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2. From Prada Corporate to Breathwork Facilitator with Erin Telford
122 Plays1 year ago
Overview:
In this episode, we chat with Erin Telford about her journey from working a corporate 9-5 job in to owning her own business offering Acupuncture, Reiki, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Breathwork.
Currently, Erin is a Breathwork facilitator and teacher trainer, conscious business mentor, and intuitive guide.
For our listeners, Erin is offering a free 10-minute Breathwork experience here.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Passion Skill Money'
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, hey, my name is Parker Middeltenberg, your host of Passion Skill Money, where we explore how you can blend passion with profit. Each episode features an inspiring story, highlighting unique journeys of crafting lifestyles and careers that are not only fulfilling, but also financially rewarding. All right, let's dive in.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hey, welcome back to the podcast where we explore the intersection of our passions, skills, and money.
Guest Introduction: Erin Telford
00:00:24
Speaker
Today, I am joined by Erin Telford, a breathwork facilitator and breathwork teacher trainer, business mentor, and an intuitive guide. Erin, thank you so much for joining. Thank you so much for having me, Parker.
00:00:34
Speaker
Yeah,
Erin's Upbringing and Meditative Community
00:00:35
Speaker
glad to have you. So before we get into your story of going from corporate America to the wellness industry, I'd love to get a quick intro into your cultural background and upbringing for those that are. Yeah, I was actually born in Toronto, Canada, which a lot of people are surprised to hear. I only live there until I was four years old. My dad is Canadian. My mom's American.
00:00:56
Speaker
And then so we moved to Washington state when I was four. So grew up there in Washington state. And my parents were both actually part of, uh, I don't know if it's still around. It was called the divine light mission church, um, or may not have a church on the end of it. It might just have been divine light mission, but it was a meditative hippie community, basically. Okay.
00:01:19
Speaker
They had a guru, guru Maharaji, not the Beatles Maharaji. They're a different Maharaji. And so they were, my mom's a transcendental meditator. My dad was as well. My mom has probably meditated every single day of her life since she was in her mantra. My dad dropped it, but we grew up in a, I grew up in a very, very open household, a very,
00:01:46
Speaker
Yeah, we were, I mean, my mom was raised Catholic, my dad was raised something. I think they went to church on Sundays in a very chilled out way. But my childhood was very rich in, I guess we would call it alternative medicine now. But you know, we shopped at the food co-op and we ate all organic and
00:02:09
Speaker
You know, we could watch 30 minutes of TV a day and that was it. We had to just select and advance the show that was most meaningful and important to us. And it was a pretty free range childhood.
00:02:23
Speaker
and respect. So I feel very, I feel very thankful for that. Like my parents were, you know, I went to the doctor and all those things, but we also went to crystal healing and we had a little bit more of a, uh, yeah, there was, um, a, a vaster landscape, I think because of my parents, they both grew up very traditionally and then kind of went, went their own way. And so we had a nice blend of,
00:02:51
Speaker
of traditional values combined with other things as well. And so I got to be very much who I was without a lot of restriction. Yeah, that's so beautiful. I love that. So I'm curious then, going from that very holistic background and upbringing to product corporate.
Career Shift from Fashion due to Burnout
00:03:12
Speaker
Let's just do that. I would love to hear the journey from there to there first.
00:03:16
Speaker
You know, I think I got a little bit sucked into the matrix on, you know, because, you know, I went from this, you know, wild upbringing where I had a lot of freedom and I had a lot of a lot of ability to think for myself and do what felt right to me. I got started very early with a lot of psychedelic exploration as a
00:03:39
Speaker
as a teenager and then early 20s and did a lot of Psychonautic doors of perception opening journeys and adventures. And then I think that there was at some point I was kind of like, well, now it's time for you to have a career. Now it's time to be a grown up in some respects. And I had
00:04:04
Speaker
a lot of fun as a person in my 20s. But when I graduated from university, I still had some wild years after that, a lot of running around. I still desire and cherish freedom. But I felt like I needed to invest. I felt like I needed to get serious. And so my getting serious looked like,
00:04:27
Speaker
moving to New York and pursuing what I thought at the time was my dream, which was to work in fashion. And I had been working in fashion in different ways. Retail is a young woman and then doing some buying for a boutique and then
00:04:45
Speaker
work for Louis Vuitton when I was in San Francisco. And so I thought I would just go and live my dream of working in fashion in New York City. And it happened, you know, I achieved that. I had a lot of friends that worked more in like straight bar fashion, more, you know, some of the newer fun brands that were coming out at that point in time in the early 2000s.
00:05:09
Speaker
And I think I kind of wanted to go to the top, like I already had a little bit of that experience with Louis Vuitton and I wanted to see what else was out there. And I was very, very lucky, I guess, to get a good job right off the bat and then and then protocol like a year later. And so I went from one great job to what I thought was the next great job. And, you know, very quickly, I would say within a year, I really realized that
00:05:39
Speaker
It was not as great as I thought it was. In fact, it wasn't really that great at all. I was starting to see the ladder that I could climb and that I didn't like what was at the top. The top was not actually a destination I wanted to get to.
00:06:00
Speaker
And that was really jarring and a big wake-up call for me because I thought this was the direction. I thought it was like, no, I'm an adult. I'm going to be serious. I'm going to do this thing. And I did it. Look at me. I did it. You know, I did it. I got to this like this pinnacle moment, you know, that a lot of people
00:06:23
Speaker
had admiration for like, oh wow, it was like one of those little notches in the belt as far as career. And it really hurt my soul ultimately. And it was, as much as I still love clothes, I still like shiny things. I still have beautiful things. I'll never stop enjoying gorgeous design and beauty, but
00:06:49
Speaker
It just began to dawn on me that this wasn't the right direction and it was so much the wrong direction that I started to get sick. Nothing major. It wasn't like I had an explosion of chronic disease or anything diagnostic, but it was like I couldn't sleep and I was tired all the time and I was just run down. I was just burnt out.
00:07:13
Speaker
and exhausted and that kind of like spark of light in my eyes had gone out. And I was just miserable. And I was dragging myself to work all the time or every day. And then I had a panic attack, which I've only had a panic attack one time in my life, thankfully. But once I understood what panic attacks are about and where they come from, I was like, this is ridiculous.
00:07:37
Speaker
This is not actually a way to live. This is not how I want to live my life and spend the time. But I didn't know any other way. I didn't know what else to do because I thought that's what I wanted to do. And so I didn't have another choice. And so that was a place in my life where I really started to.
00:07:56
Speaker
like pray and ask for help and ask for signs and ask for guidance. And just, I prayed every day and just asked, you know, gods by all the names to help me and to give me something. Like I'll do, I'll do what I need to do, but please give me a direction because I'm tanking. I'm tanked, you know?
00:08:21
Speaker
This is it. I cannot do this anymore, but I don't know anything else to do that's going to make me feel alive and inspired. I finally got my sign one day and I took a magazine home from the PR department.
00:08:43
Speaker
Well, I'm not going to say it was on the cover because I don't want to diss this person. But I didn't want to take this magazine because I didn't care who was on the cover. It wasn't interesting. I was like, this is the only one I haven't read yet. Damn it. I don't want to read this one. But I took it home
Discovering Acupuncture and Career Pivot
00:09:00
Speaker
on the subway and I was reading it and I found this article called Death by Stress in the magazine. I was like, oh, that sounds interesting.
00:09:09
Speaker
It was a New York girl, just like me, who was dying on the job. It was so, just like, again, like, tamped out, burnt out, tuckered out, tired. Just like, the heart light was so small.
00:09:27
Speaker
And she just, her life force was so diminished and I was like, that is me. In the magazine, in the story, she went to an acupuncturist and I was like, huh. And I Googled the school and looked it up and I sent away for a catalog. I don't think they had an online catalog at that point in time. It was like 2005 or something. And I got it in the mail and I just, as I was like flipping through it and reading it, I had never been so excited.
00:09:57
Speaker
about anything I was reading about this like Daoist traditions and you know ancient problems for
00:10:05
Speaker
or ancient solutions for modern problems. Something in me just was like ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. This is it. This is it. I love this. I want to know more. And I got all my transcripts in under the gun, applied, did the interview, and I got accepted. I'd never had acupuncture before. I didn't care. I was just like, this is it. It's on. Wow.
00:10:30
Speaker
And so that was the transition into like the first step of doing healing work. Wow. That's amazing. I mean, there's so many points there that I'm like, I could touch on. The first point I want to say is that I totally feel what you felt. And so it's part of the reason for creating this podcast because I want to explore, you know, I feel like I have a gift for communication and with my voice and my mind and
00:10:58
Speaker
I feel like also sharing stories of people like you and others who are making that transition or have made it or even just are making money doing the things that they really like. And it's not just work is called work for a reason. Like I hate that mantra or that horrible. And so I want to expand people's minds to show like you can pursue things and that you're passionate at and skilled at and make money. And so I'd love to continue on this and say,
00:11:28
Speaker
Once you made that jump, like where was the school? How was, did you have savings? Like I'm trying to think. Yeah. And I really, I want to honor like the, um, the impulse to create this podcast and how it's, how it's, um, supporting and serving your own journey and like expanding your own gifts, because I think, you know,
00:11:49
Speaker
Everybody's got medicine. Everybody's got a talent. Everyone's got, everyone has multiple gifts. And I think that the idea that we have to be miserable is a very old story that's getting older by the minute. And it doesn't, oh, there's so much to say on this one because you know, we don't always,
00:12:10
Speaker
There are trade-offs, right? And it depends on what you're willing to trade and the quality of life that you desire versus maybe you do have to downsize a little bit temporarily. Maybe it's not permanent, but to improve quality of life gives us so, so much.
00:12:33
Speaker
And if you have a family and you're supporting your family, like your quality of life as a father is so exponential. I don't know if you're a father. Not yet. But okay. All right. Not yet. But like. That's embryos. Yay, embryos. Yes. A happy dad. Yeah. Gold. And a happy husband. Gold. Exactly. Yeah. It's immeasurable. Right. It's immeasurable. That is something that you cannot quantify.
00:13:03
Speaker
So my journey, and I'll just say a little bit about student loans and stuff. My school was in New York. So I got to stay there and do that. I did take out student loans and they are currently
00:13:17
Speaker
in the six figures, which is not stressful to me. It is not stressful to me. I don't have guilt about that. I don't have shame about having that debt. Student loan debt to me is not, I mean, I have gotten into my own bad moves with credit card debt and have had to heal through that and like heal my money wounds. Student loan debt to me is a completely different animal. Yeah, I agree.
00:13:46
Speaker
I'm not worried about that. That's not a result of investing in myself. That's not a result of being like, I need a new handbag.
00:13:56
Speaker
It's different, it's different. So I did have to take out money. And then I did, I did bartend and wait tables during school for a couple of years. And that was helpful as well. But let's see. Yeah, well, I'm sorry, what was the question again? Yeah, just trying to understand the money piece. But that was exactly what I was looking for is, you know, because a lot of people don't talk about that. They show the end result. And and I want to double click on that and be like, you
Building an Acupuncture Practice and Personal Growth
00:14:21
Speaker
know, that's what I love about what I saw on your website, too, is really,
00:14:25
Speaker
clicking in and being unashamed of like, yes, we are healers. Yes, we are in the wellness industry. But that doesn't mean we're a monk in the Himalayas. You know, we do have desires, like you said, like, I like shiny things, though, and that I'm not going to feel bad about it. And so I think bringing those pieces in is so important. So I appreciate you sharing that. I'm curious, then so walk me through, you did acupuncture and Chinese medicine. I want to hear that before we get to breath work, because I want to see that evolution.
00:14:56
Speaker
Yes. So I'll just say, just add a little bit more and add myself on money so people could get the story. I graduated in 2010 and I think there was probably about 350 licensed acupuncturists in Manhattan at that point in time. So plenty of room. I can't remember how many people are in Manhattan, but 10 million, something like that. There's a lot.
00:15:19
Speaker
plenty of money to go around, plenty of patience to go around for everybody. And so I did start my business and I had a very big loss in my family a couple of years before I graduated, which was pretty incapacitating. So I decided to stop working because I was just going to work and just crying in the corner, basically. And I just said, I need to, for me to close out this last year, last like year and a half,
00:15:47
Speaker
I need all my energy and a lot of it is going to grieving and a lot of it is going to healing and recovery. So I'm just going to take out another loan so that I can hold myself up so I can really resource myself to get to the end. So got to the end and then
00:16:07
Speaker
I was my kind of personality. This is not for everybody, but I'm more of a no plan B personality. So I could have gone back to bartending, I could have gone back to waiting tables, but I didn't want to be a bartender who was also an acupuncturist. I wanted to just be an acupuncturist and I knew that if I put 100% of my energy towards building my business, it would build faster.
00:16:35
Speaker
I also operate really well out of fear. My primary nervous system response is fight. So I don't shut down and I don't collapse, I go hard.
00:16:48
Speaker
which works really well for me. It's not sustainable, but it's really good for the short term. So I went hard. I went hard. I scoured the internet. I didn't have any money for a coach or anyone. I didn't have any money for a program or anything.
00:17:05
Speaker
you know, money manifestation and this and just like found everything. How do you market? What's a newsletter? I don't know. And what do I, how do I make a website? So I got, I got really resourced and just, just learned and just taught, taught myself a bunch of stuff. But along the way, going from one client to a packed, you know, a packed weekly schedule, um, I racked up another $40,000 in debt.
00:17:34
Speaker
And that was in credit card debt. So that was pretty gnarly. But that was the, that was the end point of me being a little reckless is a strong word, but a little reckless was suspended. There was a lot of treats in there. There was a lot of, you deserve it, you know?
00:17:55
Speaker
And I did, but I didn't. I didn't need everything that I bought. They were temporary band-aids on a very stressed out woman. So I eventually had to go into, what is it called, where they consolidate your money and you pay, it's like debt consolidation. It was so powerful for me because I had to live within my means.
00:18:22
Speaker
I hadn't done that for a while. I'd always had these cards like off to the side and so living within my means was like very Challenging because I had to say no a lot a lot. Yeah But I did pay it all back within I think a few years and then I broke like my first six
00:18:41
Speaker
Six figures along the way and then I was off and running so it just it Took time and diligence and sacrifice and then it just blew up. Yeah, and it was and then I was like That's such a great story and I appreciate you sharing real figures because I think that really makes it real for people that are listening that they can relate to that and
00:19:03
Speaker
So thanks for being vulnerable in that way. Of course. Yeah. I think the real story is important because I don't know, you can gloss it over and someone's like, but how do I do that? I'm like, well, I don't recommend getting into 40 grand of credit card debt, but it was a way, it was an additional investment that could have been like angel investor money, that could have been parental money.
00:19:24
Speaker
It was credit card money, but it was still served a purpose and also got me really right with my spending in my life. Wow.
00:19:36
Speaker
I've been a TBM member since 2019 because their program continues to give me new and strategic frameworks to help me on blocks of conscious limiting beliefs, find people to expand my idea of what's possible, and encourage me to take aligned action. So for my listeners out there who are interested in the TBM membership, I'm excited to offer a 15% off discount with the code Parker at checkout. And if you're still not sure, feel free to check out my interviews with them, which are linked in the show notes below.
00:20:04
Speaker
And so I'm thinking then, you know, I see you study Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Reiki.
Transformational Breathwork Experience
00:20:12
Speaker
Tell me about, you know, you're following your passions and this is like, you know, these are the things that you're interested in. And then tell me about breathwork. I love this story that I read about Nicaragua. So can you show me how your passions developed and kept snowballing?
00:20:29
Speaker
Yeah, so it's interesting because when I finally paid off that debt, I could afford to go on a vacation. And so my first vacation that I got to take, I mean, it's my kind of vacation, my healing vacation, the yoga return, right? But I was like, okay, great. Now that I have this debt paid off, I can start investing in myself.
00:20:50
Speaker
And I can start in my own personal healing and well-being. And so I went to Nicaragua with this incredible couple of incredible teachers. One had been a long time yoga teacher of mine. And yeah, it was it was before dinner. And we were
00:21:09
Speaker
told that we were going to do some breath work. And I had no idea what breath work was. I just thought it was the normal kind that you do in yoga classes, just the alternate nostril breathing and breath of fire and all that stuff. And we laid down to do this breath work. And all of a sudden, I felt like I was going to cry. And I'm hearing other people around me making sounds. And I think some people are crying. And I opened my eyes and I looked around.
00:21:35
Speaker
I was really confused. I was very confused. I was like, I don't understand why I'm feeling so emotional. I'm just breathing. And then I, then I, you know, I did the temperature check. Okay. Everyone else is feeling like this too. Great. I'm going to keep doing it. And then it, you know, we've been in a breathwork session before a breathwork group, it starts rocking and rolling and the energy's moving. People are screaming and yelling and sobbing and making a lot of sounds.
00:22:02
Speaker
And I was like I was in the middle to like particularly vocal people and one of them one of them her her mom had just died like within the last I think like six months or so and the man on the other side of me his grandmother who had raised him and
00:22:19
Speaker
she had died with it was like within six months to a year and they were Excavating they were emotionally excavating and like that that how they were letting go of what was inside them I Think I'd been looking for that my entire life. Yeah, I think I've been I've been wanting so badly how to get it out How do I get it out? I have all this pain. How do I get it out? I don't know, you know
00:22:50
Speaker
I drink wine. I cry on the couch. I talk to my friends. I have breakdowns. I go through episodes of depression, but nothing really caught. Nothing really felt big enough to unburden the burden.
00:23:05
Speaker
And so just hearing these two people just going for it and being so in their body and so comfortable and just like letting it all hang out. I just thought I can do that too. I get to do that too.
00:23:22
Speaker
And so I just let it open up. And I mean, I was never tight with my emotions at all. I just didn't, I never had the permission for them to be that big and that amplified and that magnified. So all of those screams and all of those cries just like opened my heart up in a way that I'd never experienced before. Never.
00:23:45
Speaker
Never, ever, ever in my life, it was like I loved myself, I loved everybody in the room, and I loved the whole world.
00:23:54
Speaker
I wanted to hold hands. I wanted to hug. I just felt, I felt, um, I, I, you know, I, there was a time in my twenties when I went to a lot of raves and I did, you know, a lot of ecstasy. It was that, but like times 10, it was through the roof, the love was through the roof. And it was, it just, it blew my mind. It blew my mind that I could feel like that. And it blew my mind that I could move from completely no concept of what this is like.
00:24:24
Speaker
to being a little uncertain and kind of curious, to giving myself full permission to take the ride and to feel so grief-stricken and just rageful and then get to the other side where I just felt this like sense of peace and contentment and a map of love. I was like, that happened in like 45 minutes? Now dinner? Okay. Yeah. Oh my God.
00:24:50
Speaker
Yes, that's what we're doing tonight. That's amazing. It knocked me over. It really did. And I immediately, you know, before dinner, ran back to the room, looked up the guy, my teacher, David Elliott, booked the next thing that I could with him. And it's been, yeah, it's been a little over 10 years since I started working with him and started working with breath work.
00:25:14
Speaker
I'm a curious person. You know, I didn't know that that's what life was going to present to me, but that's what life put in front of me. And so I, I like to follow my nose and I wanted, I wanted more people to have that experience.
00:25:31
Speaker
and to find a way to exercise the demons and the hardship and the pain from their bodies. That's amazing. I've personally never taken a breath word class before, so it's kind of funny that I'm not saying that. Thank you. But I resonate with the words you're using because there's a certain amount of bravery it takes to be big, like you said, with your emotions and let it come out.
00:26:00
Speaker
And it reminds me of this time, my husband and I, Bryce, he and I went to Mexico and we had stopped on the side of the road with a tour guide and he was like, you know, oh, you need to try these really special tacos. And they were sheep's head tacos and we weren't used to it. And we ultimately got like really sick from, yeah. And it was, I don't know if it was undercooked or what, but when I put it in my mouth, I knew something was wrong. And he and I both felt sick immediately.
00:26:29
Speaker
And he's like, I'm just going to throw up and let it come out. But for me, I was like, I'm scared to throw up. I don't like that feeling of just it coming over me and my body just taking over. But he got over it within like an hour of throwing up. Like he was fine. But me, me keeping it inside of myself and not being brave to just throw up.
00:26:54
Speaker
I was sick for like a week. And even when I got there for almost a second. So it makes me think about grief and suffering and all the things that you go through that need to be expressed. Like, it seems very similar in that
00:27:07
Speaker
there's a certain amount of bravery that you're coaching people through to know it's better if it comes out. And if it just sits there and festers, it gets bigger and worse. And so, I don't know, when you were saying that, it just made me think about that memory. And so it's really cool. So I'm excited to explore breathwork after this.
00:27:26
Speaker
I love that memory and I love that you gave everyone such a tangible, clear example because you can take that metaphorically and think about anything. It can be suppressed rage, it can be suppressed grief, it can be just
00:27:46
Speaker
a lifetime of feeling a lot of stuff that's overwhelming and you have to talk it somewhere because there's, you don't know a way to, to change it or move it, or you don't have someone that you trust to talk to about it or like a safe guide. And so like the, the metaphor of it comes in and I let it go right out. Like I'm just get it out. Let's move this versus like the more arduous, like if
00:28:17
Speaker
Yeah. If you're not willing to take this, that's not fair to say, not willing. If there's less, if there's more perceived safety and holding onto it and letting it be kind of like tamp down so it doesn't feel as intense, then it's going to stay with you longer.
00:28:37
Speaker
and impact you for a longer amount of time. So yeah, that's a I love that true story metaphorical example. So relatable. Yeah, thank you. I am. I'm curious then to go into breathwork.
Integrating Breathwork into Practice
00:28:54
Speaker
And so was there like an identity shift of you like saying
00:28:58
Speaker
I'm an herbalist. I'm like a Reiki master. I'm in Chinese medicine too. Was there like an ego dance that you had to do when you started adding or going solo just in breath work? I'm curious about that. You know, it was, I feel like it was really easy. I think it was really easy. Like I'm trying to recall, I mean, it was a long time ago. I mean, I would say probably very minimal. Very minimal because there was a certain, you know,
00:29:27
Speaker
It's funny, a student of mine was just telling me that she's going back to school the other day and she wanted me to write her a reference letter. She's going to get her master's in psychology and she was saying there's something my ego likes about having a master's degree.
00:29:43
Speaker
I was like I get it Michael. It's having a master's degree as well. Like that's a it's a nice thing to say Oh, I'm higher, you know higher education But um, I don't think I ever sat too profoundly on that I don't think it really It didn't it didn't take up a lot of space and like the the the grand identity of who I am I think it was nice to it was nice to enter into the world of healing in a very
00:30:12
Speaker
societally legitimized way. I think that was an easeful path being like, I have a license. I am licensed by the state. I have a master's degree in this. Yes, I take your insurance. There's a degree of legitimacy that is
00:30:31
Speaker
that was less, I don't use this word, but like woo woo. Like there was less of, it had more of a format. It's, you know, thousands of years old. So there was more of a, you know, everybody at this point in life has someone in their life or they've experienced acupuncture. So it wasn't, it's not far out.
00:30:51
Speaker
You know, it's not some wacky if they're a killing method. It's like yeah cross the field pays for it You know, it's not it's not it's not that big of a deal So I think that like that that entry point of legitimacy was good for me. That was that was like comforting but um, I didn't feel like the breath work was too out there and I think that my experience was so
00:31:15
Speaker
I was just so turned on. I was so excited and I was so bolstered by the possibility of what this work could do that I don't really think I gave it too much of a second thought. And I was still doing, you know, I was still doing acupuncture and Reiki and being an herbalist and being a breath work practitioner. So there was sort of like a slow kind of movement from there. I mean, some of my acupuncture clients, they never wanted to do breath work.
00:31:44
Speaker
but some people only wanted to do breath work. So it really depended on the person, but I had like the whole umbrella of modalities until I left knee work and left my acupuncture practice. And that was a different transition.
00:31:58
Speaker
more of a, yeah, less of an ego death and more of like a urban environment death. Like I'm no longer a city person. Now I'm like this other type of person. Yeah. That's so interesting. So let's go into that. Cause I'm thinking, um, you know, I know you focus on business mentorship as well and we'll get into that soon.
Transition to a Nomadic Lifestyle and Virtual Business
00:32:14
Speaker
Um,
00:32:16
Speaker
for people that are listening that are saying, you know, I have this established practice, maybe I am in New York or in a big city, you moved to, to paying us. So I want to hear, how did you, how did that come about? And then how did you manage the transition of your business to totally new clients? Cause I imagine they didn't maybe go with you.
00:32:36
Speaker
Right. Yes. So I'm a very optimistic person, which is very helpful sometimes. So I had this idea when I left New York, I actually spent a couple of years just traveling. I sold all my things. For the most part, I kept clothes, a couple shiny things.
00:32:54
Speaker
couple end tables, lots of clothes, but I decided to just take the show on the road and be nomadic at that point. And the pathway was, it was eased because I had already created such an abundant practice. Yeah.
00:33:13
Speaker
So I had been, by the time I left New York, I'd been full-time for seven or eight years and I was booked and busy. I had a full client schedule and then I was selling out training, selling out monthly two, three times monthly groups.
00:33:36
Speaker
I had people saying, can you come here? Like, come, can you do breath work at our yoga festival? I got asked to be at Ngoop Health in New York. I got invited to do corporate events. So I was, at that point in time, I mean, it's different now because there's so many breath work practitioners, but I was a little bit more of a well-known name in a big pond. And so I was receiving like a lot of press and I was receiving a lot of opportunities.
00:34:05
Speaker
that came from right place, right time and readiness. And so there was a little bit of a kind of why not stay where all the abundance is. Like you're right in the center of it. You're doing well. You're doing really, really well. Like this is, yeah, it was a very, very abundant experience. You know, I was like, my business was booming and there was just a lot of opportunities coming in all the time.
00:34:34
Speaker
But I could not live in New York for one more second. I really, I needed, I hit my limit and I need, sure. I really liked my, the way that my life had been leading me was more, I needed more peace. I needed more peace. And I was still very like running a business and having all these opportunities and running around and
00:34:59
Speaker
Uh, holding space for really big groups of people and starting to have a little bit more. I was starting to get tired and I don't, I, it was an echo. It was an echo about like burnt out time before. And like for me to be in integrity with myself, I am very much opposed to being like the burnout healer. It's not, it's not good for anybody. So I really needed to change my lifestyle and change my environment.
00:35:29
Speaker
And so I left and I, being that optimistic person, I thought, oh, everyone will just do it online. They'll just, everyone will just transition to breath work and everyone will just do Zoom sessions with me and it'll be great. And like for the first month or so, sure, it was, and then it wasn't. It was not like, you know, not everyone wanted to do breath work and not everyone wanted to do Zoom. This is like,
00:35:55
Speaker
pre-2020, some people had never even heard of Zoom at that point in time. And I'm like, yeah, we'll do it virtually. It'll be great. So I was recognizing that this very abundant, packed client schedule got really wound down.
00:36:13
Speaker
And so I needed to, I needed to get creative and I needed to start to do some different things. And so I, that was like my first kind of foray into creating workshops and doing my course and, you know, revamping my business to be a on the road virtual nomadic kind of structure where I had enough, I had enough, I was known enough that I could, you know, be like, all right, Portland, I'm going to be in Portland.
00:36:41
Speaker
who's in Portland, like, you know, sell things out in different cities and travel around and do things in different places. But it, it was a little bit of, um, yeah, a little bit of a, oh shit, I couldn't just take it all with me. I had to make some changes and some shifts and create some new offerings and do some new things. And that was right around the time when I started to do like my very first like business workshops because
00:37:11
Speaker
people were like, well, how did you get there? And also how'd you get here? How do you get to go hiking in Sedona every day and actually pay your rent? How is that all worked out?
Passion in Wellness Entrepreneurship
00:37:24
Speaker
And so I was just kind of creating some little spiritual business 101 workshops and starting to support people through
00:37:32
Speaker
Right. Trying to find their own way and figuring out how to make it all work. I love that. That's great. And it seems like you're doing really well at that too, because there was one quote that really stuck out to me about this on your website where they said, Aaron gave me the reassurance that I needed that my healing business could actually be a job. And I'm like, wow, like, amazing. And so I think that's an exciting, like, evolution of your offering being that
00:38:00
Speaker
storyteller, encourager, like someone to see the whole vision because you've been there. Really, really awesome. And so what would you say, and to kind of switch gears into that business mentor role that you're, you're offering? What do you think established practitioners in the wellness space typically struggle with? Is it like,
00:38:22
Speaker
positioning their passion and skill to make more money? Or is it, do they feel guilty about making money at all? Or like, I don't really know. So I'm curious to know with your niche, because I love you, you're like, I don't, this is who I work with, this is who I don't work with. And so you do work with, what do they look like? What are they typically struggle with? So I think for, I'll say a couple things. For like brand new practitioners, for the people that are just getting started and they like they have a dream.
00:38:50
Speaker
but they don't know where to begin. And they also don't really know how much work effort and consistency it takes. I mean, I think that's the thing. There's kind of this stereotype about people who do healing work that they're a little, they're more like creative and they're artists and they're, you know, they're good at like, you know, the magical and the etheric and healing, but they can't do like scheduling or quick books and
00:39:18
Speaker
You have to be good at everything. I mean, that's a broad statement. I give people, I think, okay, this is what I think the hardest thing is that they struggle with, is that your belief in yourself has to be so, and your want, need and desire to create what you want to create has to be
00:39:38
Speaker
huge. It has to be the burning fire in your heart because you are going to be pouring a lot of energy and a lot of creativity into something that feels like a bucket with a hole in it for a while.
00:39:54
Speaker
and it's discouraging and it makes you doubt yourself and it brings up all your insecurities and it makes you think maybe I'll never make it. What's the magic bullet? What's the thing? What don't I know? What don't I have? And like the foundational pieces of business building are relatively simple.
00:40:14
Speaker
It's not complicated, but it's the part of you that has to keep the fire burning long enough until you hit that sweet spot. And I think people get discouraged and they see a lot of flash. There's a lot of flash out there.
00:40:30
Speaker
in the coaching world and in the wellness industry where it just seems like if you just spend this money and buy this one thing, then you're going to be like $10,000 a month in like five seconds. And that may happen. That can happen, you know, because if you've got
00:40:48
Speaker
If you're doing great work and you're creative and you're writing from your heart and sharing from your heart and creating from your soul and your spirit and what really means something to you and matters to you and you care enough about it to stay with it and keep the fire burning until
00:41:08
Speaker
other fires come in and you catch fire and your fire gets bigger, then you're going to succeed. You have to want it. You do have to be no plan B about it. It has to mean enough to you that you're going to give it everything that you have and you're going to make it work and you're going to get creative and you may get a little bit burnt out. You may not get to go on vacation or buy new purse shoes or whatever.
00:41:32
Speaker
Um, you may have to cook at home a little bit more, but if it's worth it to you and if it matters to you, you will make it work. Right. Truly believe that. But I think that I think it's a combination of, you know, maybe not having, um, as much passion as is required to be an entrepreneur because it's not easy and it all has to come from you. And then,
00:41:57
Speaker
the consistency like the self-worth and the ability to stay motivated and see it through, even when it's not panning out immediately. And then the distractions of the shiny magic bullets that make it seem like it's all really easy and you're just doing it wrong. Yeah, right. Gosh, so well said. I love it. And it's coming back to that big, what is your why?
00:42:21
Speaker
you know, are you? So I, I would love to pause here. And people who are feeling this way, they are in the healing practice, they are in the wellness space, they want to, if they're starting out or going to the next level, and they're wanting to seek mentorship, or, or maybe not, maybe they're just wanting to explore breath work, how can they find you and connect with you further?
Contacting Erin Telford
00:42:47
Speaker
errantelford.com or errantelford underscore underscore on Instagram. Very easy to find. And I am also, I want to say this, I don't, um, I, on purpose, I don't have an assistant. I have had an assistant, but if you're going to DM me, I'm going to write you back. If you email me, I'm going to write you back. So if you have a question, if you have an inquiry, you're talking to me.
00:43:11
Speaker
you're talking human to human. So I think that's just, I like to mention that because sometimes people hesitate to reach out, but I'm a person and so I want to talk to people if they want to talk to me.
00:43:22
Speaker
Beautiful. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Erin, for joining today. I would love to do a part two of that. I mean, there's so much more to talk about, but I think this is a really awesome space to let people take the jump and come find you. And also, there is going to be a 10-minute meditation that I will link in the show notes to Erin's site. So if you want to check out Breathwork and what that offering is about and connect with her, I'll link that there. And once again, thank you so much, everyone, for joining. And I will see you next week.
00:43:51
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you so much, Parker. Hey there. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. If you've made it this far, I ask that you please rate and review this podcast wherever you're listening, because that's how podcasts grow. DM me on Instagram at ParkerMed with 2D, so ParkerMIDD on Instagram to let me know and what you want to hear next. Take care.