Building a Business That Heals: Rewiring Success for Your Nervous System
- Aug 18, 2025
- 3 min read
By Courtney Shrum, LMHC
In 2017, I woke up again feeling drained, frustrated, and completely out of sync. My life was consumed by long hours in the tech industry, helping companies make money while my own well-being felt as if it was slowly slipping through my fingers. The 3-hour daily commutes, the relentless grind, it all felt like a never-ending loop. And one morning, it hit me: this isn’t my life. I hated it.
That moment of realization sparked a major pivot in my life. I began focusing on the things that truly made me feel alive, and started by going back to school where I learned how our bodies work, break, and heal. But the more I learned, the more I realized something vital: healing isn’t just about muscles and movement. It’s about understanding how trauma, stress, and survival adaptations show up physically in our bodies. And it became clear to me that in order to heal, we needed a space that respected our biology, a space that isn’t just built around grind culture.
A Culture Built on Hustle: The Price We Pay
We live in a world that celebrates productivity above all else. We’re taught from a young age that the more we do, the more valuable we are. Hustle culture is everywhere, and we’ve internalized it so deeply that we ignore the warning signs our bodies are constantly sending. Things like chronic illnesses, migraines, or exhaustion. These are our bodies' desperate attempts to communicate with us, but instead of listening, we push through. We keep grinding until our bodies break down, pathologizing our own survival in a system that wasn’t designed to support our biology.
When I hit my breaking point in tech, I realized that what I needed wasn’t just a career change, it was a complete reevaluation of how I worked and lived. The more I worked in a system that demanded constant productivity, the more I lost touch with my own well-being. That’s when I decided that I needed to build something that worked with my nervous system,
not against it. I wasn’t going to survive in a world that didn’t support my biology, so I pivoted toward entrepreneurship and a career that would allow me to honor my body’s signals while still doing meaningful work.
Creating a Job that Works for Your Nervous System
When I transitioned into mental health, I didn’t just learn new techniques I also lived them. I wasn’t just offering clients advice; I was living the experience of nervous system regulation in real time. Studying Kinesiology and earning my master’s in Mental Health Counseling allowed me to understand the body-mind connection on a deeper level. But it was in my own therapy work that I learned how crucial it is to listen to my body and honor its needs.
Being an entrepreneur and opening my own private practice allowed me to integrate those practices into my daily life. I could create a schedule that allowed for rest when I needed it, structure my business around balance instead of burnout, and set boundaries that kept me grounded. This wasn’t possible in my previous career, where the expectations were based on constant hustle and output. I realized that if I was going to help others heal, I had to first honor my own need for healing, and that meant creating a job that worked with my nervous system.
The Entrepreneurial Shift: Healing and Sustainability
More and more entrepreneurs are waking up to the reality that their biology plays a significant role in their business success. We’re moving away from a culture of burnout and exhaustion as badges of honor and embracing a new paradigm, one where nervous system literacy, trauma-informed leadership, and cyclical creativity are becoming the cornerstones of sustainable success.
This shift isn’t just about avoiding burnout, it’s about creating a job that respects and nurtures your well-being. Entrepreneurs are starting to realize that they don’t have to push themselves to the brink of exhaustion to be successful. By tuning into their nervous systems, setting clear boundaries, and integrating healing practices into their businesses, they can create companies that are not only profitable but deeply fulfilling.
The Future of Entrepreneurship: Healing and Success
The future of entrepreneurship lies in understanding that success doesn’t have to come at the cost of our health. By recognizing the connection between our biology and our business models, we can create sustainable success that supports both our personal well-being and our professional goals. Entrepreneurs who embrace nervous system regulation and trauma-informed leadership are not only building businesses, they’re shaping a new way of working that honors our humanity.
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