Sometimes God Can Ask You To Let Go So You Can Serve Better

Pruning can feel like loss until you realize it is actually room being made for growth. We get personal about what it looks like when God starts cutting back the things we rely on, the busywork we hide in, and even the “good” options that keep us from a clear, focused calling. Stephanie opens up about the behind-the-scenes shifts in her health coaching business, from financial stewardship to time stewardship, and how simplifying her systems gives her more capacity to serve people well without burning out. 

We also go deeper on a topic that touches nearly every family: metabolic health. If you have brain fog, low energy, stubborn middle weight gain, gut issues, or you have heard words like insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, or prediabetes, this conversation brings both hope and a plan. We talk about why inflammation often sits underneath the symptoms, why many people leave the doctor’s office with a diagnosis but no real roadmap, and why identifying your personal “pattern” matters before you chase protocols. This is faith-based wellness with practical science, built for real life, not perfection. 

Stephanie shares the simple path she is building to help clients reverse the “metabolic mess” early, including a new workshop focused on understanding how you got here, plus step-by-step coaching and tools like continuous glucose monitoring for personalized insight. We zoom out to the bigger takeaway too: when God leads, the next step can feel uncomfortable, but pruning can be the exact thing that creates space for better health, better relationships, and better fruit. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review so more women can find faith-first guidance for metabolic health and sustainable healing.

 We’re so glad you’re here. 

In this quick pause, Melissa shares why Heart & Soul Elevation exists, how Stephanie's and Melissa's coaching work together beautifully, and what you can expect along the way. 

From time to time, we’ll pop in to invite you into things we’re creating - always as an invitation, never a sales pitch. 

Thanks for listening. You belong here. 

Transcript

Pruning Sets Up New Growth

Melissa 0:02

In our last episode, we talked about a lot about pruning. Pruning, pruning, pruning. Like cutting things back, cutting things out. And it made me, it really made me think about what you've been going through in your business. Because God has been pruning things away in your business, which is very exciting. I mean, I'm just, I'm just over here going, oh my gosh, look at what God is doing. It is exciting. But I wanted to give you a chance to kind of just talk about that.

Faith Meets Wellness Podcast Mission

Melissa 0:37

Welcome to the Heart and Soul Elevation Podcast, where faith meets wellness and women learn to live aligned, spirit, mind, and body. We're your hosts, Melissa Holman and Stephanie Pasniokis.

Stephanie 0:50

Two Jesus-loving women, passionate about helping you steward your health without losing sight of the one who gave it to you. Around here, healing happens in community. Scripture leads the way, and science simply confirms what God designed.

Melissa 1:06

Let's elevate your heart and soul together.

Behind The Scenes Business Pruning

Melissa 1:10

You are a phenomenal health coach that you focus on the systems of the body. You understand the body in a way that anybody else I've ever talked to doesn't understand. And that comes from your neuroscience background. Um, but you're also like this super techie person and very capable, very, very capable of doing whatever it is that you're putting your mind to. So you you've built this business. It's it's a good business. It's thriving. I I feel like it's thriving, it's doing really well. Um, but it hasn't quite hit it just yet. But I feel like the pruning that has been happening recently is setting you up for that beautiful growth that we know comes after a pruning. So tell us a little bit about what has been going on behind the scenes at SJP Health and Wellness.

Stephanie 2:14

Yeah. So uh that's a that wasn't expecting that question.

Melissa 2:20

Top seat. She's on the hot seat. She didn't know that was coming. Yeah.

Stephanie 2:23

You know, I don't normally, you know, this is something we don't talk a lot about what we do specifically on the podcast, but um, you know, God is my CEO. Absolutely a hundred percent. My faith is first in my business and how I approach it every day. And the more I've done that, the more I've put that into place, the more he's asking me to do things a little bit differently, things that don't necessarily make sense to my my brain, but in the end, makes all the sense in the world. Um and I do love complex systems. So it doesn't matter if it's a technical system, it doesn't matter if it's a biological system, it doesn't matter what I love systems. I get some systems. So yes, you're right. On the back end of my business, when it comes to all the tech fun stuff and and setting things up, whether it's a website or a program or whatever, I just love it. It's it's it's you know, but the thing is, is the way I was running my business before um was requiring so much physical hands-on time for myself that I couldn't spend the time with my clients in the way that I wanted. Like, and I I so it was limiting me. I was I had my clients, but I couldn't take more, right? Because I there's only one you, there's only one me.

Melissa 3:41

And that's one me. That's the thing about being a solopreneur. Um, and there's no such thing as an overnight success. We're talking years and years and years of working and figuring things out and pivoting and pruning and all the things, but as a solopreneur, really it's it's all on me to get all of the things done. And people don't see that behind the scenes stuff, they just see the pretty things that we put out on social media or on the podcast.

Stephanie 4:09

It becomes expected that you're just able to do this, and that's and then you know they say, Oh, this person, look at how good all of their stuff is. Well, they probably have a team, right? And um, or they've hired hired things out, and I haven't done that. So, one thing is God's really asked me to prune a lot of things financially. I should be a good steward of my money, right? And um what's coming in, and so I've done that. Um, pruning a lot of things from my time, but also becoming more efficient. So

Solopreneur Limits And Better Stewardship

Stephanie 4:36

putting in putting systems in place that allow me to spend less time doing things that are more rote and automatic and can be automated and being smart, work smarter, not harder, right? And while allowing myself the bandwidth to take more clients without just putting everybody into a group program, because I personally don't believe that is the best place to start. Um, and God it and but it's been uncomfortable. I'm always want to be everything all things to all people. And uh, you know, mostly I want to I want to be what the people God brings me needs.

Melissa 5:16

Yeah, right. So I don't I wanna I want to move out of abstract because this feels like kind of abstract. We're just kind of talking about. Yeah, oh I'm gonna get into the specifics in a second. Yeah. Well, but before we even get into the specifics, um I don't know if people know exactly what you do.

Stephanie 5:34

Yeah, well, so that's part of the story. Somebody asked me that, and I was saying it, but it was so broad that it was difficult to actually communicate it. And that was the big aha moment from God. He's like, you need to prune out a lot of this other stuff, and because this is where I want you to focus. This is what you love. This is, you know, I know lots of things about the body, but what I really love is something that God brought me through too, which is that the metabolic health piece. And you know what? That doesn't really necessarily cut out a lot of people, considering that 93% of the people in America don't have optimal metabolic health. That is the main problem in America. And what's underneath the metabolic health? Well, it's inflammation. What's inflammation, right? So what I what I am really focusing on is helping people understand when they get a diagnosis of prediabetes or metabolic syndrome X or insulin resistance, if they get those diagnoses, or if they have all of the symptoms that are saying, hey, this is the case. Oh, I've got middle weight gain, I'm brain foggy, I've got gut disturbances, I've got it it all ends up if you're putting weight on in the middle, which is where most people are at when they come to me, and they're unhappy about it because for a lot of reasons. But that's actually not the main problem. The main problem is why is that happening? And it happens in a lot of different ways. So this was the big aha's. Is that what's most important and what you're not going to get from a doctor's office, which God bless doctors, they can help you see that there's a thing, that there's a problem, right? They can give you, you can run labs and you can see the, you can see what's happening, what the output is. But they do not have the time. And in some cases, the in a lot of cases, the education, as I was talking to a doctor recently who actually is having me on our podcast to talk about exactly this stuff because she she is she's came flat out and said that we're not taught this. I'm taught to prescribe. I'm taught, here's a lab, here's the prescription. If you want this outcome, here's a prescription. But that's it, right? However, in order to really undo this metabolic mess that we end up in, you have to understand how you got there. And the path to get there is very different. You can climb a mountain in a gazillion different ways. You can get from California to New York in a lot of different ways. You can fly, you can take the train, you can RV it across the company and country and stop at all of the tourist spots. You can you can go south, you can go north. Like, what do you want to do? Right? Lots of different ways, and it's gonna be individual for everybody. And that's kind of how you end up with a metabolic health problem. And in order to really understand how to fix it, because it is absolutely reversible. Pre-diabetes and before um is absolutely reversible. It's defined as reversible by the American American Diabetes Association. Can you do type 2 diabetes too? Depending, yeah, early phase, you definitely can. And then there's lots of there's lots of information out there. It's not about me being a doctor, I'm not a doctor, but but um there's a lot you can do, but you can't know what to do if you don't know your pattern. So, my what I'm doing is uh writing a brand new workshop that is basically

Narrowing Focus To Metabolic Health

Stephanie 8:56

like, what is your pattern? How did you get here? Because whether you do anything else with me or not, that one thing is the thing that you're not going to find out from anyone. I don't know anybody that really does that. They'll they'll figure out where you are and they'll kind of put a thing for you going forward and fixing this and that and whatever. But it's I don't, I don't really know anybody who is literally sitting down with you and saying, let's figure out your pattern and the best place for you to start, and that that that takes all of you into consideration what you care about, what your priorities are, what you like and don't like. All of that has to go in it too. It's not just some some protocol on paper that you get handed, you got to figure out how to do. That's we take in take into consideration the entire terrain, all of it. All of it. Yeah, and that's your your mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, um, who God made you to be, the whole you. It's all part of it. And so that is that is where I'm going. And it's a very simple path. It's the workshop, it's follow-up, one-on-one. Then you then once you've had that, we use tools, we get we get geeky with it, we get into the science of who you are, but we but we are also um understanding how to make you successful in getting where you want to go. And then um there's an opportunity for the for the group program to keep things moving and then work with other people, develop a community and a connection around people who've already been through what you just went through, and you're now supporting each other, right? You've gotten that triage done, you know how the program works. And then um, after that, you have an opportunity to just have those light touches. And I don't drop people like hot potatoes, is what I like to say. And it's a very clean thing. I was trying to do this so many different ways before to try to be all things to all people, and I couldn't be anything to anybody. That's what I was just gonna say.

Melissa 10:58

Like, I've I've watched your journey for a couple of years now, and I watched you go from having all of these things that that people could choose from and a smorgasborg of opportunities. And I just remember this was what, just about a month ago. We met and I said, I don't understand how to work with you, and I know what you do. And I think that kind of might have been a it was the starting, it was the starting point.

Stephanie 11:28

And I and I said to myself, I'm like, and I always had the problem. Somebody's like, how do I work with you? I'm like, well, there's a lot of ways, let's just chat and see what the best fit is for you. And it's like, and then it ends up being, oh, you do this, this, or you know, and if you do this, it's this link, if this way is this link, and I it's just it's too much, you know, and it's not that people didn't work with me. Absolutely, they did.

Melissa 11:47

It was right, and there was always something clear, but to be able to walk into a room and say, This is what I do, and here's how I do it, and here's how I do it.

Stephanie 11:56

Easy for you, easy for me.

Melissa 11:58

Yes, and it's it's it's that pruning from the last episode. It's that pruning that God did piece by piece, right? This pruning did not happen in one setting, right? One sitting, right? It it took time, it took time to go, well, that can be done differently, or that could be done differently, and then this and then that. And then you had like one sit down with another coach somewhere, and they were like, it's time. Pick your path. This is the path, this is how it works now. And when you realized that, when you when you realized that, oh my gosh, it can be this simple, like what what opened up for you in that moment?

Stephanie 12:39

I mean, have you ever had a haircut and then walked out feeling like you were gonna float off the ground? You're just like, oh, I feel really light. That is kind of how it felt. It just felt so light and it was freeing. And um, so yes, we're talking about my business, and this is an example of how it all can happen. Um, but at the same time, did it was it a little painful? Did I have to say, like, oh, I have to get I have to let certain things go that I put a lot of time and effort into? Yes, okay, it's fine. It's okay.

Melissa 13:12

Yeah. And I remember we talked about that. And every time, just for those who are listening, you know, anytime we go through one of these up levels in a business, it feels like, oh my gosh, I am going back to ground zero. I have to start all over again, but that's not the case. We're now at level 2.0 instead of 1.0, right?

Stephanie 13:36

Yeah, or 3.0, right?

Melissa 13:37

And we still have maybe we still have all of that stuff available to us that we've built along the way. It's still there, it's still being used. That was the that was the foundation, right? We have to have a we have to build the foundation before we can build a house, right? You have to have that foundation, and all of those things that we go through, all the changes that we make, all the pivots that we make, all the you know, throw that away, throw that away, pull this in, pull that in. That's what makes it possible to get to this point where you go, This is it, this is how it works.

Stephanie 14:12

I mean, honestly, it was even on the back end, right? I got rid of a whole bunch of different um, you know,

A Simple Offer And Clear Path

Stephanie 14:18

technological business tools that required monthly payments and that I had to cobble together to make them talk and work and play nice, which I could I do because I I can do that. Whereas a lot doing you don't have the capability of doing it, right?

Melissa 14:32

But you also love doing it, you love that stuff. I mean, so for you it was like, ooh, this is fun. But I remember one of the very first conversations that you and I had at the retreat where we met, I said, You're stuck in the reeds. All of that stuff was like, you know, when uh Moses was placed in the reeds. You can't see anything beyond that when you're in the middle of that. Yeah, and I and you were like, Oh, yeah, because because the text stuff is fun for you, the text stuff is you enjoy it. It's not a for a lot of people, it's oh, it's safe. Yeah, and it's so safe. Oh, it's so safe. Fear of success is a real thing, just in case those listening don't know that. It can it can keep you stuck in the reads, but you you you pruned all those things away, said nope, nope, nope, we're not doing that anymore.

Stephanie 16:19

I have I have new and I have a new way of being able to serve my clients through an app that is that I've I mean, I've gotten feedback from my clients who's like, this is so easy, it's not overwhelming at all, you know. And that's what we do is say yes, yes, nope, like answer some, like it's very simple. It allows me to see at a glance what's happening across all of my clients. For me, this is so important. I'm not chasing down emails over here and uh texts over there and messaging over there and a Facebook, like seriously, one spot is my whole entire business. My whole entire business exists on the back end in one spot and on the front end in another. I can see everything. And you know, at the beginning, you know, not everybody has to start there because it can be expensive. But for me, it was absolute perfect timing. And because God is awesome, I managed to get into each of these things like right at a point where there's a special, there's a merge, there's a this, there's a that. And there's like there's a grandfathering clause, all kinds of that you name it. And I'm just like, this is amazing. And God, you're so awesome. And I couldn't have planned this if I even knew it was coming. I couldn't have planned the perfect timing. Yeah. And um, so I don't, you know, I like these the our podcasts to be, you know, about things that others can take forward with them as well. And um, you know, so yes, there's a lot of really exciting things happening in my business. Yes, if if you feel like you've got some metabolic turmoil happening and your energy low, and energy is low, and you're in and especially if perimenopause or menopause is gunking it all up, but you don't even have to be there. It can be anytime. But you're getting, you know, you've got the brain fog or that low energy and the weight coming in the middle and the what the heck is going on or

Tech Systems That Free Up Time

Stephanie 18:03

whatever. Let's chat. Seriously, I've got a workshop that's getting ready to drop that you're gonna want. Um, aside from that, this is a big thing, right? This is my my livelihood. What is God asking for you and whatever it is for you? I can tell you that God has taken me out of jobs that I loved to move me to the next place. And that's that was terrible and hard and pruny because uh again, when I say pruny, I mean cutting things out, right? Making it untenable to be in that environment, selling the company off multiple times. I almost feel like don't hire me because you're end up, you're gonna end up selling, you're gonna end up doing like it's not gonna go well. You've got about four years before you end up selling the company and start. Yeah. I don't know if that's the case, but it has happened every single time.

Melissa 18:54

And it feels it does feel like that sometimes. Yeah. I'm I'm the cat, I'm the catalyst. That's what it feels like.

Stephanie 19:00

Yeah, yeah, it's not, but really it's that God knew that hey, if you're too comfortable here, you're not gonna move into the next part that I have for you, the next great thing that I have for you. And you're gonna need to learn that thing for the thing that I have for you when you open your own business.

Melissa 19:14

Right. And Jeremiah, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, plans for a hope, plans for a future. But I can't get you there if you're in your way.

Stephanie 19:26

Yes, yes, and if you're too comfortable sitting in the boat, you're not gonna walk on water. So sometimes he dumps the boat.

Melissa 19:36

Yes, but I I really just wanted people to hear your personal pruning story because you know, we just talked about it on the last podcast, and you've been going through it. So it's not an abstract concept that we talked about. It's it's real life, it's happening, it happened, it's still happening for you.

Stephanie 19:55

It's it's real life, it's happening in my business, it's happening with my community and connections and the relationships that I'm forming with people in my life that I have space for. And that's the thing. If my business didn't get pruned, I'd have no space for those. Yeah, right. Bigger fruit in my business, more space for those, those healing relationships, like get the big broad leaves that that are healing and and feeding my life. That's the connection, that's the community. Healing happens in connection and community, and from that, the fruit is born, whatever it is, whether you're in business for yourself or not,

Letting God Lead Through Discomfort

Stephanie 20:25

whatever that fruit is going to look like in your life. And and so allowing God to work in our lives in radical ways and be in charge and giving him that every day um has been absolutely amazing, life-changing. I have been a Christian since I was 17 and I am 50 now. Yes, a woman tells her age. I am 50. And I feel like in the last year, year and a half, um maybe two years, I guess, it has been most of my like I don't know, it's it's a whole new era in my walk with God. Um, because all of this that we're talking about has become real in a very tangible way in my life. And I can't, I can't possibly be more grateful and more in love with my father in heaven than I am.

Melissa 21:24

Yeah. So as we close out this podcast today, I would love for you to just share with the listeners like who is it that you serve? How do you serve them? And how could they possibly um work with you?

Stephanie 21:40

Okay. I should be able to answer this now because all the pruning that's happened. Yes. Uh that's why that's why I wanted to do it this way. You're so funny. So, really, honestly, if if you've been, if I don't want you to die of something that's absolutely reversible. Um, you know, these diseases of chronic inflammation are the main reasons that are that top causes of death today. And and and that all comes down to a metabolic health um problem. And so if you've been diagnosed with prediabetes, I don't want that to be the end point. I don't want that to be the long road to uh a slow decay. I want we, if you know it, if you know you're insulin resistant, if you know you've got metabolic syndrome, if you know you've got prediabetes and you've been given a piece of paper by a doctor to say, here, do these things, and you don't even know where to start,

Who Stephanie Serves And Next Steps

Stephanie 22:28

and it sealed it seems impossible. That is where you need someone who can walk alongside you and help you backtrack on the path that got you there and start taking the other one, right? Um and we do that using fun tools if that's what you're interested in. But continuous glucose monitoring is a really fantastic tool. It's not just for diabetics. Um, we do one-on-one um intensive coaching that brings you step by step in a way that feels stupid easy. That's what I like to say. It does you're like, what? I'm doing that. That's all you ask. That's all you mean I don't have to go and dump all my food and go to the store and replace my whole entire kitchen? Nope, not at all. You don't have it's it's supposed to be a lot easier than that. God designed you in a very specific way, and uh, and that's what we work with. And so you work through that whole entire program. We do the CGM again at the end. You get to say, oh my gosh, look at all the wonderful things that are happening. I just got a uh a message from my client in the app today, one of my clients, and said, somebody from work just said, Oh my gosh, you've lost a lot of weight. Look at you. What are you doing? And she's like, I don't feel like I've lost a lot of weight, but man, everything fits better. Um, I she has so much more energy, and she's just so excited that somebody else noticed and that she's able to wear clothes she hasn't worn in years that were at the bottom of her closet. Um, the just in case one day pile. Um, that's what I want you to wear that again. I want you to be able to do things you've never thought you'd do, or do things again that you used to love and haven't been able to do. So um maybe that wasn't short enough, but I hope it was visceral enough because that's because I want you to have your life back. Um, and I don't want you to be defined by illness. That that isn't who you are. Um God's God's body and in design for you, you're fearfully and wonderfully made. Uh, so let's let's let's lean on that, right? Um my website is uh SJPhealthwell.com. And that's step one, right? Step one. Step one schedule the website. The new workshop is gonna be up there soon, but even before that, there's a free essential health assessment. Do it, it's free. What do you got to do? Figure out where you are. We'll figure out, we'll start figuring out what pattern brought you where you are.

Melissa 24:55

Excellent. That's it. And when that workshop goes live, we will definitely be letting everybody know so that you can sign up and learn your pattern.

Stephanie 25:06

Yeah, should be. Figure out what got you where you are. Might already be, it might already be out. By the time we air this, it could it's probably already on the website. So there you go. There you go.

Melissa 25:14

All right. Well, Stephanie, thank you for sharing your pruning journey. I appreciate you so much. Um, love what you're doing in the world and how you're doing it because, like I said, I really don't know anybody else who understands systems, the body system, the way that you do and make it and is able to make it stupid simple.

Stephanie 25:36

Yeah, diets don't work. We know that science does.

Melissa 25:42

Thanks for joining us for today's conversation on heart and soul elevation.

Stephanie 25:47

If this episode encouraged you, be sure to share it with a friend. Remember that healing happens in community.

Melissa 25:54

Be sure to subscribe for more faith first conversations. And if you're desiring more community, come join us over on YouTube where we grow together in real time. Until then, keep your eyes on Jesus, care for the body he gave you, and may his peace guard your heart and mind.