Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Trinity Rose of Santa Monica

We recently had the chance to connect with Trinity Rose and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Trinity , it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Oh my gosh, I love to laugh, I laugh a lot, actually. I think it’s the quickest way for me to connect to joy. I recently heard the term ‘laugh back’—when you’re walking along and remember something funny and start laughing to yourself… I am definitely that person you’ll see walking down the street, giggling to herself. A recent moment that made me feel proud was when my podcast, The Alchemy of Success, charted on Apple in the top 3% in the Entrepreneur category. It’s been a significant leap to share my integrative perspective in a more public way. Seeing it resonate so quickly, with such high retention rates, really affirmed that there’s an audience hungry for this approach

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I work as a strategic advisor and thought partner to creatives & founders. I’m a former co-founder myself—so I’ve lived and understand the full arc and challenges of building a business from the ground up, from the initial vision through commercial modeling, going to market, and scaling. My background spans 15+ years across fashion, boutique hospitality, and wellness. My passion and focus is on how to build meaningful businesses that are also profitable, and doing so in a way that doesn’t lead to burnout.
My approach is integrative, meaning I combine the traditional aspects of business strategy—like structures and systems—with the intrinsic and less tangible aspects of building a business, like intuition, nervous system regulation, and conscious leadership.
Another key pillar to my methodology is Immersive Brand Architecture, which focuses on creating a sensory-led, immersive brand experience—a brand that’s felt as much as it’s seen and attracts customers on a subconscious level, where 70% of purchasing decisions are made.
I saw a post recently that said, “Your business will expose every unhealed part of you. Your abandonment issues show up when clients leave, your scarcity mindset shows up in your pricing, your control issues show up in your inability to delegate. Entrepreneurship isn’t just a career path, it’s involuntary therapy that forces you to confront who you really are.” After many years of working 1:1 with founders, I started seeing that you can have the most amazing branding and spot-on strategy, but if we aren’t facing our shit, things tend to fall apart. This is why my embodied leadership pillar is so central to my approach. As founders, the buck stops with us.
I work with clients across different formats: intimate 1:1 advisory partnerships, founders’ cohorts, and as a wellness experience consultant. I also host The Alchemy of Success podcast, which has become a space for honest, open conversations about all the layers of building a business, and how success is ever-evolving and rarely linear. These are the types of conversations I wanted to hear more of, so I decided to get over my own fears and put my voice out there, even though starting a podcast was honestly never something I saw myself doing.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I’m not sure I have words for this, but what this question brings up is a specific memory from when I was young—I think my father has it on video. Me dancing wildly on my own; I must have been five or six. Arms flying around, a bit off rhythm, but so authentically my weirdo self, not giving a damn, just letting it all out, as happy as can be. This was before my serious ballet days, when technique and choreography and perfectionism took over. Honestly, I think in many ways she still is my wildest spirit.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
This may sound weird, but I think it’s being seen. I’ve always been ambitious and desired recognition, but I also preferred to be behind the scenes—which is fine, except that it hindered me from fully letting myself shine and from putting my work out there in a larger way. I had to realize that I’m not doing anyone any favors by not letting my true self be visible. The work I do is important and impactful—helping founders build businesses that have a meaningful impact, helping them scale in a way that is sustainable and avoids burnout. That work is needed and matters, and I’m gifted at it. So why would I hide?
Fear, of course. Fear of judgment, fear of failure, but mostly fear of judgment. I’m a firm believer in pushing our growth edges, so once I saw that pattern, I knew I had to break it.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
That consciousness exists outside of our minds. That science and spirituality are closer than most people think. That telepathy is real. That there’s some sort of higher force larger than us that’s beyond our comprehension; call it God or the universe or something we don’t even have language for yet.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What will you regret not doing? 
Honestly, I’m someone who set out at a young age to live life fully and really experience it to its fullest. I’ve traveled a ton, loved deeply and madly, and followed my dreams. Checked most items off my bucket list—rode bareback through the mountains of Peru, fell in love in Paris, wrote a novel, and consciously decided not to have children. Which is a decision I still feel good about but hope I don’t end up regretting… Also, I hope I don’t end up regretting not saving for retirement sooner… 😬

Contact Info:

• Website: https://illumeconsultingstudio.com
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