What if the key to growing your business is not just strategy, but healing your past? In this episode, Alyse Bacine, a renowned breathwork and trauma healing expert, reveals how she transformed her life from school counselor to six-figure entrepreneur. Alyse opens up about her powerful journey of overcoming fear, ancestral patterns, and self-doubt to build a heart-led business that thrives. She shares the pivotal moments of starting her business during the pandemic, navigating emotional highs and lows, and how she learned to price her services with integrity and value. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or heart-led business owner, this conversation is packed with invaluable insights you won’t want to miss!
🎧Tune in to learn how you can heal, grow, and lead with your heart in business.
Key Takeaways from this Episode
- Transitioning from a school counselor to an entrepreneur
- The role of breathwork and trauma healing in business
- Navigating the fears and doubts of entrepreneurship
- Pricing strategies that honor your worth and your audience
- The importance of offering accessible services at all price levels
About the Guest
Alyse Bacine is a Breathwork and Trauma expert, Spiritual Mentor, and CEO of Alyse Breathes LLC. With 23 years of experience and a background in counseling psychology, she helps spiritually intelligent women heal trauma and unlock their highest potential through her signature method, The Metamorphosis Methodâ„¢.
Additional Resources
- Website: www.alysebreathes.com
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alysebreathes
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/alyse_breathes
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/alyse.levy
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@alysebreathes6597
- Podcast:  Reclaiming Consciousness https://tinyurl.com/c7ppdvzwÂ
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Explore the Dialogue’s Treasures: Unearth the insights within! Delve into the profound wisdom woven throughout our conversation.
Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Heart Led Business Show, where compassion meets commerce and leaders lead with love. Join your host, Tom Jackobs, as he delves into the insightful conversations with visionary business leaders who defy the status quo, putting humanity first and profit second. From heartfelt strategies to inspiring stories, this podcast is your compass in the world of conscious capitalism.
So buckle up and let’s go. Let your heart guide your business journey.
Tom: Roll up your sleeves and let the excitement seep in as we’ve got the brainy Alyse Bessine taking a seat. She’s a beacon of breathwork, a titan of trauma healing, armed with a metamorphosis method, healing the world one breath at a time. She’s been hailed by the heights of Oprah Magazine. And now she’s here to give us a whirl on how to spearhead a heart led hustle right here on the Heart Led Business Show.
Let’s bask in the glow of [00:01:00] Alyse’s sensitivity safari. Welcome to the show, Alyse.
Alyse: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here.
Tom: No worries. This is going to be a fun talk. And I’m going to breathe deeply as we go through as well. But the first question I always like to ask my guests is what’s the your definition of a heart-led business.
Alyse: That’s a great question. I think it is, at least for me, it’s something that I feel driven to do, you know, it’s the work that I feel driven to do in the world that it I’ve kind of gotten to the point where it’s like, I don’t even know what else I would do life. you know what I mean? So, to me that’s leading with the heart because it’s less about, you know, doing what I’m supposed to do or what, you know, is the smart thing or what will make a lot of money and just more what I know I’m meant to do in the world and the work I’m meant to do.
Tom: That’s so beautiful too. And has it always been like that? Or was there a shift at some point in your life?
Alyse: Yes and no. I mean, so I started my business about five years ago. And before that I was a school counselor. [00:02:00] So I was a school counselor, you know, I have a master’s degree in counseling psychology. I was a school counselor for 10 years. And I wouldn’t say that wasn’t what I was meant to do either.
I think it was part of it. And I think that I always knew that I was going to do more than that. I always knew that I was meant to help people in a bigger way, but I also feel like I was meant to do that as well because that work informed the work I’m doing now and I’ve been able to really draw on the experience, all the experience I had working with traumatized children and working with and that’s really informed my trauma process that I’ve created now.
So I think that it was a necessary part of it even before it to this.
Tom: That’s cool. And what grades were you, or what’s what type of school was it?
Alyse: So I live in Philadelphia, so I worked at a school in the inner city. Most of my at a kindergarten through eighth grade school. And then after that I worked with middle school, mostly middle school and [00:03:00] some high school kids as well. So I’ve worked with all the age groups. Although middle school has always been my favorite. Those that’s usually the ages that most of the teachers hate, but I always found it to be the best because that’s the age where you really start to individuate and you start to separate yourself from like, who you are as part of your family and more as like who you are as an individual. And it’s really such a ripe time for transformation.
And I had such a hard time when I was in middle school, that there was something really healing for me about supporting middle school kids. So I love that age. And I miss it in a lot of ways. I don’t miss working at a school or working in that system, but I miss working the kids.
Tom: Yeah. Middle school. Yeah. Now that you mentioned that, that was definitely a formative time and more for me also just kind of coming out and into my own and just having my own ideas and things like that and having mischief, of course, along the way, a couple of times the counselor’s do. So what was the [00:04:00] transition like going from, you know, working at a job and then starting your own heart led business? What was that like for you?
Alyse: So it was actually, I mean, it was hard, but it was also very like serendipitous and easy for me and a lot of ways because I started my business in late 2019, early 2020, and I was still working as a school counselor, obviously, but then in March we went home from school. So it was like. It was such the perfect time to start a business and it really gave me, it was kind of like the universe was like, here you go, like start your business, you know?
So even though it was hard, you know, obviously starting your own business is challenging in a lot of ways. And also during that time, I had two small kids at home who also weren’t in school obviously. So there was challenges to it, but it also really opened up this huge window for me. Not only time-wise, but also no one was doing anything either.
Everyone was just at home. So, you know, at the time before that, [00:05:00] before Covid happened, I didn’t even have the idea that my business would be fully online like I knew some of it would be, but I was also doing in-person stuff as well. But then it just kind of pushed me into. The online space, which now, you know, my, pretty much my entire business is online.
So it just happened very serendipitously. And then I really got to fully put all of my energy into starting my business. And I also had a ton of experience. Like I started learning Breathwork and training in it when I was 19 years old. So I’ve been sharing and teaching Breathwork for 23 years. So I had, plus my experience as a school counselor.
So. I already had so much experience and so many ideas that I felt like all I needed was the space and the time to really put everything together. So I ended up leaving my job at the end of December 2020, and then since January 2021, I’ve been full time in my business and it’s challenging in [00:06:00] many ways and it forces you to grow in many ways that you didn’t even realize. But you know, that’s also a huge part of my work is helping people dissolve trauma and ancestral trauma in order to, you know, grow a business and be who they want to be. So I really got to use my own methodology and my tools with myself to move through a lot of the challenges that come up so I could grow my business pretty quickly and I have been able to grow up pretty quickly and sustain it as, you know, the main.
Income in my household and, you know, and continues to grow. So it’s been, I’m not going to say it was an easy transition, but it was like a serendipitous.
Tom: That`s very cool. And I think there’s a lot of people in your similar situation that probably had a side hustle at that some point. And then with COVID and the pandemic, just, it. You know, propelled that forward. Were you now before the pandemic, were you also doing this as a side hustle or evening time and weekends and all that?
Alyse: Yeah. but not even for that long. Like, so I [00:07:00] had, you know, yes and no, because I had actually always taught breathwork the side throughout. My whole life, basically, since I was in my early 20s and off and on, you know, sometimes I would not do it for a while, and then I would do, like, I used to do these small group breathwork sessions in my basement, like I have a yoga studio in my basement, and I would have, do these classes at my house, and I would do things like that. All the time, like throughout the years. So yes, it was a side hustle, a small one. And then in early 2020, I decided I wanted to really, you know, start a real business. So I had only been doing it for about two months as more of a side hustle before. So it really wasn’t like, so yes and no, I guess you could say, cause it was something I kind of been doing on the side for a long time, but then it wasn’t until January of 2020 that I was like, okay, I’m doing this.
Tom: Oh cool. And so what was that? So, you know, the transition you said was there were some challenges. What were some of those challenges that came up in that transition?
Alyse: There was a lot. So I think that one of the [00:08:00] biggest things for me that I noticed, and I think a lot of people go through something similar is. Leaving kind of the trajectory that the whole rest of my family was on, you know, it was interesting cause I had done so much personal growth work and breath work, like since my early twenties. And I still was a school counselor in the school district of Philadelphia where my parents had both been teachers for like 30 years. So like I was still kind of in this same trajectory as my parents, you know, and one of the hardest, even though like intellectually and consciously, I didn’t want that, like I wanted to do something else. It felt so hard to leave that and leave, you know, this idea of, you know, the security of having a job, even though, you know, and when you work in education, you don’t make any money hardly. So it was like, why am I holding on to this? You barely have enough to survive in education. But it still was just like this thing that felt really hard.
And it almost felt in [00:09:00] this weird way, like I was betraying my parents or being disloyal to them in this way. Cause I was like going off in this other direction. And then what I came up against too was like a very overwhelming fear of failure, you know, which I think was also something that was passed down to my family and my ancestral line.
And there was a lot of things that came up that I didn’t. I didn’t realize we’re going to come up where I was very afraid of failure. I came up against a lot of self doubt, a lot of you know, just questioning my abilities and kind of being in this space where on one hand, I knew that I. Like, I know that this is what I’m really good at.
I knew that I could do this, but at the same time questioning, can I really do this, can I really create a successful business and can I really, you know, generate the kind of income that I need to. So, you know, I think anytime you do something that you’ve never done before, there’s always going to be a part of you that’s going to question, like, can I really do this for a various number of reasons?
And I [00:10:00] feel like that is one of the biggest things that I came up against, but, you know. I just kept going anyway. And I think that is one of the biggest things that you have to remember as an entrepreneur. And I tell my husband this all the time, because he’s a serial entrepreneur and he’s given up on a lot of businesses.
And I always say to him, like, the only reason anyone fails is if they give up. And if you don’t give up, you’ll eventually be successful.
Tom: Yeah, exactly. So in your family, were there other entrepreneurs or are you kind of the first and so no role models.
Alyse: Other than my husband. Like my husband has always been an entrepreneur and I’ve was always kind of like the stable one where I had a job with health insurance and all of those things. That was another thing that was really hard because he really didn’t want me to leave my job.
And he felt like, you know, I should stay there as long as I could, but I also got to the point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was so different than like my mindset for that was so different than for my business. I just couldn’t like maintain both of them at the same time. So I [00:11:00] got to the point where I had to like, just jump in fully, you know, and I don’t think I was at the point where it fully made sense financially, but I also just had this knowing that it wasn’t going to get where I wanted it to go unless I fully jumped in. So I did, and that was scary too because I didn’t really have a safety net. I didn’t really know how I was going to make the money that I needed to make, but the first month of being full time I generated my, you know, what I was making as a school counselor plus. So, which wasn’t really hard to the way, because But it was like, it still was like, okay, you know, I can do this but yeah, all of those things put together were very scary because it really is like, you have to really be able to be okay with the unknown.
And I think that’s one of the things that as an entrepreneur, you have to just get comfortable with not knowing and being okay with that and trusting that you’re going to be safe and you’re going to be supported and, you know, and just without really [00:12:00] having the solid evidence for.
Tom: I think it’s Brendan Bruchard, one of the personal developments guys it says you’re just trusting your ability to figure things out. And that’s the biggest thing entrepreneurs just, yeah, stuff is going to happen all the time. Just know that you can figure it out at some point. Hopefully.
Alyse: Exactly. Yeah. And I think that a lot of people get overwhelmed with that because I work with so many women that are kind of in that, you know, I call it like the purgatory where they have kind of started a business, but then they don’t, they can’t really like get out of the starting gates because of like the fear or whatever.
And I think that’s and then it feels like there’s so many steps in front of them that it feels overwhelming. And I’m always like, you can’t, like, when I remember feeling that way, and then I remember just being like, okay, I’m just going to focus on the one thing that’s in front of me, and I’m not going to look at anything else.
And just, and then once I finished that, I’ll do the next thing and not think about anything else. Cause if you think about all of it, it’s way too overwhelming. And you’re like, how am I ever going to. Do that or get to that place or understand all [00:13:00] of that. So you can’t, you have to just focus on.
Tom: Yeah. That’s such good advice as well. And I don’t know about you, but I always, my kind of my trigger is anytime that I start to clean, do laundry, dishes, whatever. I know I’m avoiding something in my business, you know, working at home. It’s very easy to just, oh, I to do a load of work and just get distracted.
And at that point, I’m like, wait, I’m avoiding doing something and just. Go to the next thing.
Alyse: Yeah. exactly. Because it’s totally up to you too. And it’s great to have that freedom. But I think what I see for a lot of the women that I work with is that’s actually. Because we’re so conditioned to have a boss or somebody to tell us what to do or somebody else to say, you know, good job or whatever, and you don’t have that.
So you really have to be that person for yourself and you have to be so self disciplined and self motivated. And, that’s hard for people, you know, or it’s hard to structure your time. People always ask me that, like, how do you structure your time? And I don’t really structure my time, it works out for me, but I don’t think [00:14:00] that’s the way everybody do it.
Tom: I’m not really in structured. I have my of things that need to be accomplished in this day or week.
Alyse: Right. But it doesn’t have to be done exactly in that.
Tom: Between two and three, I’m working on, I don’t do that. So let’s shift to the money aspect because a lot of heart led business owners struggle with. Charging what they’re worth, knowing to make, how to make a profit, the kind of the business side of it. How was your experience with that? And, you know, just explain that for us.
Alyse: Yeah, this is really interesting because I feel like I have done like one full pendulum swing back both ways and kind of like back the middle. And I actually think that is really important because now I feel like I have so much perspective that I don’t really even question this type of thing anymore, but I’ll take you through like kind of my process with it. So, you know, I think in the beginning you don’t even realize the point, at least for me, anyway, I didn’t, not that I didn’t realize the point wasn’t to make a profit, but I was doing it more out of the sense of [00:15:00] like, can I really do this? And, you know, I don’t want to charge people too much. So I’m just going to charge, you know, a smaller amount and see. How that goes, you know, and then started to feel like, okay, this isn’t enough money and I’m going to charge more. And then I would kind of, overthink that too, or feel uncomfortable with that and kind of, overthink it, you know, because there’s all these people out there who are like, well, charge what you’re worth and you need to charge more and all of these things. And it kind of gets in your head a little bit where then you start to subscribe to what someone else is saying versus like what you really feel. And I feel like I kind of went in both directions where I you know, charge too little and then started to listen to other people and then charge what I felt like was too much.
And then I kind of went back to the middle where I just charge what feels really good to me. And I feel like when I do that, it creates the money that is. More than [00:16:00] enough to come in, right? So, and not to say I don’t use like logic or practicality, right? Because obviously now I have, a business that generates a good amount of income and it supports my family and you know, there’s a lot of moving parts to it. But at the same time, I really like to charge First of all, I like to have things that are accessible to everybody at all price levels, right? So I have things that are as like, you know, 22 dollars all the way up to, you know, private coaching, which is a lot more money, right? And so many things in between. So I like there to be a way to access my work for every single person, right? Including free stuff, right? Like I have a podcast where I share a ton of free information. That’s really helpful every week. You know, people always say to me, like, I feel like I’m getting a therapy session, listening to your podcast, you know, so that makes me feel really good.
Cause it feels like I’m having an impact no matter what, but then I also have opportunities for people to. Work with me in ways where they get [00:17:00] to invest in themselves and create, you know, bigger change and bigger stuff in their business and all of these things. And there’s kind of something for everybody, right?
So I like doing it that way, but I also have kind of come back to this place where I like to charge what really makes sense. For me and for other people, right? So if I have a bunch of women who are, you know, at the beginning stages of their business, there’s going to be a certain range that they’re going to be able to afford, you know, and I’m not going to expect them to pay more than that.
It just doesn’t make sense, you know, and. I want to help people. I don’t want to make people like go into debt. You know what I mean? So I think that finding that happy medium for me that felt good to me but also feels reasonable to other people Is kind of like that sweet spot and also i’m at the point now where I really don’t overthink it I just kind of know like okay for this program this is you know who it’s for and this is what I want to charge and then for this program you this is what I want to charge and I just can kind of [00:18:00] feel like what feels good, what feels reasonable for other people, what’s going to be a lot of value, but what’s also enough of an investment that they have some skin in the game, you know what I mean?
So I kind of just feel into what that is and I don’t overthink it because I’ve kind of been on both sides of the spectrum where I’ve charged too little and I saw how that felt and that didn’t feel good. And then I swung into charging too much at times and that didn’t feel good to me either. You know, so, but I feel like that’s the way to do it because I always tell my clients, you have to be embodied what you’re doing, right?
And then the way to be embodied is to feel it. So I felt what it felt like to not charge enough. So that made me feel embodied in charging more. And then I felt what it felt like to charge too much. And that made me embodied in just. Charging what I feel good with, you know? And so I’ve kind of come back to that place and now it’s something I don’t even really think about like, other than, you know, where if I’m like, oh, I want to create, a low ticket, you know, way to sample my [00:19:00] work or whatever, then I’ll be like, okay, I’m going to create this thing.
That’s around 55 dollars. And then I’ll base what I’m offering around that pricing. So it feels good to me, you know? But. I also just want to say that I think there’s a lot of women who feel, especially in the beginning, uncomfortable with charging money. And I felt that way too, you know, and I think there’s a lot of there’s a lot of just kind of programming or underlying. You know, feelings that people have around, oh, well, you shouldn’t charge for this, which is completely ridiculous, right? I mean, we all have to make money. And also what I will say is that when you invest a certain amount of money, that feels like a big deal for you, you’re going to show up a lot differently than if you’re investing like 50, that is also a part of it is like the money represents your skin in the game, like your investment in yourself. And again, it doesn’t mean you need to bleed yourself dry or put yourself in a ton of debt, but it also means [00:20:00] it’s significant to you. Like it’s making a difference, you know? And I think that is kind of finding that sweet spot with that. Is important. And at the same time, again, there’s going to be people at all different places at all different levels. So that’s why I like to have something for everybody.
Tom: Yeah, no, that’s great. And I call that the value ladder, right? You get people in at free and then there’s a lower ticket and a mid ticket, high ticket, ultra high ticket sometimes as well. I think that’s a really great way of getting your workout there and making it accessible to the right people at the right level.
And that’s a great way run a business that feels good to yourself, gives you the runway that you need to run the business and to be around for a long time, because if you’re not charging at all, or you’re charging too little, you’re not going to be in business for very long before you either, you get burnt out or you lose it all.
Alyse: Yeah, totally. And I think it’s just something that everybody has to figure out for themselves. You know, so much of a business is like, yes, you can learn from other people and there’s value in that, but then you really have to be able to [00:21:00] take that information that you learned and. You know, integrate it and decide what’s for you and what’s not.
And then do things your own way. Everybody as an entrepreneur, you have to do things your own way. Cause whatever worked for somebody else, it’s not going to exactly work for you. Parts of it might, but you have to like carve your own way.
Tom: Well, right. And it’s your brand as well. You don’t want to take somebody else’s brand and just think that it’s going to work for you as well. That’s funny. Well, cool. That’s so the money thing, like I said, it’s always been an issue for a lot of heartled businesses. And I really appreciate that advice that you’re giving to have find the pricing that one feels good for you, but also making it accessible to the people at different levels and approach them where they’re at and the other point that you brought up too, that the more you invest in something, the more you’re committed to it, and I think that’s.
More people need to hear that to really come to grips with if I’m to serve and selling is serving if I’m to serve these people, like if I’m giving it to them for 200 [00:22:00] dollars, but it’s really a 5, 000 dollars program, they’re not going to show up the same way at 200 dollars. They probably won’t show up at all versus a 5, 000.
They’re coming every week to that session and getting the help that they absolutely need. So that’s really great advice. Thanks for verbalizing that for the audience.
Alyse: Yeah, for sure.
Tom: So tell us, how can our listeners learn more about kind of the work that you’re doing and potentially work with you?
Alyse: Yeah. So, I mean, you can, there’s, like I said, there’s many ways to work with me. You can find me on Instagram at Alyse underscore breeze, my website, at least breeze. com and I would say a great place to start would be to download one of my free things cause I have, you know, a free breathwork session that you can download.
It’s called five ways to use breathwork for better client and personal results. Or I have a clear trauma from your business cheat sheet. So this is so much of the work I do with women is around dissolving childhood relational trauma so that they can grow their businesses. So I broken down the childhood relational trauma into four main [00:23:00] categories that I see with every single person.
So you can download that and kind of see what is that thing that is probably blocking you in your business. So those are two great ways to just kind of dip your toe into my work and you can download those on my website or on my Instagram and then listen to my podcast. I think that’s a great way to dip your toe in and see if this work is for you.
It’s called reclaiming consciousness. And I share just all of my, you know, teachings on there and I interview past clients and I just share a lot of my philosophy on trauma and my trauma healing methodology. So that’s a great place too. And then of course I have, you know, my different programs and I always do smaller, you know, lower ticket programs as well to start out with and to dip your toe in.
So just, you know, follow me and you’ll see when I’m, when those things are comming up.
Tom: That’s awesome. And thank you for making that available to our audience. I certainly appreciate it. I know the audience will appreciate it as well. And Alyse, thank you so much for showing up today for the podcast and sharing your [00:24:00] wisdom and your journey through becoming a Heart Led business owner.
I really do appreciate you.
Alyse: Yeah. Thank you for having me.
Tom: Absolutely. And thank you listeners for tuning in today, whether you’re on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple podcasts. We certainly appreciate it. I certainly appreciate it. I know Alyse does as well and make sure you’re checking out everything that she’s doing. And we’re going to link all that up into the show notes.
So make sure you’re checking out the show notes and check out what Alyse is doing and take advantage of some of the offers that she has as well. I’m definitely going to do that. Checklist to see what childhood traumas are blocking. They’re creating me to do laundry when I should be working on my business.
So, thank for that. And also listeners, if you could do me a solid favor and give the show a rating and a review on your podcast application of choice, that certainly helps spread the word and help more heartled business owners get the help that they deserve and until next time lead with your heart.
Speaker 2: You’ve been listening to the Heart Led Business Show, hosted by Tom Jackobs. Join us next time for another inspiring journey into [00:25:00] the heart of business.
