A Return to Love

The Philosophy That Has Guided My Life and Leadership

There are books you read.

Then there are books that read you.

For me, A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson has been one of those books.

A former executive coach and dear friend, Keith Hanna, first shared the quote with me many years ago, not because it would make me a better executive, but because he believed it would make me a better human. That quote led me to the book, and the book has stayed with me ever since.

I've returned to its pages countless times over the years. Every season of life reveals something different. As a young entrepreneur, it challenged me to dream bigger. As a mother, it reminded me that love is more powerful than control. As a leader, it completely changed how I think about people, purpose, and success.

The quote most people know begins with these words:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…

Those words have become almost iconic.

But the line that has always stayed with me comes at the end:

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

That, to me, is leadership.

Not standing in the spotlight.

Lighting the path for others.

Leadership Is an Act of Love

When people hear the word "love" in business, they often assume it means being soft.

I couldn't disagree more.

Leading with love doesn't mean lowering expectations.

It means believing in people before they believe in themselves.

It means telling the truth with compassion.

Holding people accountable because you care about who they can become, not because you want to control them.

Celebrating their victories as if they were your own.

Creating a culture where people feel safe enough to grow, brave enough to fail, and inspired enough to try again.

Fear may produce compliance.

Love produces transformation.

I've seen it over and over again.

The Real Business We're In

People often ask me what business we're in.

Some would say wellness.

Others would say recovery, longevity, or hospitality.

And yes, we offer experiences like massage therapy, advanced skincare, cryotherapy, full spectrum infrared sauna, Full Body Light Therapy, guided meditation, and other restorative technologies.

But those aren't the reason we exist.

They're simply the tools.

The real work happens beneath the surface.

At Heights Wellness Retreat, our purpose is helping people be unstoppable.

That isn't a marketing slogan.

It's a belief.

Because I don't think most people need to become someone new.

I think they're trying to find their way back to the healthiest, strongest, most authentic version of themselves.

Stress disconnects us.

Pain changes us.

Loss hardens us.

Success can even distract us.

Life has a way of pulling us away from who we really are.

Wellness, at its best, helps us find our way home again.

That's why I often say we aren't in the business of wellness experiences.

We're in the business of helping people return to themselves.

The Return

The older I get, the more I realize that transformation isn't always about becoming more.

Sometimes it's about removing what no longer belongs.

The fear.

The exhaustion.

The constant pressure to prove ourselves.

The belief that we're somehow not enough.

When those things begin to fall away, something remarkable happens.

The person underneath was never broken.

They were simply buried.

That perspective has changed how I lead my family.

How I lead our company.

How I build teams.

How I approach every guest who walks through our doors.

My job isn't to change people.

My job is to help create an environment where they remember the strength, courage, peace, and purpose that have been there all along.

My Hope

If someone were to ask me what I hope Heights Wellness Retreat becomes decades from now, my answer wouldn't begin with the number of locations we open.

It wouldn't begin with revenue.

Or technology.

Or even innovation.

I hope we're remembered as a company that helped people believe in themselves again.

A company that reminded people to slow down.

To breathe deeply.

To restore intentionally.

To reconnect with what matters most.

Because when people reconnect with themselves, they show up differently.

For their families.

For their work.

For their communities.

For the world.

Returning to Love

Marianne Williamson's words have stayed with me because they remind me that our greatest responsibility isn't simply to achieve success.

It's to become fully ourselves.

To stop shrinking.

To stop hiding.

To stop believing fear deserves the final word.

Every time we choose courage over comfort, hope over fear, generosity over ego, or purpose over pride, we make that return.

A return to who we were created to be.

A return to the light that's been inside us all along.

A return to love.

And maybe that's what wellness has always been about.

Want to know more about me? Visit shaneevans.me. Thinking about owning a Heights Wellness Retreat? Start at heightswellnessretreatfranchise.com.