Podcast | Clarity
Episode 24| December 9, 2023

From Burnout to Brilliance w/ Joanna Ingram

She Built the Business She Thought She Should. It Burned Her Out in a Year.

Joanna Ingram left a London advertising career and built exactly the business she thought she should: productivity, accountability, CEO strategies. The things she was good at.

It burned her out inside a year.

The clients it attracted needed pushing uphill. The work did not light her up.

Everything shifted when she started being more like herself.

In this episode of the Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast, brand messaging consultant Joanna Ingram shares how burnout redirected her business, the birth that nearly cost her life and taught her to trust, and why the clearest signal often comes from the things you do not want.

Like attracts like. She started showing up as herself, and the right people showed up too.

If you are pushing against your own nature, this one is for you.

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“I can take one step and trust the next step will appear.”

– Joanna Ingram

Fast Skim & Timestamps

0:00 Meet Joanna: From Ad Agency to Message Guide
1:00 The Superpower: Seeing What You Are Meant to Do
3:41 The Burnout of Building the Wrong Business
4:47 Like Attracts Like
6:35 The Birth That Nearly Ended Her
9:24 The Spiritual Shift Into Trust
10:02 One Step, Then the Next
13:14 Contrast: Clarity From What You Don’t Want

Key Takeaways

Building a business around what you are good at is not the same as building one around what lights you up.
Burnout can be a signal that you are pushing against your own nature.
Like attracts like. Show up as yourself and you attract the people who energize you.
Your struggles are raw material. They are ready to become your message.
You do not need to know all the hows. Take one step and trust the next appears.
Contrast gives clarity. What you do not want points you toward what you do.

Three Petite Practice® Questions

1. Where am I building around what I am good at instead of what lights me up?

2. What part of my real self have I been hiding from the people I want to reach?

3. What recent experience I did not enjoy is actually pointing me toward what I do want?

Transcript Chapters

0:00 Meet Joanna: From Ad Agency to Message Guide

[00:00:00] Joanna Ingram: So many people, women in particular, are hiding their true brilliance, their innate and unique genius. What I found was that I went into burnout in my first year. And a big thing happened when I was 29. I gave birth to my oldest daughter, but it did not go well. [00:00:51] Joanna Ingram: I am an ex advertising agency director turned brand messaging consultant from London. I host the podcast Goals With Soul, and I am mum to three spirited girls. I help visionary coaches and healers clarify their authentic message, raise their profile and prices, and stand out as a go-to expert so they can make an impact.

1:00 The Superpower: Seeing What You Are Meant to Do

[00:01:00] Joanna Ingram: My superpower is an aptitude for seeing the truth of what someone’s purpose or message in the world is meant to be. So many people are hiding their true brilliance. When they unapologetically share it and shine, others benefit and change too. Most people already have it. What I do is activate it. People often say, I just know I was meant for more, but I am not entirely clear what it is.

3:41 The Burnout of Building the Wrong Business

[00:03:41] Joanna Ingram: When I launched my business, I first went with what I knew. I spent years in corporate, I am driven, an action taker, so I taught productivity and accountability and CEO strategies. I could have built a viable business, but it just did not light me up. Pushing against my own desires, I went into burnout in that first year. I was exhausted, and I was attracting clients who needed me to push them uphill.

4:47 Like Attracts Like

[00:04:47] Joanna Ingram: I realized my energy would match best with people more like me, so I started being more like me in how I put myself out in the world, in social media, emails, video, and my podcast. My whole business shifted. It changed the ease and flow I felt, and it changed who I attracted, because like attracts like. Those people became my energizing, inspiring clients who did not drain me. That experience is now a quintessential part of what I teach.

6:35 The Birth That Nearly Ended Her

[00:06:35] Joanna Ingram: I was a high achiever, very academic, first-class degree, into the big advertising world at Ogilvy and Mather. It was hard to see it could be different. Then when I was 29, I gave birth to my eldest daughter. I will not go into the details, but it did not go well. I nearly died and had an emergency hysterectomy on the day of her birth, which led me into PTSD and not being able to complete my family. Seven years later, my twin daughters were born with the help of a surrogate in California, and we flew 11,000 miles from London to meet them.

9:24 The Spiritual Shift Into Trust

[00:09:24] Joanna Ingram: It was a real spiritual trajectory. I leaned into all the dimensions, physical, emotional, mental, but spiritual made the biggest shift. I learned about universal laws, like the law of attraction. I trained as a Pranic healer and a breathwork facilitator. In my work I blend proven marketing strategy with the energetic flow of trust and reciprocation, knowing the energy we put out is the energy we are most likely to receive.

10:02 One Step, Then the Next

[00:10:02] Joanna Ingram: What changed everything was the idea that I can take one step and trust the next step will appear, without knowing all the twenty thousand hows ahead of time. Previously I was almost paralyzed. They call it analysis paralysis, because my active mind could project so far into the future that I could see everything that might go wrong. The work is not being the best analytical mind. It is being someone who can surrender, let go, and take the leap of trust. [00:12:01] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: I always say take one small step and get one giant leap at the end, because it is really just getting started.

13:14 Contrast: Clarity From What You Don’t Want

[00:13:14] Joanna Ingram: Abraham Hicks talks about contrast, their way of saying something you do not like. When you have an experience you did not enjoy, you think, that was contrast, now I know that is not what I want. So you get greater clarity on what you do desire, and you can move the compass one degree and start moving toward it. [00:15:59] Joanna Ingram: You can find me on Instagram, on my website iamjoeingram.co, and listening to Goals With Soul. [00:16:25] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Thank you so much for being here, Joanna.

Meet My Guest

Joanna Ingram

Brand Messaging Consultant & Host of Goals With Soul

Joanna Ingram is a former advertising agency director turned brand messaging consultant based in London. She helps visionary coaches and healers clarify their authentic message, raise their profile, and stand out as go-to experts.

She hosts the podcast Goals With Soul and blends proven marketing strategy with the energetic principles she teaches. Find her at iamjoeingram.co.

Meet Your Host

Dr. Christiane Schroeter

TEDx Speaker & Leadership Strategist

I’m Dr. Christiane Schroeter, TEDx speaker, leadership strategist, and host of the Top 1% ranked Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast. I help leaders think clearly, speak with conviction, and take the next step during change.

About Dr. Christiane

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