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YOU ARE NOT a WORKAHOLIC, YOU ARE a PASSIONATE INSPIRED CREATOR
9 Plays17 days ago
There were times over my lifetime when I felt more alone in the presence of others.
I hope this episode inspires you to let go of the guilt around wishing to pursue your desire to live a life of purpose & passion, you will not only be happier, you will also be healthier and desire less to escape your existence.
Which is why I wanted to kick off 2025 with stories to hopefully help you feel less alone in your journey of potentially feeling like a workaholic as you have sat through conversations over the festive season that didn’t exactly ignite sparks of inspiration… finding yourself drifting off into your own thoughts dreaming up your next offering, creative project and feeling a little guilty that you just can’t seem to get on board with the conversation around promotions and pay rises or cuts…
Know that you are not alone in that… there are many of us out there doing just that!
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[Em]Power Dressing Guidebook ...will be help you curate your wardrobe in a way that fosters effortless flow of energy, so you move through your days with confidence, ease & grace, fostering health & well being on so many levels.
Only AU$11 for the e-book.
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Intro & Outro Music: Shaman Dance by slavamusic
We respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present, and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions, and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this land and commit to building a brighter future together.
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By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that the entire contents are the property of Marie-Nicole Meunier, or used by Marie-Nicole Meunier with permission, and are protected under AU and international copyright and trademark laws. Except as otherwise provided herein, users of this Podcast may save and use information contained in the Podcast only for personal or other non-commercial, educational purposes. No other use, including, without limitation, reproduction, retransmission or editing, of this Podcast may be made without the prior written permission of the Marie-Nicole Meunier, which may be requested by contacting
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Transcript
Introduction to Living Authentically
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you desire to create a life where you live out your highest expression? Connect with other creative souls, also living life and doing business to the beat of their own drum? I am Marie Nicole and I am devoted to combining beauty, uniqueness and connection.
00:00:15
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in everyday living experiences. As a creative professional and Dharma coach, I help people connect to the truth of who they are and facilitate them in embodying their uniqueness. I am also a mother of two precious young men and with children in tow have established and run unique businesses and embraced opportunities that have contributed to my creative career while creating magical memories for them too.
00:00:40
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It is my hope that this podcast inspires you to live life on your terms and earn your income through being uniquely you. After all, it is a unique thread we each contribute to the collective tapestry that creates the whole.
2025 Podcast Vision
00:00:59
Speaker
Welcome back to the Business to Your Own Beat podcast and the first episode for 2025. Let's kick off the new year inspired to live out our days as passionate creators without the guilt of feeling like we should be operating in any other way than that which ignites our passion. In the lead up to Christmas, I was putting in extra hours of work to complete and release my m Empower dressing guidebook, while also preparing material for the soaring membership and our Moon Magic Monday gatherings.
00:01:31
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completing freelance work as well as holding space for coaching clients when a message came through from a returning customer who has bought linen garments made to order each year for many years now in a row. Even after closing my commercial space, I continued to make garments to order for her. The last order I completed, I told her I didn't think I could continue, especially at the price I was charging. The linen um had gone up in price and in previous years,
00:02:00
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When I had the store I would order 10 metres of the fabric of each colour and then that bright brought the price down and I'd make other items and sold them through the store too. Buying only 2 metres of each colour was not really economically viable from a business perspective but her message read that she loves wearing the garment so much that she was happy to pay more if I was happy to make more for her and she was happy to order 6 instead of 3.
Balancing Work and Creativity
00:02:28
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The timing of her message could not have been more aligned with what I was focusing on as I had almost completed the Empower Dressing Guidebook which is all about curating a wardrobe that fosters effortless flow of energy so you can move through your days with confidence, ease and grace. I was just about to head down to the South Coast to house-sit for friends who are also creative professionals They were taking off on a family adventure, while they could, before a long stretch of back-to-back work commitments. The nine days on the South Coast for me was going to be more of a working retreat than a holiday, so I committed to creating those garments for her. And I knew I would have time available to me to do so, as I was not going to have my single mother duties while I was down there, which I normally fit in around my work commitments.
00:03:21
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While I was away, even though I was on a working retreat, I was still looking forward to a change of scene and the freedom to choose how I truly spend my days. So I ordered the fabric and had it shipped to the South Coast Address. The first two days I was down there, I did final edits on the guidebook and got it ready to release into the world, as well as completed some freelance work and fitted in a couple of coaching sessions.
00:03:44
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Then on the Friday I ventured out for a short break to visit some other creative professionals who have a little mobile shop on the main street in Huskison. I had not told them I would be in the area but I knew that they would be open to trade so I thought I'd just stop by and say hi and let them know in person that I was around for the week.
00:04:03
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Then I actually ducked over to a local shopping mall to get some groceries and while I was there I stopped into a shop that looked like it might stock something I was looking for and the shop owner expressed how she loved the gown I was wearing and asked what brand it was. Every item of clothing I was what wearing that day was made by me and it was all linen. The gown that piqued her interest was my Venus gown And she asked if I'd made it for wholesale, at which I don't. I actually sell directly to the customer and make to order. But as we got talking, she scanned over my entire outfit and proceeded to express how she loved my entire vibe and asked about almost everything I was wearing, accessories and all.
00:04:46
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I provided her with all of the brand names that I was wearing that were items that I did not make myself so she could reach out to those makers and designers. This is not an uncommon experience. I have shared in previous episodes that I am my own walking billboard and that we are our own brand.
00:05:07
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people do notice and if you are presented in a way that expresses your values and aligns with your business offerings, then it's actually not really working when you are sharing your passions, it's just being.
Empowerment Through Fashion
00:05:19
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Now in the Empowered Dressing Guidebook, I have listed all of these brands and more and even included links to their websites as I am so passionate about showcasing the talent of these creatives and I really want to connect consumers with their work If you would like a copy of the Empowered Dressing Guidebook, you can find a link to that in the show notes. It is only 11 Australian dollars for the e-book. For those who have read it, they have expressed how it has inspired them to rethink their wardrobe and even the choices they make when selecting pieces in the future. On the Saturday while I was away, I visited my friend's little mobile store again in Huskisson. And this time I spent a good amount of time catching up with Aaron.
00:06:04
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He and I met years ago, trading alongside each other at Mages Creek Music Festival for an entire weekend and we've stayed connected ever since. It was so lovely to take time and sit and chat with him and some of his local friends and even fellow business owners. At that time, I expressed how the environment and weather was more conducive to holiday and that I was finding it a little challenging to get motivated to get on with the other work that I had brought down with me.
00:06:32
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Now, friends of his had tried to convince him to close the shop and go sailing with them instead, and he admitted that he has been known to do that on occasion, but also expressed that the conditions oscillate between being conducive to being productive as well as immersing oneself in activities that are for sheer pleasure, so it balances out over time. After returning to the house, however, I suddenly found myself kick into productive mode.
00:07:00
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can became immersed in creation for the remaining days that I was there, to the point where I questioned if I was in fact a workaholic. I did start my days with yoga and end with some beach time, most days, but in between, and even into the night, I found myself in such creative flow, making, writing, researching, reading, absorbing as much as I could to fuel my creative passions and transform them into income generating offers, I was on fire. We had planned to catch up for a sunset drink on the beach a couple of nights before I was due to leave. However, I reached out to him that day and said I was feeling just so cold to keep creating that I asked for a rain check.
00:07:45
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We did catch up the day that I left instead and I dropped by to see what he was working on. He was working on a project and I also wanted to say goodbye in person. I knew I'd be back in a few weeks for another event and I'd also be catching up with him at other times so I wasn't feeling too bad about asking for a rain check. However, I did find myself contemplating to rim my journaling practice the next morning whether or not I was in fact a workaholic.
Creative Flow and Community
00:08:11
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and had to remind myself that just a few days earlier I was sitting with him in on his shop veranda chatting about all manner of things connecting with members of his community expressing my motivation had waned. So after getting over that feeling of being a workaholic and allowing myself to get back into creation mode I received a phone call from another fellow creative professional, whom I also met many years ago at a market and have stayed in contact with since. I shared that I was sewing at the time, but I could talk while I worked. He was building something at the time, so we both continued to work while we talked. I shared my contemplations with him on feeling like I could potentially be a workaholic, which we unpacked together and laughed about. He was working right up until
00:09:01
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and Christmas Eve on a project and then was also sharing his plans for kayaking down a river over the summer break as well as working on other creative projects in the serenity of his studio and his parents property. Having friends like him and Aaron who earn their living through their creative skills is so supportive as they too get into creative flow but also make time to just be and socialize. There have been times in the past where I've chatted to Aaron while he was swinging in a hammock. And there have been times when I've stopped by a river and immersed myself in watching dragonflies. In my last episode on a life by design, I expressed the need to foster creativity, which sometimes is about doing nothing related to work, but activities that fuel our creative expression.
00:09:50
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Be it in connection with wild nature or wandering the streets of a village in a location away from the familiar. When I returned from the south coast to my regular commitments, I found myself challenged in getting what I needed to done. Not because my motivation had waned, but because living on a hill that overlooks the Hume Highway, which has been a constant stream of holidaymakers flowing in both directions for the last few weeks, and it has seemed to interfere with our internet connection and speed.
00:10:20
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We only have one mobile tower that services our area. There's no NBN to the node here. So every time I attempted to do something that required the internet connection, it had been slowed right down and was almost impossible to complete. My eldest son was here helping me with some technical issues I needed to resolve, as well as working up plans for the future. We were discussing whether or not I should invest in a mobile Starlink service or a new iPad.
00:10:48
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So I could hotspot to that while traveling and working on the road. He ran a speed test on our phones and was shocked at how much lower our speed was compared to usual. Now on New Year's Eve, I had planned to record this podcast episode, but instead followed the guidance of my intuition and decided to disconnect from the world and reconnect with myself and wild nature. So I packed a picnic lunch, my journal and several books.
00:11:15
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taking the dogs with me to a reserve that allows dogs on leads. This location is a beautiful little hamlet almost an hour's drive away from here at the foothills of the Brindabella Mountains. It never used to have mobile phone reception out there and it's a lovely spot for a riverside picnic.
00:11:33
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But 10 minutes into our visit after just getting the dog set up on a run alongside the ute so um they could move around without being attached to me and I could lie down on the rug without having to hold on to them. Single motherhood of two border collies is a little like having two toddlers in tow. Literally seconds after I had them all sorted, a guy rode by with his dog running off lead and his dog snuck up around the back of the car and startled Bend at the older dog.
00:12:04
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Gibbous, the younger dog, responded by taking off after the dog at a great speed, breaking his collar in the process. Amazingly, I was able to snap him out of his quest and called him back, which he did. He came back to the car immediately.
00:12:17
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I put them both in the car and almost packed everything up to make my way back home. I don't travel with my dogs off lead, even in the car. They are always connected. Because they're so big, if they jump around, it can be dangerous. So driving home without collars was just as problematic. And I was about to take my belt off and use that as a collar. When I remember these two little vintage leather children's belts that I had under the seat, which I sometimes use as picnic blanket straps.
00:12:46
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So I joined them together, had to wrap the length around his neck three times to create a collar and then decided I would try to text my eldest son who was still in the Yass Valley and see if he could buy a new collar. And that way I could stay at the reserve a little bit longer to calm the dogs down before driving again with them feeling on edge and me feeling frustrated that I'd not even had a chance to immerse myself in what was meant to be a serene experience.
00:13:13
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And I discovered at that point that this area now has mobile service. And so I called him to explain the situation and get him to buy a collar before the shops close because it was on the eve of another public holiday. Anyway, so we settled into our picnic and I focused on calming the dog's nerves as well as my own.
00:13:33
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I opened up my backpack and decided to pull out a book randomly to read, even though again, I was feeling a twinge of guilt about being a workaholic as I had taken books with me that were related to business. But then I read the words of this book by Seth Godin on tribes.
00:13:52
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and which I had purchased in my quest to open the portal to the soaring membership, I take my leader my role as a leader quite seriously
Finding Joy in Work
00:14:01
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and I did not want to feel like I was offering something that was not really needed in society. And this book has certainly helped. I'd like to read a small section that I read in that moment. So it was it's titled, How Was Your Day?
00:14:19
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It's 4am, I can't sleep. So I'm sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Jamaica, checking my email. A couple walks by, obviously on their way to bed having pushed the idea of a vacation a little too hard. The woman looks over at me in a harsh whisper, a little quieter than a yell, says to her friend, isn't that sad? That guy comes here on vacation and he's stuck checking his email. He can't even enjoy his two weeks off.
00:14:47
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I think the real question, the one they probably they probably wouldn't want to answer was, isn't that sad? We have a job where we spend two weeks avoiding the stuff we have to do for 50 weeks of a year. It took me a long time to figure out why I was so happy to be checking my email in the middle of the night. It had to do with passion. Other than sleeping, there was nothing I'd rather be doing in that moment.
00:15:13
Speaker
Because I'm lucky to have a job where I get to make change happen. Even though I don't have many people working for me, I'm in the business of leading people, taking them somewhere we want to go. On the other hand, most people have jobs for now, where they fight change, where they work overtime to defend the status quo. It's exhausting. Maintaining a system in the face of change will grind you down.
00:15:41
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Think for a second about the people you know who are engaged, satisfied, eager to get to work. Most of them, albeit make change. They change the status quo, they push something forward, something they believe in, they lead. Life, too short, is repeated often enough to be a cliche. But this time it's true. You don't have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It's not just pointless, it's painful.
00:16:10
Speaker
Instead of wondering wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don't need to escape from. The amazing thing is that not only is this sort of life easier to set up than ever before, but now it's more likely to make you successful and happy. So how was your day? I really loved reading that in that moment because while I love the opportunity to explore and wander and completely disconnect from work and discover something new and even look forward to being able to travel overseas and immerse myself in those experiences, I don't ever want to feel guilty for being inspired to create and to do the work that I'm here to do. Working for yourself doing business to your own beat does mean working when others are holidaying and holidaying when others are working.
00:17:02
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Back in my photography business days I found it difficult to sustain connection with some friends who worked regular 9-5 jobs as I was photographing all weekend and would be available to catch up on say a Wednesday and would end up socialising with fellow photographers who were in a similar situation.
00:17:20
Speaker
Because most weekends were taken up with photographing didn't mean we were workaholics, we were just doing things differently to the mainstream. But if we were not doing that, then who would the mainstream employ to fulfil the services of capturing their treasured photos of their special events? What the person in that story failed to see when they assumed that Seth Godin was the one missing out on living because he chose to check his emails at 4am, is that his passion and drive for how He feels most called to serve the collective is having a profound impact on so many people. He has written so many books that have been impactful. We don't know whether or not at other times he actually completely switches off and from work and immerses himself in some cultural experience like they were.
00:18:09
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For all we know he could have just finished a running a business retreat and wasn't there for a holiday at all. The point I'm trying to make here is that we're best to accept that we're all different and we all have our unique thread to contribute to the collective tapestry. Personally when I am working on that which ignites my creativity and fuels my passion I don't even feel like I'm working. I feel like I'm operating from a place of alignment doing what I am here to do to serve the collective with while supporting my own needs too. I too need to pay the bills and over the last few years have taken on freelance jobs to help sustain our living while transitioning out of operating my business in one way and pivoting and recreating the foundations of how it looks to facilitate the ability to continue in a way that offers more flexibility while I navigate so many unknowns.
00:19:03
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And while there is guaranteed income through working for others, I have to admit no freelance role has aligned with my purpose as much as the services that I provide through my business. I feel so much more energized by the work I do based on my unique gifts and talents. And because I can leverage my efforts and scale my offerings, I don't ever think a paid job could ever completely replace the satisfaction I get from doing business to my own beat.
00:19:31
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In our soaring membership gatherings, we've been working with the energy of the phases and stages of the moon cycle to plan our activities and implement action on our goals. The beautiful thing about this is it really is simple. Taking inspiration from nature does simplify things as it provides guidance on how taking aligned action is more impactful than getting caught up in our mind trying to work out if what we are doing is correct
Nature-Inspired Living
00:19:59
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or not.
00:19:59
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The way society has operated in recent years, even hundreds of years, has not been to connect mind-body intelligence. But when we observe nature, the objective is reached through creating conditions that foster thriving. It's not about having all the information. It's about nurturing and nourishing. You can have all the information in front of you and still not reach your objective if you are not prepared to take action on implementing that knowledge.
00:20:28
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discovering what works in that moment and what doesn't through the process of taking action. Through the membership offerings, I have learned more about the technicalities behind hosting online gathering gatherings. Even my eldest son, who works as an AV technician, has been learning new things through helping me out. He is currently on holidays and spent a week up here. And we have done a lot of things together and apart in the area of entertainment as well as socializing. But one thing we have found extremely enjoyable has been problem solving my work issues together.
00:21:03
Speaker
Yesterday, we spent half the day working through challenges that I had had and also planning the equipment that I could invest invest in. In the future, we looked at more than just my internet connectivity options. The fact that we spent New Year's Day working does not make us workaholics.
00:21:24
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I was asking for his assistance in an area that he is passionate about to help me provide a service to the members I am serving because I am passionate about offering them a better experience after experiencing a few glitches. This was the only time we had to work through this together and at the end of it he was so chuffed with himself that he could help me out which was not only benefiting me and my members, it benefited him too.
00:21:53
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Our next Moon Magic Monday gathering is the Monday closest to the full moon. And if you'd like to journey alongside other passionate, inspired creators doing business to their own beat and realize your dreams by working in a cyclical manner, then be sure to join us. It's only 33 US dollars a month. We gather twice in the cycle and I offer supportive material and activities in between to assist you in creating harmony and flow,
00:22:20
Speaker
in your business and life through taking aligned action so you can use your unique gifts and talents to earn your income and enjoy living a life by design too. The more of us who thrives through being uniquely ourselves, the more people we will inspire in our networks to follow their passion and live a life by design as well. The creative professional I spoke on the phone with while working also stopped by here on his travels to his family Christmas get together and I asked him for advice on a project I wanted to start on. That had absolutely nothing to do with my work. It was just something I simply wished to do to create that little extra bit of magic in my everyday living experience. And when he returned home, he texted me with more information to support my project after he'd processed his thoughts on the topic even more while driving.
Purpose and Passion in Life
00:23:12
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So does that make him a workaholic or a passionate inspired creator? Because that's what he does for a living.
00:23:18
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I have to say that for the first time in my life this festive season has been filled with more experiences around living a life by design, connecting with fellow inspired passionate creators, and even though I have spent more time alone than I have previously, I have felt less lonely than I have ever before. There were times over my lifetime when I felt more alone in the presence of others,
00:23:44
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So contemplating the difference between being alone and being lonely has also been a theme for me this festive season, which is why I wanted to kick off 2025 with stories that could hopefully help you feel less alone in your journey of potentially feeling like you're a workaholic. As you sat through conversations, you don't exactly that don't exactly ignite.
00:24:09
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sparks of inspiration, finding yourself drifting into your own thoughts, dreaming up your next offering, creative project and feeling a little guilty. that you just can't seem to get on board with a conversation around promotions or pay rises or pay cuts. Instead, you're dreaming about living an inspired life where you get to do business to your own beat, choose how you spend your days, earn your living doing what you love and still have time to follow your curiosity or intuition, stopping to swing in a hammock, paddle down a river, lie in a field watching butterflies and dragonflies dance around you.
00:24:46
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and then work into the night, creating if you feel inspired to. Know that you are not alone in that. There are many of us out there doing just that. So let go of the guilt and pursue your desire to live a life of purpose and passion. You will not only be happier, you will also be healthier and desire less to escape your existence.
00:25:07
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So thank you for letting me share my passion with you. I love to hear how what I have shared has inspired you, made you feel seen or got you thinking about changes you could make to foster your thriving. Keep on sharing your thoughts. Either leave a comment or review or send me a DM or even email me and pass this episode on to others that you think it'll serve too. And consider joining the Soaring membership or even purchasing the Empowerdressing Book. They have been created to serve you in your quest to live an inspired life by design too.