What really is a feminine business?

by Navdeep Kalra | Apr 28, 2024 | business & money

What really is a feminine business? An article for the woman who wants to build and grow her (future) business(es) in alignment with her natural feminine design.

~~~

When I decided to translate my personal journey of feminine embodiment into a business practice, my first instinct was to look around for success stories of women who had walked this path before me.

I wanted to see how they were applying these principles of feminine embodiment in the way they led themselves, created their businesses and offered their services. 

That exciting pursuit soon turned into a disappointment when I saw ‘feminine embodiment’ practitioners hustling in their hyper-masculine energy to create six, seven figure businesses.

As someone who had opted out of that hustle by leaving her six-figure corporate career behind, my nervous system instantly refused to accept those as the kind of success stories I needed for the next phase of my life. Where was the ease, where was the pleasure, where was the richness in these stories, my heart searched for these answers.

Having spent the previous year on a sabbatical consciously slowing down and identifying my body’s natural pace, I wanted to create a business led by my heart. I wanted to suck the juice out of my days while birthing this business in alignment with my inner sensitivities, with the natural rhythm of my body. I wanted my business to be identified for my natural expertise as a coach, as a mentor but not at the expense of making my body work 24×7, striving, pushing, chasing clients. 

So every time I would feel that old urge of my workaholic self to strive, to effort, I would turn back into my body, soften and connect back with my flow.

And then from that place of flow, of calm, of enough-ness, I would listen to my heart and take the next steps to create my feminine business. 

It’s been close to three years of listening to my heart and my wise feminine body, of making some really unconventional decisions (like exiting social media for marketing my work) of enjoying creating a business that feels as nourishing as it did on the first day of its inception. And I have continued to see this desire reflected in the kind of coaching requests I have received throughout the course of my business. (which eventually led me to create my powerful coaching program Feminine Business Queen)

These inquiries have been from women who are already in business or are in the corporate world feeling the call to translate one (or more) of their skills into a profitable, soul-nourishing business.

Women who are passionate about something, who want to take ownership of their time and resources and use it to create a life of their choice. 

Then there is another beautiful pattern underneath. 

These are the women who have in some way already been on their journey of feminine embodiment. They have started taking joy in the slowness of their lives, they are committed to savour the deliciousness of their (once mundane) work routines. They can’t anymore deny their body’s and soul’s needs for slowness, for gentleness, for rest and relaxation. 

And now they want to create systems of work that support their feminine way of living. 

They want to peel the layers of their masculine conditioning and infuse their feminine gifts in the way they create & lead their business. They want to now lead in their work lives with their feminine, calling in success as effortlessly as they attract all the other desires of their lives. 

If you’re feeling curious about what feminine business really means, read on. 

Feminine business is a model of business where women (and beings who identify on the more feminine end of nature’s energy spectrum) create and grow businesses in complete alignment with their organic, feminine, feeling, nature.

Feminine business involves birthing our natural gifts and passions into a venture(s) in a way that honours our heart and soul.

It involves creating shifts in the generally transactional nature of business by serving the world through one’s heart-led ideas and innovation. It is about creating structures and systems that honour our sensitivities, our cyclic nature, our desire for pleasure, rest and relaxation. 

Feminine business is a way of working where we treat every aspect of our business as a work of art, not a project to build, accomplish or finish, where we lead with vulnerability and let our audience and clients know us more than our offerings. 

It involves following the lead of our (feminine) gift of intuition in making decisions around how we conduct our business. It is about practicing the feminine art of magnetism instead of following the dry hustle route. 

Want to learn the secrets that make a woman magnetic? Download your free copy of the Magnetic Woman guide here.

From a broader point of view, feminine business lies is at the opposite end of the fast-paced, burnout-oriented entrepreneurial culture. 

It is about leading a (profitable) business by listening to our bodies first, honouring its needs first and then making shifts in our outer world. 

The conditioning of our hyper-masculine world

Living in our hyper-masculine world has almost convinced us to believe that the only way to succeed when it comes to business is to move fast and quick, to exert and toil all day long, to ‘beat’ the competition somehow, to always be busy, to give it all until you have nothing left for for yourself. 

As someone who grew up up seeing (and still does) such role-models of business in my family, this is what the definition of business success looked like to me. 

A divine intervention just at the cusp of entering the entrepreneurial world invited me to find another way. Another way of doing business and making money at it too. 

A way of working that has since… 

…made success feel sweet to me,

…given me the chance to experience true wealth,

…helped me honor my (highly) sensitive nature as an empath, 

…continued to support my creativity and innovation. 

A way of doing business that feels fulfilling to me at every level of my inner and outer realities. 

Who does feminine business work best for

I’ve noticed a common limiting belief circulated on the internet around how the feminine business model only works for service entrepreneurs. Nothing could be farther from the truth (and the actual realities of the bigger world).

Feminine business is about how we lead ourselves first. It is about our relationship with ourselves and our inner realities. What we create in our outer (business) world is simply a reflection of that relationship. 

We are witnessing such a beautiful rise in slow-moving, sustainable (and ethical) businesses around the world that vary from fashion to home goods, from hospitality to self-care. 

The earliest clients who found their way to my work were women in businesses selling tech products. Over time, I have worked with clients who are professional artists, holistic practitioners in the wellness industry, writers, legal experts, online solopreneurs and more.

Whatever ideas and innovation you’ve been holding back for the fear of failing using the art of feminine business, all of those stand an (equal) chance of succeeding in your outer realities. 

The roadblocks if any, are our limiting beliefs and doubts formed from our world view of what’s possible and what’s not. Which is why it’s imperative that we seek out support (wherever needed) as we set out to translate our fondest ideas into a business venture. 

The gifts of feminine business

So to conclude, feminine business is a way of life, intertwining our deepest passions and gifts with our burning desire to help others, to make meaningful shifts in the world, leaving it better than we found it. 

This model of business serves us women at our cellular level in a way that..

• we can live out our most fiery ambitions without burning ourselves out, 

• plan our work schedules according to our bleed cycle, 

• freely acknowledge our bodies’ needs for rest and pleasure, 

• lead with vulnerability and allow heartfelt connections to be formed, 

• receive our divine guidance through our feminine body’s intuitive wisdom and deep knowings, 

• embrace our unique feminine flavor and infuse our qualities in our work (instead of undermining or completely abandoning them), 

• slow down when we need to and speed up when we want to, 

• live a deeply nourished life pursuing our passions outside our work,  

• spend time with our loved ones without feeling the pressure of time running out, without feeling tethered to our business’s day to day operations.

journey deeper

If you’d like my support with learning the art of feminine business, you’re welcome to explore working with me in my private coaching program Embodied Businesswoman.

This offering has been designed for sensitive, high-achieving women…

…who are already on the path of entrepreneurship and want to integrate the principles of feminine leadership in the way they share their gifts with the world through their business. 

OR 

…who are currently a part of the corporate world, feeling the inner fire to translate one or more of their skills into a thriving and sustainable business model.

Here’s where you can learn more about this offering and explore the next steps.

related reading

In the current hyper-masculine world that we live in, one of the most underestimated powers of our femininity is our gift of intuition. Commonly believed to be an element of woman’s inner power, the domain of intuition is simply the feminine– the feeling, sensing energy that connects us to the truth, to the ‘right’ answers to our questions. After all, our intuitive wisdom is the language that the Divine essence (spiritual dimension) in our body uses to guide us towards our desires. Read this article to learn how to connect with your intuitive intelligence.