achievement.
The shift didn’t happen all at once. It happened in moments of surrender. One fall, several years ago, I remember standing outside at dusk, watching the leaves drift to the ground. And this phrase came through so clearly:
"The body knows when it’s time to let go. So should you."
That was the moment I began building what would eventually become the Women’s Holistic Health Coaching & Mentorship Program.
Fall as a Feminine Portal
Autumn isn’t just a season—it’s an initiation. It calls us into feminine wisdom: slower, deeper, more rooted.
In fall, we:
- Turn inward
- Reflect honestly
- Tend to what has been neglected
- Prepare to rest
- Receive the harvest of our inner work
This is what I guide women into—not just during the program, but through how it’s timed. This next cohort begins right around the Fall Equinox for a reason.
Because I believe your healing should align with the Earth, not fight against it.
Your Invitation: Pause.Reflect.Recommit.
So I offer this as a journal prompt or ritual as we approach September:
1. What are you harvesting right now—emotionally, physically, spiritually?
2. What are you holding onto that you know it’s time to release?
3. What would it look like to move through this season with grace and grounded power?
2. What are you holding onto that you know it’s time to release?
3. What would it look like to move through this season with grace and grounded power?
About the Program: A New Kind of Health Reclamation
The Women’s Holistic Health Coaching & Mentorship Program isn’t another self-improvement bootcamp. It’s not about fixing yourself.
It’s about remembering yourself.
We work with:
- Nervous system regulation to address stress-related symptoms and root trauma
- Functional nutrition and detox support for inflammation and hormonal imbalance
- Sacred feminine principles to reconnect with the rhythms of your body
- Somatic tools and community support to heal in a space of compassion
This is for the woman who’s tried the supplements, the diets, the endless protocols—and still feels like something’s missing.
This is for the woman who senses that healing isn’t about doing more—but coming home to her body’s wisdom.
What Makes This Different
Here’s what I hear from women again and again after the program:
“I didn’t know how disconnected I had become from myself until I felt what it was like to return.”
“I’ve been in health coaching spaces before, but this one finally made me feel safe enough to rest, to feel, and to trust.”
“My symptoms didn’t just shift—my relationship with my body transformed.”
That’s the power of integrating science, soul, and somatic healing.
We Begin Again: September 20, 2025
Our next 12-week journey begins just before the Equinox—so you can enter this season in rhythm, not resistance.
You’ll walk away with:
- A calm, regulated nervous system
- Tools for long-term stress recovery
- A supportive community of like-hearted women
- Clarity around your personal health patterns
- A deeper relationship with your body’s signals and wisdom
Closing: This Is Your Season
Nature doesn’t rush. She doesn’t resist her own rhythms. And neither should you.
If your body has been asking for a different way—this is your invitation to listen.
If you’ve been craving not just relief from symptoms, but reconnection with your whole self—this is your portal.
As we approach the Fall Equinox, may you let go of what no longer fits. May you remember how to rest. And may you enter this new season with clarity, courage, and support.
Let this be the season where you stop fixing and start honoring.
Let this be the season you reclaim your rhythm.
Enrollment for the Fall Cohort opens soon.
[Join the waitlist or apply now]
[Join the waitlist or apply now]
With reverence,
Marcie
Marcie
In my last post, I shared how over 80% of autoimmune diseases affect women, and more than half of those cases are linked to chronic stress. What I didn’t share was just how personal this topic is for me.
This isn’t just a professional interest or something I read about in a textbook—this is my lived experience.
For years, I moved through life with a low hum of exhaustion, inflammation, and inner chaos that I couldn’t quite name. I pushed through. I performed wellness. I kept going. And for a long time, I didn’t connect the dots between my symptoms and the stress my body had silently been storing for decades.
This blog post is my story—but it’s also an invitation to explore yours. Because if you're reading this and something in you whispers, "Me too," then you're exactly who I wrote this for.
Stress Isn't Just Mental - It's Cellular
Most of us are taught to think of stress as mental—worrying about deadlines, juggling relationships, managing finances. But chronic stress is so much more than mental strain. It lives in the body. It embeds itself in the fascia, the gut, the immune system, the breath.
And the longer it stays unaddressed, the louder the body speaks.
In my case, my body didn’t whisper. It roared.
The Slow Creep of Symptoms
My symptoms didn’t show up overnight. They layered in slowly, over years:
- Frequent headaches and sinus pressure
- Digestive issues I chalked up to “just stress”
- Brain fog and word recall difficulties
- Skin sensitivity and mysterious rashes
- Fatigue that sleep didn’t touch
- Heightened anxiety and emotional fragility
And still, I kept moving. I had businesses to build, clients to serve, a family to care for. I told myself it was perimenopause, aging, adrenal fatigue—anything but something serious.
Until I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
The Implant Wake-Up Call
One of the most pivotal moments in my health journey came when I began to suspect that my saline breast implants, which I had for over 20 years, were contributing to my declining health. My doctors started to consider mold, biofilm, and fungal growth inside the implants as a possible source of my immune symptoms—something I had never imagined.
What’s important here is not just the implants—it’s what they represented:
A lifetime of putting external expectations over internal well-being.
I had normalized stress, normalized hustle, normalized silence. And my body had been keeping score.
Connecting the Dots: Autoimmunity and the Nervous System
At some point, I had to step back and ask: What if my body isn't failing me—what if it’s protecting me in the only way it knows how?
This question changed everything.
You see, autoimmune diseases aren’t random acts of betrayal by the body. They are messages. They’re the immune system on high alert—because it thinks it’s under threat.
And what puts the body in a constant state of threat?
Chronic, unresolved stress.
Especially the kind that comes from:
- Emotional trauma
- People-pleasing and perfectionism
- Suppressed anger and grief
- A dysregulated nervous system that's forgotten what "safety" feels like
The Cultural Pressure Cooker Women Live In
As women, we live in bodies that are constantly expected to do more, be more, give more.
We are taught to:
- Smile even when we’re crumbling
- Nurture everyone else before ourselves
- Push through pain because rest is “lazy”
- Be strong, but not too strong
- Stay silent if it makes others uncomfortable
That pressure doesn’t just impact our minds. It gets metabolized. Stored. Encoded. And eventually, the immune system responds.
This isn’t just about cortisol levels or hormone panels—it’s about the energetic cost of a lifetime of over-functioning.
When the Diagnosis Isn't Clear, But the Suffering Is Real
One of the hardest parts of navigating autoimmune-like symptoms is that they often don’t show up “clearly” in labs for years.
I was in that gray zone: the “normal” labs, but abnormal life experience.
This is where so many women fall through the cracks. We’re told:
- “You’re just stressed.”
- “Your labs look fine.”
- “Maybe it’s anxiety.”
- “It’s probably early menopause.”
And because we’ve been conditioned to doubt ourselves, we believe it.
I did, too—until I didn’t anymore.
The Turning Point: Listening Inward
There was no single moment of awakening, no dramatic collapse. Just a slow unraveling that brought me to a simple truth:
If I wanted to heal, I had to stop overriding my body and start partnering with it.
That meant:
- Slowing down
- Unlearning my addiction to busyness
- Regulating my nervous system
- Feeling long-buried emotions
- Exploring somatic healing and spiritual practices
- Releasing trauma from the body—not just the mind
- And yes, eventually—removing my implants
Healing wasn’t a protocol. It was a reorientation.
What I Know Now (That I Wish I Knew Then)
- The body never lies. Symptoms are communication, not malfunction.
- Chronic stress is not a badge of honor. It’s a signal to pause, not push.
- Autoimmune symptoms are often the result of accumulated overwhelm—emotional, physical, and energetic.
- Healing doesn’t begin with a diagnosis. It begins with curiosity and compassion.
There is no quick fix. But there is a path. And it's one you can walk with support.
If You're On This Path, Here's What I Want You to Know
- You’re not imagining things.
- You don’t have to earn rest.
- You are not a burden.
- You are not broken.
- And you are allowed to say, "This is too much."
Your body is not the enemy—it’s the wise messenger of everything that’s been too heavy to carry silently.
From Surviving to Reclaiming
This journey cracked me open. It brought me into deeper alignment with the sacred feminine, with the rhythms of nature, and with my own intuitive knowing. It also inspired me to create programs, circles, and spaces where women could reclaim their health not through willpower, but through wholeness.
If you’re navigating autoimmune symptoms, burnout, or chronic stress and don’t know where to begin, I see you. I was you.
And I’d be honored to walk with you.
What's Coming Next
In the next post, I’ll be breaking down how to regulate your nervous system to reduce autoimmune flares—including practices I use daily that have helped me rebuild trust with my body.
We’ll explore:
- Vagal nerve toning
- Somatic safety
- Breathwork for immune support
- How to shift out of freeze or fight-or-flight states
- Tools for women with trauma or burnout who feel stuck in survival mode
Because stress may be the silent root of many autoimmune issues—but nervous system safety is the soil where healing begins.
If this story resonates with you...
…You’re not alone. Share this with a sister, a mother, a friend who might be quietly suffering and needs permission to pause. And if you’re ready to explore this healing journey with support, keep following along—I have something for you.
Your body remembers how to heal. Let’s help her feel safe enough to begin.
With love and reverence,
Marcie
Marcie
