Story & Lesson Highlights with Shauna Van Mourik

We recently had the chance to connect with Shauna Van Mourik and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Shauna, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Lately, I’ve been finding deep joy in the simple, grounding things like reading and being outdoors. I’ve always been a bit of a bibliophile (give me the feel of a real book any day!), but I’ve recently started learning to enjoy the rhythm of audiobooks too. It’s been surprisingly lovely, especially when I’m multitasking or taking long walks. There’s something magical about getting lost in someone else’s world while tending to your own.

Speaking of tending… gardening has become a soul-nourishing ritual for me. Whether I’m planting, pruning, or gently reminding my kids not to “accidentally” sword fight with the bean stalks, there’s this unruly joy in getting my hands dirty. We spend a lot of time outside: walking, hiking, harvesting, and occasionally climbing trees like the little forest hooligans we are. It’s playful, a little chaotic, and exactly the kind of magic I want more of in my life.

These small, earthy joys are helping me slow down, reconnect with presence, and model something really meaningful for my family: that rest, play, and curiosity are just as important as ambition.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I work primarily with coaches, therapists, and purpose-driven entrepreneurs who are tired of chasing marketing trends that don’t fit. Instead, I help them get clear on their messaging, refine their brand identity, and implement marketing strategies that actually feel good, so they can attract dream clients, grow their income, and make an impact without burning out.

What makes my work unique is that it blends deep psychology, rebellious creativity, and grounded strategy. I have a strong background in the human condition (hello, neurodivergence and emotional nuance!) and I use that to cut through surface-level fluff. My clients often say, “You just get me”—and that’s the point. We get to the heart of who they are and translate that into messaging that lands, systems that work, and confidence that lasts.

Right now, I’m speaking on stages, running my podcast (Marketing Rebels: Breaking Business Barriers), and supporting my community through done-for-you services, coaching programs, and a growing suite of AI-enhanced tools. It’s all part of my mission to help women in business ditch performative marketing and reclaim their voice, because your brand shouldn’t feel like a mask you wear. It should feel like home.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be,
I was the barefoot kid with dirt under her nails and stories in her head.
The one who organized backyard “clubs,” built empires from old skids under the breezy Willows out back, and asked way too many questions.

I was curious. Sensitive. Loud. Quiet. Imaginative. Deep.
I wanted to create, connect, and understand why things are the way they are.
And I wanted to change what didn’t make sense.

Somewhere along the way, I was told to tone it down. To be more polite. More practical. Less intense.
And I tried—like so many of us do.
But the truth is: that kid never left.

She just learned to speak grown-up.

Today, I get to bring her back to the table through my work.
Helping other women peel off the layers of “should” and “supposed to” so they can build businesses—and lives—that feel like themselves.
Messy. Magical. And unapologetically human.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
If we’re being real? I think every entrepreneur feels like giving up at some point—probably more than once… a week (sometimes).

For me, it wasn’t one single dramatic moment of defeat. It was the quieter, harder ones.

The mornings I’d open my laptop with a pit in my stomach. The nights I’d stare at the ceiling, wondering if all this effort was ever going to work. The moments when a client canceled, a launch flopped, or something totally outside of my control cracked the foundation I was trying so hard to build.

Those days feel like hydras; cut off one head of doubt or fear, and three more grow in its place.
Am I cut out for this? Should I just go get a ‘real’ job? Is it always going to feel this hard?

Entrepreneurship asks a lot of you. It’s not just about running a business, it’s about facing yourself, your patterns, your wounds, your expectations, your energy… on repeat. But in every “I can’t do this” moment, there’s also this quiet whisper: Yes, you can. You already are.

What’s kept me going isn’t blind hustle or motivational memes. It’s the deep knowing that what I’m building matters. That my clients aren’t just clients; they’re brave, brilliant changemakers who need a different kind of support. And that I am allowed to rest, to pivot, to be imperfect… but I’m not willing to disappear.

So yeah, I’ve wanted to give up… But I’ve also wanted freedom, purpose, creativity, and legacy.
And every time I choose to stay, to fight for my dream just one more day… It gets a little easier to believe I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes… and also, not the entire me.

What you see online—on my podcast, in my content, in my client calls—is deeply real.
The values? Real.
The passion? Real.
The nerdy metaphors, marketing rants, random Taylor Swift references, and late-night aha moments? Also real.

But like most humans (especially women, especially neurodivergent ones, especially entrepreneurs doing all the things), I’m multi-layered.

The public version of me is curated… not in a fake or filtered way, but in a focused one. I show up as the version of me who can hold space. Who can coach. Create. Communicate. The one who’s worked hard to build a business that helps other brilliant minds do the same.

But that version doesn’t always get to share the mess behind the magic… The overstimulation. The mom guilt. The quiet fear that I’m “too much” and “not enough” in the same breath. The pressure to show up even when I’m unraveling quietly off-screen.

So yes, I’m real… but I’m also learning when to be raw, and when to protect parts of myself that need gentleness, not performance.

I’m not interested in pretending to be perfect. I’m interested in being human.

And if my content, or my coaching, or my brand can give someone else permission to be their full self, too? Then I’m showing up exactly how I’m meant to.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
When I can lose myself in the moment—fully immersed in the now.

It might look like barefoot gardening while the sun warms my shoulders…
Or getting tangled in tree branches with my kids, laughing without keeping track of time.
It might be painting without a plan. Scribbling thoughts in a notebook.
Reading a story that swallows me whole.
Dreaming up new worlds while sipping tea I forgot I made.

Peace finds me when I’m creating without pressure. When I’m not chasing a goal or performance, just present. Whether I’m doing something profound or absolutely nothing at all, the common thread is presence. Imagination. Aliveness.

That’s what peace feels like to me: Not a perfectly curated moment… But the freedom to exist as I am, in motion or stillness, without needing to be anywhere else.

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