Building a Purpose Driven Business From Anywhere in the World
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Emma Maidment is a wellness entrepreneur, international speaker, business mentor, podcast host, and author of Find Your Flow. Her work and story have been featured in leading publications globally. She helps leaders build magnetic personal brands and flow-based businesses that expand impact, income, and freedom. Co-founder of Flow States Collective & Flow OS, she mentors soul-led entrepreneurs to scale sustainably. Follow along at @emmamaidment_ for more.
One of my very first consulting clients (back before we even called it “coaching”) was a café owner. By all means, he was a visionary. His attention to detail, his branding, the way he shaped the wellness scene - it was ahead of its time. But one day during a meeting, he seemed flat. I asked a few questions, then a few more, until the truth came out: he hated people.
Not humanity as a whole, but the constant customer service. And yet 90% of his day was exactly that. What he actually loved was the creative side of business: marketing, branding, building experiences. So why was he running a café if he didn’t like interacting with customers?
We uncovered that he was completely out of alignment. His genius was being wasted in the wrong role. Together we pivoted him into an online business model where he could do more of what he loved, cut the overheads of a physical space, and, unsurprisingly, make more profit. The café wasn’t the problem. The misalignment was. That moment cemented a belief that has guided me ever since: the most successful businesses aren’t built by copying someone else’s formula. They’re built by aligning your values, your vision, and your lifestyle and letting your business flow from there.
Alignment Before Action
One winter I found myself unemployed in Berlin. Desperately wanting a different life but going back to what was ‘safe’ and what I ‘should’ do was my only option.. I sat down and redefined my values. That one action, getting clear on what mattered to me in that season of life, became the foundation of everything I built after. Within weeks, I had clients in wellness, I was consulting, planning retreats, even baking healthy cakes for Berlin cafés (a funny story for another day). Not because I had a perfect plan, but because I was in alignment and took action from that place.
That’s what I wrote about in my book Find Your Flow: alignment before action, always. The small, consistent steps taken from clarity not grand gestures, are what create a business that feels effortless, sustainable, and meaningful.
The Myth of the ‘Gold Standard’ Entrepreneur
In today’s business world, many people look to figures like Alex Hormozi as the gold standard.
And let’s be clear, what he’s achieved is incredible. But here’s the nuance most people overlook: he openly says he has no life outside of his work. He loves working. He loves working out. He loves spending time with his wife - who also happens to be his business partner.
These factors are critical. He’s not sacrificing family time or life to build an empire, he’s choosing an empire as his life. And that’s okay. He doesn’t enjoy downtime. Also okay.
But that doesn’t mean you have to play the game the same way. I rarely take traditional holidays, not because I’m hustling 24/7, but because I’ve built a life I don’t need a vacation from. My ‘business model’ includes mornings with my kids, quality family time, and deep presence. That informs how I work, how I design my offers, and the systems I put in place.
For me, building a business isn’t just about scaling revenue. It’s about scaling a life.
Feminine-Led Business
This is why I champion what I call feminine-led business. Not feminine as in gender, but feminine as in energy, an approach that prioritizes intuition, values, and flow over rigid productivity metrics.
Traditional business often assumes endless hours, singular focus, and constant output. But many of us (especially women) are building businesses while moving through life stages, raising children, and holding space for relationships. That doesn’t make us less ambitious. It makes our ambition integrated with our humanity.
Feminine-led business says: you don’t need to grind yourself into the ground to be successful.
You can create structures that hold you, systems that scale you, and strategies that give you freedom.
Systems and Simplicity
The truth is, systems create freedom. They’re not the opposite of creativity, they’re the structure that allows creativity to flow.
When AI tools began flooding the headlines, I could have resisted. But resisting change is the fastest way to stagnation. Instead, I leaned in. I simplified my offers, automated repetitive tasks, and allowed scalable solutions to carry the load so I could focus on what really matters: creating, leading, and serving.
Let your lifestyle inform your business, not the other way around. Too many entrepreneurs build a business first, then try to squeeze their life into the leftover gaps. My business has shifted as I’ve shifted, moving countries, raising kids, writing a book. Each season required me to ask: what do I value now? And how can my business support that?
From ‘Work Anywhere’ to ‘Create Anywhere’
The old dream was ‘work from anywhere.’ But true freedom isn’t about answering emails from a beach. It’s about creating from anywhere. Creating ideas. Creating impact. Creating income. Creating a life that reflects who you are and what you value. And when you build a business rooted in that? You’re not just building a company. You’re building a life in flow.
Because the real gold standard isn’t choosing between impact and income - it’s weaving them together so your business fuels both your purpose and your prosperity.
You don’t need to subscribe to anyone else’s definition of success. Lead with your values. Simplify with systems. Let your lifestyle shape your business. And remember: the most scalable thing in the world is alignment.
