I made a New Year's Resolution this year -- that Owning Pink would bring abundance into my life and, as a business owner, I would begin to model for many of you in the Owning Pink community how to do well by doing good in the world.

If you’re anything like me -- especially if your business is based on wellness, empowerment, and serving/changing the world -- you probably struggle with this concept. How can you make money when what you’re offering people is like blood, like oxygen? What if people can’t afford what you have to offer the world? Is it ethical to charge money for something people need, especially when you’re gifted serving those needs? How can you withhold your gifts when your gifts transform lives? Can you be a spiritual being and still make money? Can you change the world and still live an abundant life?

These are the questions I’ve been wrestling with for over two years. Which is why I’ve sold my house, liquidated my retirement account, and borrowed $50,000 from my mother to build, grow, and sustain Owning Pink.

But I finally get it.

For over two years, I’ve been struggling to figure out what it means to do well by doing good -- which we’ve been calling “Pink Business.” It’s been a fuzzy thought, mostly because Owning Pink hasn’t really been a business, because a business earns money -- and until last month, we’ve never tried to actually charge anything for the service we’ve been providing to the world all this time.

Doing Good Is Easy

I’ve had the “doing good” part down pat. I’ve been empowering women to own their femininity so they can heal, connect, and thrive. I’ve been writing blog posts that transform lives (as evidenced by the thousands of emails I receive). I’ve been redefining what it means to be a healthy, vital women in the 21^st century. I’ve been inspiring people to follow their dreams. I’ve been demonstrating to women that we can gather together with the intention of healing ourselves and each other -- and magic can happen, every time. I’ve been leading by example, and giving people permission to be unapologetically authentic, transparent, vulnerable, and real. I’ve been playing fairy godmother and helping dreams come true. I’ve been introducing people to other incredible people who are doing well by doing good and leading teleseminars and workshops with them. I’ve been playing matchmaker between people across the globe, connecting women to friends and coaches so they can move forward in their lives.

Doing Well, Not So Much

But the “doing well” part? Not so much.

Because the work I do is so mission-driven and feels so divinely channeled, it has felt almost dirty to even think about money in association with Owning Pink. My work feels more like a ministry than a business, so how can I ask people to pony up the moolah? I was called to medicine, and when I left medicine, I was called to this. I had no problem collecting a hefty salary as a doctor, but somehow this felt different. Not to get all grandiose and compare myself to the big J, but did Jesus ask for money when he was turning five loaves of bread and two fish into food for 5000?

Nope. And neither was I. I was forking over $5000/month of my own money to run a business that wasn’t a business! After selling my house and liquidating my retirement account, I was sitting there, depleted and starting to feel resentful, because I had given everything I had. And I felt a little drained.

A New Year's Resolution

Then I hit a wall. I suddenly realized that I can’t continue to give away my heart and my money. My husband is an artist, I quit my doctor job to do the work I do at Owning Pink, and it’s time to do well by doing good. Period. If money is just an exchange of energy, I needed a transfusion. It’s my turn to receive so I can keep giving.

But this is SO hard for me. I come from a family where charity is valued much more than money. Your value as a person comes from how much you give -- not how much you earn. If anything, wealth is scorned, because if you have a lot of money, you’re probably not helping others enough -- at least that was what I was raised to believe. So I’ve got a lot of old baggage around this issue.

But I realize that these are limiting beliefs that are forms of self-sabotage, and I committed to releasing them. So on New Year's Eve this year, I held a release ritual around my money issues, and my New Year's Resolution -- yup, you guessed it. 2011 is the year I do well by doing good.

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably nodding your head. When you’re driven by a genuine desire to do good in the world, you may lose sight of the fact that you must take care of yourself while you’re taking care of others. It’s a simple fact that you can’t keep hemorrhaging without getting transfused. It has to flow both ways.

So How’s It Going?

It’s happening! Last month, I launched the Get Out Of Your Own Way e-course -- Owning Pink’s first product (*Lissa does a happy dance*). I’m so friggin’proud of this e-course that I can hardly sit still because it’s the culmination of everything I’ve learned about how to get out of your own way and skyrocket into the stratosphere of your dream life. And I’m tempted to give it away to every single person on earth, because I know it’s life-changing. I know it will transform lives, save lives, revolutionize lives. And I don’t want anyone to miss out on it. Because it’s worth having created it if it changes just one life, right? So I should just offer this e-course for free, right?

NO! Wrong answer! Not right.

The Buck Stops Here

I created this product so I could sustain my business. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to keep doing great things in this world. It means simply that I CAN’T keep doing great things in this world unless I put my own oxygen mask on first.

So things are changing. I’ve quit offering free coaching to anyone who crosses my path, and instead, I’ve started drawing strict boundaries between coaching clients who pay me for my awesome Pink Medicine Woman coaching services and the friends/colleagues who want to pick my brain over tea or a hike. I’ve also resisted the urge to give this Get Out Of Your Own Way e-course away to every person I meet who is getting in their own way, even though the do-gooder in me wants to make it accessible to everyone. (Although I am offering a free mini version of it so anyone can benefit from it. You can sign up here.)

Yes, do-gooders are slow to learn that you can’t just give everything away. Not only does it deplete you, it also robs the people you’re trying to help from having the experience of stepping up to the plate and consciously deciding that they’re SO ready for what you have to offer that they’re willing to put up cold, hard cash. By giving everything away, I’ve been doing my readers and fans a disservice, in some ways, by failing to let them take responsibility for their actions, for not inviting them to go deeper with me and support me while I support them.

I’ve lacked faith, really. I’ve been afraid that what I have to offer might not actually be worth much.

But that’s bunk. I’m the shit. And so are you.

I’ve finally decided to keep my heart cracked wide open but close down the hemorrhage of money, energy, and time I’ve been flowing out there in the world without taking care of myself and my family.

And it’s working! For the first month ever, Owning Pink earned money (WOOT!). And even though it required navigating the concept of authentic marketing in a somewhat painful way, I waded through the muck and came out smiling.

In the process, something clicked. And suddenly, I get it. You can do well by doing good. You can be what I’m going to call a “heartpreneur,” someone who runs a heart-centered (aka PINK) business, who changes the world, and actually profits.

Does this sound familiar? Are you ready to be a heartpreneur? I’m going to write a whole series about this topic as I learn my own personal lessons, so sign up for my newsletter and let’s keep in touch.

Tell us your stories! Are you so good at doing good that you forget to do well? Do you lack confidence in your ability to get paid what you’re worth? Do you give your gifts, goods, and services away because you want to change the world?

Let’s chat about this, my friends, because this is BIG. Let’s rally to support each other as we stand for what we deserve and learn to change the world while we lift ourselves up in the process.

Trusting we can all do it,

Lissa

Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder of OwningPink.com, Pink Medicine Woman coach, motivational speaker, and author of What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax.