Then EHI Operations Manager & Partner
I’m Ellen Donaldson, EHI’s Operations Manager, Jill’s business partner, a practitioner working in the field of mind-body-energy medicine, and as always, a student of energy and conscious awareness.
We thought it would be helpful to share a little bit about my evolution. Not because it’s the most fascinating story on the planet, but because you know Jill so well as the voice and founder of EHI, and we want you to get to know me, too.
2024 is a year of big changes for me! Truth be told, it’s been years in the making and is much more of a culmination of many things than a sudden, surprising change. I am sharing a little bit about these changes with you, and conveying my excitement (as well as how I deal with occasional anxiety and nervousness!)
Ellen Donaldson’s backstory
I would never have guessed back in 2010 when I first met Jill that I would one day be her business partner, fully responsible for the Training Division, including the courses for self-healing, collaborating with Jill on course design, development and delivery, managing the day-to-day operations of the school, as well as running my own successful client practice. As the saying goes, I’ve come a long way, baby!
The story begins with connection. Suffice it to say, Jill and I are simpatico in many ways. I felt it the first time I sat across from her as a new client in her Boston office. I immediately felt as though she “got” me and could support me with what I was going through. She was, (and is), deeply knowledgeable about energy. I dove in head first, feeling at home in a way that I never had before with any of the inner work and spiritual exploration I had previously done.
Fast forward a few years, after bucketloads of personal evolution, I decided to enroll in the EHI Practitioner Program and make a significant career change. Prior to this, I had spent decades in corporate America, honing my business skills. I now felt ready to shift into entrepreneurship and run my own healing practice.
I’ll be honest, the shift from my 9-5 corporate schedule, tasks and identity to a new role as a sole practitioner who offered energy healing modalities, working with chronically ill clients was daunting! Much larger than I anticipated. I had more than one moment of “Wait, why did I do this??”!
Being a solopreneur and a single mom is a big deal. Gone were the days of corporate health benefits and matched 401k contributions. My friends and family didn’t wholly comprehend my choice to give up the known corporate path to walk the one I did now. I did quite a lot of inner work and energy clearing to redefine my sense of self and fully embrace and embody my chosen life.
Entering into EHI in a New Role
A few years later, once my client practice was sustaining me, Jill asked me to teach with her in the classroom. I was both excited and slightly terrified! I felt like I was barely a practitioner at that point. Who the heck was I to teach?? The famous phrase from Richard Bach “You teach best what you most need to learn” became a touchstone for me.
It proved itself over and over again as my own understanding, integration and enjoyment of the material deepened. I taught exercises, then modules, then full workshops, moderated Q&A forums with learners, and most recently supervised and provided guidance and feedback to practitioner students on their work in the Astral Practitioner program.
Collaborating with Jill
Over the years, Jill and I discovered we have a similar sense of humor, and we have a lot of fun working together. We routinely got the feedback from EHI students that we operated as a seamless unit, ‘two peas in a pod’. That’s an amazing and wonderful thing; EHI students have a cohesive learning experience regardless of who is leading the learning.
But Wait ~ There’s More!
Last fall I began doing some curriculum development for EHI and had another moment of “Who the heck am I??” I cleared the toxic belief that if it wasn’t done “just like Jill”, it wouldn’t be right. I let go of imposter syndrome. I acknowledged and owned that I have mastered my modalities, and that my ideas for EHI’s evolution are mine to try out and bring to the EHI community. I’m thrilled to step into this leadership role.
It’s been very expansive for me, and I’m grateful that Jill is still very active in course design and development. Truthfully, as she also does with her students, she’s always ready to support and share her knowledge.
Ellen Donaldson – My Awareness & Reflections
As I approach turning 55, I’m at a time in my life where I have more space and freedom to explore new opportunities. My son is emancipating. He’s in college, studying aviation and training to become a pilot. I couldn’t be more proud or thrilled for him! (I’m also more than a little excited to have my freedom and to embrace a different role as a parent.)
When I have an occasional wobble, I acknowledge my feelings and then clear the emotional energy from those old stories. They have nothing to do with who I am today!
It’s a gift having lived experience as a practitioner. Having done the freeing work of identifying and surrendering old stories and patterns. I’m not perfect, and I’m still challenged from time to time. I also know that I’m older and wiser and can separate background noise from the stillness of my truth.
I hope you’ll join me at EHI. I’m so excited for what’s coming, I’m grateful for the opportunities these changes present, and I know it’s the absolute right place for me to be. Stay tuned!
