Today we’d like to introduce you to Alissa Boyer.
Hi Alissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I moved from Minnesota to Southern California in my early twenties. Fresh out of college, I’d landed a dream internship opportunity at a retailer in Orange County, CA and moved with three weeks notice. It was a whirlwind of a time in my life, marked with new experiences, new friends, and… a lot of stress. I was broke and trying to make it in the corporate retail world — doing whatever I could to prove myself, working long, crazy hours, saying yes to every project possible, so that I could climb the corporate ladder and earn enough money to live here.
I’ve always been a deeply sensitive person. Someone who feels it ALL, for better or worse. I’m also extremely passionate, dedicated, and resilient. However, my hardworking, relentless nature was often at odds with my sensitive body… and after months on end of working way too hard, skipping lunch breaks to finish projects at my desk, while eating food that wasn’t healthy for me… my body began to break down. I started losing hair and developed severe digestive issues.
My digestive issues got so bad that I could hardly eat anything without my stomach erupting into flames and bloating like I was 6 months pregnant. Naturally, I began obsessively searching for answers through a number of different gastroenterologists who were able to offer some support, but ultimately no permanent solution. “I think you’re just stressed,” they’d say after I endured yet another endoscopy procedure.
It all came to a head for me when I decided to explore a different route — holistic healing. In a fit of desperation, I discovered a Chinese Medicine Practitioner who seemed like he could help me. And, indeed, he did. Through working with my holistic practitioner, I learned about the importance of the mind-body connection and how unprocessed trauma can affect our bodies. I learned that I was a highly sensitive person (HSP), and how it was a non-negotiable for me to take excellent care of myself. I began meditating daily, reading self-help books, working through past wounds, and healing my self-worth.
It changed my life. I wanted to tell anyone and everything. On January 2019, I started a little blog that I wrote on the side of my full time job as a Retail Analyst. I vowed I wouldn’t be another person who starts a blog and then ghosts it after a few months. I wanted to show up to my blog with devotion and care.
That, I did. For two years, I posted two blog posts every single week sharing about my experiences as a highly sensitive person and empath. I talked about managing anxiety, building self-worth, and how to create a life that feels more magical and empowering. At first, the only people who read my blog were family and friends. Slowly, but surely, though, I grew a small following. Which grew, and grew, and grew… eventually bringing me to a community of over 165,000 people on Instagram.
Over the years, I evolved from blogging, to creating online courses and communities for highly sensitive people. I started a podcast in 2021 and have impacted hundreds of thousands of HSPs through my work. In August 2022, a couple of months after giving birth to my first daughter, I quit my job in retail to focus on being a mom and working in my HSP business.
In January 2025, one month before giving birth to my second daughter, I signed a book deal with TarcherPerigee, an imprint of Penguin Random House. On June 1st, 2027, my debut book for highly sensitive people will be released.
None of this was part of the plan when I was a 22-year-old, new to California, but it all unfolded exactly as it was meant to.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely not always been a smooth road! One of the biggest struggles I had to work through and overcome was the fear of what other people think of me. As my Instagram platform grew and I began experiencing some posts going viral, I was met with judgment and hate, at times. I remember specifically, an experience when my older daughter was a few months old. I was breastfeeding her early in the morning, when I checked Instagram to see a large creator trying to denounce me and my work. My comments and DMs were flooded with hurtful messages — people deeply misunderstanding me and trying to tear me down.
As a highly sensitive, empathic person, this cut me to my core. It was overwhelming and scary to feel so disliked by so many people. However… I knew my heart. I knew why I was doing this work. And, I knew that I was not going to let other people’s judgment stop me from showing up to work that truly mattered to me, and to so many others. Through this experience of almost being “canceled” I showed myself what I was capable of. I built my self-confidence and tenacity. I showed myself, firsthand, that I can survive the discomfort of being disliked and misunderstood.
This is just one of many experiences I’ve had online over the years where I’ve been misperceived, and these experiences have become a cornerstone of my teaching for HSPs. Why? Because so many highly sensitive souls are terrified of what others may think of them — whether it’s a mother-in-law questioning their boundary or a boss thinking they’re “too sensitive”. I’m grateful to have navigated these situations and come out the other side, because I’m able to show the way for other HSPs. You can be sensitive… and also, you can learn to handle the discomfort of adversity without shutting down. In fact, it’s GOOD for us to have these types of experiences so that we get to discover our strength and step into a more powerful version of ourselves.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’m a coach, author, and podcaster for highly sensitive people (HSPs). My work is helping HSPs to confidently OWN who they are — to learn how to work with their sensitivity as their unfair advantage, rather than seeing it as the thing that makes their life harder.
I’m known for helping HSPs build self-worth and radical self-acceptance so that they can overcome patterns like people-pleasing, second-guessing themselves, and always feeling like they’re “too much.” The majority of people I work with come to me having heard they’re “too sensitive” their entire lives. They’re the ones who felt like they were too emotional and like they didn’t have people in their lives who fully understood them. This results in them often overcompensating by pushing themselves too hard at work to prove their worth, by saying “yes” too frequently to make sure people like them, and struggling to set boundaries because they’re afraid of upsetting others or being seen as a “bad person”.
In my work, I help them heal their self-worth and expand their tolerance for discomfort so that they can learn to no longer outsource their value to other people’s opinions of them which allows them to set healthy boundaries, take care of their needs without guilt, and chase their dreams without worrying about judgment.
Much of my work centers around my Sensitive Archetype framework. In a nutshell, HSPs have five distinct strengths (their Sensitive Strength Archetypes) and five distinct limitations (their Sensitive Shadow Archetypes). In my framework, I help HSPs identify the specific Shadows that are currently standing in the way of them leveraging their sensitivity as their strength and unfair advantage. I’ll be expanding upon this much deeper in my upcoming book!
What sets me apart from others is the way I approach sensitivity. I’ve always said that I want being an HSP to feel like a cool club that you’re proud to be a part of. So many HSPs walking around feeling like a burden; so much content out there focuses on surviving your sensitivity and making HSPs feel like they’re weak. This is NOT the case with my work! I want you to feel like you’re part of an exclusive club with unique gifts and strengths that only YOU have.
I believe sensitivity needs a rebrand, and I believe my work has been shifting the narrative around how people see sensitive people. It’s not a person who cries all the time, or gets offended easily. A healthy, empowered HSP is someone who’s intuitive, creative, detail-oriented, empathetic, and thoughtful. We have so much to be proud of and I love sharing this message.
One of my favorite ways to support HSPs is through my ongoing group program for highly sensitive women called the Not Too Sensitive Club. We meet three times per month and our group coaching calls are centered around the three pillars of my NTS Club Protocol — managing triggers, spiritual growth, and unshakable identity. Through the Club, I teach highly sensitive women how to heal their self-worth, and feel steady + unshakable so that they can go out into the world feeling at ease with themselves no matter where they are or who they’re around. When HSPs are comfortable and confident, it makes it so much easier to tap into your Sensitive Strengths and leverage them as your unfair advantage, so that life feels more magical and playful, like it’s always working out in your favor.
In addition to the Club, I have a variety of self-paced courses and offerings. I also have my Sensitive Archetype Quizzes which have been taken by over 30,000 HSPs. As well as my podcast called the Not Too Sensitive Podcast which has brand new episodes every Tuesday.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I have dual citizenship to the EU! I am a citizen of the United States and Luxembourg. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifebyalissa/
- Other: https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com/quiz
