Reflections on Finding Your Capacity Workshop: Wellness First, Always
There’s a refrain I hear again and again in my work with women:“Elizabeth, I’ve checked all the boxes. I have the degrees, the position, the kids (or no kids), the travel, the house. And yet—I’m exhausted. I’m burnt out. I’m miserable. What am I doing wrong?”
In my opinion here’s the truth: we cannot sever (like the TV show) ourselves, our humanity, from our work. If you’re miserable at work, you’re miserable in life. And in business, that misery too often gets hidden under the mask of achievement.
The missing ingredient? Wellness. Capacity. Nervous system literacy. The ability to experiment (feminist principal ) and regulate ourselves inside the mess and beauty of entrepreneurship.
From Consulting to Partnership
I first connected with Ellen Peacock for something quite practical: I needed marketing help. She came in with her systems, foundational operations, strategies, and sharp lens on how businesses grow. Eventually we started to exchange and I offered her my feminist business coaching, grounded in decades of clinical work with women.
What happened next surprised us both.
We discovered we were speaking the same language: capacity.
For Ellen, capacity shows up in marketing—helping clients know what they can sustain, where to focus, and what to let go of.
For me, capacity lives in the body, in our emotional bandwidth, the amount of invisible labor and in the truth that every “yes” and every “no” is a capacity decision.
Different entry points. Same conclusion.
And so, our partnership was born.
Inside the Workshop: Finding Your Capacity
Together, we created a workshop for women entrepreneurs at The LOLA, Atlanta: Finding Your Capacity: A Wellness First Approach to Sustainable Business Growth.
Ellen brought the Capacity Matrix—a tool to help entrepreneurs map out low-effort, high-reward strategies.
I brought the reminder that you don’t have to do it all. That sustainability isn’t about pushing harder, it’s about aligning business with your body and your wellness.
We witnessed something powerful: women realizing their exhaustion wasn’t a personal failing. It was a systemic issue, rooted in patriarchal expectations of endless output and self-sacrifice.
One participant told us:
“This was a positive reframing that is so needed for women in business. We have a lot of rewiring to do.”
Yes. Exactly.
The Deeper Need
After the workshop, the feedback was unanimous: “We want to go deeper.”
Because here’s the thing: business challenges aren’t solved by hacks or quick fixes. They require community.
Spaces where women can see themselves reflected in each other. Where the truth is named out loud: your exhaustion isn’t yours alone—it’s part of a structure designed to keep women overextended and under-resourced.
Partnership and community are not extras; they are the strategy.
The Capacity Cohort: What’s Next
Out of that hunger came the seed for our next step: The Capacity Cohort — a 7-week virtual lab for women entrepreneurs ready to align operations, marketing, and wellness for sustainable business growth.
This is for women-led businesses who:
Can commit 2 hours a week for 7 weeks.
Are ready to move beyond marketing hacks into a repeatable growth framework.
Want a personalized roadmap that balances strategy, systems, and self-awareness.
Value expert guidance paired with a community of women leaders who get it.
Are seeking clarity and capacity to lead with steadiness — not exhaustion.
Because sustainable growth isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing it differently.
Why This Lights Me Up
For over 30 years as a psychotherapist, I’ve sat with women who are brilliant, accomplished, and deeply unhappy. Who “did everything right” according to culture’s checklist and still ended up depleted.
This is why the work of capacity (how resourced are we), wellness, and sustainable business lights me up:
Because we can’t extract the person from the business.
Because business can be a site of healing, not harm.
Because women deserve more than survival—we deserve businesses that nourish our lives.
An Invitation
Ellen and I often joke that this started as a simple marketing consult. But in truth, it became something bigger: a partnership, a shared vision, and a community offering.
If you’re curious about how capacity could reshape your business, here are your next steps:
Read Ellen’s reflections on the workshop.
Explore the Capacity Cohort and see if it’s the space you’ve been craving.
Stay connected as we continue to create spaces where women can align wellness, marketing, and strategy.
Because capacity isn’t just a concept. It’s a practice. It’s a way of leading, working, and living that says: you don’t have to burn yourself out to grow.