Here’s What I Learned in Season 8: Boundaries, Alignment & Growth

We’ve made it to the end of Season 8—and today, I’m sharing the biggest themes that came up across every conversation I had with this season’s incredible business owners. These aren’t just talking points; they’re real-world lessons from folks who are rewriting the rules of business in ways that actually work for their lives.

From rethinking what success really means, to drawing clear boundaries, to ditching outdated norms in favor of joy, sustainability, and alignment—this episode is packed with the kind of clarity that changes how you move.

This season taught me a lot about how I want to build going forward—and I’m betting it’ll do the same for you.

Inside, I share:

• Why redefining success has become a non-negotiable for me and my clients
• How boundaries aren’t just self-care—they’re a strategy
• What I’ve had to unlearn to make space for a business that feels like mine
• Why connection-first marketing is more effective (and more human) than ever
• The small changes I made that helped me reclaim energy, time, and alignment

What next?

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Say hi!

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Credits:

Intro and Outro Music: Atomic by Alex-Productions |https://onsound.eu/

Music promoted byhttps://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Transcript

Jacki Hayes  00:00

Hey there. Welcome to Here's What I Learned. I'm Jacki Hayes, a system strategist, unapologetic, smutty romantasy lover, Dungeons and Dragons, geek and your no-BS guide to building a business that works for you. This is the place where we swap stories, share lessons, and get real about the highs and lows of creating a life and business that actually feels good. No cookie cutter advice here, just honest conversations about what's working, what's not, and how to rewrite the rules to fit your version of success. So grab your favorite beverage, get comfy, and let's dive in. 

Jacki Hayes  00:45

Hey, there we're at the end of season eight, and today I'm sharing the big themes that kept coming up across conversations with this season's brilliant business owners, and we're going to just dive right on in. The very first theme was redefining success on your terms. A through line this season was pushing back on the default definitions of success. Chelsea Newmyer shared what it meant to her to let go of climbing the corporate ladder in favor of prioritizing time with her family and creative energy for her business. Jayci Trujilio is designing a life first business around future parenthood and her simple joys, like baking sourdough in the middle of the day. And Casey Eade is building slow on purpose, and embracing that slower than I think I should be can be the most sustainable path forward. This really hit home for me, because I realize how often I still measure a good week by how much I got done, not by how I felt doing it. I have an end of the week practice of checking in, and I've started adding a reflection question on whether or not my day felt aligned with how I want to live. That question led me to archive an offer that wasn't giving me that sense of alignment. 

Jacki Hayes  02:08

Here's something that you can do today. Write your own definition of success, not your revenue goal, not your social media reach, but what exactly matters to you right now, stick it somewhere visible and let it guide you on your next big decision. 

Jacki Hayes  02:27

The second theme was, boundaries are a form of strategy. Melody Johnson came back to her business after a 10 month break and rebuilt it around her reality as a parent with two kids with special needs that included redesigning offers, building in communication buffers and normalizing shifting timelines. Tiana Brown shared how surviving a major health crisis changed her relationship to work, emphasizing values aligned sustainable strategies, inspired by emergent strategy, their stories proved boundaries aren't about limits, they're about clarity and care for me, this looked like acknowledging that my brain needs space to think, not just respond. I carved out deep focus blocks in my schedule, updated and deleted event types in tidy Cal and gave myself permission to not explain or justify those shifts, that small change saved me hours of stress and so much context switching. 

Jacki Hayes  03:29

So here's your move today. Choose one boundary you've been avoiding. Maybe it's only taking calls two days a week or pausing new inquiries temporarily, write the email update your booking link, or post the update. Boundaries need to be visible to work. 

Jacki Hayes  03:47

The third theme was unlearning business norms that don't serve you. Becky Mollenkamp invited us to question who gets to define professionalism and how internalized white supremacy shows up in our business. Kirsten Ziegler shared what happens when you stop saying yes out of guilt and start choosing joy, ethics and alignment. Their conversations were a master class in unlearning and in choosing business models that feel like you. This one was a big one for me. I did a mini audit of my systems and realized I was still operating under old rules like fast EMAIL REPLIES equal being reliable. I gave myself permission to shift away from that and set office hours that worked for me and response times that worked for me. Every one of those moves brought me closer to ease. 

Jacki Hayes  04:42

So today, why don't you identify one quote, unquote, should you're carrying? Maybe it's about launch schedules, dress codes, or how you write emails. Replace it with something that actually feels aligned. Just one shift can open up more room than you think. 

Jacki Hayes  05:01

Another theme is building businesses through connection, not conversion. This season was a reminder that human first marketing isn't just nice, it works. Casey Eade is experimenting with intimate, creative collaborations, and Alisia Galati is offering robust free content to meet people where they are not where the funnel tells them they should be. And Bev Feldman is championing consent based email practices, making sure her marketing doesn't just convert it respects. I've been reworking how I think about content, moving from how do I sell to how do I help someone feel seen here. That shift has led to a lot of changes in my email marketing, including offering a chance to pause my emails for 30 days or more. It's not just about selling services. It's about building trust. 

Jacki Hayes  05:55

Your move today, audit one piece of your outreach, an email opt in a DM template, your contact form. Does it prioritize clarity, consent and connection, if not tweak it. Start with just one element and see how it shifts the experience for both of you. So here's what I learned in season eight. You don't need permission to slow down, to say no or to do business differently, but sometimes it helps to hear someone else say it first. These stories reminded me that aligned businesses aren't a static destination. They're living, breathing, things that grow, as we do. If you're building a business around your values, energy and lived reality, I see you, and if you want support. I'm here. 

Jacki Hayes  06:41

Thanks for being part of this season until next time, keep building something that works for you. Thanks for hanging out with me on Here's What I Learned. If today's episode gave you an aha moment, a laugh or something to think about, make sure you're subscribed to my email list. That's where I share even more tips, stories and behind the scenes insights to help you simplify and thrive and remember you get to do business and life your way until next time, keep experimenting, keep simplifying and keep learning.