Spark with Merilee

Last week, I introduced you to Connection, Compassion, and Opportunity, the Inner Board Members who energize you and remind you of your purpose.

This week, we're going a little deeper.

Meet three Inner Board Members every woman knows intimately, even if she doesn't know their names yet.

🔥 Judgment — your Driver and Critic-in-Chief
Her motto? "Do more. Do it faster. And do it right."
She's the fire behind your ambition. And she's incredibly effective. But left unchecked, she'll drive your health, well-being, and confidence straight into the ground.

⚠️ Defeat — your flashing warning light
First, she's telling you to slow down and take care of yourself. Ignore her and keep pushing? She becomes the 3 a.m. voice whispering "What if I drop the ball? What if I make the wrong decision?"

She means to protect you from failure. But she also protects you from your own potential and taking action.

😌 Rationalization — cool, calm, and convincing
"It's fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine."
She sounds completely reasonable while talking you out of what you really need — your health, your happiness, that relationship change, that career move.

These three are not your enemies. They are your messengers.

The goal isn't to silence them, it's to get curious. To ask: Is this Inner Board Member helpful right now, or is it time to choose differently?

Which one has been loudest lately for you? 👇

Want to meet ALL of your Inner Board Members and learn how to work with them? This is your last chance to join me this Friday, June 26th, for the Spark Your Mindset Petite Retreat — 12 to 4 p.m. Spots are limited.

✨ Grab yours here: https://loom.ly/O2Fe75Q.

This June, I'm celebrating six years in business! 🎉

Running a business is both incredibly rewarding and stressful at times. But I've learned that I have a choice about who leads.

That's where my Inner Board Members come in. Today I'm giving a shoutout to three specific ones: Connection, Compassion, and Opportunity. The inner voices that fuel your confidence, purpose, and peace.

Before I introduce them, this is important. Your Inner Board Members don't clock out at 5pm. They show up in your relationships, your parenting, your health, your finances, your self-talk at 2am. Every single area of your life, every day.

✨ Connection reminds me why I do this work. She re-energizes and inspires me and helps me get present and focused on what truly matters. When you lead with Connection, you stop spinning and start moving toward what matters most.

✨ Compassion tells me I'm human and I can only do so much. Taking a break, asking for help, giving yourself grace. That's a strength, not a weakness. When you lead with Compassion, you stop being your own worst critic and start being your biggest ally.

✨ Opportunity is my confidence in action. She tells me to go for it. What if it works out? And no matter what, I will learn something. When you lead with Opportunity, you stop playing it safe and start showing up boldly.
These three are always available to you. You just have to choose them — in your work, your relationships, and every space in between.

Which one do you need most right now?

Ready to meet your Inner Board Members in person? Join me on June 26th for my Spark Your Mindset Petite Retreat.

Spots are limited. Grab yours here: https://loom.ly/Wju0ZVc! ✨

This is what it looks like when women come together to learn, grow, and support each other.🔥

No fluff, no filters. Just women being real, getting honest, and walking out changed.

My next Spark Your Mindset Petite Retreat is June 26th. Space is intentionally limited and I'd love for you to be there.

This unique Friday afternoon experience (for just 16 women!) is for you if you're ready to:

✨ Silence the inner voices that drain your peace, confidence, and happiness

✨ Strengthen your Inner Leader — the most grounded, clear version of YOU

✨ Walk away with a practical mindset tool you will use daily to reduce stress and reclaim your power

✨ Feel lighter, clearer, and ready for what's next

We'll explore your Inner Board Members™ — those 7 internal voices that either fuel your growth or sabotage your goals.

Through group conversations and reflective exercises, you'll immediately apply what you learn to your current life situations.

You'll build the self-awareness to consciously lead yourself differently.

Enjoy light appetizers, meaningful connections, and an introduction to Energy Leadership.™

👉 Individual Ticket: $125
👉 Bundle (bring a friend!): $197

Come as you are. Bring someone you love. Leave energized and transformed.

Registration link is in the comments. Grab your spot! ✨

Last week, I shared why your Inner Board Members™ matter.

Because the thoughts running through your mind don't just influence how you feel—they influence how you lead, how you enjoy life or respond to challenges, and ultimately the life you create.

But where do those inner voices come from?

That's exactly what I explore in my newest blog.

The Inner Board Members™ are rooted in Energy Leadership™, the transformational framework that serves as the foundation for my speaking, coaching, workshops, retreats, and Energy Leadership Index™ (ELI) Assessment, which is a tool that we use for our work together.

For years, I operated on autopilot, driven by the pressure to be perfect and constantly feeling like I needed to do more. Learning Energy Leadership™ helped me understand the perspectives and patterns that were shaping my reactions, decisions, and stress levels, and showed me that I had the power to choose differently.

That experience inspired the creation of the Inner Board Members™ framework.

In this article, I'm sharing the science behind the framework, the 7 Levels of Energy, and how understanding your energy can help you lead yourself with greater clarity, confidence, and calm.

📖 Read the blog: https://loom.ly/2yGw9uM!

✨ Want a deeper look? Download my free guide, The Science Behind the Inner Board Members™, to learn how Energy Leadership™ and the 7 Levels of Energy connect to the voices influencing your everyday thoughts, decisions, and actions at https://loom.ly/V5ricE8.

The stories you tell yourself shape the life you create.

Every day, there are voices influencing how you think, make decisions, respond to challenges, experience joy, and show up in the world.

✨ The voice that says you should be doing more.
✨ The voice that tells you to keep pushing through.
✨ The voice that worries about what others think.
✨ The voice that encourages you to trust yourself and move forward.

Over the past several Weekly Sparks, we've explored perfectionism, burnout, self-compassion, and giving ourselves permission to not be okay.

What if those aren't separate struggles?

What if they're clues pointing to the conversations happening inside your own mind?

As you may know, I call these voices your Inner Board Members™ (https://loom.ly/YXf4a8k).

Understanding them isn't about fixing yourself. It's about becoming more aware of the stories shaping your choices, energy, and leadership.

Because when you recognize the voice behind the story, you gain the power to choose a different response.

Over the next several weeks, I'll be revisiting the Inner Board Members through a fresh lens—not simply who they are, but why they matter.

💭 What story has been shaping your life lately?

And is it helping you create the life you want? Drop a comment below.

Our Mental Health is REAL.

Owning our energy is not easy when our emotions take over. We are dealing with so much. And yet, we've become Jedi Masters at burying our feelings just to keep our s**t together and function.

But when we keep doing this, the BIG emotional wave can hit us all at once. It's easy to spiral into overwhelm, feeling less than, like we're failing at life.

If this wave has hit you, if you're struggling, please give yourself compassion and grace. Easier said than done, I know.
This was 100% me this morning.

I was spiraling, so here's what I did to help me:

I tried to journal because this often helps me get clarity. But then the BIG wave hit. Emotions are meant to be felt and seen. So I let myself have a big ass cry.

After my nose was stuffy and my tears were crusty, I reminded myself that I'm human. Life is messy and stressful. It's okay to feel overwhelmed, and it's impossible to take it all on.

When my husband came downstairs, I let down my walls and talked it out with him. Admitting I need help is tough for me. But when I do, it always helps me get out of my own head.

Now that I've felt my emotions and had a good release, I'm feeling a little better. So, now what?

I'm choosing to be consciously kind to myself today. I'll focus on what I can control, one small step and one task at a time.

And if needed, I will adjust my schedule to make sure I am taking care of ME today.

As we close out Mental Health Awareness Month, remember....

You are allowed to not be okay.

Taking care of your mental and emotional health is not selfish. It is not a weakness. It is a strength and a superpower. It is owning your energy and leading your life.

And it's reminding the people around you that doing the same is not only okay — it's vitally important.

If this resonated, please share it with someone who needs the reminder. We all do sometimes.💛

Sending you tons of love and compassion today.

Cheers to being bold, beautiful, and kind to ourselves!

SparkWithMerilee.com

I’ve learned that growth often happens differently when we don’t do it alone.

Maybe there’s a colleague you’ve had meaningful conversations with. A mentee you want to encourage. A friend who has been carrying a lot lately and could use a chance to pause and reconnect with herself.

That’s one reason I included a Bundle Ticket for my Petite Retreat.

As we explore your Inner Board Members™, those inner voices that either energize and inspire you or influence the way you think, react, and show up every day, there’s real value in experiencing it alongside someone else.

Sometimes the people around us can help us recognize patterns, strengths, and perspectives we don't always see in ourselves.

Together, we’ll identify the thought patterns that support or sabotage your goals, challenge autopilot thinking with curiosity instead of judgment, and strengthen your Inner Leader, the most grounded and confident version of you.

Bring a mentee, colleague, or friend and spend an afternoon learning, reflecting, and investing in yourselves together.

Bundle Ticket: $197 for two

Reserve your spot today and join me on June 26th from 12 - 4 PM!

✨ https://loom.ly/Wju0ZVc

Yesterday I was in a room full of smart business owners. Women who have built something real, care deeply about what they do, and are committed to growing their impact.

The one theme that kept coming up? The struggle to let go.

Working in the business vs. on it. Knowing you need to delegate, but not pulling the trigger because no one will do it the way you would.

Those aren't time management thoughts.

That's perfectionism. And Brené Brown nailed it when she called it a "twenty-ton shield." We pick it up thinking it protects us. But it's the very thing weighing us down.

Letting go is not a delegation problem. It's a perfectionism problem.

And during Mental Health Awareness Month, it's critical to call this out. The relentless pursuit of perfection is one of the biggest contributors to anxiety, burnout, and exhaustion. Your mental well-being deserves better. Period.

So this week, try this one question the next time you catch yourself trying to do it all:

What would I actually gain if I stopped being the person who does everything? ✨

Just notice without judgment. Awareness is always the first spark.

Because when you put your Inner Leader back in charge, you choose differently. You put down the shield. And what's waiting on the other side is a version of you that is lighter, clearer, and free to build the life and work you actually want.

If this is landing, my keynote Freeing Yourself from the Perfectionist Hustle was built for exactly this. Drop a comment or DM me. Let’s talk!

sparkwithmerilee.com

Exciting news! Registration opens today for my next Spark Petite Retreat, right here in Pittsburgh! 🎉

So many women I talk to are holding a lot right now — at work, in their personal life, and everywhere in between. They rarely take time to stop and ask: What do I actually need?

This half-day Petite Retreat is your opportunity to do just that!

It's an immersive learning experience where women come to slow down, get real, and reconnect with themselves and each other. No pressure to perform. No people-pleasing. Just you, showing up for YOU.

Together, we'll explore your 7 Inner Board Members™ — the inner voices running the constant meeting in your head. Some energize your confidence and momentum, and others drain them. You’ll learn how to put your Inner Leader back in charge!

You'll leave this experience:
✨ Wiser, more intentional, and choosing happiness and freedom on your own terms

✨ Ready to own your energy, say yes to what matters, and live authentically

✨ Equipped with a practical mindset tool to move through challenges and keep growing

✨ Grounded in a deeper perspective that changes how you feel and see everything

📅 Friday, June 26, 2026 🕛 12–4 PM 📍 Cardello Building | Pittsburgh, PA | Light appetizers and snacks provided.
Space is intentionally limited to 16 women for real connection and growth.

Come as you are — or bring a mentee, colleague, or friend you'd love to grow with!

👉Early Spark Savings: First 10 spots or through June 6th: $107 with code FIRST2SPARK

👉Bundle Ticket: Bring someone along: $197

👉Individual Ticket: $125 after June 6th

Ready to lead yourself differently? I'd love for you to join us! 💛

Register and grab your spot here: https://bit.ly/petiteretreatspark!

Here's to owning your spark! 🔥