The Heartfelt Grid
/BY RACHEL HECKMANN
I’ve always been a feeler.
Growing up, my sisters always rolled their eyes when I would get emotional, because it occurred so often. I would feel sad when we fought. I would feel sad if our “game” didn’t go as I planned. I was able to cry on demand when we played “house” and my grandma (played by my sister) was dying.
You see, expressing emotion has never been my struggle. My struggle has always been taking control of those emotions. They used to control everything about my life, and I always felt that I was subject to whatever my emotions wanted to do.
With the help of some counseling, mentorship, chats with mom, and aging, I learned that I could actually take control of my emotions. This didn’t mean they wouldn’t be there. In fact, I pretty much have #allthefeels all the time, but it meant that I could make a choice about how they affected me.
When I was starting my online business, I knew that my personality and values would have to be infused into everything I did.
I wasn’t willing to run a business with the persona of perfection and resilience in the face of anything.
The truth is, I am not perfect and I’m not immune to disappointment or discouragement. I get emotional, scared, fearful, and anxious all the time.
And having to hide this from my audience and clients just wasn’t going to work for me.
It just didn’t feel like me.
I’ve always been one to tell others how I feel. And if I don’t tell them, well, you can almost guarantee that my demeanor will give them a clue. It’s just how I function.
Read about how Rachel infuses her business with heart in ISSUE 09 (as well as seeing some of her beautiful products and photos).
Rachel Heckmann is an educator, product shop owner, encourager, and the creative stylist and director at Rachel Allene, an online shop that offers products and services for the creative, joyful, and inspired dreamer. She creates business resources in order to encourage and empower women to run heartfelt and profitable businesses on all social platforms. Rachel is a grateful wife, founder of #lesshustlemoregrace, and believer of real talk.
