Two Full-Time Jobs: What Drives Me
There's a moment that happens around 2 AM when you're running on your third cup of coffee, scrolling through research on rare conditions and cutting-edge therapies, that you realize you're living two full-time jobs simultaneously. One is CEO of Heights Wellness Retreat. The other is mother. Both demand everything. Both deserve everything. And some nights, I'm not sure I'm giving either one enough. My youngest daughter, Braydi is 18. She's brilliant, fierce, kind, authentic, patient, and she's been navigating a progressive health condition since she was 15. It's the kind of thing that changes everything. The kind that forces you to become an expert in things you never wanted to know about. The kind that makes you question everything you thought you knew about health, resilience, and what's possible. And I keep researching.
The Weight of Uncertainty
Here's what nobody tells you about being a parent to a child with a serious health condition: the uncertainty is sometimes harder than the diagnosis itself. We have tests. We have specialists. But we have many unknowns. Questions that don't have clear answers yet. Possibilities that feel both hopeful and terrifying at the same time. I've spent the last few years becoming obsessed with functional health, regenerative medicine, preventative solutions, and cutting-edge therapies. I've connected with specialists, researched clinical trials, and explored everything that might help. Some things help. Some plateau. Some show promise but take time. And through it all, I'm running a company that's scaling and re-branding 100+ locations, making decisions that affect franchisees, team-members and thousands of members. I'm in leadership meetings locking down 2026 strategy. I'm on calls with my team. I'm showing up. Because that's what mothers do. That's what leaders do. We show up, even when we're terrified, even when we don't have all the answers, even when we're running on fumes.
What This Taught Me About Wellness
Braydi's journey is why I'm obsessed with biohacking, longevity, and preventative health. It's why I believe so deeply in what we're building at Heights Wellness Retreat. Because here's what I've learned: wellness isn't just about treating disease. It's about prevention. It's about giving people the tools, the knowledge, the access to make choices that keep them healthy. It's about understanding that our bodies are interconnected systems—that everything is connected, that small interventions can have profound effects, that there are things we can do to prevent disease and things we can do to stabilize it and help people live their best lives, even within limitations. And it's about meeting people where they are. Some people are trying to prevent disease. Some are living with something they can't change, and they just want to live their lives better within that reality. Some are fighting like hell to find solutions that doctors said might not exist. Braydi falls into that last category. And so do I, in my own way.
Two Jobs, One Purpose
The exhaustion is real. The pressure is real. The fear is real. But so is the clarity. When you're living two full-time jobs—one as a CEO, one as a mother fighting for your daughter's health—you stop wasting time on things that don't matter. You get very clear, very fast, about what actually drives you. My girls drive me. Their futures drive me. Knowing that I'm doing everything in my power to help Braydi, to support her fight, to research and connect and explore every possibility—that drives me. And knowing that I can show up for my team and my franchisees with that same level of commitment, that same refusal to accept "there's nothing we can do," that same obsession with finding solutions and building something that actually matters—that's what makes both jobs worth the sleepless nights. Heights Wellness Retreat exists because I believe wellness should be accessible, innovative, and transformative. But it also exists because I'm a mother who's learned that prevention, early intervention, and solutions matter. Because I've seen what happens when you refuse to accept limitations. Because I know that the work we do—helping people feel unstoppable, helping them prioritize their health, helping them build routines that sustain them—matters in ways that go far beyond a massage or a cryo session. It matters because somewhere, someone is fighting like Braydi is fighting. And they deserve to know that wellness is possible. That solutions exist. That there are people—leaders, companies, communities—who believe in their fight.
The Real Work
Leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about showing up authentically, doing the work, and refusing to quit even when you're exhausted. Motherhood is the same. So is fighting for your health when the odds feel impossible. I'm doing all three simultaneously, and some days I'm not sure how I'm still standing. But I am. Because my girls deserve a mother who fights. Because my team and franchisees deserve a leader who's committed to building something real. Because Braydi deserves a mother who will spend 2 AM reading research, making calls, exploring every possibility. That's what drives me. That's what will always drive me. And that's what I'm bringing to everything I do. We're all on different journeys. Some of us are fighting for our health. Some of us are building companies. Some of us are doing both, and a thousand other things in between. The journey is real. The struggle is real. The commitment required to show up authentically, day after day, is real. But so is the impact. So is the transformation. So is the possibility that when we refuse to quit, when we do the work, when we show up for the people we love and the missions we believe in—everything changes.
That's the journey I'm on. And I'm grateful for everyone on theirs.
Want to know more about me? Visit shaneevans.me. Thinking about owning a Heights Wellness Retreat? Start at heightswellnessretreatfranchise.com.
