CEO Mama Newsletter: 27th Edition

Hey ,

Let’s be honest - joy can feel like a fluffy word. Something you scoff at dismissively.

Especially when you’re buried in logistics, deadlines, spreadsheets, school pickups, Slack pings, and the ten tabs open in your brain.

For ambitious women, joy is often treated like the garnish, not the main dish.
It’s something you get to after the real work is done.
After the launch. After the laundry. After everyone else’s needs are met.

Even then, it can feel…guilt-tinged. Rushed. Like you're not sure you’ve earned it.

And that’s if you ever even get there at all.

Many of us don’t because we’ve been in survival mode for so long we don’t even know what joy would look like. It feels distant. Abstract. Like something meant for another version of us, in another season of life.

But here’s the thing most of us were never taught:

Joy isn’t extra. It’s essential.

Not just for your well-being, but for your leadership.

Because somewhere deep in the body is the belief:

I haven’t done enough yet to fully enjoy this.

So joy gets delayed. Deferred. Earned in pieces.
The moment of celebration is cut short because there’s already something else to do.
The thing that brings life gets squeezed into a leftover hour on Sunday night.
The pleasure is there… but it’s measured. Monitored. Managed.

And it’s not because we don’t want to feel joy.
It’s because our nervous system is wired for survival, not receiving.

There’s always been something more urgent to focus on.
Something more useful to pour energy into.
Something more productive to prove our value.
Something more critical to just keep up…or keep someone else alive.

But the cost of that wiring is immense.
Because without access to joy, there’s no access to fullness.
And without fullness, life becomes hollow. Brittle. Unsustainable.

So, what if joy isn’t the cherry on top…but the signal that you’re in alignment?
What if your capacity for joy is a direct reflection of how much expansion your system can actually hold?
Not in theory, but in felt reality.

Because joy doesn’t just feel good.
It rewires you.
It softens the body’s default pattern of bracing.
It widens your window of tolerance for success, visibility, and intimacy.
It teaches the nervous system how to hold more without fear.

Joy is capacity-building.
And in a world that told women to chase productivity and call it purpose, reclaiming joy is not indulgent. It’s radical.

This isn’t about pleasure for pleasure’s sake.
It’s about recognizing that joy is information.
It shows you where energy wants to flow.
It reveals where aliveness lives in your body.

And when joy is present, so is clarity. So is creativity. So is power.

The question isn’t: How can I earn joy?
It’s: How can I let joy lead?

When you build from obligation, everything eventually breaks.
But when you build from joy, everything expands.

Your brand becomes more magnetic.
Your content hits deeper.
Your decisions are clearer because they’re coming from wholeness, not urgency.

This is who people actually want to follow:
A leader who is well.
A woman who is vibrant.
Not someone who did everything right and ended up hollow.

When joy is in the system, it’s felt in the work.
And the ripple is undeniable.

Before you can practice joy though, you have to know what it even looks like for you, in this season.

This is deep, but important self-inquiry work:
What actually feels joy-giving right now?
Not what used to.
Not what you wish did.
Not what Instagram says should.
But what truly feels life-giving in your body, right now.

Notice what comes up. It might be small. It might surprise you. It might be something you haven’t let yourself admit.

Let this be a practice of remembering.

Then, start noticing where you're still making joy conditional.
Where joy is earned, rather than allowed.
Where you cut off pleasure the moment it feels too good or lasts too long.

Let the nervous system recalibrate:
Joy is safe.
Joy is allowed.
Joy is useful.

Because it is.

This week, track the moments you resist joy. Things like:

• When a compliment lands and you deflect.

• When something feels good and you move on too quickly.

• When you reach a milestone but rush into the next task instead of letting yourself celebrate.

Then try this - take 10 minutes to do something that brings joy for no reason.

Not because you were productive.
Not because you finished the task.
Not because someone else gave you permission.

Then ask:

What would change if joy wasn’t a luxury, but a leadership strategy?

What if joy is the signal that I’m on the right path?

Now let that be your compass.

P.S. Inside the CEO Mama Membership, this is the kind of conversation we’re having every single week. Not just how to scale your business, but how to do it with systems that support your joy, not suppress it. If you’ve been craving more alignment, more capacity, and more women who just get it, apply here to join us next round. We’re building differently.