MENTORS & INFLUENCERS
HUMAN-CENTERED BUSINESS
Perfectionism, always having to get it right, and grinding through our work lives in a way that doesn’t honor our humanness are finally in our rearview mirror. Also gone is the idea that there is the work version and the personal version of each of us. Now what we value and aim for is to bring our whole, integrated, compassionate selves to each moment. That means we don’t leave parts of ourselves behind and understand that sometimes life, relationships, and creating anything of value can be messy and not always go the way we’d planned or intended.
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We also know that viewed through the lens that we’re here to learn and grow how to be more loving, compassionate, fully-expressed people, even the most challenging experiences have gifts to offer — and when things appear to be going off-track, our path may actually be connecting us with what is most aligned with our truest expression.
Entrepreneurship and being a small business owner are tricky. So many of us pursued this path seeking greater freedom and liberation, and yet we’ve brought with us many of the deeply ingrained habits and patterns that led to the dissatisfaction and burnout we experienced working in large organizations.
It is this recognition that has led us to redefine and reshape the many professional choices and work practices we’ve been doing for decades that have been detrimental to our wellbeing and building trusted relationships — and replacing them with a holistic approach that honors the whole person, inviting authenticity and an opportunity to bring our very best selves to our team, our clients, and our work.
Yes, we still set goals. We still have schedules and timelines. In fact, as a team, we’re pretty driven — AND, we’re learning how to hold our work and move through the creative process a little more loosely, understanding that there are gems and gifts we miss when we push too hard and don’t slow down enough to hear the creative, innovative idea, that is just waiting to be revealed.
The women featured here have profoundly influenced our path towards embracing our humanness in our work and how we view our roles as business development mentors and creative professionals, and how we approach the work we do.
Brené Brown
Research Professor Studying Courage,
Vulnerability and Shame,
Best-selling Author, TED Speaker
If websites had a dedication plaque (hmmmm, there’s an idea in there), the online home for our business and the beautiful container that has become our work would acknowledge the role that Brené Brown’s work has played in inspiring us to claim that business can absolutely be done with unreserved enthusiasm, dedication, determination, and sincerity … that business can be done wholeheartedly.
It was in reading ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’ that we first connected with how embracing our humanness — yes, even in business, reinforced what it means to do business the wholehearted way. Its meaning to us personally and in our work has only deepened with each passing year. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you, Brené.
It was in reading “The Gifts of Imperfection” that we connected with how embracing our humanness — yes, even in business , reinforced what it means to us to do business the wholehearted way.
“I wonder what it would look like to build systems and workplaces that do a better job of honouring human rhythms, capacity and needs. I wonder what we’d need to change in order to value people as they ARE rather than as we EXPECT them to be.”
– Heather Plett
Heather Plett &
Krista dela Rosa
Co-Founders | Centre for Holding Space
We have grown a great deal as a team and a business over the years, and the most influential evolution of Wholehearted Business has been reconnecting with and reclaiming our humanness as entrepreneurs and business strategists. This continues to be our most important work as individuals and as a team. In 2013, we connected with Heather Plett’s speaking and writing, which has been the primary catalyst for us opening up to the possibility of not just being okay with bringing our humanity into our work, but how much more valuable our work becomes and how much richer our relationships can be when we do.
Then in 2019, we had the great good fortune to work with both Heather and her then-new business partner, Krista dela Rosa, in the branding and website development for their new Centre for Holding Space. Our work and relationships with Heather and Krista continue to be a guiding force, a source of inspiration, and an anchor for how we show up in our work, within our team, and for our clients.
Heather Plett &
Krista dela Rosa
Co-Founders | Centre for Holding Space
We have grown a great deal as a team and a business over the years, and the most influential evolution of Wholehearted Business has been reconnecting with and reclaiming our humanness as entrepreneurs and business strategists. This continues to be our most important work as individuals and as a team. In 2013, we connected with Heather Plett’s speaking and writing, which has been the primary catalyst for us opening up to the possibility of not just being okay with bringing our humanity into our work, but how much more valuable our work becomes and how much richer our relationship can be when we do. Then in 2019, we had the great good fortune to work with both Heather and her new business partner, Krista dela Rosa, in the branding and website development for their new Centre for Holding Space. Our work and relationships with Heather and Krista continue to be a guiding force, a source of inspiration, and an anchor for how we show up in our work, within our team, and for our clients.
“I wonder what it would look like to build systems and workplaces that do a better job of honouring human rhythms, capacity and needs. I wonder what we’d need to change in order to value people as they ARE rather than as we EXPECT them to be.”
– Heather Plett
Glennon Doyle,
Abby Wambach, &
Amanda Doyle
Author, Olympian, & Attorney | We Can Do Hard Things Podcast
Glennon, Abby, and Amanda’s podcast has been a great source of comfort, inspiration, and encouragement to keep going, especially when it gets hard. We always share with clients at the very beginning of our work together that there will come a time in the business development process and our work together when the fun wears off for a bit, sh!t gets real, and resistance shows up — and that this is the precise time when the precious metal that is your business is being forged, and the real foundation for your vision and work that is wanting to emerge is being laid.
It is when we hit the places that challenge us most and we choose to move toward and through them that we embody the work and can then share with the depth of our own experiences with others.
Its quotes like this one that has helped us rewire how we think about how we bring our very best to our work: “Hard work is important. So are play and nonproductivity. My worth is tied not to my productivity but to my existence. I am worthy of rest.”
– Glennon Doyle
Explore our other mentors and influencers
who have helped shaped our work and
doing business the wholehearted way.
VALUES-ALIGNED BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, & ACTIVISM
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, & INCLUSIVITY
STAGES OF BUSINESS &
LEGAL
MONEY &
FINANCE
THE
CREATIVE
PROCESS
STORYTELLING BRANDING
DESIGN,
COLOR, & TYPOGRAPHY
VALUES-ALIGNED BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, & ACTIVISM
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, & INCLUSIVITY
STAGES OF BUSINESS &
LEGAL
MONEY &
FINANCE
THE
CREATIVE
PROCESS
STORYTELLING BRANDING
DESIGN,
COLOR, & TYPOGRAPHY
VALUES-ALIGNED BUSINESS, LEADERSHIP, & ACTIVISM
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, & INCLUSIVITY
STAGES OF BUSINESS &
LEGAL
MONEY &
FINANCE
THE
CREATIVE
PROCESS
STORYTELLING BRANDING
DESIGN,
COLOR, & TYPOGRAPHY