Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Rose.
Emily, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up, I attached to three things to identify myself: overachiever, dancer, and catholic. The Overachiever went on to study pre-medicine and Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and then receive a Master’s of Public Health degree at Boston University. The Dancer is still fully alive today. I perform and compete regularly in Salsa dancing. The Catholic died slowly, peacefully and painfully, beginning in college at a Catholic university… oh the irony.
The decision to pursue public health instead of medical school was life-changing, to say the least. I didn’t know at the time this decision marked the beginning of a journey learning to trust myself and believe in the power of my voice.
In graduate school, I focused on women’s sexual and reproductive health, but the conservative climate in Texas made it difficult to find a job in this area. I accepted a job with McKesson, supporting and managing oncology clinics across the country to increase the quality of care and lower cost for cancer patients. While I enjoyed the job, I knew I was destined for something more.
I wanted to spread preventive care, particularly educate people on how to live a healthy lifestyle so they can prevent disease and increase the quality of their lives. I never thought I would be a business owner but life handed me two options: continue to live on the hamster wheel in a job that doesn’t fulfill you or create an impact in the way you were intended to. I chose risk, passion, and purpose.
I created Feel Good Naked as a nutrition coaching company in early 2018 for people trying to lose weight and, in general, feel healthier and more confident in their skin. I helped my clients create a sustainable healthy lifestyle and reject society’s beauty standards.
I coached clients all over the country through phone calls, video chats, and an online accountability system. My clients saw tremendous success and have maintained their results long after working with me. I loved guiding people along their journey and seeing them reclaim their health and ultimately their life.
However, I unintentionally created a working environment that wasn’t suitable for my own joy. Previously, as a remote corporate employee for four years, I was on conference calls all day. I told myself I never wanted to do that again. And here I was, self-employed, on the phone all day. I needed a real break from screens, notifications, task lists – so I booked a solo trip to Mexico.
The day before I was supposed to return home, I suffered a terrible accident that landed me in the ER with a broken nose, a concussion, and a new future. I couldn’t work for months as my brain healed from the concussion. During my recovery, I realized my accident could have been the end for me, but I was given a chance to live. Was I going to keep playing safe and help people with nutrition and weight loss? Or was I going to have the courage to be aligned with my purpose despite my fear? I chose risk, passion, and purpose… again.
I transitioned my business to helping women embrace their sensuality to achieve their fullest potential and reduce the stigma of female sexuality.
The response has been incredible. This topic is often met with silence, but women are desperate to feel powerful and fully confident in and out of the bedroom.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s amazing what happens when you align with your purpose even if it terrifies you. When I moved into Sensuality, the ideas, the support, the flow, felt magical in a way that nutrition coaching never did. I knew this is where I was meant to be.
However, breaking open a taboo topic doesn’t come without challenges. The biggest obstacle has been managing my parents’ concerns. Sex was NEVER spoken about in my home growing up so I filled in the silence with what I was learning at church: Sex is for procreation once you’re married, and if you don’t abide by God’s rules, then you’ll likely end up a teen mom or contract an STI.
Moving from silence to speaking openly on social media about sex and desire continues to be a challenge that I conquer through knowing the only way to reduce the discomfort is if we normalize these conversations. But I do this knowing my parents, family, and family friends are watching. Sometimes, it triggers the shame instilled in me as a child; ashamed of my very normal human desires. And sometimes, my parents don’t agree with my message, but I stand firm in my purpose while balancing compassion for them.
Every day I actively choose courage to break open this topic, and in the process, I heal the shame lingering in my body from my conservative religious past.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned over and over is to trust myself. As much as the media or others will tell us to look elsewhere for answers, we always have the answers within.
Feel Good Naked – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Feel Good Naked guides women along a journey of awakening their sensuality and thus allowing them to reach their fullest potential in and out of the bedroom. As women, we’re taught to shrink ourselves, to be pleasant, and in control of our bodies, often for the sake of the male ego. And then we wonder why it’s hard to let go and surrender to pleasure during sex. The media picks apart women’s bodies and floods us with images of what is “beautiful”, and then we wonder why it’s difficult to feel sexy naked. We ridicule ourselves for not being able to embody the sultry seductress we envision ourselves to be.
But freedom and confidence are possible! Feel Good Naked created a system to walk women through this journey of releasing control, self-criticism, and fear that’s been holding them back. The program includes in-person sessions, online modules, group workshops, and retreats. We dive into the topics stigmatized through silence and release the trauma, shame, and judgment trapped in the body.
We are unlike any other company in that we not only address confidence during sex but also examine how those same limiting behaviors hold women back from success in all areas of their lives (e.g. relationships, career, hobbies, etc.).
The first step in the system is breaking the silence within a group of supportive women. Feel Good Naked created A Society of Sisters, a women’s group that meets in Houston (includes virtual attendees as well) to talk openly and honestly about our bodies, sex, and desire. You are not alone. Contact us to join!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success in the number of people I positively impact. I realized after my accident that our legacy is so important. It is the only thing left after we’re gone. My legacy can be as prominent as founding a well-known company or it can be as small as helping one person find the confidence and strength to lead a happier life. Both are markers of success to me, and I aim to pursue both avenues in my life.
I am creating a movement, a revolution, for women that will be successful in my eyes if it carries itself like an energy transfer from woman to woman. I don’t want this movement dependent on me, rather I aim to make it an independent source of empowering energy.
Contact Info:
- Email: emilyrose@feelgoodnaked.info
Image Credit:
West Vita Photography
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