WITH ANDREA CRISP
You Don’t Have To Be In Every Room
TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
It’s easy to believe that growing and sustaining a business means attending every event, joining every community, and making every possible connection. But what if being everywhere isn’t always the right next step?
In this episode of The Soul Aligned Podcast, I share how I’ve been rethinking the events and communities I say yes to. Some rooms I once loved began to activate my nervous system and leave me feeling less than. Stepping back helped me notice what I need in order to feel connected, visible, and more like myself.
I talk about the questions I now ask before committing to an opportunity: What’s my intention for being there? Does this feel like a full-body yes? Am I choosing it because it feels aligned, or because I think I should go?
I also share how I’m creating the kind of community I’ve been needing through two gatherings for women in entrepreneurship: Soul Spa Day at Thermea Spa Village in Whitby and Soul Table in the Greater Sudbury area. Both are designed to make room for meaningful conversation, deeper connection, and a more supportive way to be in community.
As a 2/4 in Human Design, I need time in my own space—and I’m also called into connection through my community. I reflect on how I’m learning to honour both needs while choosing where and how I show up.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Why you don’t have to attend every event to grow your business
How certain rooms and communities can affect your nervous system
The difference between an aligned opportunity and an obligation
Questions to ask yourself before committing to an event
How I’m creating community through Soul Spa Day and Soul Table
What my 2/4 Human Design profile teaches me about solitude and connection
Listening to your body when making decisions
Giving yourself permission to say “no” or “not now”
CHOOSING WHICH ROOMS TO ENTER
Sometimes a room can be full of good people and opportunities and still not be the right place for you at that moment. I noticed that when I attended some large events, I was absorbing the energy around me and struggling to feel fully visible or connected. Over time, I began to feel smaller in those spaces—and I could see that same pattern showing up in my business.
Taking a step back gave me room to ask what actually works for me. I still feel differently when I’m at an event for a clear reason, such as speaking, connecting with someone, or helping out. Having an intention can change the experience. It helps me decide whether I’m saying yes because I truly want to be there or because I think I’m supposed to be.
QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE SAYING YES
When a new event or opportunity comes up, I’m learning to pause before I commit. I ask myself:
What is my intention for being there?
Does this feel like a full-body yes?
Do I feel I would be missing something important by going—or by not going?
Is this aligned with where I’m going in my life and business right now?
Am I responding to my own feelings, or taking on someone else’s energy?
If I’m unsure, I can give myself space before deciding. A “not now” can be just as honest and useful as a yes or a no.
CREATING THE COMMUNITY I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR
’m hosting two gatherings for women in entrepreneurship who want deeper connection and conversations that feel nourishing.
Soul Spa Day
Soul Spa Day is a day to rest, connect, and make space for conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, life, and what matters to you. Rather than packing the day with a formal agenda, I invite guests to choose the spa experiences that feel right to them and gather for meaningful conversation.
The next Soul Spa Day is planned for Monday, November 2, at Thermea Spa Village in Whitby, Ontario. If you’re interested in joining us, reach out to me for details.
Soul Table
Soul Table is a brunch gathering for women in the Greater Sudbury area. When I moved north, I found myself travelling to Toronto to connect with other entrepreneurs. I wanted to create a local space where women could get to know one another beyond networking—through conversations about life, business, what lights us up, and how we can support each other.
The next Soul Table is planned for November 14 in the Sudbury area. Reach out to me if you’d like to learn more.
HUMAN DESIGN, SOLITUDE, AND CONNECTION
As a 2/4 in Human Design, I recognize both my need for time alone and the way I’m called into community. The second line is often associated with needing space to retreat and do things in your own way, while the fourth line is connected to relationships and community.
Living in a rural area has made me especially aware of that balance. I want to honour my own energy while finding ways to connect with the women I’d love to have around me. Creating Soul Spa Day and Soul Table is one way I’m experimenting with building that community, one gathering at a time.
SOUL REFLECTION
Think about a decision you’re facing: an event, a community, or an opportunity you’re considering.
Pause and notice what’s happening in your body. What does your response feel like when you imagine saying yes? What does it feel like when you imagine saying no—or not now?
You don’t have to choose what looks best on paper. Give yourself a moment to listen for what feels right for you, in this season of your life and business.
CONNECT WITH ANDREA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreacrispcoach
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSoulAlignedPodcast
RESOURCES
Insight Timer: Cashflow Nervous System Reset for Entrepreneurs
PRODUCTION
Original Music and Production By Stephen Crilly
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Welcome to the Soul Aligned Podcast. My name is Andrea Crisp. I'm a coach, author, and guide, and I
support intuitive women in reconnecting with their inner knowing so they can live, lead,
and create from a place of deep alignment. My own path has been one of unraveling, of releasing old
identities, healing patterns, and learning to trust the wisdom within. This space is an invitation
to return to yourself, to explore the inner work and the nervous system and the energetic shifts
that allow your life to unfold with more ease, clarity, and truth. So take a breath.
and let's begin. I am so glad that you are joining me for another episode of the Soul Align podcast
today. I'm doing something that I don't often do, which is recording without a script,
without any notes at all. In fact, I have a couple of questions that I have written down here that
I wanted to get into. I wanted to just explore and have a conversation around.
So I'm really glad that you're joining me today. And I have been on this journey to really
understand how I can do things a little bit more like me.
So if you are on that journey, then you can completely understand. It's like a little bit of trial
and error. We have to figure out things as we go and experiment until something sits right.
And that is exactly what I have been doing. I have been taking time to see what fits,
what doesn't fit, what needs to stay. What can I say yes to? What feels like that's not for me?
And just knowing how do I want to create a life that serves me and a business that allows me to
create more impact in the world. And I have been using my human design to tap into those different
ways of looking at how I function and how my energy works and how things actually flow for me.
And so I'll talk a little bit about that today. But I really want to talk about one particular
question that a friend of mine texted me this morning now she was talking about attending events
and going to different things and you know we can get really caught up in thinking that we have to
be everywhere right thinking that we have to say yes to everything that our whole business depends
on us being in the room being in the right places making the right connections but what if we're
not necessarily always meant to be in those rooms? What if we are supposed to take a step back and
have a breather and just see what is meant for us? Back in the spring, I felt that way.
I really had felt called to look at the rooms that I was in. I was in some amazing communities,
but I felt like when I was in those communities, I was just absorbing everyone's energy.
I wasn't really allowing myself to become fully visible. And so I began to shrink back.
And I noticed that my business also was taking that same approach.
I was getting smaller and smaller and smaller. So I knew that I had to take a step back out of the
room and just start to go, you know what, what works for me and what doesn't work for me?
And I realized that some of the really big events, the really big rooms actually feel like they are
activating my nervous system. So I kind of thought to myself, you know what, if I'm feeling that
way, then why am I continuing to put myself in a position to constantly be in those rooms?
I would show up and then I would feel like I wasn't being seen. I wasn't able to really connect on
a way that I wanted to. And so I thought, you know, this is probably not. where I need to be right
now. Now, I totally feel different when I'm speaking at an event or when I'm meant to be there for
some reason, when there's something that I have been asked to do. And that doesn't necessarily mean
having to take center stage. It could even just be something like, Andrea,
we want you to be there to connect with people. We want you to be there to help set up or help tear
down. Just even having something that is intentional for me makes the biggest difference when I'm
saying yes or when I'm saying no to being somewhere or to participating or to being in the room.
So I haven't even sent the message back to my friend yet because I was really thinking about it. I
was internalizing what is it that I would actually say to her in response to,
you know, should I be going to this event? Is this something that I need to do? And I would ask her
the same kind of question that I asked myself. What is the intention for you?
to be there? Do you know that it's a full body? Yes. Do you feel as though you would be missing the
mark by going or not going? And some of those questions really are important to ask yourself.
Now, I wanted to kind of segue into something that I'm hosting, which is coming up in November.
So for the women who are local to me in Sudbury, Ontario, I'm actually hosting a brunch.
Now, this is something that I have been inviting people to privately, not necessarily just posting
outwardly, although I did do that the other day on threads. But I sent a couple of messages to
people who I wanted to be in the room. And when they responded back, they had other things that
were happening. So they declined attending. Now, when I, of course, read those text messages.
I can think one of two things, right? I can think, oh, they definitely don't wanna be there,
they're just giving me a reason why they don't wanna be there, or they actually can't make it and
maybe they do want to be there. But here's the thing, it really doesn't matter the reason why
someone is not gonna be in the room or not in the room when you are hosting the event.
It's so much more important to have people that are really aligned to being there.
And maybe now is not the time for them to be there. So when I was thinking about the fact that she
was not able to attend, I responded to her and I said, you know what, thanks for letting me know.
The time is right in the future. I'd love to have you there. And then I just left it at that. So
when we're making those really big decisions about where do I need to be? Is this a yes for me?
Is this a no for me? Really asking yourself, is this in alignment with where I'm going right now in
my life? Is this in alignment with where I'm going in my business? And if it feels...
like, I don't know, then maybe just take a step back and say, you know, this is not for me.
And this is something that not only I've been asking myself, but I say to other people,
you know what, if this is not where you're supposed to be, then I would suggest that maybe you're
not in the room either. So speaking of the events that I'm hosting, I wanted to share a little bit
about the events that I'm doing because I've been thinking about how I can start showing up and
creating community in a new way. And so I'm really excited about these two events that I'm putting
on. And if you're local to either Sudbury or Toronto, then you may want to jump in on these events
because I think they would... really fill your soul if this feels like something that you feel
called to. So the first one that I want to share with you is called the Soul Spa Day. This is
something that I did back in the beginning of October. And yes, I'm doing it again in November.
It's on November 2nd, Monday, November 2nd at Thermaya Spa in Whitby. And this is for women who are
in entrepreneurship or leadership and who really crave those deep connections and those soul
filling conversations. Now we can go. all the events that we want to. We can get in all of the
knowledge that we could ever possibly need. We can network and make those big asks in the rooms
that we're in. But that is completely different. than coming to a day where you get to just be,
where you get to be the truest version of yourself and have conversations that might spark
something in you that allows you to really move yourself forward,
whether that's in your life or in your business. And sometimes we discount these days as well.
It's not really doing anything for me, but I would suggest it's actually doing something that is so
important. It's creating space for you to allow what needs to drop in to come in.
Because when we're in those environments where we can just relax, where we can rest,
where we can have those soul nourishing conversations, all of a sudden... answers that we've been
waiting for come. Sometimes they come on the drive there. Sometimes they come on the drive home.
Sometimes it happens while you're sitting, just looking at the fire or having a really delicious
lunch or sitting in the sauna. It doesn't really matter where they show up, but they do.
I have found for myself that these days have been instrumental at helping me to move forward in a
way that serves both myself. my clients, and the people that are in my life.
And so if you are someone who's like, Andrea, I want to be at a day like this.
I want to be in community with women who are looking for the same thing. Then please reach out.
I'd love to have you. It's going to be Monday, November 2nd at Thermaya Spa in Whitby,
Ontario. Now, the other event that I wanted to share with you is called the Soul Table.
Now, this is something that is really unique to Northern Ontario because this is for women who are
really north of like Perry Sound and French River and they're up in the greater Sudbury area.
When I moved up here back in 2019, I did not know any entrepreneurs. In fact,
all of the people that I knew were located in Toronto. So every time I ever had to attend an event
or go to something, I was always traveling. the four and a half hours to get there, getting a
hotel, staying with friends, doing a whole four or five days of a trip, then turning around and
coming home and doing that multiple times a year. And I thought to myself, there has to be women
who are in this area, in this community that I could actually... connect with here.
Now, it took me a long time to actually get up the courage to create something like this because I
did try something before and it didn't take off. So I got a little bit gun shy,
but I decided back a couple of months ago that I was going to give it a go again.
And so I hosted my very first Soul Table and it was so incredibly powerful.
And as soon as I did it, I thought to myself, oh my gosh, I both Never want to do that again. And I
also want to do it next week. So it took a couple of weeks just to decompress from the energy of
it. And then I thought, you know what, I'm going to jump in and do it again. So if you're in the
area, November 14th, here in the Sudbury area, I would love to have you. We're going to be having
brunch at Milestones and we're going to be connecting, having... soul-filled conversations about
life, about business, about the things that we're lit up by, and really getting to know each other,
not just in a way that says, what can I do for you, but in a way that says,
how can I be there for you? How can I support you? Now, I'm not sure where this is going to lead,
if this is going to lead to something that is bigger in the future or not, but I'm just taking it
one step at a time, one event at a time, just to see how things play out.
Now, I mentioned back at the beginning of the episode that I was going to share a little bit about
my human design. So I'm a 2-4 profile in human design, which means that both I'm a 2,
which is the hermit. I like to do things on my own, in my own space, in my own energy. But I also
get called out by my community. So that's the 4 line. And when you live somewhere rural,
it can feel like very much in the 2, very much in the isolation part, very much in,
okay, I'm... in my own energy, but I'm not really around the people that I want to be around.
And so for me, it has been really about finding how can I create that in a way that feels first
like me, something that I would want to do, something that I would enjoy, but also that would serve
other women here. both in Sudbury and in Toronto. And so I'm just so excited about the potential
that is there. Like I said, I don't have a specific plan beyond this.
It's not like I'm trying to make this bigger and better. I'm just thinking about what can we do
here and what can serve the community of women that are here in the greater Sudbury area.
And of course, the people that I know as well in the Toronto area. So if you're interested in
finding out more, you can email me and I'll leave my email in the show notes so that you can
actually connect with me and let's see how maybe you can attend one of those events and spend the
day either with me at the Hermes Spa or lunch here in Sudbury, Ontario. Before we go today,
I wanna leave you with a little soul reflection, something that has helped me to really understand
how it is that my energy works. So when you're asked a question, when you're thinking about
something that you should say yes or you should say no to, oftentimes you're going to feel some
sort of response in your body. And I did a whole podcast episode where I talked about those
responses. And I will actually link that podcast episode here for you as well, because it's a
really important episode to understand how... you make decisions? And how do you know what is a
feeling of yes or a feeling of no or maybe? For me, as a sacral response,
a lot of the time it is a full body response. It's an immediate, oh. that is a no or that's a yes.
And sometimes if I'm around a lot of people and I feel like I'm in too much energy,
I might need to step back and I might need to ask myself the question when I'm on my own so that I
can feel whether or not it is my response or whether it is the response of someone else.
Because it's so important to know what is right for you. And we have been conditioned by both how
we grew up, our family, our society, to say yes to things that make logical sense,
that say yes to things that feel like they would move the needle, that are, you know,
on paper look really, really good. But not always does that work in our favor and not always is
that the best thing that we need to be doing. So when you are making that decision,
I encourage you to really take that time to see what is it that your soul is saying yes to,
maybe is saying no, not now, or is just feeling like that is definitely not for me.
Because as we start moving forward, as we start to create things in our lives and in our business
that really serve other people, we need to know that when we're saying an aligned yes,
that people who are also coming into our communities and our lives will hopefully be doing the
exact same thing. So friend, thank you for joining me today. I'm so glad that you joined me for
this podcast episode. And if we have not connected yet, you can find me on Instagram at Andrea
Crisp Coach, or you can find me on the web, andreacrisp.ca. And if you love this episode,
please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast so that you don't miss an episode.
Original music and production by Stephen Crilly.
If this episode stirred something in you, let’s take it further. Book a connection call and we’ll explore what’s coming up for you, and how we can work together to support your next level.
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