We all love self-care. That feels good to give us a boost or an exhale. That thing we buy to let us know we deserve it. That thing we do to help us get out of bed and keep going. That ritual we do to let us know that we are connected to something bigger than ourselves. And yet for entrepreneurs’ self-care is not the first thing on our to-do list nor is it part of our business plan. When we think about starting a business or how to sustain it we think about how much money, how many resources we need, and who we know.

We never think about

•     What will this take of me?
•     Who will I have to become?
•     What will I have to let go of?

The problem is that to answer these questions self-care is simply not enough.

NYCCW invites entrepreneurs of color into a deeper conversation about healing. Healing is a journey of consistent inquiry that takes you to the root of the who, what, where, and why of you. It looks at who you have become and what experiences have shaped how you love, live, and lead. To heal we must go back because healing happens in retrospect.  We live moving forward but we heal going backwards. We dream in the future, but we heal in the past. We go back to

•     Change the narrative– I’m not good enough, I don’t deserve, I don’t belong, it’s my fault.
•     Reconcile with the guilt trip– There are other things I should be doing, like a 9-5.
•     Undo the Responsibility Check-in– I could be doing other things than buying myself this or investing in that.

We go back to look at the conversations, the agreements, and the expectations we now have of ourselves in our heads about what we can and cannot do, who can and cannot be a part of our team, and what we can and cannot have.

Self-care has to be a part of the healing journey because every time we open up a memory, a wound, a trigger, or a story we need to care for it and we need to take care of ourselves with love and compassion.

We go back to look at the conversations, the agreements, and the expectations we now have of ourselves about what we can and cannot do, who can and cannot be a part of our team, and what we can and cannot have. Self-care has to be a part of the healing journey because every time we open up a memory, a wound, a trigger, or a story we need to care for it and take care of ourselves with love and compassion.

If we as women of color entrepreneurs don’t heal then our personal trauma will result in major internalized and interpersonal dynamics that will quickly deteriorate our personal and business sustainability and integrity leading to burnout and disease. When we do not have anywhere to process harm, trauma, violence, oppression, and poverty our ability to maintain our well-being as women of color in leadership gets impacted. In fact, the very qualities that a leader needs to build a successful business are the very qualities that get diminished by a lack of healing depleting our spirit, keeping us disconnected from ourselves, from visioning and dreaming of the future and leading a team into success. This results in diminished spiritual, social, and emotional intelligence. In essence, it robs us of our innate power and leadership skills.

If you are reading this, you have already put everything at stake. It has already cost you everything to start this journey. Sis, imagine if this is what you have been able to do with an unhealed past, imagine what you can do if you made your healing part of your business plan.

Join us in normalizing self-healing practices that will bring a new way of healing to your life so you can lead powerfully and sustain yourself and your business beyond money and numbers! 

The next time someone asks you if you care for yourself, change the narrative and say no, I’m healing instead! 

Learn more: https://dayanaramarte.com