122: Marketing saved my calling
The spiritual practice hiding in plain sight
I would say that more often than not, the problem is not your dream, your passion, or your calling.
The problem is the misaligned actions you keep taking.
I hit a wall in my previous business a couple of times. But armed with good spiritual excuses, I kept hitting the same wall and then blaming the universe.
I almost made my calling wrong.
Thinking that maybe this is just not for me.
It was feeling like too much effort, like swimming upstream. And in fact, I was swimming upstream.
When life invited me to serve in a different way from what I was currently doing, the seed was planted as a desire to share. A feeling without heaviness, without any sense of need. It was just a feeling of possibility and excitement in my heart that I could do something more.
Life has its way of speaking to us. It speaks in a language that defies logic, at least in my own experience.
Not all businesses are made the same. But my business started as a calling, as an invitation for something I couldn’t quite put words to.
I just knew I had to follow.
It came first as my own healing, then me digging deeper into myself and questioning life in every aspect. From that space I got some clarity, and then the desire to share. And from that desire, at some point it became so loud that it almost felt like an obligation.
I had to do that. No matter what.
I wasn’t building in the online world. I was far from the coaching world but from a distance, I rejected everything that felt like sales and marketing that I was watching online.
That was a game I thought I wouldn’t need to play. I was above all that.
I was co-creating with the universe and being guided to serve my soul.
Who needs marketing and sales when they are following their soul?
I thought I didn’t. I was wrong.
I was rejecting something I didn’t even fully understand.
The empty promises, the know-everything people in the powerful pose, the $1000 promotion marked down from $10,000 just for the next day, buy now.
For me, this was everything that I didn’t want to be a part of.
I also thought that marketing was for already well-established people. You know, the people looking to scale, go big. And in that early moment, it wasn’t me.
I was right. I wasn’t at the point to scale my business. But I was at the right point to build a strong foundation to sustain whatever big meant to me, and that is marketing too.
But I didn’t know it.
What I know now that I wish I knew in my first year?
What we see as marketing, social media posts, ads, email campaigns, sales funnels, conversion strategies, lead magnets, freebies to get people in, social proof - all those things are just the above-the-water game.
The real work in marketing is a process of self-discovery. Inner investigation.
Marketing became to me a spiritual tool of stitching it all together. All my parts, my story, my desires, to help me feel whole in ways I had never felt before.
A few years back I was walking down the hill on the farm I used to live on, and I had one of those aha moments.
The reason I was feeling stuck and kept hitting the wall in my business wasn’t because my calling was wrong. It was because I was living as the yoga teacher and the energy healer as separate identities.
That’s why I couldn’t articulate with clarity what I was doing. That’s why I couldn’t really feel super excited to expand or scale my business. It felt unattainable.
Not because the desire to help more wasn’t there, but because I didn’t have the structure in place.
We talk to early-in-their-journey entrepreneurs, people with multiple successful businesses, people in corporate.
They’re all having that same calling I had.
They're being pulled into something they can't quite put words to. They want this new business, even if they can't fully name it yet.
If I was to give anyone in that space a single piece of advice: go learn about sales and marketing as soon as you decide you want to dedicate more of your life to your calling.
But the real marketing.
The craft of pulling together all your gifts, your experiences, your failures, your certifications. Not the ready template that makes you look good and makes you question your calling because you don’t get anyone responding to it.
Go learn about connection, building relationship. This is real marketing.
There is no too early to start thinking about the foundation, to do the inner work.
People say they need more clarity but they go to try to find more clarity in the very place confusion makes its kingdom… inside their heads.
If you are in the early stages of moving from calling and desire to business, this is the right moment to start learning the fundamentals of marketing and sales.
And if I can share this with you: marketing is a very spiritual tool.
It challenges you in every way.
Real marketing will invite your growth. It won’t just do lip service to make you feel good and beautiful on social media. It’s going to make you go where you have been avoiding.
And if I talk about foundation and you don’t even know what I am talking about, that’s a sign for you too. The work you see others doing will only work if the work underwater was successful.
Both are marketing, but you gotta start in the right order.
This is what we do at Sacred Business Flow. We help entrepreneurs build the foundation that turns calling into mission. The real marketing work, the stitching together, the clarity, the structure under the water. So you can get visible, get clear and get clients.
If you’re ready to stop hitting the wall and start building, we’re here.
If not, don’t wait as long as I did. Your calling is too important to risk losing it because you’re choosing the wrong actions.
With Love,
Carolina
Things I’d Like to Share
atom 🐝 beautiful work
Last week, Phil Powis ❤️⚡️ shared this gem he found on Substack. It’s worth every second, the art, the message, the tenderness of it all.
Pure beauty to my eyes.
I’m deeply moved by how Atom illustrates and speaks about our essence and our relationship with the physical body. He touches on choice, why we chose to be here, in a way that feels both simple and profound.
His work goes beyond what I can put into words.
Less than three minutes. A true must-watch.
Aiming 4Joy by Mary Paliath
Another inspiration here on Substack is Mary Paliath. Her paintings speak to me every time. The colors, the shapes, they gently invite me into presence.
And maybe it’s a coincidence (even though I don’t really believe in coincidences), but her work always seems to arrive with a message. Sometimes that message is simple: slow down, soften, pay attention.
Another beautiful account to add more beauty, and quiet depth, to your Substack feed.
Another gem from Substack - Adam Quiney on Adventure
Commitment has been our theme in embodiment classes all month. And what keeps coming up is this: we often feel that commitment is heavy. Like something you grit your teeth and push through.
But what if we committed to something lighter? To feeling more alive. To loving more. To adventure.
What if sometimes we commit to the “wrong” things—and that’s okay? What if changing direction isn’t failure, it’s part of the process?
I loved how Adam Quiney frames this: Commitment doesn’t end Adventure.
For me it is about committing to the unknown.
When you commit to adventure itself, the form it takes will change. And that’s the point.
I also came across this question from Apoorvaa Deshpande: “What if I commit and then want something different?”
The only real problem isn’t committing and changing. It’s when the fear of that keeps us from doing anything at all
I guess life is inviting me to commit more to adventures! And I say YES to it!!
What about you? What are you committed to?
Who We Are Celebrating This Week
Paollà Yáelli and her brand new Substack
I want to celebrate my dear yoga teacher Paolla. She’s an Embodiment and Sacred Feminine Global Mentor, guiding transformation and community leadership.
And she just made her way to Substack.
I feel lucky to have her as my teacher for in-person classes. Her wisdom, her presence… it’s powerful.
I’m so happy she’s bringing that to Substack. Welcome Paolla! The world deserves to hear more from you.
Happenings
When Success Isn't Enough
I started my previous business while working full-time in corporate. And honestly, I wish I’d been more intentional while I was there.
You don’t need to hate your job to dedicate yourself to something you hold in your heart.
You can be busy, successful, and still feel this pull to serve in a different way. To create something that matters. To build toward impact that feels true to who you really are.
Here’s what I want you to feel into: this isn’t about needing another income stream. You already make money. If you lost your job tomorrow, you’d find ways to make money. Probably different ways from this business you hold in your heart.
Will this business make money? Yes. But that’s not why you’re building it.
This is about deep desire. About that voice that whispers every night when you’re trying to sleep. The one you keep pushing away, but it never actually leaves.
I’m inviting you to step into the sense of adventure, aliveness, and excitement that comes from building a business because you want it. Not because you have to. Because something in you refuses to stay quiet.
We’re creating a small cohort of powerful women with huge hearts who know there’s more for them to experience.
Not a course. Direct work together on building something meaningful while you’re still showing up fully where you are now.
If you see yourself in this, book a call. Let’s see if it’s a fit.
Memorable Quote
Some good wisdom here by Dr. Nicole Mirkin . I hold the belief that there are always millions of good things happening around us.
Sometimes we just can’t notice them… but they are there, 100% of the time.
What landed for you in today’s issue? If you noticed yourself in this anywhere, you’re already doing the work. The Harmony Map shows you which of the 9 patterns is creating the most friction right now. Your breakthrough frequency might surprise you.
Great article too, of course, very persuasive. Yes, indeed.
Love the picture at the top, it kinda says it all for me. 🩷 Thousands of words in that little piccie! 🥰