Pleasure as business strategy: how to build a soul-led business on your own terms
Does building your business currently feel more like something you're pushing through than something you're actually enjoying? ✨
In this episode of the Soul & Strategy podcast, I sat down with Regan Figg, the OG Pleasurepreneur, published author, podcast host, and pleasure-led business coach who helps women make more money with more pleasure, using it as an actual performance strategy rather than a nice-to-have.
Listen to the full episode above (episode 14), or keep reading below.
What it actually means to be a pleasurepreneur
Regan describes a pleasurepreneur as someone who prioritises what pleases them across every part of their business, the offers they sell, the clients they work with, the way they show up and sell. Her framework holds three things together: profit, sustainability, and pleasure. Most business owners chase the first two and completely leave the third out.
That gap matters more than it sounds. When pleasure is missing, you might still be making money, but you're also losing motivation, procrastinating, and quietly avoiding the parts of your business that used to excite you.
Why beginners struggle to find pleasure, and why that's exactly the point
I shared with Regan that when you're just starting out, there's so much to learn, and it rarely feels pleasurable to be a beginner, to fail, to have no one show up to your workshop or download your freebie. That's often precisely where people give up, not because the work is wrong for them, but because it's become too hard, too hustly, too joyless to keep going.
Regan's response reframes this completely: try to fail with pleasure. Finding threads of enjoyment even in the messy middle activates the brain's reward system, which keeps you motivated enough to move through it rather than staying stuck. As she put it, if you can keep some pleasure alive through the parts that aren't working, your success becomes far more likely, because you simply keep going.
Don't let your clients become your new boss
This idea from Regan is one worth sitting with. Many people build a business specifically for freedom and enjoyment, and then unintentionally recreate their old employment dynamic, just with clients standing in for the boss. Performing for clients instead of choosing your business on your own terms leads straight back to the burnout you were trying to escape in the first place.
Bringing pleasure into the mundane parts
Not everything in a business is exciting, bookkeeping, admin, repetitive tasks. Regan's go to tool here is novelty, since novelty activates the same reward system as pleasure itself. A mundane task done in a new setting, a coffee shop, somewhere in nature, or through a new method, like voice memoing your thoughts on a walk instead of typing at your desk, becomes far easier to actually want to do.
Working through the tasks that feel scary rather than boring
Some tasks aren't boring; they're genuinely uncomfortable, running your first workshop, putting yourself out there for the first time. Regan's approach here shifts into mindset work: get curious about the specific thoughts underneath the fear. Often it's something like "everyone will see I'm a beginner" or "no one will get value from this."
From there, look for evidence that contradicts the fear. Have you run something similar before, even informally? Have people responded well to a concept you've shared before, even outside a formal workshop? I shared with Regan that I take this even further with my own clients, looking beyond the obvious evidence to broader qualities, how people feel in your presence, how comfortable they are opening up around you. Those are real signs of a good coach too, not just a track record of past workshops.
"How is this not a problem?"
This is one of my favourite reframes from the whole conversation. When something goes wrong, or when fear shows up, Regan invites her clients to ask: how is this not a problem? If you're nervous about being able to deliver real value, that nervousness is actually a sign of integrity; it means you care about the people investing their time and money in you.
I use a version of this too. If only one person shows up to a workshop, or you've only signed one client so far, ask how that's actually not a problem. Maybe it means more time to refine your messaging. Maybe that one person becomes a much deeper connection than a room full of strangers ever would. Shifting the question from "how did I fail" to "how is this actually working in my favour" changes what you notice next.
What you focus on, you find evidence of
Regan's related insight builds on this directly: whatever you're looking for, you tend to find more of. Focus on lack, and you'll keep finding reasons things aren't working. Focus on what's already going right, even in small ways, and you start building real momentum toward it.
I take this a step further with clients around the feeling underneath a goal. If you want more clients, more money, or a more successful business, it's rarely about the number itself, it's about the freedom, the impact, or the sense of purpose you believe it will bring. The question worth asking is, how am I already experiencing that feeling right now, even in small ways? You can't create a future you've never once tasted in the present, there needs to be a seed of it already here for it to grow into something bigger.
Desire as strategy
Regan shared something that ties beautifully into intuition, a topic I'd just recorded a separate episode on. Her belief is that desire itself is a strategy, a kind of breadcrumb trail. When a desire shows up that doesn't fully make logical sense, the instinct is often to dismiss it because the mind can't map out step one through ten. But following it anyway has repeatedly led Regan to opportunities and connections she wouldn't have found any other way.
This mirrors exactly what I talk about with intuition. The desire, the pull, the excitement is the direction. The mind's job is to figure out the how, afterward, not to gatekeep whether the desire gets followed in the first place.
What desire and pleasure reveal about your limiting beliefs
Following pleasure and desire isn't always comfortable. Regan pointed out that it often surfaces exactly the beliefs holding you back, questions like am I allowed to want this, is this too lazy, should I be more productive first. These aren't signs you're doing something wrong; they're the actual material to work through.
Regan calls her own practice for this her "F*ck Around and Find Out" walk, at least an hour in nature, asking herself where in her business she's playing it too safe. On one of these walks, she realised she'd been avoiding hiring a virtual assistant out of fear about the financial responsibility, the exact same pattern she'd noticed in clients who wouldn't commit to working with her.
I shared a similar practice I use with clients: asking where am I not giving myself permission to do or say what I actually want. Often what looks like indecision is really an unspoken rule you're still following without realising it.
Are you walking your own talk?
One more thread worth pulling on: your clients often mirror exactly what you haven't worked through yourself. If your clients keep raising money objections, it's worth asking honestly whether you hold the same one. Regan shared her own recent example, moving her mastermind community off a platform that had started to feel disorganised and uncomfortable, because staying there, even for a few more months as originally planned, was quietly making her less motivated to bring in new members. You can't want more of what already feels bad to run
Key takeaways
Pleasure works alongside profit and sustainability, not against them. Leaving it out is often what makes people give up halfway through.
You don't need everything in your business to feel exciting, but genuinely uncomfortable tasks are worth examining for the specific fear or belief underneath them.
Ask "how is this not a problem" when something isn't working. It shifts you from defending against failure to noticing what's actually going right.
Desire that doesn't fully make logical sense yet can still be the right direction. The strategy can come later.
If your business feels frustrating to run, you'll subconsciously resist growing it. Fixing what feels bad often clears the way for more clients, not fewer.
Connect with Regan
You can find Regan on Instagram @regan_figg, or listen to her show, the Pleasurepreneur Podcast.
Free Pleasurepreneur Business Audit: https://reganfigg.com/AUDIT/ (Coupon Code: FREEAUDIT)
Free Pleasure Powered Sales Series: https://reganfigg.com/sales-series/
The Pleasurepreneur Mastermind: https://reganfigg.com/mastermind/
Your invitation
And if this conversation surfaced a belief or a permission piece you've been sitting on, whether that's around pleasure, money, or simply allowing your business to feel good, that's exactly the kind of inner work I do with my coaching clients. If you’re interested in exploring who I could support you, book a free Soul Business Start-Up Session with me!
Listen to the full episode (episode 14) on YouTube, Spotify or Apple for the complete breakdown, and if this resonated with you, follow the Soul & Strategy podcast so you don't miss what's next.
I'd also love to hear what came up for you when reading this or listening to the episode! Come share it with me via DM or comment under the podcast post on Instagram @sabinelehnhardt.
With love,
Sabine 🤍
