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From Burnout to Becoming Unstoppable: Alicia May's Journey to a 7-Figure Business | EP 9
78 Plays1 year ago
In this vulnerable conversation, I'm joined by Alicia of Boudicia Rising, who is a powerhouse business coach and 7-figure business owner, to dive deep into her transformative journey that covers a wide range of topics, including:
- Alicia's inspiring transition from a six-figure banking job to building a seven-figure coaching business.
- Overcoming childhood wounds that once led to extreme burnout.
- The power of embracing 'too-muchness' and how it allowed Alicia to create more success.
- Breaking free from the cycle of hustle and burnout to find a state of flow in life. Discovering the joy of embracing feminine energy and its positive impact on Alicia's life.
- Alicia's remarkable personal transformation experienced at the Wild & Free Retreat and what makes her a 'retreat junkie.'
- Navigating the chaotic and unpredictable challenges of 2023, the physical symptoms that emerged, and the invaluable support that played a pivotal role in her journey.
Connect with Alicia on Instagram @boudiciarising
If you loved this episode, check out the details of my Wild & Free Retreat in Costa Rica. The next retreat is in January 2024 and there are only a few spots remaining. Join the free waitlist here to get the dates and details.
Connect with Steph on Instagram.
Connect with Steph on TikTok.
Don't forget to leave my a podcast review with what you love and the podcast, thank you in advance xoxo
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Transcript
Introduction to Unfiltered Femme Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to the Unfiltered Femme podcast. Your new world to get the lowdown on all things pleasure, sexuality, the mysterious female body, dating, relationships and everything you need to know to step into your most unfiltered, unapologetic, empowered and turned on self.
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm Steph Morris, a love, sex and intimacy coach and along with some incredibly fabulous guests, I'm here to spill the tea on those topics that are typically hush hush. The juicy things that you want to know all about that have maybe been a little bit too shy to talk about.
00:00:39
Speaker
Think of me as your fearless guide and partner in crime, creating a space for the unfiltered, the raw, the authentic chats where nothing is off limits and there's no such thing as too much. The Unfiltered Femme podcast is all about breaking down those walls and celebrating what it means to be an unfiltered, feminine being.
00:00:58
Speaker
I hope you're ready for a wild ride. Let's dive right in. Welcome back to this episode of the Unfiltered Fam podcast.
Alicia May's Career Transition Story
00:01:06
Speaker
I am so excited to be joined by Alicia May, who is an incredible, inspiring woman who left a six-figure banking job to create a seven-figure coaching business in only a few short years.
00:01:17
Speaker
She is the definition of a woman who's owning her power. She embodies her authenticity, embraces her bold, unique, and loud energy. And she is one of my best friends. In this episode, we dive into everything from overcoming childhood wounding to embracing the too muchness that allowed Alyssia to create more success.
00:01:35
Speaker
moving from this cycle of hustle and burnout to flow. This is really an unfiltered episode, so let's dive in. Come on out, Alicia. How are you doing today? Ah, hello, Stephanie. I am feeling all the feels today, especially being here with you. Thank you for asking me to come. And the unfiltered firm, the name of this podcast, I mean, I have not gone filter, so I'm definitely the right woman to be here with you. So we are gonna be talking about all sorts of this episode, I'm sure, and I'm so excited for it. So if you're ready for the juice,
00:02:04
Speaker
if you're ready for me to spill the tea then tune on in to us. So who am I? My name is Alicia May and I am the founder of Boudicier Rising and that is my coaching business. I work with women and call myself a business and life revolutionary. So part of my mission is to be able to work with women so that they can convert their purpose into pleasure so that they can turn their magic into money and create incredible success without doing more. So something that I'm really passionate about
00:02:33
Speaker
in business and i'll be honest it was something that i used to have a problem with is actually being able to create more from flow rather than force so actually being able to make more money lead your business live your life and have this beautiful balance and harmony and that's something that i've been able to really bring into my own life in business now and work with clients and
00:02:52
Speaker
money is my jam i actually always say that i am that triple threat you know like in musical theatre a triple threat is someone that can sing and dance and act well in the coaching industry my dear sisters i am the triple threat for money mindset and metaphysics and metaphysics meaning all your spiritual woo woo energetics let's fucking go so that is me that is who i am what i do and why i'm here with the amazing Steph and i'm excited to jump into today's podcast
00:03:17
Speaker
Yay! Thank you for sharing. And we love the woo woo, the spiritual, the taboo, all of the things that I think in modern day society, if we look outside our windows, most people are not really embracing or connected with, but here.
00:03:33
Speaker
We love it all. So I'm excited to dive into this. And I'd love to start by you sharing a little bit around that journey from force to flow, because that's been such a huge part of your journey, especially over the last couple of years.
Burnout and Mental Health Recovery
00:03:45
Speaker
So what does that mean? And what did that journey look like for you where you were living in that forcible state into your business and into this place of flow?
00:03:54
Speaker
Definitely. So I grew up with two brothers and a dad and of course my mum but a very masculine household, right? So I've always been surrounded by men a lot at home and then when I was at school and going through school, high school, uni, I always had more male friends than female friends, right? So I've been from an early age very much exposed to masculine energy quite a lot and surrounding myself with men.
00:04:17
Speaker
And coming into the workplace, I worked in banking. I had a finance career for 10 years and it was really glorified hustle culture in that industry. A hundred percent. There was kind of almost this celebration of, you know, it's.
00:04:29
Speaker
It's about how much you can work and how much you can prove yourself. And there's this real element every single year when we were sitting down to have that yearly bonus conversation and talk about your pay rises and stuff, it was, well, have you gone above and beyond? And above and beyond meaning, not quality, but really quantity, right? Have you stayed until nine, 10 o'clock at night? Have you been in at 5 a.m.? Have you done all the work and shown up and done all the things? And it was through all of that that I've really
00:04:54
Speaker
quite literally got myself to burnout, right? So in 2017, 2018, I ended up taking a year out and I was signed off with stress, depression, anxiety, and took some time off. And I remember that moment, Steph, when I had to take a step back from work and it felt like it all happened overnight. But when I look back now, and I can look back now, you know, six years older and look at the patterns and the things that happened,
00:05:17
Speaker
it had been building up and building up over time and what had happened was I'd grown in my career, I'd come up to a senior leadership role, had quite a lot of responsibility and my diary was stacked out with meetings, I was always in different places, I was sometimes meant to be in two places at once lol and basically my inbox was about to fall over and I remember coming in in the morning, it was on a Tuesday and I opened up my emails, finished the morning meeting and it read like 3,500 unread emails and I was like
00:05:44
Speaker
this is ridiculous something's got to change and I took myself to the toilet and I cried and I stayed in there for over an hour and then one of my friends Sharon in fact she's still a good friend of mine now I lived with her recently she came and knocked on the toilet dogs we used to work together and she was like Alicia are you okay she was worried I've been gone from my desk for so long and I just said to her I can't do this anymore I said I just can't cope I don't know how to even begin to get through that workload and when I told my boss she was shook because
00:06:09
Speaker
I hadn't dropped the bull. Although the inbox was full, I was picking up stuff. I was doing it. I was a high performer from the outside. I was showing up to all these calls with energy. I was like, yeah, everything's fine. But in the background, the cracks were appearing and it was really challenging. And from then on out.
00:06:25
Speaker
continued my career in banking and in 2020 when I was really sick with COVID came through a really serious episode actually of being
Shift from Hustle to Balance
00:06:32
Speaker
in hospital. I kind of had this real moment step of like do you know what if I was to die tomorrow as morbid as this sounds would I actually be happy with my life yes or no and it was that very frank moment where I met myself and was like
00:06:44
Speaker
you're overworking you're following someone else's dream it's not meant to be like this and that's when i started my business at the cma coaching which is now buddhisty arising and that began in the november of 2020 but again this hustle this move from energy energy energy do do do to that flow and ease
00:07:01
Speaker
that wasn't something that naturally came when i started a business right you can imagine i kind of recreated almost my nine to five in my coaching business i kind of thought that i had to coach monday to friday and especially when i gave up my full-time job oh i have to replicate the hours and have a job and it's fun and then you know i sit here three years later and it's a completely different story so i think definitely some of those behaviors and habits right they came across they came through into the doing law and
00:07:26
Speaker
i certainly used to have an attachment especially before i did more of this spiritual work and this work on my inner self around the attachment of the more that i do the more i create yeah so the more that i do the more that i'm active the more that i'm doing things and that's been instilled in me from an early age like the more i studied i got really good grades and i was in the top sets at school i did really well and there's almost this like achiever good girl thing that's come through and it kind of came through into my business and i just came to realize the more i learned about myself my energy
00:07:55
Speaker
and saying, you know what, I don't want to be sitting at laptop, you know, 10, 12 hours a day, every single day. I also learned I was a projector in human design. If you don't know about human design, definitely take a look because it's very insightful for your business and just general life. And it was then that I realised I'm not lazy. Actually, I worked best just doing a few hours here and there and taking a lot of space. And then when I started to work more with that stuff and, you know, having half days of calls, a couple of calls here and there,
00:08:22
Speaker
time off, it's like this morning, my first call wasn't before 11 a.m. and that's my mornings every day, right? I won't take any calls before 11 and I normally have two half days off in the week and I'll have my weekend and a Friday. So there's so much spaciousness and it feels so good. So yeah, that's a little bit of a whistle stop tour from where I started to where I am now and hopefully that gives you a good flavor for where I've come through in business now. A delicious flavor, I'm thinking. I'm tasting vanilla in my mouth.
00:08:50
Speaker
Yeah, so many thank you for sharing that there are so many different threads and pieces that I want to touch on here. I'd love to ask so. Obviously, the culture, the environment, the industry that you're working in was very conducive to that hustle and burnout environment. Were there any patterns or conditioning or programming that you now have awareness of that you were living then? Like what made you
00:09:15
Speaker
say yes, take on more, not show that you are struggling, not ask for help, not say, hey, this is enough. What do you think was really going on that led to that?
00:09:25
Speaker
when you say that two things instantly come through and i'm going to go to the deeper one second so one of the things that comes through for me is that the more i was very ambitious and i still am you know that about me in business right i'm very ambitious i'm always going for something bigger and higher and i love that i really love that about me and there was this need to almost prove myself i think right like the more i took on and showing that yes i'm going to be a yes man and i'm going to do this and do that that it was showing that willingness and
00:09:51
Speaker
It's no wonder, right? Like I went from being on £16,000 as a banking assistant in the banking hall to a senior level management, which is eight steps up the ladder within the grading system in the banking on multi-six figures in the space of like nine years, eight years. And at the age of, you know, 29, I was then, right? So I'm young to be doing that. And why did that happen? I really do believe that because I just push, push, push, push. I did hustle my way to the top, I'll be honest.
00:10:17
Speaker
it was just promotion after promotion after promotion i didn't do one role longer than i think the longest role i did was a year year and a half but most of my roles were between six and nine months so there's that element Steph but then the deeper element that comes through for me and this actually came out of therapy right i'm happy to discuss this because you know i always say i'm i am vulnerable and i will all bear it all to my audience and to yours as well
00:10:39
Speaker
but what came through for me was growing up as a child. I've got two brothers that are younger than me and they've both got disabilities and I remember from a very young age my mum saying things like we don't have to worry about Alicia she's okay and she's a good girl and there was a lot of this that came through and I would always kind of even as a young child
00:10:57
Speaker
keep myself to myself and if i was upset or if i had a problem i'd go and take myself away and be alone and i would mask over it or i'd be everything is okay because i knew the severity of what mum and dad were dealing with with my brothers were like hospital visits life-changing appointments things that were happening and i was old enough to be aware that it was okay to look after myself and keep myself in this bubble
00:11:18
Speaker
So that definitely has come through in so many areas of my life, in my relationships, in how I manage myself, in my business, right? In my career, in all sorts of areas, that's really come through because I've always had to be okay. So I just have. It's kind of come from definitely that in childhood and I did a lot of work through that through therapy and it was really healing to connect to that and realize, but also to, I guess in some ways as well, in a weird way in the background, like
00:11:43
Speaker
give my parents forgiveness for that because at the end of the day mums and dads anyone that's listening that's a parent will know this you're doing the best that you can with the resources you have available to you at the time right and my mum and dad they didn't have therapy they didn't know what they were doing they've never had disabled children before they've got no disabilities in their family elsewhere
00:12:00
Speaker
So they were navigating that at that time. And there's no resentment on my part for that and kind of how things played out in childhood. But it makes a lot of sense, right? It does make a lot of sense as to why my behaviours and habits landed that way, because from a very early age, and we know that a lot of our conditioning, right, and our beliefs does come from that really young age up to about seven when we're in our most impressionable years. So yeah, I think Steph, that's the deeper, deeper part of where I come from.
00:12:27
Speaker
We love the depth and thank you for sharing, Lucia. Super powerful. It always comes back to childhood. Even when we would love to say it doesn't, it does. We have to go there. So thank you for sharing that. And I'd love for you to touch on now that journey of moving from corporate banking into your business. Like, what did that look like? How was that? And how did you navigate taking in that hustle?
00:12:55
Speaker
that force energy when you made that transition. Yeah love this question.
Starting a Coaching Business
00:12:59
Speaker
So I mean the thing with me generally in life is that the more aligned I've got the more the universe has gone go on then go on and exactly what happened. My business was doing pretty well but I was pretty scared to go all in. I knew I wanted to really but also let's be honest walking away from a six-figure salary, the bonuses, all the vibes, I was like
00:13:18
Speaker
Oh, can I, can I, can I, can I? And then guess what happened? The universe went, oh, you've been made redundant! So I didn't have a choice. I literally had three months of you either find a new job or you get out. And to start with, I'm gonna be honest, I went into panic because I was like, oh my goodness, I've never worked for myself before. My mum and dad as well, this comes back to conditioning, they've both got their own businesses and I drummed into me from an earlier age.
00:13:40
Speaker
never work for yourself always work for someone else money's not consistent and that you know i did come from a working class background right my mum and dad never had money and they still struggle now so there was this narrative playing out in my head i was scared but i went into it because i thought you know what things are going pretty good and because it was redundancy they were giving me a payout right so i worked out at the
00:14:00
Speaker
payout would last about six months if worst comes to worst. So I thought, you know what, this is a golden goose opportunity, this is the moment that the universe is going. Not only Alicia are we going to make you redundant and push you out the door, we're also going to give you a paycheck that you can walk away with and if all else fails that's going to support you and then you can go and get
00:14:17
Speaker
another job it's fine right so that's how I landed into doing the full-time coaching and you know I'm very grateful for that because it definitely pushed my hand sooner than I would have done otherwise so I came into the coaching and I finished in the summer of last year in the bank so I actually got my redundancy notice you probably remember Steph actually it was like Jan Feb it was really early in the year last year but because I was in a leadership role I had to wait a bit longer to see my team off first and support them and then kind of go
00:14:42
Speaker
but the beauty of that was I was still getting paid and I wasn't having to go to work so I was like woohoo doing my coaching visit I mean literally you couldn't make this shit up you're probably listening and thinking oh well let's see here if only it was this easy right so that's how things then progressed and then in the summer I walked out I literally skipped out of the bank there's a reel on my page if you find I literally are jumping out of the bank going goodbye bitches and off I went
00:15:03
Speaker
and came into the big world of work of my own business and yeah I mean the first week or two Steph I remember because back then I was in my hustle era of 15 one-to-one clients right so my diary was still pretty packed out but there was still a lot of white space because I was used to you know being working seven to ten hours a day so I had gone from seven to ten hours a day to maybe like four or five hours a day five days a week so
00:15:28
Speaker
I remember having these white patches and going for a swim and feeling a little bit guilty and thinking do I need to be back by a certain time and I started to fill all those holes right that's where I ended up expanding my remit and taking on all those one-to-one clients and really feeling that pressure. I don't know where it even came from like my mum and dad didn't tell me I needed to do it no one in business did but I think because for so long it's all that I knew right I was working Monday to Friday all these hours I've come from such a high
00:15:54
Speaker
go, go, go, go stress zone that coming into my business and having all this white space just felt so alien. So I recreated it. I did. I was taking on all the things, doing regular events, VIP days, like you name it. I was there. I was doing guest experts, like all of the things. And then at the end of that summer,
00:16:11
Speaker
of last year I was exhausted, I got sick actually, I was feeling quite sick and I remember saying to my coach at the time, I adore my business and I'm sure my clients wouldn't even think a thing of it because again a bit like what happened in banking, still over delivering, results are happening, clients are getting results, they wouldn't even think that I was dropping the bull but what I realised Steph was I was dropping it on myself. I was dropping it on myself, I wasn't exercising, I wasn't eating well, I wasn't sleeping well.
00:16:34
Speaker
I was letting go of all my needs in order to satisfy other people's. So again, as the universe often does, I had that recalibration. I had some people that were finishing contract with me, some people that fell away. Things started to drop back down again, but I remember it was from that moment onwards I committed and I changed my structure in my business. So I used to coach weekly and I moved it to integration a week. So I have three weeks on, one off and wow.
00:16:56
Speaker
the change that it made, not only for my energy, but also my clients. So they've got the time in between sessions to integrate and implement was amazing. So that's an example. And then as that's evolved, it's just continued to grow. Like I used to be in Voxer as well, reactive and have all my notifications on whereas now I plug in just twice a day and I go in and do my little bit and then I'm out and then I'll be back in the next day. So I've become much more proactive than reactive now,
Creating with Pleasure and Flow
00:17:21
Speaker
right? I was living in a real reactive zone and had so much that was there that I was doing.
00:17:25
Speaker
and as I sit here now with you I'll have my Epson flows like at the moment I've just got back from Bali and I've had a big show on the weekends so this weekend's a little heavier at the front this week sorry but the back end it's it's gorgeous I mean I've got one 30 minute call tomorrow I've got one VIP Thursday I'm off Friday Saturday Sunday Monday and I've got all this space and it just feels amazing because
00:17:47
Speaker
The one thing I've learned, Steph, about moving from flow and creating from pleasure, not pressure is that when I have the time for me and I fill up my own cup first and I move in a way that feels so juicy and sensual and just pleasure for me, I've got so much more to give to other people as well as myself, right? Like I'm in my absolute best energy and
00:18:06
Speaker
It feels then like I'm limitless. It feels then like I can take on the world in any way, shape or form and it's been beautiful to witness how that transition into flow, into ease has not just benefited my business but it's also shone the light to my clients and given them permission too that they get to do business their own way. It's also improved my relationships, my own relationship with myself and everything outside of it. So yeah, that's been the journey.
00:18:30
Speaker
Mm, I love that. And I really love what you said, how you drop the ball on yourself to meet the needs of other people. How many people can relate to that? Especially as women, it's so common that we do that. We stop prioritizing ourselves. We stop working out. We stop eating well. We stop, you know, doing the self-care, self-love, nourishing practices that we need. And from the outside, things can look so perfect. And then you reach this point of breakdown
00:19:00
Speaker
or things come crashing down and people are like, oh my gosh, but they seem so good. So it's a good reminder, one, that a lot of people experience this too, to make sure you check in on your friends and really have that vulnerable safe space for other people, because it can be really hard when you've got this mask and this front on for so long.
00:19:19
Speaker
to let people in and to say, actually, I am struggling. So thank you for sharing that. I want to ask you a question now because something you had shared about when you were in the hospital with COVID, the question that you asked yourself, if I died tomorrow, would I be happy with my life? How would you answer that question now? If you died tomorrow, would you be happy with your life? Would you have any regrets? Would there be any things that you would want to change or that you haven't done?
00:19:45
Speaker
I would say when I answered that question back then, I was 40% happy. If I answered it today, I'm about an 85. I've been drastically improved. There's still definitely some areas that I'm still working on myself, right? And that are kind of, you know, we're always a forever improvement, aren't we? But yeah, definitely the answer is much stronger now. It really is. And I feel that as I get into this next year or two, when I start to really balance out all the other areas of my life, it's going to feel good stuff because I think what I've nailed now
00:20:12
Speaker
the career business aspect like that feels really juicy, that feels good. I think the other areas that I need to nail outside of that so that I'm really living a life of true purpose and connection is my relationships be that romantic and friendships but also the way that I have the relationship I have with myself right because that's been an ongoing one that's been difficult and I'm talking more the physical one here right I'm not talking the mental ones the the energy and confidence is high but it's just yeah I've struggled for years I know you know this anyway because you're my friend but I've had
00:20:40
Speaker
various eating disorders over the years and things and you know it's one of the things where in my body i represent certain symptoms and things that have not been good through my stress recently right so i think there's just a few things i'd clean up but it's definitely a much more positive answer than it was before and the other thing i wanted to just mention if you don't mind it was when you were talking and sharing about the things i mentioned and how you dropped the ball
00:21:01
Speaker
what it felt like a lot of the time as well as instagram versus reality do you know what i mean like so many people that wouldn't have known there really was and that's you know to some extent it's not a problem because my life's private right i get to share what i do and i share and i get to keep what's for me but at the same time the thing that's worrying about that is that you can keep going and going and going and going like that till you fall over or until someone notices if you don't notice first
00:21:24
Speaker
so i think that there were even times where i felt like an imposter where i felt a bit like you know here i'm showing up to my business and my clients and i'm representing one thing but in the background fuck me everything's falling over and i just don't know if i can cope anymore so i just wanted to raise that because i think sometimes it's very easy on social media to be like she's killing it look at this thing yes may like let's fucking go but then actually behind closed doors you really truly never know what's going on for someone you don't
00:21:50
Speaker
Thank you for sharing that, I resonate so deeply and that's something that I really experienced this year and we'll get to this, we'll get to the current day because this year has been a wild ride for you, for I and for so many people and I think we need to dive into this but I struggled this summer specifically when I was just being put through the absolute
00:22:14
Speaker
ringer by the by the universe by my life and yeah I was traveling I was like you know in Europe I was in Ibiza I was in Dubai and people were like oh my god it looks amazing and I literally started to feel like this isn't true like I'm actually experiencing some of the most challenging moments of my life I have
00:22:34
Speaker
crazy also physical symptoms, I was having anxiety. And people are thinking that I'm on the beach in Greece, like living it up. This doesn't feel so good. So that's when I started to share. It's hard to find the balance though, between you want you don't want to be sharing from this unhealed from this wounded place, but also wanting to share the realness of it's not all as it seems. But this is the challenge when your business is run online, like we do have to
00:23:00
Speaker
Keep showing up and so finding that balance is or can be a challenge. So thank you for touching on that and it's just is always a good reminder for people to know everybody's dealing with something. Everyone is always going through something and sometimes it's just not appropriate to be sharing the details of that on social media.
00:23:18
Speaker
But don't be mistaken that everybody's life is rosy apart from yours because it ain't true. It is not true. So what I'd love to dive into now is something about your journey that I've really loved. So we met in a coaching container in a initial group coaching experience.
00:23:39
Speaker
I think it was actually the beginning of 2021.
Embracing Authenticity for Success
00:23:42
Speaker
So like two and a half years ago, I was at the beginning of my journey. You have shared that that's where you were really starting to get your business going. And I remember just thinking, wow, she is just fucking epic. Like this woman is a ball of energy and so confident and so herself. And it was really cool to see. And what I loved to also see was the more that you embraced
00:24:08
Speaker
your true nature, your authentic essence, your loudness, your boldness. You're like, Hey bitches, it's Alyssia. Welcome to this training. The more your business blew up. So I want to say this, and I don't mean this in an insulting way, but the more that you embrace your too muchness, your loudness, your boldness, the more you
00:24:29
Speaker
made the more I made it I remember literally saying to you babes I am too much I remember you being like no you're not and that's a moment I actually spoke about it funnily enough on one of my master classes I did recently when I spoke about really embracing your true confidence and connecting to yourself
00:24:45
Speaker
and I remember you know I referenced it and I said that my friend Steph said to me you know you're not too much and I referenced that this weekend Steph the talk I was at it's true like the more that I have leaned into and owned the fact that I am who I am and yes you know I've got high energy and I'm connecting in this way it's been so powerful to actually step into the authentic me and be unapologetic totally
00:25:07
Speaker
Something I remember as well that you once did, I feel like this was a moment where you really embraced it. You did this hilarious reel where you were in the shower and you flung back the shower curtain. And I think you even had a shower cap on and you were singing. This was when the time when reels were all the pointy and stuff, but you just went there. And I remember being like, wow, this is really cool and inspiring to see because you are bringing this new way of doing business and showing that we don't have to
00:25:36
Speaker
be in that box and show up in a certain way. And even I've attended many of your trainings, you literally like, come on in like full entrance with music. And it's just so cool to see because as women, so many of us have been told that we're too much or we're not enough or we're too dramatic or too loud, or we're supposed to fit into that nice little neat, pretty box. And you've been such a great example of, fuck that. I am me.
00:26:04
Speaker
take it or leave it, and also you have that evidence in business that the more yourself you are, the more people really resonate with that and are attracted to that energy. So what helped you really embrace that and step into that?
00:26:20
Speaker
Oh, do you know what? It was, I shouldn't have been waiting for someone else to give me permission, but like genuinely you will not know how much you saying that to me that day changed everything. Like I just needed one fellow Pisces queen to say to me, let's see her, let's go, let's, let's be the vibe. But no, all jokes aside, I've always known I've had it. Do you know what I mean? Like I have, and I think especially from,
00:26:40
Speaker
I'd say my teenage years because in childhood, you know, what I described to you earlier with how things were at home, I was a bit more reserved and quiet and would keep myself to myself. But as I really stepped into who I was, I guess, as a teenager and I got involved with musical theatre, you know, running different groups, like I'd even do things like me and my cousins.
00:26:58
Speaker
we'd put on shows for nan and granddad on a weekend and we'd dress up and like I would direct them and would be the leading lady obviously. So that's where it all kind of started to come out right, it all started to come out through all these different places and spaces and then along the way when I then went into corporate I kind of minimized that personality side but stepped into the leadership right of like this is what who I am and I want to be in management, I don't want to be the assistant anymore, I want to be big and bold
00:27:23
Speaker
but in order to do that I've got to be professional and I remember when I had my role, this was my favourite role I ever had in the bank actually, I was leading training and working with the training department. I had to put on conferences, host trainings and there was this one conference that we did yearly called the Legal Annual Conference
00:27:39
Speaker
and I turned up to it for my talk in a unicorn onesie because I thought it would be funny to walk on stage in front of 300 people in a unicorn onesie and from that moment onwards they literally referred to me of the unicorn of training and they would say Alicia you are quite literally a unicorn in a sea of black horses and it's funny because Lloyd's is black horse right that's the name of the bank
00:27:57
Speaker
but it's true like i was very stand out like for but for the right reasons right people were drawn to my energy in that sense and it was very enlightening in the legal sector where everything is and i'm like whoa let's go training it was really fun so i brought some of that out in my career in the end stuff but coming into the business world i think that there was this real difference between who i actually was versus how i thought i should be and you know that
00:28:20
Speaker
apologizing it's because in the past I have quite literally been told you know whether that's been by ex-boyfriends or by my mum and dad or by other people like quiet and down like tone it down like lower your voice or like don't be so bold or like oh you're a bit too much like so I kind of be compensating I guess right and apologizing so now I'm just yeah I've kind of gone the opposite it's quite funny really like you've seen all the content from Ibiza you were in Ibiza in fact
00:28:47
Speaker
I mean the one from the year before when I was in my glitter suit on the bike, just going out across the ocean on the pedalo, there's absolutely no fucks given. There's none. I honestly adore what I do. On Sunday at the Yomioka show, I went out on stage babes in a black and gold leotard with crisscross front and back and was like, hi guys, barefoot on the stage.
00:29:06
Speaker
living my best life. And that doesn't just look like what I wear. But honestly, when you are in that energy, you do activate people. Like I had so many people that came up to me after that talk on Sunday that were just like, your energy is unreal. And I'm like, I'm not sitting there in the background going like this every day. Rub, rub, rub, rub, rub. Yeah, let's let's charge up all the neutrons and the energy and I'm not doing this and plugging myself into the wall. I am just being me.
00:29:30
Speaker
and me enabling myself to be me enables other people to be more them too stuff so true and that energy it comes from within and it is like a magnet for people so when you're in that high vibe authentic just bold expression people want to know what you're doing
00:29:50
Speaker
what you're taking, how you're embodying that energy, and they want to be part of that world. I'd love to dive now into the energy piece, the feminine flow, because something else that I really love about your journey as a close friend, but as a lurker of your online presence, really seeing the shifts that you have embodied around, we're gonna talk about feminine energy and flow, and then I wanna dive into
00:30:18
Speaker
the theme of this year, the chaotic theme of 2023 so far. But you really have embodied this beautiful flowing feminine energy. And I can see that you've embraced your softness, like your whole presence has shifted the way that you show up in
00:30:34
Speaker
your programs are shifted because i've attended some of those this year and throughout your journey i'd love for you to talk about a little bit about this and i'd love to also kind of dial it back to the beginning of this year when you joined me in costa rica at my wild and free retreat because i know that had an impact on your journey so can you share a little bit around that
00:30:56
Speaker
It was terrible, don't go. No, I'm joking. Fuck you! It's, you know what? Genuinely speaking, that couldn't be more opposite from the truth because the truth is that was genuinely the start of everything, right? Like this year has been huge and I'll be honest, it's been throwing big fuck-ups, but there's also been huge, huge shifts in
00:31:17
Speaker
who I am, my identity as a leader, my business, even rebranded, renamed, set itself into this new mission. And as you said, my leadership feels softer, like very powerful, but definitely softer. And just, you know, there's been this transition. So for me, it's one of them beautiful things where as with business, right? I love a retreat. I literally go on three or four of them a year. I'm such a retreat junkie. And I was not gonna turn down the opportunity to go to Stephanie's retreat because A, she's my best friend.
00:31:44
Speaker
Secondly, it was Costa Rica. I'd not been there before. And finally, all the work that Seff does is the stuff that I tend to run away from. So I was like, well, better go on that. That's going to be fun. And honestly, it was so, so powerful. I love how you themed all the different days connecting to the wild woman, the sensual woman, the nourished woman, the queen, like the different energies and the connections. And it was just so powerful for me, like to be as well at a retreat as Alicia and not the coach was awesome because I've had experiences in the year before of going to events and retreats where
00:32:14
Speaker
I would be approached all the time and ask questions and kind of almost feel like I'm working when I'm not meant to be working. It kind of really defeats the object of going on a retreat as an attendee. So I went on this retreat, met loads of incredible like-minded women, and there was a few of the practices in particular that were very eye-opening, little uncomfortable for me at times, like especially some of that feminine embodiment work and the eye-gazing and, you know, dancing for each other. I won't go into too much here, guys, because I'm a spoiler alert.
00:32:41
Speaker
but it was amazing to meet myself there and I didn't realise a how healing it would be for me and my body like you know this as well Steph because you were in Ibiza with me but this summer
00:32:53
Speaker
when I was in Ibiza compared to last summer. There's not a huge difference in my body, I'll be honest. There isn't really physically, but I was so much more confident in my body. I was so electric. I was magnetising people to me, quite fucking literally. And I was just in this energy of, I love my body, I love me, I love everything about me. I felt so good. And I attribute a lot of that down to the work that we did in the retreat. So this connection to myself was really powerful. And then there's a profound moment that happened. And I think it's important to mention this because it's where the business stuff changed for me.
00:33:22
Speaker
where we were being guided through a breathwork session and I saw myself leave my body and I went around each woman in the circle and said I am the light, I am the light, I am the light and I came back down and the message I got was that that is my highest self and I was in gold, I had kind of like this white gold aura around me and the message was that's the highest version of you.
00:33:42
Speaker
Now, as we fast forward the clock a little bit to May, I attended a retreat in Scotland, my own coach Haley, and I dressed for the day that we came on the first day in like a champagne gold coloured silk blouse and matching pleated skirt, maxi skirt, long to the floor.
00:33:56
Speaker
heels and had my little journal, hair curled much like it is today. And I had the top room in the castle. It was a castle, right? So I was top room, castle, joked about it, about being a queen. And I sorted all my stuff out and then got ready to come downstairs and meet all the other women. And it was one of them spiral staircases. Left my stuff, started to walk down the stairs. And I got about a third of the way down the stairs. And as I did, there was a door opposite me that opened and two women called Cheryl and Donna came out of the door. I'd never met them before.
00:34:25
Speaker
And as they opened the door, they said they were greeted by me before them. And behind me, I was backlit by golden light and I was wearing gold head to toe. And they literally said to me, Alicia, you look like Jesus coming out of the sky. We had a really funny moment laughing about it. And at the time I leaned in as well. I'm a bit of a joker. I was like, yeah, yeah, God is a woman. Like I was kind of leaning in and having a bit of a laugh about it. And then we went into the coaching session in the retreat.
00:34:50
Speaker
We were doing various things with Hailey and she said, I want you to all share with a woman in this space. What's something you've noticed about them? You've only just met them. What is something? Share something with someone that you feel cool to, that you've noticed. And then it came round to Cheryl and she was one of the ladies that saw me coming out of that door. And she said, Alicia, I know we joked on the stairs. I'm going to be honest, but I have never seen a woman in such her ethereal light. Like you honestly radiate leadership. You radiate God-like energy. You radiate that ethereal. She is so confident and sure of herself.
00:35:20
Speaker
And the minute she said it, it dropped. And I went, I am the highest version of me now. I am. Like, and I've been on a beautiful journey, Steph. Oh, it makes me emotional saying it. From January to May of clearing out some clients, changing some structures of my offers, my messaging, even the way I was teaching.
00:35:35
Speaker
and I felt so much more happy and grounded and it was just that full circle moment of what happened in Costa Rica to what then happened in May for me to embrace this golden light and this energy and it's something that's really special to me in fact whenever I talk generally if I'm doing a talk on a guest program even at the yoga show on the weekend the light came flooding in through the window at the top and
00:35:56
Speaker
light is such a good sign for me. It's like whenever I'm channeling and I'm in my energy, boom, like light comes on to me like normally the sun and it just feels really juicy. So that's what Costa Rica did. I mean, very profound, like that's huge. It was, there was so much more that I could talk about. We could do a whole podcast on Costa Rica alone, but they're the main things that I would like to share about that.
00:36:16
Speaker
And then that softness and that flow in my leadership. I think that it was more being sure of myself as well. Do you know what I mean? Like, I think that sometimes I've in the past attached being loud and shouting about it to, I know my stuff, versus sometimes leaning into that calmer, softer energy. And as I'm sure you can tell from this podcast, I am an energetic person. Like, and Steph will vouch for this. This is just me. But I'd love to tell you that I'm performing for the podcast. I'm not. This is literally what I'm like 24-7 most of the time. But I've really felt this sense of
00:36:45
Speaker
i guess almost what's the word i'm looking for like this real sense of i know who i am now like i really know who i am at the core i know what i want i know my worth i know my value i don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore and i think that's where that real solid leadership and that softness comes from
00:37:03
Speaker
I felt really emotional as you sharing that too, because I remember the moment, I have a magic moment actually from, I think it was that breath work or another breath work, which I'm going to share in a moment. But when you came out of the breath book that you're talking about, I'm pretty sure you said you literally look like Jesus coming out this guy. Like those were your words that you use. So the fact that you've had that experience where your vision has literally come into life is so powerful.
00:37:33
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. And that often happens when we have these visions, when we have a vision board or a manifestation, when we are
00:37:40
Speaker
mentally playing out in our memory or sometimes in really deep practices like breath book practices or different spiritual practices, we can get that visual and then time goes by, months, sometimes it's years. And then we have that moment where we think, oh my gosh, I'm actually living the version that I was once dreaming about. I am her now, I am this woman and that's really powerful and I'm so happy that the retreat had that experience. I love that it is just that space away, that break,
00:38:08
Speaker
that time to connect with other women and really go really freaking deep into the journey.
Impact of Costa Rica Retreat
00:38:14
Speaker
And my magic moment from that experience was the day, essential goddess day.
00:38:21
Speaker
So everyone was wearing red and we were doing a sensual, I was guiding you all through a sensual breath work practice. And there was literally a moment, I can see it in my mind right now. I can see, if I close my eyes, like I could be back there. I was guiding it and it was like, everybody just got in sync at the same time into the sensual breath work. And the breath was flowing, there was size, there were like pleasurable noises, the hips were moving. And I remember looking at you,
00:38:48
Speaker
and feeling like she's let go. She just let go and she's just in the moment and in her body and in the pleasure. And it literally just brought such a smile to my face because you were like in this beautiful red flowing sensual outfit. And I just was so grateful for being able to guide you but seeing you in your own process. So I had to say that, oh, I love the retreat so much. I get so excited talking about it and emotional because it's so, so beautiful.
00:39:17
Speaker
so powerful yeah and i got so much more than i expected from that and like that's me being a friend and someone that knows steph right like that's not because i didn't expect big things but i think that you know what i wanted to come away feeling was more connected meeting people having a rest and a recharge creating space but i came away with that very profound realization and connection to my mission and what i wanted to do
00:39:41
Speaker
Hey there, I hope that you're enjoying this juicy episode. If you are, then make sure to check out all of the details on my Wild and Free retreat. Wild and Free is a five-night transformational experience of sisterhood, somatic healing, liberation, and where you reclaim your feminine power
00:39:56
Speaker
release a lifetime of shame and suppressed emotions and step into the most authentic, embodied and badass you. This is your remembering and rebirth where you'll experience a death of your ego and a connection to your true self, your power and your purpose in this time collapsing experience. To get all of the details, head to the show notes for more.
00:40:18
Speaker
how the evolution came as I evolved and that happened actually that same May moment that I described to you with me coming down and that full circle it was at that very retreat that I changed my brand name and it just feels so powerful because each time I've immersed myself in a retreat experience this year I've got something different you know I've just come back from Bali from a retreat
00:40:36
Speaker
and it's been so healing because you know I've been going through another chapter of my life and business right now where I've been under a lot of stress and you know I know Steph resonates with this too and there's some things we spoke about offline but like I've had some hair loss, I've had
00:40:49
Speaker
if the issues with my periods, my cycle, I've not been sleeping. And there's been a lot of things that have been going on in the background that physically just, you know, have been really red flags for my body. So this barley retreat was so healing, but in a totally different way. So honestly, if you're thinking about retreats, like do not hesitate. There's always so much that I take away from them. And I mean, especially Steph and Costa Rica, like honestly, Steph, before I came to Costa Rica, barley was my favorite place in the world, but now Costa Rica is my number one. Like I cannot wait to go back to Costa Rica. So yeah, I love it.
00:41:18
Speaker
Yeah, see you there in January, hopefully. Yeah, we'll be there in January as such, the vibe. Guys, in the UK especially, in the winter, Christmas is over, January blues, ain't no need for that when you're in Costa Rica with Stephanie. So yeah, it's the vibe, honestly. I've never been away in January before, and a bit of winter sun is definitely me. Oh wow. Yeah, end of January specifically, and it's very intentional why I host my retreats in Costa Rica at that time of year,
00:41:43
Speaker
Main reason being that that was when I attended my first ever retreat in Costa Rica in January, and that completely... The retreat experience itself wasn't the thing that changed my life, but it was that first domino of the series that needed to fall to allow everything to unfold.
00:42:02
Speaker
And that's the power that these experiences can have. Sometimes you walk away and you're like, especially with my retreats, you walk away and you're like, I literally am a different person, but I'm more myself than I've ever been. And I feel so much love for myself. And sometimes it's the integration process from the retreat when you get back home and when you start to make the shifts that things unfold.
00:42:20
Speaker
And the power of doing it in a January is just amazing. So yeah, if you're in this part of the world, get out of winter in January and it will change you. So everyone's invited to the Wild and Free Retreat in January. I'd love to talk now. Let's move it into this year. How would you summarize this year?
2023: A Transformative Year
00:42:40
Speaker
Three to five words. What words would you use to start? Unhinged and chaotic. That was quick.
00:42:47
Speaker
I knew. I knew straight away. I knew because it's been a fucking crazy year. But all jokes aside, there has been a lot of heaviness this year and a lot of changes and things that have been very difficult to navigate. But also there has been really, you know, I shared some of them already in this podcast episode. There's been some really key moments of discovery, right? Of like self discovery of that connection to the business and brand and the elevation of that. I am the highest version of me now. So there's been magic amongst the chaos. But yeah, there's been a lot happening for me.
00:43:16
Speaker
you want me to dive in and share some stuff? Please dive right in. So I remember very specifically being with Steph in Costa Rica in fact going through this transformation and of course the universe loves to stick a challenge on your plate when you're in a deep zone and at the time we had not long found out before I came to Costa Rica that the flat that me and my partner were living in was going up for repossession because our lovely landlord had not paid his bills
00:43:39
Speaker
And there was a lot playing out around that whilst I was away, so I was navigating some quite difficult conversations with my partner when I was away about what we need to do with that. He was also very sick himself, bless his heart, and was really not well. So there was a lot of things that were happening that faced in January and played out for a few more months after because we had quite short notice, we had about two months to try and find somewhere to live.
00:44:00
Speaker
and of course there was a good two weeks at the start of the year that I then couldn't look for any property because I was in Costa Rica and then I got back and then it was suddenly okay six weeks now until we've got to be out of our property what are we doing and we were looking everywhere we were trying to look locally we were viewing places and within literally hours the places were going even if we put offers on there was six to twelve people offering per property like the property market just went mad in London because that's where we were living right east London
00:44:25
Speaker
And we got to this point where it was just feeling too pressured and we were even looking at Airbnb's family, different options, but it wasn't feeling aligned. And then one of my incredible friends by Earth Angel Sharon said to me, Alicia, I've got a two bed flat, two bath. I know it's not exactly huge, but I, you know, she's looked after our cat before as well, right? So she was like, I know the cat, the cat knows me.
00:44:46
Speaker
I love you guys. I'm more than happy to put you guys up for a bit to help you out. And at first my ego was like, no, I'm gonna be fine. It's okay. Thanks Sharon. Much love. And then me and Monteser spoke about it and he was like, actually, yeah, that, that, that would be a good option for us. Why don't we look at it? So we did. And we ended up staying with her for about, it was about six weeks in total, but it was through that process, Steph. And I think this is a big thing that's helped me move from hustle as well into flow is that we kind of realized that we were only staying in East London because of A,
00:45:13
Speaker
his work being not too nearby and then the other reason that we were staying was because I've just been there for years, like I moved there with an ex-boyfriend years ago, I've been there, I kind of had my routine at the gym and things but actually my friends had moved away, I didn't really have anything there anymore and it was a concrete jungle so I kind of thought to myself do you know what this new area that we live in, why don't we explore it and we did and we fell in love with a beautiful little place called Ware which is where we've moved to now and there's a river, there's countryside parks, like there's just this really beautiful community feel
00:45:42
Speaker
and I remember going on the first weekend that I was here to this lovely yogi cafe that does juices and palates classes and moon workshops and I had a conversation with the woman in there and she was like oh we'd love to do some workshops with you and I thought you know what this is what I want like I want a community like this I want to live somewhere that inspires me and somewhere that's amazing so yeah fast forward to May of this year and we found the property that we're in now
00:46:04
Speaker
how weird actually i've just realized january was when costa rica happened may was when scotland happened with that moment and we had this in may right from the so yeah wow full circle sorry just an epiphany there so that all kind of came about and that was happening and at the same time through those five to six months of the year i came to costa rica having 25k recurring cash in my business for the time i left costa rica it was down to i think 9k and by the way that was not the costa rica effect but it was just whilst i was there i had
00:46:31
Speaker
people fall off of contract, things that came to a close and I came back and things started to dwindle and at the time it was very scary in business, I can't lie, but as I look back now I know what it was, it was a recalibration because I'd signed quite a few people on these contracts and these programs that really came to me from their victimhood wanting me to save them and me, people pleasing, wanting to save them too and thinking I could write so there was this real sense of recalibration but of course my earnings went down
00:46:58
Speaker
I then spent a few months of continuing to do well in business, but each month felt like hustle it did. I remember even saying to my coach, it feels like I'm go, go, go again. It feels like I'm having to be cash to cash each month rather than building up that consistent, juicy recurring. So you've got this time period from the beginning of the year to the summer where my income is inconsistent, it's up and down. I've got things happening in my business, clients acting out of integrity, contracts ending, I even had somebody ghost me. There's all these things that have happened,
00:47:27
Speaker
I had my home taken away from me with sleeping on an airbed, friends with my cat and my partner and all of our stuff in storage and that unsafety really that was there at the time.
00:47:38
Speaker
then moving to a new area and on the day that we moved into this house I fell over and I sprained my ankle and tore two of my three cruciate ligaments and was then out of action physically. So I built this really great routine and then suddenly wasn't able to exercise and still I'm only able to do light impact work still now because of the injury and the nature of it. So all these things happened and in the meanwhile I was having issues with my friendships, my relationships, my family even like there's been so many things that have happened
00:48:06
Speaker
in this last six, seven, eight, nine months and it's just like, wow, there's been a lot, right? But as I said at the same time, there's been so much beauty. There's been that coming together now of like the absolute caliber of client. Like I've got some incredible women in my world now that are either brand new and have come in in the last six months or those clients that have been with me a year, two years, two and a half years that are just absolute leaders, yeah? That always show up and do the work that are investing and recommitting and doing all the things. So
00:48:34
Speaker
There's been a lot, yeah, there's been a lot that I've spoken about there and mentioned there but at the same time I'm very grateful for the path I've been on and this journey because it's taught me a lot about myself and I know as well I knew this anyway Steph but I've learned even more so through this process that I am strong and that I am super resilient and that
00:48:50
Speaker
I really do believe that God doesn't give anybody anything they can't handle, right? I really do believe that at the same time, it's been humbling again to ask for help, you know, to be able to turn to, and especially you, you've been, and I just want to say thank you. You've been the most incredible friend to me. I'm so grateful for you. So thank you for everything that you've been there for me through, because I, yeah, I don't know what I'd do without you in my life. I really wouldn't. So I'm grateful for you, Steph, grateful for my love, angels, my support, therapy, coaches, you know, the different things that I've turned to at points when I've needed to, and
00:49:21
Speaker
I'm, yeah, just so grateful for that because asking for help before I didn't do that when I was in my go, go, go, right back in the day at the bank, I just let myself go until I fell over. Whereas now I am not scared to ask for help or share. And that's been very powerful as well, because you know what they say? Hey, that's saying problem shared is a problem path. So being able to have sounding boards and talk things out and share things has been really healthy and has enabled me to be where I am now. Thank you for sharing all of that, Alicia. And first of all,
00:49:47
Speaker
You know how much I love you and I, oh my gosh, would not have survived these last few months either if it were not for you. I love how the challenges of this year have really brought you and I closer than we ever have been, right? Like, we literally are voice noting every single day. We tend to daily talk, don't we? Like, when we came on camera today, I was like, it's nice to actually see you because I talk to you every day, but now we're seeing each other and it's amazing.
00:50:11
Speaker
Yeah, we've become really close, haven't we? So it's beautiful. We've always had a good connection. But it's interesting that both of us, we're both Pisces, we're similar age. We have been going through a lot, although different things. And it's been beautiful because we've been able to support each other. So yeah, I'm super grateful. Thank you. You're always welcome, babes. I'm always here. You know that. I know. I love it so much. I'm so grateful for you, honestly. Oh, these kind of friendships are so important in life. And thank you for sharing
00:50:40
Speaker
little tidbits of what you've been through. You have been through so much and as humans we have our relationships, our career, our work, you know, our homes that we live in and you've had uncertainty really in every sort of area of life and those are the most stressful pieces when we have disruption really put us into this state of chaos and I have
00:51:03
Speaker
witnessed and seen you going through this in every area of life so you are fucking strong you are such a badass and i'm really even inspired to see how you've navigated through this and also your mindset and your approach of that it's not happening to me it's happening for me
00:51:19
Speaker
I can get through this. This is all for some bigger purpose and just trusting the journey and the process, even when it fucking sucks. And it's so shit. And it's like, I don't want this. I don't wish this on someone else, but you've navigated it with such
00:51:34
Speaker
grace and compassion and I really am inspired to see all of that and obviously resonate deeply also having gone through like you said different things but chaos as well over the last few months and I think this just touches on what is most important I think for everybody is that support because we're not the only people who've been through
00:51:57
Speaker
Shit this year and in my world it was very much relationship pieces for me which obviously impacted my business and The way I was showing up and really reevaluating every single thing in my life
00:52:10
Speaker
But we have to do this with support. Life becomes so much more challenging when we adopt that lone wolf or so many of us are in that approach.
Importance of Support and Resilience
00:52:21
Speaker
So what are, aside from me, obviously, the support of people like you, it's all about me.
00:52:29
Speaker
No joking. But what are some other pieces you mentioned therapy coaching? What has been is that a piece of like a mindset or something that you have been repeating over in your mind? Like what has been the pieces or the things that have helped you really navigate?
00:52:46
Speaker
Oh, it's such a good question because I'm very much going to go in the moment on this, Steph, because I've not had time to think about it. But I think that the number one thing it comes back to for me, you've said it already about me, is that I've always believed it's happening for me, not to me. And even in the moments where it's felt very, where is me? And I have my little bitch fit and I cry about it and then I get over it. I remind myself that it's part of that greater plan. It's part of God's greater plan. It's part of that, that plan of what's meant for me. And what I always come back to, and it's such a beautiful sentiment that's never passed me by, is that
00:53:16
Speaker
We all have so much evidence of abundance around us and so much to be grateful for, right? And some people that could be listening to this right now that are going through a hell of a time could be thinking, oh, come on, Alicia, shut up. But it's true. Like, even if I'm sitting here right now, and I haven't, by the way, I've had a great day, but let's imagine I've had a shocking day today. I could still be sitting here now saying I'm really grateful that I'm here using my voice and sharing my message because I get to inspire and support somebody else. I'm grateful that Steph
00:53:41
Speaker
invited me onto her platform. I'm grateful for the internet that's enabling me to speak to her across the world right now. Like I'm in London and she's in Canada and we are having this conversation. I'm grateful for the heating in my home. I'm warm. Yeah. I've got food in my fridge. I've got light in the light above me. Like I have got so much that proves to me that I'm innately abundant. So even at time step when I've not felt safe this year. Yeah. Cause as you described earlier, right? My Maslow's hierarchy of needs has been every element of my life at times that I've not had the consistency and stability in.
00:54:11
Speaker
I've always felt safe in me, like the best home of all is me, it's my body, it's my mind, it's my heart, it's who I am at the core and the power of my mind, of your mind is so strong, it is. And to be able to come back to that notion, if it happening for you and to always anchor yourself in gratitude is really powerful because what I used to do
00:54:31
Speaker
and again this was a bit of a learned behavior was think well there's always someone worse off than me and the problem with that thought process and this is my opinion right so i'm just going to put this out there is that you're minimizing your problems you're basically saying that yours don't matter because there's someone out there that's worse off and of course that is the reality right there are people there's dying children starving you know as we record this podcast now we've got
00:54:53
Speaker
Palestine and Israel you know the things that are happening in the world are very true but that still does not minimize or take away from the things that you are feeling and thinking right like everybody's thoughts and feelings are valid they really are so i would say Steph if i was to summarize that's it it's been coming back to that notion of for me not to me and anchoring myself in gratitude and a life of abundance no matter what yeah so powerful
00:55:18
Speaker
And I love that gratitude rampage that that's such a great way of doing it. You can be like, I'm grateful for my fingernails. I'm grateful to have all 10 fingers. I'm grateful for my breath. I'm grateful for my lungs that allow me to breathe and to speak, especially I had a really stuffy nose last week when I was recording podcasts.
00:55:36
Speaker
I'm so grateful that I can breathe easily and don't have to blow my nose 17 times throughout this recording. It's the small things that really have such a big difference. And when we can choose to focus on those, we start to rewire the way our mind works to look for those glimmers and those pieces of gratitude versus where things are going wrong. Because there's always shit happening. There's always things we can't control and so much going on in the world.
00:56:03
Speaker
All we can control is ourselves. All we can control is how we feel and things that we're doing in our life. Last thing, is there anything to wrap this up that you haven't shared that you really want to touch on? And then I have a couple of questions to ask you that I love to ask every guest. Yeah. I think that, I mean, it's been the overall theme really, but I think it's something I would like to say and voice out loud is that
00:56:26
Speaker
Never underestimate the power of you and know that you do have everything that you need within you. I've had some really powerful conversations just this weekend that I spoke to a beautiful woman that shared with me. She spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on healers, on shamans, on therapists, coaches and
00:56:43
Speaker
she said something to me quite profound and she was like I've just realised that all the longer I had everything I needed within me and I was like fuck that's it right you we all do and of course working with incredible coaches like myself and Steph we helped to bring out the best in you we helped to fast track that timeline
00:56:58
Speaker
we're there with the tools and the things to support you but ultimately what I want you to know is how powerful you are. Like that's the message that I've got to share right now and that's what's coming through me is that you are so much more powerful than you've probably even discovered. I truly believe Steph, I'm going to be honest with you, I think unless you are a conscious, awoken woman that's in the work like we are right now, you're scratching the surface. I think that there's so many more women that are still to be awakened and connected to the power of them and that's just something that I wanted to share.
00:57:25
Speaker
I completely agree. And what's really fascinating is that more women are afraid of their own power than they are a failure. Most women actually don't fear failure. They fear success and they fear their own fire and their own power and their own voice. So thank you for sharing that. And one final thing I wanted to touch on, we're really good at bypassing our own experience. We're really good at bypassing our own feelings. And that doesn't serve anyone. It just keeps us in that pain and shame cycle.
00:57:54
Speaker
Acknowledging where we're at, knowing that it's okay to be where we are and be with the pain and move through it. Just because someone has it worse than you, it doesn't mean that your experience isn't valid because it's all relative at the end of the day. So if you bypass yourself, stop doing that. Please respectfully don't do that. So finally, Alicia, thank you so much for being here and for sharing so openly, so unfiltered and so vulnerability.
00:58:21
Speaker
I would love to wrap up by asking you three questions. Number one, what are you celebrating in life right now? Do you know what? I am celebrating.
00:58:33
Speaker
Oh my God, there's so much. I don't even know where to begin. Great. I am celebrating. I'm just going to go for the big one. I'm celebrating being in the best place I've been in in a long time, especially in my business and connected to this. Like I was just reflecting earlier before coming on this cool stuff. I was in Voxer where my clients chat with me and there's so many wins popping off right now. People are just all engaging and vibing. And I just feel really content, like all my spaces and my people, like they feel like my people now. You know, I've had a real time of turbulence of,
00:59:00
Speaker
in and out and things that have shifted and changed. So I'm celebrating because I feel like my people are in my world right now. And I'm very grateful for those people. And they're all winning, which just, yeah, their wins make me happier than my wins. So that that feels really beautiful. I'm celebrating with you right now. So grateful that you're at that place. Number two, what is bringing you pleasure right now?
00:59:21
Speaker
oh wow what's do you know what's bringing me pleasure actually is that now that the weather's changed a little bit like don't get me wrong i'm a sun worshipper like i literally think i'm solar powered i do however since coming back and coming into the cold what's really giving me pleasure is i'm actually enjoying more my hot drink in the morning like i had my cacao this morning and there's just something different about having a hot beverage in the cold i know that sounds really strange but like just the whole
00:59:47
Speaker
experience a bit, like how it feels in your hands, when you taste it, like the warmth of it. Like I'm really getting pleasure out of my morning routine. Now it's turned more autumnal winter vibes in the UK. So yeah, that's something that's going on right now. I love it and cacao. I need to go and have a cacao. I didn't have mine yet. And it brings me so much pleasure. I love it. And finally, if there's one thing that you could share with all women in the world that they could experience or know, what would that be?
01:00:14
Speaker
that the power is you, right? Like that you have everything that you need within you. And something downloaded to me, Steph, as you were saying, about not minimizing you and making sure that, you know, you're being true with yourself and like, you know, there's no shortcuts. And when you said that, what came to my mind was there's no shortcut on the journey to you.
01:00:33
Speaker
like there's no shortcut on the journey to becoming the truest most aligned version of yourself because you can try and cut corners but if you do it's going to come back to bite you it will like if you really want to face in more deeply to who you truly are and step into alignment then don't shortcut on the journey to you because you get to embrace every part of your journey and trust in that path yes some paths might look rockier than others it might take time but trust and know that that journey and the gifts that come through it is going to be the most powerful thing so
01:00:59
Speaker
the power is you. I've already said it now and you have so much power and I'm excited for you to tap into it even fairer as well and discover just how powerful you are, dear sister. Thank you, Alicia. And if you've loved this episode, let us know. Alicia, where can people find you and connect with you? Instagram! Yes! If you can't see, I'm doing like peace signs at the moment. Boudicier Rising, which is an interesting spelling but I'm sure Steph will put it in the show notes.
01:01:25
Speaker
So yeah at B2C arising on Instagram is where you will find me hanging out 99% of the time because I'm an Instagram babe. I'm also on other platforms though like TikTok, Facebook under the same name you can find me pretty much anywhere but yeah Instagram's my main hangout especially if you want to tap into that juicy free value ad content that I share all the time then that's where you find me and I do have as well my own podcast which is the Memos of a Millionaire podcast where I've been sharing my journey scaling from
01:01:51
Speaker
start up to seven-figure business and talking about everything, all the things, really good juicy things. So yeah, that's where you can find me hanging out. And Stephanie, thank you so much for having me. I've loved this conversation. Time has flown by. It's been so, so juicy and there's been some real moments for me to think about and reflect on too. So thank you. I've loved having
01:02:10
Speaker
this space to share my thoughts and be able to express with you. So thank you for inviting me and I love you very much, very proud of you. And guys, Unfiltered Femme, it's a vibe, you know, all of the podcast episodes. If you think this was the best one, you just got to keep listening to all of them. And I will be back for more if you want. Yeah, let's staff know. Episode two of the CMA, let's go.
01:02:30
Speaker
Oh my God, I love you. Leave me a review, leave me a rating on Unfiltered Fam and tell us how much you love this episode. Thank you. But no, seriously, Alicia, thank you for being here. We will be diving more into an even more unfiltered, unhinged, chaotic, incredible, amazing episode. I have no doubt. But thank you for being here and for sharing. I love how open you are and I love having you in my life. So thanks for sharing yourself here and have a beautiful rest of your day, everybody.