Connection Over Competition: Why Women Rising Together Matters

When I first started dreaming up Akamai Healing and all the pieces that would make up my offerings, I had a vision that one day, I would hold retreats. I had attended many women’s retreats over the years that were healing, nourishing, and connective, and I knew in my bones that I wanted to create that kind of experience for others. I didn’t know when or how, but I knew it was part of my path.

In those early days, I followed a local woman on Instagram whose work I admired. She seemed to embody everything I hoped to build: grounded offerings, beautiful gatherings, a sense of community. When I learned she was hosting a retreat later that year, I reached out and asked if she might need an assistant — someone to help with behind‑the‑scenes planning, someone eager to learn, someone who could support her and maybe offer a little of my own medicine to the attendees: Reiki, breathwork, and a sound bath with my new crystal bowls.

She said yes! The prep went smoothly. The retreat itself was beautiful. I felt grateful not just for the experience, but for the chance to learn from someone I admired. I continued attending her circles, connecting with the women in her community, and slowly growing my own offerings and workshops.

From Admiration to Confusion

But over time, something shifted. It wasn’t dramatic, more like a subtle cooling that I didn’t quite know how to interpret. I would share about my upcoming events with the retreat leader, and it didn’t seem to land well. I reposted her workshops, but the support wasn’t mutual. In group chats with some of the women from her circles, she promoted her own events freely, but others were discouraged to share theirs.

It left me feeling confused, especially since “women empowering women” had seemed to be a pillar of the group. I wondered if I had misread something. I wondered if I had done something wrong without realizing it.

Eventually, I stepped back from the circles, from the group chat, and from a dynamic that no longer felt supportive. A few months later, a couple of women from the group reached out and shared that they, too, had felt unsure about how to navigate similar experiences. Hearing that helped me soften my self‑blame and see the situation with more compassion.

The Scarcity Mindset That Hurts Us All

What I came to understand is that sometimes, in healing spaces, we bump into old patterns — our own or someone else’s. Sometimes people feel protective of what they’ve built because there may be an underlying belief that there isn’t enough to go around. Sometimes boundaries get tangled with fear. Sometimes community spaces don’t unfold the way we hoped they would.

And that simply means we’re human.

But the experience taught me something important about the energy I want to bring into my own work. It showed me how deeply I believe in abundance, collaboration, and the magic that happens when women genuinely support one another.

Choosing Connection, Always

After that chapter, I made a vow to myself — a soul‑level commitment — that I would never make another woman feel small, unwelcome, or unsupported in her own becoming. I would never treat another woman’s gifts as a threat. I would never withhold encouragement out of fear. And I would never shrink someone else’s shine to protect my own.

Instead, I would choose connection over competition. Every time. In every room. In every season of my business.

Because here’s what I believe with my whole heart: There is enough. Enough work. Enough clients. Enough opportunity. Enough space for every woman’s unique medicine.

There is no shortage of people longing for care, connection, and transformation. The people who are meant to find your offerings — your voice, your energy, your way of healing — will find you. And the people who meant for someone else will find them. We don’t have to grip, grasp, or guard. We don’t have to let fear dictate how we show up.

When we celebrate each other’s gifts, the world becomes richer. When we choose collaboration over competition, we create abundance that nourishes everyone.

The world is harsh enough. Women do not need to battle each other — not in life, not in business, not in healing spaces. We need to hold each other. Support each other. Rise with each other. And together, we canbuild a world where every woman’s medicine has room to bloom.