A Conversation with Monica Yates About the Evolution of Feminine Leadership

Monica Yates is a trauma healer, an embodiment coach for men and women, and a period whisperer. She offers coaching that helps women stop out of the masculine armor and tap into their feminine to live a life in alignment. Through her business, Monica Yates Health, she has helped thousands of women heal their cycle, reconnect with their period, and no longer be triggered by their past. Her podcast, Feminine as F*ck has had more than 1.6 million downloads. 

Grit Daily: Describe the initial spark that led to Monica Yates Health and how you got started. 

Monica Yates: I grew up in Australia in what would be seen as an idyllic childhood, so naturally, I thought I didn’t have any trauma.  

I didn’t realize that getting into bad situations with boys, binge drinking, and hating my body wasn’t normal — it was the way in which I felt validated by men, which later resulted in me hating men.  

This is an important part of my journey as my hate towards the masculine showed up in my hustling, burnout, horrendously painful and heavy periods, missing periods, and toxic relationships. But because I didn’t have any MASSIVE traumas (or so I thought), I never thought to look at it.  

My period went missing after coming off the pill back in 2015, and I dove head first into understanding my cycle after realizing a missing period was not a blessing — it became a host of health/hormonal issues for me.   

I got my period back four weeks after beginning a new relationship, despite trying all the herbs possible for MONTHS prior. So, I became obsessed with looking beyond just the surface of food and supplements for healing your period and found the world of femininity/masculinity. Changing my diet and supplements got rid of my heavy periods and pain, but it wasn’t bringing my period back after the pill… so I knew I had to look deeper.  

My awful relationship with my femininity meant that I shunned the most feminine part of myself, and I became a cold, masculine woman because I thought that’s what “cool” and successful women do. But my boyfriend at the time woke me up to the fact that a masculine man is not turned on by a masculine woman.  

Plus, I’ve always been obsessed with helping people, giving advice (when asked, of course), understanding health and psychology, and so when I found out that coaching existed back in 2016, I knew this was going to be my thing. The idea of seeing patients clinically for nutrition or psychology didn’t feel like it would really change someone’s life… so I made up my own thing. I started my bachelor’s and certification and started heavily researching everything to do with physical, emotional, and mental health. 

Grit Daily: How has the business grown since you first started? 

Monica Yates: The business was slow at the beginning. I think everyone has an idea these days on social media that your business will take off in the first year and make a million dollars — that definitely wasn’t the case for me. 

I started before the coaching industry was really a thing, and it took me years to start to actually make money. 

My first proper year of business (because I actually had clients that year) I made around $20,000 AUD.  

My first year of business felt like I was pushing a massive boulder up a hill. I was so burnt out. I was so exhausted. I was getting underpaid because I was undervaluing myself. And I was working ridiculous hours because I would get up at 6 a.m. to take calls with European clients. Basically, it was completely unsustainable. 

So, I quickly burnt that agenda to the ground! I locked into this whole concept of feminine leadership that I somewhat created and is now a trending “thing.” I really did embody “The Feminine CEO™.” 

That was in 2018, and then in 2019, I really embodied the feminine leadership, and I made $600,000 AUD, and my business just blew up and snowballed from there.  

I attest this success to two things. One: I completely lived out what I preached, which a lot of people don’t. And two: I was early in the coaching industry, and I was talking about these topics that nobody was really yet talking about. So I really was one of the first people talking about this stuff, and it showed how much it was needed and still to this day is needed. 

Grit Daily: What do you offer your clients and followers? 

Monica Yates: I have a range of different courses, as well as in-person experiences and also one-on-one coaching. From trauma, to business, to hormones and periods, to feminine embodiment, and beyond — my programs offer it all, and my offerings cater to different things. 

And my followers have access to an insane amount of free resources! That’s one thing people always comment — on of how much free stuff I give and how much value they receive from it. There’s my podcast with hundreds of episodes, my Instagram that’s always full of free content, and so many freebies on my website in the form of blogs, freebies, downloads, etc.  

Grit Daily: How can women embrace their femininity without feeling less empowered? 

Monica Yates: They need to realize that femininity is not disempowering. We need to take away this idea that empowerment comes with masculine energy. Femininity is very empowering because it’s about embracing yourself. And there’s nothing more empowering than loving, embracing, and being authentic with yourself. 

And you have to remember that what one person could find empowering, somebody else could find disempowering. So when we label these things, these ideas of like, “oh, cooking at home is not empowering” and “working on Wall Street IS empowering,” we need to remember it’s so dependent on the person.  

And I don’t think it does anybody justice to label empowerment that way. 

Grit Daily: How does being in their feminine help with alleviating business burnout, relationship difficulties, and lack of fulfillment? 

Monica Yates: If women are in their feminine and align their lives according to their cycles, it creates longevity, sustainability, and a sense of connection to your body. 

It feels like you’re not working against yourself. It feels like you’re not trying to compete with a man, and it feels like full acceptance of your own limits. 

And in the end, you actually end up getting just as much done (if not more!) because you haven’t burnt yourself out. You’re doing it in a way that is supporting your body. 

And in regards to relationships, there has to be polarity in order for there to be the chemistry, the passion, the love, and that connection — otherwise it would be a friendship. 

And when you are not in your feminine, it doesn’t create the space for him to be in his masculine. You don’t feel turned on by him, and you’re literally turning your own pleasure off because you’re in your hypermasculine. There’s probably some issues around not feeling safe to actually let go of the control. 

And then the lack of fulfillment is really about the fact that you’re disconnecting yourself from what really would make you happy. You’re probably thinking that what would make you happy is based on what you’ve been brought up to believe, or what society has conditioned you to believe. 

Grit Daily: What advice can you give to women who hit glass ceilings when they try to manifest their goals? 

Monica Yates: Do something that literally catapults you out of your comfort zone and out of your normal environment — because that action has then broken the glass ceiling. 

And then once you’ve taken that action, you’re now out of your comfort zone and you’re in that new level of life. 

Grit Daily: Where do you envision Monica Yates Health will be 5 years from now? 

Monica Yates: I see so much for my business! 

In five years from now, I envision that my book is a best seller. I see myself doing my events a few times a year, all around the world. Basically, my platform, my community, and the number of people I’m helping has grown even bigger! 

I know I really want to do couples events, working with couples’ emotions. And I’d love to speak in corporate settings, because it would be so transformative for more workplaces to realize how empowering it is when women work like women and men work like men. There would be more harmony (and actually more productivity), and everyone would feel more seen and acknowledged, rather than everyone feeling like they’re not being seen in corporate workplaces. 

And speaking of speaking, I would like to be on more panels. I just love speaking, and I love doing events!  I love being in different environments and bringing these thoughts to different areas — not just being only in the area of personal development, relationships, or masculine/feminine. I’d love to be able to bring all that I teach to other areas to benefit other people, because there’s something here for everyone.