Align With Love to Heal Burnout, Make Good Money, & Create Positive Change
A conversation with Heidi Barnett, communications designer and activist
Hello Luminary!
Today I published episode three of the Love Activist Luminaries podcast on Substack.
The question that fames this interview is one my clients and I have grappled with from time to time:
When I feel trapped in a cycle of relentless work and mounting stress, is it possible to find joy and fulfillment again in my one person business?
Burnout, guilt about earning good money, and the pressure to say yes to every opportunity are common drains on the energy, creativity, and motivation for us spiritual solopreneurs.
Happily, there are so many pathways out.
My preferred path? Turn toward love.
In this episode, I sit down with my friend and client Heidi Barnett to talk about how she navigated through these kinds of challenges to come out energized, joyful, and earning great money—all without compromising her values or sacrificing her health.
If you prefer to read instead of listening to the podcast, I’ve included the interview below. (And for those who like both, I’ve included the time stamps.)
I hope you enjoy it!
Much love, Jeni
[00:00:00] Jeni: Welcome to Love Activist Luminaries, a podcast for spiritual and social impact solopreneurs that explores ways to flourish financially and create positive change, free from unhealthy hustle that leads to joylessness, chronic money stress, and profound burnout.
I'm Jeni Rogers, brand consultant turned transformational leadership coach, strategic advisor, and money healer to change making solopreneurs seeking to feel energized and excited as they grow their income and impact.
In today's interview, I'm joined by my dear friend and client, Heidi Barnett. Heidi is a communications designer, and since our paths crossed in late 2020, she's really transformed her business from a joyless burnout machine, those are my words, into a joyful social impact venture. She's done this by embodying and implementing the principles of love activist business.
I hope you enjoy this episode. And as always feel free to reach out and let me know what this sparked for you. All right, here we go.
[00:01:16] Jeni: Oh, so good to have you here.
[00:01:19] Heidi: Thank you for inviting me.
[00:01:21] Jeni: This is the second interview for the Love Activist Luminaries podcast.
And I'm delighted to chat with you and explore what has been happening for you in the last three years since you have been embodying and implementing the love activist economy in your business.
[00:01:41] Heidi: It has turned my work around and into something that I never thought it could be like. When I first discovered you, that's the first time I had heard the word love activist economy. You had defined the qualities in an extractionist economy. I was like, Oh, check!. Yes. Yes. Oh my gosh. I can totally relate to all that. And then you're like, but what if we work towards a love activist economy? It could look something like this. And what if, and you list all the qualities and I could just feel myself melting.
It was like, Oh, what a beautiful world. Wow. Never heard of this. And at the root of it is love.
And oddly enough for me, the overarching thing was money. And you reminded me that on my questionnaire, I had said, Oh, you know, I don't really care about money. And actually last night I put thought into why I said that because I had so many associations with money at that time. And they weren't good associations.
And through love activism, you've really helped me see how if we could all do good with the money that we make, just think what the world would look like if You know, businesses all joined in and collaborated and started working in that direction as opposed to something extractionist where it's like, “Keep it, keep it! Me, me, me!” You know, and not share and collaborate and spread the love and the wealth.
And I was like, Oh yes!
[00:03:16] Jeni: For those of us who are spiritual, who are also social activists engaged in our communities, in our culture, in the world, money has been kind of icky. But, when we are holding a vision for what's possible in this world, and we do that in a way where we're working in loving partnership, not only with humans, but the land, the earth, all our kin who are not human-- when we have money, we can create the future that we all desire. That's really where love activism came from. It was like, of course we can have this.
I just love that you seem to feel it so deeply in your heart. You were hemmed in to that extractive model of business, extracting from yourself and not really realizing like, Oh my gosh, I'm doing this to myself and I don't want to do this to myself anymore.
[00:04:18] Heidi: Yeah, so true.
And you know, the nature of my business is a lot of deadlines. That's always going to be the nature of it. But I was at a point in my career where I was absolutely burned out. It was just so much all the time. It was having an effect on me physically, mentally.
I was at a place where I was questioning the joy in it. I couldn't figure it out. I really, really love what I do, but it wasn't bringing me joy.
And so I was just going to be like, okay, I'll just do less. Yeah. And then I'll, you know, go hang out in nature half the day and work half the day.
It was during COVID. So, you know, I was reevaluating everything, as the whole entire world was.
It was a natural transition period in my life.
And then to hear you say, you know, “Well, what if you could do what you love and make the money and not have the stress and all that?”
Then I was like, Oh, yeah! But, you know, how?
So then you brought me through, helped define where those stressors were. And then how working differently in a more loving, nurturing, giving, caring, collaborative environment-- which is the love activist economy-- why cut back?
So we just started to kind of work in that direction.
Boy, did it change my life, my work environment, everything.
And I find so much joy in the fulfillment that I get from the meaningful work that I'm doing now with all of my collaborative partners. My clients and my vendors. And the spirit they bring to the table because we have conversations.
You taught me how to have these conversations. You know, we'll have a conversation before we even start to work together, both my clients and my vendors. We talk about what we're working towards. What our value systems are. How we envision working together. What expectations are. Both on a daily basis in our work environment and monetarily. If you can get all that worked out on the front end, then all there's left to do is the beautiful work.
And then talking to my clients, I share the love activism model with them, sometimes early on, sometimes later on as our relationships grow. And many of them are starting to adopt those qualities within their work environments as well. So, it's really, really exciting to watch how that's been growing. It's like planting a seed and then watching it grow and all the different branches. And then how some of those branches come back and mingle and intertwine with each other in ways you wouldn't have thought it happened.
[00:07:07] Jeni: I think when we started working together, you were still in that place with thinking about potential projects and clients from the perspective that you and I were both taught in agency work or creative work, you never turn down an opportunity. Because if you do, then you're going to maybe tarnish your reputation or miss out on that money. Or you start to make up a story of like, well, it doesn't quite feel right, but if I do this, then that could be something great in my portfolio.
So there's this mentality of, as a service provider, I need to say yes to all opportunities that come to me, even if intuitively something doesn't feel right. Whether it's the scope and the deliverables of the project, or the conversation that you have early on with that potential partner client.
It's…if you get red flags, ignore the red flags. Just go for it anyway. And then when we ignore those red flags, we get into those projects and all kinds of problems start happening. Maybe they don't pay on time. Maybe they ghost you. Maybe they continually try to get extra work and not pay for that work. Maybe they're mean and disrespectful. And all of those kinds of behaviors and more create stress, create anxiety, create burnout. A lot of times these are the kind of clients that, you know, email you at 10 o'clock at night and expect you to be on your email or email you on Sundays and expect you to be on your email and to just jump for them. It's like emergency-state 24/7. I'm being extreme just to illustrate the point. I think you were at a place where you were still working from that frame of like, “Well, if I grow my business, I'm going to have to say yes to everybody. And I don't want to say yes to everybody because I've learned how that backfires.”
And I think I was like, “Oh, but Heidi, what if you just said no to those opportunities that had red flags?”
[00:09:16] Heidi: Say no?!?! What?!?!
Spot on. I think we're so ingrained to not say no and set exquisite boundaries. And that's one of the qualities is fear. I mean, if I say no, it's possible I'm not going to have work tomorrow. And then it just spirals because if something comes my way. Oh, well, it came my way for a reason. And I have to say yes. No, I don't say, you know, there was all this guilt and fear attached if I don't try to go after that project, even if I'm already feeling like it's not the right fit from the get go. Maybe it's a lot of money. And I'm like, Oh, I want, yeah, yes, bringing the money on, you know, but then I'm like, I'm already feeling like, Oh, this is going to take over my life before I've even put a proposal in. I wasn't listening to those red flags, those thoughts and wisdom, and trust that if I said no, that I would be okay, it would make that space for the beautiful things to happen and grow and come into my life. And so we started practicing that.
[00:10:24] Jeni: The beautiful thing is that you redefined who you were going to work with by getting really clear on what working lifestyle you wanted to have.
[00:10:37] Heidi: Right.
[00:10:37] Jeni: At the time you were like, “I still want to work four days a week and I'd love to still have my Fridays to myself for creativity, for regeneration, for being in nature.”
[00:10:47] Heidi: That's absolutely right. Yeah, I have actually closed my studio at noon every Friday, and I put my autoresponder on at 12 o'clock.
That makes room for a lot of things. If I need that time for regeneration like you said, going to nature, nature is a huge healer for me. I love putting my feet in the grass and watching the birds or going for a walk watching alligators, you know, whatever the day brings.
Or it can mean connecting in the community if I haven't had time to do that, you know. Because sometimes when you get in the work, even though it's really like beautiful, meaningful work, there are things that you still want to do out in the community that you haven't had time to do. So it allows me that time to do that.
And my clients have been just so supportive of that in a huge way. Like, if they send an email after noon, they'll even say, don't read this till Monday. They also know if it's urgent, and it's something that does need an answer that day, they let me know, they'll tag it and I will respond and get back with them. My clients have been just so embracing of that. And I think some of them have adopted parts of that themselves.
Just that half of a day leading into the weekend has made such a difference. I didn't used to look forward to Friday afternoons, because it used to be Friday afternoons were just like slammed! I couldn't breathe. And, and now I'm like, Oh, Friday afternoons, you know, what am I going to do today? Yeah, that's been a beautiful practice that has been established.
[00:12:24] Jeni: For those of us who know in our heart we need a little extra time to recharge, it's heartwarming to know that even that half a day on a Friday can be so transformative.
The other thing that is so cool is that when we started off talking about money, when we started working together, at first you were like, “I don't really need money. I don't care about money.” And, and then we did a what if?
How do you remember that shift?
[00:13:00] Heidi: So the association with money for me was more negative.
[00:13:04] Jeni: And that was because work was actually creating the opposite of joy for you, right?
[00:13:10] Heidi: It was, it was. And it just, it had just gotten to a place where that was the truth of it.
[00:13:16] Jeni: So money equals not joy.
Money equals burnout, equals stress, equals having to work all the time, equals clients who don't respect your boundaries, don't pay their invoices on time. And you were like, why would I work full time to have more of that in my life?
[00:13:37] Heidi: Absolutely. And then you were like, well, what if?
You asked me, do you love what you do? And I said, I actually do. And then you're like, what if you could do what you love. But not have stress tied with that.
And so then, we just started defining where that stress is coming from and how do you alleviate it.
[00:13:59] Jeni: Then you allowed yourself to say, yes, money can be a force for good when it comes through my clients to me and my business, then I can actually be a channel of positive change with more money coming to me.
[00:14:18] Heidi: Absolutely. As I was making more money, I was able to support more businesses. Vendors that I work with, and also organizations doing great things in the community. And my family. I was able to do things for and with my family that I've never been able to afford to do. I was able to finance a family spring break this year, which I was a whole week at a fancy house with a wildlife sanctuary. It just felt really good to be able to do that for my family and extended family. I've never been able to do that before, ever.
[00:14:59] Jeni: Such a beautiful example of how money can have this positive ripple effect. Because not only are you able to direct it toward your family, but also, sharing that wealth with your professional community and also social causes there in Jackson, Mississippi. It's this energy of love coming through money. And then you cycle that love into the world. And of course, money is just one aspect of creating positive change and impact.
But I think for us as women in a patriarchal society that has traditionally kept barriers between women having our own money and the ability to do whatever we want with that money…it's powerful positive social change when we are creating financial flourishing for ourselves. We are being activists. And to me, that is also love activism.
[00:16:02] Heidi: With a love activist economy, if we grow that and it spreads, and people start to practice that in their businesses and lives, it’s about the future. It's about our children and their children.
What the world so far has created for young adults is absolutely devastating.
What is our role? And what is our commitment to making it a better world for them and something that will give them hope? Hope is key. If you lose hope, you lose your drive, you lose so many things that can spiral into a very, very bad place.
So what is it that we can do where we are in our work, in our lives to help future generations?
I think it's important to ask those questions.
[00:16:59] Jeni: I'm hearing you say shifting your perspective toward love activism helps you ask those questions.
And to me, the whole theme behind what you shared is you went from a place of contraction, which was around fear into this place of expansion and coming from this place of love.
[00:17:24] Heidi: Yes, absolutely. And you know with that, you realize there's plenty to go around.
I mean, if you want to equate love and wealth, there's plenty to go around. And that wipes out a lot of the fear.
It's practice. Everything's practice.
When I learn and have new aha moments, I have to do something with it. I can't just sit with that.
[00:17:44] Jeni: If you were to describe what you felt like before you were leading with love activism, how would you describe that?
[00:17:58] Heidi: At that moment in time, being lost.
Usually I have a pretty clear vision about where I want to go with my work. I felt like I had the breath sucked out of me so much that I didn't know where I was going.
[00:18:12] Jeni: Now that you've been bringing love activism into your business, if you were to encapsulate that, what would that be?
[00:18:19] Heidi: I feel excited. I feel energized.
[00:18:22] Jeni: For folks listening do you have a final message?
[00:18:26] Heidi: I would say, listen to your heart and ask yourself questions. I think those centered around our interconnectedness as human beings on this planet. And try to envision what a beautiful world it could be if we did all reach out to each other and help each other. We all have that power to plant those seeds and help them grow.
[00:18:50] Jeni: Do you have any parting words?
[00:18:51] Heidi: I hope those that are listening that are looking for a new direction, they pursue it without fear and with love and find that new energy and joy.
[00:19:01]Jeni: There you have it, that's a wrap on this one. I hope you enjoyed this episode and tune in next time.