There is a kind of pattern I see in founders that can quietly drain the business without ever showing up on a spreadsheet.

It is called self-deprivation.

It does not always look obvious. It might look like undercharging. Or holding back on launching something new. Or showing up fully for everyone else while sidelining your own needs.

And the cost of it is not just financial. It is energetic.

When you deprive yourself of love, rest, support, celebration, or even a sense of sufficiency, you are also dimming the light that powers your work.

That light is not just your energy. It is your magnetism. It is the thing that calls in aligned clients and creative flow. It is the heartbeat of your business.

Deprivation slowly erodes that.

Here is how it often shows up in founders I work with:

Disappointment

You tell yourself you are not quite enough. You set impossible standards and then feel defeated when you do not meet them. I worked with someone who restricted food because they tied their worth to their appearance. Deep down, they believed love was conditional. That belief leaked into their business too. They withheld offers. They overthought content. They kept chasing a version of themselves they could never reach.

Devaluing

You downplay your skills and think others deserve success more than you. I had a client who wanted to attract more clients but struggled to claim their authority. They questioned if they had enough experience, even though the evidence said otherwise. That quiet self-doubt repelled the very people they wanted to serve.

Deflection

You push away praise, support, or money. You minimise wins. You tell yourself it was luck. I saw this with someone who brushed off every compliment. They could not let success land, so it kept bouncing off them. Internally, they stayed in lack, even when growth was visible.

Disowning

You avoid owning your voice or leadership. You say it is not the right time, or you are still working on things. Underneath, you are avoiding your own power. I have seen incredible founders hold back from launching their offers, not because they were not ready, but because they did not feel worthy of the attention that would come with it.

So why do we keep doing this?

Because deprivation is familiar. You grow up around it. You tolerate it. You get used to it. And at some point, you even prefer it, because it feels safe.

But safe does not mean aligned.

There is always a tipping point. The moment where something inside says, enough. You do not want to play small anymore. You do not want to run on half-energy anymore. You do not want to keep proving your value by withholding what you truly want.

And when that moment comes, remember this:

Energy follows attention.

If you are focused on what you lack, you will keep recreating it.

But if you can become aware of your patterns, clear the emotional charge behind them, and redirect your attention toward what you want to create, you will feel that shift.

The flow returns. The juju comes back.

You stop dimming your light. And you start leading from it.

Tanya Cross

Leadership Coach & The Coaches’ Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

The Coaches’ Coach (TCC)

Maximum Growth

There are moments in business when it is not just about strategy or scaling. It is about feeling like you cannot breathe. Like you are carrying too much and have nowhere to put it down.

You are trying to show up, lead, build, make good decisions. But underneath that, you feel stuck in emotions you cannot shift. Grief, anxiety, frustration. And the quiet question underneath it all… will this feeling ever end?

Back in 2016, I worked with a woman who felt this way.

She was not a founder yet. Not officially. But the seeds were there. She had lived through domestic violence. She was parenting a newborn on her own. Her self-worth was crumbling. The future felt uncertain.

She reached out because she wanted the pain to stop. She wanted to feel strong again. And more than that, she wanted to be clear on her purpose. She knew she was here for something more, but the weight of what she was carrying was blocking her from accessing it.

We worked together over ten sessions using the Demartini Method.

No hype. No band-aids. Just consistent, grounded work.

Layer by layer, she started to feel herself return. The emotions did not disappear, but they transformed. She started to feel grounded in her own worth again. She stood stronger. She no longer needed her ex or her fear to shape her next step.

And then she came back.

This time, not just to heal. But to build.

She wanted to create a business. One that gave her flexibility. One that allowed her to support others who had walked a similar path. But the fears came too. Fear of not earning enough. Fear of not being valuable enough.

That is where Maximum Growth Academy came in.

She joined. She listened. She stayed close to the work.

She started with just mindset. She was parenting full-time. She still managed to match her pre-baby income. Then we added business classes. She doubled that income. She built something real.

Today, she runs a six-figure business. She chooses her hours. She works with aligned clients. She leads a Facebook group supporting over 300 local women navigating domestic violence recovery.

She has not just built a business. She has built impact.

This is what happens when founders choose to do the inner work while building the outer structure.

It is not about ignoring the emotional weight. It is about transforming it so that you can lead with clarity.

You do not have to build from burnout or push through emotional blocks on your own.

When you are supported by the right tools, the right people, and the right space, you rise. Not with noise, but with quiet strength.

And when you rise, your business rises with you.

Tanya Cross

Leadership Coach & The Coaches’ Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

The Coaches’ Coach (TCC)

Maximum Growth

As founders, we are often in our heads.

Solving problems. Running teams. Planning launches. Holding space for everyone else.

Even our own healing becomes something to manage. Another item to analyse, understand, or fix.

But what if healing is not something to work on?

What if it is something to allow?

Back in 2016, I walked the Camino. It was meant to be a reset, a break from the thinking mind.

One afternoon, I was walking alongside a man named Philippe, listening to an audiobook about healing the mother wound.

It described how some wounds are not resolved by insight or awareness.

They are not always healed through words or being seen.

Sometimes, they are healed by being felt.

Not fixed. Not processed. Simply felt.

So I turned to Philippe and said something unusual.

There is an exercise in this book. It is not romantic. It is just about being held.

Would you hold me?

And he said, “I’ll ask my wife.”

The next day, he came back and said, “She said yes.”

Each evening, after our walks, he would hold me.

No fixing. No talking. No advice.

Just a quiet presence.

And something shifted in me.

Something I did not even know was asking to be felt.

As founders, we carry so much.

We get used to bracing.

To being the strong one.

The capable one.

But under the surface, our nervous systems are often asking for softness.

Not solutions.

Presence.

That moment on the Camino reminded me of this.

And years later, when I was pregnant with my daughter, we were choosing names.

I said to Aaron, “What about Bonnie?”

And he said, “I love it.”

Bonnie was Philippe’s wife. The one who said yes. The one who gave permission for a simple act of kindness that I still carry with me.

Sometimes healing is not a breakthrough or a breakthrough strategy.

Sometimes it is in the moment you let yourself soften.

To be held by something. Or someone.

To stop bracing.

To let your system catch up to your soul.

So if you are building something big right now, I invite you to ask:

What part of me is asking to be felt today?

Not fixed.

Felt.

Tanya Cross

Leadership Coach & The Coaches’ Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

The Coaches’ Coach (TCC)

Maximum Growth

You have created a business. You have a reputation, results, and reach.

But instead of feeling settled, you are quietly second-guessing yourself.

There is a part of you that wonders when someone will figure it out.

Not because you are not qualified, but because a gap has opened between your growth and your self-perception.

This is impostor syndrome in founders.

And it often shows up not at the beginning, but when things are already working.

You might be shifting offers, redefining your role, or preparing to lead in a new way.

On the outside, the business is progressing.

On the inside, you feel the pull of uncertainty.

It sounds like:

• “I built this, but I do not feel like I deserve it.”

• “What if it was just timing or luck?”

• “Everyone else seems more confident than I do.”

If this is resonating, you are not alone.

And you are not doing it wrong.

You are simply at a moment where the next version of you is asking to be claimed.

Let us look at a few of the most common narratives I hear from founders and how to shift them.

“I am not the expert anymore.”

You used to feel sharp in your delivery.

Now you are expanding or shifting your message and feel unsure about how you are positioned.

Instead of owning your evolution, you keep measuring yourself against who you used to be.

Try this:

Let your voice reflect where you are now.

The work has changed.

So has your lens.

That does not make you less of an expert.

It makes you a more embodied one.

“Everyone else has more figured out than me.”

You see other founders scaling, building out teams, launching new things.

And even if you are proud of your own work, you find yourself wondering if you are falling behind.

The comparison kicks in.

And so does the contraction.

Try this:

When you notice the comparison, pause. Then look at what you admire.

If you are drawn to it, it likely reflects something already alive in you even if it is still emerging.

Use it as insight, not as a reason to shrink.

“I do not deserve to be here.”

This one is more than surface doubt.

It is a deeper sense that what you built may not last.

You wonder if people will still want what you offer when you stop pushing.

You are not sure if your presence alone is enough.

Try this:

Ask yourself: “What am I tying my worth to?”

Often, it is old definitions of success. Numbers. External validation. Output.

These stories served you when you were starting out.

Now, they need to be updated.

Impostor syndrome in founders is not about a lack of capability.

It is a misalignment between your inner identity and your outer leadership.

And it tends to appear when you are entering a new phase that requires more of your presence, not just your performance.

You do not need to prove yourself.

You need to meet yourself where you are.

You are already doing the work.

Now it is time to let it reflect who you truly are.

Tanya Cross

Leadership Coach & The Coaches’ Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

The Coaches’ Coach (TCC)

Maximum Growth

Last year, I hit a wall.

After hours of back-to-back coaching sessions on Zoom, I felt it.

Eyes dry. Body locked. Creativity flat.

The work still mattered.

But something in me had shifted.

What once felt like flow now felt like fatigue.

Coaching has always been a kind of current for me.

Alive. Energising. Clear.

But suddenly, I could not feel it anymore.

The current had dried up.

My Body Woke Up. So Did My Business.

I felt movement in my body and momentum in my thinking.
Ideas landed. Conversations deepened.

Everything felt lighter.

I felt like myself again.

Not because I was doing less.

But because I was doing it differently.

Aligned with what my body and brain needed.

Sustainability Looks Different for Everyone

For me, it was a walking phone call.
For you, it might be a shorter workweek, longer breaks, more space in between meetings, or creative time blocked into your calendar.

It does not need to be a dramatic overhaul.

It only needs to be intentional.

Because your business should never cost you your body.

Your nervous system is not a resource to burn through.

And the way you feel in your work matters just as much as the work you are doing.

Build Around Your Life, Not Over It

As founders, we are taught to structure the business first and figure life out around the edges.

But what if we flipped that?

What if your business were built around how you want to feel, live, move, and show up?

What if your systems served your wellbeing instead of your survival?

What if your calendar supported your nervous system instead of pushing it to the edge?

Small Shifts Create Big Alignment

Sometimes the most powerful changes are not loud.

They do not come with a launch.

They come with a walk.

Or a pause.

Or a boundary.

Or a question.

What do I need to stay connected to myself while I build this?

If you are holding space for others, make sure you are also holding space for you.

Because this is not just about how you work.

It is about how you live.

Tanya Cross

Leadership Coach & The Coaches’ Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

The Coaches’ Coach (TCC)

Maximum Growth

To the Founder Who Wants More Than Just a Business

Maybe you’re holding multiple identities too.

Builder. Leader. Partner. Parent. Friend. Caregiver.

And maybe there’s a voice inside that says, You have to choose.

That if you slow down for family, your business will suffer.

That if you rest, you’ll lose your edge.

That if you show up fully in one space, another will slip.

But what if the question isn’t, Can I have it all?

What if the real question is:

What does “all” even mean to me now?

And am I willing to shape my business and life around that even if it looks different from the norm?

So, Founder… Do You Still Believe You Can Have It All?

Not the hustle version.

Not the version that costs your peace.

But the version where you’re present in the life you’ve built.

The one where you stop splitting yourself in two just to keep the plates spinning.

If the answer is yes, then I’m walking this with you.

One aligned step at a time.

Tanya Cross

Maximum Growth

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator
BAppSoSc (Counselling)

The Coaches’ Coach (TCC)

Maximum Growth

Leadership Coach & The Coaches’ Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator
BAppSoSc (Counselling)

The Coaches’ Coach (TCC)

Maximum Growth

Maximum Growth