Teri Holland (00:21.854)
Welcome back to Success in Mind. I am your host, Terri Holland, and today I want to have a conversation with you that has been on my heart lately. And I have a feeling that many of you may relate to this. It's something we don't often talk about as entrepreneurs, and that is that you are allowed to change. You're allowed to change your business, your goals, your version of success. It is
all meant to evolve, but often we feel guilty when it does. So let's talk about that guilt, why it shows up and how to navigate change in your business without losing your identity.
Teri Holland (01:14.318)
You
Teri Holland (01:17.878)
Okay, let's dive in. Let me take you back a few years, 10 years now. I was working long hours. I was saying yes to everything. I was trying to be everything in my business. And from the outside, it looked like I was thriving. This is when I was a personal trainer and I felt like I should be on top of my game.
I had a full client load. had a wait list of clients at any given time of people wanting to work with me. I was working 12 to 14 hour days, six days a week. Sometimes I'd fit in clients on the seventh day, running boot camps, running a whole machine of a business as a solopreneur. And while it looked like I was thriving,
Inside I was exhausted. I was completely burnt out. I had built a version of success that no longer fit me. And how did I get there? Well, I got there because I kept telling myself I love what I do. I love what I do. So it's okay if I work all these hours. It's okay if I'm sacrificing time with my husband and my friends. It is okay that I'm completely exhausted at the end of the day. It's okay that my hair is falling out, that
I'm gaining weight uncontrollably. It's okay, I will get through it. It's okay that I'm getting sick all the time now. I was ignoring the signs of burnout.
and I was really good at it.
Teri Holland (02:59.31)
So I kept pushing through and I would tell myself things like, you've worked so hard to get here. This is what you wanted. But the truth is that I had outgrown it and I just didn't know how to admit it. I had a new vision for my future that was taking shape, a vision that put me on stage speaking. And I didn't know how to close the gap between being a personal trainer and being a professional speaker.
And I didn't know how to make that leap from personal trainer into coaching.
Teri Holland (03:35.306)
And then God threw me a big ton of bricks and forced me out of the position that I was no longer aligned in. And if you don't get the brick reference, I'm referring way back to an episode I did with Paul Davis, Paul William Davis, and we were talking about purpose. And one of the things that Paul talked about that he shared is that if you don't listen to those little nudges,
those little whispers of inspiration that come to you. First, you get like the light touch of a feather. get a little, you know, you get a little inspiration. If you don't listen to that, you get the brick and the brick hurts. And that is when you are forced off your path. And if you still don't listen, then you get the truck. I think I avoided the truck, but I definitely got hit with a few bricks.
So what I was feeling at that time was misalignment. It was a disconnection between who I was and the goals that I had set five, six years prior. And if we don't acknowledge these moments of misalignment, they can become paralyzing.
Teri Holland (04:59.438)
So why do we feel guilty about changing? I think that it's because our identity gets so
Teri Holland (05:11.094)
It's because our identity gets so wrapped up in our ambitions. We spend years sometimes chasing a vision and when it no longer fits, it feels like we're betraying ourselves to let it go. There's also fear, fear of the unknown. Like, what if I step into this new realm, this new thing, and I let go of what I've been doing? What if it doesn't work? What if it fails?
I had those thoughts leaving the personal training business because I knew that business. was known for it. I was good at it. Well, what if I go into this new direction and nobody works with me? What if I blow up my entire business and it fails?
And then there's the fear of disappointing others. What are others going to say or think? I was terrified of disappointing my husband. I was making a very good income as a personal trainer. What if I could not replace that?
would he be disappointed in me? There's a fear of looking inconsistent. So often my clients tell me they're afraid of making a change in their business or in their direction because what if people think I'm just another flaky small business owner who can't get her shit together and keeps rebranding and trying new things?
So the fear is real. There is a lot of fear around this kind of big change. But let me reframe that for you. Outgrowing something doesn't mean that you failed at it. It means you've evolved. Success was never meant to be static. It is a living, breathing concept and it should expand just as you do. So if you've been holding onto a business model,
Teri Holland (07:13.632)
a brand, an offer, or even a mindset that no longer fits you, maybe it's time to give yourself permission to let it go.
Teri Holland (07:32.876)
You know, I remember the first pivot that I made, the first big pivot I made was going from being an actor to a personal trainer full time.
I hadn't been enjoying acting for a while. I was a theater actor and I lost my passion for it. But I was so afraid of admitting it because my entire identity from the time I was a little girl was all about being a performer, all about becoming an actor. And then I did it and I created a theater company and I was producing shows and I was getting work.
and I didn't love it. I loved it in the early days, but I found myself bored and unfulfilled and it wasn't the lifestyle I wanted. Working in theater meant I was also working in restaurants as many actors do and I hated that. I hated working service jobs. I'm not good in those roles.
If you ever sat in my section at a restaurant and got terrible service, I apologize. I really hated being there. So I wasn't enjoying that. I wasn't enjoying working late nights because if you want to make good tips in a restaurant, you got to work dinner, you got to work nights. And I wasn't enjoying that. That didn't feel good to me. I felt so much stress and pressure in that time in my life and something had to change. When I became a personal trainer,
I thought it was just a means to an end. I thought, here is this other thing I can do that I'm really passionate about, and I can work my schedule around auditions and still go to auditions. But guess what happened? I never went to another audition. Once I started in personal training, that was it. And then one day I heard myself.
Teri Holland (09:38.68)
And then one day I heard myself saying to a client, I used to be an actor. And it caught me off guard because I used to be, when did I stop? Because I hadn't given myself permission to change. So unconsciously I made this shift, but consciously I wasn't even aware that it happened. And when I asked myself that question, when
Did I stop being an actor? I realized that my nervous system, my body felt calm. When I was in theater, I never felt calm. I was chronically anxious and exhausted and so stressed.
And when I got into personal training, I felt calm. But the guilt came with this realization because what I had been holding onto in theater was this identity of being an actor. And now I thought, am I just a sellout? I was worried about losing my community, losing my friends. And at that time, all of my friends were theater people.
Now, the truth is, I did lose those friends because I outgrew them too. At the time, I didn't realize that. I thought they were just turning their backs on me because I was no longer an actor and some of them blatantly called me out for selling out by starting a personal training business.
And at the time it was really hurtful, but I realized now I can look back on that and recognize I had outgrown them. Our values were no longer aligned and that was okay. I think though that that's sometimes where that fear and the guilt comes into play. Because what if I lose my community? I had those same fears when I left personal training of are people going to think that I failed?
Teri Holland (11:48.258)
So if you've been holding on to something that's not working for you, let's give all of us, let's give ourselves permission to release it and to change. So here are a few questions that I want you to journal after this episode is done, or you can pause it right now and do it right now, but you can come back later and answer these questions for yourself. So number one.
What have I accomplished that no longer lights me up?
For me, I had accomplished producing these great shows and having really great reviews.
but it wasn't lighting me up. I had accomplished becoming a very successful personal trainer with a wait list year round, but it wasn't lighting me up.
Question two, if I started from scratch today, what would I build differently?
Teri Holland (12:57.09)
When I left personal training, it was clear to me that I could not rely on a one-to-one model ever again. That's where the burnout came from because if I wanted to make more money, I had to see more clients. If I wanted to see more clients, I had to find more hours in the day. I will not fall into that trap again. And while I do work with clients one-on-one, I always have group trainings, group workshops, and other forms of income on the go.
I will never be fully reliant on one-to-one income.
Teri Holland (13:33.538)
And the third question, where in my life or business am I forcing something that doesn't feel aligned?
So what are you forcing? I was by the end of my personal training career, I was forcing myself just to show up and struggling to do so. At the end of my theater career, I was forcing myself to look at auditions and then I wouldn't go to them. I couldn't even force myself anymore to show up.
So letting go, it's not quitting, it's not failure, it's making space in your life for what's next. You are allowed to shift, you're allowed to evolve, you're allowed to want something else. And again, none of that means that you have failed, it just means you've evolved.
Teri Holland (14:37.87)
You know, one of the biggest lessons that I've learned by doing this podcast for 10 and a half years now is that clarity comes from movement, not overthinking, not by making perfect plans. It comes from action. You need to take action and then what is next starts to reveal itself. And this took me a while to get because I used to think I had to see every step clearly. You don't. You just need to take the next aligned step.
then the next align step and the next one and it becomes clear the path starts to reveal itself as you take steps forward. That energy will catch up with you. So if you're questioning your direction right now I want you to know that you are not alone. This podcast has evolved in 10 and a half years. This show has evolved. We've changed names three times. I have changed the structure of the episodes. I've changed from being 100 % solo
to doing occasional interviews, to doing consistent interviews, to now scaling back a little bit on the interviews, you can change and evolve any time. So I'm giving myself permission going into 2026, I'm giving myself permission to continue to evolve and grow and change directions as needed. And I want to give you that same permission, not that you need it from me,
But if you need someone to tell you you have permission, then I will be that voice for you. And I will tell you, you have permission to evolve and change and grow.
But you don't need it.
Teri Holland (16:21.176)
So thanks for listening today. If this episode hit home with you, let me know. Send me a DM on Instagram and let me know that this episode resonated with you. And please share this with another business owner who might be feeling that quiet little nudge, those little whispers that it's time for change. And if you post this episode to your stories and you tag me, I will give you a shout out on the next episode.
So if you haven't yet, also please leave a review. It helps more than you know. It helps this show to get seen and found by more people like you. So here is to evolving and expanding and creating success that fits who you are now. Thanks for being here today and I look forward to seeing you again, my friends, next week. Bye for now.
