When Business Strategy Becomes Religion

When Business Strategy Becomes Religion

I opened my inbox yesterday morning and found myself caught in the crossfire of a philosophical war that I was aware existed - but to see it play out so clearly right in my face was jarring - to say the least.

Two emails. Same day. Both from 7-figure entrepreneurs whose work I genuinely respect. Both incredibly successful women who have built impressive businesses and according to each one- have helped thousands of people.

And they were both saying the exact opposite thing about how the rest of us should be building ours.

Let’s dive in.

The first email landed around 10 AM. The subject line promised insights about why I don't actually hate the things I think I hate in business. (Bold of her to assume.) The coach wrote with conviction about how we don't really want to stop live launching - we're just carrying old shame and limiting beliefs around selling. Heal the relationship to those activities, she suggested, and watch all that resistance magically disappear.

Sounds logical, and for some this might be the problem/solution. But the problematic piece was that there was this underlying current throughout the entire message that funnels and automation are somehow for people who want to hide from the real, authentic work of human connection.

The second email showed up three hours later. This coach preached an entirely different gospel. She wrote about how we've been systematically programmed to believe that struggling somehow equals virtue. That choosing the difficult (showing up daily) path over the easier automated one is more noble, more feminine, more authentic. That we've turned our exhaustion into our favorite accessory and convinced ourselves it means we're dedicated rather than admitting we're just working harder than we need to.

Again - it sounds logical and for some this might be the problem/solution. The problematic piece is that some women truly love to show up daily, and are designed to do so. Why shame them for doing what is correct for them.

Both messages were well-written. Both came from genuine places. Both were trying to help their audiences break free from what they saw as limiting patterns.

And both completely contradicted each other.

I sat there staring at my screen for a while, trying to process what I was reading.

These are both intelligent, successful women. They've both built multi-million dollar businesses. They both have devoted followers who swear by their approaches. They're both getting results for their clients.

So how could they be having such completely different conversations about the same fundamental question?

I almost deleted both emails and moved on with my day. I really do prefer staying in my own lane. It's quieter here. More peaceful. Most days, I let people do their thing and I do mine.

But something about these particular messages made me pause.

Not because they were wrong - I don't think either of them was completely wrong. But because they were incomplete, misaligned and assumptive in ways that could actually cause harm to the women reading them.

Here's the thing about having a platform, especially in the business coaching space. People listen to what you say. They trust your perspective because you've gotten results they want.

They look to you for guidance when they're feeling stuck or confused about their next steps.

So when you tell someone who's genuinely exhausted and ready for systems support that their desire for automation is just unhealed trauma around visibility, they might spend the next six months in therapy trying to fix something that doesn't actually need fixing. They'll keep forcing themselves to show up and sell when what they really need is to build something that works without their constant input.

And when you tell someone who genuinely thrives on live connection and real-time interaction that their preference for organic launching is just conditioning and they need funnels to reach true success, they might spend months forcing themselves to build systems that feel cold and mechanical and completely disconnected from what lights them up.

Both scenarios can cause real damage when these approaches are presented as universal truths rather than options that work well for certain types of people in certain circumstances.

The first coach was right that shame and limiting beliefs can absolutely block people from taking action in their businesses. But that is just one possibility and she was wrong to assume that everyone who wants to step back from constant live launching is operating from that place.

The second coach was absolutely right that some people are burning themselves out trying to prove their dedication when they could be working smarter instead of harder. But she was wrong to assume that everyone who prefers live launching and organic growth is just stuck in martyrdom patterns.

The entire industry has turned business strategy into competing religions.

You pick your deity - Live Launching or Automated Funnels, Organic Growth or Paid Advertising, Masculine Strategy or Feminine Flow - and then you defend your choice as if it's the only path to salvation. You gather with fellow believers in Facebook groups and masterminds where you reinforce each other's beliefs and shake your heads at the poor souls who haven't seen the light yet.

You create content that positions your way as the evolved approach and subtly (or not so subtly) suggests that people who choose differently are either uninformed or stuck in old patterns.

But here's what nobody seems to want to acknowledge: business strategy isn't theology. It's architecture.

And different people require completely different business models.

Some women are genuinely energized by live launching. They come alive when they're connecting with their audience in real time, reading the energy of the room, adjusting their message based on who shows up and what questions they ask. They love the spontaneity and the human connection and the collaborative feeling of building something together with their community. Taking that away from them would be like asking a jazz musician to only ever play from sheet music.

Other women have given everything they have to showing up constantly and are genuinely ready for systems that can work while they sleep. They want to create something once and have it serve many people over time. They desire the kind of business that doesn't require their constant attention and input to survive and thrive. They want to wake up to sales from work they did months ago.

And MOST women are actually designed for some combination of both - maybe quarterly live launches supported by evergreen systems, or maybe automated nurture sequences that lead to live connection points, or maybe something completely different that honors both their need for human connection and their desire for sustainable growth.

None of these preferences are wrong. None of them are more evolved than the others. They're just different approaches that work better for different types of people with different designs and different life circumstances.

The conversation we need to have is so much richer and more nuanced than just “pick a team” and be 100% about that and nothing else.

This is exactly why I don't start with tactics when I work with clients. I don't begin by asking whether they want to build funnels or prefer live launching. I start with their Human Design chart. Their energetic blueprint shows me exactly how they're designed to operate in the world - how they make decisions, how they best use their energy, how they're designed to connect with others, what kind of environment supports their highest expression.

Then we build the business model around that truth instead of trying to force them into a framework that worked for someone else with a completely different design.

Maybe you're designed for consistent daily connection and would actually wither with too much automation because you need that human interaction to stay inspired and motivated.

Maybe you're designed for powerful bursts of creation followed by periods of integration and rest, and trying to show up consistently every day is actually working against your natural rhythm.

Maybe you're designed to build systems that can serve thousands of people while you focus your personal energy on deep work with a select few.

Maybe you thrive on the energy of live launching but you also need systems running in the background to support you between launches.

Maybe you love creating content but you need automation to handle the follow-up and nurturing because that part drains you.

Maybe you're incredible at building relationships but you need someone else to handle the technical systems because that's not in your zone of genius.

The goal isn't to fit you into a proven framework that worked for someone else. The goal is to build a framework around how you're actually designed to work so that your business becomes an extension of your natural gifts rather than something you have to force yourself to do.

I also thought about something that seems relevant here.

Walmart serves millions of customers every day through efficiency, convenience, and low prices. They've built their entire business model around making products accessible to as many people as possible through streamlined systems and processes.

LVMH serves a much smaller number of customers through luxury experiences, exclusivity, and craftsmanship. They've built their business model around creating desire through scarcity and providing an elevated experience for people who can afford to pay premium prices.

Both companies generate approximately $20 billion in annual revenue through completely different approaches to serving their markets.

You've never seen Walmart run an advertising campaign shaming Louis Vuitton customers for their shopping choices. You've never seen Hermès create content about how people who shop at Target are just stuck in scarcity mindset and need to heal their relationship with money.

They understand something that the business coaching world seems to have forgotten: there are multiple viable paths to the same destination. Different approaches work for different markets, and there's room for all of them to coexist and thrive.

The success of one approach doesn't invalidate the others. The fact that funnels work incredibly well for some people doesn't mean that live launching is outdated. The fact that some people build amazing businesses through consistent organic content doesn't mean that paid advertising is evil or inauthentic.

Which brings me back to those two emails and why they bothered me so much.

It wasn't that either coach was wrong about their core message. It was that both were presenting their approach as if it were the only enlightened path forward, and subtly suggesting that people who chose differently were either uninformed or stuck in limiting patterns.

The first coach positioned her anti-funnel stance as more authentic and connected, implying that people who want automation are just afraid of being seen. The second coach positioned her pro-funnel stance as more evolved and sustainable, implying that people who prefer live launching are just addicted to struggle.

Both were using shame as a motivator, even while claiming to be against shame-based marketing.
Both were making their potential clients wrong for having different preferences and needs.
Both were missing the opportunity to have a more nuanced conversation about how different approaches work for different people in different circumstances.

The real question isn't which tactic deserves your devotion or which approach is more evolved. The real question is: What combination of live elements, automation, systems, and personal involvement creates both the business results you want and the lifestyle you actually desire to live?

What honors both your need for human connection and your need for sustainable growth? What allows you to share your gifts in a way that feels authentic and also builds something that can serve people even when you're not actively working?

What takes advantage of your natural strengths and energy patterns instead of requiring you to constantly push against your design?

That answer is going to be different for every single person asking the question. And that's exactly as it should be.

Your business gets to be built around your design, your life, your values, your energy patterns, your strengths, and your desires. Not around someone else's idea of what success should look like or what methods are most evolved.

If you've been trying to force yourself into someone else's proven method and wondering why it feels so difficult or draining or disconnected from who you are, consider this: Maybe the method wasn't designed for someone like you.

Maybe the problem isn't your execution or your mindset or your level of commitment. Maybe the problem is that you're trying to build something that doesn't actually fit the way you're designed to operate in the world.

And maybe it's time to stop trying to fix yourself and start building something that actually works with your energy instead of against it.