Today we’d like to introduce you to Elle Worsham.
Hi Elle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
As I sat on my bed, one quiet, sunny Austin afternoon, I looked around my new room, in my new city, with all of my things in their new place. Deep breath. “Ah, I made it.” I thought. Deep breath. Silence. Anxiety. “Uh oh, everything feels the same. Did I make a mistake? Am I expecting a different result this time? Am I fooling myself?” I thought.
For most of my life, I found myself in the same frustrating scenarios. I’d move cities, change jobs, start a new relationship thinking this time will be different. I won’t end up stuck in THAT job, fight or situation again. I moved to Austin in 2015 – everything was new: new nursing job, new relationship, new house, new roommates, new city to explore. And everything was new, except me.
So, I quickly repressed the thoughts signaling to me on the bed perhaps this new move wasn’t going to make my life miraculously easier. Besides, it is just way easier to continue the same patterns over and over again hoping for a different result than to actually do the hard inner work leading to real peace and freedom. Right?
How many times have you found yourself thinking, “I’m not the one who needs changing. They do.” Or how about responding to someone with, “Nah, that approach doesn’t work for me.” Or maybe, “Why don’t they see what I see?” If you’re anything like me, you’ve thought all of those things thousands of times. And I don’t blame you. We all seem to hold a collective ideal that “the world is made of many uniquely different and beautiful types of people and perspectives” while at the same time believing all of them should be thinking, feeling and acting the same way we do.
As a Registered Nurse and psychology major, I considered myself to be pretty educated in understanding the human experience in regards to holistic health and healing. But, I was resistant to looking in the mirror to acknowledge how my own behaviors may be the issue.
It wasn’t until I was introduced to The Enneagram that I was able to see the common denominator in all of my challenges. I finally saw why this new job, new city, new relationship was going to ultimately yield the same frustrating results – because the common denominator was me.
The Enneagram is a powerful tool used to enhance your emotional intelligence and personal growth. Rooted in thousands of years of ancient wisdom, The Enneagram of Typology is a map of nine different types (and twenty-seven subtypes) of personalities that exist in our world. Finding your type helps you to identify, confront and accept your strengths and weaknesses.
The Enneagram has led me to greater awareness, healing and transformation both personally and relationally than any other tool. In an effort to make this tool for healing accessible and available to all individuals, I sought training to be a Certified Enneagram Coach. I launched Beyond Your Type, an Enneagram coaching + consulting business for individuals and teams who want to enhance their personal growth, deepen their relationships and access their true potential.
Deep breath. “Ah, I made it.” I think. Everything feels different, yet nothing is new. Nothing is new, except me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The path to Beyond Your Type has been anything but smooth. I have always been passionate about joining others on their journeys to healing and self-discovery which is why studied psychology and ultimately decided to pursue nursing. But, there was always a part of me that felt like neither were quite the right fit. I don’t particularly believe there is one thing we’re called to do but I did have a sense that there was a path in the space of healing that would feel like a homecoming for me.
My piece of advice is don’t give up. Keep searching. It’s never too late to learn something new. No matter how old you are. For me, I majored in psychology, working as a nurse tech, applied to nursing schools in Texas and didn’t get accepted, finally moved home to Nashville to attend nursing school, worked as a critical care nurse, left the bedside to work in the medical startup world, built a side floral business and finally, landed on Enneagram coaching. The path was rough, windy and very dark at times.
It was devastating to get into my nursing career only to find out that the western healthcare system wasn’t the place I wanted to spend my energy. Once I left the bedside, I worked long hours with two jobs, helping to build the start-up while also building my floral business. Sleep was minimal and stress was high. I got to a point where I realized something had to change.
I needed to stay working these two jobs for about a year longer than I wanted to because financially, that was the responsible decision. But, I set a plan: in a year, I would leave my consulting job for something new and I would take the time to reflect and really understand where my talents and interests collide to know what that new thing was going to be. Additionally, I need the income to pay off nursing school and business debt my floral business had acquired. I became incredibly aggressive in working, saving and paying down my debt to free myself up financially, paying off about $60,0000 in a year.
We seem to expect the road to our ideal job should be a short, straight and smooth ride. It has been anything but that for me. For now, I have finally found something that does mix my passion for health and healing with my love for working with people but I’ll hold it loosely knowing it may just be a rest stop for now on this lifelong road trip.
As you know, we’re big fans of Beyond Your Type. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Beyond Your Type specializes in Enneagram coaching + consulting for individuals and teams who want to enhance their personal growth, deepen their relationships and access their true potential. The Enneagram is a powerful tool used to enhance your emotional intelligence and personal growth. Some people have a resistance the Enneagram because they think it’s just another personality test and “they don’t want to be put in a box.” I have some news for you: we’re all in boxes. The Enneagram exists to reveal to you what box you’re already in and the way out. The map charts a growth path for each personality type, using the arrow lines to point you on your journey beyond your type for radical and evolutionary growth.
The Enneagram can help you see yourself more clearly, deepen your understanding of others, overcome your fears, free you from destructive behaviors and ultimately, guide you to recover your true potential that lies within. Many people encounter the Enneagram in pop culture and think that finding your Enneagram type is the end of the road when in fact, finding your type is just the beginning. What makes Beyond Your Type set apart from other competency models is that we focus on helping people understand how to use the Enneagram for lifelong growth.
We offer Enneagram Expert Typing Interviews to help you determine your type, 1:1 coaching for individuals and workshops for teams through the lens of the Enneagram. We are currently offering a 6-session “Introduction to the Enneagram Coaching Package” for designed to teach you how to observe your own behaviors and mindsets, inquire about why those exist and develop new paths for healing and growth. As for our team workshops, we believe healthy team dynamics are essential for successful and fun business days. People are the backbone to business and if your people aren’t healthy, your company isn’t either. Beyond Your Type will bring the Enneagram to your organization (in-person or virtual) to increase your team’s compassion for one another, better understand strengths and weaknesses and plot paths for growth for each individual.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Meredith, my “big sis”, at camp took my timid, 9-year-old little hand. She said, “Let’s go sailing today! I’ll teach you how to capsize the boat – it will be a blast!” My palms began to sweat. I’m sure my sun-kissed face turned white. “Hold it together, don’t cry. Act cool,” I thought.
Meredith was about 13 years old and quite the dare devil. She had a lot to teach me about being brave and taking risks. I grew up in a neighborhood packed with kids like Meredith – always pushing me to try things that scared me but when I was at home, I could always retreat back to my house. Here at camp, there was no escaping.
I was a shy, timid little observer when I was young. And, I was quite the black sheep of my family and neighborhood. I wanted desperately to be brave like everyone else. I was sick of being pushed to my edge and tears holding me back from jumping. I was sick of being seen as the scaredy cat. In my little eyes, it seemed like that version of me had no place in my world but my fear was paralyzing and so hard to overcome.
We rigged the little sunfish boat and climbed on. Meredith could tell I was terrified about this capsizing adventure. She asked me, “are you scared? Don’t be scared. I will be right here with you. You have everything you need to be okay. I’ll walk you through the steps now and you can repeat them back to me.” She sweetly explained every step. Assuring me, she would be right there. She reminded me my lifejacket, swimming skills, and sailing knowledge would also keep me safe. She gave me time to accept my fate, breathe and believe I could survive this seemingly life-threatening risk. I was as ready as I could ever be.
On three, she pulled the sheet in, the boat began to heel. Slowly, the boat tipped and we slid right into the water. Deep breath. My terrified body was submerged under the water and I quickly shot back up to the top. In that moment, as I came up from the river, all of a sudden, everything had changed. I’d washed away my fear. “OH MY GOSH – THAT WAS AWESOME!” I yelled.
Meredith walked me through our assigned roles to upright the sailboat, which also happened to be quite a fun process to my surprise. As we pulled ourselves back on board, I exclaimed, “Let’s do it again!” And that day, and for the rest of my camp days, capsizing sailboats was my favorite thing.
I share this story because this was a pivotal moment in my life where I can clearly remember a change in me. It’s a shame that the shy little Elle didn’t feel like she had a place in her world – I wish I could have been there with her all those times to tell her she is fine just how she is. I’ve been working to recover that piece of me that is okay standing in the background. And at the same time, that baptism in the Neuse River at nine years old changed the course of my life. Meredith’s patience and guidance allowed me time to process and accept. She taught me how to safely conquer my fears and how to encourage others to do so as well. From that moment forward, I sought out adventure, risk and adrenaline which has led me to who and where I am today.
Pricing:
- 2-Hr Expert Typing Interview: $175
- Introduction to the Enneagram Coaching Package: $749 (value $800); 6 sessions, 7 hours of total coaching
Contact Info:
- Email: elle@beyondyourtype.co
- Website: https://www.beyondyourtype.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondenneagram
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondenneagram
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/beyondenneagram
Image Credits
Profile photo please credit Paige Newton – http://www.paigenewton.com/ extra photo please credit Dani Parsons – https://thedanicreative.com/
