The EMap Journey: Self-Discovery for a Successful & JOYful Business

by Nicole Jankiewicz & Julie Robbins | June 10, 2025

Business Tips, EPIC Entrepreneurs, Inspirational

The EMap Journey — Tools for Self-Discovery

In our last blog, The Most Overlooked Step in Business Planning - The Inner Work (what we call EPIC Mapping) we introduced the idea that before you can build a truly aligned and fulfilling business, you have to know who you are.

Most people go into business because they have a special talent and passion they can't wait to share.

But then set up that business trying to fit a specific mold from a book or internally structured based on someone else's model.

The EMap (a map of your unique self) was born out of the realization that we need a dedicated space for this essential self-work - one that recognizes your business is an extension of who you are.

Let's go deeper into the heart of the EMap: the tools, practices, and inner processes we use to uncover who you really are.

Because before you build, you must become. ;-)

The Path of Self-Discovery

This work isn’t just about listing values or picking out brand colors. It’s about remembering yourself.

Here are three stages in an EMap Journey: (these steps are guided in different exercises and orders depending on the program and the person....this is the simplified 'blog' version.) :-)

1. Ignite

This is where we fan the flames of curiosity and inner aliveness. It’s where we:

• Ask big, uncomfortable, liberating questions.

• Imagine our lives without shoulds, shame, or external scripts.

• Begin to explore what lights us up ...and what dims our energy.

  
  

This is also where we might RELEASE all the crap that doesn't serve us anymore....old patterns, limiting beliefs, or just negative energy we're ready to let go of.

Prompts and questions we might use:

• Dancing, fire breath, exercise, movement.

• Let the uncomfortable, sad, scary, come to the surface.

• What has always felt like “home” to you?

• What are you most afraid of?

• When do you feel most alive?

  
  

This stage is about loosening the grip of the default mode, letting the flood gates open, and re-connecting to your roots and your desire.

2. Ground

Before we can hear our truth, we need to slow down. This is the part most people skip.

In this stage, we invite stillness and reflection. 

• Use mindfulness and somatic check-ins to track what feels resonant or off.

• Listen to our body and nervous system for feedback.

• Guided meditations or breath work.

• Journaling prompts like: “Where am I overriding my truth?” or “What is my body trying to tell me?”

• Nervous system grounding rituals (music, movement, nature)

  
  

3. Claim

Once we’ve sparked our curiosity and quieted the noise, we begin the process of understanding all that is revealed and start claiming.

This is where clarity starts to rise. Here, we:

• Name our values, traits, desires, and lived experiences

• Reflect on the gifts we’ve developed through challenges

• Recognize our own inner compass and personal truth

Claiming is not about perfection. It’s about ownership.

We use tools like:

• The “Superpowers & Kryptonite” exercise (naming your natural gifts + sneaky traps)

• Mapping your defining life experiences

• Identifying “constants” - those traits or truths that remain even through change

• Visioning future self prompts: “What kind of energy do I want to bring into my days?”

This work can be raw, illuminating, and freeing.

Often, it unlocks a kind of permission we didn’t know we were waiting for.

Why This Matters

When you understand your own map—your rhythms, quirks, wounds, wisdom, and ways of working—you start building a business that is completely aligned with YOU. 

(Do we really have time in this life for anything less?)

It will help you:

• Make decisions with clarity

• Align your offers and your schedule with your real energy

• Create systems that feel like support instead of strain

• Stop fighting yourself

  
  

It’s the most personal thing we teach....and the most powerful.

We hear so many people say they are not enough or TOO much.... maybe that's true?

But what the hell is wrong with that? Be who you are.

Because when you know yourself, you can finally stop performing and start creating from truth.

Now What?

This is where you take all of that juicy self discovery information and use it in your BMap.

This information will be super helpful;

~in creating your Core Foundations.

 (really good info in our last blog - Core FOUNDATIONS - Why Core Values Aren't Enough)

~in shaping your Vision.

~even in the way in which you will make it all happen.

~It will make this journey feel like an epic ride.