What stage of business are you actually in, and are you building in alignment with that stage? In this episode of The CEO Shift Podcast, Anna Nichols breaks down the four stages of business development and why so many founders stay stuck trying to force strategies that don’t match where they are in their journey. From solopreneur beginnings to stepping fully into the CEO role, this conversation explores the structural, emotional, and leadership shifts required to build a purposeful, profitable, and sustainable business.

Anna shares why entrepreneurship isn’t just about sales, marketing, or mindset alone, it’s about learning how all of the pieces work together while evolving your identity as a leader along the way. This episode is a powerful reminder that business growth happens in stages, and the more intentionally you move through them, the more clarity, confidence, and sustainability you create for the long term. If you’ve been feeling scattered, stuck, or unsure of your next step, this episode will help you understand where you are, what your business needs now, and how to move forward with intention.

In This Episode:

• Business development happens in stages, and each stage requires different skills, structures, and leadership capacities.
• Your business can only grow sustainably when the foundational cycles and activities of your current stage are complete.
• Entrepreneurship requires more than just one focus area like sales or energetics — long-term success comes from integrating vision, structure, marketing, finance, systems, leadership, and team.
• Your role as a founder evolves as your business evolves, and stepping into the CEO identity requires intentional growth.
• The speed at which you move through business stages depends on factors like resources, self-awareness, leadership maturity, and support.
• Building a business intentionally creates more clarity and sustainability than constantly chasing strategies or “shiny objects.”
• Purpose-driven businesses require both practical business strategy and alignment with your deeper mission.

Resources:

Learn more about the Spiritual Business Incubator:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/about

Purchase my book here!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966346050/

Podcast website:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/newageceopodcast

View the full show notes for this episode:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/episode2

Interactive Human Design Chart:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/hdchart

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annanicholsmba

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/annanicholsmba

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)

After 168 episodes of Design and Align Your Business, this new chapter begins with a deeper conversation about leadership, alignment, and what it truly means to build a business in the new age. Welcome to “The New Age CEO Podcast.”

In this first episode, Anna Nichols shares the evolution of the Spiritual Business Incubator and the identity shift that came with moving from solopreneur into the role of founder and CEO. This conversation weaves together practical business strategy, Human Design, energetics, leadership, business planning, astrology, and the realities of building a mission-driven company designed for long-term impact.

This episode speaks directly to entrepreneurs who know they are here to create something meaningful, not quick wins, not empty visibility, and not businesses built entirely around hustle and overextension.

Anna shares the deeper responsibility that comes with holding a vision, building sustainable structures, leading a team, and allowing yourself to be seen at a bigger level. She also breaks down the core responsibilities of a “New Age CEO” and why leadership in this era of entrepreneurship requires both strategy and self-awareness.

Inside the episode:

• The identity shifts that happen as businesses evolve
• Why alignment alone is not enough to sustain a business
• The transition from doing everything yourself to leading a company
• Human Design, astrology, and energetics as business tools
• The role of business planning in building long-term sustainability
• What legacy-driven entrepreneurship actually requires
• Leadership, visibility, decision-making, and capacity expansion
• The five responsibilities of a New Age CEO

If your business feels like it’s asking you to grow into a new level of leadership, this conversation will meet you there.

Resources:

Learn more about the Spiritual Business Incubator:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/about

Purchase my book here!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966346050/

Podcast website:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/newageceopodcast

View the full show notes for this episode:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/episode1

Interactive Human Design Chart:
https://spiritualbusinessincubator.circle.so/hdchart

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamannanichols

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/annanicholsmba

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)

Welcome to The New Age CEO Podcast with Anna Nichols — founder and CEO of the Spiritual Business Incubator — where we explore what it really takes to build a purposeful, profitable, and sustainable business in the new age.

This podcast is for mission-driven entrepreneurs, coaches, healers, creatives, and visionary founders who know they’re here to build something bigger than themselves. Inside each episode, Anna blends practical business strategy with Human Design, energetics, leadership, spirituality, nervous system work, wealth consciousness, and aligned entrepreneurship to help you grow a business that supports both your mission and your life.

You’ll hear honest conversations about the journey from solopreneur to CEO, building aligned offers and sustainable systems, scaling without losing yourself, leadership in the new paradigm of business, and creating legacy-level impact through your work. From strategic planning and sales to Human Design, Gene Keys, astrology, and energetic alignment, this podcast bridges the practical and the spiritual in a grounded, actionable way.

If you’re ready to stop forcing outdated business models and start building a company that feels deeply aligned with who you are, The New Age CEO Podcast will help you step fully into your role as the leader your business needs next.

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)

In this final episode of The Design and Align Your Business Podcast as we know it, Anna shares the heart behind this intentional ending and the bigger vision that’s unfolding next.

This is a conversation about honoring what has been, trusting what is changing, and making space for the next level of your mission. Anna reflects on the growth of the Spiritual Business Incubator, the evolution from doing it all herself to leading a team, and what it means to build something with both alignment and intention.

If you’re in a season of transition, expansion, or deeper clarity around what you’re here to create, this episode will speak right to you.

In this episode:

• Why Anna is intentionally closing this chapter of the podcast
• The evolution from two people to a growing team
• What it looks like to step fully into the CEO role
• Why aligned business needs both soul and structure
• What’s coming next for the podcast and the Incubator
  
  

Resources:

Learn more about the Spiritual Business Incubator:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com

Purchase my book here!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966346050/

View the full show notes for this episode: https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/blog/episode168

Get the Aligned Biz Quiz here!
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hd-quiz

Ready to design your business around your Human Design?
Book a 1:1 Human Design for Business Reading:
www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdreading

Learn more about your Human Design with the 64 Gates Library
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdlibrary

Get your personalized Entrepreneur by Design HD Report:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/business-report

Interactive Human Design Chart:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdchart

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamannanichols

Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols)

Design Your Aligned Business PDF Guide:
https://iamannanichols.ck.page/aligned_biz_guide

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)

You have to ask: Am I actually building the right business?

So many mission-driven entrepreneurs start their businesses because they want to help people. They feel the calling to heal, teach, guide, or support others in some meaningful way. But what often gets skipped is the intentional process of designing the business itself, the structure, the model, and the role you are meant to play inside of it.

In this episode, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at a big evolution happening with the Spiritual Business Incubator and how it led me back to one of the most important questions every entrepreneur must answer. We talk about the intersection of Human Design and real business strategy, and why building a sustainable, profitable business requires more than just choosing a service to offer.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, misaligned, or like the business you’re building looks good on paper but doesn’t fully light you up… this conversation will open a new way of thinking.

Because the truth is: when your Human Design, your business model, and the market you serve are aligned, everything changes.

In This Episode

• Why many entrepreneurs accidentally build the wrong business for their Human Design
• The difference between choosing a service to offer and intentionally designing a business
• How practical business planning and Human Design work together to create sustainable success
• The real reason so many people feel stuck or outgrow their business models
• Why your role in your business (CEO, teacher, creator, guide) matters just as much as the work you do
  The question that can unlock your next level of clarity and alignment

Resources:

Learn more about the Spiritual Business Incubator:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com

Purchase my book here!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966346050/

View the full show notes for this episode: https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/blog/episode167

Get the Aligned Biz Quiz here!
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hd-quiz

Ready to design your business around your Human Design?
Book a 1:1 Human Design for Business Reading:
www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdreading

Learn more about your Human Design with the 64 Gates Library
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdlibrary

Get your personalized Entrepreneur by Design HD Report:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/business-report

Interactive Human Design Chart:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdchart

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamannanichols

Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols)

Design Your Aligned Business PDF Guide:
https://iamannanichols.ck.page/aligned_biz_guide

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)

There are seasons in life and business where everything feels like it’s unraveling.

In this honest and activating conversation, Michelle Burke shares the real story behind “Hot Mess Magic” from car repossessions and frozen bank accounts to identity shifts and radical surrender. We talk about the shame we carry as entrepreneurs, the patterns that keep repeating, and the moment you realize the only thing standing between you and the next level… is you.

If you’re in a messy middle, on the edge of becoming, or feeling the nudge that your identity is ready to evolve, this episode will meet you there.

In This Episode:

• The ABCs of Becoming Her: Acknowledge, Be, Do, Embody
• Why feeling the feelings is necessary, but staying stuck isn’t
• How to regulate your nervous system before making big moves
• Releasing shame around money struggles and “failure”
• Trusting the next step before you see the full plan
• Recognizing when an identity shift is asking to happen
  
  

Press play, and let this be your permission to evolve on purpose.

View the full show notes for this episode here: https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/blog/episode166

Resources:

Connect with Michelle Burke:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleaburke

Website: https://hotmessmagicmedia.com/

Get a copy of my NEW book!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966346050/

Sign up for the next round of the Spiritual Business Incubator Mastermind

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com

Take the “Aligned Biz Quiz”
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hd-quiz

Learn more about your Human Design with the 64 Gates Library

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdlibrary

Get your personalized Entrepreneur by Design HD Report:

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/business, report

Schedule a Human Design for Business Reading:

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdreading

Interactive Human Design Chart:

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdchart

Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols)

Design Your Aligned Business PDF Guide:

https://iamannanichols.ck.page/aligned_biz_guide

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)

There are conversations that shift you. This is one of them.

In this episode, I’m joined by Odree Martin, known as the Miracle Oracle, and we dive into what it really means to be a new-age leader building a business rooted in truth.

Not spirituality as branding. Not leadership as performance. But embodiment.

Odree shares how stepping fully into her spirituality wasn’t a strategy, it was survival. We talk about trusting what you know before it’s validated, building community that feels like sisterhood, and why the “crumble” is actually part of quantum growth.

If you’ve felt yourself expanding faster than your nervous system can hold… If you know your business is part of something bigger… If you’re learning to trust your intuition in deeper ways…

This conversation will meet you there.

We also explore her Light Language Summit, a collaborative, integrative model of leadership that reflects the future of how we build businesses, communities, and movements together.

This episode is a reminder:

You are not here to build alone. And your evolution as a leader is part of the mission.

In This Episode:

• What it means to lead from the frequency of truth
• Spirituality as a practice and a skill
• Why the crumble and the void are part of expansion
• Building community that supports integration, not performance
• How to accelerate growth without collapsing your capacity

View the full show notes for this episode here: https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/blog/episode165

Resources:

Connect with Odree:

1. Light Language Summit: https://odreemartin.com/light-language-summit-26

2. IG: @odree_martin https://www.instagram.com/odree_martin

3. Facebook: Odree Martin https://www.facebook.com/share/1C196PRbAD/

The Free Trust Transmission : https://odreemartin.com/opt-in

Get a copy of my NEW book!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966346050/

Sign up for the next round of Spiritual Business Incubator Mastermind

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/Incubator-Mastermind

Take the “Aligned Biz Quiz”
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hd-quiz

Learn more about your Human Design with the 64 Gates Library

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdlibrary

Get your personalized Entrepreneur by Design HD Report:

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/business, report

Schedule a Human Design for Business Reading:

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdreading

Interactive Human Design Chart:

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdchart

Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols)

Design Your Aligned Business PDF Guide:

https://iamannanichols.ck.page/aligned_biz_guide

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)

There are years when we refine. And there are years when we run.

This episode marks the beginning of the Fire Horse year, a collective one-year in numerology, and I’m sharing how I’m intentionally planning for a year designed to move fast. Not from pressure. Not from force. But from alignment.

In this conversation, I’m pulling back the curtain on how astrology, Human Design, and strategic planning have shaped the evolution of the Spiritual Business Incubator — and how learning to trust timing (instead of pushing against it) completely changed the trajectory of my launches, my growth, and my leadership.

If you’ve ever felt like you were trying to force momentum… or like you missed your moment… this episode will invite you into a different way of building. One where planning meets energetics. Where intuition is validated by strategy. And where you prepare for your success instead of bracing for disappointment.

This is about building in rhythm with who you are, and the season you’re in.

In This Episode:

• Why the Year of the Fire Horse and a collective one-year signal acceleration and bold movement
• How astrology validated (and corrected) my launch timing. and what happened when I ignored it
• The lesson from my “heavy” launch vs. my most successful launch ever
• Why systems matter more than hype in a high-growth year
• What it actually means to plan for your best-case scenario
• How to think beyond linear business strategy and layer in energetics, identity, and nervous system capacity
• The shift I’m making in 2026 to build sustainability, leadership, and long-term impact

Resources:

Sign up for “The CEO Shift” FREE webinar!

https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/the-ceo-shift

Purchase my book here!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966346050/

View the full show notes for this episode: https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/blog/episode161

Learn more about the Spiritual Business Incubator Mastermind:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/incubator-mastermind

Get the Aligned Biz Quiz here!
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hd-quiz

Ready to design your business around your Human Design?
Book a 1:1 Human Design for Business Reading:
www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdreading

Learn more about your Human Design with the 64 Gates Library
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdlibrary

Get your personalized Entrepreneur by Design HD Report:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/business-report

Interactive Human Design Chart:
https://www.spiritualbusinessincubator.com/hdchart

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamannanichols

Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols)

Design Your Aligned Business PDF Guide:
https://iamannanichols.ck.page/aligned_biz_guide

Connect with Anna Nichols:
Instagram: @iamannanichols (https://www.instagram.com/iamannanichols/)