E88: Elevate Your Daily Routines with Essential Oils

WHOA! I've been getting so many questions about essential oils, and this trendy question needed it's own episode. Time to go #BehindTheScenes into how I use dōTERRA oils to elevate my daily routines...

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[00:25] Hello and welcome back to the women’s empowerment podcast, I am your host Valerie LaVigne, and I am so grateful that you are choosing to listen to this particular podcast today. I recently learned that there are over 1 million different podcasts out there, and to know that you are listening to this one, well it is an absolute honour. 

Another really exciting moment for the podcast this month was that we have officially reached over 10,000 unique downloads, and I could not have done that without you. Thank you so much! Honestly, it means the world. If you haven’t already, I would love for you to write your honest review over on iTunes. It helps me to create more episodes and for more people to find and benefit from the show. 

Also if you want to connect with me personally, leave a comment at the bottom of this page. I love meeting the listeners and getting to know you all better, so don’t be shy! You can also connect with me on instagram @vallavignelife!

Speaking of instagram! I usually use this platform to connect with my audience to learn more about what you’d love to hear on the show. I find that I pop into the stories and slide into dms asking some of my listeners turned followers or followers turned listeners and ask them if they have any ideas, suggestions, or questions. 

I was pleasantly surprised about how many essential oil questions I got! WHOA! I actually got so many that I’ve decided to make the upcoming Q&A episode about the most popular questions, and while I was organizing all the questions I discovered a very interesting theme or idea for a separate episode.

[2:24] This underlying theme was how I use dōTERRA products and oils in my everyday life, and as I was thinking of how to answer I realized that it’s a huge part of my lifestyle and it needed it’s own episode. So today I bring to you: How to Elevate Your Daily Routines with Essential Oils.

I’ll speak more about this in episode 90, but for now I’ll explain one of the main reasons I chose dōTERRA for all my essential oils instead of any other company. And the main reason is because of their quality and transparency. When it comes to essential oils, high quality is the most important factor. If an essential oil isn’t 100 percent pure, it’s not going to work. The problem is, essential oils have become very popular, very mainstream over the last few years, and although this is exciting, it’s also very concerning for people like me who actually understand the power of oils and the industry.

There is no governing body that regulates the essential oil industry. This means that anyone and everyone can label their bottle of “essential oil” as 100 percent pure even if it’s mostly synthetic fragrance AKA FAKE!

dōTTERA is the leader in the essential oil market and natural health space for many reasons, but one of those reasons is transparency. They label each bottle and batch of essential oil with a code which you can then use to look up the exact chemical constituents of that bottle. They tell you exactly what’s in it, no problem, because they know that they have an incredible product and the highest quality. They have the highest standard and have created their own quality standard called CPTG Certified Pure Tested Grade. Which means each of their oils and products go through multiple forms of testing to ensure the highest quality of oils.

If you have other oils at home that you purchased from a health food store or another essential oil company, you could definitely get it tested to better understand the quality of that specific bottle, but to get these test results you’ll need to pay about $200 per test. I bet you can guess why most people don’t get their $8 dollar bottle of Frankincense that they bought from Whole Foods tested. In fact, I’ll save you the $8 + $200 right now to tell you that a bottle of pure frankincense oil is going to cost you more than $8 (and less than $100!) But anyways, the point I’m trying to make is that I trust dōTERRA, and only dōTERRA for all my essential oils.

I’ve mentioned that essential oils have become more popular, and you’ve probably even heard of dōTERRA before, that’s great! Did you know that dōTERRA is way more than oils? They actually have heaps of other everyday lifestyle products that include oils for extra benefits and natural solutions! How incredible is that!?

[5:37] In fact, Heather, one of the listeners asked: How do you use dōTERRA in your life?

To answer this question I thought I would take you a little behind the scenes into some of my daily routines.

Starting with Wake Up:

I get up, open the windows and make the bed every morning. Some

mornings I will put the diffuser on, or I’ll choose an oil or blend to wear as “PUREfume” 

Here are 4 of my favourite morning diffuser blends:

LIQUID SUNSHINE
3 drops Cheer Blend
4 drops Grapefruit
1 drop Peppermint

FRUITY PEBBLES
2 drops Lemongrass
2 drops Grapefruit
2 drops Bergamot

FIND A BALANCE
2 drops Hawaiian Sandalwood
4 drops Balance Blend

NO WORRIES
3 drops Lime
2 drops Wild Orange
1 drop Easy Air (aka Breathe) Blend

dōTERRA makes roller bottles that are pre-diluted called “touch” bottles for convenient topical use and I like those for the PUREfumes. Usually the floral oils like:

Rose touch
Lavender touch
Magnolia touch
Jasmine touch
Neroli Touch

I will either choose one, or blend a couple together. Usually putting them on my pulse points, or drawing them in a heart-shape around my chest.

[6:54] Next I drink water and take my morning dōTERRA supplements. The ones I take first thing are:

Deep Blue Polyphenol complex
This is a blend of powerful polyphenols clinically tested to help soreness and discomfort from physical activities and daily life. I’ll usually take these when I’ve changed up my workout routine, or when I’ve done more hiking, trekking, climbing, that sort of thing. 

Mito 2 Max
This is a blend of adaptogenic herbs and extracts with energy co-factors made to increase mitochondrial biogensis and overall energy while correlating the stress response due to physical activity and daily life. I will take them for a month and then take a break, and then take them again, alternating. I do this because I like my body to be able to do things without external support, but I also know that I don’t always get the support I need and I feel really great when I’m consistently taking this supplement. 

On Guard Softgel
One of my favourite softgels by dōTERRA is this blend of several essential oils in a convenient softgel that protects the immune system from foreign invaders (pathogens). I take this daily when I’m building my immune system or if I feel like I’m more susceptible to getting sick. 

Yarrow | Pom Cellular Beauty Complex
This is one of dōTTERA’s newer supplements, it combines clinically studied extracts and a powerful blend of essential oils to provide powerful antioxidant support for healthy, luminous skin with an irresistible glow from the inside out. (doterra.com)

[8:32] Sometimes when I make my morning coffee I’ll add a drop of essential oil to mix up the taste, some of my go-to oils for coffee are:

Peppermint, and I’ll add some organic hot chocolate mix or cacao for a peppermint mocha flavour

Wild Orange is a fun flavour to add into a frozen coffee or a hot one!

Cassia is like a sweeter cinnamon bark oil and I was obsessed with this in my macchiato shots for a little while!

You could also try Cardamom, Ginger, Spearmint, or Lavender!

[9:03] I like to workout in the mornings and you better believe I use dōTTERA’s oils and products to support my physical health. 

Mito2Max is an excellent energy booster in the morning, but I also like the “Energy” Roller bottle I make! I use this on my forearms and neck before working out. The recipe is:

ENERGY ROLLER BOTTLE
10 drops Motivate Blend
8 drops Spearmint
5 drops Peppermint

Add oils to a 10ml roller bottle, top with FCO (fractionated coconut oil), shake well and use for a burst of good vibes!

[9:36] My boyfriend LOVES dōTTERA’s Deep Blue Rub, and he likes to use it before the workout because he says it activates his muscles, I usually use it after my workout to soothe my muscles. You can use it for both!

Easy Air, aka Breathe Blend is one of my absolute favourite oils. I use this for hiking, spinning, working out, breath work, yoga classes, before bed. I love it SO MUCH! It comes in a touch roller, in a regular essential oil bottle, and it’s also available in a vapour stick form. Personally I love the touch roller and keep it in my gym bag or when we hike in the backpack LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

[10:18] So I don’t always lift weights, but sometimes i do yoga and pilates. dōTTERA has a yoga collection of three oils called Align, Anchor, and Arise

Align is the “Centering Blend” some complimentary yoga poses to use this oil with are: Seated mediation, warrior 2, triangle, gate pose, and extended side angle.

Anchor is the “Steadying Blend” which is also great for seated meditation, seated twists, Bhu Mudra which is also known as the mother earth mudra.

And Arise is the “Enlightened Blend” is great with volcano pose, standing side stretch, and half moon.

You don’t have to do these poses with the oils, but they’re complimentary to the blends. I’ll diffuse these when I teach and when I do my self practice. Another one of my favourite blends was the second dōTTERA blend I fell in love with (the first was Easy Air) the second was Balance blend. This is the “Grounding Blend” and it is very earthy and lovely and I’m totally obsessed with it still. When I’m feeling anxious I’ll rub it onto the soles of my feet morning and night and it is really a calming and relaxing ritual for me.

[11:38] Speaking of rituals… Candice, another listener asked: Do you have a ritual when using oils? 

I do have a few rituals that I use the oils with, and some of them I do daily, others I do occasionally.

Some of the “occasional rituals” would be more spiritual like during the new moon or full moons, or during intention setting/goal setting. Sometimes I make diffuser blends or rollers based on the energy of the moons, or I will grab an oil I’m most drawn to for manifesting. 

A ritual that I love is creating a bath salt recipe with oils. My favourite epsom salt blends:

RELAXATION
5 drops Lavender
3 drops Frankincense

HIGH VIBE
3 drops Copaiba
5 drops Balance Blend

CLARIFYING
5 drops Wild Orange
2 drops Eucalyptus 

RECOVERY
8 drops Deep Blue Blend
8 drops AromaTouch Blend

[12:32] Another sort of “oil ritual” I have is before I go on a live show, or before I record a podcast I will use spearmint which is the “Oil of Confident Speech” Lavender is another great oil for this as it is the oil of “Communication and Calm”

Most of the time I am drawn to an oil intuitively and I will diffuse it or put it on the back of my neck, on my chest, or put a drop in my palms and take a few deep breaths before presenting or recording a podcast.

[13:03] Getting back to more of a daily ritual, I use other supplements that dōTTERA has:

Their LifeLong Vitality Pack or LLV which contains three supplements:

ALPHA CRS+
This is packed with nature’s most potent anti-oxidants, natural anti-inflammatories, and energy cofactos, this blend of synergistic herbs will give life and energy to the cells and a sense of well being to the body.

MicroPlex VMz
A revolutionary micronutrient supplement providing naturally balanced amounds of all vitamins, minerals, trace elements, phytonuritines and antioxidants that give your body the most beneficial and safe amounts needed for long term health and vitality. 

xEO MEGA
A blend of marine base and land base omega essential fatty acids in a unique assimilation capsule with essential oils and fat-soluble vitamins. This is the only omega supplement I’ve ever stuck with my entire life.

I know we’ve been talking about a lot of oils and products, and like I’ve mentioned, it’s a lifestyle!

[14:16] So let’s get into showering… haha I have a dry brush self care habit that I do before the shower and I know I’ve shared this on instagram, here are two of the recipes I use:

DRY BRUSH SPRAY ONE: Gentle Circulation
Add 20 drops of each to a 60ml spray bottle, top with FCO (Fractionated Coconut Oil), shake up, and spray.
Cypress
Eucalyptus
Frankincense
Rosemary

DRY BRUSH SPRAY TWO: Citrus Exfoliation
Add 30-50 drops of Smart & Sassy Blend (aka Slim & Sassy) to dōTERRA’s verage skin care toner. Shake well and spray.

I spray the oil mixture + FCO onto the dry brush and use it on my skin before the shower.

In the shower I use eucalyptus or easy air for a eucalyptus steam shower vibe. I also use dōTTERA’s body wash because I’m obsessed with it! And I am also obsessed with dōTTERA’s verage skincare collection.

[14:50] Now post shower things start to get a little more interesting… I finish with the verage skin care routine: toner, serum, moisturizer, with a drop of yarrow pom oil. For my body I either use the yarrow pom serum or the hydrating body mist with beautiful blend, they’re both amazing, you can't go wrong. 

As I was preparing this episode I honestly thought to myself, how don’t I use these products in my life? That would have been a much shorter episode hahaha

dōTTERA also has other great bathroom products like their foaming hand wash, body wash, whitening toothpaste, and mouth wash! We have a hand wash in each bathroom + in the kitchen as well. 

[15:38] Speaking of the kitchen, this is where we also keep our On Guard cleaner concentrate which is a safe, natural, and effective cleaning solution that can be easily diluted and used on almost every surface. We also use it to wash produce, 1 tbsp + couple drops of Lemon EO. 

If I’m missing an herb or spice I’ll use oils in cooking but I haven’t played with this myself too much. Usually make a salad dressing if anything.

HOL:FIT HERBACEOUS LOVE DRESSING
¼ c ACV or white wine vinegar
¼ c Olive Oil
1 tbsp Yellow Mustard
1 drop dōTTERA Celery Seed oil
2 drops dōTTERA Lemon oil

[16:20] For laundry we use dōTTERA’s On Guard Laundry Detergent with a few drops of Tea Tree oil. You can also use oils like lavender or eucalyptus or balance blend for your dryer balls.

[16:33] Before bed I take a few more supplements….

Serenity Soft Gels
A blend of lavender essential oil and natural plant extracts to enhance a restful night' sleep by promoting relaxation without feeling groggy.

Turmeric Capsules
A unique dual chamber, providing an inner layer of botanical extract and outer layer of essential oil, intended to promote better absorption in a convenient deliver system. Turmeric is chemically diverse in composition, with more than 235 chemical constituents identified.

Copiaba Soft Gels

Adaptive Capsules
A blend of essential oils and botanicals combined to both relax and empower and encourage when adapting to stressful situations or acclimating to new surroundings. Intended as a tool to help manage effects of stress, tension, uneasiness, and worry that come during every day life.

Quick + Important Disclaimer for Legal Purposes: Since I sell essential oils, it's important for me to tell you that I have to comply to certain regulations since essential oils aren't regulated by Health Canada or the FDA. So the benefits and claims made on this website and in the podcast are not approved by these parties. 

I like using easy air in the diffuser or on my chest/bottoms of the feet before bed. There is also Serenity, the restful blend that works great for transitioning into sleep either a drop on the pillow or in the diffuser with Cedarwood is also amazing.

[18:08] Most of these oils and products I use every single day, but some of them I use most days.There isn’t a day that I go without using some sort of oil or oil infused dōTTERA product! But it wasn’t always like this. I actually started with a handful of oils and since then my collection of oils and products has grown! I like to try a new oil or product each month. Or play with an oil I don’t use very often and try new things with it.

[18:36] Another one of our listeners, Michelle, asked: How to start integrating them into your every day practice?

This is a really amazing question, and I wanted to save it for last. Because yes, listening to this whole daily routine of how I use ALL of these incredible and supportive products for my health does seem a little overwhelming, and when you’re first getting into dōTTERA it can be a lot. I know because I totally felt that in the beginning. But the key comes back to some of my basic teachings on habits and creating a healthy lifestyle that you can be excited about and consistent with.

The first basic principle is to pick ONE area of your health to focus on at a time. Some examples would be:

NUTRITION
SLEEP
EXERCISE
EMOTIONS
MEDITATION
CLEANING/HOME

Choose ONE area of your health and start there. I promise you, whatever you want to “elevate” or “upgrade” there is an oil for that. And when I offer wellness consultations for people who are interested in bringing these powerful natural solutions into their home, I always ask them what are their top three health goals? This is our starting point!

Once you have your health goals/starting point, we figure out which oils would best support your goal and make it into a daily routine/habit/ritual that is specific to you.

[20:01] Something I love to do is meditate in the morning, or hold space with some deep breaths before I start the day. Some great oils that can elevate your centering practice are: Easy Air (akak Breathe blend), Peppermint, and Eucalyptus, Cypress. To use these in your meditation practice, place a drop of the oil in your palm, rub the hands together gently and then cup both hands over your nose and mouth creating a hand diffuser. Breathe deeply setting the intentions for your day.

If you have goals to support happy, glowing skin, you could start with some of dōTTERA’s essential oils for skin, or one of their wonderful skincare collections. As a daily ritual, use the oils on your skin (face, body, or both – depending), and speak kindly to yourself in the mirror as you use the products on your skin. Tell yourself what you love about you, give a coy wink to yourself in the mirror, or repeat positive affirmations.

If you have goals for better sleep, we can look at which oils are best for a bedtime routine, and create the perfect evening routine for you, using the support of your new oils, diffuser, or other products!

Along with all the other products, resources, and recipes I shared, I’m going to include a free copy of my monthly wellness box guide with the yellow button below. It’s a free resource I created to share with you some different dōTTERA products I use based on different health goals.

Download the FREE Wellness Box Guide

Dream Lifestyle Roadmap

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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BONUS: Tapping into the Unconscious Mind to Manifest Dreams and Avoid Burnout with Shirley Zhou

Today I am super excited to introduce Shirley Zhou the Co-founder of The Burnout Clinic, Shirley Zhou empowers women entrepreneurs under high pressure to achieve work-life harmony and live their joy!

At The Burnout Clinic, she uses therapeutic interventions to address mid to late-stage burnout...

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The Burnout Clinic 

[1:20] Shirley! Thank you so much for joining me today for another incredible bonus episode, I am so happy to have you here! For those listening who don’t know you yet, tell us about yourself, and your journey to finding and creating meaningful work.

Journey started off when Shirley was in school for Child and Youth Care, when she was learning about burnout and self care because it is very predominant in the field. However little did she expect that she would be experiencing burnout. A lot of times it's when we're so passionate about what we do. For Shirley she has always followed her dreams and built careers on her passions and what she loves. While following her dreams she was recognizing patterns of burnout.

The Burnout Clinic understands that burnout is a systemic problem that is more prevalent, especially as technology advances, the world is moving quicker and demanding more. At the Burnout Clinic they work at helping individuals recognize it and change the way that we work so that it's more empowering.

[3:00] Tell us more about the unique methodology and approach you use on your clients, and why it’s so impactful?

The Burnout Clinic has two approaches. The first is a 2-day therapeutic intervention in Belize, and the second is 1:1 coaching to learn tools to help you move forward.

The 2-Day Breakthrough is a deep dive into your unconscious and understanding the root cause of your burnout. The first day is an intensive session with several questions to uncover current problems in all areas of life. From these stories and experiences, we look for patterns and see which limiting beliefs are so deeply rooted and connected into each of these areas of life. Once we release this, there is usually an overwhelming release of emotions.

On the second day is where mental and 5 base emotional release are done (anger, sadness, fear, hurt, and guilt).

Coaching can be an add on or a separate method. Some will need coaching or help with accountability, and the life moving forward could need support to move forward.

[7:36] Who would benefit most from the services you offer?

2-day Breakthrough: Anyone at rock bottom. 
Examples: Someone experiencing a recent divorce; anyone who's imposture syndrome has stopped them from taking action; someone who's anxiety is impeding their life; when a person is really fed up and has noticed patterns repeating and health/relationships/or career has come to a halt.

For coaching, it's more for anyone who is mildly impacted by their unconscious mind, or their limiting beliefs, or their emotions.

[9:15] Let's say we're not sure which category we fall in, but we know we need help. Where do we start? How do we work with you?

You can book a free consultation on the website: www.TheBurnoutClinic.com 

Most limiting beliefs are because of internal conflicts and most of these can be released within a 30 minute coaching session.

[10:44] This is more of a personal question, but since I learned this information I’ve been dying to ask you! What was it like to trek to the base camp of Mount Everest!?

Shirley describes herself as a very curious person by nature, and soon discovered that this experience was a learning lesson as well. She hikes and portages regularly in Ontario, Canada and was excited to climb with her friend.

Within a few days she was experience negative side effects of the altitude sickness medication, along with other elements of the hike. One of the reasons Shirley likes to challenge herself and why she went for the journey because she knows that when you're alone and putting one foot in front of the other, you don't have anyone else aside from you and your thoughts. She would ask, “how do I break my mental self down… and then to pick myself up?” She would grow so much more form these experiences, looking for the next mountain to climb.

[13:07] Talk about mental strength and a healthy mindset! What were the thoughts going through your mind, and how did you overcome the mental and physical challenge?

Before you even start trekking you have to take the shortest and most dangerous runways in the world and the plane needs to land there and you start there. So it's an exciting adventure! In the beginning you'll notice your body starting to get sore, and it's easy to encourage yourself to move forward and keep one foot in front of the other. 

The next day you do it all again and this is where you have to work on your perseverance and the mental challenge and requirement comes into play. As you start getting higher in altitude it starts getting harder to breathe and this is where you have to be more gentle with yourself. Taking breaks before you need the break, and being okay with that, even if everyone else is sprinting ahead. Listen to your own judgements to yourself and stop comparing yourself to others because this self talk doesn't serve you.

Around day four or five Shirley broke down. It was cold at night and she was just with herself thinking “shit, what did you sign yourself up for!?” You might have a little panic and break down and cry like Shirley did, but she found her mental cheerleader and after her release she picked herself back up and brought awareness to what cheers her on and keeps her motivated to go the distance.

[17:35] How is it that some people can challenge themselves with these incredible climbs and go through this mental and physical challenge, yet when they're faced with starting their own business, or another example that is a lot less life-threatening, how do they overcome those stuck spots?

A lot of it is fear. When we're not taking action, it's based from fear. Our thoughts that we're aware of are in our conscious mind, but the root perpetuating it comes form our unconscious mind, that might be coming from a childhood or past experience. We all want to avoid anything that is painful. It doesn't have to be physically painful, but thinking of all of the parts involved in building a business, or making any change to happen, there is a lot involved.

There are four requisites of change:

#1. The Release Work: releasing the fears, limiting beliefs, negative emotions

#2. Set Your Goal: that is supported by your unconscious mind so that you remove the self-sabotage.

#3. Take Action: when we don't take action, it's because it goes back to the fear; what root is holding us back?

#5. The Focus: understand where you're putting you focus so that you can reach your goal

[20:28] Candice asks: What are some ways to tap into the unconscious mind?

One of the tools Shirley likes to use is HAKALAU, which is a Hawaiian word and means “a state of being” similar to being in “the zone.” This is what it means to be connected to your subconscious.

To get into hakalau physically, it is connecting your focus and then expanding your focus and tunnel vision into your peripheries. From there we are more connected to our parasympathetic system, we're out of the fight or flight and we're a lot more calm and centred, and this is where our unconscious mind can naturally just flow out.

TRY IT! Wiggle your fingers in front of you at around 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock, while keeping your focus on the space in front of you, choose a focal point. Gradually pull the fingers back and notice how focused and relaxed you feel. You can change your focus and also do this without your hands.

The Unconscious Mind

[23:05] For those who want to experience a deeper connection to their unconscious, what would your recommend for them?

You can use hakalau, at the same time, the unconscious mind is like a muscle and it needs to be strengthened. Asking the unconscious mind if it's okay for me to do this release and trusting, and listening so that we can recognize what is coming up for us.

[24:14] You're saying the word “Action” a lot, and this is something I teach in my coaching; it's that action is where the magic happens. Let's talk about manifesting and the unconscious mind! When it comes to manifesting our dreams and goals, where do we start? Walk us through the steps.

When we talk about energy, there are four bodies and three selves: 
Higher Self, Unconscious Self, Conscious Self
Spiritual Body, Mental Body, Emotional Body, Physical Body

When we talk about manifesting, a lot of times we're bringing something down our four bodies from spiritual to physical. We have to move through each body before it manifests physically for us. The mental and emotional blocks and fears are what stop us from taking action. These need to be cleared and unblocked before we can manifest.

[27:57] Rubani Asks: about the mental and emotional process and how to change your mind to think something else when it’s been accustomed to a whole different way of your life?

Shirley uses Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) 
Neuro = Mind
Linguistic = Language
Programming = similar to an App on your phone

These are neuro-pathways of our mind, like a manual for our mind. Using NLP we can change the neuro-pathways and support the unconscious mind to going in the direction that we want. It's scientific and efficient when it comes to making changes in our life.

[31:50] Is there something you do, to get out of your own blocks, like a morning routine?

Shirley meditates every morning, as a way to set the tone for the day. Before each going call she grounds and make sure she feels centred. Shirley also journals. Using a mind dump page to help her bring awareness. THEN she blocks off time to actually do the work, not just the awareness of the block, but actually removing it or planting a new belief.

In the evening she sits with herself and checks them off.

[33:54] How long does it take for someone to get over a specific block, for example, procrastination?

20 minutes! The coaching call is an hour and there is some pre-work before using the tool. The changes are difficult in the conscious mind, not in the unconscious mind.

[39:69] Candice asks: Are there ways we can recognize and prevent burnout?

Burnout is when you expend more energy than you can replenish, as a habit.

At a low point it's a feeling of deep and dark sadness or low energy. But you can also recognize it in different areas of your life like your health, career, relationships. You're cynical, anxious, reactive, doubtful, etc. You're not showing up as your best self and it's effecting relationships. So there are a lot of signs. 

At the Burnout Clinic they focus on the mid to late stage where self care just isn't enough.

[44:35] Where can we find you, where can we follow you?

INSTAGRAM | @theburnoutclinic

WEBSITE | www.TheBurnoutClinic.com

[45:18] Is there anything else you'd like to add about the unconscious mind or The Burnout Clinic?

The unconscious mind is always there to support you. It's a very powerful tool to harness with the right techniques, and it's not complicated or scary. Being able to harness that is where your empowerment comes from, because you get to take responsibility and ownership to then make the changes that you want.

The Burnout Clinic, if you're interested in our services, get the BOOK: Mental & Emotional Release by Matt James and Tris Thorp this will give you more insight into the process.

Rapid Fire Round

[46:55] 1. What are you currently reading, or what’s your favourite book?

AUDIO BOOK: Beyond Mars and Venus by John Gray

[47:08] 2. What are you currently working toward?

Personal health and fitness, and abundance

[47:20] 3. What do you love most about being a woman?

The balance between the masculine and feminine energy and finding that fit, and it's always shifting ant it's a beautiful dance. 

[47:35] 4. What does empowerment mean to you?

Empowerment is recognizing that you have the ability and power to make the changes and to live the life that you want and to be able to take action towards it.

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E87: This ONE Practice Could Change Your Relationship with Food

Welcome back to the Women’s Empowerment Show, thank you for joining me for an episode that was inspired by one of our listeners, Leah...

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[00:33] Leah emailed me one day and we got to chatting about intermittent fasting, among a couple other things, and while we were emailing back and forth Leah said, “this could be a great future episode.” I loved the suggestion and I had kept a note of the topic with some of our conversation, but it sat in my google docs for a little over a month before I actually figured out what this podcast was going to be, and how I would make it purposeful for the audience.

The reason I didn’t jump on the idea right away is because I don’t practice intermittent fasting anymore. And I don’t like to teach or talk about anything that I don’t do myself. However, intermittent fasting has been a really big piece to getting to where I am today when it comes to my relationship with food, and how I eat.

So before we get into where I am now, let’s jump back to about three years ago when I first committed to intermittent fasting. I say “committed” because I had heard of it before and I had thought about trying it, but I never actually stuck to it.

[1:40] Intermittent fasting has become a very popular trend in the health and fitness world. If you haven’t already heard of it, healthline has a really simple definition which is: “it’s an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating.” It’s not about what you’re eating, but actually when you’re eating. Therefore it isn’t a diet, but an eating pattern.

[2:04] There are so many different ways of fasting, and fasting isn’t new by any means.It’s been done for centuries by religious groups, and for spiritual reasons. I’ve fasted for a week at a mediation centre before – I’ll save that for a different episode…

The intermittent fasting pattern is one of two methods: The first is a daily 16-hour fast. And the second is fasting for 24 hours, twice per week.

When I tried this pattern I did the first method, fasing daily for 16-hours.

Most people would agree that the first method is the simplest and the easiest to stick to. Here’s how it works:

• You’re allowed to eat in an 8 hour window of the day, and you can choose when the 8 consecutive hours are. I was waking up around 5:30 or 6am so I chose 11am – 7pm

• During that 8 hours you’re eating whatever you want

• But for the other 16 hours of the day, you’re fasting. No “breakfast” and no “evening snacks”

When people ask me how to choose a window for themselves, I recommend starting with an hour after you wake up, especially if you’ve never fasted before. Then, after a couple days stretch it to two hours after you wake up.

The other tip that helped me start intermittent fasting was if I felt a bit hungry in the morning before 11am, I would wait 30 minutes and if I was still hungry I would eat 30 minutes later. This was in the beginning when I was getting into the habit of the new eating pattern.

[3:48] However, here’s where things changed for ME. I wasn’t hungry in the morning. Like right in the beginning, I wasn’t hungry. 

When people learned that I didn’t eat breakfast anymore, most of them were appalled and used to tell me, “But breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” and let me tell you, I used to be one of those people. I used to believe this and think people were crazy for not eating first thing in the morning. 

But when I actually checked into my body, I wasn’t hungry. You’re also not supposed to eat when you aren’t hungry. So why should I eat?

[4:30] I grew more curious about the line “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” and learned that it was invented by KELLOGS to sell their new breakfast cereal! Corn flakes are garbage and I don’t care what time of day it is, cereal isn’t good for your body. This is a marketing strategy and it has millions of people believing that they need to eat first thing in the morning. My mind was B L O W N.

Don’t get me wrong, I love breakfast food! And I still enjoy brunch. Just because you don’t eat before 11 am doesn’t mean you don’t eat bacon and eggs!

Anyway. While I started getting into the habit of intermittent fasting, I was also learning a lot about my relationship with food, and also developing a stronger relationship with my body. I was learning about what my body wanted, what it didn’t want, what it craved, when I would crave certain foods. It was like I was finally speaking the same language of my body and I wasn’t just putting food into my mouth because it was “breakfast time” or “lunchtime” or “dinner time” and that’s what everyone else did. 

I was also noticeably more alert during the day, I was sleeping better, and I was losing weight. I had gained weight the year before and it took me about a month of intermittent fasting and 5 days/week of weight training to lose the majority of it.

[6:04] Fasting can be very beneficial to the body and affects your cells and hormones. Here are some of the changes that occur in your body when you fast according to an article on healthline:

• Human Growth Hormone (HGH): The levels of growth hormone skyrocket, increasing as much as 5-fold. This has benefits for fat loss and muscle gain, to name a few 

• Insulin: Insulin sensitivity improves and levels of insulin drop dramatically. Lower insulin levels make stored body fat more accessible

• Cellular repair: When fasted, your cells initiate cellular repair processes. This includes autophagy, where cells digest and remove old and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells

• Gene expression: There are changes in the function of genes related to longevity and protection against disease

There are other health benefits of intermittent fasting including: 

• Reducing insulin resistance and inflammation

• Possible reduction of “bad” cholesterol and

• Increases the brain hormone that helps the growth of new nerve cells

[7:14] At the end of the day, it’s a very simple practice, and one of the things I teach my health coaching clients is that “Healthy Can Be Simple” it really can.

I can’t remember how long I kept up with the intermittent fasting. I wish I could remember. I think maybe… a year? Two years? It was a while. What I can tell you is that during that time I was also doing A LOT of other things. 

I had completely renovated my morning routine. I was waking up earlier and working out first thing in the morning for 4-5 days every week. I was meditating and deepening my spiritual practice, and I was journaling and really diving into personal development.

I can tell you right now that these other lifestyle changes DEFINITELY affected my health and wellness. But the intermittent fasting gave me a structure.It also helped me see that I was a late-night snacker and it got me out of this munchie habit before bed or post-dinner. Full disclosure, I am totally snacking late again – but this is again, maybe for another podcast episode LOL.

It also helped me create a deeper connection with myself and truly discover what it is that my body wanted, not what I thought it was supposed to want or have.

[9:15] Which brings me to the ONE practice that changed my relationship with food: Intuitive Eating.

This means, making food choices without guilt, shame, or judgement, and respecting when our bodies are fed and full. It’s about enjoying food, being present with food, and having a healthy relationship with food and with ourselves. 

As a wellness leader I have felt, and still occasionally feel, pressures to eat a certain way and for my body to look a certain way. I have been a victim of external influence and self-judgement and shame. And although I have never had an eating disorder, I have most definitely experienced dis-ordered eating.

Now I sometimes eat breakfast in the morning, usually not but I won’t say no because it doesn’t stick to my eating plan. If I’m hungry, I will eat. To be honest, most days I’m not hungry until 10:30 or 11am.

I love cooking, experimenting with food, and eating and enjoying food. I take pleasure in making meals and trying new things. I’m not paleo, or vegan, or trying the keto diet. I eat foods that make me feel good and happy and nourished. Yes sometimes donuts make me feel happy. Not when I eat too many of them, but you best believe there is an amazing donut shop in town and I am about it!

[10:42] Another really important lesson I learned was that I am what some would call an “emotional eater.” This was a blatant realization about a few months into my time with intermittent fasting. I was really consistent with not eating in the morning and I was feeling really great about it. One morning around 9:30am I had an update for my website and it changed everything! I had to learn, re-learn, and un-learn some of the backend pieces to my website and I do not speak html. It was a nightmare. The more stressed and anxious I became, the hungry I got. But I wasn’t just hungry, I was ravenous for sugar. For anything sweet I could eat at that moment and I was enraged. It was so intense that I actually stopped myself and thought, “Whoa. What the fork is going on with me? I wasn’t hungry one minute ago.”

Now remember, I was really into my spiritual practice as well so my self-awareness was improving and quite strong. I think that if I didn’t have all these habits in place, I might not have even noticed my body change or start craving sugar and might have mindlessly started eating something sweet without even realizing! 

It’s all information, but we have to stay in a mindful state for us to really come to the realizations, and if we want to make any impact or positive changes, we’ve got to be self-aware.

[12:30] During my research of intuitive eating I found a website which shares 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating that I wanted to share with you today. 

As I go through these 10 principles, I ask that you consider how you could start incorporating them or using them in your own life and in your own eating practices.

[12:58] #1 Reject the Diet Mentality

Stop reading the books and the articles about quick solutions for weight loss. It’s soul damaging and the intention behind diets isn’t safe, long lasting or heart-centred. I’ve said this before on the show, and I’ll say it again: there is a POWER OF INTENTION. What is your intention for losing weight? 

If your answer is you want to look good in an outfit, or that you want other people to like you, or some other superficial answer, I will tell you right now, your “diet” isn’t going to be successful.

However, if you want to live a healthier lifestyle so that you can keep up with your kids and be around for your grandchildren, and have a better relationship with yourself, then you’re on the right track. It’s not about a diet, it’s about a lifestyle change.

If you want to practice intuitive eating, you have to give up the diet mentality, it’s not helping you, it’s only hurting you.

[14:22] #2 Honour Your Hunger

Eat when you’re hungry, and don’t overstuff yourself with food. There’s a difference between being hungry and being excessively hungry and gorging on the easiest or quickest “food” you can get your hands on. Notice how your body tells you it’s hungry, and how it tells you it’s full. Honour those signs.

[14:42] #3 Make Peace with Food

“Give yourself unconditional permission to eat.” Telling ourselves that we can’t or we shouldn’t leads us to feeling deprivation, which eventually leads to giving in. This usually ends up with us feeling guilting for doing something that we’re not supposed to do. 

We need to start forgiving ourselves for the ways we’ve treated ourselves about food and eating. It’s okay to want certain foods or to eat in general, it’s not okay to punish ourselves or our bodies.

[15:13] #4 Challenge the Food Police

This is referring to the thoughts in our head that tell us we’re “good” for eating healthy or “bad” for eating a donut today. The “food police” are the internal dialogue and the media that has created unreasonable rules following diet culture. Yell a big fat NO! When you hear or see the food police in your life.

[15:40] #5 Discover the Satisfaction Factor

Last night my partner and I prepped a delicious meal. I had to teach yoga in the evening so we decided to eat later so that we could eat together. When I came into the kitchen the food smelled amazing. I was hungry and now that I was smelling all the species I entered this state of excitement and bliss.

There is a door from the kitchen that goes out onto the patio. I went out to find a beautiful place setting for two with candles, and the summer sky. It was so perfect and wonderful and I swear the food tasted better because we prepared it, and celebrated it, and enjoyed it together.

[16:33] #6 Feel Your Fullness

To do this, we need to trust that we’re giving ourselves foods we desire. This is where the listening comes in. Listening to the signals that we aren’t hungry anymore. We are COMFORTABLY full. We can do this by pausing in the middle of our meal and checking in with ourselves. For myself, and a lot of other people, one of the signs that we are full and done eating is when we let out a big sigh. This is my body’s way of saying, “That was delicious. We are done for now.”

[17:11] #7 Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness

Depending on where you’re at and what your relationship with food is like, there can be many different emotions that come up for you. In the example I shared earlier, I felt overwhelmingly stressed and I became ravenous for something sweet. I knew that my body was trying to tell me something, and it wasn’t “feed me the donut” it was scared and needed a hit of dopamine, like it’s gotten before from sugar. But you can also get it from other things, including foods that are high in protein. 

Regardless of what emotions come up for you, be kind to yourself. You are learning, growing, and you’re only human. Begin by recognizing the signs of your body and mind and develop that connection and conversation with yourself to better understand what your body needs. Self-compassion is the key.

[18:11] #8 Respect Your Body

Each and every one of us is unique, and magical in our own way. Love yourself the way you are. It’s so unrealistic to believe that everyone has to look or act or be a certain way. All bodies are beautiful. 

[18:31] #9 Movement – Feel the Difference

I definitely notice a difference between how my body feels when I was waking up early and lifting weights, than it does now, with a weekly routine of yoga, pilates, walking and some weights. One is not better or worse, it’s just different. 

Daily movement is fundamental for our health, like I always say: a body in motion stays in motion. You don’t need a militant exercise routine, you just need exercise!

Find an exercise or a type of physical activity that YOU enjoy! This will keep you active, happy, and consistent.

[19:14] #10 Honour Your Health – Gentle Nutrition

For this last one I’m going to read directly off what the site says because I really like it:

“Make food choices that honour your health and taste buds while making you feel good. Remember that you don’t have to eat perfectly to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or become unhealthy, form one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters. Progress, not perfection, is what counts.”

*slow clap*

[20:09] Listen, if you’re just learning about intuitive eating, or if you’re interested in making it a part of your life, start with checking in with yourself and asking yourself what it is that you want? Not what the voice of the food police in your head wants. You can also connect with me on instagram if you ever want to chat. You can find me @vallavignelife.

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E86: 3 Keys to Creating Space to Attract More Abundance

Today we will be zoning in on wealth and mindset, and I will be teaching you the three keys to creating space to attract more abundance into your life!...

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[2:08] It’s a single lesson in the course, but it is so important. And what I’ll be teaching you today, can be implemented IMMEDIATELY after learning it!

Attracting more abundance into our lives, can be filled under “manifesting.” Whenever we’re attracting, or desiring, or calling something into our lives we are signing a contract with the Universe telling it what we want. Focusing on our desire and being able to bring it into our lives is called The Law of Attraction. This is one of many Universal Laws. 

[2:55] Another very important Universal Law is the Law of Vacuum. The Law of Vacuum says that all material forces of the Universe dislike the vacuum and hurry to fill each of the openings, holes, voids, space, etc. This Law states that space allows movement, and that when all space is filled, the unity prevents further movement and growth.

So basically, once the space is filled, it can create a block. This can be good and bad; it depends where you are at in your life, and where you want to go! We can talk about this a little bit later on in the episode!

This law works by clearing out unnecessary or negative thoughts, things, and elements of one’s lifestyle, one can create the space, atmosphere, time and opportunities to grow, move, restore, and build on a more stable foundation.

The essential meaning being: OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW! We are making room for what we desire, and letting go of what no longer serves us to create that space!

A super important side note: The Law of Vacuum creates the space for only the highest good and only the best, with the least amount of energy.

Yes my friend, you heard me, this law is EFFORTLESS! Well… sort of. In a previous podcast episode we learned about the Power of Intention. 

Episode 66: Elevate Your Life By Living with Intention 

[4:35] Living with intention is powerful, and more importantly: PURPOSEFUL!

It pretty much circles back to the Law of Attraction: what we focus on expands. This works for the good, the bad, and the ugly.

If you’re focusing on abundance, more abundance will come. But if you’re focusing on debt, more debt will come.

Now if you are very intentional and combine the Law of Attraction WITH the Law of Vacuum, you could very well amplify your desire and it could also come a lot quicker and easier to you.

For example, you desire abundance in your work. You focus on the abundance you currently have: amazing paying customers + flexible schedule to do your hobbies. You ALSO begin to create space in your calendar for new customers, or you create a new on-boarding sequence for your new customers so that it’s easier to integrate them into your business. This supports and serves your people while also freeing up some of your time to focus on A) all your new customers as well as B) keeping time open for your beloved hobbies! WIN-WIN!

This is how you leverage the universal laws and attract more of what you desire into your life (or like in the example, into your business)!

Alright, it SOUNDS AMAZING! And now you wanna know how to make it work for you! I am very excited to tell you that it’s actually quite simple. All you have to do is create the time, space, and atmosphere so that the next, OR BETTER opportunity (or desire) can come into your life.

[6:25] I promise, I’m going to get to the three keys to creating space, but right before I do, I wanted to tell you a little story about an incredible opportunity that I recently attracted into my life.

Along with being a health and wealth coach, I am also a pilates instructor. I have been teaching for several years now and over the last seven years of teaching I have developed some very strong and incredible relationships with my students and colleagues. I have a loyal following of clients, and I’ve also worked for several different studios, learning so much from everyone I’ve met, and everywhere I’ve worked.

During the pandemic, and in lock-down I was no longer working at studios, but created my own virtual studio where I taught mat classes. It was a very interesting time for many if not all of us, and for me it was a great gift and opportunity to get clarity on what I wanted for my career moving forward.

I absolutely LOVE teaching classes, but the schedule that I had was not sustainable for the long term future, so I was interested in a change.

During quarantine a very loyal client and friend approached me about opening a brand new studio. This friend wanted to invest in me to run my own space! They’re intentions were heart-centred, but after weeks and weeks of considering the offer, I realized that their intentions were not aligned with my own. And I graciously declined the offer. I knew it was the right thing to do for me because after saying, “Thank you so much, but no thank you.” I felt a weight lift from my shoulders and my body felt physically more open and peaceful. Yes, a little voice in my head said I was a fool for not doing it, but in my heart I knew it was not the right next step.

The very same day I declined the offer, a different friend and loyal client came to me with an offer of their own: inheriting a studio that I used to work at, to become a co-owner and new face of the studio. I’ll keep the details and logistics out of the story for time purposes, but basically, I was offered an even better opportunity after letting go of the first offer.

But here’s what’s even more incredible! The first offer was a HUGE GIFT! It was:

• CONFIRMATION that I was ready to uplevel in my career and it was

• Time to get CLARITY on what I truly wanted moving forward

I accepted the second offer and am very excited to announce that I will be the new co-owner of a beautiful boutique studio in Burlington, Ontario!

[9:22] Now let’s get into the 3 keys to creating space, so that we can attract more abundance into our lives!!!

KEY #1  T I M E

Raise your hand if you’ve ever used the excuse “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have time” when it comes to your wealth goals.

I’m raising my hand. Totally guilty of this, and it’s probably the most common excuse I hear for why people don’t have the abundance they desire!

But the truth is, we make time for the things that matter. No excuses. Oh, you don’t have time to start a side hustle but you scroll instagram and tiktok for 2 hours a night before bed? 

Okay…

Oh, you don’t have time to meal prep, but you re-watched a full season of New Girl on Sunday? 

Hmm…

Oh you’re too busy to put money into a savings fund, but you purchased a quarterly subscription box that sends you new beauty products every quarter?

Right…

Like I said, we MAKE time for what’s important to us.

Here’s how we do it: Schedule time in your calendar for your action step(s).

This could be a daily gratitude practice where you write out all the abundance you are thankful for. Or maybe it’s a 30 minute meeting with yourself to set up an automatic transfer of $25 a week into a savings account. It could be blocking out 1 hour everyday to work on your side hustle. You could also pop in a weekly visit with your money: check out your accounts, bills, tracking spending + savings.

Set alerts, notifications, or alarms to remind you when those meetings or events are so that you stay on track with your wealth goals.

This is a helpful quote from Tony Robbins: “If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, it’s real.”

[11:34] KEY #2  S P A C E

Most of the time when you think about the Law of Vacuum you think about physical space, and this isn’t wrong. The Law of Vacuum is definitely about creating physical space, just as much as it’s about creating energetic space.

Let’s think about some ways we can create physical space for abundance to come into our lives. The best place to start is with your manifestation or your intention. What specific abundance do you wish to attract?

More paying customers
More money in for savings
A new car

Now, consider WHERE this abundance will go when you receive it. Do you have the capacity to take on new customers? Do you have an account set up yet for your savings to go? Is there a parking space, or room in your garage for your new car? Make the physical space for your manifestation! 

You’ll also want to look at what is currently taking up the space. What do you have in your schedule that is blocking new clients or customers from meeting with you? Where is your money going now, that it’s not going into a savings account? What do you currently have taking up space in your garage?

Physical objects hold an energetic charge. If this manifestation is TRULY what you desire, you might have to part with something else in order to make space for your abundance. It can also be a bit of a test from the Universe to see if you’re ready, and if you’re actually willing to make changes and elevate. 

A quote from an unknown author says, “Sometimes you have to let things go, so there’s room for better things to come into your life.”

You have to want what you don’t have more than the comfort of what you already have. It’s part of the risk and the growth when you’re moving out of your comfort zone. Because, we’re not supposed to be the person we were before our transformation, we’re evolving into a new version of ourselves, hopefully a better one.

[13:44] Speaking of elevating, evolving, and transformation!

Creating Space KEY #3 is  A T M O S P H E R E

Creating an environment for your abundance can be similar to upgrading your money identity.

It’s not so much about being comfortable, but rather about moving into the space where the magic happens by acting like you already have your desire. Meditate on and tap into the feelings of what it’s like to receive your abundance desire. Imagine and embody every emotion of signing up a new client or getting a new customer. What are you doing, thinking, feeling, or saying?

Envision reaching your savings goal: how do you feel? What thoughts and emotions are moving through you? How are you celebrating your achievement?

Picture yourself driving your brand new car! What does that feel like? What music are you playing? Or maybe you’re listening to the Women’s Empowerment Podcast! Where are you driving to? Are there other people in the car with you?

How does the future you live their abundant life? Answer that question for yourself and start living that lifestyle to the best of your ability today. By doing this you’re raising your energetic vibration to meet the version of you who has the abundance. 

When you’re visualizing, meditating, and acting the way the future you is acting, do it as if you already have or have had (present and past tense) your desire. This is a simple piece to manifesting that people often overlook or forget.

[15:49] As we’ve touched on briefly, there are two types of space we can create. Physical and Energetic.

Physical space is our outside world; external, the visible and physical objects in material form.

Energetic space is our internal world; the invisible: mental, emotional and spiritual; thoughts, feelings, connections, attitudes, and energetic atmosphere.

When you’re manifesting abundance, or anything for that matter, it’s important to make the physical and energetic space in order to attract your desire. Sometimes we create the physical space, but a mental block is holding us back. Or we create mindset shifts, but don’t have the physical capacity to take on more. 

[16:38] Which brings me back to something I said earlier today which was: once the space is filled, it can create a block. This can be good and bad; it depends where you are at in your life, and where you want to go! If you’re listening to this episode because you want to attract more abundance, which I’m assuming you are, then you’ve probably reached a point in your life where you’re feeling a bit stuck. Maybe not in all areas of life, but in your wealth and finances perhaps. This means you’ll be putting today's teachings into action after this episode and start creating the physical and energetic space to attract abundance. 

What happens when we reach our goal? We celebrate, we feel all the feelings and then guess what… You’ll want to set a NEW abundance goal to grow even more! Sure it might not be today or tomorrow, or next month, but eventually you’ll want to grow again, just like you are growing today.

So instead of looking at where you are now as bad or as a “stuck spot” shift your mindset to think of it as a stepping block, or a stepping stone. You got to where you are today based off of the choices and habits you’ve made and put into place in the past. 

[17:57] Now, use what you’ve learned to move forward. What’s working? What’s not working? Where can we create space? Where can we grow and improve? What are some possible next steps or building blocks we can take to up-level? 

Keep asking and answering these questions, and other questions like these to support you. And stay open to something better.Because something better might just be on it’s way, and you won’t want to miss it!

[18:31] Lastly, and before you go, I wanted to give you a gift of my own to help you create space for your abundance. It’s a free journaling exercise for realising your money fears. We all have them, and they’re usually what’s holding us back the most when it comes to manifesting more abundance.

Download the FREE Money Fears Journalling Prompts

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Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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BONUS: Empowering Our Feminine Energy with Karly TyGr

Welcome Karly TyGr! A budding entrepreneur who is passionate about empowering all working women by teaching them how to collaborate and support one another...

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[2:08] Karly, welcome to the Women’s Empowerment Podcast, I am so grateful you’re here today! Karly and I met at the Toronto Business Babes Fall Conference last year, and since then have become great friends and supporters of each other’s businesses and entrepreneur endeavours.

The Toronto Business Babes conference was a pivotal event for a lot of women, Karly, tell us about how this event became an important part of your life and where you are today.

Most people will say it was “just a conference” but to Karly it was genuinely a life-changing moment. Karly had just been let go from her job at a Toronto Nightclub. She thought this would be a pivotal moment that would get her back into alignment with the school she went to, for Fashion Merchandising. What she did learn was more about herself than the industry. It was a tough time and she felt very low and in a depressed episode at that time.

A woman named Kim who was a speaker at the event, reached out to Karly via instagram and encouraged her to go to the event and even gave her a free ticket! 

Karly met a lot of amazing women and felt that this event was the kick in the ass she needed to get her shit together.

Guest Episodes from the ladies Karly mentioned:

Jesse: Master Your Social Media Marketing

Lauren: Building Your Dream Business, Events, & Life

Transitions & Transformation

[7:40] Take us back to before the conference, when you used to work in a more male-dominated industry. What were some of the challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them

It's hard for Karly to talk about because it comes across like “you're shitting all over men,” and that's not what she's, doing. However there are ways that in a male dominated industry there are certain ways that men are really great at business, that with women it goes against a lot of what we're raised to do and believe.

Karly has been learning a lot more abut masculine and feminine energy lately, and you can also think of it as outer and inner energy. And we all have the masculine and feminine energy within us. Masculine/outer; Feminine/inner. Communication was the biggest struggle for Karly in the male dominated industry. Karly felt that there was a lack of communication and that was something that effected her because she wouldn't communicate to her managers and assume that they would figure it out. But she knew that this was ridiculous and we can't expect people to read our minds.

BOOK: How Women Rise by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith. The book highlights 12 different habits that women have that prevent women from reaching their goals.

Competition is healthy, but a permanent competitive mind can be detrimental to success, and we lose the feminine power of community.

Working in this industry brought out the worst in her, feeling like she needed to “fight for a seat at the table.” She believes that until we learn to embrace both energies within us, it will be constantly butting heads in the industry. 

Episode #67: Communicating with Power

[13:29] As women, how can we embrace our feminine energy?

First and foremost, understanding the science of energy, and how we all have both energies. Also understanding that our emotions are something we have to embrace. Switch up the wording if it resonated better with you.

Figure out what makes us feel like we want to fight against other women, because this is what's holding us back from embracing our feminine power. A lot of us were told growing up that “Women can't be friends, or women are catty.”

[17:41] Women + Community: What advice would you give for women seeking stronger female friendships and relationships?

Start with: Breaking Down Your Own Internal Beliefs

You've got to be willing to admit your own faults, and break down your judgements of others. Notice who you are judging or dismissing. What is it about that person that you are judgmental about? Which beliefs can you separate from the ones that serve you and the ones that don't?

Episode 44: This Judgement Detox will Blow Your Mind

[23:50] Both you and I are advocates for morning routines, take us behind the scenes and walk us through your morning routine.

Karly's morning routine (total time 2-2.5 hours):

Wake up around 5:30am/6:00am and get active right away
Yoga + proper breathing
Brain games
Meditation
Gratitude + journalling (TIP! Think of something that is frustrating you in your life and reframe it to why you're grateful for it)
Oracle card pulls
Smoothie
Reading a non-fiction book

[27:40] That’s a pretty solid morning routine! Can you share how you created it, what is that process like?

Started with morning smoothies: it was easy and fun!
Next added in gratitude
Then the physical activity came in, and eventually everything started stacking in

BOOK: Atomic Habits by James Clear

[30:14] Why do you believe having a morning routine so important?

So important, especially for women, pouring into themselves before their families. Starting your day with positivity and gratitude sets the intention for your day.

Karly's Podcast: If Only She Smiled

[31:53] This year you launched your Podcast, If Only She Smiled. Can you describe it to those of us who haven’t heard of your podcast yet?

A podcast that explore's women in history that you may not have heard of. Bringing their stories and their voices up is very important to Karly.

[33:33] Where did the idea for this show come from, tell us about the journey how you created this project.

Karly has always been obsessed with woman in history. She used to read these books called, “The Royal Diaries” that were teen books meant to be written by young women in history in the point of view of them and their diary. Her love and curiosity grew and lead to more conversations about empowering women in history. Karly felt the need to want to talk to people about woman in history in a new way.

The If Only She Smiled Podcast launched March 9th 2020

[37:05] How did you go from overwhelmed by ideas to the end result?

It doesn't matter if you're an entrepreneur or not, this is something everyone struggles with. It comes down to quieting the busy mind and getting clarity. Karly recommends brain dumps, or mind maps, and write out everything out. Write out anything that is in your head, list them out and clear out the noise from your head.

Also turning off notifications, or putting your phone away, it's a huge distraction.

[40:45] For anyone listening who struggles with finding clarity, or is feeling overwhelmed by all their ideas, what tips do you have for creating clarity, and which idea do we choose?

Learning to limit yourself is huge. If you're someone who is a huge creative, you want to go for an idea that is an actionable and achievable. It also has to be something you love doing, forever – even if you're not actually doing it forever.

[48:28] The podcast is still in its early stages, what can we expect for the show moving forward?

Karly is re-working the format. It's been Karly speaking about empowered woman in history, and will be evolving into mindset work and helping women in the workforce; entrepreneur or not.

Mindset will be a main focus, and the show will also have a segment about which woman in history Karly thinks she relates to.

Growth & Empowerment 

[50:48] Another part of our brands and businesses we have in common is Empowering Women. I love how you share Collaboration Over Competition. What are 2 ways we can start embodying this in our lives or in our businesses as women?

Step One: Identify your own judgements and get them out of the way; You'll always be looking for competition or conflict if you don't get you own shit out of the way.

Step Two: Open clear communication. Conversation doesn't have to be confrontation, sometimes uncomfortable conversations come up, and we have to give and accept the feedback. Bring women up. Help other women. Don't be a by-stander.

Embrace the feminine energy of empathy. It's good to care about others and involve and include others.

[55:35] Your podcast spotlights empowered women in history, and there is so much we can learn from them. Can you name one woman you talk about on your show, something they did or are known for and the main reason they inspire you?

Hedy Lamarr: Was an actress who never went to school. A famous Hollywood director and an inventor, Howard Hughes, created the world's fastest airplane at the time. And Hedy Lamarr helped him do that by combining the body of the fastest fish, with the wings of the fastest bird, mimicking that shape and showing it to him. But we don't learn about that.

Zenobia: Ruled Syria at the time and was a total badass.

“The Great” show on Amazon Prime about Catherine the Great

[58:50] Is there anything else you’d love to share about your brand or your mission?

Karly wants to bridge the gap between women who work. The collaborative mindset is so important, even if you're not an entrepreneur. Starting with pouring into your self and providing a seat at the table for other women.

Listener Questions

[1:00:00] From Erika: What is your favourite smoothie recipe?

Oat milk, or almond milk
Splash of tropical juice
Mixed frozen fruit bag (fave: dragon fruit + mango)
Chia seeds
Honey
Cinnamon
Ashwagandha oil
Frozen Bananas, no ice.

[1:01:49] From Kim: How do you navigate competitive female friendships/alliances?

Communication. Navigating means that you have to do work on your own, you can't put the blame on someone else right away. Learning to do this is important. Not being able to communicate, or when someone can't communicate back, then re-evaluate the friendship.

Set boundaries. Be clear about what you need or don't need in that moment or in that relationship.

[1:03:08] From Rachel: What books would you recommend for someone who is just getting into mindset that isn’t too advanced?

BOOK: Let That Shit Go by Nina Purewal and Kate Petriw

BOOK: The Sleep Revolution by Ariana Huffington

BOOK: Atomic Habits by James Clear

[1:05:20] Where can we find you, follow you, how can we support your business?

Instagram | @karly.tygr + @ifonlyshesmiled

TikTok | @karly.tygr

Podcast | If Only She Smiled (Apple Podcasts)

Rapid Fire

[1:06:25] What are you currently reading, or what’s your favourite book?

BOOK: Let That Shit Go by Nina Purewal and Kate Petriw

FAVE BOOK: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

[1:06:55] What do you love most about being a woman?

My emotions, and having space to be able to feel them, also my vagina.

[1:07:28] What does empowerment mean to you?

When you're empowered, you're lifting other people up.

[1:07:53] What are you currently working toward?

Stability is a big thing for me.

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E85: The Empowered Women's Guide to Camping

You may have noticed that today’s episode is called The Empowered Woman’s Guide to Camping. Yes, that is right CAMPING!..

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[1:13] Now at the time of this episode’s publication, I was supposed to be coming back from a weekend backcountry camping trip in one of my favourite places in Ontario: Tobermory. HOWEVER, due to unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances, our camping trip has been cancelled. We are hoping to rebook sometime soon, so in the meantime, I will share some stories and some things I have learned through other camping adventures I’ve been on in the past, as well as some incredible practices and tips for making your next camping trip more comfortable and enjoyable.

In the last year I’ve learned that there are two types of camping: Car Camping and Backcountry Camping. Car camping is when you drive up to your campsite. Unpack your tent and your things and camp outside right next to your car.

Backcountry camping is when you park your car, and bring only what you can carry on a fairly long hike to your camping spot, at which point you unpack, set up your site and can only access your car if you were to hike all the way back to it.

To be completely honest, up until last year I did not realize that there were two types of camping. I thought there was only car camping and car camping sucks. Our family has been car camping a handful of times, however each time we’ve been it rains and I end up sleeping in the car. My family always jokes that I’m the high-maintenance one or “not the camping type” but over the years, I have also learned that because we aren’t big campers, we lack proper equipment for less than perfect weather conditions. Well. It’s no wonder I sleep in the car over a wet tent. Sorry not sorry.

I know I just said car camping sucks, because honestly I don’t love it – maybe you do love it – then I am truly happy for you, but if you haven’t tried backcountry camping, you might love it!

I also understand that there are probably many other types of camping, like camping in the winter, or perhaps “Glamping” although many people will tell you that isn’t really camping. Hahaha 

[3:39] I honestly never liked camping until I went backcountry camping last summer in Tobermory. Friends of mine: Katherine and Matt are really big on camping and hiking. They live in British Columbia and have done some incredible trips out there. Last summer they were in Ontario and Katherine called me one day and asked me if I wanted to join them for a weekend in Tobermory. My first reaction was to laugh b/c I genuinely thought she was joking. “Me? Camping in the backcountry with you guys?!” I was less nervous about the camping as I was about hiking 10 km a day with seasoned hikers and campers.

So I said yes. For two reasons: last summer I told myself I would 1. Spend more time in nature and 2. Get out of my comfort zone, and going backcountry camping with my friends crossed off both those boxes.

Before the trip, Katherine and I went shopping for a couple things I would need that I didn’t already have. Like a camel water pack, a tent, and some special camping food. Luckily Katherine and Matt had a stove and a few other things so I didn’t have to worry too much. The only thing I wish I invested in at the time were a pair of good hiking boots. I didn’t want to because I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. But the hike would have been a lot easier on my feet and body with proper footwear. 

I ended up getting a small youth tent since I’m travel size myself and also an inflatable pillow which I love. Before we knew it we were driving up to Katherine’s mom’s house in the torrential downpour and white knuckling the steering wheel almost the entire time. We made it to her moms house and the clouds parted, the sun began to shine and thank goddess we were looking at sunshine for the rest of the weekend – there would be no car for me to sleep in on this trip!

We stayed the night at Katherine’s mom’s house because it was a bit closer to Tobermory than where we live in southern Ontario. This gave us more time to hike and set up our site before dark. The next morning we woke up early, filled our packs with water, and made our way to the park. I kept up with their hiking and the day was so beautiful. I think I was so full of adrenaline and gratitude and awe of how beautiful this part of Tobermory was that I didn’t realize how my legs were feeling a bit wobbly or how my poor footwear wasn’t enough for my tired feet. 

I had little to no expectations and the views and the sunsets and the sunrises and the water and the rocks and the forests and everything we saw just blew me away. It was stunning and exhilarating and breathtaking. I could definitely live without the mosquitos but everything else was absolutely perfect.

[8:05] From that first true backcountry camping experience, here are some of my best pieces of advice for beginners to backcountry camping:

[8:13] #1. Pitch your tent at home

This is great advice for anyone – not just beginners! First of all, you’ll want to make sure you know HOW to pitch your tent by yourself because after a long hike you probably don't want to set up camp, but you need to.

It’s also a great practice pre-trip because it makes sure you have all the parts and pieces of your tent that you need before you go!

Getting good at setting up your tent, and quickly will make your camping experience that much more enjoyable.  

I took a video of myself setting up my tent and it was so empowering to do it all by myself! I was so happy and excited and when we got to site it was a lot easier to set up and stress-free because I felt more capable and prepared.

[9:14] #2. Practice packing and unpacking your pack

You want your pack to be organized, but you also need to remember that you’re carrying this pack for your trek so make sure you’re only bringing what you need. This will help you make the most of your space and bring the essentials.

Packing cubes, and dry bags are really handy for camping and organizing your pack. Keep heavier items near the shoulders and back, rain gear and first aid near the top where it’s easy to get. Use the dry bag to store things that need to stay dry like your spare clothes and your sleeping bag. Those you can store at the bottom of your bag as you won’t need them until you reach your campsite. Same with your mat and your pillow. Sunscreen, bug spray, and afterbite can be stored in easy to reach pouches and if you’re carrying a water bottle keep it easily accessible on the outside of your pack; if you use a camelbak like me, you can keep it in the inside pouch of your bag and use the straw to drink!

[10:41] #3. Pack as light as you can

When it comes to what you should bring – you’ve got to stick to the essentials, not sure what those are? You can follow these categories:

[10:52] Shelter: somewhere to sleep and escape the elements; aka your TENT If you’re one person get a two person tent, if you're two ppl get a three or four person tent. You want room for you, and your pack to stay dry.

[11:13] Food/Nutrition: you’ve got to feed your body. We brought dehydrated meals. These are lightweight and compact and only need boiling water to make them. You’ll also want handy snacks like granola, dried fruit, nuts, jerky, etc.

[11:31] Hydration: aka Water. Bladders, collapsible water bottles, and extra/reserve water for cooking and refilling. You’ll need something light and easy. Aim for 3-4 L a day minimum, and if you can’t carry that consider different types of water purifiers that will work in your camping areas, for example a Life Straw.

Remember that: water is hella heavy. Like REALLY FREAKIN HEAVY so you’ll want to create a “hydration plan” especially if you’re going for a longer trip, because you might not be able to carry all your water.

[12:33] Sun Protection: hat, long sleeves, pants, sunglasses, etc.

[12:38] First Aid: you can get small kits at your local outdoor store. I always bring my homemade bug spray, after-bite roller, bandaids, and dōTERRA's correct-x. 

RECIPES! 

After-bite Roller: 8-10 drops of dōTERRA's Lavender EO + 8-10 drops of dōTERRA's Tea Tree EO + 5 drops dōTERRA's Peppermint EO in a 10ml Roller Bottle. Top with FCO (fractionated coconut oil) and apply to bug bites. 

Bug Spray Recipe: Add 2 oz Witch Hazel to an amber glass or stainless steal spray bottle, the add 10 drops TerraShield blend, 8 drops Lemongrass, 5 drops Eucalyptus, 5 drops Peppermint, 5 drops Cedarwood, and 3 drops of Tea Tree (all oils from dōTERRA). Shake mixture well and spray as needed.

[12:58] Navigation: You might need waterproof maps, guidebooks, compass, GPS, and extra batteries

[13:28] Light: You WILL need a light. I highly recommend a head lamp, one per person. Extra batteries and maybe one LED lantern per tent. Maybe.

[14:24] Clothes: key word: LAYER you will need a base layer close to your skin, a mid layer to keep you warm if it’s cold and an outer layer to protect you from wind and rain. Check the weather before you go, but prepare for cooler or wet temperatures, even if the forecast doesn't call for rain. You can always use your rain jacket as an extra layer at night, or if it’s lightweight it can protect you from the sun.

[15:04] Repair Kit: you can also buy these at an outdoor store, but usually duct tape and a knife can help you out in situations where you need to fix your gear. A rope works well for many things like hanging wet clothes or hoisting food into a tree to keep away from the bears!

[13:36] And lastly: FIRE! Some places won’t let you have a fire so check that before you go. If you can have a fire you’ll want a lighter, matches, firestarters. This will give you light and heat. If you can’t have a fire, bring a stove. You can get super small stoves that fold up and fit in your hand, but you’ll also need some fuel bottles too.

It sounds like a lot to pack, but if you’re travelling with another person you can share some of the items and you don’t need double of everything.

If you’re bringing your camera, or want to bring other “non-essentials” you can, but see if you can minimize the weight of the item or the size. Maybe bring your go-pro or your phone to take photos. We have special camping chairs that are lightweight and attach to our packs easily, but you may prefer to take a lightweight hammock.

[16:50] #4 I highly recommend bringing the right footwear

Research the trails and the terrain ahead of time. You’ll most likely need a good pair of hiking boots, but in some areas you may prefer a hiking sandal. I bring both because after hiking in your boots all day, you’ll want to let your feet breathe a little, but still have protection for your feet. I now have two pairs of hiking boots and a sandal I like for some trekking.

SALAMON HIKING BOOTS

COLUMBIA HIKING BOOTS

TEVAS

[17:34] #5 One of my biggest concerns the first time backcountry camping was the activity/difficulty level.

There are some trails, sites, and parks that are easier than others and doing research in advance on your area is a very smart thing to do; even if you’re not a beginner, you want to be prepared. If you’re pushing yourself a little more on your next camping hike, start physical training 2-4 weeks before your trip (at least!)

[18:11] Hiking in Guatemala: Episode #72: Life Lessons from 6 Days in the Guatemalan Jungle

I did two big camping trips/hikes during that adventure and they were TOUGH! The jungle trek was trekking over 100 km in 5 days, and the second was a volcano climb with major altitude! I started training for that hike months before by walking more each day as well as climbing the stairmaster 2-4 times a week. 

It was winter time in Canada, but if it was summer or warmer out, one of the more fun ways to train is wearing your fully packed backpack and hiking the local trails with similar terrain – if you can of course. Cardio, weight lifting, and training on the stairs will help you get in shape for your hike!

[20:06] #6. Know when you need to take a break

It’s totally okay to rest. Stop and enjoy the view, listen to your body, take some time to eat and enjoy your lunch. Make sure you’re having a good time, and drinking enough water!

[20:27] #7. Be Conscious of Wildlife and Nature

You are hiking and camping very close to the homes of some beautiful trees, plants, and animals. You are a visitor and you must leave the park the way you found it. That means no trash please!

If you spot some wild life, admire it, but leave it be. Doing research on the backcountry camping spots you’ll be in will help you better understand the wildlife and vegetation. It will also inform you of anything you might need to be cautious of, like bears or poisonous plants. Ask park rangers questions if you are not sure, and pack your food so bears cannot get to it. Most campsites will have food polls you can hang your food on – NO FOOD IN YOUR TENT!

Treat the earth, the animals, and the other people you cross paths with, with respect.

[21:31] #8 Have Fun!

You may absolutely LOVE the experience, or you may not. But go with an open mind and an open heart. It’s incredibly powerful to get out of your comfort zone, to try something new, to test your limits and strength. My last few treks have been life changing and empowering and I was truly disappointed when our camping trip this month got cancelled but I am hopeful for a new booking soon!

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E84: Mini Training: Plan a Month of Social Media in 1 Day

Today’s show is a mini training episode, so if you don’t have a pen and a notebook nearby, don’t you worry - I GOTCHU! Along with the show notes for this episode, I have also created a free guide - I guess I should tell you what it’s all about, shouldn’t I!?...

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Today’s mini training is about how to plan a month of social media in 1 day, and the guide includes the information I will share today with a few examples as well.

[1:35] Now let’s get started!

As a small business owner I’ve done a lot of the back-end work into planning, organizing, and creating content for my social platforms – specifically instagram. I’m going to be talking about instagram today, but know that the method I’ll be teaching you can be used for any platform including facebook, linked in, tik tok, and even your podcast, blog, or vlog! Later I will explain how that works, but for now, let’s focus on uncovering the method.

If you check out my instagram page at the time this episode is published you’ll notice some cohesive colour themes, and everything seems to blend together very smoothly. I’ll be 100 percent honest with you, this type of aesthetic takes a lot of work and time – HOWEVER you can still have a cohesive page AND valuable content without spending too much time on the planning and creating. In fact, today I’m going to teach you how to plan an entire month of social media in ONE day.

What does that mean exactly? It means that, if you follow the method that I will share with you today, by then end of the day you will have created an entire layout of your social media posts for the next 30 days! AMAZING right!? Yes.

[3:01] Before we get into the specific method, there are a few things you’ll need to get crystal clear on, and the first is: 

What kinds of content do you want to post?
What are you willing to share with your audience? 

To answer this question you’ll set a timer for 5 minutes and brain dump anything and everything that you’d love to share. You can look back on what you’ve shared before and include those things if you want to.

My friend Candice has agreed to let me use her as an example since I taught her this method recently. Together we brainstormed these content ideas:

• Travel

• History

• Resources

• Series

• Food

• Walking tours

• Architecture

• Meditation

• Spirituality

• Pulling cards

• Morning rituals

• Recipes

• Health

• #Vanlife

• #BTS

• Imposter syndrome

• Sustainability

• Mindfulness

• Eco 

Your list might include your community, family, or your partner. Maybe even your pets. It could include your business, products, or services. You can even have “coffee” on the list if you love it so much! Everyone’s list is going to be very different. This is perfect!

[4:18] Once you have your list, look over it and see where you can pull out some different categories. Then narrow it down to 5 CATEGORIES ONLY!

Candice came up with these five:

1. Travel

2. Spirituality

3. #VanLife

4. Eco/Sustainability

5. Health

Some of the items on her list were very similar like: sustainability, mindfulness and eco OR pulling cards, meditation, and spirituality. So these ones were easy to bring together.

The items such as: resources, series, and #BTS are great ideas for how to deliver the content but they aren’t categories. However, these will come up again later! So don’t scratch them out if you have something similar.

[5:09] Here’s where you might get stuck: You have more than five categories, or less than 5 categories. 

For this method we need 5: no more, no less. If you need more categories, consider adding something more personal to your page so your audience, and potential customers can get to know you more. For example, I am becoming a plant mom and if I needed a new category I could share my new plant babies in my feed.

Think of your hobbies, the other ppl in your home, or a fun quirk about you that you could share. It doesn’t have to do with your business at all. You could be a real estate agent who loves to bake. Or a fitness coach who likes to experiment with makeup. What is something unique about you, that you would share with your audience. Mental health? A routine/ritual you do every day? You’ll come up with something!

If you have MORE THAN 5 categories, look at your category list and see if anything lines up or can be combined. Perhaps your partner and your children can go into the category of “Family” instead of separating them? Do you offer products AND services? Can you combine those categories into “Business” it’s okay if the topic is broad. 

You can also go through your list and rate each category of highest importance. Then choose the top 5 from there.

Let’s say you’re like me and you love your plant babies, but there’s just no room for them in your top 5 categories. NO WORRIES! You can still talk about your leafy friends in your stories. Any other topic that doesn’t fit into the top 5 can show up in the stories and highlights of your instagram. YAY!

[7:11] Alright, let’s move on… we’ve got to get this done today remember?

Now that you have your 5 categories, you can start to create different content for each category, using some different “content themes” to help you!

Content themes can be used for almost every type of social page out there, and if you already have a social page, you’ve probably even posted something in these themes.

[7:38] Such as HOW TO/STEPS

Educating your audience creates really valuable content for them. Teach them something, recipes, mini lessons, before and after transformation, DIY project, etc.

[7:56] LISTS are also very popular!

Top 10 or 5 or however many. You can share resources, do’s and don’ts, favourite things or likes, feature or tag other accounts, share a list of recommended books, podcast episode, fun facts. Anything you can write a list about.

[8:18] QUESTIONS are a great way to create content. You can ask a question, or you can answer a frequently asked question. It works well to refer new ppl to a post you did previously to answer their questions too. Is there something you need help with OR something you can help your audience with?

[8:49] TIPS/TRICKS make for great instagram content. Think quick, easy, educational like hacks or something you learned recently that saves you time, money, etc.

[9:01] INSPIRING STORY

This could be your story, a client’s story, testimonials, quotes, someone or something who inspires you, a memory, anything motivational

[9:15] #BTS (Behind the Scenes) Told you this one would come up again! Followers love learning about the process and following along with what you’re creating: home project? New online course? Making meals? Family and friends? Other areas of your business? Shopping? Planning? All things!

[9:43] Hopefully at this point the wheels are turning in your head. Let’s go back to my friend Candice and create some content ideas for her.

As a reminder her categories were:

1. Travel

2. Spirituality

3. #VanLife

4. Eco/Sustainability

5. Health

Her first category “TRAVEL” is great, it’s broad and fun, there is so much we can talk about. Here are some ideas using the themes I just shared:

How to pack 2 weeks in a carry-on bag
How to choose your next travel destination

Top 10 resources for travelling
My favourite historical sites in Central America

What’s your favourite travel style? [Choose from options; share in comments]
FAQ: Where’s the best place to get coffee in Alaska?

The packing hack I can’t live without
The 5 tips for solo female travel 

The first time I travelled alone
Someone I met travelling who inspires me

#BTS Planning our next trip!
#BTS hiking the rocky mountains

That is 12 pieces of content JUST from 1 category! You will do that for each category. And you don’t have to stick with the themes, I find they help me come up with some different things. Let’s do one more category. This time I’ll do one example for each theme.

[11:49] This one is a bit different: “ECO/SUSTAINABILITY”

HOW TO be more environmentally friendly while travelling * THIS CAN GO UNDER TRAVEL OR SUSTAINABILITY, this will be up to you to decide. It’s totally fine if your categories overlap! That makes a lot of sense if they do. 

LIST of 10 “zero waste” instagram accounts

QUESTION: Stainless steel straw vs bamboo straw

TIPS/TRICKS to reuse your food scraps

STORY of a time where I realized sustainability was very important to me and changed my life + lifestyle

#BTS growing our own herbs and veggies 

There you go, 6 more! Remember, you have to do each category before moving on to the next step. If you’re following along the audio podcast you can pause and come back when you’re ready with your lists.

[13:13] Okay, now that you have a list of ideas for each category, the next part will move a lot more smoothly! In this step we’re mapping out our instagram grid using our five categories and all the content we thought of. This is the game changer and you’ll see how the 5 topics work together on your feed.

I’m going to verbally explain it, however I will say it is much easier to understand if you can see the visual I included in the freebie for this episode.

You can also draw it out on a piece of paper right now. Draw out a tic-tac-toe grid, or 9 squares. This will mimic the first 9 posts on your instagram grid. Now, write the number 1 in the top left corner of your grid. Number 2 in the square next to it, and Number 3 in the following column. On the second row write the number 4 under the number 1, 5 under the number 2, then write 1 under the number 3. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, continue, 2, 3, 4.

No to numbers will be beside each other on your grid. And you keep alternating them the same; consecutively.

Like I said, the visual is MUCH easier to understand, or if you draw it out with me.

Okay, I hope you have already guessed that the numbers correspond to your categories YAY!

Now you can decide which idea can go into which part of your grid. As a tip to keep your content interesting, mix up the content themes so that you don’t have too many “how to” posts or too many “questions” all the time.

If you came up with one idea for each category for each theme, you will have 30 pieces of content! YAY!

BUT, that doesn’t mean you have to post all the time if you don’t want to. Decide how often you want to post: daily? 5 days a week? 3 times a week? You choose!

[16:50] Once you’ve planned all your content for the month, you can plan a day to shoot and create the content you need to post. However, perhaps we will save that for another podcast episode. For now, focus on planning out your content in advance and batching that work so that when you are ready to shoot content or create graphics, you’ll at least know what you’re creating.

[17:53] Before you go, I did promise to talk about how this plays into other social media platforms!

Now many social media strategist will recommend that you choose 1-2 social platforms to stick with so don’t feel like you need to be on all of them!

But you’ll also want to understand each media platform before creating content for it. Instagram and Tik Tok are very visual mediums, where as facebook and linked-in have more of an audience to read a longer form post. Photos, graphics and videos can be included in your content, but you might be able to add more text to the post. You also want to consider who the audience is on the other platforms and how you can support them. The how to’s and lists might do really well on FB and linked-in where as your behind the scenes and quick hack posts do better on instagram.

Tik tok is almost completely visual and video. Text on screen works, but the videos that do the best are only 15 seconds long. #BTS could do really well along with tips and tricks.

Pinterest is another great platform that I would label a search engine over a social media platform. There are ways to optimize this search engine to drive more traffic to your blog, youtube channel and podcast.

Honestly, each platform could use it’s own podcast episode so I might have to get some experts on the show to talk about them hahaha HOWEVER, it should get your wheels turning more to think of different ways you can repurpose your content!

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Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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BONUS: Finding Comfort in the Unknown with Allie Duff of Pure Balanxed

Allie is the creator and founder of Pure Balanxed, a Canadian clothing brand creating soft, luxurious everyday pieces. Each piece features a signature affirmation tag to support, love and guide you on this crazy journey called life…

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Allie thank you so much for being on the show, it is an absolute pleasure to host you today!

[00:52] Tell us about your journey, your story, and how you started the Pure Balanxed Brand.

Allie grew up as an athlete, and took the path to become a Division 1 Athlete and got a swimming scholarship to go to school in the states. Through that journey she was also dealing with a lot of mental health issues and illnesses, but she lived in silence, not know what her mental health issues were about or what was going on.

She was very shy and did not talk about how she was feeling or what was going on, until she got a bit older. Finally, she started to talk more about her mental health and learn more with the help of therapists.

After 12 years of competitive swimming, she finished her swimming journey. She was 21 years old at the time and also finishing school. During this transition, she felt like she was losing her self-identity, and felt lost with what to do next. At this point, her eating disorder began to take over her life and for the next couple years lived through a phase of a lot of unknown. Her safety and comfort became her eating disorder.

As her health declined, she needed to take action to better herself so she went into treatment for her eating disorder. While in treatment, Allie came to a realization that the way she was living her life was not healthy and not right for her, and that whatever steps she needed to take next needed to be something that would be purposeful and fulfilling and make her happy. This is where Pure Balanced started to develop.

Since she was in a hospital setting at the time, everything that had brought her comfort in the past was no longer available to her. She was also experiencing a lot of changes in her body, emotions, feelings, and nurture her mental health in a whole new way. This lead to her realize that there were some things missing in her life and in the lives of others. When she couldn't find those missing pieces, she started a new journey to start her own business to fill the market gap.

PART ONE: ABOUT THE “PURE BALANXED” BRAND

[5:25] Can you take us through the process of how you transformed your idea of Pure Balanxed into the clothing company it is today?

Allie had always wanted to start her own business, but didn't know exactly what it would be about. She loved the whole aspect of having her own business and thought that it was really glamorous and really cool – and now knows that it's very rewarding but also very tough.

She had also always been obsessed with clothes. Growing up she was very materialistic, and when she was younger loved wearing brand-names, and the lifestyle the brands were selling. When she was in the hospital setting, in her early 20's, she was searching fro clothes that would bring her comfort, not feel tight and clingy to her body, and would have something else hidden in it that would give her the extra piece of safety she was searching for when she didn't have anything else with her.

When it comes to clothing, it's something we have to wear all day – every day, so she was searching for a basic flowy tee, with soft fabrics. When she couldn't find the perfect tee, she discussed with her therapist her clothing brand and new business ideas.

There were a lot of limiting beliefs about if and why and how to make it all happen. Allie's therapist was the one who pushed her to start the process. She told her to buy a plain t-shirt, get her logo printed locally and that's how she started.

Allie took her idea and created a logo, printed it on a random t-shit she bought, and the other thing she wanted to have on the shirts was a little hidden message. On the inside of the shirt she added an affirmation that started with, “I am strong.”

She started with 1 t-shirt, and then 50 t-shirts. During this process she came up with the idea of affirmation tags, which has become signature to the Pure Balanxed brand. They appear as an “X” or an “X” on the front and when you flip it over it has a positive affirmation on the other side.

The tags represent having the extra piece of comfort with you, but also it's hidden to the outside world. It's an extra piece of comfort that you can grab onto anytime throughout the day. They're woven tags that are more comfortable than regular tags.

[9:18] You spell Balanxed with an “X” instead of a “C,” why is that?

The “X” represents finding comfort in the unknown. When Allie was coming up with the brand, she was in love with the word “balance” and she feels very strongly about finding balance in her life. She wanted the name of the brand to be unique to her and the brand itself, and used the alphabet and different languages for ideas and inspiration.

In mathematical terms, x represents the unknown. We're always trying to find x

X is the 24th letter in the English alphabet, and Allie started the brand when she was 24 years old!

She was mostly drawn to it because of the “unknown” and when she was starting the business there were so many unknowns; we're always faced with unknowns.

[11:25] Who were the people who supported you through your journey the most?

Definitely Allie's parents were and are huge supporters. Her mom helps Allie come up with designs, and acts as a sounding board for her ideas.

In the beginning Allie felt that she had lived a life of pain and darkness, and she really took the step forward to do whatever it takes to make herself happy and do what it takes to get there. This became her drive and motivation to make her dream happen.

[12:50] At first, did you find that starting your own business to be a guiding light to bring you into the brighter future? How did starting Pure Balanxed tie into the mental health healing of your journey?

Allie thinks it definitely helped guide her, and was something that gave her the purpose she was seeking. This purposed helped her navigate her new life post-treatment and motivated her to stay healthy, and get through each day.

[13:55] Do you have any tips for someone who might be listening who is feeling lost, and how they could find their way?

“Finding your purpose is not something that is going to come very easy. I also think it can't be something that is super rushed… It takes a process to get [to the point of knowing your purpose] and for each day it's going to be different. Trying out new things is a good way to start. I think everyone deep down know what they truly want to do with their life, but there is going to be fear and limiting beliefs that are going to stop them. For me, it took me hitting rock bottom to really realize that I can't live my life like this anymore, but I don't believe that has to be for everyone.”

[15:55] I love how you mention feeling good. There’s a real experience when customers wear your clothes, especially with the texture as you just described. Part of how your brand, Pure Balanxed, “feels good” is by giving back. Can you tell us more about the organizations you donate to, and your connection to them?

Before starting the business, Allie always wanted to do something to support people with eating disorders, and have worked with three different organizations since starting the business.

NEDIC (National Eating Disorder Information Centre) based in Toronto. They do amazing work to help bring awareness to eating disorders and also have a direct client support program. Which is an online chat and a toll-free phone line. They are the only place in Canada that is doing this.

FRIEND'S FIRST based in Toronto. They work with kids help phone to bring awareness to anti-bullying and creating more kindness when teaching young children. Pure Balanxed has a kid's t-shit that supports this company.

Currently working on donating Masks to Midwives during COVID-19, for ONTARIO MIDWIVES ASSOCIATION.

[19:45] What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when building your brand and business? How did you overcome them?

Allie started Pure Balanxed when she had just come out of treatment for her eating disorder. She also didn't have a job or any money coming in, and she was still having to pay for where she was living, meditation, transportation and other fees at the time.  

She was able to get a small loan to order some t-shirts and get the business going. Later she was able to get another loan that helped her expand the business, which allowed her get some more funding to elevate the products and branding research, build a marketing team, etc.

Financials is one of Allie's biggest roadblocks, and finds creative ways to do free marketing. And because of the overwhelming competition in the fashion industry, she can sometimes get caught up in the self-sabotaging comparison game.

PART TWO: MENTAL HEALTH & FINDING COMFORT IN THE UNKNOWN

[24:01] I love how you talk about the “unknown.” You empower others to embrace it, and find comfort in it. What are some ways we can start doing this, in our own lives?

Initially we may avoid the unknown because it feels like a big scary thing. Allie suggests:

#1. Creating Community: Take a step back and know that this isn't a place where you need to feel alone in, but this is something we can all support each other in. 

#2. Create a “Worried” List: Write down everything in your brain that you're worried or stressed about and let it go. 

#3. Reframing: the fear and unknown and to see what we can do and what we can control in the situations we're in.

[28:06] You’re an incredible advocate for mental health, can you share your top Mental Health Tips with us? 

Finding comfort: What can we do to find comfort where we are? Taking a bath, lighting candles, taking yourself out of the moment of distress.

Writing things down can really help. Getting it out of our brains and onto paper so we're not ruminating on it.

Talking to someone, and opening up to someone else about what we're going through.

Practicing something hands on: colouring, knitting, something physical that can help distract your mind from negativity.

Positive affirmation + mantras: this is a huge part of the Pure Balnxed brand.

Finding the little things that are going to create joy in your day; even if it feels very hard to do that.

[32:25] For the listeners who may know someone that is struggling with an eating disorder, what advice can you give to them in how they can support their loved-one? 

Just be there for them. Asking them how you can support them. Saying something along the lines of, “Hey I've noticed that something is off. I want you to know that I am here for your, I love you.” You don't need to ask them questions, but let them know that you are there for them. Avoid forcing them to talk, or forcing anything on them.

If it is a tough situation where they're really struggling and you don't know what to do, you're going to have to see a professional. You could help your loved one with the process of finding the right professional for them.

You could send them sweet notes or messages whenever you're thinking about them.

[36:06] Looking back on your journey, if there was something you could tell yourself 10 years ago, what would you say to that younger version of Allie? 

“It's okay to be yourself, you don't need to be anyone else. I feel like growing up my whole life I just never felt like I was good enough, or that I could be myself, and had imposture syndrome and was always trying to be like other people… People will like you no matter what.”

[37:35] Where can we find you, follow you, and how can we support your business? 

INSTAGRAM | @alliejeanduff @purebalanxed 

WEBSITE | www.pureblanxed.com 

SUPPORT: share about Pure Balanxed, go to the website and purchase a piece, or donate to one or more of the charities they are working with. Join the newsletter to stay informed.

PART THREE: RAPID FIRE SEGMENT

[39:41] #1. What are you currently reading? Or what is your favourite book? 

The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides

My Dark Vanessa, by William Morrow

Untamed, by Glennon Doyle

[40:18] #2. What do you love most about being a woman? 

“We all have this energy and maternal instinct to take care of others and a very unique strength that we all share and I think that's really special about being a female.”

[40:55] #3. What does empowerment mean to you? 

“When I first think of empowerment, I always think of community. I definitely think about whenever we empower or share the word empowerment, it should be 100% about building each other up and supporting each other, whatever it may be, and coming together as women.”

[41:30] #4. What are you currently working toward? 

BUSINESS: Getting the next line of production out for Pure Balanxed Fall & Winter 2020/2021

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E83: 3 Magical Manifestation Magnifiers

When I started this podcasting project 83 episodes ago, I barely knew what I was doing. And long before that I had wanted to have my own podcast, but I hesitated to take action...

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[1:33] I can remember when I had the Women’s Empowerment Blog, how I wanted to turn it into a podcast, and I could imagine having a little studio, and interviewing some of the incredible women I was meeting at the time. I envisioned fresh flowers on my desk, a pink couch where me and my interviewees would sit, and editing episodes while I sipped on delicious coffee. I had a clear picture of what I wanted, but I didn’t have a podcast. 

I think the blog ran for at least a year before I made moves to transitioning it into this new platform. The point is: no matter what we want to manifest, nothing will change for us, unless we start taking action.

In Episode 56: The Beginner’s Guide to Manifesting, we learned all about manifestation.

[2:50] T Harv Eker has a great quote that says, “Action is the bridge between the inner and outer worlds.”

Our inner world is where our ideas are created. The outer world is our reality, where our ideas come to life! 

When we take action on our ideas we begin to bring them into our realities and make them real. This is the magic of manifestation.

ACTION IS WHERE THAT MAGIC HAPPENS

[3:35] Remember that manifestation is everything we’re focusing on is being brought into our physical world; our inner world coming to life in our outer world. But getting from point A to point B takes more than just affirming and believing what you desire. Every action we take, big or small, sends out an energetic vibration or frequency that helps attract what we need to manifest our desires.

[3:54] Everything has a frequency; and like attracts like. When we align our thoughts, feelings, and actions together, we begin to attract whatever we’re focusing on into our lives.

I’ll use my podcast as an example. I knew I wanted to start a podcast, what it would be called, and the style of the show I wanted. Solo shows, mixed in with interviews. I also wanted my listeners to feel inspired, motivated, and driven to take action with each episode. Mini trainings and step-by-step solutions are important to my listeners, along with topics of health, wealth, and happiness. 

The ideas and the vision were great. I loved listening to podcasts myself and I thought, “if this person can create a podcast, then so can I!” 

But I still didn’t know how….

[4:45] Then I came across a fellow dōTERRA Wellness Advocate who had her own podcast. Her show was an Instagram and Facebook Live show that she turned into a podcast afterwards. I liked this idea for a few reasons:

1. It’s interactive. I was able to connect LIVE with my followers and listeners. This gave me instant feedback of who was following, and what topics they were most interested in

2. There’s less pressure to be perfect. A lot of the podcasts I follow are highly produced and there are few to no mistakes. Since I didn’t know how to start, edit, or do anything with a podcast, I liked the idea of the live show as a fun, imperfect and personal way to host a solo show.

3. It gave me some extra time. Since I needed to learn the how part still, but I wanted to take immediate action, I set a goal to do at least 5 live episodes, 1 each week on facebook and instagram, before uploading them to a podcast. 

While I was in the idea stages I did some research on how to start a podcast and it was highly recommended to have 5 or more episodes right when you launch. This gave me 5 weeks to figure out the tech. Yep. a 5-week deadline to figure out the “how”. But at the end of the 5 weeks I also had 5 episodes!

[6:42] Within those five weeks I spent time putting together show notes pages on my website, googling how to start a podcast, and I downloaded a free step-by-step guide from another podcast I follow to help me out a little. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, but I figured it out!

The good news was, I already had a lot of the equipment I needed and use, I already had a website and I turned the blog into a “show notes page” which is basically a different name for blog LOL

By the 5th week I announced on my live show that this would become a podcast! The show has evolved over time and I now feature bonus episodes with guests. That is a whole other system and story on it’s own!

I also upgraded my camera for the video version of the show when I was doing lives. I don’t do the live episodes anymore; the podcast format is a lot more popular, and it’s easier to batch content this way.

Anyway – this isn’t an episode about podcasting!!! This is an episode about manifesting! However, if you do want a peak behind the scenes on the Women’s Empowerment Podcast: Episode 50: Q&A: Podcasting – What I've Learned So Far

[8:36] Moral of the podcasting story: If I wanted my podcasting ideas to come to life, I had to take action to make it happen. If I haven’t already been clear about it: Action Activates!

More specifically, Action Activate 3 Magical Manifestation Magnifiers – how is that for alliteration my friends LOVE IT!

[9:12] The first magical manifestation magnifier that action activates is: INSPIRATION

Believe it or not, the Universe is delivering instructions and information to us at all times. It’s our job to recognize these instructions and to take action on them.

In my podcasting example, the Universe introduced me to a new way of podcasting with the Live Shows. I was also given that free guide on how to start a podcast, and a few other informational podcast episodes that helped me check off some of my “how to” boxes.

These instructions and action steps from the Universe can come to us in a variety of different ways. Such as: inspirational downloads we might receive during meditation, or new ideas that come to us in the shower, or creative solutions for everyday problems, and new opportunities!

If you’re manifesting more money in your business, you might come up with an incredible new offer for high-ticket clients. Or perhaps you create a detailed ebook you can sell.

We’ve got to keep our eyes and ears open so that we see all the possibilities that have been given to us! Amazing right!? Yeah!!

[10:29] The second magical manifestation magnifier that action activates is: MIRACLES

In the book, a course in miracles there is a very important quote/definition that reads, “A miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love.” Wouldn’t that make a great phone wallpaper!?

The Universe is sending you many miracles and lots of love! Signs, messages, people, and even song lyrics are on their way!

Remember, it’s OUR job to PAY ATTENTION to the ideas and miracles that come to us.

Now listen, the Universe works in very mysterious and very silly ways sometimes, so be on the lookout for anything and everything. Paying attention to the things or the people that stand out, or the numbers that keep reappearing or the quote that you read that is deeply resonating.

The miracles have a high frequency energy of love. When I was making the podcast I took bold action toward a deeply meaningful project. I pour my heart into each episode, and because of this I also attract some of the most incredible people in this world as loyal listeners of the show.

I remember at the end of last year I was really nervous about interviewing guests on the show. I had never hosted an interview style before and I wanted to make a good impression on my guests. 

I went to a networking event and ran into an old friend from the yoga community Kiana, and we were updating each other on our lives and what we were working on. I told her about the new developments in my podcast and she was excited to be a guest on the show! 

BONUS Episode with Kian Ng

After one interview I felt a little more comfortable and asked some of my close friends to be on the show. With practice I am becoming a lot more comfortable and confident in asking my guest to be on the show, and also to interview them.

A lot has changed since starting my guest episodes, however I’m sure there will be more change in the future. The point is, the people who were brought into my life were a beautiful gift and miracle that helped me up-level with my podcast. 

What’s even more amazing now is that women are coming to me, and asking to be on the show! And a lot of my guests introduce me to or connect me with women they recommend and I barely need to reach out to anyone anymore, I am overwhelmingly grateful for all the amazing women that show up and want to connect!

[13:48] The third, and final, magical manifestation magnifier that action activates is: RESULTS!

Know that your empowered intentions are manifesting RIGHT. NOW. The timing isn’t exact, however the more trust and faith you have in the Universe, the more open you will be to receiving this magic!

We don’t always, and actually, it’s more like we OFTEN DON’T understand the how or the exact process. We can’t connect the dots as we look forward; HOWEVER we CAN connect the dots looking backward.

So when you’re manifesting something wonderful and incredible in your life; like a dream vacation to Hawaii, and you receive a gift card for a day at the local spa. DON’T PANIC. And more importantly, don’t get upset. This could be part of a bigger process of your dream vacation! Take this incredible spa day gift and imagine that you are a the spa in Hawaii. Drink coconut water that day, or wear a flower in your hair. Hula dance between treatments. Play Hawaiian music on your drive to and from the spa. Feel the energy of appreciation pour out of you for every moment and every gift.

Maybe you’ll meet someone at the spa who has an Air BnB in Hawaii, or who heard of an incredible flight offer for last-minute tickets to the island!? You never know.

[15:23] And when you DO receive INSPIRATION, MIRACLES, or RESULTS, thank the Universe for each of these gifts. 

Inspiration is a gift.
Miracles are a gift.
Results are a gift.

Gratitude ALWAYS speeds up the process of manifestation! A gratitude practice will change your life: Episode 69: What 365 Days of Gratitude Taught Me

[15:55] Before you run off to take action, I have one more gift for you…

It’s called the Magical Manifestation Magnifiers Tracker. This free download will support you with seeing the magic of action. Record your action steps and see how they activate magnifiers in your life! With some time, you will begin to connect the dots looking backward and see how your manifestations come to life!

Download the FREE Manifestation Tracker

Give me the Manifestation Tracker!

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E82: Creating an Epic Summer Bucket List

As crazy as the year has been, I still can’t believe that it’s already the first week of June! Time is flying! The month of June marks the middle of the year, but it’s also the start of summer...

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[1:15] Every June I get super excited about a tradition I’ve had since I was a little kid! For as long as I can remember, I’ve been creating some pretty epic summer bucket lists, and today I’m going to teach you how to create your very own!

Now, if you’re listening to this episode and you’re not sure what a summer bucket list is, it’s essentially a list of all the things you want to do, experience, eat, or places you want to visit this summer. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like it to be.

A great summer bucket list has a variety of activities, and goals, and most importantly it gets you EXCITED about having an EPIC SUMMER!

[1:59] There aren’t really any “rules” when it comes to creating this list, but I thought I’d share some of the do’s and don’ts I like to consider when writing mine…

DO Get Creative!

Of course you’ll want to experience some classic summer traditions every year, but have fun and get creative writing your list! 

Our family loves making s’mores every summer so one year I wrote: “S’mores Innovations” on my bucket list. That summer we made s’mores using different kinds of chocolate, or different cookies instead of gram crackers. We also tried s’mores with slices of fruit. It was really fun, and we still stuck to our favourite traditions.

When writing your list you can always go back and think of a new way to do something, or how you can mix up a fave tradition!

DON’T Just Copy Someone Else’s List!

There are lots of fun summer bucket lists online, and they’re great for getting some inspiration on what you’d love to do, but don’t just copy their list. Choose the ideas that you like and add your own ideas too!

Not everyone’s list is going to look the same. I live very close to the waterfall capital of the world, and this summer I want to go “Waterfall Exploring” to see some of the falls I haven’t been to yet. But you might not live near here. Maybe you live close to mountains, or volcanoes you can climb. Or maybe you live near beautiful forests or a secret beach. 

Make the list your own; a list that gets YOU excited!

[3:46] When you sit down to write your summer bucket list, a good place to start is by thinking about all the fun things you did last summer, or any previous summer. 

What did you do?

Who were you with?

What did you see?

How did you play?

What were your favourite memories?

After spending some time reminiscing on all your favourite parts of summer’s before, jot down anything you’d like to do again this summer, or maybe a memory inspired something you’d like to do this year.

Last summer I went back-country camping with some friends in Tobermory, Ontario. I’d like to go again this year, but stay a night longer and go with my partner.

My boyfriend also loves skydiving, but I’ve never been. Last year I saw him jump out of a plane and this year I’d like to try it too! EEK!

[4:47] If you’re like me, you’ll want to organize your list. This helps me plan for different goals, or different types of summer fun. My Summer Bucket List this year has 8 sections, they are:

Health & Wellness
For a Rainy Day
Self Care
With Friends
Classic Summer Fun
Outdoors
Food & Drink
And Something New!

[5:12] Some of the items on the list could fall under multiple categories but I like to organize my thoughts as best I can. Think of some of your own Bucket List Categories. Here are more ideas:

Education/Learning: I wanted to learn a new language one summer so I added some different ways to learn and practice. Maybe you’re taking a course this summer, or you’re learning a new skill. One of the listeners, Maria, wrote “Learn to Paint” on her bucket list this summer!

Thrill Seeking/Adventure: Do you love extreme sports or adrenaline boosting activities? You might need a category for all your adventurous items, such as: skydiving, white-water rafting, zip-lining, get a tattoo, parasailing, and more!

Travel: Surprisingly this wasn’t a category on my list. However, due to current circumstances, it makes sense. Maybe travel is a category on your list this summer! Some of the items on my list that might fall under this category are:
“Visit new micro breweries”
“Take a roadtrip to a small town in Ontario”
“Plan a vacation”

[6:22] A few of our listeners have some fun ideas that could also go under travel. Kim wants to spend long days at the beach! Lisa wants to do a family cottage mini vacation, and Haley and Candice want to go camping!

Another category could be Local: Like a picnic in a nearby park, hiking to a local waterfall, tasting new foods from local restaurants, or visiting local farms and gardens.

Your categories can also be based on some of your favourite hobbies and interests such as…

Music: Are there upcoming concerts you want to go to? Festivals you’d like to attend? Playlists you want to curate? Instruments you want to play?

Arts & Crafts: Use up the materials I currently have to make new crafts. Make macrame plant hangers, learn to sew, hand make all Christmas cards, build a birdhouse.

[7:15] When you’re writing out your summer bucket list, you can also think about any goals you have this season, or this year.

For myself, I want to drink more water, and walk more each day so I wrote: set a daily water intake goal, and walk 30 minutes each day.

Consider some of your health and wellness goals also, or your business goals, family goals, friendship and relationship goals. Add some fun ideas to your list that support your soul goals.

Are you training for a marathon?
Do you want to grow your email list?
Are you interested in taking a family vacation?
Do your friends and you love having pool parties?
Maybe you and your partner want to set up a weekly date night? Or a new adventure together!

[7:58] Speaking of friends, family, and relationships… ask your loved ones what is on THEIR summer bucket lists! What are some of the things you can do together, or how can you help each other cross off items on each of your lists?

Are you getting excited yet!? Because I sure am!

[8:15] Okay, let’s talk about some ways you can get creative with your summer bucket list! I mentioned before that you can put a new spin on a classic tradition like our family’s s’mores innovations!

Recipes are a really easy way to do this, for example: If you love a refreshing summer bevy, why not try a new Sangria recipe or margarita recipe?! How about new ways of making pizza, or trying out different smoothie combinations?

Another way to get creative with your list is by combining some of your items. Something on my list is “Rollerblade to Get Ice Cream!” We rollerblade and bike a lot, but we don’t usually get ice cream, so why not go for a blade and a scoop! LOL

I’ve also been doing some watercolour painting, so for one of my bucket list items I wrote: “Watercolour painting in nature” that way I have something to inspire a painting, and I’m spending  more time in nature!

One of o ur listeners, Lisa has “strawberry picking” on her summer bucket list, and I love this idea! I want to combine it with “make sangria and add: from local fruits we picked!”

If you’re into some healthy competition, you could turn your pool party into a Pool-palooza hahaha you can set up obstacles, a cannonball contest or games with prizes!

[9:34] One year I wrote 100 things on my Summer Bucket List and I was so hyped up but at the end of the summer felt a bit down because “I only” completed 58 of the items on the list. I’m rolling my eyes at myself right now. 

So the following Summer, 2016 I boycotted the list completely! AND INSTEAD I wrote a list of “amazing things I’ve done” the copy of the list I have has 30 items on it and looking back, that was a pretty incredible summer.

The lesson of this story is that the list is supposed to excite you to do some epic things, but leave room for spontaneity, and for organic fun! Isn’t that what summer is about anyways?

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Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E81: 5 Tips for Positive Self-Talk

Today’s episode is one of many on this show - where we are talking about mindset, positivity, and confidence...

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[00:57] What is self-talk exactly?
Self-talk is the running dialogue in our heads. Have you ever noticed it? Sometimes it’s the little voice that gives us instructions when we’re getting ready for bed, or the chatter in our minds observing our environment, and sometimes it’s singing along to a tune in our head. It’s basically when we’re talking to ourselves in our mind. 

Everyone has this inner narrative, but we don’t often spend so much time actually thinking about what the heck it’s going on about. The important truth is that our self-talk has a much bigger influence on the way we see ourselves and the world we live in, than we realize.

[1:45] Negative & Positive Self-Talk
Here’s the thing, we all have negative and positive self talk, which one do you most often use? Knowing the answer to this question can help you start making proactive changes to living your best life.

Unfortunately most of us have negative self-talk patterns. These are the thoughts where we’re focusing on comparing ourselves to others, or when we feel the “not-enoughness.” Our brains remember negative experiences over positive ones, and we tend to replay these messages in our minds, which in turn fuels negative feelings. 

Here’s the good news: positive self-talk is the opposite of negative self-talk – I mean duh… but positive self-talk is also possible to make automatic. It’s possible, with practice.

But before we get into all that, I think it’s important to note that positive self-talk is a very kind and confident way of thinking. It’s not about narcissism, but rather thoughts around self-compassion and knowing who you are.

[2:55] Benefits to Positive Self-Talk

Reduces Stress: 

When your thinking is more optimistic, this results in more helpful coping strategies when faced with challenges or stressful situations. Negativity is not helping anyone through a challenge. Positivity keeps you open to seeing new possibilities or previously missed opportunities.

Boosts Confidence + Resilience: 

Positive self-talk builds confidence and makes you more likely to achieve goals. I hinted before that positive self-talk takes practice, well that effort is simultaneously improving your self-confidence, and when you wake up to the fact that a badass babe is staring back at you in the mirror every morning, that babe knows she’s kicking ass and taking names. 

Builds Better Relationships: 

Who wouldn’t want to be around someone who is more cooperative and optimistic? Good vibes also rub off on other people. Spread the love + positivity to your friends and family.

[4:00] Hopefully after those three epic benefits you’re thinking, “YES. This is what I need more of in my life and in my mind.” So here are a few examples of positive self-talk:

I have the power to change my mind.

Even though it wasn’t the outcome I hoped for, I learned a lot about myself.

I am capable and strong, I can get through this.

I can’t control what other people think, say or do. I can only control myself.

Attempting to do this work took courage and I am proud of myself for trying my best.

[4:38] Now, the obvious question: “How do we make it all work?”

Here are the 3 steps: 

STEP #1: Identify Your Negative Self-Talk Style
Negative self-talk typically falls into one of four categories:

1. Personalizing
ex. Blaming yourself when something goes wrong

2. Polarizing 
ex. Seeing two sides only: good or bad; black or white; this or that, and no in between

3. Magnifying 
ex.Focusing only on the negative or bad in every situation and dismissing the positive or good

4. Catastrophizing
ex. Expecting the worst, always

STEP 2: Once you’ve identified which category, or categories your thoughts fall into, you can start to swap them to more positive thoughts.

This is where the practice begins. You will start to pay more attention to your inner dialogue and notice when and where you fall into your negative self-talk. Make a note of these in a journal or notebook and begin to rewrite the thought. 

For example, if you tend to personalize your negative self-talk, you hear your inner voice say something like, “Darnit! The cookies are burnt! I suck at baking, this is all my fault!” Instead, you could swap it to: “Oh shoot! Looks like this batch got a little burnt, I now know for next time to set my timer earlier” or check the cookies sooner, or whatever. You’re mentioning what you learned from this experience, and how you will take action to do better next time, and you aren’t blaming yourself for an innocent mistake.

STEP #3: Make Your Positive Self-Talk a Habit.
There are many strategies to make this happen, here are some of my favourites:

1. Put on your “Investigator Hat” and identify self-talk traps

   This will be something you want to do every day. Noticing when and where you are falling into the negativity. You are becoming more mindful of your thoughts, actions, and more aware of this inner dialogue. 

   As you are doing this, you might notice certain situations where you are more likely to cause more negativity. Like when an introvert is attending a networking or social event.

   Noticing the “traps” can help us to swap our negative self-talk to something more positive and encouraging.

2. Use Positive Affirmations

   Positive affirmations can be an excellent tool and practice for improving our self-talk. You can practice positive affirmations to set the tone for the day, or to prepare yourself before a self-talk trap.

   To support you with this strategy, I have created a free download called “Build Your Own Affirmations Kit” It teaches you how to create custom affirmations and how to really activate the affirmation! Get yours using the big yellow button below!

3. Keep a Self-Esteem Journal

   Journaling can be a very powerful and effective tool for making lasting mindset shifts. One of the reasons why it is so effective is because you are activating multiple parts of your brain when you put pen to paper. And depending on what you’re writing about it can help expand and amplify your topic: like positive self-talk for example.

   The two types of journal I recommend is a Gratitude Journal + an Emotions Journal.

   The gratitude journal is a list of what you are grateful specifically that day, as well as why you are grateful for it. Recalling your daily gratitudes helps you return to the feeling of gratitude and brings more of what you’re grateful for.

   An Emotions Journal has specific prompts that help you investigate your mindset and encourage you to think positively about different parts of your day.

   To help you start your emotions journal, here are some prompts:

   I felt proud of myself today when I…
   The highlight of my day was…
   One of my best attributes is…
   I am excited about…
   My biggest success this week was…

[8:59] Now that we have a better understanding of self-talk and the importance of a more positive mental chatter, here are my Top 5 Tips for Positive Self-Talk!

[9:10] TIP #1 SET HEALTHY BOUNDARIES

When you start to develop more self-awareness and bring more attention to your self-talk, you will also start to notice what areas of your life shed more darkness than light. And with the knowledge that we can only control ourselves, and not the actions of others, we can choose to set healthy boundaries.

This may look like limiting our intake of media and news. I very rarely listen, watch, or read any type of news. It’s been years since I’ve set this boundary for myself and I can most definitely say that my anxiety and negativity have decreased exponentially.

The other, more difficult way of setting boundaries would be to cut the negative people out of your life. This is obviously easier said than done, especially if we live with said person, but spending less time with negative “friends” or coworkers can also be very helpful.

[10:06] TIP #2 PRACTICE MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is very important whether you tend to have a more positive or negative self-talk. Everyone on the planet could benefit from being more mindful – including the actual planet. There are also many ways to practice mindfulness, like through meditation, journaling – which we discussed earlier in this episode – and also being able to dream and set goals. 

Allowing ourselves to dream and visualize the success we want to achieve, can help us see a possible future target. Reaching this target requires a mindfulness practice so that we can stay on track with reaching our goals and achieving success.

[10:50] TIP #3 STAY PRESENT

Dreaming of and visualizing the future is wonderful, but when our mindfulness spirals into negativity, it’s important to come back into the present moment. 

And it may not be the future we are nervous about, but perhaps our negative self talk is dwelling on the past. What’s done, is done, and the most important pace we are in is right here and now. This is where we are and what we can control and change.

Comparing ourselves to others is another way we lose sight of ourselves and the present moment. Instead of feeling sad about what we don’t have or who we don’t look like or whatever – we can express happiness and gratitude for what that other person has and also come back to the present and see all the things and people and experiences that we have in our own lives.

One of my favourite ways to get back into the present moment is to be physically active. When I’m lifting weights, practicing yoga, or doing pilates, I have to be connected to my body and my breath. Two very key things that bring your right back into the moment. 

The next time you’re feeling anxious about the future, or upset about the past, or feeling any type of scarcity or lack mindset, come back to your breath. Notice your inhalation and your exhalation, even if you just repeat the phrase “I am inhaling [inhale]. I am exhaling [exhale]” until you feel better. 

[12:28] TIP #4 LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF

At the core, positive self-talk is about self kindness and self compassion. Learning to love yourself is the root of your positive self-talk and true happiness. 

Forget failure, learn to reframe the idea that failure is a bad thing! It’s actually a learning opportunity, a chance to develop a new skill, and a step forward out of your comfort zone! 

Believe in the successes you’ve achieved in life so far – I am sure there are many! Use the memory and evidence of past success to move you forward toward your future goals and dreams.

[13:11] TIP #5 SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVITY

Life is too short to get caught up in negativity. Learn to laugh at yourself when you make a mistake, find the humour in an otherwise dull situation. Speak positivity when you’re speaking with others, help others when you can. 

Write out and post your positive affirmations. And continue to replace your negative thoughts with positive ones.

Believe in yourself – you’ve got this!

Okay, now, you’re om-work! Use the big yellow button below to download your free copy of my Build Your Affirmations Kit and get started today!

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Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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BONUS: Empowered Beauty with Natalie James of Vent Blow Dry Bar

The inspiring, the resilient, and the talented Natalie James joins us to talk about being confident in your own skin as well as leaving the 9-5 to becoming an entrepreneur...

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UPDATED JANUARY 2021: Vent Blow Dry Bar closed during the 2020 Pandemic and Lockdown. We hope to have Natalie back on the show in the near future to learn more about her new endeavours and how she is transitioning. So much love for this woman and her story, she is an absolute joy and inspiration.

Welcome Natalie! 

PART ONE: Being Comfortable in your Own Skin 

[3:40] You have one of the most unique and empowering stories I've ever heard. Could you share your journey to self love with us? 

Natalie was born a rare condition called Right-Side Isolated Hemihyperplasia. Which is a rare condition that one side of the body grows faster than the other. It can show up in a variety of ways, for Natalie it was everything from the neck down. She was never really aware of her condition because she didn't know any different, until she was about 10 years old, when young girls start to become more aware of their bodies, other kids your age start noticing that you're different. So there was a whole series of things that happened around that time.

Natalie became a lot more self-conscious. she had a significant limp, she stood off centre because it caused a-symmetry. This lead to some bullying, and a lot of insecurity around all of it. Around the age of 10, she went back to see doctors, to see what she could do, with hopes of being able to be “fixed” and look like everyone else. To her disappointment, the doctors didn't know a lot about the rare condition and said that there was an option for surgery down the road when she finished growing. And then the doctor said to her, “Try and look at the bright side, and be grateful. You're a pretty girl and it didn't effect your face.”

These words, although not meant to be hurtful, at the time, Natalie took those words to mean, hide your body and only show your face. And this is what she started to do, for the next 20 years. She felt shame, she felt that being different wasn't accepted or okay. But yet she felt like a confident person. She was hiding herself to feel “like everyone else” and to not let people know what she was hiding.

It was a mental, physical, and emotional struggle for a lot of years. It also taught Natalie that words can be very impactful.

[7:33] What were some of the things you did to help you cope with and over come the tough parts of these impactful life events? 

There were some things that looking back, Natalie did like finding resources and tools to cope. She found so much comfort in the stories of other people who faced adversity. She was enamoured by their strength and their courage and aspired to be like that. 

Over time, her own resilience started to build up. She was angry and confused, but thinks that in those moments you become stronger and more resilient. She didn't think that she realized how it was all happening for her. But she did begin to find comfort in it, even though she was still hiding her body. 

She was still growing a lot as a person, and she found a lot of comfort and piece through expressing herself through hair and makeup.It was something Natalie did that could transform me and make me feel beautiful and confident, which has transferred to where she is now. Looking back it was important for her at the time. 

[9:35] How was what you went through growing up shaped who you are today? 

All of it does. Being born with a rare condition, losing my father at a really young age in a tragic way, having to go through a really painful surgery that had me bedridden for the better part of a year, it gave me this grit and this resilience to be able to do hard things. And to be able to see the end of the tunnel in a lot of situations. When you're in it if feels like the end of the world sometimes, but when you go through things enough, you really just come out with a different perspective. It really taught me valuable skills and built my character and strengthen my mindset. I'm stronger now, and no stranger to crisis. I don't believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe there are lessons to be learned in every situation that we go through.

[11:10] Your mental and emotional strength is inspiring. When it comes to being comfortable in your own skin, what advice would you give women today? 

I would say that, rather than giving your challenges and your struggles power, you need to take that power. You need to own it and embrace it, and you need to let it be what fuels you to find your purpose. Because, no body is perfect and I think that's really hard for a lot of us because what we see, we tend to fixate on like the things we don't have, or the things that we want. But I honestly feel like we are all unique and beautiful and that is our power. It really is.

[12:41] How do we find that part of us that says, “I am beautiful” and “I don't have to be perfect?” 

It took me many years to come to terms with my condition. I was angry, and I felt really alone and overtime my perspective just changed. And I think it changed in the perspective that I really believe that this was a gift rather than a curse. And I think it's really about changing how you look at things. And I think I was given this gift to empower other women. And by doing that, by empowering other women, I'm empowering myself. And every time I share my story, I become more and more confident myself, and feel like, this is my purpose. And there's nothing more powerful than feeling like you are actually living the life you are meant to live. 

Listen, I held myself back for 20 years. It took me a long time. And there are still bad days. I'm not saying that everything is perfect, and that I still don't struggle, and it's okay to have those days, but those days will end, and tomorrow is a new day. And I think that having that perspective, and taking that fire or whatever it is in you and flipping that switch and using it as your power is so amazing when you can actually feel it. And know that when you embrace who you are, and you share authentically and vulnerably, and people will become more connected to you.

Brene Brown talks about the power of vulnerability and how it is the key to connection. So for a lot of people who feel disconnected because of their struggle, they really need to learn that by being vulnerable they will find those connections that they're craving. 

[15:15] You are the founder of Vent Blow Dry Bar. Tell us more about your business, what services you offer, as well as the purpose and mission behind these services? 

I walked away from my career in 2015, and I set out to join the world of entrepreneurship. After 2 years of research and construction we opened in July of 2017. 

At Vent Blow Dry Bar we offer blowouts, styling, and make up, in a unique luxury environment. Basically it's providing an exceptional service with a unique experience. It was really important to me to not be an other hair salon, I wanted to provide something different. So it's not meant to replace your hair stylist, it's meant to fill the gaps in between.

Our clients sit at a style bar, there's music playing, there are TVs with rom-coms, we have a liquor license so we can serve some bubbly, and it's a really unique experience so that women can feel relaxed and get some much needed time back to themselves. Although it would seem like a simple service that we provide, it really isn't. There's so much purpose and a mission behind this. Personally, the value of this expression for me made me feel so confident, and beautiful, and I really wanted to create an environment for other women to feel the same way.

PART TWO: LEAVING THE 9-5 FOR YOUR 24/7

[17:13] But you weren't always the CEO of your own company. Before that you had what society would call a “successful” career in politics and not-for-profit. Tell us about this leap into entrepreneurship.

In 2015 I decided to leave my career and I was also approaching 40 so I think that played a bit of a role in that. It's funny how those numbers do something to you. I was really beginning to feel unfulfilled; to put it simply. I loved the work I was doing, and the career was amazing, and I always feel very lucky to have had that experience. But it was predictable.

I am a planner and like to look at the 5 year, and 10 year goals that I have, and when I began to look 5 years ahead, it looked exactly the same. and I think that just kind of got my wheels turning. I had always been inspired by entrepreneurs and their willingness to take risks.

My father was an entrepreneur. He was an architect and a designer, and I used to spend a lot of time with him going to work. I loved tracing over drawings, and hearing stories of people with these amazing businesses, and had the opportunity to see them unfold and come to fruition. I thought it was the most amazing thing. So I actually thought I wanted to follow in his footsteps and become an architect, and build other peoples dreams for them. But really, over the years and my own experiences, what I realized was that I wanted to be the architect of my own journey. My father was in a tragic accident when I was 13, went missing, and was never found. So life took such a turn. Another turn. And it was all around the same time, between the ages of 10 and 13, was just not a good time.

But life became really challenging and I think I really had to dig deep again and find ways of making the best of the situation that I had. It always made me really determined to work hard for the things that I wanted because nothing was given to me. Nothing. And so I look back on my life and it was a great life. Married almost 20 years, three wonderful kids, great career, but I was not being challenged in the work that I was doing anymore. And it was scary, it was something I had to think long and hard about, because I knew what if felt like to have nothing, and to risk everything we had built for our family, was a scary thing. But I also know that I didn't want to look back on my life with any regrets, of not trying.

So that's what fuelled me to walk away and start Vent, and in turn, be able to share my journey in such a personal way that I never envisioned, so although opening Vent has been such a rewarding experience, it's all the off chutes of that, that have been spectacular.

[21:05] Was your family really supportive of the transition? What were some of the biggest obstacles during the transition, and how did you overcome them? 

As soon as I could show my husband what I was trying to do; we went to New York City and I showed him where I thought it was being done really well, I explained how I wanted to do it differently, and the purpose behind it, he knew. He knew the transformation in myself when I had my hair done. He said, “you have a skip in your step.” And he understood that piece of it and he was very supportive from day one and he didn't need a lot of convincing. He is also much like me and we're planners, so we really did plan and wrote a business plan that is probably longer than any business plan you'll ever see in your lifetime. 

There was definitely pushback from a lot of people, and I think that's just because it was so different. It was basically leaving something that I was really good at, to starting something that I really knew nothing about. But they also knew the person that I was, and that I was going to put everything into it, and work really hard and learn, and I think overtime people did become more supportive, and there were naysayers, but I think that's what pushes you harder; to just prove them wrong. 

It was a huge learning curve. I didn't know anything about being an entrepreneur. I didn't know anything about opening a business. I knew how to lead a team, I knew the leadership style that was important to me, I knew that I wanted to create a business that didn't just serve me, but it served my clients and my team. I think when you have core values like that, and you let those guide you, then the rest falls into place.

[23:35] Is there something you wish you knew then, that you know now? what advice would you give to someone leaving their 9-5 to start their own brick-and-mortar business? 

There's a few things, I think I made a few rookie mistakes for sure, and one of them was not understanding the value of community. This was huge, and I know this now, but in the beginning, I left a career that was very – was supported by a team and then I went to start something new, by myself. And it's very isolating. You get in your own head and you can question a lot of things along the way, and it's very difficult. And it wasn't until I found the value of networking and finding the value of a community of like-minded women that could provide a lot of support along the way, that things red ally changed. I would really advise anyone who wants to start a business is to find a community. Find a tribe of women that are going to cheer you on and support you through the ups and downs because there are a lot of them. That has been really key.

[26:16] As a mom and entrepreneur aka “Mompreneur”…
How have you created healthy boundaries?
What does work-life balance look like to you? 

This is always such an interesting question, and I don't know that I agree with the term because it would imply that there is an equal balance on both sides, and I don't think there ever is. There's always going to be more demands on one side or the other. It's going to challenge you ever day. I think for me the difference might be that politics wasn't 9-5 either. 

So from the start of my career and the start of being a mom, my husband and I have been a great team, and we figured out how to balance life and work and dreams and careers and all the things that we want to achieve, together. Honestly, he and I have a great system to make sure that our kids are always supported. And that we also feel supported in what we're doing. I think that has been really critical because you can't do this without a supportive partner, and I think that the other piece of this is that my kids are a little bit older, so I've been able to include them in as much of the process as possible. I think it's a unique experience for them, to see their mom completely pivot at the age of 40, and to see that nothing has to be forever if you're not happy.

If you want to change you can change, you can do anything you want to do. So I have really tried my best to include them in all of that. I think that's been helpful because they understand when I need to pour into my work a little bit more, they understand. I always try and be there for the most important things.

I try to really work in pockets of time the best that I can, and I'v become really good at doing that and just getting things done, and I think it really works. There are definitely things that are hard because I have to miss some stuff, but my kids understand and I make sure that I'm there for the things that are really, really important to them.

[29:25] You and I are similar in the way we both value our morning routines. Walk us through your morning: start to finish! 

This is something I also had to learn throughout my journey; the value of making time for myself, because as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, as a mom, there are lots of demands on my time, and I was usually the last person to get any of it, and that didn't end up well for me so I really went back to the basics. During all those times of struggle, what were the things that served me and pouring into me was really that. 

I get up really early. That's when there's nobody else awake, nobody needs me, and I can just dive into the things that really serve me. So I get up at around 5/5:30am and I spend a lot of time journalling and practicing gratitude, and meditating as much as possible. Sometimes I do that more than once a day. Just to get re-aligned with where I want to be, what I want to accomplish, what my mindset needs to be that day. It's really, really important for me. 

I exercise every day. This is something I have to do, sometimes I do it twice a day if it's possible. But it's moving my body. It's something that keeps me where I need to be. 

Then I spend a lot of time on personal development. I love to read, podcasts are my jam. I am always listening to a podcast. Honestly, podcasts have been really key in supporting me through this journey. Because it's the stories that are shared, the real stories of people, that have gotten me through some tough times.  You see the memes of being an entrepreneur, it's up and down, up and down and that's really accurate so to be able to share my story, hopefully it helps others, but also these stories of others has really helped me as well.

[32:30] Where can we find you/follow you? How can we support your business? 

INSTAGRAM | @im.nataliejames 

WEBSITE | www.imnataliejames.com

PART THREE: RAPID FIRE

[33:30] What are you currently reading? OR your favourite book? 

Current read: Get Out of Your Own Way by Dave Hollis 

Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis 

Girl Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis 

The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown

[33:56] What do you love most about being a woman? 

I honestly think women were built for doing hard things. I couldn't be prouder to be a woman right now. I think we're leading the way in entrepreneurship, I think we make exceptional leaders, I think we can just do all of the things and finally we're starting to see the success of being a woman and what that looks like right now.

[34:28] What does “empowerment” mean to you? 

To embrace your story, to live your truth, and do not give power to the things and the situations that don't serve you. Take that power and let it guide you to your purpose.

[35:05] What are you currently working toward? 

I am really loving this journey of sharing my story, and I really hope to inspire other women and girls through sharing this. More speaking opportunities lined up, some writing opportunities. I really feel like this is my purpose right now, and I'm really diving into that and seeing where it goes. 

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E80: Q&A: My Monthly Wellness Box

This is episode 80, which means it’s also a Q&A day! Today’s topic is all about a very special package I get delivered to my doorstep every single month. Each month the contents of the box are a little bit different, however they are always doing one key thing: Supporting my health & wellness. This is what I like to call my Monthly Wellness Box...

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[00: 49] Each month I customize my order and it gets delivered soon after. You might have already seen this box before because I often do a little unboxing when it arrives! You can watch my unboxing on my instagram stories. If you want to follow along I’m at @vallavignelife.

[1:26] QUESTION #1: What is its?

When you start as a wholesale customer with dōTERRA, the leading essential oil and natural health company in the world, you then have access to purchase dōTERRA products at 25% off whenever you want to shop for an entire year!

You also have the option of participating in dōTERRA’s optional monthly wellness program, which is called the Loyalty Rewards program. This is the best way to purchase your dōTERRA products, and one of those reasons is because your custom order reoccurs each month so that you never run out of your favourite products and tools. Whether you’re stocking up on your favourite products for glowing skin, or trying out a new sleepy time oil blend, your monthly box is made just-for-you!

This is the ultimate program and opportunity for anyone who is committed to living a healthy life, and committed to taking care of yourself in the best way.

[2:29] QUESTIONS #2: What's Inside?

This all depends on what you order that month. dōTERRA has an outstanding selection of products like Certified Pure Tested Grade essential oils, supportive whole-food-nutrient supplements, their luxurious spa collection, and so much more. 

Each and every month I customize my box and it arrives on my doorstep. It saves me so much time and money and I know I’m getting the best quality when I purchase dōTERRA.

Here is what’s inside my monthly wellness box for May 2020!

[7:35] QUESTION #3: What are the benefits of the Monthly Wellness Box?

Along with never running out of your favourite products, some other awesome benefits to the monthly wellness box are:

It Simplifies Life!

• You get your very own online store

• No need to search everywhere for natural products – it’s all at this one stop shop

• Super efficient way to shop for everything from essential oils, to natural skincare, natural deodorant, and your daily supplements

• Totally time saving: Easy to order online + Gets delivered right to your doorstep

You are in Complete Control!

• You get to customize your box

• You get to decide how much you want to buy or spend

• You choose which areas of health you want to focus on

Amazing Rewards:

• Free oils, free health care products

• 100% of your shipping costs also contribute to your collection of rewards on each order

• Your rewards percentage starts with 10% of your order comes back in points, and within one year it increases up to 30% of your order back in points. And it stays at 30 no matter if you buy 1 bottle of lemon oil one month, or if you are buying your supplements and skincare and anything else you in a large order

[9:24] QUESTIONS #4: How do I start ordering through the rewards program?

The loyalty rewards program aka LRP is for any current wholesale customers with oōTERRA. You do not have to be on my team to take advantage of the program, but if you are interested in joining us, here is the link on how you can get started with us.

Once you are a dōTERRA wholesale member, you can login to your personal dōTERRA store and click “Create New LRP” and choose your monthly ship date. I always recommend somewhere around the 10th of the month so you can take advantage of free products. However, it can be whatever date you want. Then add your favourite wellness tools. If you want, you can click “ship now” and then go back and edit your cart so that it is different for the next month.

It’s important to make a note of your ship date so that you can remember to login and edit your monthly order each month.

For more information, I’ve also linked a 2 minute video that explains the program a little more.

[11:03] #QUESTION #5: Do I have to order a certain amount each month?

Short answer, you do NOT need a certain amount each month.

To stay in the rewards program you only have to order 1 product per month. But if you’d like to earn the free product points, you want to place at least a 50pv order each month.

The next level of monthly perks is given when you place at least a 125pv order by the 15th of the month. By doing this, you’ll receive a free product in your Wellness Box!

This month's free product was a new oil blend called Citrus Twist!

PV stands for Product Value. These are the product points that each dōTERRA oil and product has.

[12:37] QUESTION #6: How do I customize my box?

This is super simple and really fun – and one of my favourite things to do each month. This question will be answered when I show you how to redeem your points. But basically you create a New LRP order and build your shopping cart. When you’re satisfied with the items in your cart you can click “process now” or you can save it and process it at a later day.

After your process has been shipped, you will go back into your account and click “manage loyalty orders” then add the new items you’d like to purchase for the next order and delete last month’s products.

Keep in mind, if you forget to manage your LRP order, you will get last month's order shipped this month. This is your responsibility to customize each month.

[14:04] QUESTION #7: I'm not sure what to order, any recommendations?

Yes! I have created a very special guide of over 10 curated Wellness Boxes that support you in taking care of different areas of your health this year. You can download your free copy using the big yellow button!

[14:28] QUESTION #8: When and how do I receive my free product points?

On the 15th of each month, you’ll see that your “points bank” is updated based on the order you placed the previous month. When placing your next order, you can redeem these points! 

What’s so incredible about this company and this rewards program is that there is no other like it. This is the highest rewards paying program in the natural health space! dōTERRA are the leaders in the industry. In 2018 they paid out $321 million in free products to the customers that order through the loyalty rewards program. 

The video that answers question 6, also answers this question, see above!

[15:35] QUESTION #9 I'm not a dōTERRA wholesale customer yet, how can I get started today?

If you aren’t a customer with me yet you can go to www.valerielavignelife.com/oils and I can help you get started. 

If you are a dōTERRA customer but not yet taking advantage of the loyalty program, watch the videos linked in this post to see the simplicity of the tech in action AND download the free Wellness Box Guide with some different ideas of boxes to build for optimizing your health and elevating your wellness.

[16:18] This is honestly one of the best investments I’ve ever made in my health and wellness and it pays me back. Not just with optimal health, but also with epic rewards. It’s how 70% of our community purchases their dōTERRA oils and products and it speaks volumes about how much our community cares and is committed to their health and wellness goals.

Download the FREE Wellness Box Guide

Send me the Wellness Box Guide

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E79: Confidence & the Core Chakra

I gave this episode the title: “Confidence & the Core Chakra” because this energy centre just so happens to be the centre of transformation and confidence in our bodies...

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[01:16] Chakras are energy centres in the body, and there are seven main energy centres that run from the base of your spine, upward to the crown of your head. 

Chakra One: Is the root chakra located at the base of the spine/tailbone

Episode 64: Reclaim Your Roots with the First Chakra

Chakra Two: Is the sacral chakra, located at the reproductive organs, below the belly button

Episode 89: Sexuality & The Sacral Chakra

Chakra Three: Is the core or solar plexus chakra, located in the abdomen above the belly button 

Episode 79: Confidence & The Core Chakra

Chakra Four: is the heart chakra, at the centre of the chest

Episode 96: Harmony & the Heart Chakra

Chakra Five: is the throat chakra, located at the throat

Episode 58: Speak Your Truth with the Fifth Chakra

Chakra Six: Is called the third eye chakra located at the forehead, between the eyebrows

Episode 71: Intuition & The Third Eye Chakra

And lastly, Chakra Seven: the crown chakra, located at the top of the head.

Episode 105: Divine Connection with the Crown Chakra

[2:27] Today, I’ll be focusing on the 3rd Chakra, the core, or solar plexus. The meaning of this energy centre; or the function is transformation. In Sanskrit the name for the Core Chakra is “Manipura” meaning “lustrous gem.”

Along with the locations and sanskrit names, each chakra has an element, colour, purpose, issues, identity, demon, characteristics, and so much more. 

The themes around the third chakra will be centred around energy, activity, self-esteem, power, self-definition, and confidence. This chakra is represented by the colour yellow.

Power and confidence will be key words in our discussion today. This is an area for self-definition, realization of separateness, and independence. It’s clear from this information alone that it is a very important energy centre, as transformation is the essential function of the third chakra. 

Confidence and power are then integral pieces to the solar plexus chakra as it is associated with the element fire. Fire creates physical transformation through its power; and we have an inner fire that represents our self-confidence. Pretty cool right?

[3:50] Okay, let’s talk about that word “power.” As we know, words can have different meanings depending on how we interpret them. But I think power is one of those words that can be taken VERY differently.

If you had asked me, maybe when I was a little girl, what I thought “power” meant, at the time I would have probably had an answer along the lines of an evil stepmom or witch who wants to take something from an innocent and powerless princess. Even without the influence of disney princess movies, we still see people or groups who “want” power, “gain” power, “have power over” etc. There are many overbearing and negative attachments or connotations to the word. 

Personally, this is something that I’ve learned for myself, and had to unlearn. It wasn’t just the word power, but also words similar to it. For example:

Aggressive, Bossy, Difficult, Too Much, Awkward

[4:58] Let me backtrack a bit. I host guests on the bonus episodes of this show, and one of my rapid fire questions that I ask each guest at the end of the show is: “what does empowerment mean to you?” The answers I get are different and amazing and the word empower has the word “power” in it. It’s about giving power and confidence and strength and this was one of my goals or intentions for the women’s empowerment show.

[5:27] I know many of the listeners are also women in business or leadership roles, and you may have heard, or been called some of the words I’ve mentioned above. But today we’re going to flip the script a bit. Because truthfully, nothing has meaning until we give it meaning. Including other people’s words or labels. 

SO for the women out there who are being called “Aggressive” I want you to tap into your inner power and strength and swap aggressive with “Assertive.” Show your confidence, stand in your power.

This is a big one for me: I’ve been called “Bossy” a lot, but we’re now switching that to “Leading.” Keep leading ladies, you are a guide, a leader, an influencer, and you are important.

“Difficult” is another one that comes up, but is that true, or are we being “Honest + Truth Telling?” Sometimes the truth is difficult. Being honest can be tough at times, especially when no one else is stepping up to the plate, but someone’s got to do it babe, and *high* forkin *five* if that’s you.

What about when someone calls you “too much” or “so extra”? I say, “KEEP TAKING UP SPACE!” Let your light shine! Your inner fire is bright and if that is your authentic self showing up, then stand tall and wear your crown girl!

Last one, “awkward” cringy. I know. But maybe these are the women who are asking tough questions, and yeah, that can get real awko taco – but you know what – just like telling the truth and speaking honestly, asking tough questions is necessary. 

But power doesn’t have to be based on struggle and opposition between two things. Power can mean what we want it to mean, and today I want us to rewrite our scripts in the ways we need to so that we can feel empowered in our inner power. Not over any other person, but rather power over our inner demons and negative mindset or self talk.

[7:51] MY FAVOURITE CHAKRA BOOK: Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith:

“To restructure the way we think of power and to channel and contain that power within our own being is the challenge of the third chakra. It transforms us, igniting our life with purpose. To have true power emanating from within renew the joy of being alive.”

[8:18] Okay… so what do we need to reclaim our power? Well, like I mentioned before, it’s a new script! It’s a new definition of power that elevates us out of struggle and into transformation. It pulls us out of our past and into the future. It’s a shift in a person to be inspiring, strengthening, and empowering to ourselves and to others.

[8:49] We can start by investigating the signs, signals, and information that our body sends us on a constant basis. 

Signs of a healthy solar plexus chakra include:

• Someone who is responsible and reliable

• Balanced, and effective will

• A warmth in personality

• Confidence and a sense of personal power

• Spontaneity, playfulness and a sense of humour

• And also someone who is able to meet challenges
  

[9:16] As with all the chakras, the goal is to balance the energy centre so that our rainbow of chakras can flow and our body can be in alignment. However, there are times when our chakras become underactive, and overactive. This is also known as deficiency and excess, respectively.

Here are the signs of Core Chakra Deficiency:

• Low energy

• Poor self-discipline, low self-esteem

• Poor digestions

• Collapsed middle of the body; bad posture

• Victim mentality, quick to blame others

• Emotionally or physically cold

[9:53] Signs of an excessive Core chakra:

• Overly aggressive, dominiating, controlling

• The need to be right or have the last word

• Manipulative, power hungry

• Violent outbursts

• Stubbornness

• Arrogant 

[10:07] Before we get into how to properly balance this energy centre let’s unfold the petals of the third chakra some more. 

As we reach the third chakra we are climbing toward the upper level of the chakras. This is a lower level chakra where we start to become more aware of ourselves as individuals in the world. A necessary third chakra achievement is independence and autonomy. This is a very great piece from Eastern Body, Western Mind:

“Autonomy is essential for personal responsibility. If we cannot see ourselves as separate beings, we cannot take responsibility for our actions.”

[10:49] I believe being able to take responsibility for our own actions is what makes someone a mature adult. I also believe it’s part of our journey and our souls journey to understand and see our INDIVIDUATION. We begin to wake up into a larger awareness of the world, and our role in it. 

We discover ourselves as whole, independent beings, with our own personal strength and power. We start to develop our strength, power and independence when we overcome challenges, and begin to define ourselves.

[11:21] While creating our own identity, we also form our EGO. This is the conscious element of the Self according to Carl Jung. It’s sort of the mediator between the inner and outer experience. I won’t get into it too much today, but basically – for my business babes out there – it’s essentially the CEO of the Self. It creates defenses to protect our vulnerability, it forms the statement of who we are, and it organizes the consciousness of our self-definition.

The key is to have a well-functioning ego that isn’t overpowering, but keeps us safe, engaged, and consistent in our Self. It keeps our inner energy balanced.

[12:05] SELF-ESTEEM is another important piece of our third chakra. Energetic strength requires self-esteem, and with even a basic level of trust in ourselves, we can better face the unknown. This is the part of ourselves that stays consistent when faced with a challenge. It’s the part of ourselves that doesn’t fall apart when things go wrong, and the part that knows it’s okay to make mistakes. 

Previous Episodes on Confidence + Self Esteem: 

Episode 48: What to Do When Fear Shows Up
Episode 63: How to Fail + Make Happiness Your Compass

It’s important for all areas of our health for our self-worth and self-esteem to be high. When we feel worthy, we are more likely to take care of ourselves and this in turn raises our vibration to attract higher quality vibrations of people, opportunity, and experiences into our lives. When people are taking better care of themselves, the feel good, and who doesn’t want to feel good?

[13:19] I started listening to the audio version of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey, and the first habit mentioned in the best-selling book, is being “PROACTIVE.” 

Being proactive is the opposite of reactive (which is third chakra excess) or inactive (third chakra deficiency). Proactivity is all about choosing your actions, rather than controlling them or letting them be controlled by you. It starts deep in a mindset and shapes our daily behaviours. Proactive people take responsibility for creating their future. Proactive people believe they influence their environment. They don’t wait to see what happens, and they are not victims of circumstance. Practivity takes initiative and will.

[14:10] Of course it all adds up to our personal POWER. Here is another clip from Anodea Judith’s book:

“From the latin root podere, meaning “to be able,” power is the ability to make change and exists for one reason only – transformation. When the old has outgrown its purpose, it is time to transform it into something new. Power is not a thing, but a way. It is a process of becoming real.

We have power when we dare to live authentically, when we reach inside ourselves and tell the naked truth. The more we dare to take risks, to questions, to be true to yourself, the easier it becomes. Power comes when we are willing to make mistakes and to be responsible for them, to learn from them, and to correct them.”

[15:04] The third chakra is the engine to our power. Consider the following questions when reflecting on your personal power:

• Do I take responsibility in my actions?

• How strong is my self-esteem?

• Am I practicing proactivity?

• What is my current posture position telling me?

• Am I living authentically?

• Where in my life am I playing small?

• Who do I know that embodies personal power and a balanced third chakra?

• Where in my life can I take more risks?

I wrote these questions with the intention for us to dig a little deeper. I want us to really unfold our core chakra petals so that we can begin to heal this energy centre. When it comes to healing our chakras, what we’re most often doing is balancing them. Start by figuring out if your Solar Plexus chakra is deficient or excess, and then go from there.

[16:06] Healing deficiency will take some time as the energy must be built up slowly. Think of it like kindling a fire, we will gain strength little by little with a strong foundation that will create lasting change and strength.

Working on how we fuel the fire is similar to how we are fueling our bodies. Choosing to take better care of ourselves means consuming healthy foods that give us energy and vitality, along with moving our body to build physical strength and mental clarity. We are looking for both nourishment and support. 

Listen to last week’s episode all about staying consistent with your wellness, to help you create a healthy lifestyle routine to build up a deficient core chakra.

Episode 78: How to Stay Consistent with Your Wellness

[16:51]  When it comes to healing excess, there will be more energy, and this energy needs to be moved aka rerouted to other chakras. This healing will require more stillness, and quite. I have a free mediation available to help balance the core chakra. This is for both balancing deficiency and excess.

It might sound counter-productive, or counter intuitive, but scheduling downtime for the “art doing nothing” or practicing relaxing, restorative, or gentle yoga, can also be an important strategy for an overactive third chakra. As they are typically type-a people, this can be tough, however taking time away from goals or work is very important for the health of the solar plexus chakra.

[17:52] Have fun! Be playful! Be spontaneous! Laugh, and dance and let go of the need to be safe. This is not our intention in the world. Building your courage and confidence will take practice. You will make steps, leaps, and bounds toward your goals, moving further and further out of your comfort zone as you G R O W & GLOW!

Keep growing, learning, and expanding! Keep playing and loving yourself deeply. YOU. YOU my darling are an incredible, limitless being. Everything you need is already yours, and the rest you will learn and gain along the way. 

Find that inner light and let it shine. Let the fire blaze and burn and brighten! Be the light and inspiration for others to shine their light too. Your power lies within you. It has always been there and will always be there. Always, always remember that no one can take your power… unless you let them.

Remember that it is SO OKAY to make mistakes. Learn to laugh at yourself sometimes.

Download the FREE Core Chakra Meditation

Free Core Chakra Meditation

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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BONUS: Building Your Dream Business, Events, and Life with Lauren Smith of Modern Collective

Today I have a very special guest, Samantha I cannot wait to introduce you to one of my favourite business babes and friends. Lauren is not only an amazing event planner, but has created a business and a life of her dreams, listen to this episode to learn how you can elevate your life and your events...

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[00:05] Meet Lauren Smith: 

A passionate event planner, connection creating expert and lover of all things events + travel.

Lauren helps busy entrepreneurs create in person connection with their online community so they can strengthen their relationships, provide incredible value and turn their community into raving fans. 

With over 10 years of event planning experience working with Canada’s largest financial institutions, Lauren brings countless unique and innovative ideas, and an impressive tool-box of skills to the table for her clients, spanning from an unmatched ability to pivot on the spot, to killer negotiation skills and the creative ability to think outside the box.

Dubbed “the future of the events industry” by Meetings + Incentive Travel Magazine and featured in CMP Magazine’s Women of Influence Issue, Lauren’s signature approach to the planning process and stress-free execution puts her clients at ease with every step of the process. Lauren’s community loves her because of her ability to think outside the box, create true and authentic connection and truly go above and beyond to create a WOW factor experience that helps turn their attendees into raving fans. 

[3:05] Her story: 

It was not a straight line or a smooth road. I went to school for event planning and I graduated when I was turning 21, and that fall my dad had a stroke. He lost his ability to speak, he basically was disabled, and we spent the next six months in the hospital with him trying to nurse him back to health and teach him how to speak again and do all those things. So my “career” post-school started off quite turbulent just trying to get our footing. 

And then I got a job with a mortgage company doing all of their events. For me that was such a cool opportunity because I got to basically travel the world doing my dream job and I got a little bit of normalcy after living the caregiver life for a little while. We still are caregivers. I needed that time to just go and “do me.” So I was an event planner with them for six years and then I went and worked at a corporate bank, and while that was fun, it was definitely not me or creative or who I am in any realm of the world. So I decided to leave and go and do my own thing. 

Throughout that course of a couple of years I was working for the mortgage company, I was living in Vancouver and that's where I met Danielle. She is the founder of the Business Babes Collective which started in Vancouver. When I moved out there I was like, “how do you make friends as an adult?” It's so awkward, I'm not going to just be friends with my work people. I wanted to meet women who were empowering and doing really cool things around business and their lives, and I went on Meet Up. I found the Vancity Business Babes and it was one of their first events in their first year of being a community, and met Danielle and asked her to go for coffee, and the rest is history.

When I moved back to Toronto, I was like “Dude this has to come to Toronto!” There was no girly business, educational, supportive community for women so we started one.

PART ONE: Entrepreneurship: Building Your Dream Business & Life

[7:55] Take us through a typical day or week in the life for you! 

It depends. My business comes in waves. So there's either Event Prep Mode, Client On Boarding Mode, or Event Execution Mode. The week will really depend on what's going on in my life. For example, if I have a big program; let's talk about how my life looked in December because that was one of my busiest months. I would wake up in the morning. I take supplements and have a smoothie and I do start my morning when I eventually get out of bed. For the first little bit of the day I clean out my emails, and then I time block as well as day block. 

Mondays: Dedicated to one of my two businesses 

Tuesday & Thursdays: Strictly client work 

Wednesdays: To the other business 

Fridays: Typically when I take meetings, podcasts, out of the office, all my errands – so I try to only leave my house once a week because before I was doing meetings in Ajax on Mondays and downtown on Tuesdays, and it was too much for me. 

But then when we get into our flow is like the really, really cool part. So we have a really fun and cool client management system. When I get off the phone with my client I'll brain dump what we talked about, I'll put all my ideas onto paper and then my team and I will start bringing that together and we'll do that when we're on boarding a client. 

But in December it was a little bit of a gong show because we had so much going on, so one day, it will be that: full creative flow. Pinterest is my favourite thing as an event planner. 

Then the next day I would be prepping for the retreat I did in January in Bali, so literally completely the opposite of the day before. I really try and give myself rest days so I will not look at my phone, I will not look at my computer, I will just completely check out.

[10:53] How do you create space for yourself and for grounding? Do you have any self care routines, what do those look like? 

I don't have a morning routine, but I have a really, really locked and loaded eventing routine. Since I was a kid I've taken a bath every night. It is my time to put on a candle, chill. Sometimes I'll bring my phone just to aimlessly scroll pinterest, not do email but I'm kind of obsessed with my phone. Or I will read a book, or meditate in the bath. So that is my sacred time and I notice if I don't do that, I'm kind of grumpy; it's not fun. 

Saturdays are the days where I will literally not look at work. I'll give myself Sunday's to regroup and write my to-do list, and meal prep and all that fun stuff.

[13:40] What advice would you give to someone who wants to create their dream business? Where do they start? 

I think the biggest thing is, and I think people forget this, is that you're always going to be talking about it. So if it's something you love of you're going to get sick of, or you're not passionate about, don't do it. Because you're going to be able to see right through that. For me, I'm always going to see, or always talking about being an event planner. If you hear my name, you know that it's associated with events. And that's not because I'm strategically thinking, “okay so I need to make this many sales…” it's just who I am as a person and it's something I'm so passionate about. So that would be step number one: only really jump into something if you're going to be okay talking about it every day.  

The second thing I would say, do your research and come up with a little bit of a plan. Know what your next 3, 6, 12 months is going to look like, and then just JUMP! You can plan and you can say you'll do it when you're ready but you'll never be ready, you just sometimes have to do it, because you'll learn about yourself when you're in hot water and you'll figure it out.

[15:50] Listener Question from Casey: What have been some of your biggest setbacks when working toward building your dream job, and how have you overcome them? 

The biggest one I would say is when I was working corporate. I actually bought my domain and started to build my website 5 years ago, knowing that this was my end goal. And it was when I was working corporate that I was climbing the ladder and doing all those things, and I just remember being told all the time, I was told once that they wouldn't have given me a promotion if they knew if I got a boyfriend. It was the women in business type of struggle; but my type of struggle with it was I started to believe what everyone was telling me. I was told, “you were just a server before I hired you. They basically making me feel that I was indebted to everything they ever gave me. Which is a complete load of crap, but when you're told that all the time, you start to believe it. And I would surround myself with people who I thought were supportive of me, but would only ever let me be at their level. They would never help me achieve more, they would never make sure I was successful enough to be comfortable but never more. So the biggest set back was believing. How I pushed through it was I just listened to who I AM, and what my soul needed. And I did what was against the popular belief. Following myself and being true to who I am is what I think got me through a lot of all that crap I had to go through.

[18:00] Listener Question from Rachel: If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be? 

It's so hard. There's not many things I would change because everything has brought me to where I am right now, but I think the biggest thing is I would have listened to what my dad was saying before he got sick. Because, it's kind of ironic but, my uncle who I was just with in California used to be business partners with my dad, and a lot of the stuff my uncle was walking me through and coaching me through in California is stuff that my dad taught him. So if had I listened 10 years ago, would my life be different? I don't know. You obviously can't tell that. But I would have loved to had a couple hours of business conversation with my dad.

PART TWO: Events & Event Planning

[20:05] What are some of the benefits of hosting events for women in business? What are some creative examples of types of events we can host for our business? 

Connection. We live in an ever-changing world and there's so much online. And there are two different types of events: there's the online experience that you can give your community, which is huge because you can reach more people, and there's less cost involved. So I think we should be doing both: online and in-person events. So workshop or webinar or couple day online series of something, plus the in-person events.

The in-person events are going to be massively impactful because when we are together. I think women, specifically, we crave that certain type of connect in the business world. Going to an event that is hosted by another woman is when you're soaking in different energies and I think that's super, super important.

And then in terms of creative examples:

Retreats are going to be huge in the next couple of years because it's a small group of people who are really there to drive change. And you can get more out of the experience when it's a smaller group of people.

Conferences are still a thing, but they have to be really creative and really unique. They can't be your typical conference like when you went to figure out which University you wanted to go to. People want it to be an experience. There needs to be photo opportunities and really fun food, and make pop-up experiences. It has to be really different. So as much as events are still going to be a thing, we're in a bit of a shift that we can't just do a typical pop-up that we used to be able to do.

[23:22] I read somewhere that “Women come together in celebration,” and I know that so many of us love hosting parties and events. Where do we start? Walk us through some steps for mapping gout our dream event! 

Absolutely. I think the first one is to get it on paper. and I'm guilty of this too. I will have a Saturday when I'm hiking with the dog and I'm building this dream event in my head. And then I get in the car and I forget everything. So map it out and ask yourself these intense questions like: 

What do I want to get out of it?
Who is my attendee that I want to attract?
What are the experiences that I want them to have?
How do I want to be remembered from this event? 

Ask yourself questions that aren't related to “what type of food am I going to serve.” Because people care more about how they feel, than what you say to them. They really want to feel like they're part of your community. 

Form there, you can segregate them like, here's the feeling I want them to have, then write out how am I going to achieve that? Here's the visuals that I want them to have, how am I going to achieve that? And map it all out and start researching people that can help bring that vision to life. 

And the number one thing I always say is budget from the beginning, because if you don't budget, you won't be profitable. 

BUDGETING TOOLS/RESOURCES/TIPS:
Expect the worst but pray/plan for the best. I always map out my ideal situation. 

Sponsorship isn't guaranteed so leave it out of the mandatory budget. Account for the things that you don't think you need to account for. 

Make your slush fund bigger than it is. It's better to over budget than to under budget.

[26:42] There is so much that can change in the world of events and event planning. What are some of the challenges that you've faced? How did you handle them? What advice would you give to people planning an event on how they can flow through or overcome the disruptions? 

I've had people have heart attacks on programs, I've had speakers not show, I've had boxed not delivered. Breakdown is going to happen in events. It's just how are you going to handle it. The key to being a good event planner is knowing that something is going to happen – you obviously can't prepare for what that thing is – but prepping yourself to handle it in the right way. 

For example: when my attendee had a heart attack, I still had a 250 person event to plan. So I needed to take a minute and think of what that next step could be. I was going to support that attendee and visit them in the hospital, but I had to put in place other things, to deal with the group that was in Mexico and things that we had planned. 

Handling [the challenges] with respect and calm, and to an extent being humble about it. Take on ownership where you might not necessarily need to, but if it's going to put the fire out, do it. Come together as a team, and don't put blame on anyone else. Take ownership. 

[30:28] Obviously we can do anything, but we can't do everything on our own. Why do we need to hire an event planner like you for our next event? 

Being an event planner means you have education behind it, or you've being doing it for a certain number of years and you've overcome these obstacles and you've planned different types of events. I haven't just planned evening networking events. I've planned thousand person conferences and retreats. 

You can try and plan your own event if you want, but don't call me in the eleventh hour when shit hits the fan, because it will be too late. There are going to be problems that happen with your event, so how will you overcome them? 

Or if you're planning an event in your business, you're taking away that part of your event that makes you money. So why would you want to shift your focus to learn something completely new, when you could just hire someone.

The other part where hiring an event planner comes in handy is with contract negotiations and contract negotiations.

[33:24] Where can we find you, follow you, and how can we support your business? 

INSTAGRAM | @torontobusinessbabes and @moderncollective_ 

WEBSITE | www.moderncollective.ca 

Engage with Lauren, ask her questions, if the Toronto Business Babes has an event, come to the event or online workshop!

PART THREE: RAPID FIRE

[34:11] #1. What are you currently reading OR what is your favourite book?

BOOK: The Answer by John Assaraf and Murray Smith

[24:50] #2. What do you love most about being a woman? 

Our time has finally come. There is so much support for us, and so many people are behind us that it's really empowering and exciting to know that for the first time in what feels like forever, we can really do whatever we want.

[35:14] #3. What does “empowerment” mean to you? 

Having the confidence and the support to follow your dreams, and to be unapologetically yourself, and show up super authentically.

[35:27] #4. What are you currently working toward? 

A lot. But my biggest thing is I am registering my company as a travel agency and going to build out that side of my business as well.

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E78: How to Stay Consistent with Your Wellness

One of the keys to making your wellness work for you is CONSISTENCY. Here's how to stay consistent with your wellness...

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[00:45] Follow me on INSTAGRAM @vallavignelife

[00:55] One of the main reasons we lack consistency and fall off track is because our actions aren't rooted at a deeper level. We set wellness goals and intentions, without getting clear about our “Wellness Why” 

Our “Wellness Why” is the reasoning behind our actions. It is the emotional fuel, and meaningful driver behind our daily actions. It's what moves us forward with our healthy habits and our goals. 

You want your “wellness why” to come from your heart. It’s important that it’s deep, emotional, and meaningful to you. 

Everyone’s “wellness why” will be different. We all have different motivators and intentions and goals, so it’s important that when you’re creating your WHY, you are turning inward and searching inside of yourself, and not externally to why other people are taking their actions.

[2:40] Four Steps to Help You Create Your Wellness Why 

#1. CREATE SPACE
Grab a pen and paper, or your favourite notebook and get comfy. If you love listening to music, put on your favourite playlist. If you work with essential oils or crystals, go ahead and bring those too. Create a comfortable atmosphere for you to turn inward, without interruption or distractions. 

#2. DREAM
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Take five minutes or so to visualize the best version of yourself. If you would like more support with this, I will link to a previous episode I published called “Becoming the Best Version of You” (Episode #39) 

Consider the following questions: 

Who is the best version of me?
How does this version of me start their day?
What do they do every day?
What DON’T they do every day?
How does this version of me feel? 

Write down the answers to these questions, and any other details about this best version of you. Get clear and specific; include all the details – everything! 

#3. INVESTIGATE FURTHER
Now look over your description and answers of your future self and see if you can dig a little deeper. Why do you want to be the best version of yourself? What is the deep, emotional, and meaningful reasoning behind why you want to live a healthy lifestyle? 

#4. SET UP MOTIVATIONAL REMINDERS
We want to keep our “wellness why” top of mind. Write it down and stick it to the bathroom mirror, bedside table, or on the kitchen fridge. Another idea is to create a phone wallpaper of your wellness why. Share it with your partner, your friends, and your social audience so that they can hold you accountable.

This way, when we go about our days making decisions, we’re reminded of our Wellness Why and the reasoning behind the choices that we make every day. It connects us to that why power and helps us become and embody the best version of ourselves.

Because our wellness is not about eating one healthy meal, or that week we went to 3 spin classes, or last month when we drank more water than coffee. It’s about the countless choices that we’re faced with each moment, and every day.

[5:42] We’re aiming to make the best choices, or better choices for our health and wellness, but there will be days when we make okay choices, or lesser ones. 

Here are my top tips when it comes to starting your wellness lifestyle:

[5:55] TIP #1: CHOOSE 1 AREA OF WELLNESS
There are many areas of health and wellness that we can pinpoint and improve. The best way to create any habit is to start with one, and then once that action or behaviour becomes automated, we can focus on the next habit or action. This is called habit stacking. 

I will mention an area of wellness, as well as an example for a healthy habit for this area. While I’m listing them, think of which area of your wellness you’d like to improve and how you’d like to do that.

Physical: walk 10,000 steps every day
Emotional: write in my mindfulness journal morning and night
Spiritual: meditate daily
Intellectual: read one book per month
Social: join an online community of like-minded women
Nutrition: Stop eating after 8pm
Sleep: Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night
Occupational: Spend two hours every weekday building my online course.

Did I miss an area? Let me know in the comments section below!

[7:52] TIP #2: LET IT BE FUN & EXCITING
I always say, fitness can be fun, and healthy can be simple! Stop complicating your health and wellness goals. Just because your best friend loves her Saturday morning Zumba class, doesn't mean you have to also. Personally, I’m not a Zumba kind of girl, but I can lift weights four times a week, and that excites me! 

We’re creating a lifestyle, and the best version of you is most likely excited about their wellness habits and goals; they have fun with their fitness! Choose the actions and activities that light up your life!

[8:31] TIP #3: SCHEDULE YOUR WELLNESS
It doesn’t matter if your goal is to read for 30 minutes a day, or to meditate every morning, or to build an evening routine. Put it in your calendar; the calendar you actually use! What gets scheduled, is what gets done. Make time for your wellness by blocking out the time in your calendar to do it. Set reminders on your phone to keep you on track. 

The best time to do your wellness habit is whenever you do it. If you like morning workouts like me, schedule it then. If you know that the best time for uninterrupted brainstorming for your business is when your kids go to bed, schedule it then. If you’re truly committed to becoming the best version of yourself, you will make time for the actions and habits that support your journey. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

[9:33] TIP #4: BE FLEXIBLE
Life happens, and our worlds are always changing. This is okay. We’re learning to build a dream lifestyle, and that also means being flexible and going with the flow. Remember that wellness is a journey, not a destination. 

I plan as much in advance as I can, but every Sunday evening I look at my week at a glance and schedule it accordingly. Most weeks don’t look the same, but I always make time for my wellness habits and goals. This is even more important for the weeks that are a little busier.

[10:12] TIP #5: REVIEW & RESET
The unexpected can come up and throw you off a little, but it doesn’t mean your whole wellness lifestyle collapses. Allow yourself the time to review and reflect on what when well, and what didn’t. Then make any adjustments moving forward to get you back on track. 

It’s also helpful to give yourself permission to hit the “Reset Button.” Each day is a new day, and an opportunity to start fresh. You don’t have to feel guilty because you missed a workout, ate cake for breakfast, or stayed up a little too late watching Netflix. Take a breath, let go of the expectations, and remember your “wellness why.” 

A question that I find helpful when mapping out my goals, habits, and actions is: What roadblocks do you foresee? And the next obvious question would be, What ideas do you have about overcoming those roadblocks? 

This will all depend on what habits and goals we are creating. It’s also important that when we are answering these two important questions, we are being very honest with our responses. Honest, and I will also add creative with the solutions. If you’re having trouble overcoming specific or certain roadblocks, consider someone you can reach out to about achieving your goals or who might have fresh eyes on the situation. 

[11:44] Committing to consistency means creating achievable habits and goals. For most of us, this will mean starting small, and choosing actions that result in immediate positive feedback. For example: Getting more sleep, and increasing your daily water intake. These are measurable daily habits. 

It’s also very helpful to visually track your progress. You can create a checklist, use apps and fitness watches, and you can also download my free Habit Tracker Guide. The guide helps you set new healthy habits, eliminate old habits, and help you stay consistent with your wellness goals.

[12:25] Appreciate where you are in your personal wellness journey, and start there. Start with the smaller goals, and as you continue to track your goals, and take action, begin to add onto those habits and stretch yourself a little more. I like to check in weekly, but you can also reflect daily, bi weekly, or monthly. 

Your stretch goals will be a little bigger than your smaller goals. For example, if your smaller goal was to read one book a month, and you’ve read two this month, you could stretch your goal to reading 3 or 4 books per month.

[13:00] Remember, that the key to creating our wellness lifestyle is consistency. Our brain craves it! It’s what will help us reach our goals, and automate our habits to keep us on track. And the key to staying consistent is knowing our wellness why! Our why is what motivates us to keep going; to continue to make the best choices each day.

When you’ve found your motivation, and created a routine, you’ll notice the growth and positive change. Eventually you might find yourself becoming a little stale or stagnant again in that routine. This is a great time to mix things up! Stretch your goals, stack a new habit, or try a new activity.

You can always come back to the process of creating your wellness why. Perhaps the best version of you has evolved into something different; start with dreaming of who you want to become and make adjustments to your actions.

[14:05:] Remember that, what gets measured, gets moved. Continue to measure your progress throughout your journey. Make a note of your small wins, your big wins, and what you’re learning about yourself along the way. Create check-in points to review, reset, or stretch your daily habits. When you achieve a goal or keep up with consistency, reward yourself! A friend of mine bought a new sports bra after two weeks of a consistent daily movement practice. I love this idea! It was meaningful to her, AND excites her about keeping up with her workouts because of the new gear she has.

Download the FREE Habit Tracker Guide

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Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E77: What it REALLY Takes to Be an Entrepreneur

This episode is ideal for anyone who is considering becoming an entrepreneur, OR anyone who has recently become an entrepreneur. It’s also perfect for anyone who is already an entrepreneur, or if you are someone who knows an entrepreneur..

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Episode Sponsor: AWAKENING ABUNDANCE money mindset course & group coaching program.

[2:06] My Story: How I became an entrepreneur

[4:37] PASSION;PURPOSE

[5:18] SELF-MOTIVATION 

Some of the ways I stay self-motivated:#1. Celebrate Your Wins#2. Create a “Feel Good” Folder#3. Call Your Tribe

[7:45] OPEN-MINDED 

Episode #63: How to Fail & Make Happiness Your Compass

Reframe Failure:#1. Learning Opportunity#2. Skill Development#3. Falling Forward

[9:46] DETERMINED, DEDICATED  

[10:05] CLARITY, DISCIPLINE

[10:39] KNOW THEIR AUDIENCE

[10:52] PERSEVERANCE, ENDURANCE, and PATIENCE 

[11:33] ADAPTABLE, FLEXIBLE

[12:01] CREATIVES; IDEA PEOPLE, INGENUITY

[12:25] PROBLEM SOLVERS

[12:32] RESOURCEFUL

[13:05] MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION SKILLS

[13:36] COMMUNICATION SKILLS

[14:07] AUTHENTICITY; HONESTY; TRANSPARENCY

[14:30] SALES SKILLS

[14:42] GREAT LEADERS

[15:01] EXECUTE; ACTION/RIST TAKERS

[15:37] COURAGE

[16:24] INVEST IN THEMSEVLVES

[17:01] HAVE GRIT

[17:23] ABILITY TO SET HEALTHY BOUNDARIES

[18:23] EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 

BOOK: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

[19:12] ALWAYS LEARNING

[19:40] NETWORKING SKILLS

[20:27] How to support the entrepreneurs in your life 

Share their content on social media – repost the posts that speak to you, comment and like their content.

Pay (full price) for their services, products, or events – buy a ticket, be an audience member at their talk, show up for them.

Tell them they're doing a good job – everyone needs a little encouragement once in a while, send them a message.

Recommend them to your friends and family.

Write a positive review.

Connect with me! 

@vallavigne life on Instagram

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E76: Green Cleaning with Essential Oils

From Green Cleaning to "Greenwashing" here's what you need to know, PLUS access to my NEW Green Cleaning eBook, which includes 10 simple and natural recipes for your home...

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[1:20] What is Green Cleaning? 

Using methods, solutions, and ingredients that are safe to use in the environment. Keeping your home environment clean, as well as our planet healthy, and the people and animals living in our homes safe, is possible, and a priority in our home. Environmental safety also includes minimizing waste.

[2:04] My story: Growing up with Sensitive Skin 

I noticed an allergy to all artificial orange, almost everything orange, except the actual fruit. If I ate anything artificially flavoured orange, or if I used orange dyed or scented cleaners and skincare products, my skin would break out into hives.

[5:14] Choosing the Right Essential Oils 

The most important characteristic of an essential oil is its purity.

To ensure that each bottle of essential oil is pure and free from synthetic fillers or contaminates, dōTERRA created the CPTG: Certified Pure Therapeutic (or Tested) Grade protocol. It includes a meticulous examination of every batch of oil, along with third party testing to guarantee transparency. 

This is one of the reasons why I’ve partnered with dōTERRA as one of their Wellness Advocates, and also why it is the only essential oil company I trust and use in my home.

In the podcast episodes, on my website, social media platforms, and in my Green Cleaning e-book you will notice all types of recipes and information about dōTERRA’s essential oils and oil blends. 

CLICK HERE to access how you can purchase dōTERRA’s certified pure tested grade oils and products for your home. 

[6:33] Common Household Products for Green Cleaning 

Baking Soda (shop here) 

White Vinegar (shop here) 

Lemons 

Apple Cider Vinegar (shop here)

Dr. Bronner's Soap (shop here)

[7:42] Ingredients to be cautious of when buying products: 

Artificial Fragrances 

Artificial Colours, Dyes

Phosphates 

Chlorine 

[7:57] BEWARE OF: Greenwashing 

Many companies see the demand for healthier and safer cleaning options as an opportunity to market their products as “Green.” They change the colour of their packaging, and put some images of flower sea leaves on it, it makes it look like you're buying a “green cleaner” when really, you're not. 

Greenwashing gives false or misleading information about how the product is environmentally friendly. It's considered false advertising, even if the information is partite true. The claims and benefits of the product are usually very exaggerated. 

[8:41] My [Green/Natural] Solution: Essential Oils 

Important Resources 

www.SourceToYou.com 

PubMed 

Aromatic Science

[13:12] Tag me in your Green Cleaning Instagram Posts + Stories! @vallavignelife

Safe Containers to Use with Essential Oils

Glass Spray Bottles
LIKE THESE ONES are mostly recommended when it comes to DIYs and essential oil recipes. Glass is best because it is impenetrable to essential oils, making it the perfect container for keeping your DIY products fresh. It's also super easy to clean! Soap and water should do the trick.

Stainless Steel Steel
is another highly recommended material/container for essential oil recipes. It is also impenetrable to oils and a great, high quality option if you're worried about dropping or breaking glass. I love THESE BOTTLES for making essential oil gifts, or when we go camping to hold our natural bug spray.

HDPE
There is a type of plastic that is specifically used with essential oils. It's called Plastic number 2 or HDPE. It's a very high quality plastic that has stronger bond and longer chain lengths that are not broken by essential oils. These types of plastic are mainly found in things like diffusers and caps.

Plastic number 1 or PET can also be used with essential oils, but any other plastics cannot. 

If you're unsure about your container, you can test it. Add a drop of your dōTERRA CPTG essential oil to the outside of the container and ensure that there is no change to it over the course of a few minutes after the oil has been applied.

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Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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E75: Money Mindset Mini Series Part 3 of 3: Awaken

Wrapping up the final part of our Money Mindset Mini Series, AWAKEN, learn all about the power of your money habits, and how you can create healthy, happy money habits today...

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[2:25] RECAP:

Part One: Awareness & Part Two: Action

[3:22] Part Three: Awaken

[3:55] Habits 101 

Habits are small, seemingly insignificant behaviours compounded over time.
They're sneaky because more often than not you don't even realize something is a habit until you bring awareness to it!

[4:30] Example: 3 women, 3 Different Evening Routines

[6:45] Consider YOUR Current Routines 

Morning, evening, daytime, whatever routines come to mind for you
Flash forward 10 years. If you kept doing EXACTLY what you're doing right now for the next 10 years, where do you see yourself at that point?

Where do you WANT to be financially in 3, 5, and 10 years?
What do you have to start doing today to get there?

[8:25] That time I found a quarter on the ground

Pay attention to the little + powerful signs from the Universe 

Stay open + trust

[10:00] Wealth Habits

[10:11] #1. MINDSET 

Every 3-6 months write out your money story. Forgive any part of your money story that isn't serving you, and let it go! Rewrite your new money story, with your positive wealth thoughts and focus on them. 

TIP: If you've just started a new money mindset, do this practice monthly, or as often as you feel you need to. Practice this wealth habit more frequently – especially in the beginning – it can be very helpful and transformative in improving your money story. 

TIP: Have a special money mindset or abundance journal. You can write out your money mindset practice in it, and also journal all the ways that money or abundance has come to you: like when I found a quarter and when I received the emails from my pervious client + employer. 

[11:05] #2. SAVING

You can automate your savings through your bank. A savings account is always a winning money management strategy, and financial experts and advisors will always tell you to be saving. 

TIP: Know what you're saving for. Having an intention for your money is very important. You want to know what you're saving for, and make sure it's something meaningful to you. 

TIP: If saving is tough for you, keep coming back to WHY you're saving/what you're saving for. Visit your savings account and watch your money grow! It will help you get more excited about what you're saving for. It's like having a date with your money.

[11:45] #3. GRATITUDE 

Write out 3-5 things you're grateful for each day. Keep this running gratitude list in your abundance journal where you can read it often. Circulating, investing, and generating your money should be celebrated! Thank money for allowing you to afford all the things you have in your life. Look around you, abundance is everywhere! 

TIP: You don't have to just write about money in your gratitude journal. Write about everything and anything you're grateful for, and be specific. Why are you grateful for this person/place/thing/experience? 

TIP: Gratitude is a money magnifier! Being grateful attracts more of what you're grateful for; this helps magnify everything you love in your life! Because remember, what you focus on e x p a n d s !

[12:43] Your “om-work” for today: 

First: Sign up at valerielavignelife.com/webinar for my FREE Master Class: Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$ so you can go deeper into awakening abundance in your life and learn the 3 Keys to Manifesting More Money!

Then: Re-listen to the Money Mindset Mini Series and complete all the practices and methods I've shared in each episode.

Money Mindset Mini Series 

Episode #73 Part One: Awareness 

Episode #74 Part Two: Action

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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BONUS: Elevate Your Money Story and Overcome Your Blocks with Vanessa Bowen of Mint Worthy

Going deep into roots of money beliefs and blocks. Uncovering them and planting seeds of new truth. Catch it all on this very special bonus episode of the Women's Empowerment Podcast...

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[00:42] Introducing the wonderful Vanessa of Mint Worthy 

• Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) & Neurolinguistic Programming Practitioner (NLP) and founder of Mint Worthy, a personal finance coaching platform that helps women shift their relationship with money and take control of their finances

• After a decade in corporate finance and public accounting working with international businesses in Canada and the US, Vanessa decided to pursue her passion for personal finance, shifting her focus on empowering women to live life on their own financial terms

• Vanessa equips women with new ways of managing and controlling their finances and teaches strategies to truly reach their financial goals. She helps women uncover their money blocks and release the deep rooted subconscious beliefs that create our habits, decisions, and behaviours around money. Vanessa coaches women on how to break through these mindset barriers to discover life-long financial freedom

[2:45] Vanessa tells us a little more about her story… 

Vanessa's story with money started like a lot of other peoples. She grew up with very little information about money management and finances. 

She then became an accountant and didn't know what to do with her paycheque. She did what she knew, and spent the money! This brought her into debt, until she met her mentor who talked to her about budgeting and money management. 

Vanessa's financial passion grew as she started to grow her knowledge and her side passion project/hobby. She helped her circle of friends with their money journey. 

Eventually the passion project grew so big in her heart that she took the leap and left her corporate job to transition to her full time coaching business: Mint Worthy.

PART ONE: Girl, Get Over Your Money Blocks

[6:08] Women & Money.

Why is it that women don't talk about money? What are some benefits of having money conversations with our girlfriends? How can we encourage women to start having more conversations around money? 

Women hold a lot of shame and guilt because no one ever taught women about money, and to be honest we're conditioned to believe that money is a man's world. We believe that men are the ones who deal with money and who can take care of money.

As women we limit ourselves, like saying, I'm not good at math, so I'm not good with money but all you need to know about math when it comes to money is adding a subtracting, and that's what we have a calculator for! 

I think the reason why we don't talk about money is because of these limiting beliefs that we are conditioned with or that we put on ourselves. And there is so much release of guilt and shame when we have these conversations, and I think this is the perfect place to start. Having these conversations with your girlfriends. 

The minute you start talking about money, you realize you're not alone. You're girlfriend likely has the exact same issues. It's a beautiful opportunity for us to learn and grow. And it's platforms like this that provides that opportunity to break through those blocks.

[8:07] What are money blocks and where do these money blocks come from? 

All of our money blocks are basically those deep limiting beliefs that we hold and they impact our habits, our actions, and our decisions around money. 

These subconscious beliefs, whether they're true or not, once they're in our subconscious mind, we take them in as truth. Most of our deepest blocks are actually from our childhood.

When you were born, did you have any thoughts or judgements about money? No, it was a clean slate. As we grew older we became conditioned. So a lot of our deepest blocks are actually from our childhood. Mostly because we were in our subconscious state; from 0-7 or 8, your brain hasn't fully developed so our brain is in a subconscious state.

If you see your parents fight about money you will start to believe: money ruins relationships, money causes fights. Or when we were little girls we watched all of the princess movies, and saw Prince Charming come to the rescue, so as adults we believe that we need a partner to feel secure.

Then of course, we get older, and we take on societal blocks: you have to work hard to make money; everything is about money. So now we become conditioned by society, and on top of that we create our own blocks as women. We hold a lot of blocks around worth: I'm not good enough, I'm not enough, I need to compare myself to others. Something as small as that keeps us stuck, it holds us back, we don't go after our dreams, we don't advance in our business or our careers. And that blocks us from the money that we desire.

Unfortunately, we're all walking around with blocks that have impacted us from different areas and phases of our life. And that's why it's so important to Do The Work, because we don't always know what we're walking around with, unless we go deep.

[10:51] Let's look at a few examples of common limiting mindset beliefs around money, how can we release these abundance blocks?

You have to work hard to make money; hard work equals success
We need a partner to be secure 
Money can't possibly flow easily 

The beauty of the subconscious: One of the easiest ways to reprogram it is through faith and repetition. So the more you repeat the limiting beliefs, the more they become your truth. 

But of course you can reprogram that truth. And one of the easiest ways to do that is to investigate the block and determine whether it's true or not. What's happening for most of us is that we're just walking around with false truths and we've created them to be our truths. 

So one of the easy ways is to investigate the block, what was the first thing you heard or experience that created the block? Investigating that makes you realize, that I was born as a clean slate when it come to money, so this is conditioned within me, from what point in time or what area of my life?

Once you investigate it, you can then create your own new truth. This is where it sometimes can be difficult for people because if your money block is deeply rooted, you may only see it as a truth. But one of the easiest ways to shift that is you just find evidence. You can find evidence in your life, and if you can in your life, it makes it easier to reprogram in your subconscious. But if you can't find it in your life, think of someone you know who has this truth.

The more you can fill your subconscious mind with this evidence to proves that limiting belief is not true, the new truth becomes true. You're able to create this new truth and speak: money flows to me easily and frequently. I attract all the money that I dire. And then you start to reprogram  this new truth into your subconscious. It's work, but it works.

[14:06] On this show, I like to offer really tangible and practical techniques and takeaways. What are some money mindset methods we can start today? 

Affirmations are very powerful BUT you have to make sure you're using them the right way. An affirmation is not just like, let me throw out a pretty phrase every day, and say it ever day and close my eyes. That's not affirmations. You have to be intentional with your affirmations and you have to work your affirmations. 

The purpose of affirmations is to reprogram your subconscious through faith and repetition. You need to repeat it and have faith in what you're affirming for your life. 

First let's talk about the repetition: In order to talk to your subconscious repeatedly, you have to talk to it in a way that it understands. So when you're actually creating your affirmations, you have to create them in a way you subconscious understands, not in a way that your conscious mind understands. 

Important things you have to make sure your affirmations have: 

#1. PRESENT & POSTIVIE 
They have to be in the present tense (I am, I have)
Don't use any negatives (I don't want debt) 
You affirmation has to be positive (I live with expectation)

#2. FAITH & BELIEF: 
You have to believe what you're saying; you have to almost trick your subconscious you believe that you have it.

Other ways to activate money mindset today…

VISUALIZATION EXERCISES: 
Your subconscious doesn't know what is real and what isn't. Spend some time every day to visualize your future

SAMPLE YOUR DREAMS: 
Test drive your dream car, and while you're doing that ground into the emotions and scenes of the experience. Bring this into your every day life by bringing it into when you drive your current car.

[19:46] When I mentioned to the listeners that you were coming on the show, I asked them about what questions they had for you, and the word “DEBT” came up a lot: 

What advice do you have for shifting the feelings and thoughts of frustration, guilt, and shame some people have about their debt? 

We all have or have had these feelings, you have to shift your perspective. If you're spending money and in consumer debt, then you need to address the money blocks of the emotional spending. Obviously the shopping is somehow fulfilling an emotional void for you. Work on that. 

But, for some of us who are in debt because of investing in yourself: school, or starting your own business for example. When you're in debt for this reason, you cannot express gratitude for where you are now and express shame and doubt for how you got there.

Some one of the easiest ways to shift the energy is to write a thank you letter to debt. Express gratitude for your debt for being there for you and for supporting you and living your dreams. 

What are some action steps we can take to get out of debt? 

One of the easiest ways is to call your credit card company and ask what they can do for you. You might be able to lower your interest rate or get cash/points back.

Another way is to actually sort your debt based on the highest interest rate to the lowest interest rate. What you want to do is tackle the debt with the highest interest rate first. You want to make sure you're paying as little interest rate as possible. With the other debts, pay a little more than the minimum, and once the highest debt is paid off, snowball that payment into your next highest debt. It's the easiest way to get out of your debt fastest. 

Pay the minimums NO MATTER WHAT, so that you don't negatively impact your credit score.

PART TWO: Internal Money Journey

Switching our money mindset and connecting to money in a new way starts with us, and our internal money journey.

[25:52] What is the difference between internal and external sources of money and abundance?

Internal is basically what we can control, and external is what we can't control. 

External: Job, business, cash coming in

Internal: Where your relationship with money comes into play; how you want to relate and energetically connect to money. Think about how you talk about money.

[27:50] On your blog and Instagram you talk a lot about manifesting and vibrational frequency. This is a very popular topic on the podcast as well! What is one impactful way we can become a vibrational match with abundance? 

As women, the main thing that blocks them from attracting and manifesting is their level of deservingness and worthiness. When you go really deep into your blocks is that we don't feel deserving of our desire; for many different reasons. We're basically limiting our own level of worth. The easiest way to shift that vibration is you have to feel deserving. 

You have to feel like you deserve your desires, and when you feel deserving of them, that's when you're vibrating at the same level as them. You have to be in an energetic alignment, and that means you have to believe in your heart that you deserve it.

[30:58] How can we tune into our internal journey of accepting, attracting, and receiving? 

I always look at money that flows to me as a gift from the Universe. It doesn't matter if a friend is buying me coffee, or my employer is giving me a bonus. When you flip your perspective and realize that everything that comes to you is a gift from the Universe, meant for you, positioned just for you, you always have to say “YES!” Because in essence, by saying “no” you're really rejecting the Universe and block future abundance. 

Start small. Any time someone says they'll buy you a coffee, you say yes. When someone compliments you, say thank you!

[35:10] Where we can find Vanessa: 

Website: www.mintworthy.co

Instagram: @mintworthyco

[35:34] How we can support Vanessa's business: 

I feel for me, the vision that I have and see is empowering women to stand up when it comes to their finances. Be engaged, ask the questions. DM or email me. Don't hide, don't feel ashamed. Don't feel like you're the only one. I think the more we see women rise, the more we see women be bold with their finances, the more we can see this financially empowered movement. 

PART THREE: Rapid Fire!

[36:30] #1 What are you currently reading? OR Favourite book? 

The Illusion of Money by Kyle Cease

[37:27] #2 What do you love most about being a woman? 

I love how strong and powerful we are. Although we are emotional creatures, we are so strong and powerful. We can handle anything. And I think it's our strength even in the midst of struggle that makes us so beautiful. 

[37:46] #3 What does “empowerment” mean to you? 

For me it means, living beyond your limitations and your comfort zone. Fearlessly going after your dreams and not stopping with anything.

[38:05] #4 What are you currently working toward? 

On the mindset area, what I'm currently working toward, and it comes from the book I'm currently reading, is literally releasing the need for money. Really releasing that need, and that's something I've committed to as a personal journey. Releasing beyond the blocks and releasing the mental and emotional need for money.

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!

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