Before you click away, stay with me.
I know what you're thinking. Hypnosis? On a business podcast? Carol, have you gone full woo on us?
That's exactly what I thought too, until Bri Seeley sat across from me and explained something that stopped me in my tracks: your conscious brain, the one doing all the strategising, goal-setting, and "I'm going to crush this quarter" thinking, is only 5% of your brain. The other 95%? That's your subconscious. And it's been running a rulebook written by your eight-year-old self.
If you've ever wondered why you know what to do but can't seem to do it, why the visibility feels terrifying, why the follow-through falls apart, why the big goals stay big dreams, this episode might just crack the code for you.
Here's what Bri taught me, and honestly, I'm still processing it.
Your Brain Is Running Outdated Software
This was the metaphor that made everything click for me. Bri put it like this: we upgrade our phones constantly, we update our apps, we wouldn't dream of running 1990s software on a 2026 device. But our brains? We're running the same operating system that was installed before we turned eight.
"We're asked to upgrade our technology all the time, but we're not upgrading our brain, which is our biggest technology as humans. If you're not upgrading your operating system, you're trying to run 1990s Oregon Trail on a 2026 iPhone. Why? There's more available to you."
That hit me hard. Because as entrepreneurs, we invest in courses, coaches, strategies, tools, but rarely in the actual hardware running the show. Bri explained that before the age of eight, our brains amass data from our experiences, our environment, our parents, our teachers, and stores it all in the subconscious like a dusty filing cabinet in the back of the bottom drawer. Then it spends the rest of our lives reinforcing those old rules.
The job you have today probably didn't even exist when you were eight. So why are you trying to build a future based on rules written for a world that no longer exists?
Why Affirmations Aren't Enough (The 5% vs 95% Problem)
This one stung a little, because I've been an affirmation girlie. But Bri broke down why they often don't stick:
"Affirmations don't really work because 5% of your brain is being like, hooray! And the other 95% of your brain is like, you're lying. That's a lie. That's not true."
I felt that. You've probably felt it too. You say "I'm going to be a millionaire" and somewhere in the back of your mind there's a little voice going, "Sure you are." That's not a mindset problem, it's a wiring problem. And no amount of sticky notes on your bathroom mirror is going to overwrite three decades of subconscious programming.
For founders, this is the difference between knowing your strategy and actually executing it. You can have the perfect marketing plan, the best pitch deck, the clearest offer, but if your subconscious is screaming "it's not safe to be seen," you're going to self-sabotage every time.
The Ferrari Sponsorship Story (Yes, Really)
Bri shared a client story that genuinely made my jaw drop. One of her long-term clients was terrified of showing up on social media. She was convinced someone would cancel her, start a hate campaign, none of which had ever happened or was remotely likely. She's a genuinely lovely person. But her brain had decided that visibility was dangerous.
After working with Bri on a visibility hypnosis session, something shifted. The client changed her social media strategy and actually started implementing it consistently. The result?
"She just closed a sponsorship with Ferrari. Literally because of her visibility, she just signed a partnership with Ferrari."
The year before, Ferrari had declined her. The difference wasn't a new pitch or a better proposal, it was that she finally showed up. That's what happens when you remove the subconscious block: the strategy you already know actually works.
The "Second Thought" Technique You Can Try Today
I asked Bri what someone could do right now, today, without booking a session, just to start noticing where their brain is holding them back. Her answer was beautifully simple:
"The most important moment is right after you think the big thought. If you think 'I want to get 10 new clients this week' and your next thought is 'Girl, you've never done that in your life, who do you think you are?', that second thought is the indicator of where your brain is limited."
She called it the "but thought." The first thought is your ambition. The second thought is your subconscious showing you its rulebook. And that's the exact thing that needs to be upgraded.
As entrepreneurs, we're trained to focus on the goal. Bri's asking us to pay attention to what comes after the goal, because that's where the real work lives.
Hypnosis vs Meditation: Not the Same Thing
I had to ask, because I meditate and I was wondering if I was accidentally doing the work already. Bri's answer was nuanced:
"Hypnosis can be a form of meditation, but meditation is not always a form of hypnosis. It depends on how deep you're getting. Are you truly accessing theta brain waves, or are you just using meditation as a band-aid, a space to think about all your to-dos and reinforce old narratives?"
She was also clear that a lot of what's marketed as "subconscious reprogramming", the YouTube videos, the subliminal tracks, isn't actually reaching your subconscious. Real subconscious work, she explained, is like pulling a weed from the roots. If you just cut the top off, it grows back. You have to uproot the old belief, remove it completely, and then plant what you actually want in its place.
No shortcuts. But the results? Predictable and repeatable. Those are two words I love hearing as a business person.
What's Coming: The Sotto App
Bri dropped an exciting reveal during our conversation. She's developing an app called Sotto (S-O-T-T-O, Italian for "underneath") that will bring subconscious reprogramming to a wider audience. It's currently in development and set to launch later this year.
If you want to be first in line, you can join the waitlist at briseeley.com/sotto.
I'm personally excited about this because accessibility matters. Not everyone can invest in one-on-one hypnotherapy sessions right away, so having a tool that brings the science of subconscious work to more entrepreneurs? That's a game-changer.
Practical Takeaways for Founders
- Pay attention to your "second thought." When you set a big goal, notice the thought that immediately follows. That's your subconscious showing you its limitations and your roadmap for what needs to change.
- Stop fighting your brain and start reprogramming it. If you've been white-knuckling your way through visibility, sales calls, or content creation, the problem might not be discipline, it's that your subconscious thinks it's unsafe.
- Your eight-year-old self wrote the rules. The beliefs running your business decisions were formed before you understood what a business even was. It's time to update the operating system.
- Affirmations alone won't cut it. They only reach 5% of your brain. Real change requires accessing the subconscious, the other 95% that's actually driving your behaviour.
- Visibility is a safety issue, not a strategy issue. If your brain believes it's dangerous to be seen, no social media strategy in the world will save you. Address the root cause first. Start with a free visibility audit to see where you stand.
- Give yourself grace. You've gotten this far on 5% of your brain's capacity. Imagine what unlocking even another 5% could do for your business, your confidence, and your life.
- Explore the science. Hypnosis isn't woo, it's neuroscience. The studies exist. The results are documented. Don't let stigma keep you from a tool that could transform your business.
What You Don't Change, You Choose
I always close with this question, and Bri's answer gave me chills. Her theme for 2026? "How great can you stand it?"
"I'm choosing to let things go that are not aligned with my greatness because I'm so committed to that choice. I'm unwilling to live a life any longer that is mediocre. I've just been waking up and choosing my greatness."
She even wrote a self-hypnosis script in January to remove anything blocking her from greatness and listened to it every morning for a month. That's what commitment looks like when you have the tools to back it up.
If you're a founder sitting in the tension between where you are and where you want to be, maybe it's time to stop pushing harder and start rewiring smarter. Your brain isn't broken. It just needs an upgrade.
"If you are not upgrading your operating system, you are trying to run 1990s Oregon Trail on a 2026 iPhone. There is more available to you."
