EP02: Community Engineering and Human Connection

"Entrepreneurship is a personal growth journey," says Lizelle van Vuuren. Lizelle is a force in the Denver Startup Community, she’s founded her own companies, is an advisor and an investor, and now she’s exploring her passion for soccer and her mission to bring professional women's soccer to Denver. On this episode of The Conscious Entrepreneur, Alex Raymond is in conversation with Lizelle about her journey as an entrepreneur and the resilience and inspiration needed to build a successful business. Through her own experiences and reflections, she shares valuable insights on the importance of self-discovery, community engineering, and mental health for entrepreneurs. Key Takeaways: Being an entrepreneur is a long journey that requires resilience and self-awareness. Belonging is a fundamental human need, and creating communities that foster belonging is essential. The entrepreneur's journey is a path of self-discovery, where personal growth and self-awareness are key. Work can be a coping mechanism and an escape, but it's important to find a balance and not tie our self-worth solely to our work. A conscious entrepreneur is someone who has a heightened sense of self-awareness and connection to others, and strives to create impact while also being profitable. Quotes: “What wonderful things have you created, because you have not felt like you belong? And there's millions of people who feel the same. In fact, I think that is really quintessentially a part of the human experience and people want to belong in places and spaces. And I believe that when you belong, when you feel like you belong and you are welcomed into belonging somewhere. It untaps your full human potential. So now people who feel like they belong, whether it's in a tiny startup or a big community or in their school or adversity or in a club or whatever, now they can relax. Our nervous systems kind of take a breath and we can fully show up.” (23:06 | Lizelle van Vuuren) "Now I look at the entrepreneur's journey as an athlete's journey, which is to say, you cannot possibly think that you're going to be an exceptional athlete without training and stretching and eating well and doing the movement, doing the motion, doing the work, doing the exercise, whatever that might be. And it's true for an entrepreneur. You can't possibly imagine that you're going to be your best as an entrepreneur without quite literally sleeping well, eating well, exercising, training, walking, having friends, having a community, maybe going to therapy, unpacking some trauma, like all those kinds of things." (28:58 | Lizelle van Vuuren) "Entrepreneurship is a personal growth journey." (49:58 | Lizelle van Vuuren) "Being an entrepreneur is not a job title. It's not something you do. It's how you are. It's how you behave in the world, how you act in the world. And we need to broaden that conversation so that we're talking about all these things that really add up and that really matter." (55:45 | Alex Raymond) "A conscious entrepreneur is someone who with every fiber in them creates impact for people while attempting to be profitable." (57:21 | Lizelle van Vuuren) Links Connect with Lizelle van Vuuren: Website: https://lizellevanvuuren.com/ Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://consciousentrepreneur.us/ HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.