Leah Hadley [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Intentional Divorce Insights. I'm Leah Hadley, certified divorce financial analyst, accredited financial counselor, and the founder of Intentional Divorce Solutions. I'll be your guide through the complexities of divorce finance and emotional wellness. Join me as we uncover practical tips and empowering insights to help you navigate your divorce with clarity and intention.
Leah Hadley [00:00:24]:
Hi there and welcome back to Intentional Divorce Insights. I am so happy that you are here with us today. You are in the right spot. I have such a special guest with me today. This is Christine Williams. And I had the pleasure of meeting Chris. I want to say it was actually a couple of years ago now, but we got to spend some time together recently and I got to really learn about Chris and her business and all the just positivity that she is bringing to the world. And I got to hear a little bit of her story of divorce.
Leah Hadley [00:00:56]:
And I was like, oh, my gosh, Chris, I have to have you on the podcast because I really want to share how you've been able to bring the light to the world post divorce, even with the challenges that you face through that experience. And she was like, ask me anything. She was so open to sharing her story. So thank you, Chris, for being here with us today.
Chris Williams [00:01:15]:
Oh, I am so excited to be here with you and to. And to share.
Leah Hadley [00:01:19]:
Absolutely. So Chris has an amazing business where she helps people, people who are really committed to improving people's health and wellness, have really good, solid, established businesses so they can make the impact in the world that they want to make. But, Chris, talk to us about how did you get into this work?
Chris Williams [00:01:39]:
Yeah, so it actually didn't happen until after the divorce. So, you know, the divorce, while it was a really hard time to go through, was kind of what catapulted me into creating a business for myself.
Chris Williams [00:01:53]:
So, you know, I was married for 17 years. I homeschooled my three boys. We lived on a 50 acre farm. It was, you know, magical, you know, having that time with them, me and my husband, not so much. We'll get into that. And, you know, after the divorce, I had to figure out what it was that I was going to do to take care of us, because I had three children to take care of. And so I just decided that, number one, I knew I wanted to do something that was going to create time, freedom for me so that I wouldn't have. I would still be able to go to the soccer games, the football games, and to be home for my children because we've been together for, you know, again at home for 17 years.
Chris Williams [00:02:33]:
I mean, they've been part of Cub Scouts and church and all the other stuff. So they were definitely socialized. But I wanted to make sure that I had the opportunity to actually make my own schedule. And so I started looking at, you know, what are some of the things that I would actually love to do. And I decided that I would go back to massage school or go to massage school rather, which is actually kind of funny because when I was married I wanted to go to massage school and use that as like some side income for us. And my ex husband at the time was like, yeah, no, we don't have the money for that. So in our divorce agreement I had him pay, for me to go to massage school. So he paid for that so that I could get my certification and open up my own business, which is really what I wanted to do.
Chris Williams [00:03:20]:
So I ended up opening up my own massage therapy practice, just me, so that I could make my own hours and my time and all of that. And quickly learned that, you know, there are some things that go into building and growing a business that I didn't know. So I had to learn kind of on the fly with that. And as I was growing that practice, I had a lot of my clients asking me about nutrition and health and wellness. And I had already been in that world, you know, what organic food, we did organic gardens. Like I had the information and the knowledge because I was actually raising my family that way. But I thought, you know what, let me just go back to school and get the letters after my name. And so I went back to school, became a functional nutritional therapist, added that to my massage therapy, and then also added health coaching and life coaching onto that.
Chris Williams [00:04:10]:
And so just started building and growing my business that way. And then after a couple of years, I ended up having a shoulder injury just from repetitive stress. And so ended up shutting down the massage therapy part, but continuing the coaching part. And then today, that was back in 2012. Today I just help women now create their own boutique businesses. And a boutique business is really, you know, a nice, you know, six figure to multiple six figure business a year. That's high profit, low team, plenty of time, freedom and, and I get to do that today. So it was really cool to go through the process of starting over.
Chris Williams [00:04:54]:
I literally had $25 in my bank account. Like that was it when I started over to now creating over $3 million in my business and helping other women create that financial freedom and income that feels really good to them.
Leah Hadley [00:05:08]:
That's so beautiful to hear where you came from and what you've been able to create and what you're helping other people to create now. I know just from working with people going through a divorce, the reality of going through a divorce for everybody is it impacts our confidence, right? There's a lot of like second guessing decisions that you've made in the past, decisions that you're making currently, decisions that you're making for your future. There's just a lot of just stress around that piece of like having trust in yourself. So just hearing your story, $25 in your pocket, and you trusted yourself to, to go get this massage therapy certification and open a business that is not for the faint of hearts. It's has to be about ignorance is bliss. That's all I have to say.
Chris Williams [00:06:00]:
No, I was like, I just, well, you know, here's the thing. The marriage had gotten so toxic that there really wasn't another option for me. I had to, it was, you know, I was ending up in the hospital, he was ending up in the hospital. It was clear that the emotional toxicity was, it was affecting us physically. And I had to make a change. And unfortunately, you know, he basically just said, you know what, I'll never divorce you. I'll just survive. And I'm like, well, I'm not willing to just survive like this.
Chris Williams [00:06:38]:
It's time for us to make a change. And so I did just kind of trust that I was going to follow what I felt was going to in my gut and I was going to figure it out. And so while I didn't exactly know how much I could make or what could happen, I just trusted that I was going to figure it out. And I just started reaching out to people who had businesses, so friends who had massage therapy practices already, massage therapists that I had been to, to just kind of say, okay, how do I get started? You know, what do I do after the certification? What are some things that I can do to get this up and going? And so I just leaned into that.
Leah Hadley [00:07:20]:
That's so powerful though, because so many people will actually take that step, do the certification and then unfortunately kind of flounder. Right. Because being able to do massage therapy is very different from running a business. Right. The skills are totally different.
Chris Williams [00:07:38]:
Yes.
Leah Hadley [00:07:39]:
And so, and I know you've witnessed that certainly in the work that you do. So that's so powerful that you leaned into talking to people who had gone through that experience, who were able to share with you their experiences. Now your business evolved over the years. Talk a little bit more about kind of what inspired that evolution.
Chris Williams [00:07:58]:
Yeah. So it was never my intention to actually be a business coach. If you had asked me in the beginning and said, you're actually going to be a business coach and you're going to be teaching other women how to create financial independence, I would have been like, me? No, no, no, that's not me. I don't even know, like, what to do here. And it wasn't until after I had already had a successful coaching practice that then my colleagues and people who I had met through, whether it was Health Coach Institute or Functional Nutritional Therapy, Nutritional Therapy association, the people that I was still friends with and my colleagues were saying, what are you doing? Like, how are you creating success? And so I just started sharing some of the things that I was doing. And I remember, you know, I hired a business coach because I was like, all right, like, I'm in my mid-40s,
Chris Williams [00:08:48]:
I gotta get this figured out. Like, I can't just, like, duct tape and popsicle stick my business together anymore. And I remember going to her one day and I'm like, I don't even know
Chris Williams [00:08:59]:
who or what I'm supposed to be serving right now, because all of these people are now asking me for business advice. And she just said, I don't actually see a problem here. And I'm like, okay, well, if I'm going to be sharing what it is that I'm doing, I may as well reverse engineer and go and actually say, okay, well, here's the system. And that is how the Soulful Abundance System was actually created and born was by saying, okay, what were the steps that I went through? What are some of the foundational pieces that I get to get dialed in? And then how could I teach this to people in a way that would make sense as being a system? And then I started teaching that in 2018, and then 2025, we actually came out with the book, which is really, really exciting.
Chris Williams [00:09:45]:
So that was super exciting to just see the methodology get out there and get in more hands. And. And now I teach the entire Soulful Abundance system inside of my program called Activate Abundance Academy, which I've been teaching that since 2018 as well.
Leah Hadley [00:10:01]:
Fantastic. And I did get Chris's book, and I have been sharing it widely because it is, first of all, so accessible, which is so important. There's so many books out there about business that kind of like, you know, create this aspirational vision, but don't feel practical and Doable. Right. Chris's book is very hands on. It's very doable and it's got a great structure to it. And I know just like Chris has seen so many people out there, do various certification programs want to have this amazing impact on the world, but are having trouble making the connection between how do I take these skills and actually create a successful business. And like Chris has just created the bridge like it's there and it's like now it's like in a, even in a book, like you can just take the book and of course, you know, having the support to implement is really important as well.
Leah Hadley [00:10:54]:
But it's amazing how much value you can get just from the book alone. So we'll be sure to include a link in the show notes so you can access that book. If you are somebody who might be starting a business or growing a business and you want to help more people, I think this is really, really fantastic resource. Now, Chris, if you look back, because now we're a ways out, your life is very different.
Chris Williams [00:11:16]:
Yeah.
Leah Hadley [00:11:16]:
You could go back and talk to your former self who was going through that divorce, didn't see this beautiful vision of the business that you've created at this point. Right. It was a very different headspace. What would you say to her?
Chris Williams [00:11:30]:
Oh gosh, I would say to her too, that she's on the right path and just continue to trust herself. Trust that you will figure it out. There are going to be people that meet you along the way, that you know, you're not going to know from A to Z everything that you need. And that, you know, trust it really, just have faith in my ability to figure it out and to lean in and, even if it feels scary, to ask questions, take the steps and continue to go forward because that really is the way through. It's kind of like I talked to some of my clients about committing before we know how and really I think that that was kind of the secret sauce for me. I committed that I was going to build this business and I was going to be able to take care of my family before I actually knew. But it wouldn't have happened if I didn't commit first. Right. I committed and so I had to figure it out.
Chris Williams [00:12:23]:
And so instead of, you know, running the story in the background of I've never done this before, who am I to do this? I was just like, you know, what, how I do it? Like, how do I do it? I asked myself how, what Do I do today? How can I do this? Who can I talk to who might be able to help me? And that it was in that commitment that all of those doors and people that I never could have foreseen previous have come into my life and helped me through the process.
Leah Hadley [00:12:53]:
That's such an important point. I want to really emphasize that because so often when we're going through a very difficult life change, it's easy to put your head down and try to just muscle through as much as you can. But when you put your head up and you really open your eyes, it's amazing. The opportunities, the people who come into our lives, the experiences that are available to us. But when we're bogged down with the weight of transition, first of all, completely normal to be in that space, but also a time where we can really acknowledge and recognize, hey, this is really difficult. Let me open my eyes and look around and see what's available to me to make this maybe a little easier, maybe a little smoother, maybe something I'm excited about for the future, right?
Chris Williams [00:13:42]:
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And it just really did. Like, looking back, I can just see how it was divine led. It really was guided, you know, and trusting that even if it doesn't look the way that I thought it was going to look, you know, it's this or something better, right? It's my plan or something better. And I always leaned into that as it's not this or something worse.
Chris Williams [00:14:06]:
I always was like, nope, it's this or something better. And, you know, I also think that one of the benefits that I had growing up was a grandmother who was always 1000% supportive. She was a very strong feminist. She took me to women's rights marches when I was a little girl. And I heard that I could do anything or be anything that I wanted to be. And so I think I was lucky to have that piece of her inside me that, okay, I can figure it out, right? I might not know today, but I can figure it out. And yes, this might be scary, but I'm going to be okay.
Chris Williams [00:14:43]:
And I can figure it out. And there were some times it was scary. You know, I got stuck at a gas station with my three children with not enough money to get home. And I was like, shit!
Leah Hadley [00:14:56]:
Can you tell that story, Chris? Because I think that's such an amazing story. Will you share that?
Chris Williams [00:15:00]:
Yeah. So it was during our separation and I had gone down to visit my mom, and I took my three boys with me. And on the way home, I didn't realize how much money it cost to get down there. And so we were several hours from home and I needed gas because we were on empty. And I didn't have enough money in my account. And I didn't have a credit card because we had shared credit cards. So, you know, I couldn't use that one.
Chris Williams [00:15:32]:
My bank wouldn't give me a credit card yet because I didn't have a job. So I was literally stuck with, you know, whatever it is that I had in my personal bank account. And after being a stay at home mom for 17 years, there wasn't a whole lot of money in there. So, you know, but I thought, I'm like, okay, surely there's enough money in there to get me home. And there wasn't. So I was like, okay, do I go into the gas station and wash the dishes? Like, what do I do to get home? And I'm like, oh, my God, I've got my children. What am I going to do with my children? And so I
Chris Williams [00:16:05]:
I kind of started to panic a little bit. And, um. And I'm like, all right, just calm down. And I'm like, you can figure this out. What do you do? Who can help you? And so I ended up, you know, calling my mom and I'm like, mom, I'm stuck. And she was able to wire me money to cover. She actually was very generous and covered the whole trip. I'm like, I just didn't realize, you know.
Chris Williams [00:16:28]:
And she's like, oh my God, yes, absolutely. Like, so she was able to wire money into my bank account and we were able to get home. But that was terrifying. And I think that was one of the pivotal moments where I was like, oh, no, no, no, no. I am never going to be in this position again. Like, it was just one of those times I could just feel all of the anxiety in my body because there was like, nobody around me.
Chris Williams [00:16:54]:
Right. So I had to figure it out.
Leah Hadley [00:16:57]:
Yeah, absolutely. And what is so powerful about that is you did. You figured it out, right? And you figured it out by asking for help, which is great. Yeah, right. We need to be comfortable asking for help. That's so, so, so important. One of the things that you were saying earlier when you were talking, I was thinking about a client that I met with earlier this morning before you and I talked. She's going through a very difficult divorce and One of the things that we were talking about is becoming detached from the outcome.
Leah Hadley [00:17:26]:
It's very easy to focus on one specific outcome and really, like, it's either, like, black or white.
Chris Williams [00:17:36]:
Right.
Leah Hadley [00:17:36]:
You either get it or you don't.
Chris Williams [00:17:37]:
Oh, yeah.
Leah Hadley [00:17:38]:
When you open yourself up to possibility. Right. What you get is what you get or better. Right. Like, I love that. First of all.
Chris Williams [00:17:46]:
Yeah.
Leah Hadley [00:17:47]:
We have to be open to it and open to the idea that there's more than one way for things to be amazing.
Chris Williams [00:17:55]:
Right? Absolutely.
Leah Hadley [00:17:57]:
So often when we're going through such a difficult time, I mean, you're sitting. Sitting there at the gas station, and it's like, it would be such an easy moment to be like, I cannot do this. Yeah, this is the universe telling me I cannot do this. But in reality, what happened, Chris, you were shown that. Yes, right.
Chris Williams [00:18:15]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Leah Hadley [00:18:16]:
Even in that difficult moment. Yes, you can do this.
Chris Williams [00:18:19]:
Yep. Yep. Yes. And it gave me evidence that I can figure it out.
Leah Hadley [00:18:23]:
Yes.
Chris Williams [00:18:24]:
Gave me evidence that I can figure it out. And, you know, I think also you can tend to feel very unsafe in moments like that, too, especially when you're going through a divorce and you don't have anything to hold, you know, to step back on. I didn't have a house. I didn't have my own credit cards. I mean, I literally, when I went to the bank, it was almost like I was begging for a credit card, and they gave me, like, a $3,000 limit, and that was it.
Chris Williams [00:18:51]:
And they're like, we'll give you this. And I'm like, oh, thank God. You know, something that I could use in case of emergencies. And then, yeah. I mean, even the house that I'm living in now, you know, happened, because I just, you know, got insight. And I'm like, okay, let me just follow that and just figure it out. You know, I didn't.
Chris Williams [00:19:14]:
Again, the neighborhood that I live in was way outside of any type of budget or home that I could even think or hope to afford. But I was driving, looking for places to live, and I hadn't found anything. And I was on my way to wherever it is that I was going, and I had some time, and I'm like, oh, Kellis Water. That's a cool Celtic name. I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna drive in there and just kind of check things out and look at it. I'm like, oh, this is such a beautiful neighborhood. It's got sidewalks, the houses had front porches on it. It was just really, really lovely.
Chris Williams [00:19:48]:
And I saw the open house for their model home, and I'm like, I'm just gonna go in and see what it looks like inside. Gorgeous inside. And the lady there just happened to be there that day, you know, filling in for the regular person. And she really wanted to sell me a house. And by God's grace, I honestly don't know how this still worked out, but I ended up walking out of that model home pre approved for a loan with no job. No job. She actually called the school, the massage therapy school, to see how much money could I potentially make in a year to, like, write it down.
Chris Williams [00:20:34]:
It was like crazy. I was like, what? And then the interest rate was insane. It was like 2.75% interest rate. I'm like, I got. It was like all of the things kind of fell into place, and I was like, okay. And I remember at one point we were having a really hard time because we needed an order for things to go through, like, my husband had to sell some property because there was still part of the home that instead of him having to sell the farmhouse, he had to sell some property so that I could have some income. And I was going to use that as a down payment.
Chris Williams [00:21:10]:
And there was a time where we were like, this isn't going to happen. And you couldn't get a loan to pay that off. And so again, I had to actually asked my mom, and I'm like, can we borrow this huge chunk of money so that we can make this happen? And she's like, you know what? This might not happen. And I'm like, you're right, it might not. And we're just gonna see, like, we're just gonna go with it. If it happens, fantastic. If it doesn't, okay? And once again,
Chris Williams [00:21:36]:
things came through and it happened, and I ended up in the house today, you know, with a house wasn't even built yet. Like, I got to pick out the carpet and the light fixtures and the, like, it. It's just amazing. But it never would have happened if I hadn't just listened to that little intuitive hit that said, why don't you just turn in here, just take a look, right? Nobody in their right mind would think that you don't have a job and you don't have a huge savings. Like, who do you think you are going to buy a house today?
Chris Williams [00:22:08]:
Like, no. So all things are possible.
Leah Hadley [00:22:13]:
That's right. When you open your eyes to possibility, it's amazing. I mean, we get to witness it with our clients every day, and it's so powerful and beautiful to be a witness, but that's it, Right? So often we get so stuck in whatever the challenge is that's in front of us that we don't see what's outside of that. And, Chris, your story is such a beautiful story of really seeing what else is out there, but then creating this beautiful impact on the world by helping other people have the impact that they want to have in the world. And I know that you do lots of free content. There are lots of great ways for people to connect with you. Chris, how can people learn more about your work?
Chris Williams [00:22:54]:
Oh, absolutely. For sure. So I've got a substack account, and so definitely come, you know, join me on there. I talk about the Soulful Abundance system. It's called the Soulful Abundance Letters, and I do lives once a week, and there's a lot of really great free content there. I also have a free Facebook group, and it is called Soulful Abundance Hub. So you are more than welcome to join me over there, too, where, you know, I also share more information. And then, of course, feel free to reach out on
Chris Williams [00:23:24]:
my website. I'm like, what's the name for that thing again?
Leah Hadley [00:23:30]:
My website.
Chris Williams [00:23:31]:
And that's shineabundancenow.com. yeah. But definitely any of those places reach out. You will get me. You won't get a team member. You know, if someone responds, it will absolutely be me. So please come say hello, and, you know, let me know where you are, how you found me. I would love to know.
Leah Hadley [00:23:49]:
Absolutely. We will include links to all of those resources in the show notes, so be sure to check those out. And I personally just enjoy Chris's energy and what she stands for and love to have opportunities to collaborate with her. So we're even looking at some possibilities maybe later in the year. So stay tuned for that, for sure. Chris, thank you so much for being with us today. Any final words that you'd like to share with our audience?
Chris Williams [00:24:16]:
Oh, gosh, yes. I have to leave something. I would say that you really are stronger than you think you are. You know, I actually, you know that poo. You're stronger than you think you are. You're braver than whatever it is. I actually had that on my wall, you know, when. When I bought this house.
Chris Williams [00:24:33]:
But it really is true. And so it's. It's. Be aware of the thoughts that you're telling yourself if you keep telling yourself you can't or it's not possible, it actually becomes true because you start to search and you see the evidence to support that belief. And this is an opportunity, if you're going through a divorce, to create a new set of beliefs for yourself. And you can recreate those beliefs and you can recreate a new life and a new possibility no matter where you are in your life. I did it in my late 40s. It's never too late, ever.
Chris Williams [00:25:06]:
But. But trust. Trust yourself. You are stronger. You are powerful. There is help there. There are people that want to help you. We keep asking ourselves how the answer arrives.
Leah Hadley [00:25:21]:
So powerful. Chris, there's so many nuggets of wisdom and what you shared in this episode today. And so for our audience, if you need to listen to this one a couple times, I want to encourage you to do that because I think from a mindset perspective, there's a lot of stuff here that might just, you know, allow you to tweak things the way you're thinking about and find that you have an entirely different outcome than you never expected. And I love sharing stories like Chris's because it's so inspiring to see that, yes, you can go through difficult times and you can also create a beautiful life that you love. Both can absolutely be true. So thank you again, Chris, for being with us today and for our audience. Thank you for being here and we will see you next week.
Leah Hadley [00:26:04]:
Thank you for joining me on Intentional Divorce Insights. It's a privilege to share this time with you. I hope you each episode offers valuable guidance to navigate your journey. If you find our content helpful, please leave a review to help others discover the benefits of intentional decision making in divorce. Until next time, take care and continue to embrace your path with intention.
