Everyone talks about scaling. Strategy. Showing up more.
But what if the real reason your business feels heavy isn’t about working harder... it’s that you’re operating completely out of alignment with your energy?
In this episode of Rebel CEO, I sit down with Mel McSherry—international business and life guide—to talk about what happens when your business ignores your inner wiring. We go deep into how human design in business can help you stop second-guessing yourself and finally build something that feels like you again.
If your strategies are solid but your results feel “off,” this is your sign to stop forcing and start listening. Your body, your energy, and your design already know the way.
🔥 In this episode, we talk about:
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How human design helps entrepreneurs build aligned, profitable businesses without the burnout
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What the incarnation cross reveals about your life purpose
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The difference between soul-aligned strategy vs. performative productivity
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Why “turn your passion into profit” is incomplete advice
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The role of emotional connection and storytelling in finding your real ‘why’
Notable Quotes:
“Not all passions need to come with a paycheck.”
“As we move into this new era, it’s an invitation to understand what that rebrand means to you personally.”
“It’s those little connectivities that will separate you and connect you to your ideal clients.”
“We naturally live inside our human design; we just go too far.”
LISTEN TO MY SECRET POCAST SERIES - "THE AGE OF AQUARIUS" HERE:
https://breeannakay.com/ageofaquarius
Resources + Links:
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Follow Mel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mel_mcsherry
- Mel's Website: https://www.melmcsherry.com
This episode is a reminder that your best strategy might not be another funnel...
It might be a reconnection to who the hell you actually are.
WORK WITH BR
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bree) (00:00):
Welcome to Rebel CEO, the podcast where we ditch the rules and build businesses that don't just make money, but set your soul on fire. I'm Breeanna Kay, your business coach, freedom advocate, and personal permission slip to dream bigger. I scaled my own business to six figures while breaking every mold that people told me to fit into. And now I'm here to help you do the same. I'll help you build a business and a life that's so deeply rooted in your purpose that you never feel like you missed out on the life that you were supposed to live.
(00:27):
This is your time to root down, rise up, Rebel, and manifest all of your wild goals. So grab your coffee, get cozy, and let's dive in.
Okay, Rebels, let's be real for a sec.
You have the vision board, the dream, and the five year plan, but you don't actually know why you're doing this or how you're meant to bring it to life. It's easy to end up overwhelmed, overworked, and way off track. Today's episode is for the entrepreneurs who feel like they're doing all the things, but something is still not clicking. If you ever questioned your direction, doubted your process, or wondered if you're building a business that's actually aligned with your soul, then you'll want to stick around and listen to this episode because I am sitting down with Mel McSherry, an international business and life guide who helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs become the architects of their own success.
(01:17):
Mel combines human design with real world strategy.
Mel) (01:20):
So.
Bree) (01:21):
So let's dive into what it really means to find your why, discover your aligned, how? And stop trying to build a business in a way that's not even yours.
So, Mel, thank you so much for joining. I'm really excited to hear, first of all, who you are as a soul beyond the human body.
Mel) (01:37):
Oh, I love that question. And thank you so much for having me, Bri. So my soul is honestly on fire right now. I really have this drive and this purpose that I have been designed to have to show people the profitability of themselves. And I think shining that from my soul as opposed to my presentation has been a journey of itself for me. Cause I think a lot of times as entrepreneurs, especially for those of us who were, you know, assigned female at birth or identify as female, we have such a struggle to really honor who we are on a soul level, how we are designed to create what we want and then use that as our platform. We tend to, and I subscribe to this as well, tend to just find the answer right. Seek out the expert Oh, I need to look like this part. I need to talk like this person. I need to be. Da da da da da.
(02:39):
And we forget that on a soul level, we have so such unique power, creativity, capacity that for me, showing that in a space of honoring who you are and how you are created to, to build the business, to receive the money and to do all the things that you want to do is inside of you. You just have to find it. So who I am as a soul is a guide who loves showing others how they can honor their lives and be the architects of their true success as they become and remain profitable mentally, emotionally, and financially.
Bree) (03:16):
That was such a beautiful answer. You like, you killed that and you came prepared for that. So that is amazing. I feel like usually that one people are like, that's so hard to answer. But it seems like you've definitely done the soul searching on your end.
Mel) (03:30):
Thank you. And I appreciate that compliment because it has been a lot of soul searching. And I would say in complete transparency, that question four years ago would have completely tripped. That, tripped me up, because I would have gone straight to the titles, right? Straight to the accolade, straight to the proof of who I am and I are. I love that you start from that soul level to begin with because that's, that's what we need to do in this day and age to really receive what we are meant to receive. A lot of this traditional vernacular and, you know, conditioning is falling away. We've. We've been seeing it for a while now, and I think a lot of us now are ready to stop seeking the answers externally and really trust what we know internally.
Bree) (04:17):
Oh, my gosh, yes. You just spoke to my heart. I've been on this big mission of trusting my own intuition. So lately I've just been like, in my own lane, focused on what I think instead of seeking for all the answers outside of myself. And I feel like it's been so life changing.
Mel) (04:33):
I love that. And it's a process, right? Because it's so innate to be like, well, let me just ask this one person what they would do. Which feedback is beautiful and support, like, that is gorgeous. But what happens most of the time is we get so enveloped by that noise and we make it to where it becomes our true north direction as opposed to coming back to, okay, what do I know to be true? And I know for sure for me, when human design found me in 2020, that was.
(05:02):
That was the catalyst to all of this, because I had been circularly, like, searching for it, kind of like you know, circling the drain about how. How can I really understand who I am from a foundational level? And that was definitely given to me when human designs came into my life, because for me to have the validation and confirmation of what I already knew to be true, but have it in print and have somebody else go, here, here you are.
(05:30):
That deep breath and that shoulder dropping of just that, like, oh, that's what can inspire you. And that's what has inspired me to do this soul work. Because it's hard. I mean, there's no sugar coating it. It's hard, it's transformational, it's uncomfortable. And to have a support, you know, not only from a human being, but from a resource like human design has just been a complete game changer for me.
Bree) (05:59):
Yeah, for sure. And human design is really good at showing people the way that they work individually, even if it's not the same as the person next door works. So it's really great at honoring the differences between people and making them not be shamed for being different, but make them own the way that they're meant to operate.
Mel) (06:17):
Absolutely. Like, I love that you call your podcast Rebel CEO, because I always say I love working with the rebels, the change makers and the misfits, because that's who we all are. And yet we don't honor that part of us because we feel like we have to be that copy and paste style person. We have to be like the person next door in order to create what we want. But when you really start honoring your unique misfitness and your just, you know, unique profitability, you see not only where you quote, unquote, fit inside of all of this, but you also also see how others around you, to your point, can take up where you left off and truly support each other in a really collaborative style and a collective style, as opposed to this kind of like, chain link fence, you know, go up the ladder kind of, kind of process.
Bree) (07:05):
Yeah. So you're into human design. Are you into astrology at all?
Mel) (07:10):
I love astrology. I'm not as Vaneck. I'm not as educated in it as human design, but astrology is part of human design. So I have my. I have my nerd outs for. For sure.
Bree) (07:20):
Yeah. Okay, so my north node, which is essentially like your life purpose according to astrology, or like the path that you're meant to evolve towards, is in Aquarius. And I didn't know this when I changed the name of my podcast to Rebel CEO, but Aquarius is really known for rebellious energy. Like, I wasn't into astrology when I switched the name and then later on it developed and then also we are in the age of Aquarius or shifting into it.
(07:44):
So I was like, wow, that was so, so fitting of me to change my name without even knowing this because when I first started it was manifesting photographer because I thought I would speak more directly to photographers because that's my background. But then I realized quickly that I, I like loved speaking to just small business owners and female service providers in general. So I wanted to get away from specifically calling in only photographers, which was the reason for the name change. Plus it's just way cooler. So.
Mel) (08:11):
So I love that and I love that. That's just proof I say all the time that you know, we naturally live inside of our human design. We just go too far. And it's stories like that where you just trusted that intuition because that was part of your design. So of course it all made sense. And I love when my clients look back on the more profitable decisions that they made and not only understand that that is part of their process, but it's repeatable inside of themselves. And they do need to trust that those, those parts of themselves because we all work within our design naturally.
(08:47):
We just go too far or get too overwhelmed or over conditioned by all the shoulds.
Bree) (08:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, so you work with a lot of entrepreneurs who come to you feeling totally lost. What are some of the biggest misconceptions that you see when it comes to finding your why in business and how do you help people cut through the noise?
Mel) (09:08):
I think the biggest misconception is that you have to have it down packed before you can even offer your. As a service provider, there's this stress for perfection and having to have everything figured out before you even present that you are doing X, Y, Z. And the thing is, is that no matter how your chart is created inside of human design and there's many layers inside of it, all of them have the same elements to it when it comes to. You have to put it into practice.
(09:40):
Like you know enough. So you need to trust yourself that you know enough about who you want to serve, why you want to serve them, how you can serve them right now and really embrace the avenues that you have already created for yourself. I think it's this pressure that we put on ourselves that oh, I should have a website, I should have A Following on TikTok, I should have a. You know, it's all of these things that we think we need to do in order to create the business. The money and Life we want when really we have everything inside of us, we just have to find it.
(10:11):
So it's honoring those places that you don't want to be in. Especially, like, don't pressure yourself to have to be a part of spaces that you just don't have the capacity or even the connection to want to be a part of. And trust where you want to go and how you want to serve now and put it in to practice. Because when you do that, you always receive more information that you can then utilize to continue to expand and grow inside of that space.
(10:38):
Space.
Bree) (10:39):
Okay, so when you said don't pressure yourself to be a part of spaces that you don't want to, I was like, that totally fits with my human design because my second number or like my second line is a 2, which is the hermit. So.
Mel) (10:53):
Yeah. - (Bree)
I'm a role model hermit. Six two.
Bree) (10:58):
Oh, okay, cool. My husband has role model in his, but I don't remember which. He's. I think he's like a six three or a three six. He's those two. Those two. But because the one of them acts, I think it's the six acts as the three for a period of time. Am I getting that right? Okay, yeah, he's both of those, but I don't remember which order. I think it's 6:3.
Mel) (11:19):
Oh. So depending on his age and he. If he's before 50, then he is on a very experimental space right now as. As AM I being 44. So, yeah, as a six three or three six. That is definitely an. An experimental place to be in.
Bree) (11:36):
Yeah. Yep. He's 36. Yeah. So. But yeah, I feel like it all. It all makes so much sense. Like when I see other people's human designs, they seem to fit it so well. Okay, so there is a lot of pressure lately to monetize your purpose. And like, this is, this is what my business focuses on. Also, I was just talking with a friend this weekend and she said, I hate that everybody is saying that you should monetize your purpose.
(12:06):
And I wanted to know what are your thoughts on that and what do you, like, where's the line between this is a purpose that you don't have to apply to your business and you don't have to monetize and this is a purpose that you can put into your business and monetize because it's going to make your life better.
Mel) (12:25):
That's a great question. I always say not all passions need to come with a paycheck and especially inside of human design, there's a type called manifesting generator who is meant to do multiple things at once. And it's that understanding that we are all multifaceted, we are all multi inspired. And just because we can doesn't mean we should. So how I love to walk my clients through it, especially, I mean, knowing their human design, obviously it's a little bit more customized, but for the listener in general right now, not knowing their types at all.
(13:01):
I always love the question of what do I want? Like, when you look at something that you are passionate about, really get down and dirty with yourself of, is this something I want to talk about every day? Is this a service I want to provide every single day? Is this something that I want to continue to work on, expand, experiment in? Because sometimes, even though it's something that you are extremely passionate about, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be the leader inside of it, if that makes sense.
(13:33):
It can be more of a respice. It could be your rest, it could be something that will inspire you creatively, energetically. And so using almost like a pro and cons list of okay, if, for example, let's just say, you know, somebody who's listening is like, okay, I, I know I'm super passionate about what's going on in the world right now, which is a lot. And, and it's one of those things of, okay, is this something.
(13:59):
First of all, how much capacity do you have for this? Mentally, emotionally, energetically? Like what? And how much do you want to contribute to this? Because everything needs a piece of you, right? What you want to do with your life is only one bucket. You are a human with human relationships with, you know, other things going on around you. So it's truly checking in on yourself and going, okay, I know I'm passionate about X, Y, Z, and do I have the time, energy and capacity to really make this a priority for myself? And if so, what does that priority look like?
(14:34):
And as you're exploring what that could be like in regards to, you know, an income or creating some sort of an offer around it, your system will tell you whether or not you're on the right path. Like, if every single part of you is like, oh, but I don't now, I don't like this anymore, okay, then that's probably a big sign. Like, then that's your passion project. That's something that you can do on the side to contribute to, rest, to, you know, receive all the things that you need to receive that you can put Back into the spaces that you, you know, you want to make money from.
(15:05):
And so it really is being honest with yourself that, no, not all passions deserve a paycheck. Find the ones that you not only want to, quote, unquote, sell, but you want to be paid for and you want to be able to provide that for people and to talk about how you can provide that to people every single day. Because being an entrepreneur comes with a lot of stuff. And we're, we're, we're, we're, you know, we're weirders, weirdos in our own right.
(15:36):
So understanding that this is your journey and you have full say on how you walk it, know that all those passions can be more than just a financial paycheck. It could also be a mental and emotional profitability point as well.
Bree) (15:51):
Ooh, I love that you tied in the mental and emotional profitability. Because I feel like I genuinely love working 99% of the time because I'm just so excited, like, with what I'm doing. So that's not a feeling that I had when I used to go into the office. And, and even though I liked my job or I thought I liked my job at the time, I wasn't like, oh my gosh, I'm so excited to log onto the computer today and to put these numbers into the computer. Like I was in accounting. So I just.
(16:20):
It's not the same. And when you do have something that you can show up to, however many hours a week you work that you genuinely are, like, excited about, it's a really different feeling and a really different energy and you just get to enjoy that much more of your life.
Mel) (16:35):
Absolutely. And with that as well, like, if you do like your job, your job, and you also like to do this side hustle that's completely opposite of your job. Beautiful. Like, I think this definition of entrepreneur has become really interesting in the last especially decade where at the beginning it was like, you're either corporate or you're entrepreneur, like two separate camps. And if you're not a full time entrepreneur, then what are you doing? Kind of mentality.
(17:03):
And nowadays it is one of those things where you can create such a gorgeous side hustle and still be completely happy in your corporate job as well. It is finding those glimmers and customizing what you want to the time, energy and capacity that you have.
Bree) (17:21):
Yeah. And again, just staying in your own lane. I also think that if we are not so if we're called to follow the entrepreneurship path, whether that's full time, whether it's a Side hustle. And we're not monetizing those gifts, but because we have that idea in our head that, like, we can't monetize our purpose because that's bad, or we can't monetize our passions because that's bad, then we're also doing ourselves and the people we could potentially serve a disservice because we were given those gifts in that urge for a reason.
Mel) (17:52):
Exactly. And what. And how you receive that financial reward is up to you as well. Like, it's that interesting. Again, it's that continuous check in of, am I providing this gift because I do want to provide it as a gift, or am I providing this gift because I want to prove that I'm worthy of the money that I may ask for later on? Like, it's those layers that I don't think we take a lot of time to really look at. Like, I understand people who want to test out an offer at a cheaper price or no price, just to see. I did that as well. When I came out of the spiritual closet in 2022, I offered human design readings for free because I even wanted to see if I liked it. Like, I knew I loved it for myself, but I wanted to really see, do I want to do this every single, every single day, but do I want to do this repetitively? And this is how I want to support people.
(18:46):
And after. Well, first of all, the fact that I sold out all of my free spots, sold out all my free spots instantly. And every time I does like, oh, yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, then choosing that product price was natural because I had that proof for myself that, yeah, not only am I good at this, and I love this, people want this and want to pay for it. So it, it is that customization for you of if you have an idea and you're not sure if this is a passion to be a passion or a passion that comes with a paycheck, put it into play, put it into practice, offer a couple of things to really gauge for yourself how this looks and feels for you, and then take that information and build it out from there.
Bree) (19:30):
Yeah, I love that. And I actually am a big fan of when you're getting started doing things for free, which sometimes gets a bad rep, but I feel like you're learning, you need the experience, you need the, the feedback, the testimonials.
Mel) (19:44):
Absolutely.
Bree) (19:45):
And getting out there and just getting comfortable and, like, confident in your ability to serve and deliver on what you're saying you're going to do. And like you said, then you get to find out if you actually like it and want to continue without the pressure of like, oh, I've built this whole business around it. I think that's awesome. And then with what you did, you were creating demand also, and if you sold out, scarcity. So that was really smart.
Mel) (20:07):
Thank you. Yeah, I think, you know, there's. There's so many things that we are taught what not to do that I think are so applicable, like bartering. I love bartering. If I have.
Bree) (20:17):
If you have a.
Mel) (20:18):
If you have something that I would like to partake of and vice versa, and it's of equal value. Beautiful. Like, I think moving away from this pressured, traditional financial transactional space is really starting to deteriorate because we are realizing that, yes, money is beautiful, we love it, we deserve it, we're worthy of it, all the things. And there is more than one way to receive that abundance. And I think being more open to how you can be of service again without overwhelming or overextending yourself, but really making sure you're receiving, receiving that mental and emotional ROI from it and that informational ROI from it, that you aren't doing anything wrong.
(21:04):
Right. I spoke for, I've built an amazing platform speaking for free as a lead generator for two and a half years. Like, from that did come some paid opportunities, but I spoke over 200 times for free in almost three years. And I did that because I knew I had something. One, I wanted to be accessible. And two, I knew I had a service and a support that people needed to hear. And the people that I love to work with are those that, again, those rebels, those misfits, those change makers that are in different positions than a lot of people who are the kind of the quote unquote typical ideal client and the, and the situations that they're in.
(21:47):
And so when you really look at who you want to serve and how you want to be of service support, I think finding ways to be available for free again within your time, energy, you know, mental emotional capacity is always a good idea because you will always get that ROI back and it becomes something to where it starts in a space of play, of experimentation, and away from that pressure of, oh, I just invested X amount of dollars or they just paid me X amount dollars. I really got to make sure that, you know, I PR prove, I prove my worth.
Bree) (22:22):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, so, Mel, you're really good at helping people to find their why and figure out the how behind the why. So can we start with your why? I feel like some people have A really clear why. A lot of the time it comes from some life event or this big in your face thing that happened. But then there are other people who feel like their life hasn't been that eventful, and they're not really sure on their why because they don't feel like they have this massive trauma or massive life change or something that it came from. So how can these people get more clarity on their why?
Mel) (23:00):
I love this question because everybody has a story, and I do think we get caught up in that. It has to be a complete hero's arc journey in order for it to be profitable, when really it is the little things that make such a big difference. And so when I walk my clients through their why, first of all, we take away again, those shoulds. Oh, well, I haven't done this, or I should have done this, or da da, da, da, da, da. Right, let's. Let's drop that at the wayside.
(23:31):
Let's start first with, in human design, what's called your incarnation cross, which is your overarching life purpose, right? Which is your theme of your purpose. And so we look at that first and say, okay, here's the theme of your purpose. When we talk about this theme, what is the story that comes up for you? And don't try to, you know, monetize it, don't try to belittle it. What is that first story? Because that's what's going to connect you with everybody else. It doesn't matter the size of the transformation. It doesn't matter the, you know, the.
(24:04):
The size of the shifts that you have either created for yourself or created for others. It's how do you connect with somebody? I would say you want to have that lean in factor because you're here to, you know, you're here to share. You're not here to promote. And so when it comes to, you know, kind of gruffing at your story, one of my favorites is I was, I was previously a mentor at a place here in Chicago called 1871.
(24:32):
And I volunteered as a mentor. And one of the people who came in, we were working on her pitching deck to an angel investor. And the part that she was getting really caught up on is the impact, quote unquote of her story. And I was like, okay, just tell me why. Why do you want to create this? She goes, well, and it was an app. And she goes, well, I was at a doctor's office realizing that I was running late to work.
(24:57):
And I was trying to compare Lyft with Uber with the you know, the bus system here. And I thought, wouldn't it be cool if you, if you had an app that just showed all of that to me so I could just make a decision right off the bat? I was like, I was already leaning in. Like, I was like, yeah, I've been there. That's emotional, not promotional. And so we have to remind ourselves the power of those little things that you don't have to, if you, you know, you don't have to have lost everything and now make six figures, you don't have to have lost £100 million in order to be inspirational.
(25:29):
It's those little connectivities that's going to separate you from everybody else and connect you to your ideal clients. So your why is always enough, even if it's just, I don't want anybody to ever have to feel frustrated again. That's huge. Beautiful. Let's take that and let's start building. Let's take that seed and let's grow from there. So it's, it's always coming back to trusting what you know to be true.
(25:56):
The ways that you want to be able to provide that service and know that because it is yours, it is unique, it is profitable, and it is worth being invested in, time wise, energy wise and so forth.
Bree) (26:08):
You mentioned your incarnation cross in human design. Do you know yours offhand? I assume you probably do because you know a lot about human design. And if you do, can you share how that applies to your why, if it applies at all?
Mel) (26:22):
Yeah. So I'm the left angle cross of confrontation and I am here to, I honestly, I'm here to shake shit up. I'm here to show leaders that there is more than one way to create what they want. So looking at traditional frameworks, which, you know, again, this is completely in alignment with what I do and showing them how it actually works for them. So helping leaders, entrepreneurs, humans break away from that traditional lemming style success building and showing them how they can truly honor who they are and create what they want.
Bree) (26:58):
Okay, I love that. So I know there are like almost 300 incarnation crosses in human design, so.
Mel) (27:04):
There are a lot. - (Bree)
I have not run into that one. Oh, okay.
Bree) (27:23):
You're gonna have to look it up later and let me know what you think. Yeah. There are so many. I do stuff with human design in my soul. Contracts, too, but it's too many that I do not have them all memorized. You just kind of look it up when it comes into your orbit.
Mel) (27:37):
Exactly. Yeah. There's so many layers in human design. I call it the ultimate onion of personal development. Like, I don't have all the gates memorized. I don't have all the channels memorized. It is one of those things of, like, when it comes forward in a chart. Yes. I've had repetitive areas inside of charts, obviously with. With profiles and types. But when it comes to really honing it into those.
Those smaller details, I definitely am still working on.
Bree) (28:03):
Yeah, I have that with astrology, too. I have things that I do know and things that I have a chart for or that I look up when I come across it, because there's just so much to each of them and so many different layers that it's kind of impossible to be like, oh, I. I know all of it, and I. I don't have to keep deepening my understanding.
Mel) (28:24):
Yeah, I'm the same way. The way that I utilize my readings is it's typically for people who have never had a human design reading before or they've had it. It's been a while. And so my areas that I love to nerd out on are kind of those, I like to say, like, the top five. So you've got your type, your strategy, your profile, your centers, your incarnation cross, and your authority. The centers which are in alignment with your chakras in your system are, like, where I really love to nerd out.
(28:50):
But that's what I love about the different practitioners inside of human design or any sort of modality like this is that you find the spot that you just, like, are like. You just want to eat it all up. And the other areas I do progressively educate myself on as they come forward by working with clients, by having different readings, so on and so forth. So I love that, you know, first of all, the transparency of. Yeah, no, I don't know everything. Anything. I don't. I'm like, you know what?
(29:17):
Give me a hot second. I'll either go look it up or I'll ask one of my colleagues, many colleagues who's in Human design, to, you know, walk me through it as well. And it is one of those really beautiful things of, like, I know there's a ton of human design practitioners out there. I love and appreciate them all, and it's just finding the one that you feel connected to in that time and space. Because there is no wrong way to have a reading. There's no wrong person to pick.
(29:42):
And I love that each time somebody does. I've had one person who's actually had seven different readings. And even having a reading with me, he pulled. He was able to see things in a different light by the way I worded it, as well as I think because of the way he's layered the information, he was ready to hear different aspects of it each time he had a reading.
Bree) (30:06):
Okay, yeah. I feel like we're. We're going back to, like, intuition. So, like, trust your intuition on who you want to get the reading from, but because not everybody's going to deliver in the way that that will be the most helpful to you in the current moment. So really go with wherever your gut says, because there are so many different ways to receive the information. And with such a complex, large system, so much information that could potentially be given too.
(30:31):
So we talked about the why a little bit. Now let's get to the how. So how you use human design also in figuring out the how, can you break down how somebody can use their own human design to figure out the how of them applying their, their why or their purpose in their business or their life?
Mel) (30:52):
Yeah, absolutely. This is where it starts turning into, like the operations manual for you and your business. So when you start from your why again, that purpose, that drive that, that true north star for yourself, human design then shows you how to do that by maintaining your mental, emotional, and financial profitability. And I always love to start kind of from. I say that top down. So the top was the incarnation cross. We started with that first. And then how you bring that to life is further defined inside of your chart.
(31:26):
So I always love looking at first their types. There's five energetic types in human design. And that automatically shows us how much energy you have, where it comes from, and how you can ensure that you are utilizing it in its most prominent, profitable light. For, for me, for example, I'm what's called a projector, which means I have very small amounts of energy and it's not naturally created. I get it from other people.
(31:51):
Therefore, it's easy for me to burn out if I'm around very energetic people all the time and don't have time to dispel that. I completely felt that and experienced that before I found human design. And it was even inside of that information of, oh, I'm pushing Myself way too far. So understanding that I have small amounts of energy that comes in spurts, that helps me automatically redesign how I do my daily routine, how many meetings I take, how I did my automation. So I would only take a certain amount of meetings each day and have a break in between.
(32:27):
So it automatically started helping me re redesign what I thought was a profitable daily routine. Even for those who have copious amounts of energies. Those are the generators, manifesting generators. It is that question of just because you can doesn't mean you should. So it's looking at how do you still have those quote unquote rest periods? Because everybody has an element of weight inside of their charts.
(32:55):
So honoring that pausing points and having that be even as profitable as those productive points and understanding that ebb and flow of your energy, because that will just give you a little bit more confirmation and validation of those cycles and understanding what those cycles are actually bringing forward to you. And as you move even further down, it's again those avenues in those spaces that you want to be in.
(33:22):
If you're not feeling called to be part of social media, there might be a line four, which is called an opportunist inside of your chart, which means social media doesn't need to be your ultimate platform. It's meeting people, it's networking, it's, you know, talking to three dimensional people and making those connections because that's where you're going to receive your most profitable opportunities.
So it's really showing you your ebb and flow. And when you take that information and turn it into those more strategic or tactical decisions, it just gives you those boundaries and that manual to show you, okay, I know abc. So I'm going to shift X, Y, Z and implement efg. And it just starts to show you how you can customize your entire day. Your offers, how you know, your, your, your marketing, all of those things to have it be truly in alignment. So every day you are just fluid inside of your design and you're bringing in the clients, the money, the opportunities that are automatically flowing along with it.
Bree) (34:25):
So can you think of any specific marker in human design or like placement that is like, okay, this person is meant to magnetize or attract this way.
Mel) (34:38):
Oh, that's a great question. You know, that's the, that's the interesting and beautiful thing about human design is it's really hard to segment it and create feedback just solely based on that. And I'm saying that hesitantly because it's interesting seeing how human design has become what I like to call Instagramable where more and more people are just taking one piece and making massive shifts and massive decisions based off of just one element in their chart without connecting to, or understanding the undertow behind it for themselves.
(35:19):
So it's a. It's. It's a. It's a conglomeration of a lot of different things, because everybody's meant. We're all meant to be successful. We're all designed to be successful. And how we create that success for ourselves is. Is unique because it's inside of our design. So I. I'm not. I'm going to say, honestly, I don't think there is a space specific area in your chart that just go, oh, this is. This is it. It is that layering of all of that information that shows you your unique profitability and that gorgeous science of differentiation that you have that. That will create that success that you want.
Bree) (36:04):
Okay, awesome. Yeah, that's such a good answer, and that's so valid. I feel like with anything in this, it's not a personality test, but in the, like, the realm of personality tests, in the realm of astrology, numerology, human design, there are so many different layers within each system, but also to layer them together, and I just covered gene keys, and I'm like, okay.
Mel) (36:29):
Oh, yeah.
Bree) (36:30):
A mind blown. I kept hearing about them for the last month, and I'm like, I've never heard of them before, but I've heard of them like, four. Four times, so I should probably just look into it now. And I was like, wait, this is super cool. And I think that it is. What is it based off of? Is it the I Ching? I Ching. And that's also in human design.
Mel) (36:47):
Human design, Yep. Yeah.
Bree) (36:49):
Okay, so you mentioned energy levels. With you being a projector in human design, do you think that hustle culture has now just redisguised itself in the social media era as alignment, but with a prettier flavor form? And we're actually still just, like, hustling as much as we always were, but we're just making it look more aesthetic. Or do you think that we're actually finding alignment?
Mel) (37:11):
I freaking love this question. Because it's. It's yes to both. And I think that's why it's gotten tricky. I was having this conversation actually, the other day about, you know, people in the wellness space or in the spiritual space and how there's. I don't want to say that there's two camps, but there's. There's a. There's been a very interesting differentiation between what I kind of like to call like the Bali babes of spirituality. Like, we've kind of see like these very perfect ecstatic, like just manifest kind of stuff, which is beautiful and, you know, it's kind of surface level and the practitioners who have been inside of this space in a very traditional and active and structural way for a really long time.
(38:03):
And I think we are coming into an interesting shift because as we are seeing that a lot of the traditional frameworks aren't working anymore, that was ushered in in 2020 and will continue to progress as we move into what we call in human design, the solar plexus mutation of 2027. There's, it's. It's called something else, I believe, in astrology. As we shift from that quote unquote masculine energy into that quote unquote feminine energy.
(38:29):
It's an invitation. And this is why I love my. My incarnation cross for what it is and where we are right now. It's that invitation to understand what does that quote unquote re. Rebrand mean to you? Because it is easy to get caught up in this whimsical. Yeah, this whimsical space of, you know, you just have to be in the right mindset and you just have to manifest it and, you know, make your mood board, which again, I'm not dogging on those. Those are visual things. Those are all beautiful, beautiful tools.
(39:00):
It's the lack of specificity and the lack of the how behind it that gets to me a little, because there's always a how. And so I think, yes, we. There's some people who are rebranding the hustle into more of a quote unquote, woo woo spiritualistic space, but it's just the same horse of a different color. Whereas there's those of us who feel it on such a cellular level that this is all BS and we want to truly understand our purpose inside of it and who we are inside of it. And we go back to that internal work and doing it from a space of practice, doing it from a space of I want to know, I want to see, I want to implement and truly understand what this journey means to them and how they can maintain and create that sustainability as they ebb and flow through it. So I think it's definitely a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B.
(40:06):
And it's a call for each and every one of us to do our due diligence to not only research ourselves, but research those that we are spending time, energy, possibly money on and really understanding what support truly works. Best for you and how you can implement that support.
Bree) (40:24):
And it almost just goes back to in simple terms, are you making a matcha in journaling every morning so that you can post it on Instagram and say that you've made a matcha and journaled every morning? Or are you making a matcha and journaling every morning even if you're posting it on Instagram for your soul growth? So yeah, that's kind of what came up when, when you were saying that. And then I'm not just gonna let you get away with talking about the solar plexus mutation of 2027, but not talking about it. So I'm all ears. What, what's going on?
Mel) (41:00):
Yeah. So the short, the long Gemini short version of it is. So we have been in the last 400 years. So in human design, I mentioned there's five energetic types. The main energetic type right now is what's called a generator. They're 70% of the population and they are the structure. They are. Some people like to call them the worker bees. They are the people that can basically get shit done, right. And we needed that. We needed that energy, we needed that tenacity, we needed that structure to survive as a humanity. That's what created the Industrial Revolution. That's what's created a lot of the systems that have supported us over the last 400 years.
(41:44):
I think we can all fairly safe to say we have now gone too far. And in 2027 we are shifting away from those more quote unquote masculine and industrial and traditional practices to more of a quote unquote feminine style, which we are moving more into collaboration, communication, really honoring that individual inside of the collective instead of just mass producing the collective as a whole. So with that said, less generators are going to be born and more projectors myself are going to be born because we are the guides.
(42:20):
We are the ones that hold space for that collaboration and share. Show how you can be profitable and fluid and be your individual self inside of those spaces. And again, I think a lot of us have already started to see that start to break away. Covid, you know, ushered a lot of that with showing a lot of the traditional corporate environments and even entrepreneurial environments aren't necessarily needed to be connective or to be profitable.
(42:53):
And as we've continued to move through now, this very interesting government environment that we are in, it's really showing us the power that we have as an individual, as well as calling ourselves back to what is important to us and how do we want to be a part of it. So it's less of that routine traditional thinking of, okay, high school, college, corporate career, blah, blah, blah, to. I know I want to be a part of this community. I know this is important to me.
(43:27):
So who can I talk to? How can I collaborate? How can I be a partner inside of this practice? And it's really going to usher in a healing for us. Honestly, coming back to those really, those actual foundational spaces of, as I mentioned before, collaboration of true community and collective and having it be from a holistic standpoint. W H O L E, as opposed to, here's your title, here's your routine.
(44:02):
Be part of the cog. Ta da.
Bree) (44:05):
Yeah. So I think what you're talking about, you said in astrology, it has a different name, I think, and I could be wrong. So if somebody knows that I'm absolutely wrong, send me a DM on Instagram and let me know. I believe you're talking about the Age of Aquarius, which is funny because we actually already touched on it in this episode. Does that ring a bell at all?
Mel) (44:25):
That might be it. I know. Again, I think it has. I think it's. Again, with all the different modalities, this is represented. 2027 is represented, I think, in almost all of them. And they all have a different. Like, there's Rise of the Sleeping Phoenix. There's just. There's a lot of terminology around it. And I think that is just such scientific proof that this is where we're headed. Like, it's not just, you know, one crazy person with a bell and a sandwich board being like, it's the end of the world in 2027.
(44:53):
It's all of the modalities be like, no, we are in this natural shift. The Earth naturally, you know, evolves in this way. So with this next rotation, it's going to usher in all of these different energies, different frequencies, which is science. And therefore is going to shift how we react, what we're inspired by, and what we are surrounded by.
Bree) (45:16):
Ooh, that is so cool. So then we're really meant to move away from that masculine forcing and more into our feminine flow.
Mel) (45:27):
Exactly. Yeah. That. More intuitional, which you've mentioned several times, which I love. And again, coming back to that sense of self and self purpose first, and then knowing how to ask and what kind of support to ask for.
Bree) (45:44):
Okay, I love that. That is so valuable to know. So thank you for sharing. If anybody's listening and they want to just dive a little bit deeper into your world, follow along, see what you're doing. Maybe book a reading with you? Where can they find you?
Mel) (45:58):
Absolutely. So feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn Mel McSherry or you can follow me on Instagram at Mel underscore McSherry. If you would like to learn more about my 90 minute one on one readings, please feel free to check out my website melmicksherry.com or if you're like okay, this was a lot of information. I have a lot of questions. I just need space to like word vomit and process. I love offering complimentary 30 minute virtual coffees.
(46:22):
No pressure, just space held and you can schedule one of those at virtual coffee with mel.com awesome.
Bree) (46:29):
Thank you so much. I will make sure to link everything in the show notes for listeners also.
And yeah, just thank you for being.
Here and for sharing. You are amazing.
Mel) (46:38):
Thank you. I was so loving it. And again I love this space. So thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of it.
Bree) (46:43):
Thanks for tuning in to Rebel CEO. If today's episode lit a fire under you, I would love if you would hit subscribe, leave a rating and drop a review. That little action helps more purpose driven women like you find this. Check and make sure that you're not keeping all of this magic to yourself. Share this episode with a friend who's ready to ditch the rules and build a life that actually feels good. If you're looking for a little one on one connection, slide into my DMs on Instagram @rebel CEO podcast and I would love to hear what you're thinking and what you're building so that I can cheer you on every step of the way.
(47:15):
And one more thing, if you're ready for even more support, join my free Facebook community. It is packed with like minded women who are rebelling, setting wild goals, dreaming big and making moves. The link's waiting for you in the show notes and I will see you inside. Until next time, keep breaking the rules, chasing your purpose and creating the life that you were meant for. I'll see you in the next episode.
Welcome to Rebel CEO, the podcast where we ditch the rules and build businesses that don't just make money, but set your soul on fire. I'm Breeanna Kay, your business coach, freedom advocate, and personal permission slip to dream bigger. I scaled my own business to six figures while breaking every mold that people told me to fit into. And now I'm here to help you do the same. I'll help you build a business and a life that's so deeply rooted in your purpose that you never feel like you missed out on the life that you were supposed to live.
(00:27):
This is your time to root down, rise up, Rebel, and manifest all of your wild goals. So grab your coffee, get cozy, and let's dive in.
Okay, Rebels, let's be real for a sec.
You have the vision board, the dream, and the five year plan, but you don't actually know why you're doing this or how you're meant to bring it to life. It's easy to end up overwhelmed, overworked, and way off track. Today's episode is for the entrepreneurs who feel like they're doing all the things, but something is still not clicking. If you ever questioned your direction, doubted your process, or wondered if you're building a business that's actually aligned with your soul, then you'll want to stick around and listen to this episode because I am sitting down with Mel McSherry, an international business and life guide who helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs become the architects of their own success.
(01:17):
Mel combines human design with real world strategy.
Mel) (01:20):
So.
Bree) (01:21):
So let's dive into what it really means to find your why, discover your aligned, how? And stop trying to build a business in a way that's not even yours.
So, Mel, thank you so much for joining. I'm really excited to hear, first of all, who you are as a soul beyond the human body.
Mel) (01:37):
Oh, I love that question. And thank you so much for having me, Bri. So my soul is honestly on fire right now. I really have this drive and this purpose that I have been designed to have to show people the profitability of themselves. And I think shining that from my soul as opposed to my presentation has been a journey of itself for me. Cause I think a lot of times as entrepreneurs, especially for those of us who were, you know, assigned female at birth or identify as female, we have such a struggle to really honor who we are on a soul level, how we are designed to create what we want and then use that as our platform. We tend to, and I subscribe to this as well, tend to just find the answer right. Seek out the expert Oh, I need to look like this part. I need to talk like this person. I need to be. Da da da da da.
(02:39):
And we forget that on a soul level, we have so such unique power, creativity, capacity that for me, showing that in a space of honoring who you are and how you are created to, to build the business, to receive the money and to do all the things that you want to do is inside of you. You just have to find it. So who I am as a soul is a guide who loves showing others how they can honor their lives and be the architects of their true success as they become and remain profitable mentally, emotionally, and financially.
Bree) (03:16):
That was such a beautiful answer. You like, you killed that and you came prepared for that. So that is amazing. I feel like usually that one people are like, that's so hard to answer. But it seems like you've definitely done the soul searching on your end.
Mel) (03:30):
Thank you. And I appreciate that compliment because it has been a lot of soul searching. And I would say in complete transparency, that question four years ago would have completely tripped. That, tripped me up, because I would have gone straight to the titles, right? Straight to the accolade, straight to the proof of who I am and I are. I love that you start from that soul level to begin with because that's, that's what we need to do in this day and age to really receive what we are meant to receive. A lot of this traditional vernacular and, you know, conditioning is falling away. We've. We've been seeing it for a while now, and I think a lot of us now are ready to stop seeking the answers externally and really trust what we know internally.
Bree) (04:17):
Oh, my gosh, yes. You just spoke to my heart. I've been on this big mission of trusting my own intuition. So lately I've just been like, in my own lane, focused on what I think instead of seeking for all the answers outside of myself. And I feel like it's been so life changing.
Mel) (04:33):
I love that. And it's a process, right? Because it's so innate to be like, well, let me just ask this one person what they would do. Which feedback is beautiful and support, like, that is gorgeous. But what happens most of the time is we get so enveloped by that noise and we make it to where it becomes our true north direction as opposed to coming back to, okay, what do I know to be true? And I know for sure for me, when human design found me in 2020, that was.
(05:02):
That was the catalyst to all of this, because I had been circularly, like, searching for it, kind of like you know, circling the drain about how. How can I really understand who I am from a foundational level? And that was definitely given to me when human designs came into my life, because for me to have the validation and confirmation of what I already knew to be true, but have it in print and have somebody else go, here, here you are.
(05:30):
That deep breath and that shoulder dropping of just that, like, oh, that's what can inspire you. And that's what has inspired me to do this soul work. Because it's hard. I mean, there's no sugar coating it. It's hard, it's transformational, it's uncomfortable. And to have a support, you know, not only from a human being, but from a resource like human design has just been a complete game changer for me.
Bree) (05:59):
Yeah, for sure. And human design is really good at showing people the way that they work individually, even if it's not the same as the person next door works. So it's really great at honoring the differences between people and making them not be shamed for being different, but make them own the way that they're meant to operate.
Mel) (06:17):
Absolutely. Like, I love that you call your podcast Rebel CEO, because I always say I love working with the rebels, the change makers and the misfits, because that's who we all are. And yet we don't honor that part of us because we feel like we have to be that copy and paste style person. We have to be like the person next door in order to create what we want. But when you really start honoring your unique misfitness and your just, you know, unique profitability, you see not only where you quote, unquote, fit inside of all of this, but you also also see how others around you, to your point, can take up where you left off and truly support each other in a really collaborative style and a collective style, as opposed to this kind of like, chain link fence, you know, go up the ladder kind of, kind of process.
Bree) (07:05):
Yeah. So you're into human design. Are you into astrology at all?
Mel) (07:10):
I love astrology. I'm not as Vaneck. I'm not as educated in it as human design, but astrology is part of human design. So I have my. I have my nerd outs for. For sure.
Bree) (07:20):
Yeah. Okay, so my north node, which is essentially like your life purpose according to astrology, or like the path that you're meant to evolve towards, is in Aquarius. And I didn't know this when I changed the name of my podcast to Rebel CEO, but Aquarius is really known for rebellious energy. Like, I wasn't into astrology when I switched the name and then later on it developed and then also we are in the age of Aquarius or shifting into it.
(07:44):
So I was like, wow, that was so, so fitting of me to change my name without even knowing this because when I first started it was manifesting photographer because I thought I would speak more directly to photographers because that's my background. But then I realized quickly that I, I like loved speaking to just small business owners and female service providers in general. So I wanted to get away from specifically calling in only photographers, which was the reason for the name change. Plus it's just way cooler. So.
Mel) (08:11):
So I love that and I love that. That's just proof I say all the time that you know, we naturally live inside of our human design. We just go too far. And it's stories like that where you just trusted that intuition because that was part of your design. So of course it all made sense. And I love when my clients look back on the more profitable decisions that they made and not only understand that that is part of their process, but it's repeatable inside of themselves. And they do need to trust that those, those parts of themselves because we all work within our design naturally.
(08:47):
We just go too far or get too overwhelmed or over conditioned by all the shoulds.
Bree) (08:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, so you work with a lot of entrepreneurs who come to you feeling totally lost. What are some of the biggest misconceptions that you see when it comes to finding your why in business and how do you help people cut through the noise?
Mel) (09:08):
I think the biggest misconception is that you have to have it down packed before you can even offer your. As a service provider, there's this stress for perfection and having to have everything figured out before you even present that you are doing X, Y, Z. And the thing is, is that no matter how your chart is created inside of human design and there's many layers inside of it, all of them have the same elements to it when it comes to. You have to put it into practice.
(09:40):
Like you know enough. So you need to trust yourself that you know enough about who you want to serve, why you want to serve them, how you can serve them right now and really embrace the avenues that you have already created for yourself. I think it's this pressure that we put on ourselves that oh, I should have a website, I should have A Following on TikTok, I should have a. You know, it's all of these things that we think we need to do in order to create the business. The money and Life we want when really we have everything inside of us, we just have to find it.
(10:11):
So it's honoring those places that you don't want to be in. Especially, like, don't pressure yourself to have to be a part of spaces that you just don't have the capacity or even the connection to want to be a part of. And trust where you want to go and how you want to serve now and put it in to practice. Because when you do that, you always receive more information that you can then utilize to continue to expand and grow inside of that space.
(10:38):
Space.
Bree) (10:39):
Okay, so when you said don't pressure yourself to be a part of spaces that you don't want to, I was like, that totally fits with my human design because my second number or like my second line is a 2, which is the hermit. So.
Mel) (10:53):
Yeah. - (Bree)
I'm a role model hermit. Six two.
Bree) (10:58):
Oh, okay, cool. My husband has role model in his, but I don't remember which. He's. I think he's like a six three or a three six. He's those two. Those two. But because the one of them acts, I think it's the six acts as the three for a period of time. Am I getting that right? Okay, yeah, he's both of those, but I don't remember which order. I think it's 6:3.
Mel) (11:19):
Oh. So depending on his age and he. If he's before 50, then he is on a very experimental space right now as. As AM I being 44. So, yeah, as a six three or three six. That is definitely an. An experimental place to be in.
Bree) (11:36):
Yeah. Yep. He's 36. Yeah. So. But yeah, I feel like it all. It all makes so much sense. Like when I see other people's human designs, they seem to fit it so well. Okay, so there is a lot of pressure lately to monetize your purpose. And like, this is, this is what my business focuses on. Also, I was just talking with a friend this weekend and she said, I hate that everybody is saying that you should monetize your purpose.
(12:06):
And I wanted to know what are your thoughts on that and what do you, like, where's the line between this is a purpose that you don't have to apply to your business and you don't have to monetize and this is a purpose that you can put into your business and monetize because it's going to make your life better.
Mel) (12:25):
That's a great question. I always say not all passions need to come with a paycheck and especially inside of human design, there's a type called manifesting generator who is meant to do multiple things at once. And it's that understanding that we are all multifaceted, we are all multi inspired. And just because we can doesn't mean we should. So how I love to walk my clients through it, especially, I mean, knowing their human design, obviously it's a little bit more customized, but for the listener in general right now, not knowing their types at all.
(13:01):
I always love the question of what do I want? Like, when you look at something that you are passionate about, really get down and dirty with yourself of, is this something I want to talk about every day? Is this a service I want to provide every single day? Is this something that I want to continue to work on, expand, experiment in? Because sometimes, even though it's something that you are extremely passionate about, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be the leader inside of it, if that makes sense.
(13:33):
It can be more of a respice. It could be your rest, it could be something that will inspire you creatively, energetically. And so using almost like a pro and cons list of okay, if, for example, let's just say, you know, somebody who's listening is like, okay, I, I know I'm super passionate about what's going on in the world right now, which is a lot. And, and it's one of those things of, okay, is this something.
(13:59):
First of all, how much capacity do you have for this? Mentally, emotionally, energetically? Like what? And how much do you want to contribute to this? Because everything needs a piece of you, right? What you want to do with your life is only one bucket. You are a human with human relationships with, you know, other things going on around you. So it's truly checking in on yourself and going, okay, I know I'm passionate about X, Y, Z, and do I have the time, energy and capacity to really make this a priority for myself? And if so, what does that priority look like?
(14:34):
And as you're exploring what that could be like in regards to, you know, an income or creating some sort of an offer around it, your system will tell you whether or not you're on the right path. Like, if every single part of you is like, oh, but I don't now, I don't like this anymore, okay, then that's probably a big sign. Like, then that's your passion project. That's something that you can do on the side to contribute to, rest, to, you know, receive all the things that you need to receive that you can put Back into the spaces that you, you know, you want to make money from.
(15:05):
And so it really is being honest with yourself that, no, not all passions deserve a paycheck. Find the ones that you not only want to, quote, unquote, sell, but you want to be paid for and you want to be able to provide that for people and to talk about how you can provide that to people every single day. Because being an entrepreneur comes with a lot of stuff. And we're, we're, we're, we're, you know, we're weirders, weirdos in our own right.
(15:36):
So understanding that this is your journey and you have full say on how you walk it, know that all those passions can be more than just a financial paycheck. It could also be a mental and emotional profitability point as well.
Bree) (15:51):
Ooh, I love that you tied in the mental and emotional profitability. Because I feel like I genuinely love working 99% of the time because I'm just so excited, like, with what I'm doing. So that's not a feeling that I had when I used to go into the office. And, and even though I liked my job or I thought I liked my job at the time, I wasn't like, oh my gosh, I'm so excited to log onto the computer today and to put these numbers into the computer. Like I was in accounting. So I just.
(16:20):
It's not the same. And when you do have something that you can show up to, however many hours a week you work that you genuinely are, like, excited about, it's a really different feeling and a really different energy and you just get to enjoy that much more of your life.
Mel) (16:35):
Absolutely. And with that as well, like, if you do like your job, your job, and you also like to do this side hustle that's completely opposite of your job. Beautiful. Like, I think this definition of entrepreneur has become really interesting in the last especially decade where at the beginning it was like, you're either corporate or you're entrepreneur, like two separate camps. And if you're not a full time entrepreneur, then what are you doing? Kind of mentality.
(17:03):
And nowadays it is one of those things where you can create such a gorgeous side hustle and still be completely happy in your corporate job as well. It is finding those glimmers and customizing what you want to the time, energy and capacity that you have.
Bree) (17:21):
Yeah. And again, just staying in your own lane. I also think that if we are not so if we're called to follow the entrepreneurship path, whether that's full time, whether it's a Side hustle. And we're not monetizing those gifts, but because we have that idea in our head that, like, we can't monetize our purpose because that's bad, or we can't monetize our passions because that's bad, then we're also doing ourselves and the people we could potentially serve a disservice because we were given those gifts in that urge for a reason.
Mel) (17:52):
Exactly. And what. And how you receive that financial reward is up to you as well. Like, it's that interesting. Again, it's that continuous check in of, am I providing this gift because I do want to provide it as a gift, or am I providing this gift because I want to prove that I'm worthy of the money that I may ask for later on? Like, it's those layers that I don't think we take a lot of time to really look at. Like, I understand people who want to test out an offer at a cheaper price or no price, just to see. I did that as well. When I came out of the spiritual closet in 2022, I offered human design readings for free because I even wanted to see if I liked it. Like, I knew I loved it for myself, but I wanted to really see, do I want to do this every single, every single day, but do I want to do this repetitively? And this is how I want to support people.
(18:46):
And after. Well, first of all, the fact that I sold out all of my free spots, sold out all my free spots instantly. And every time I does like, oh, yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, then choosing that product price was natural because I had that proof for myself that, yeah, not only am I good at this, and I love this, people want this and want to pay for it. So it, it is that customization for you of if you have an idea and you're not sure if this is a passion to be a passion or a passion that comes with a paycheck, put it into play, put it into practice, offer a couple of things to really gauge for yourself how this looks and feels for you, and then take that information and build it out from there.
Bree) (19:30):
Yeah, I love that. And I actually am a big fan of when you're getting started doing things for free, which sometimes gets a bad rep, but I feel like you're learning, you need the experience, you need the, the feedback, the testimonials.
Mel) (19:44):
Absolutely.
Bree) (19:45):
And getting out there and just getting comfortable and, like, confident in your ability to serve and deliver on what you're saying you're going to do. And like you said, then you get to find out if you actually like it and want to continue without the pressure of like, oh, I've built this whole business around it. I think that's awesome. And then with what you did, you were creating demand also, and if you sold out, scarcity. So that was really smart.
Mel) (20:07):
Thank you. Yeah, I think, you know, there's. There's so many things that we are taught what not to do that I think are so applicable, like bartering. I love bartering. If I have.
Bree) (20:17):
If you have a.
Mel) (20:18):
If you have something that I would like to partake of and vice versa, and it's of equal value. Beautiful. Like, I think moving away from this pressured, traditional financial transactional space is really starting to deteriorate because we are realizing that, yes, money is beautiful, we love it, we deserve it, we're worthy of it, all the things. And there is more than one way to receive that abundance. And I think being more open to how you can be of service again without overwhelming or overextending yourself, but really making sure you're receiving, receiving that mental and emotional ROI from it and that informational ROI from it, that you aren't doing anything wrong.
(21:04):
Right. I spoke for, I've built an amazing platform speaking for free as a lead generator for two and a half years. Like, from that did come some paid opportunities, but I spoke over 200 times for free in almost three years. And I did that because I knew I had something. One, I wanted to be accessible. And two, I knew I had a service and a support that people needed to hear. And the people that I love to work with are those that, again, those rebels, those misfits, those change makers that are in different positions than a lot of people who are the kind of the quote unquote typical ideal client and the, and the situations that they're in.
(21:47):
And so when you really look at who you want to serve and how you want to be of service support, I think finding ways to be available for free again within your time, energy, you know, mental emotional capacity is always a good idea because you will always get that ROI back and it becomes something to where it starts in a space of play, of experimentation, and away from that pressure of, oh, I just invested X amount of dollars or they just paid me X amount dollars. I really got to make sure that, you know, I PR prove, I prove my worth.
Bree) (22:22):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, so, Mel, you're really good at helping people to find their why and figure out the how behind the why. So can we start with your why? I feel like some people have A really clear why. A lot of the time it comes from some life event or this big in your face thing that happened. But then there are other people who feel like their life hasn't been that eventful, and they're not really sure on their why because they don't feel like they have this massive trauma or massive life change or something that it came from. So how can these people get more clarity on their why?
Mel) (23:00):
I love this question because everybody has a story, and I do think we get caught up in that. It has to be a complete hero's arc journey in order for it to be profitable, when really it is the little things that make such a big difference. And so when I walk my clients through their why, first of all, we take away again, those shoulds. Oh, well, I haven't done this, or I should have done this, or da da, da, da, da, da. Right, let's. Let's drop that at the wayside.
(23:31):
Let's start first with, in human design, what's called your incarnation cross, which is your overarching life purpose, right? Which is your theme of your purpose. And so we look at that first and say, okay, here's the theme of your purpose. When we talk about this theme, what is the story that comes up for you? And don't try to, you know, monetize it, don't try to belittle it. What is that first story? Because that's what's going to connect you with everybody else. It doesn't matter the size of the transformation. It doesn't matter the, you know, the.
(24:04):
The size of the shifts that you have either created for yourself or created for others. It's how do you connect with somebody? I would say you want to have that lean in factor because you're here to, you know, you're here to share. You're not here to promote. And so when it comes to, you know, kind of gruffing at your story, one of my favorites is I was, I was previously a mentor at a place here in Chicago called 1871.
(24:32):
And I volunteered as a mentor. And one of the people who came in, we were working on her pitching deck to an angel investor. And the part that she was getting really caught up on is the impact, quote unquote of her story. And I was like, okay, just tell me why. Why do you want to create this? She goes, well, and it was an app. And she goes, well, I was at a doctor's office realizing that I was running late to work.
(24:57):
And I was trying to compare Lyft with Uber with the you know, the bus system here. And I thought, wouldn't it be cool if you, if you had an app that just showed all of that to me so I could just make a decision right off the bat? I was like, I was already leaning in. Like, I was like, yeah, I've been there. That's emotional, not promotional. And so we have to remind ourselves the power of those little things that you don't have to, if you, you know, you don't have to have lost everything and now make six figures, you don't have to have lost £100 million in order to be inspirational.
(25:29):
It's those little connectivities that's going to separate you from everybody else and connect you to your ideal clients. So your why is always enough, even if it's just, I don't want anybody to ever have to feel frustrated again. That's huge. Beautiful. Let's take that and let's start building. Let's take that seed and let's grow from there. So it's, it's always coming back to trusting what you know to be true.
(25:56):
The ways that you want to be able to provide that service and know that because it is yours, it is unique, it is profitable, and it is worth being invested in, time wise, energy wise and so forth.
Bree) (26:08):
You mentioned your incarnation cross in human design. Do you know yours offhand? I assume you probably do because you know a lot about human design. And if you do, can you share how that applies to your why, if it applies at all?
Mel) (26:22):
Yeah. So I'm the left angle cross of confrontation and I am here to, I honestly, I'm here to shake shit up. I'm here to show leaders that there is more than one way to create what they want. So looking at traditional frameworks, which, you know, again, this is completely in alignment with what I do and showing them how it actually works for them. So helping leaders, entrepreneurs, humans break away from that traditional lemming style success building and showing them how they can truly honor who they are and create what they want.
Bree) (26:58):
Okay, I love that. So I know there are like almost 300 incarnation crosses in human design, so.
Mel) (27:04):
There are a lot. - (Bree)
I have not run into that one. Oh, okay.
Bree) (27:23):
You're gonna have to look it up later and let me know what you think. Yeah. There are so many. I do stuff with human design in my soul. Contracts, too, but it's too many that I do not have them all memorized. You just kind of look it up when it comes into your orbit.
Mel) (27:37):
Exactly. Yeah. There's so many layers in human design. I call it the ultimate onion of personal development. Like, I don't have all the gates memorized. I don't have all the channels memorized. It is one of those things of, like, when it comes forward in a chart. Yes. I've had repetitive areas inside of charts, obviously with. With profiles and types. But when it comes to really honing it into those.
Those smaller details, I definitely am still working on.
Bree) (28:03):
Yeah, I have that with astrology, too. I have things that I do know and things that I have a chart for or that I look up when I come across it, because there's just so much to each of them and so many different layers that it's kind of impossible to be like, oh, I. I know all of it, and I. I don't have to keep deepening my understanding.
Mel) (28:24):
Yeah, I'm the same way. The way that I utilize my readings is it's typically for people who have never had a human design reading before or they've had it. It's been a while. And so my areas that I love to nerd out on are kind of those, I like to say, like, the top five. So you've got your type, your strategy, your profile, your centers, your incarnation cross, and your authority. The centers which are in alignment with your chakras in your system are, like, where I really love to nerd out.
(28:50):
But that's what I love about the different practitioners inside of human design or any sort of modality like this is that you find the spot that you just, like, are like. You just want to eat it all up. And the other areas I do progressively educate myself on as they come forward by working with clients, by having different readings, so on and so forth. So I love that, you know, first of all, the transparency of. Yeah, no, I don't know everything. Anything. I don't. I'm like, you know what?
(29:17):
Give me a hot second. I'll either go look it up or I'll ask one of my colleagues, many colleagues who's in Human design, to, you know, walk me through it as well. And it is one of those really beautiful things of, like, I know there's a ton of human design practitioners out there. I love and appreciate them all, and it's just finding the one that you feel connected to in that time and space. Because there is no wrong way to have a reading. There's no wrong person to pick.
(29:42):
And I love that each time somebody does. I've had one person who's actually had seven different readings. And even having a reading with me, he pulled. He was able to see things in a different light by the way I worded it, as well as I think because of the way he's layered the information, he was ready to hear different aspects of it each time he had a reading.
Bree) (30:06):
Okay, yeah. I feel like we're. We're going back to, like, intuition. So, like, trust your intuition on who you want to get the reading from, but because not everybody's going to deliver in the way that that will be the most helpful to you in the current moment. So really go with wherever your gut says, because there are so many different ways to receive the information. And with such a complex, large system, so much information that could potentially be given too.
(30:31):
So we talked about the why a little bit. Now let's get to the how. So how you use human design also in figuring out the how, can you break down how somebody can use their own human design to figure out the how of them applying their, their why or their purpose in their business or their life?
Mel) (30:52):
Yeah, absolutely. This is where it starts turning into, like the operations manual for you and your business. So when you start from your why again, that purpose, that drive that, that true north star for yourself, human design then shows you how to do that by maintaining your mental, emotional, and financial profitability. And I always love to start kind of from. I say that top down. So the top was the incarnation cross. We started with that first. And then how you bring that to life is further defined inside of your chart.
(31:26):
So I always love looking at first their types. There's five energetic types in human design. And that automatically shows us how much energy you have, where it comes from, and how you can ensure that you are utilizing it in its most prominent, profitable light. For, for me, for example, I'm what's called a projector, which means I have very small amounts of energy and it's not naturally created. I get it from other people.
(31:51):
Therefore, it's easy for me to burn out if I'm around very energetic people all the time and don't have time to dispel that. I completely felt that and experienced that before I found human design. And it was even inside of that information of, oh, I'm pushing Myself way too far. So understanding that I have small amounts of energy that comes in spurts, that helps me automatically redesign how I do my daily routine, how many meetings I take, how I did my automation. So I would only take a certain amount of meetings each day and have a break in between.
(32:27):
So it automatically started helping me re redesign what I thought was a profitable daily routine. Even for those who have copious amounts of energies. Those are the generators, manifesting generators. It is that question of just because you can doesn't mean you should. So it's looking at how do you still have those quote unquote rest periods? Because everybody has an element of weight inside of their charts.
(32:55):
So honoring that pausing points and having that be even as profitable as those productive points and understanding that ebb and flow of your energy, because that will just give you a little bit more confirmation and validation of those cycles and understanding what those cycles are actually bringing forward to you. And as you move even further down, it's again those avenues in those spaces that you want to be in.
(33:22):
If you're not feeling called to be part of social media, there might be a line four, which is called an opportunist inside of your chart, which means social media doesn't need to be your ultimate platform. It's meeting people, it's networking, it's, you know, talking to three dimensional people and making those connections because that's where you're going to receive your most profitable opportunities.
So it's really showing you your ebb and flow. And when you take that information and turn it into those more strategic or tactical decisions, it just gives you those boundaries and that manual to show you, okay, I know abc. So I'm going to shift X, Y, Z and implement efg. And it just starts to show you how you can customize your entire day. Your offers, how you know, your, your, your marketing, all of those things to have it be truly in alignment. So every day you are just fluid inside of your design and you're bringing in the clients, the money, the opportunities that are automatically flowing along with it.
Bree) (34:25):
So can you think of any specific marker in human design or like placement that is like, okay, this person is meant to magnetize or attract this way.
Mel) (34:38):
Oh, that's a great question. You know, that's the, that's the interesting and beautiful thing about human design is it's really hard to segment it and create feedback just solely based on that. And I'm saying that hesitantly because it's interesting seeing how human design has become what I like to call Instagramable where more and more people are just taking one piece and making massive shifts and massive decisions based off of just one element in their chart without connecting to, or understanding the undertow behind it for themselves.
(35:19):
So it's a. It's. It's a. It's a conglomeration of a lot of different things, because everybody's meant. We're all meant to be successful. We're all designed to be successful. And how we create that success for ourselves is. Is unique because it's inside of our design. So I. I'm not. I'm going to say, honestly, I don't think there is a space specific area in your chart that just go, oh, this is. This is it. It is that layering of all of that information that shows you your unique profitability and that gorgeous science of differentiation that you have that. That will create that success that you want.
Bree) (36:04):
Okay, awesome. Yeah, that's such a good answer, and that's so valid. I feel like with anything in this, it's not a personality test, but in the, like, the realm of personality tests, in the realm of astrology, numerology, human design, there are so many different layers within each system, but also to layer them together, and I just covered gene keys, and I'm like, okay.
Mel) (36:29):
Oh, yeah.
Bree) (36:30):
A mind blown. I kept hearing about them for the last month, and I'm like, I've never heard of them before, but I've heard of them like, four. Four times, so I should probably just look into it now. And I was like, wait, this is super cool. And I think that it is. What is it based off of? Is it the I Ching? I Ching. And that's also in human design.
Mel) (36:47):
Human design, Yep. Yeah.
Bree) (36:49):
Okay, so you mentioned energy levels. With you being a projector in human design, do you think that hustle culture has now just redisguised itself in the social media era as alignment, but with a prettier flavor form? And we're actually still just, like, hustling as much as we always were, but we're just making it look more aesthetic. Or do you think that we're actually finding alignment?
Mel) (37:11):
I freaking love this question. Because it's. It's yes to both. And I think that's why it's gotten tricky. I was having this conversation actually, the other day about, you know, people in the wellness space or in the spiritual space and how there's. I don't want to say that there's two camps, but there's. There's a. There's been a very interesting differentiation between what I kind of like to call like the Bali babes of spirituality. Like, we've kind of see like these very perfect ecstatic, like just manifest kind of stuff, which is beautiful and, you know, it's kind of surface level and the practitioners who have been inside of this space in a very traditional and active and structural way for a really long time.
(38:03):
And I think we are coming into an interesting shift because as we are seeing that a lot of the traditional frameworks aren't working anymore, that was ushered in in 2020 and will continue to progress as we move into what we call in human design, the solar plexus mutation of 2027. There's, it's. It's called something else, I believe, in astrology. As we shift from that quote unquote masculine energy into that quote unquote feminine energy.
(38:29):
It's an invitation. And this is why I love my. My incarnation cross for what it is and where we are right now. It's that invitation to understand what does that quote unquote re. Rebrand mean to you? Because it is easy to get caught up in this whimsical. Yeah, this whimsical space of, you know, you just have to be in the right mindset and you just have to manifest it and, you know, make your mood board, which again, I'm not dogging on those. Those are visual things. Those are all beautiful, beautiful tools.
(39:00):
It's the lack of specificity and the lack of the how behind it that gets to me a little, because there's always a how. And so I think, yes, we. There's some people who are rebranding the hustle into more of a quote unquote, woo woo spiritualistic space, but it's just the same horse of a different color. Whereas there's those of us who feel it on such a cellular level that this is all BS and we want to truly understand our purpose inside of it and who we are inside of it. And we go back to that internal work and doing it from a space of practice, doing it from a space of I want to know, I want to see, I want to implement and truly understand what this journey means to them and how they can maintain and create that sustainability as they ebb and flow through it. So I think it's definitely a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B.
(40:06):
And it's a call for each and every one of us to do our due diligence to not only research ourselves, but research those that we are spending time, energy, possibly money on and really understanding what support truly works. Best for you and how you can implement that support.
Bree) (40:24):
And it almost just goes back to in simple terms, are you making a matcha in journaling every morning so that you can post it on Instagram and say that you've made a matcha and journaled every morning? Or are you making a matcha and journaling every morning even if you're posting it on Instagram for your soul growth? So yeah, that's kind of what came up when, when you were saying that. And then I'm not just gonna let you get away with talking about the solar plexus mutation of 2027, but not talking about it. So I'm all ears. What, what's going on?
Mel) (41:00):
Yeah. So the short, the long Gemini short version of it is. So we have been in the last 400 years. So in human design, I mentioned there's five energetic types. The main energetic type right now is what's called a generator. They're 70% of the population and they are the structure. They are. Some people like to call them the worker bees. They are the people that can basically get shit done, right. And we needed that. We needed that energy, we needed that tenacity, we needed that structure to survive as a humanity. That's what created the Industrial Revolution. That's what's created a lot of the systems that have supported us over the last 400 years.
(41:44):
I think we can all fairly safe to say we have now gone too far. And in 2027 we are shifting away from those more quote unquote masculine and industrial and traditional practices to more of a quote unquote feminine style, which we are moving more into collaboration, communication, really honoring that individual inside of the collective instead of just mass producing the collective as a whole. So with that said, less generators are going to be born and more projectors myself are going to be born because we are the guides.
(42:20):
We are the ones that hold space for that collaboration and share. Show how you can be profitable and fluid and be your individual self inside of those spaces. And again, I think a lot of us have already started to see that start to break away. Covid, you know, ushered a lot of that with showing a lot of the traditional corporate environments and even entrepreneurial environments aren't necessarily needed to be connective or to be profitable.
(42:53):
And as we've continued to move through now, this very interesting government environment that we are in, it's really showing us the power that we have as an individual, as well as calling ourselves back to what is important to us and how do we want to be a part of it. So it's less of that routine traditional thinking of, okay, high school, college, corporate career, blah, blah, blah, to. I know I want to be a part of this community. I know this is important to me.
(43:27):
So who can I talk to? How can I collaborate? How can I be a partner inside of this practice? And it's really going to usher in a healing for us. Honestly, coming back to those really, those actual foundational spaces of, as I mentioned before, collaboration of true community and collective and having it be from a holistic standpoint. W H O L E, as opposed to, here's your title, here's your routine.
(44:02):
Be part of the cog. Ta da.
Bree) (44:05):
Yeah. So I think what you're talking about, you said in astrology, it has a different name, I think, and I could be wrong. So if somebody knows that I'm absolutely wrong, send me a DM on Instagram and let me know. I believe you're talking about the Age of Aquarius, which is funny because we actually already touched on it in this episode. Does that ring a bell at all?
Mel) (44:25):
That might be it. I know. Again, I think it has. I think it's. Again, with all the different modalities, this is represented. 2027 is represented, I think, in almost all of them. And they all have a different. Like, there's Rise of the Sleeping Phoenix. There's just. There's a lot of terminology around it. And I think that is just such scientific proof that this is where we're headed. Like, it's not just, you know, one crazy person with a bell and a sandwich board being like, it's the end of the world in 2027.
(44:53):
It's all of the modalities be like, no, we are in this natural shift. The Earth naturally, you know, evolves in this way. So with this next rotation, it's going to usher in all of these different energies, different frequencies, which is science. And therefore is going to shift how we react, what we're inspired by, and what we are surrounded by.
Bree) (45:16):
Ooh, that is so cool. So then we're really meant to move away from that masculine forcing and more into our feminine flow.
Mel) (45:27):
Exactly. Yeah. That. More intuitional, which you've mentioned several times, which I love. And again, coming back to that sense of self and self purpose first, and then knowing how to ask and what kind of support to ask for.
Bree) (45:44):
Okay, I love that. That is so valuable to know. So thank you for sharing. If anybody's listening and they want to just dive a little bit deeper into your world, follow along, see what you're doing. Maybe book a reading with you? Where can they find you?
Mel) (45:58):
Absolutely. So feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn Mel McSherry or you can follow me on Instagram at Mel underscore McSherry. If you would like to learn more about my 90 minute one on one readings, please feel free to check out my website melmicksherry.com or if you're like okay, this was a lot of information. I have a lot of questions. I just need space to like word vomit and process. I love offering complimentary 30 minute virtual coffees.
(46:22):
No pressure, just space held and you can schedule one of those at virtual coffee with mel.com awesome.
Bree) (46:29):
Thank you so much. I will make sure to link everything in the show notes for listeners also.
And yeah, just thank you for being.
Here and for sharing. You are amazing.
Mel) (46:38):
Thank you. I was so loving it. And again I love this space. So thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of it.
Bree) (46:43):
Thanks for tuning in to Rebel CEO. If today's episode lit a fire under you, I would love if you would hit subscribe, leave a rating and drop a review. That little action helps more purpose driven women like you find this. Check and make sure that you're not keeping all of this magic to yourself. Share this episode with a friend who's ready to ditch the rules and build a life that actually feels good. If you're looking for a little one on one connection, slide into my DMs on Instagram @rebel CEO podcast and I would love to hear what you're thinking and what you're building so that I can cheer you on every step of the way.
(47:15):
And one more thing, if you're ready for even more support, join my free Facebook community. It is packed with like minded women who are rebelling, setting wild goals, dreaming big and making moves. The link's waiting for you in the show notes and I will see you inside. Until next time, keep breaking the rules, chasing your purpose and creating the life that you were meant for. I'll see you in the next episode.
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