14: The Getting Real with Hilary Show with Hilary Burns - Episode 1414: The Getting Real with Hilary Show with Hilary Burns - Episode 14
UK Health Radio Podcast
Shani Madaminova shares how she went from overworked healthcare CEO and immigrant success story to near-death survivor, questioning everything about success and purpose. She explains how meditation, breathwork and energy work reshaped her life and inspired her to help others move from survival mode to a more peaceful, meaningful existence.
41:14•1 Aug 2026
From CEO to Healer: Shani Madaminova’s Second Chance at Life
Episode Overview
- Faith and persistence can sustain long-term efforts, even when a new business brings debt, exhaustion and repeated setbacks.
- Success built on constant expansion and busyness may still feel empty if it is not aligned with an inner sense of purpose.
- A misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancy and massive internal bleeding led Shani to question why she survived and what she was meant to do next.
- Meditation, breathwork and energy practices helped her rebuild strength, learn self-healing and shift away from relying solely on external medical solutions.
- Her vision is to guide people out of survival mode so they can live more peaceful, harmonious lives and find purpose with the tools they already have.
“If I can help even one person to change their life, to be happy, to be peaceful, to live in harmony with what they have, I think that will be the most, I guess, dream that I could accomplish in this life.”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This conversation between host Hilary Burns and guest Shani Madaminova offers a gripping example, moving from hustle and near-burnout to a second chance at life. Shani shares how she arrived in the United States from Uzbekistan at 19 with no English, two suitcases, and plans for a career in law enforcement.
Instead, life pushed her into entrepreneurship: first working in restaurants and salons, then commuting for hours each day, and eventually building a home healthcare agency from a tiny 300-square-foot office. For years she wore every hat: “I was an HR, I was a coordinator, I was a marketer… payroll, authorisations, billing.” Her faith and stubborn refusal to quit carried her through long days, debt, and self-doubt. The turning point comes in Paris, where a misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancy nearly kills her.
Doctors later tell her she has no blood left and only minutes to live. Surviving against the odds, Shani starts to question everything: “If you saved me, it wasn’t for me to continue running my businesses.” That crisis sparks a complete shift from chasing success to seeking meaning, healing and inner peace. She talks about learning meditation and breathwork, initially falling asleep during exercises and laughing at herself as a “hyper person” trying to sit still.
Over time she moves into energy work, self-healing and teaching others to use their “tools… already been given by God” so they rely less on external fixes. This episode speaks to anyone who’s ever tried to fill a void with work, success or constant busyness. You’ll hear a story of survival, faith, and rebuilding life around purpose rather than pressure, and you might find yourself asking: what am I really chasing, and is it making me happy?
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