12: Cracked Open | How Our Breakdowns Became Our Greatest Expansions (with Megan Liken + Natalie Puglisi)
Have you ever felt like you were excited, anxious, overwhelmed, and holding it all together while secretly falling apart? Are you ready to release your burnout? That’s exactly how I felt heading into a transformational retreat in Sedona, a journey that led me (and many other female entrepreneurs) to shed old identities, release burnout, and step into a freedom-based lifestyle I didn’t even realize was waiting for me.
I sat down on the Light Her Up Podcast with two incredible women, Natalie Puglisi, an online business attorney, and Megan Liken, an identity and mindset coach. Both are powerful leaders in their space, and our conversation cracked open so many insights that I knew I had to share them here.
Saying Yes to the Cracking Open
For Natalie P., saying yes to the Quantum Expansion Experience retreat wasn’t even a choice. Her coach simply told her, “You’re coming.” She didn’t know it yet, but she was about to let go of high-functioning anxiety she’d carried for years.
For Megan, it was a more pragmatic decision, she was already in Arizona, participating in a mushroom ceremony and figured, “Why not?” But what she didn’t expect was how deeply the experience would break down her performer identity and release layers of shame.
For me, I was mourning the loss of my mother, a friendship, a relationship with my brother, and the version of myself tied to a 15-year corporate career. I wanted to grieve, process, and step into my next level, but I didn’t know how until Sedona provided the container for that transformation.
Healing Isn’t Always Loud
One of the biggest takeaways from our conversation is that healing doesn’t always have to look like deep, cathartic breakdowns. Yes, Sedona cracked us open. But our next retreat in Florida? It was about pleasure, play, and receiving, something many female entrepreneurs struggle with.
Megan shared that while she expected to “do the work” again, what she encountered instead was a confrontation with her ability to simply receive joy, rest, and ease without earning it. That insight resonated so deeply for me as I’ve coached other women in spiritual business coaching and manifesting online. Sometimes, the next level isn’t about pushing harder, but surrendering more.
The Mirror Work That Changed Everything
During that first retreat, Megan was assigned a powerful embodiment exercise: to embody an exotic dancer persona as an act of reclaiming her body and releasing shame. But instead of performing, she courageously chose to sit quietly in front of a mirror, shedding layers of judgment and offering herself the acceptance she had long denied.
Witnessing her sit with herself in silence was one of the most transformative moments I’ve ever had the opportunity to both witness and experience. It was the embodiment of authentic relating, a practice Megan now facilitates through local women’s circles and her coaching business.
In fact, at the next retreat in Florida, Megan recreated that mirror exercise as a group facilitation, guiding women through a visualization to meet their inner child, shed old labels, and rewrite their stories. It wasn’t just powerful, it was life-changing.
Creating Space to Receive
The theme that emerged from both retreats was simple but profound: creating space to receive. As women, we’re conditioned to hustle, to overachieve, to carry the emotional and physical loads of family, business, and community.
But what if building a freedom lifestyle wasn’t about doing more, but allowing more? What if calling in aligned clients as a spiritual business coach wasn’t about performing harder, but about clearing your blocks to receiving?
I walked away from these retreats, and these conversations, knowing that burnout coaching isn’t just about rest. It’s about radical self-trust, deep presence, and giving ourselves permission to expand.
Why Every Entrepreneur Needs Community
As someone who’s been through entrepreneur life coaching, masterminds for women, and deep spiritual retreats, I can tell you this: entrepreneurship isn’t meant to be walked alone. Community is the quantum leap.
If you’re dreaming of starting your business, surround yourself with mentors, peers, and expanders who see the real you. Find your entrepreneur mastermind group, your authentic relating circle, your women’s group. Let them hold you while you crack open, and cheer you on while you rise.
Because the woman you’re becoming? She’s already inside you.
And she’s ready to play.
Want to go deeper?
Get on the waitlist HERE for our online mastermind, where we combine quantum coaching, subconscious reprogramming, and powerful community to help you step into your most lit-up, liberated self.