Paollà Yáelli spent 17 years abroad, built a career with the U.S. government, and studied everything from Kabbalah to tantra to somatic work. Then she moved back to Brazil and had to start from scratch. Nobody knew who she was. And the first time she walked into a yoga studio to teach, people complained about her behind her back.
This conversation cuts through the polished version of the entrepreneur story. Paola shares what it actually looks like to build community one person at a time, why comparing yourself to people who invest thousands in Instagram ads is a recipe for suffering, and the moment she stood in front of her class and told them they could leave if they didn’t like her style. What happened next surprised everyone, including her.
Show Notes
[00:00] Welcome and Introduction
Phil and Carolina introduce Paola Yaelli, founder of Alma Flow, a movement integrating spirituality and well-being. Paola teaches yoga and leads mentorships combining ancient wisdom with modern tools.
[03:00] From Journalism to Yoga: An Accidental Business
Paola shares how her business grew from life experience rather than a business plan. She studied journalism, worked on cruise ships in Europe, lived in Israel studying Kabbalah, then moved to the United States where her yoga practice began. While working 13 years with the American government in education, she kept building certifications on the side without knowing it was becoming a business.
[07:00] The Spiritual Tools Get Real
The spiritual practices that felt easy during a stable career suddenly got tested when Paola returned to Brazil in 2022 with only one income stream and a community that didn’t know her. She describes the practice of “certainty beyond logic” that keeps her moving forward.
[09:00] Fear As Fuel
Paola explains how fear doesn’t stop her. It enforces her. She wakes at 5am to practice yoga and somatic work before teaching five classes. The key: feel the emotions like waves in the ocean. Don’t deny them. Process them. Then you can hear where to go next.
[14:00] The Playlist Ultimatum
The story that captures everything. Paola was teaching at a traditional franchise yoga studio where everything was supposed to be standard. But she couldn’t help being herself. She started doing somatic work during practice. She asked students to scream. She played different music. People started whispering. They complained to management.
She was terrified of the rejection. But she walked into the next class and stood in front of everyone. She said: “If you don’t like my music or my style, there are plenty of other teachers here. You don’t have to stay.”
She thought the room would clear out. Instead, the people who stayed became her strongest community. Now they ask her: “Where is the scream practice? We need to scream today.”
[18:00] The Cost of Fitting In
Carolina shares how this moment moved her so much she talked about it with her own students. The lesson: you cannot be magnetic to the right people until you’re willing to be rejected by the wrong ones. If you keep trying to adapt to everyone’s boxes, you suffocate yourself. And a suffocating person cannot attract.
[22:00] The 1000-Day Rule and Honest Timelines
Phil addresses the mythology of overnight success. He’s been building online businesses for a decade with schools that had thousands of students. That created traction that carried over. The comparison game is rigged when you can’t see what’s happening below the surface. A successful entrepreneur they interviewed talks about the 1000-day rule: if you haven’t given your business a thousand days, you probably haven’t given it enough time.
[28:00] The Vessel Must Expand
Paola introduces the Kabbalah concept of the vessel. If you’re not where you want to be, your vessel hasn’t expanded enough to receive it yet. Like winning the lottery without knowing how to manage money. You’d spend it all. Sometimes the work isn’t strategy. It’s expanding your capacity to hold what you’re calling in.
[36:00] Building Community Before Scaling
Paola describes her approach to connection: community comes before scale. People want to be seen. They want genuine attention. One person who feels truly seen tells a friend. That friend brings another friend. Now she shows up to teach yoga at the mall and 55 to 60 people appear because the community is real.
[46:00] Contentment Creates Opportunity
The best opportunities come from relaxed contentment, not desperate hustle. Paola shares how sitting in a coffee shop in LA, feeling good about her routine, led to an unexpected invitation to join an app project. It wasn’t what she expected, but it was what her vessel could hold at the time.
Key Quotes
“Fear doesn’t stop me. Fear enforces me. It gives me the attention.” — Paolla Yaelli
“You cannot be magnetic to the right people until you’re willing to be rejected by the wrong ones.” — Sacred Business Principle
“If you’re not in the place that you want to be, it’s because your vessel is not expanded enough.” — Paolla Yaelli
“Sometimes it’s not about a strategy. Sometimes you just have to work more on yourself, build up your vessel.” — Paolla Yaelli
“We open a business in six months. We want to be a super visionary success person. It’s different. It takes time.” — Paolla Iyeli
Resources Mentioned
Kabbalah wisdom and astrology
The 10% sharing principle (giving 10% to expand your vessel)
The 1000-day rule for building a business
Where to Find Paola
Substack: Search for Paollà Yáelli
Instagram: @paoliayeli
Your Turn
Paola’s story reveals something most business advice won’t tell you: the gap between knowing what to do and doing it isn’t a strategy problem. It’s often an identity problem. Her lowest moment of potential rejection became the doorway to her strongest community.
If you’re wondering why your business isn’t moving forward, consider: Is it a strategy issue? Or is it your vessel, to borrow Paolla’s language? Are you still trying to fit into boxes that were never made for you?
Your business is always inviting you to become someone new. The question is whether you’re willing to use it as the container for both your evolution and your financial freedom.
If you’d like to explore this for yourself, our Business Harmony Map assessment helps you identify which of the 9 Fundamental Frequencies is most seeking balance in your life and business. Your lowest frequency isn’t a weakness to fix. It’s a doorway to transformation.
Take the free assessment at https://harmony.sacredbusinessflow.com and we’ll show you exactly where your patterns are creating your challenges.
Thank You
Thanks to Paola for her honest sharing. Thanks to everyone who joined us live. And thanks to this community for continuing to show up.
P.S. Paola mentioned that many people don’t appreciate the spiritual tools they have until they’re forced to use them. The same is true for your business challenges. They’re not obstacles. They’re invitations to become who you’re meant to be. Everything is connected.
What’s Next
This recap is from Sacred Business Stories, our weekly live conversation. Previous episodes are available in our archive. Subscribe to get notified when new episodes drop.
