When you're building a team, one of the biggest questions is: what benefits do I actually offer? PTO, sure. But how does it accrue? Do part-time employees get the same as full-time? What about holidays that fall on days you're not even open? And what's fair for maternity leave when you're not a massive corporation with endless resources? This episode is us breaking down the employee benefits we offer in our practices and the logistics behind them. From raise structures to bereavement policies to why floating holidays might solve a problem you didn't know you had.

🔥 In This Episode:

• How to structure raises and performance standards so your team knows exactly where they can grow within your company
• PTO accrual systems and why the way you structure it (hours worked vs. anniversary date) matters more than you think
• What should be included in bereavement policies beyond just immediate family members
• Maternity and paternity leave clauses that work for small businesses, including paid vs. unpaid time and return-to-work expectations
• Why floating holidays solve the problem of holidays that fall on days your business is already closed

If you've been avoiding the benefits conversation because you don't know where to start or what's fair to offer, this episode gives you a framework. You don't have to offer everything, but you do need to be clear about what you're offering and why. And remember: you can always amend your policies as your business grows and situations pop up that you never anticipated.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: theheartworklife@gmail.com

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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You think you know what you're feeling and why you're feeling it. You've identified the problem, you've made it make sense, you've got a logical explanation. But what if that's just the surface? What if there are deeper layers your heart is inviting you to explore? This episode is us sharing what happened in our recent coaching sessions when we realized there was so much more beneath what we thought we were processing.

Marisa shares how she thought she was navigating feelings about team dynamics and her new leadership role, only to discover it was actually about her dad and her husband. Sara shares a visceral dream she thought was about processing assault trauma, only to realize it was inviting her into something completely different about money, protection, and the terror that comes up when she doesn't feel financially secure. This is what it looks like when you stop trying to logic your way through feelings and actually let your heart speak.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why logic will try to make sense of your feelings but your heart just wants to be seen, heard, and talked to
• The invitation to explore something you don't initially resonate with and ask "if this were true, what would have to be true?"
• How stamping something with approval can actually be a way of avoiding processing a deeper feeling underneath
• Why healing and self-discovery literally never stop, and how the well of your heart has untapped potential you haven't even discovered yet
• The reminder that things are not always as they seem, and you need someone else to help you see what you can't see on your own

If you've been doing surface-level work and wondering why you keep hitting the same walls, this episode is your invitation to go deeper. Get a coach. Stop trying to logic your way through heart work. And be willing to discover that the thing you thought it was is probably not actually the thing at all.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: theheartworklife@gmail.com

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

Support the show

This year taught us how to recognize when our ego was driving versus when our heart was leading. Sara spent the first half of the year wrapped up in performance, chasing money and success and notoriety, until she started asking herself "is this what my brain thinks I should want, or is this what my heart actually wants?" Marisa navigated building her business, hiring team, creating space for rest, only to realize she's been searching for stability in all the external things instead of finding it within herself. This episode is us reflecting on what 2025 taught us. How our egos got us to where we are (which is beautiful), and also how this year invited us to go deeper and discover what our hearts have been trying to tell us all along.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The difference between building your life from ego (for protection and safety) versus building from your true self
• How comparing your current reality to what you think it should be keeps you from celebrating what's actually working
• What it means to find internal stability instead of constantly looking for it in your business, your relationships, or your achievements
• The invitation to exist and trust instead of forcing outcomes, and why that's so fucking simple but not easy until you've journeyed through it

If you've been running hard all year and wondering why you still don't feel settled, this episode is your reminder to pause. Reflect on where you've been. Celebrate what's working. And stop measuring your life by metrics that were never meant for you in the first place.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: theheartworklife@gmail.com

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

Support the show