Meet Larissa Russell

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Larissa Russell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Larissa below.

Larissa, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

There was a time when I believed pushing was the only way, if it was hard push harder. One foot in front of the other, but that only brought me depression and anxiety. I didn’t feel optimistic, I felt burdened. But I kept going because I had people who counted on me, whether it was my boss, my spouse, my kids, my friends. I kept going because they all needed me to.

Until, one day when I couldn’t anymore. I was hospitalized for severe depression, and suicidal ideation, and then released less then 12 hours later in the middle of the night. As I was walking home (45 min walk at 1:30 am) I was exhausted, I was done. I went to bed because I knew I had to explain myself and I was too tired to do anything that night.

Something shifted in me that night, I woke up and realized that I couldn’t count on the system, I couldn’t count on my parents who had abandoned me, I couldn’t count on others, I had to count on myself for myself.

I chose to live, I chose me. I started journaling, and then painting, and exploring deeply what I was feeling and why. It took time, I wasn’t ‘cured’ overnight, but I took a step forward and each day I chose to take another step.

I had been through incredible traumas in my life and I had survived them all, but now I chose to take that resilience and instead of surviving I chose to thrive.

I continue to explore deeply, put myself first, and am a much better support to others because I do so.

I choose every day to be optimistic about what is coming. I choose to think positive thoughts. It doesn’t mean I never have negative thoughts, but I now am able to notice them, challenge them, and reframe them.

We are what we believe. I believe I offer value to the world, and I choose to live my life in the most positive way possible for me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am Larissa Russell, founder of Heart-Centered Academy. I help women use feminine energy to build and grow their heart-centered online businesses and bring more self-awareness to their life, and healing journey.

What I have found for myself, and other women with heart-centered businesses is that we are not comfortable with the typical masculine energy business models. The push, the hustle, the manipulative marketing tactics. But, it is the way we have been taught in our world. So to do it differently we need to find out what is best for us. How we want to move through the world and share our purpose.

To figure out what works best for us we have to do the healing work to step out of the masculine energy ways we have been taught. We do this by embracing feminine energy practices such as creativity, collaboration, self-care, intuition, connection to earth, and our own spiritual practices.

At Heart-Centered Academy we blend coaching, art-therapy practices, coworking/body doubling, and practical business strategies together to invite women to reconnect with their inner wisdom, strength, and break through limiting beliefs and move forward to build sustainable businesses that feed their soul.

Whether through our Aligned Business Building Mastermind, our Empowered Living Program or any of our other workshops and offerings we invite women to create a business that supports them as a whole, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and provide them with the tools they need to live their best lives.

The work we do is transformational, not just the business growth but in how women begin to value themselves, find their voice, and stand in their power. It’s about thriving without burning out, succeeding without selling out, and being a part of a community of women on a path of empowerment.

One of the things I feel has shifted the way we do things the most is our Seasonal Planning Framework. We have moved away from the typical masculine energy yearly quarters to using the energy of the seasons. Each season has a different energy that can help you stay in the flow of your own energy patterns. We also incorporate the monthly moon energies, beginning with setting our monthly intentions with the New Moon. This one change alone can shift how you move with your business.

Our Empowered Living Program is another shift that helps all women whether you have a business or not. It is rooted in the daily practices that many systems use such as the Miracle Morning or Tony Robbins’ Priming but with a special focus on divine feminine energies. Every weekday morning we come together to set our day up for success with meditation, journaling, gratitude, intention setting, calendar planning, and visualization. And, that is just the start of it.

The Aligned Business Building Mastermind incorporates all the practices we share including our Empowered Living Program, daily coworking/body-doubling sessions, creative practices, coaching, seasonal planning, and so much more. The women can choose to attend one or all the sessions as it fits their needs and schedules.

Our Aligned Ambitions: Women’s Entrepreneurial Wisdom Show that we currently host on YouTube shares how other women are also doing things differently. How it is okay to step out of the box we have been put in by the society we live in, and how we can thrive well doing so.

I want women to know that there is another way to do business, and life, one that is soul-aligned, supportive, and deeply fulfilling.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I would say that the three most impactful qualities in my journey to where I am today were self-awareness, resilience, and intuition.

Self-Awareness has been my life’s journey and the foundation for everything that I share. Knowing who I am, what I value, and how I want to show up in the world has helped me build a business that feels aligned instead of exhausting. I have also realized that as I have explored more about who I am I have learned more about others which is the foundation of the work I do.

For anyone just starting out or even if you have already started, but are feeling stuck or unsure of how to move forward, I recommend creating regular practices like journaling, meditation, visualization, or simply quiet time to reflect. Your business will grow stronger the more clearly you know yourself.

Resilience has carried me through all the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and life. Things rarely go as planned, but knowing where I was headed allowed me to take all the detours thrown at me and still stay on course. Life has not been easy, nor was building and growing my business, but my resilience, that ability to bounce back and try again has kept me going to where I am today and will continue to take me to where I see myself in the future.

If you feel like things are hard, they probably are, but you just find a new way to get to where you want to go. Remember to check in with yourself to see if you are heading in the right direction for you, or if someone or society as a whole has laid out a path you think you need to follow. Being on the wrong path will make things much harder, tune into what your path is and things will become easier, but if you hit road blocks find a way to tunnel under,or through or climb over. You are capable of amazing things.

Intuition has been my guide through everything, when I forget to listen I end up wandering off my path. When I listen, the path unfolds before me. When I stopped trying to do business the way others said I “should” and started listening inward, everything shifted. One of the things I have often done that has veered me off course is to see what is ahead and then run towards that end. We need to keep checking in, along the way, as we don’t always know the path we ‘need’ to take. That is why we often end up having to redo, relearn, and refocus. The more I check in or just pay attention to what comes up for me, and follow the path right before me, the easier and more aligned I become.

Practice tuning into what you are feeling, what you are sensing. Your intuition will never steer you wrong, but your brain will. Your brain is hardwired to keep you safe, and it doesn’t know the difference between stepping in front of a bus and trying something new. It wants to stop you. Pay attention to what you feel, what is that first response that pops in, where do you feel it in your body? Now, just because your intuition will never steer you wrong doesn’t mean you will always like where it steers you. Allow yourself to follow the path of your intuition, in the end you will be happy and more aligned than ever before.

Together, these three qualities have helped me build not just a business, but a life that feels whole, meaningful, and true to who I am.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I could never name just one person, every person I have encountered in my life has made an impact in one way or another. Everything that has happened to me has made me who I am today. Would I have chosen an easier path? Absolutely, but I would not be the same person if I had had an easier life. I have had many obstacles in my life, most of them put there by the people who were meant to be there for me, support me and help me along the way.

What I have had and continue to have is community, groups of people who have been there for me, whether it was friends in school or work, spiritual groups, business community, or those who had similar interests. They have all shaped me into who I am today.

It has not been one community, it has been many. I learned from those communities what I will and will not allow for myself, I have learned boundaries, and how strong I am. I can see the evolution of the communities I was a part of and my own evolution and growth. My communities years ago were very different from those I have now.

I now surround myself with strong women who are on similar paths, who celebrate me, but also push me and give me space to be who I am. We are all unique individuals, surround yourself with people who celebrate that about you.

So, while I can’t point to just one name, I can say with full certainty, I am made up from all the people who have journeyed with me whether through positive impact or less positive. And for that, I’m deeply grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.heartcentered.academy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/heartcacademy/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HeartCAcademy/
• Other: We do not support Meta or Musk, and have chosen to stop using IG, FB, and left Twitter before it became X.
  Our Community on Heartbeat: https://app.heartbeat.chat/creativeu/invitation?code=J24CC9
  These are different shows we have on YouTube;
  Connection with Spirit on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF3Ggc4TudQwM7H-N6m9541s71RM7cIhO
  Aligned Ambitions on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF3Ggc4TudQww3UZad03fOcXLpeu0SNtc
  Divine Feminine Spirit on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF3Ggc4TudQxiWFnq1AFg6-WUkDpAehbl
  Wisdom Meets Innovation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wisdominnovation

Image Credits

Heart-Centered Academy