CONNECT with Sheila Botelho Podcast

Letting Go of the Old You to Lead What’s Next | EP 497

• Sheila Botelho

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If your business has been successful but something quietly feels… off, you’re not alone.


In this episode, I’m unpacking what it means when the version of your business that once lit you up starts feeling too small—and what to do when your growth isn’t visible on the surface yet. I’m sharing what can be an underlying reason seasoned founders stall, even with clear ideas, and the overlooked shift that can reignite your clarity, alignment, and momentum.


Whether you’re letting a new direction take shape behind the scenes, or trying to do too much out of fear of letting something go, this conversation will help you find the edge that leads to sustainable expansion. It’s time to stop looping—and start leading from your next level.


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Sheila:

So many people I work with are quietly craving their next evolution, but they keep stalling, stuck in a version of themselves that no longer feels aligned. Today, I'm sharing some of the shifts and support that I offer my clients to help them release what's no longer true so they can step into the business and life their future self is ready to lead. If you've been sensing something new emerging, but you're still holding on to a role that's run its course, this conversation is for you, because the version of you that brought you here isn't the one who will take you where you're meant to go next. Hi, welcome to the Connect with Sheila Botelho podcast. I'm committed to helping you reconnect to your purpose, elevate your wellbeing and build your version of a happy, successful life.

Sheila:

Today we are unpacking what it actually feels like when the business you built starts to feel too small for who you've become and what to do, when you know it's time to lead differently. Let's talk about something I see happening all the time in the entrepreneurial space, especially with people who've been doing this for a while. They're not brand new, not still figuring out the basics, but seasoned business owners, people who've built something that's worked, probably even really well, and yet now they find themselves standing at this threshold where something feels off, not broken, but not fully alive either. It's that sense that what you've been known for, what's been bringing in the money, what people recognize you for, might no longer be the thing that reflects who you are now. And not because you're confused or inconsistent, but because you've simply grown, and that growth isn't always visible on the surface yet. But because you've simply grown and that growth isn't always visible on the surface yet, what used to feel aligned and exciting might start to become feeling heavy or even boring, or like you're dragging it along behind you instead of it pulling you forward.

Sheila:

And instead of making the pivot or choosing the next thing, or just saying it out loud, you end up looping or just saying it out loud. You end up looping, editing the idea, rewriting the sales page, sitting on that podcast draft, tweaking the color palette, working with a new coach on messaging, when the real thing that's off is not the words, it's that you're trying to speak a new vision with an old voice, and I get how hard that is to even admit, because when you've built something successful, it can feel reckless to change it, like you're betraying this past version of you who fought so hard to get here, like you're risking the team that depends on you, the clients who love what you've built, the reputation you've spent years earning, love what you've built, the reputation you've spent years earning. But here's what I think most founders don't often say out loud enough you can't keep building forward. If you're consistently looking back for validation. You'll end up playing small in the name of consistency, when what your business actually needs from you is your integrity and your willingness to tell the truth about what's next. And that doesn't mean you burned it all down. That doesn't mean you walk away from the success you've created, but it might mean you need space and clarity and, most of all, capacity.

Sheila:

One of the things I see happening a lot is people thinking they should be ready to shift just because the idea is clear, the new offer, the evolved brand, the deeper body of work. But their body is not ready yet. Their nervous system is still catching up to what their mind already decided three months ago, and it's no wonder they're stalling or procrastinating or questioning themselves in circles. This is one of the first things I look for when I'm supporting a client. It's not just what their next offer or structure or visibility plan is, but what kind of energetic space they have to hold what they're moving into, because if your calendar is packed with calls that drain you with projects that should have been closed out six months ago and conversations that you've been avoiding, there is no space for something new to land. It's like trying to renovate a house you're still living in. You need time out of the space, you need perspective, you need to see things from the outside in again, and in fact, my sister-in-law is doing just that. She has all of this renovation work happening in our house and she's about to go stay in an Airbnb for a couple of weeks. Because she's smart, she knows in order to really keep moving through her life and feel good and not feel overwhelmed, she needs to be in a clean, quiet space. And so imagine if you're not doing this in your business, right, you're trying to renovate the whole thing that you're still living in.

Sheila:

Now this is what happened with one of my clients. She's built a beautiful business, very successful, successful systems, running team in place, and she kept rewriting the plan for a new suite of offers that she wanted to launch, and it was truly beautiful work, deeply needed in the world. But every time she got close to putting it out there, something stopped her. And what finally moved the needle was when she had some beautiful people in her life say, hey, we're going away this weekend and you're coming, and you can't say no. And so she did. She took advantage of it.

Sheila:

It was really a hard decision for her to actually leave. She felt like how could I possibly take this time away? But she did, and in that completely different environment, off-grid, no business talk, like these were people she did not do business with. She went away with. There were no tasks, she just had space. And in that space she realized the reason she hadn't launched wasn't confusion, it was actually grief. She realized she needed to say goodbye to a version of herself she hadn't fully acknowledged was done. She hadn't failed. This former version of her was not irrelevant. She'd just completed that cycle and she needed to hear her own voice again, without the pressure of needing to produce something. And I know for so many people, listening that is what's missing.

Sheila:

That kind of reset doesn't just help your business, it realigns your inner compass. That's why I created my VIP days. These are immersive, intentional spaces where you step outside of your normal environment, mentally and sometimes physically, and you reconnect with what actually matters Not the busy work, not the shoulds, but the deeper why behind your work, your voice and your wellbeing. It's high-level strategy, yes, but woven together with reflection, perspective shifts, nervous system support and time to move through the decisions that keep getting put off. You'd be surprised how this experience can be the place where a big decision is made, not just talking about it, but actually doing it Making a phone call, ending a contract, initiating a new collaboration, sending the message that's been sitting in drafts for three weeks or even months. That level of implementation is only possible when you feel safe enough to stop pretending and you have support in the room while you're moving through what can often feel like a mini identity death. That's what real transformation requires, and no one should have to do it alone.

Sheila:

One of the clients I work with was in this exact spot profitable business, consistent growth, an amazing team, and she was starting to see a new direction. She wanted to head in, and it wasn't a wild departure. It was rooted in her zone of genius, but it required stepping into a different version of herself as a leader, a more discerning version, a more boundaried version, and as we unpacked it, it became clear that she really wasn't even unclear. She was resisting letting go of what was familiar. She had done things a certain way for so long that shifting it even into something better brought up this fear that she'd somehow lose her footing. And that's where we so often get stuck it's in the belief that implementing something new will mean we can't be trusted to hold it all. But more often, what's actually needed is to create capacity first. More often, what's actually needed is to create capacity first. That's why so much of the work we did was about clearing not just her schedule but also the energy she was carrying from unmade decisions, conversations left hanging, responsibilities she no longer needed to carry. And when we finished, she had her roadmap, but, even more importantly, she had her energy back. Her clarity wasn't just intellectual, it was really embodied clarity, and her team felt it, and so she also saw her messaging shifted, naturally, because her presence had shifted.

Sheila:

And that's what happens when alignment is no longer just something you're talking about, but something you're leading from, and alignment is no longer just something you're talking about, but something you're leading from. Now, what I want to bring into the conversation here is something that I see a lot, and I'm going to say this in the most gentle but clear way I can, because it's a pattern that takes so many people out of their momentum before they've even seen what's possible. And it's the pattern of trying to do too much at once out of fear that if you just pick one thing, you're abandoning the other. And I say this with so much compassion because I've sat with clients who are in tears over this feeling, pulled between two powerful ideas, two identities or two potential business models, and they're afraid that choosing one means letting the other one completely die. But what usually ends up happening instead is they attempt to move forward with both and their energy becomes completely diluted. Their team doesn't know what to prioritize, their messaging becomes inconsistent and their calendar starts to fill up with twice the commitments and, as a result, implementation gets harder because no one, including them, is really sure what way they're headed.

Sheila:

And what I've seen in those moments is that clarity often comes from committing to only one thing at a time for a defined period of time not necessarily forever, but long enough to give it the attention and space it needs to actually grow. The problem isn't having multiple good ideas. That is a beautiful thing. The challenge is when we let the fear of missing out create a situation where we can't fully nourish any of them, and then, well, you can only imagine what happens. Everything starts to spiral downwards.

Sheila:

That's when I hear the clients say things like maybe I just need to shut this whole thing down, and what they're really trying to express is how exhausted they feel from being pulled in too many directions. It's not that their business is failing, it's that the way they're operating inside of it is unsustainable. And that's when I invite them to take a pause. Just take a pause. Don't quit, don't abandon it, but get realigned and recalibrate with what you really really want, because simple doesn't mean small and focused is not boring. In fact, the most magnetic businesses I know are incredibly focused and the most resourced, joyful founders I know don't do everything. They do a few things really well, and that's a shift most people miss in the noise of doing more, growing faster and showing up everywhere. When the internal structure of your business matches the way you want to feel in your life, that's when you're seeing real growth happen, and that's what we do inside this work together.

Sheila:

So, wherever this lands for you today, whether you're circling an idea, holding a new direction close to you or feeling the tension of being pulled in too many directions. I want to invite you to listen to what's underneath the pressure. The part of you that already knows something needs to change. Give that part some airtime. You don't have to make a massive shift today, but maybe you give yourself some space. Maybe you take a full day to reflect, or maybe you send that message. Make that decision, clear one thing from your plate that no longer reflects where you're going. And if you want to do that, work with support, deep, clear, grounded, strategic, but also rooted in your humanity and wellbeing.

Sheila:

My VIP days are open for those kinds of transformations. They're private, they're immersive and they're built for people who are ready to lead from their next level, not their past patterning. You can send me a message. If that feels like your next aligned step, we can talk about what you're navigating and what it would look like to create the kind of space where your future vision finally has room to breathe. You can text me in the show notes. Until then, take care of your energy, not just so that you can keep going, but so you can move forward in a way that actually feels like you. If this episode spoke to you and you're feeling called to create your next chapter with more clarity and ease, you'll find the embodied success method and meditation linked in the show notes. It's my gift to you. Thanks for being here and I'll meet back with you here soon. Big blessings.