Meet Elizabeth Wallace | Life Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Wallace and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Honestly? The hill I’ll die on is that most of the problems we’re seeing in the world right now stem from the fact that we were never taught how to navigate our internal world—our emotions, bodily sensations, and thoughts. Society has conditioned us to prioritize intellect over emotion, treating feelings as annoying obstacles rather than essential information. But emotions aren’t liabilities; they’re our built-in guidance and communication system, signaling when we’re aligned with our values, when our boundaries are crossed, or when something needs attention.

The problem is, it’s been ingrained in us that chasing external success—grades, promotions, money, achievements lands us with all the trappings of a “good life” on paper but when you look around, so many people feel unsatisfied, overworked and exhausted. My work as a coach changes that. I help people understand and take charge of their internal world so they can experience life with more clarity, ease, and joy. The work I do with clients is about creating a useable manual for their internal world—so instead of just “looking successful” on the outside, you actually feel good on the inside. What’s cool is, yes, each person actually enjoys the EXPERIENCE of life more after developing these skills, but ultimately, when people feel good and have a better grasp of how to manage their insides, they’re more kind to one another, more open, more connected and more RESILIENT.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At its core, my coaching business is about one thing: helping people feel better in their day-to-day lives by understanding and navigating their internal world—emotions, bodily sensations, and thoughts. What sets my work apart is the depth of this approach. Instead of focusing solely on mindset shifts or external strategies, I help my clients develop a personalized “user manual” for their internal world, so they can regulate their emotions, reduce stress, and make choices that align with their values.

Many people—especially high-achievers—have been taught to override their emotions in pursuit of success. But when you ignore your internal world, even the most outwardly “successful” life can feel unfulfilling. My work bridges that gap, helping clients not only look successful but feel good inside their own lives.

I’m most proud of the seemingly insignificant changes in my clients’ lives that are actually huge to them. When someone tells me they didn’t blow up at their mom for crossing yet another boundary, and instead managed their own emotions and responded in a way they were proud of — that’s everything. Or when someone tells me that they finally stopped staying up way too late doom scrolling then waking up feeling terrible and yelling at themselves– I feel proud of that. It’s all these micro moments that individually seem like no big deal that add up to a wholly different life.

Right now, I’m particularly excited about expanding my work to reach more people. Typically I only work 1:1 with clients, but I’m launching a new group called Emotional Activism this spring that specifically helps people manage their emotions so they can stop being so activated and burned out and instead increase their emotional capacity so they can show up for the things they care about. It feels like there’s a movement happening—people are realizing that emotional wellbeing and resilience isn’t just “self-care,” it’s the foundation for a meaningful, engaged life – and I’m jazzed to be a part of it.

When I started, I had to unlearn a lot of the traditional “success metrics” I had internalized. I had to trust that doing work I deeply believe in was enough, even if it didn’t follow a linear, corporate trajectory. I had to re-work my idea of what being ‘productive’ meant and radically revise my own internal dialogue.

The hardest part was learning how to balance building a business with honoring my own nervous system. It’s easy to slip into hustle mode and forget to practice the very principles I teach. I overcame this by leaning into the work for myself first—regulating my own emotions, prioritizing joy, and redefining success on my terms. The most important part of my being able to do this was to decide early on that I wasn’t WILLING to have a business that felt like my old 9-5 jobs. I always tell myself that if the work I’m doing and how I’m doing it is not interesting, exciting and FUN then I know I’ve got to change how I’m doing things. I’m also a mom of a toddler, so I’ve had to reevaluate the bounds of my business to ensure I have strong mental, emotional and logistical boundaries.

A few lessons I’ve learned along the way:

1. Sustainable success starts with self-trust. No one has your exact vision, so you have to trust yourself before others do. That means developing the skills to drop down below what your busy brain is yelling at you to do, and listen to what your gut says.

2. Your nervous system is your biggest business asset. Burnout doesn’t lead to breakthroughs—regulation does.

3. You can always change your mind. I take a totally experimental approach to my business that sounds less like “I have to get this perfect so it works” and more like “idk, let’s try this and see what happens. If I don’t like it or if it flops I can try something different.” That has allowed me to not take my business so personally and has left me flexible and nimble!

My work isn’t about “fixing” anyone or making them turn into a different person—it’s about helping you feel MORE like yourself in a way that makes life feel better. You don’t have to choose between ambition and well-being. You don’t have to sacrifice joy for success. When you learn how to navigate your internal world, everything—your relationships, your career, your sense of purpose—feels simpler, clearer and more fulfilling.

At the end of the day, I believe that when you learn to take charge of how you think and feel by operating and managing your internal world, you will show up differently – more kind, open, compassionate, understanding, and HUMAN in the external world. We sorely need that right now.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There’s a book that, when I read it, felt like it went straight to my soul. It’s called “The Book of Joy” and it’s a conversation between 14th Dalai Lama, and the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In it they discuss how to live a joyful life even amid a challenging and chaotic world. When I read it in 2017 (years before I started my business) I remember thinking “This. THIS is everything and what I want to help people do.” Having a business wasn’t even on my radar at that point, but I think this was the first little nudge towards that path. I still re-read it And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also say that I’m the luckiest human ever to have an incredible partner and friends who blindly trust that I’ll figure everything out and are fully along for the ride.

Website: https://www.elizabethwallacecoaching.com

Instagram: @elizabeth.the.joy.coach // https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth.the.joy.coach/

Image Credits
Jaclyn Carfagna