The Business of Being You: How to Build a Successful Online Business as a Spiritual Entrepreneur Without Losing Yourself

At the heart of it, like all I ever wanted to do was just get paid for being me. And at the same time, you're like, why is anyone gonna pay me for being me?

You know that? I mean, that's literally the definition of yes and.

Yeah.

Yes, I am my highest value when I am 100% me. Hello and welcome back. I am Bunny Young, serial entrepreneur, mom of four beautiful kids. Hi, I'm Bunny Young, the author of The Art of Yes, and the host of the Yes, and podcast. And today I am here to remind you that the voices saying that you are bad in business are lying. There's no playbook. You get to build a life and a business that works for you, not the other way around. And building this business and this life is not just by going faster. Sometimes it's by going deeper into the strategy and the energy that make you and your business the unique unicorn that you are. That's the definition of yes, And that is what we are here for today, which is why I'm so stoked that my guest today is a woman who operates at a level of honesty that will take your breath away. When you start to understand the depth of her work and how she has lived her life and built her business, you are going to understand that there is no one else on the face of the planet that is quite like this unicorn. And We're not sure the exact number, but we know it's fewer than 20 women on the planet hold some of the titles, the titles that Harmony has, and certifications and all of that. However, like, that's not who this guest is. This guest is her 100%, and these certifications and these titles have just come through the work that she's committed to. She's a spiritual teacher, somatic energetics coach, business mentor, host of the Finding Harmony podcast, and founder of the Lightworker Mastermind. And what I'm most excited to talk to Harmony about today is not just her credentials. As somebody who's recovering from multiple degrees and learning that I am not my pieces of paper, I'm down for this conversation. I want to talk to her about what's happened in her business and her life over the past 12 months that I have witnessed, and I'm— I can't wait for her to put words to it because she's living proof of what becomes possible when ancient wisdom and modern So, Harmony Slater, welcome to the Yes And Podcast.

Thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to be here.

How was that for an intro?

That was great. I love being on other people's podcasts and they read the intro and I'm like, oh yeah, that's good. It's nice to be reminded of who you are.

Yes, it is nice to like have that mirror held of, oh yeah, that, that is the amazing life that I have lived. And also, I want to get into that question of who are you? So your journey is not one that most individuals, if any individuals, have taken in the aspect that at a very young age you took off, you ran away from home.

Kind of, yep.

And some people run away from home to their best friend's house. You ran away from home to India.

Yes, I did. India, Thailand, China, that was where I decided to run away to.

Harmony, what were you looking for?

Whew, that's a— no one ever asked me that question. Yeah, what was I looking for? I think at the heart of it, I was really looking for authenticity. I think that was sort of the essence of the seeking. To answer that question, who am I at a very fundamental essence level? Authenticity in learning yoga, spirituality, Eastern philosophy from the source, not from a diluted version of that.

Mm-hmm.

And to get to the heart of of lineage and, I guess, drink from the fountain itself.

Okay. Here's where we get to lean in even further, right? Like, this is how we start a podcast is just right here. What did you find?

I think for a while, I felt like that was home. I mean, I feel like my first trip, I really came back to a place in myself that was very young that I hadn't been able to visit for a long time, long, long time, if ever. It felt like a child, like just entering into a space of curiosity and exploration and touching into sort of an innocence and a magic that I had forgotten about. And so that was really, really special. And then, you know, I kept going back and spending many, years there, and a lot of time there, and even living in Southeast Asia for 5 years. And when I moved back to Canada and started my own yoga studio, and teaching, and starting to step into my own leadership, and not just from a student standpoint or a learning standpoint, but really as an authorized certified teacher in this particular lineage, and— And also as a leader and a CEO and a founder of a yoga school and a teacher trainer and all of the things, I had to really learn to stand in my own authenticity and in my own leadership and authority. And so it became apparent that that was actually something unique and different than what I found from the lineage that I was a part of in India.

Say more about that. Yeah.

So I think sometimes we look for, you know, we're looking to belong, and it's helpful to belong to something, especially when you're learning and growing. It's helpful to have structure and teachings and support to really immerse yourself in and to allow them to kind of become the fabric of of your foundation. And then as you start to step out into your own leadership and into creating something that is your own, you need to figure out what these teachings or what this foundation actually means to you in all of your life history. I mean, I'm not Indian. I wasn't born there. My parents are not Indian. So me trying to be Indian was the least authentic I could do for someone who was searching for, you know, authentic lineage and authenticity. You know, it was learning to take those teachings and distill them into how I could translate them based on my lived experience. And so that is like a whole other journey, actually.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They say like there's There's this hero's journey of finding yourself, right?

Yeah.

And running away from home and going to India and like that, you had this hero's journey. And then as an entrepreneur, there's this second hero's journey that's not as talked about, which is the hero's journey of taking this discovery of yourself and your magic and bringing that out into your community and giving that back to the world. And it sounds like you completed that first hero's journey and without hesitation began the second hero's journey when you got back to Canada.

Yeah, 100%. And that's ongoing.

I mean, both of my hero's journeys, I believe, are forever ongoing, right? As what you've beautifully described is the student and Right. And that's, for me, I wanna— I do wanna return a little bit to your secondary hero's journey. However, what I want to talk about is when I read through the bio that you gave me, and this is also my biased opinion, you know, having master's degrees and multiple undergraduate degrees and certifications in hypnosis and Man, like, I have enough pieces of paper to create a library. And I asked myself the same question that I started this podcast with, with you, of like, what is it that you're looking for? Like, what is it that this certification is going to give you? And for me, the thing that changed was being so clear on where I was going and having certifications and degrees that supported that versus Gave me the permission. Like, I finally gave myself the permission that no degree could. And once I found that permission, I still gave myself permission to go through more certifications as long as it didn't keep me from putting my magic out in the world. And so, at what point did that, or did it change for you where instead of like, I need to get my RYT 4,000, which for those of you listening that don't know what that is, it's your, uh, registered Mm-hmm. Is it?

What's the R? Yeah, registered, I think. Yeah.

Yes. So I have my RYT 400, I think, and Harmony has it like 4,000 plus.

I don't know.

Right? So at what point did that change for you where it's like, I'm not doing this so that I can bring my magic out to the world, I'm bringing my magic out to the world, and this degree, certification, program, whatever it is, supports that.

I mean, it's sort of interesting. I feel like, especially in the realm of yoga or like even like anything I do, I feel like I'm very much a, like a doer learner. And so I, you know, I started teaching with barely any training at all, and then Like, that then took me deeper into the learning, but I was teaching the whole time. I was, you know, living in Thailand, running a retreat center, teaching yoga and holding retreats and teaching teacher trainings. And, and so I think my learning is very much doing. It was the same with coaching. I mean, I started coaching before I ever took a coach certification program and just like, I just jump in and do it. And then I'm like, hmm, maybe I should learn something about this. So I don't know that I really like look for permission a lot in my life. I'm kind of one of those people that sort of like does the thing and would rather ask for forgiveness than ask for permission, you know? And so I'm not like a hesitator that way where I know a lot of people get caught up like needing to be perfect and needing all of this external permission. I sort of like just jump in and do the thing and then I'm like, hmm, Okay, I like it. Maybe I want to get really good at it. And then, yeah, I know. It's like the mirror, right?

For people, no one in particular, that are listening to this podcast that are struggling to find that permission to do the thing, to go all in, to not straddle the worlds and have one foot in one world and one foot in the other, that are feeling the tension between permission and perfection, what would you say to them?

There's no such thing as perfection. So if you're waiting for that, you're never going to do the thing. I think growing up, I was a ballet dancer when I was younger until I was about 19, 20. And that era of my development was very much a search for perfection. and wanting to be perfect because that's what being a ballerina kind of requires. And that's what's literally beat into you through discipline and constant criticism. And that was horrible. I mean, as a young person, you don't really think about how horrible that is. And I think you were a model. I think the modeling agencies and modeling is very similar in that it's It's this constant striving for a state that is completely unattainable.

Hmm.

And when you kind of realize that, you're like, wait a second, like, you can't win at this game. Like, this is—

this—

I'm always gonna lose. And I think recognizing that is then freedom because you, you realize, like, there is no perfect, there is no ultimate end to, like, learning and growing and developing and mastery.

Yes.

Even, right? So, so you can do them both together. You have to, otherwise you'll never do the thing. You'll just be stuck in like this treadmill of, of trying to get somewhere when you're already there, actually. And yeah, you can go to other places, but you're only ever where you're at. And sometimes it's easy to be where you're at, and it feels really good, and you feel really solid. And sometimes it feels like you're on shaky ground, but you can only ever be in the place you're in and do the things that you want to do. There's no, like, future time when you're gonna, like, feel ready. It's like having kids too, right? If you put off having kids till you feel ready, you'll never have children because, like, at no point are you ever ready to have children.

No, no.

It's always like, oh shit, what'd I do?

The fact that I filled out more paperwork to adopt my puppy from the Humane Society than I did to take my kids home from the hospital has like always fascinated me.

Yeah.

And I want to go back to something that you said around perfection. You said, once you figure out like, I'm always going to lose, right? I'm always going to lose that game or that competition with perfection. For me, the second that I realized that, the second that I realized that, Something clicked in my head that said, you've already won.

Yeah.

And I just remember feeling like, for me, and I wonder what it felt like for you and if you'd be willing to share, for me, it was this awareness that as a model, they're paying me for how I look on the outside. That's a fraction, Harmony. It's a fraction of who I am. So if I'm getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year based on just how I look, what would be possible from a holistic standpoint, from me owning 100% of my power and putting 100% of me out there?

Mm-hmm.

Not just how I looked. And the other part that was so loud to me is that being in a car accident, how I looked could be taken away so quickly.

Yeah.

So quickly. And I remember the very similar feeling to my heart condition of having to be careful snowboarding, having to be careful surfing, having to be careful how much sun I got, because it was something that was so fragile. And yet, there's nothing that could take away who I am. And so what did I want to invest in? What did I wanna spend my time in? What did I wanna surround myself with? People who valued me based on how I looked, or people who valued me based on who I was? And who I am.

Oh, yeah.

Did you have one of those kinds of dark night of the soul moments?

Yeah, I think I've had a couple. I mean, it's interesting because I definitely, with the ballet and the dancing, there was a time when it really did come down to that. It was like, if I want to continue down this path, I— like, all I could see was death at the end. I was like, I'm gonna end up dead. Or like severely unhappy and depressed. So it was sort of like a turning point of like, what do I want to focus on? What do I really value? And that's what led me into spiritual— I mean, I was always spiritual, but like, I really started to pursue philosophy and spirituality. And I went back to university at that point and like really started immersing myself in this kind of like inner development psychology and looking at, you know, all the things I was really interested in from an intellectual standpoint. And then even like with the Ashtanga yoga, once I got my certification, which as you mentioned at the beginning is a very, you know, limited sort of certification that only a few—

Slow it down. How, how limited? How many billions of people are there on the planet? Harmony, you're my person for this. How many billions of people are there on the planet?

Uh, around 8 billion.

8 billion. Billion with a B, right? And how many women have the Ashtanga certification?

Like 20.

20 out of billions.

Yes. It's true. It's true. It's—

and you are one of those. I mean, talk about a unicorn.

Yeah, it's a rare— it's a rare recognition to be bestowed after many years, you know, practicing very intensely Ashtanga yoga in this city, this small city, Mysore, in South India, or Mysuru. But then after 15, 20 years of that, I started to feel like it was surface also, that I was only being valued for my ability to help people physically manipulate their bodies or move their bodies or do a handstand better or— Like, and that wasn't my interest in yoga even at the beginning of my practice. You know, that was just sort of the external expression of something that was much deeper for me. And so I started to kind of like steer my workshops that I was teaching more towards philosophy, towards chanting, towards meditation, towards these deeper topics of looking at like, Answering that question, who am I, and doing some of that deeper work of, you know, that we do when we're coaching around looking at, you know, what am I outside of my body? And I think the way yoga is taught in the West, especially these days, is it's so body-centric. And it's all about valuing yourself or creating worthiness through physical achievement or through strength or flexibility or physical feats. But that's not really what yoga's about. Yoga's about union. It's about presence. It's about wholeness, coming into wholeness, and the integration of your whole personality. And so that's sort of where I started steering more my workshops and retreats. And some of that dark night of the soul was also needing to kind of break the chains and break identification with that lineage and with that system after a couple decades of very much being associated with it. And so that was another growing timeline in a different direction, which took a while. It took a few years to kind of deprogram a lot of the embedded teachings about You're good if you practice 6 days a week and do it this way and that way. And we take on a lot of baggage, I think, that isn't ours from groups, from cultures, from associations that we're connected to. And when you start to step into your own light or step onto your own path, then Part of that journey, I think, is really going back through all of the things that you've taken on and really kind of exploring them and looking at them and turning them on their head, so to speak, mentally, and seeing them from many different perspectives and asking those questions like, is this true?

Yeah.

And following that line of thinking, if this is true, What does that mean about life, and is that true?

Yeah.

Right? So doing some of that deep deconditioning work is sometimes painful, and sometimes, yeah, sometimes it takes a while, but it's always liberating, which is the true freedom that lies at the end of the path, you know, of really starting to step into what you believe and what's true for you, and rather than just accepting what's true that someone else has told you or conditioned you to believe.

You know, it's so interesting because I got into yoga as an athlete and for very physical reasons, for very superficial reasons. And also, I got into being a yoga teacher for very superficial reasons. And the aspect I've shared with you before, Savasana, was my least favorite part of yoga. So I wanted to do yoga without the anxiety that came from sneaking out of the class before Savasana or laying through Savasana and my mind and my mental chatter, like, just—

Yeah.

Woo! Bless you. Just running wild. And through the practice of becoming a yoga instructor, I learned the concept that Yoga isn't something you do. It's called a practice for a reason. And that was one of the first times that I understood anything other than the physical practice of yoga. And really that what I was resisting in Savasana was the magic. I just remember that awareness of being like, oh, this is the gift. And I want to ask you the definition and kind of like to explain what a spiritual entrepreneur is in the way that you use it. And what I love is that the same thing that you described around yoga being a practice and it being so much more than physical, I feel that way about entrepreneurship in the aspect that what you see— Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Of my journey in entrepreneurship is basically the pose.

Yeah. Yeah.

What is the behind the scenes is like so many other levels. And this is one of the things that I'm so honored that we hold in Defy and that, you know, I, I've seen you on your road to mastery with this is the aspects of entrepreneurship that are outside of money. And that are outside of what you see on the Instagram post. And that to me is like the spirit of entrepreneurship. So what, what is a spiritual entrepreneur and anything else that you want to say around the practice of entrepreneurship and how that parallels the practice of yoga?

Yeah, I think like for me, the spiritual entrepreneur is people who run their own business. Often they're like coaches, healers, yoga teachers, energy workers. Like you want to make a living. Because as soon as you enter into this space, if you want to make a living from being a healer, you're an entrepreneur because you're going to start to run your own business in some way, as long as it's beyond just a hobby, which it could be, right? Or like a shaman, maybe you have a full-time job, but if you want to bring your gifts out into the world, and they're focused on helping people heal, or helping people awaken, or helping others come into union within themselves or towards this, you know, this energy of waking up, of liberation, of spirituality, you're gonna enter the world of business as well. And there's a real disconnect often because, I mean, even like myself, I didn't go to business school. I didn't want to do marketing in school. Like, that was not a place that my heart felt Like it wanted to be. And so many of the women that I work with, they also like have a real resistance to marketing or to, you know, even like they'll say, yeah, they have a business, but like putting themselves in a space or an environment where they're going to shine or invite someone into a class or, you know, spreading the word about what they're doing. I mean, you and I know that marketing is, you know, a service, and it's like offering love to someone if you have a gift that can really truly support them. But making that shift conceptually, I think so many spiritual people, we've really been indoctrinated and taught to believe like money is the root of all evil, and, you know, marketing is manipulation, and— It's not authentic to be in business, and business is destroying human relationships, or whatever those concepts are that we have. It takes, again, you have to do that inner work to really start to deprogram yourself and look at these associations. And I mean, that's like one layer of the business, and then money is even like a whole other can of worms that we have so much unconscious baggage in money and charging and And it's, you know, an area that I'm continually working on because I grew up in a very, you know, not wealthy situation, like quite, quite impoverished. And so that nervous system gets regulated to always be functioning in a place of scarcity and lack. And even if you have money in the bank, you still feel like, oh, I, it could be gone at any moment. You're never really safe. around money. And so doing some of that deeper work around money and looking at the associations that, you know, maybe you have even around people who have wealth, right? Like, what are those thoughts and beliefs? And those are going to block wealth from coming to you if you have negative associations, because obviously we never want to be that, you know, villain. And so if we're villainizing people with money, then we're going to block money from coming to us. Because we don't want to be the villain. Nobody does, right? So there's all kinds of like, like really hidden unconscious programs that often run in people who have like huge hearts that want to like heal the world and bring their gifts out into the world and also are very like spiritually kind of oriented in their mindset. They don't just want to be in business to make money, right? That's not their goal. Their goal is to really like bring healing or, you know, deeper connection to others. But in order to do that, you have to run a successful business, which actually requires you to do that deeper work around healing your own wounds around money or around business or around putting yourself out there, around your insecurity of being seen, of stepping into your power. So, I mean, that's like, I say this often, and I think you do as well, you know, business is like one of, I think it's like the highest spiritual practice you can take on if you're a spiritual person, because you have to come face to face with all of those inner obstacles, because they are going to come up, and they're not going to just come up one time. They're going to keep coming up, like every new level you go to, that wounding comes up in a new way that you then have to meet yourself in and What you just said is so beautiful and so important, and I resonate with the aspect that entrepreneurship is one of those highest spiritual callings in my life.

And I thought I was alone in that. I thought it was kind of crazy to tell somebody that, you know, or, you know, being married to a pastor's son and growing up uber Catholic, I'm like, I feel so connected to the divine in business. It's like me serving and coaching feels like I'm literally taking somebody to church, you know, like that expression, right? And feeling isolated and being able to have these conversations without really a community of understanding is kind of intimidating at first.

Yes.

And yet the more that I've had these conversations, the more That I've found other unicorns like yourself that feel this way about what they do. It's— business is the art of putting systems and riverbanks around your magic so that it's sustainable versus just causing that, that flood, you know, because as, as I heard people talk about scaling, to me, scaling was if I want to make double money.

Mm-hmm.

I just put double effort, right? Like, just double the amount of doing. So how you— like, I want to know, you being the spiritual being and unicorn that you are, how you got over that mindset that charging nothing, you know?

Yeah.

Money is the root of all evil and started to build this incredibly wealthy, and I mean beyond finances. I mean, you travel the world. For those of you that don't know who Harmony is, check out the link in the show notes because she's on a different continent every single week and is in demand literally globally. She's the rock star of this spiritual and yoga.

world.

And I, I've like, I tried to explain you to somebody else where I was like, she's like the Taylor Swift of the spiritual world, you know? Like you're, you're in your Eras Tour.

Taylor Swift of the Easy Boys. Yeah.

Like you're in your Eras Tour. Um, and you built a business over decades. You've built a business And are now really stepping into, in the last 5 years, committing to helping other soul-led entrepreneurs, helping other healers and coaches step into putting their own strategy and riverbanks and systems around their magic. And as they're listening to this, that same wound is coming up that you went through. So how did you get through it?

Hmm. I mean, a lot of different ways, but I think, I mean, some of it was mindset and just looking at the beliefs and questioning them and finding alternative, you know, examples in the world or like following the thought all the way through. And is that true? Is that really, really true? Some of it was somatic and like really going in and feeling You know, somatically, like, what happens when I think about this? Or, you know, this memory comes up and it's interesting because especially with somatic work, it could be like, like thinking about raising your prices. And then when you, like, think about that, you have a sensation in your body, like maybe your stomach feels upset or something, or it feels like— I can't do that, right? And so being with that sensation and going into it and following it all the way back, and I know this is a lot of the coaching that you do as well inside Defy, and being with whatever memories there, whatever imprint is inside the body, because our body holds the key to our unconscious. And it also holds that deeper frequency that is still running the show behind the scenes. And so in order to kind of reprogram or to release those unconscious thoughts and beliefs around money, around safety, you have to go back into the body and, you know, secure or provide safety to the space, to that place, to that memory, to that frequency, to that sensation that doesn't feel great, that had the trauma happen in it. And when you heal it, or be with it, or secure the insecurity, or bring in the light, or there's lots of different ways you can do that, but when you start to resolve the wounding at the root, then it becomes a lot easier, right? It feels like that energy gets freed up.

Yeah.

And I also practice spinal energetics and Genius Frequency, and that's a lot of that work too, is that our body is literally holding these little knots, these little areas of tension in the body. And so somatically, when you start to release those areas, it frees up that energy, and now all of a sudden you have more life force available to you.

Yeah.

So it's just like, so much of it is paying attention to your body and starting to, not just your body, but your thoughts too, right? And noticing this connection between the mind Your thoughts, the emotions, how you're feeling, what's arising for you, and then also your physicality. What's the sensation that's happening in the body? And learning to kind of free up the energy that's trapped in one of these spaces so that your life force starts to flow with more ease and more power.

Yeah.

And without, like, these little dams that it keeps running into, which are these obstacles or these unconscious beliefs or these feelings of I'm not good enough or whatever it is, right? It just like stops that flow, and then you're kind of stuck there. And when you're on your own, you don't have a coach, you don't have a group of supportive, you know, humans who are on the same journey as you, then you kind of sit there for a while, and it could be a long time sometimes.

So I want to land this because Everybody listening hears you and believes that it's possible for you, believes that it's possible for me. The thing that most of us struggle with is believing that it's possible for us. And so I want to go back to a conversation that we had a year ago when you were first contemplating joining Defy.

Yes.

And I want you to walk through your mindset, your thoughts, your decisions that led you to make the investment? What had to be true for you to take this spiritual mission and step into a space and feel safe enough to continue to put systems? What is it that you were looking for? Like, I want to hear— What you just shared in your story?

Yeah, I think when I was at that point of deciding to join Defy or like stay doing it on my own, um, it was like I realized I was kind of at capacity of where I could get to on my own and I also recognized that I needed to learn, because it doesn't come supernaturally to me, those riverbanks, those systems, right? How to either find the right people to help me put those systems in place or learn how to do it myself, but that in order to grow to the place where I had the vision that I wanted to grow to, where I still hold the vision for where I want to grow to, Those riverbanks needed to be in place because, as you say, you can't just work harder. And I knew it wasn't about putting in more hours or more effort. It was about kind of directing the flow of that energy in a way that could hold more current, so to speak.

Yes.

And so in order to do that, I really was recognizing that I needed to invest in myself and my own learning and growth, but also invest in a community of other women who were on the same journey as well, and in a coach who is a few steps ahead of me in the journey and has been there and learned how to create those structures so that the current and the flow could happen more easily so that I could model what was coming up for me after what you had created, and also that you could help see those obstacles in me. Because that's the other thing is you can't— it's hard to do this work on your own.

Mm-hmm.

You can journal all you want, you can do morning pages all you want, you can do meditations and go in on your own all you want, but Something really powerful happens when you have someone hold the mirror up for you and also hold that sacred container in that sacred space, because you can't just get distracted and do something else, and you can't avoid it. And you have someone who's holding you to the fire, so to speak, so that you can purify the crap that's getting in the way of you being pure gold. And so I think often also, like, there's just magic that happens. And, you know, even the Bible has that quote, when 2 or more people are gathered together, I am there also, right? There's a 3rd space that gets created, and that's truly magical. And so you can do a little bit on your own for sure, but without having a coach, someone who's going to hold that space for you and see you and, like, take you into the places that you naturally are going to avoid, because we all have places that we don't want to actually, like, go into on our own. And so you need someone to kind of like say, like, what's over there in that corner? Like, why aren't you looking in that corner over there? And you're like, I don't want to look over there. And they're like, no, look over there. You're like, but I don't like that corner. No, we're gonna walk to that corner now and really look at it, right?

This is sounding really familiar, Harmony. Yeah, I feel like you're describing someone that—

Yeah, exactly. But that's what you sign up for. I mean, if you really want to grow, you got to face those dark corners inside of yourself. And it's powerful when you do because, again, it releases that stored-up energy. It's just like a little junk drawer over there that you kind of need to empty out and then realize that you don't need half the stuff in the drawer.

And then all of a sudden you have a functional You know what's beautiful about what you said is that it's like you have the capacity. Like you already are. It's just about being— choosing to be in a community, work with a coach, be held in a container, which is exactly what you're doing while you're building your business, is to be held in that container for that acceleration. And what's beautiful, and I'm so appreciative about our relationship, is anything that you have ever shared that you see in me is a reflection of what you recognize in you. And even as you share that, I'm reminded about the infinite amount of times that I'm asked about holding the sacredness of what we do. I'm a retired therapist, and moving into coaching, people are like, well, how do you kind of— what's the word? Balance the sacredness of the relationship of being a therapist, which I don't do therapy work anymore, with business, the fact that I'm a business coach, right? I don't see those as 2 separate things. I don't see it as sacred and commercial. I see this work as one, and I see the money, the monetary aspect of it, as a representation of value. And I know there's people that are listening to this, and when I say that like I don't actually see money as anything other than energy, they're like, what? And I'm like, the moment that I stopped worrying about money in that aspect, and I just fully committed to putting my value out in the world, in the spaces and places— I know for me, when I was in Ecuador, I was was volunteering at an orphanage, it's like, that was happiness, Harmony. That was happiness. It had nothing to do with money. It was about value.

Mm-hmm.

And that was being in my flow, and it had nothing to do with money. It's like business doesn't exist. Money doesn't exist. There's no difference between sacred and commercial. It's a frequency and it's a flow that you choose and you step into. And yeah, like you said, you stop running. It's like hustle to avoid harmony, like hustle to avoid your magic. I just— tell me what comes up as I share that, because I really, I see that in your story and I also see that just in our community as well.

Yeah. I mean, I think that's a beautiful question that you actually posed sort of earlier today, and I'm not going to say it exactly as you did, but something like, if you weren't busy or if you weren't not doing the thing, if you weren't running from stepping into your full greatness, like what would you be doing in a way, right? And I think there's a lot of like ways that, you know, I think maybe the more that I'm in this journey and, you know, in it with you and inside Defy as well, like as much as we think we're afraid to fail, I think people are more afraid to succeed. At least in my experience, that is. 100% true. I will fail all the time easily. Um, that's like something I'm familiar with. So that's not, uh—

That's the Instagram reel right there. Like, that's the, that's the quote, that's the post, that's all of it. Because when you're listening to this and you're like, oh, that's not true, Slow it down, because I'm pretty sure it is.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's like the real work, right? It's like, what are all the obstacles that you're putting up that are preventing you from that success that you say you want, that your heart like is pulling you towards? But at the same time, when you really think about it, you're— or not even think about it because it's beyond thought. It's like in your body. It's in your nervous system. It's in— it's And so we're afraid of that next level or that million dollars, or because it's unfamiliar. And failure's familiar for everyone. It's like the most familiar thing. Everybody's failed many times in many ways.

The business of making a million dollars, the business of whatever offer you're putting out there, The thing that you continue to focus your energy on to distract yourself from your own power and your own magic, because I think the scariest thing in the world, in our minds, not in our essence, not in our knowing, the scariest things in our minds is the business of being ourselves.

Mm.

The business of being you. And you are not the business. People don't say yes or no to you. They, you offer something and whatever comes up for them, that's their work. Your offer is evoking their work, whether it's a yes or a no, that's their work to do. You and I talk about the fact that triggering and inspiring people live on the same spectrum. It's the exact same frequency. It's just whether or not they wanna look in the mirror or whether or not they think destroying the mirror is gonna destroy the reflection. P.S., it's not. You know, I've triggered so many people on this journey and inspired so many people. I'm me. Like, the purple cow didn't change. It's just, I exist. It's the business of being me, which, to take this full circle, you ran away from home, like your full alchemy journey, right? Like the Alchemist. Yeah.

Yeah.

You ran away from home to figure out who you were. To come home finding out that you were not a ballerina. You are not a yoga teacher. You are not your certifications. The highest and most value that you can be is, is you.

Yeah. Yeah.

And then second hero's journey, built a business to help other spiritual entrepreneurs.

Yeah.

Build the business of being themselves.

Yeah, it's so true. It's so interesting because it feels like all, like at the heart of it, like all I ever wanted to do was just get paid for being me. And at the same time, you're like, why is anyone gonna pay me for being me? You know?

And that, I mean, that's literally the definition of yes and.

Yeah.

I am my highest value. Yes, I am my highest value when I am 100% me. And who's gonna want that? And like, that's the work. That's the work.

Exactly.

The second that you're you, not dependent on whether or not anybody wants you, guess what? People want you.

Yeah. Yeah.

Like if you had told me 10 years ago that people would pay $10,000 to fly to my house and hang out with me for the day and have me nerd out over their business and take them to Disneyland. I mean, this is like literally some of the VIP days that I do, Harmony, is like people will pay $10,000 to go to Disneyland with me. Now, you know, the way that I do Disney is actually incredibly strategic.

And worth $10,000.

It's a whole thing. And I don't question what they get out of that because I know energetically them making a $10,000 investment, they get $10,000 worth of an ROI on that. That's up to them, not up to me. I lay it all, like I'm the queen of overdelivering because I choose to. And I'm coming from that full and authentic self. However, it's like, that's exactly what we just said, where it's the second that I own that if you want to pay $10,000 to fly out to my house and go to Disneyland, I'm not going to steal that power from you by questioning it.

Yeah, it's a lot of worth work, isn't it? Owning a business.

The business of being you. We just found the title of the podcast. That's all. Okay. Last question. You ready for this?

I guess.

What is your definition of yes, and?

Ooh, my definition of yes, and. Hmm. Okay. I have a, I have a, a good one, but it involves a story.

Is it good or is it great?

It's amazing.

Okay, let's do it.

Okay, so let's just say I'm in this lucid dream state, and I have this image of going into this workshop, and there's this goddess there, and she has her back turned to me, and she's just like doing things. She's just like busy doing things. And I come in and I look around, there's like all this like stuff going on, different things, like random things, you know? It's a workshop, so you can imagine. And I just like sat there, stood there, and just thought, ah, everything's just perfect exactly as it is. And then I was like, yeah, everything's perfect exactly as it is. So that's my yes. And then I stood there and I was like, And yet, I'm here in this workshop, and so if I can change something, why shouldn't I do it? And so then I said to the goddess, hey, I want to, like, make this thing different. I want to change this thing. But everything's perfect as it is. And she looked over her shoulder and said to me, you're here. If you want to change it, do it. So that's my end. Everything's perfect exactly as it is, and yet, if you can change something, go do it.

Yes, yes, if you want to. Absolutely, absolutely. Harmony, thank you. This conversation is everything that I hoped it would be and so much more. So thank you for being here, you unicorn goddess.

Thank you. I'm just modeling myself after the queen unicorn, which is the goddess in that workshop. Yes, yes.

Yes, and if you want to go deeper with Harmony, if you're just feeling what she is— if you're picking up what she's putting down, follow her on Instagram. It's Harmony Slater Official.

Yes, that is it.

And it's all in the show notes. The link to work with her directly is also in the show notes and in her Instagram bio. I know because I just audited her funnel. So, and if you're listening to something that lit you up today, and you know that kind of transformation that you want to envision and that you want to be a part of, I'm also going to put the link to the Defy Fit call in the show notes. Specifically and especially for you so that you can come join Harmony and I in our herd of unicorns. And I just want to thank you for being here, for being here till the very end of the episode. We would love it if you would post and share your takeaway. Tag us on Instagram, @thebunnyyoung, @harmonyslaterofficial. And that's why we do this. That's why we do these episodes is to share this wisdom and to— receive your takeaways, receive your value, and love that when you share, also other people receive that value as well. We hear what's landing for you. We always love to hear from you. So until then, as always, yes and.