Carmen Gillis
Carmen Gillis is the founder of Awakening Goodness. She creates environments where people rediscover the goodness of life and the freedom to live and work beautifully from a place of being rather than constant doing.
At the core of her work is a distinct way of seeing. Carmen has a natural ability to sense what is happening beneath the surface within people, systems, and environments, and bring those unseen dynamics into clarity.
Her work bridge's structure and feeling, strategy and intuition, vision and execution. She helps individuals and organizations move into greater alignment and wholeness, where decisions become clearer, teams function more cohesively, and work feels more energized, natural, and sustainable.
Carmen offers a counter-narrative to the belief that life and success must be driven by pressure, scarcity, or constant striving. Instead, she is devoted to restoring a deeper truth that life flows from goodness, and that creation itself is designed with beauty, joy, and delight woven into it.
Through her evolving body of work, Awakening Goodness, she explores what becomes possible when individuals and organizations begin to build from that place, creating environments where people feel free to be fully themselves, where creativity and rest coexist, and where success is both achieved and deeply experienced.
Her work reflects a larger vision to contribute to a cultural shift from striving and scarcity toward delight, beauty, and possibility.
In her personal life, this vision is lived, not just taught. She is devoted to cultivating beautiful, intentional environments, traveling with her daughters, and building ventures that allow people to express their unique gifts while experiencing both financial and creative freedom.
Ultimately, Carmen’s gift is creating spaces, internally and externally, where people come alive, reconnect with joy, and experience life in a more expansive, free, and beautiful way.
• University of Minnesota - B.S.
• American Brain Tumor Association
• Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to an innate gift of intuition, relational awareness, and joy that I bring into everything I do. We all come with unique gifts to offer the world, and I’ve been fortunate that mine has had space to be expressed throughout my career, especially in my work with people. I naturally sense where individuals will thrive, how roles can be shaped, and how teams can come together in ways that feel aligned and joyful.
People I work with often say that I bring light into the workplace on my teams and projects. I see that as creating spaces where happiness is present, and it permeates out into the work atmosphere.
This isn’t something I learned from a textbook. It’s who I am at my core. When I work from that place with authenticity, I witness the greatest impact in helping others enjoy work and life more fully.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received has always been about having courage and just going for it, even when it feels like a stretch. I remember a pivotal moment when I transitioned from being a project coordinator to a project manager almost overnight, and I had a moment where I wasn't feeling confident. My mentor stepped in and told me, 'Just do it, Carmen. Don't fear the failure, just do it. Just have the courage.' That encouragement to really go for it in whatever I'm doing, even when it feels uncomfortable or like a stretch, has been the inspiration that's carried me through my career. It's always been that push to not let fear hold me back and to go for what I want.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say, learn to lead from your heart. For me, that has always meant trusting the intuitive knowing within and letting that be the place I move from, not just my head. When I lead this way, I naturally lead with authenticity, courage, and compassion.
Leading from the heart keeps me connected to joy, love and what truly matters. It has allowed me to create work environments where people feel free to be themselves. When you lead from your heart, you become a brighter light and that helps people shine brighter themselves.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I am currently launching my new business, Awakening Goodness, and have been taking actions as I feel guided. In completely transparency, the job market feels a bit shaky, so staying in my intuition to continue forward feels a bit scary, as well as putting myself out there in greater visibility. That said, I have come to a place where I believe we are powerful creators of our reality, and even if everything in me is "screaming" to go back to the "safe" path, I know I must continue surrendering to my inner knowing.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are freedom, delight and joy, beauty, and play.
Freedom is at the heart of everything I do. I believe people come alive when they feel free to follow what is stirring within them, and to move from desire and alignment rather than pressure, scarcity, or constant striving. In both my work and personal life, I’m drawn to creating spaces where people feel free to express the gifts that are uniquely theirs.
Delight and joy are also central to who I am. Not as something forced or superficial, but as something deep, resilient, and life-giving. Having walked through cancer, divorce, and other difficult seasons, I know life can carry both ache and beauty. But I have also learned there is a place within us where light remains. Much of my work is about helping people return to that inner place and remember that life is not only something to manage, but something to experience and enjoy.
Beauty matters deeply to me because I believe beauty awakens us to pleasure. It softens, restores, and reminds us of what is good. Whether in a conversation, a workplace, a home, an event, or a vision for the future, beauty has the power to shift an atmosphere and help people feel more alive, more open, and more connected to limitless possibilites.
Lastly, play is an important value in my life and work. I believe we were designed for wonder, imagination, laughter, creativity, and enjoyment. As adults, it is easy to become serious, guarded, or overly responsible. Play invites us back into childlike wonder and helps us reconnect with the parts of ourselves that still know how to dream, explore, and believe that life can be good.
These values shape the heart of Awakening Goodness: a return to freedom, delight, beauty, and possibility.
Locations
Hudson, WI 54016