Hello Couragemakers and a very Happy International Women’s Day to you!
Thank you so much for your birthday love last week and your wonderful support! We are now over HALF WAY to meeting the first goal on Patreon which is weekly solo shows! I’m blown away on a daily basis by this community, so thank you, thank you, thank you
This week’s episode is coming to you late courtesy of a stomach bug, but I couldn’t be more thrilled to release this episode on International Women’s Day!
This week I’m talking to the lovely Jessie Harold! Jessie is the creator and community catalyst behind Nalumana Women’s Wellness. She has academic degrees in Neuroscience and Health Promotion, and is a certified life coach from the Centre for Applied Neuroscience, and a certified birth doula. She works with women one-to-one, leads reWILD adventure retreats, seasonal women’s circles, and runs two online programs, all with the aim of supporting women to navigate life transitions in a way that brings them closer to who they are, what matters most, and what’s possible. Also a writer, Jessie has had work published in Misadventures Magazine, International Doula Magazine, Huffington Post, and Inspired Coach Magazine. She is the mother of two wee kids, and lives in a little oceanfront cottage on the east coast of Canada.During our conversation, we’re really diving into what it means to build a multi-passionate career and find the umbrella theme of your work, the authenticity behind the momentum of women rising and how isolating it can feel bucking society’s trends.
Jessie shares her journey of finding a way of putting her passions under one roof, aligning her life with her values and the courage that comes with playing the long game.
We have a great discussion about external expectations, not needing to achieve something to justify our existence and the glamorisation of big leaps and the tiny steps Jessie has taken along the way.
This is a fantastic episode for all multi-passionate and creative women who are looking to find the theme behind their body of work, for any woman who is going through any life transition and a fantastic reminder to be uncompromising and have patience.
Here’s to rising up as women, unapologetically, intentionally and unashamedly!
Enjoy today’s show wonderful women!
About Jessie
Jessie Harrold is the creator and community catalyst behind Nalumana Women’s Wellness. She has academic degrees in Neuroscience and Health Promotion, and is a certified life coach from the Centre for Applied Neuroscience, and a certified birth doula. She works with women one-to-one, leads reWILD adventure retreats, seasonal women’s circles, and runs two online programs, all with the aim of supporting women to navigate life transitions in a way that brings them closer to who they are, what matters most, and what’s possible. Also a writer, Jessie has had work published in Misadventures Magazine, International Doula Magazine, Huffington Post, and Inspired Coach Magazine. She is the mother of two wee kids, and lives in a little oceanfront cottage on the east coast of Canada.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Things We Talked About:
- being uncompromising and having patience
- the importance of addressing our privileges
- the courage of playing the long game
- rising up as women
Resources Mentioned:
- Renaissance Business - Puttylike
- Emilie Wapnick - Puttylike
- Robert Keegan (stages of adult self)
- The Dance of the Dissident Daughter - Susan Monk Kidd
- Rise Sister Rise - Rebecca Campbell
- If Women Rose Rooted - Sharon Blackie
- Elizabeth Gilbert talk on not chasing your passions
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
Couragemakers turns 2 today! And as a birthday special, past guest, the wonderful Katie Snyder is interviewing me! We talk struggles, money, creativity and some serious vulnerability!
To listen to last year's birthday episode with Mr. Meg, click here!
You can listen to Katie's episode here!
And to find out all about Couragemaker's Patreon page, go here :)
THANK YOU for being the most wonderful community I could ever ask for.
Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 82 of The Courgemakers Podcast!
Before we dive into this week’s wonderful episode, I want to let you know that Couragemakers turns 2 this week and there is going to be a very special behind the scenes episode on Wednesday where past guest, the lovely Katie Snyder is interviewing me! I think you’re going to love the birthday special and I’m excited to share it with you!
For this week’s episode, I’m talking with Kerstin Pressler. Kerstin is a fine artist, who lives between the borders of Germany and the Netherlands and has been living the creative life for nearly a decade. Through The Sparkling Creative, Kerstin is a mentor to visual creatives who strive to live their creative passion without suffering financially and seek to combine their creative passion with entrepreneurialism. You can usually find her in her studio, where she's creating new artworks daily.When she's not working on one of her artworks or taking care of her amazing creative clients, she's out and about exploring nature with her son and husband.What is making Kerstin extremely happy right now is having time to experiment with new pens and papers.
In this episode we’re diving into the myth of being a starving artist. We’re talking all about the intersection between creativity and making money, and have a really honest conversation about what that looks like.
Kerstin shares her story, from choosing to go to art school and business school at the same time, what helps her stay focused and disciplined to get her work done as a creative and the behind the scenes of how she runs her business.
We dive into figuring out what you want versus what you think you should want, some practical tips around vision boards and journalling and how looking after yourself is a key part of running a business.
We talk about how Kerstin has fallen in love with the business side of her creative business, some books she recommends as well as how the myth of the starving artist is a choice and we have the ability to merge creativity and money without sacrificing our values.
I think it’s fair to say that as creatives, talking about money can often feel weird and awkward, and this is a wonderful way to really start having that honest conversation with ourselves and remind ourselves that sustaining ourselves through our work isn’t selfish. As Kerstin says, we each have magic fairy dust as creatives that only we can give, and sharing that with the world is a great thing!
This is going to be a great episode for the any one thinking about making money through their art, any one who runs a business and anyone who really wants a great behind the scenes glimpse at what it takes to run a creative business!
Enjoy the show!
About Guest:
Kerstin Pressler is a fine artist, who lives between the borders of Germany and the Netherlands and has been living the creative life for nearly a decade. Through The Sparkling Creative, Kerstin is a mentor to visual creatives who strive to live their creative passion without suffering financially and seek to combine their creative passion with entrepreneurialism. You can usually find her in her studio, where she's creating new artworks daily.When she's not working on one of her artworks or taking care of her amazing creative clients, she's out and about exploring nature with her son and husband.What is making Kerstin extremely happy right now is having time to experiment with new pens and papers.
Website | The Sparkling Creative Podcast | The Sparkling Creative Community | Instagram
Things We Talked About:
- Figuring out what you want versus what you think you should want
- The power of consistency
- Kerstin’s work debunking the myth of the starving artist
Resources Mentioned:
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 79 of The Couragemakers Podcast!
Before we dive into this week’s episode, I just want to remind you that Get Shit Done! Brigade starts this Thursday, 15th February and I would love for you to join us. Get Shit Done! Brigade is the Ultimate 30 Day Accountability Coaching & Encouragement Community. From encouragement parades and accountability buddies to check-in days and 1:1 coaching, it’s about an epic 30 days of action where we feel the fear and do it anyway. If you want to bring your projects into life, brainstorm ideas with a group of like-minded couragemakers and get a gentle kick up the bum to focus on the work that matters the most, then this might just be the thing for you! I Like I say on every episode of Couragemakers, building the life you want and putting stuff in the world takes a boatload of courage, but you don’t have to do it alone. Join the brigade and allow yourself to receive the support and encouragement you so often reserve for other people and let’s get shit done together!
Now, onto today’s episode! This week I’m chatting to the lovely Jessica Brauer. Jessica is a brunch-loving, wine-drinking, introvert with a passion for storytelling, feeling all the feels, and big, crazy dreams. She is one of the three-part team behind Enkindle, a lifestyle company devoted to empowering women to live their authentic, unique life with their hearts on fire. By day she works closely with businesses and organizations on building partnerships, uplifting one another, and championing for success as a coach and manager for communications and outreach in Laramie, Wyoming. Whether putting pen to paper on the Enkindle blog or cheering for a struggling, local entrepreneur, she's a firm believer in the power of a like-minded tribe, starting before you're ready, and healing every bad day with tacos.
In this episode we’re really diving into what it means to live a courageous life, own your story and get really honest about how things are for you.
We have a great conversation about how we like to think we can handle everything ourselves, but how asking for help can be a sign of strength. We talk about the loneliness that comes with feeling like everything has to be perfect when we’re struggling alone and how we can start to dismantle that online. We really tear down some of the bullshit about instagram perfect lives, aspirational branding and believing everyone has their shit together and talk about what happens when you start to share your real life
We also dive into the importance of celebrating your small wins, not needing to fit into boxes to make other people happy and the things we gain when we stop people pleasing and start saying no.
Jessica is a breath of fresh air and she has some fantastic advice for when when the pressure to have a perfect life sinks in. If you ever struggle with endlessly scrolling online, comparing yourself to other people and wondering if you’re the only one who hasn’t got their shit together (spoiler alert: that’s definitely not the case!), you’re going to get so much out of this episode!
Enjoy the show!
About Jessica:
Jessica is a brunch-loving, wine-drinking, introvert with a passion for storytelling, feeling all the feels, and big, crazy dreams. She is one of the three-part team behind Enkindle, a lifestyle company devoted to empowering women to live their authentic, unique life with their hearts on fire. By day she works closely with businesses and organizations on building partnerships, uplifting one another, and championing for success as a coach and manager for communications and outreach in Laramie, Wyoming. Whether putting pen to paper on the Enkindle blog or cheering for a struggling, local entrepreneur, she's a firm believer in the power of a like-minded tribe, starting before you're ready, and healing every bad day with tacos.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Things We Talked About:
- the importance of being listened to
- the loneliness that comes with feeling like everything has to be perfect and struggling alone
- not needing to fit yourself into a box to make other people happy
- getting really honest when someone asks you how you’re doing
Resources Mentioned:
- Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle
- Brene Brown
- Female Lifestyle Empowerment Brand - Kelly Diels
- Why You Must Do What You Love - Barbara Sher
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
On this episode of Couragemakers, to celebrate the launch of the Get Shit Done! Brigade, we're diving into 20 ways to Get Shit Done!
To get all of the links from today's show and to read the transcript on the blog, click here.
To find out more about Get Shit Done! Brigade, visit here!
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
On this week's first solo Couragemakers episode of 2018, I'm making an announcement and a commitment to you, my lovely Courage-making audience!
Keep your eyes peeled for the special 21 Ways To Get Shit Done! episode of Couragemakers coming out tomorrow, and if you want to find out more about the brigade, click here!
Before we begin this week's episode, I want to share something that will be right up your street if you crave a community with like-minded women, want accountability, and need some motivation and cheerleading. Get Shit Done! Brigade is the ultimate online community, coaching and accountability experience and kicks off on 15 February. The brigade is a 30-day online experience where we collectively seriously get shit done. Together we wade through the mud of creative resistance, encourage the shit out of each other and work on the things we’ve been putting off, for let’s face it, WAY too long. You can find out more about the brigade and sign up here.
For this week’s episode, I am speaking to the absolutely inspiring Christina Thatcher.
Christina is a writer, teacher and researcher who believes that reading transforms us, writing drives social change and doing both benefits the world. Christina grew up in America but has made a happy home in Wales with her husband, Rich, and cat, Miso. She is a part-time teacher and PhD student at Cardiff University where she studies how creative writing can impact the lives of people bereaved by addiction. Christina keeps busy off campus too as the Poetry Editor for The Cardiff Review and as a freelance workshop facilitator and festival coordinator. Christina was shortlisted for the Bare Fiction Debut Poetry Collection Competition in 2015 and was a winner in the Terry Hetherington Award for Young Writers in 2016. Christina’s poetry and short stories have featured in a number of publications including The London Magazine, Planet Magazine, Acumen and The Interpreter’s House. Her first collection, More than you were, was published by Parthian Books in 2017.
In this week’s episode, we’re really diving deep into what it means to be a multi-passionate and Christina is sharing her story of having a multi-passionate career that really weaves her interests and her passions together. Christina shares her insatiable desire to learn and what she has learned about generosity and kindness through so many of the community projects she has done, and really putting your skills and strengths out there into the world.
We talk about Christina’s experience of writing her debut poetry collection which explores what it means to lose a father to addiction and live on, her experience of meeting people at her book tour and starting a conversation about grief and how sharing our own stories can make radical change in the world.
Christina also shares fantastic tips, advice and lessons on how to thrive when you are balancing lots of projects and roles (including a great musical metaphor) and the importance of restorative self care and the notion of rest weekends.
I am in awe of all of the work Christina does, how she shows up in the world and what an impact she makes. I love Christina’s honesty in sharing her journey, own struggles and lessons of finding a work life balance while being a pillar in her community and how much joy and enthusiasm she has for life. Christina’s attitude to life is contagious and I know you’re going to absolutely love this episode!
So, enjoy today’s show!
About Guest:
Christina Thatcher is a writer, teacher and researcher who believes that reading transforms us, writing drives social change and doing both benefits the world. Christina grew up in America but has made a happy home in Wales with her husband, Rich, and cat, Miso. She is a part-time teacher and PhD student at Cardiff University where she studies how creative writing can impact the lives of people bereaved by addiction. Christina keeps busy off campus too as the Poetry Editor for The Cardiff Review and as a freelance workshop facilitator and festival coordinator Christina was shortlisted for the Bare Fiction Debut Poetry Collection Competition in 2015 and was a winner in the Terry Hetherington Award for Young Writers in 2016. Christina’s poetry and short stories have featured in a number of publications including The London Magazine, Planet Magazine, Acumen and The Interpreter’s House. Her first collection, More than you were, was published by Parthian Books in 2017.
Website | Book | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn
Things We Talked About:
- Christina’s thematically similar work and her experience of building a body of work and letting go of the need to have a linear narrative
- Christina’s experience of writing and publishing her debut experience, her book tour and experience of running death writing workshops
- The importance of planning rest weekends, restorative self care and a great metaphor for work/life balance
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 77 of The Couragemakers Podcast!
I want to begin this episode with a trigger warning. In this episode, we discuss childhood sexual abuse and very briefly suicide. The most important thing is for you to take care of you, so if you need to skip this episode, please do.
This week, I had the absolute privilege of interviewing Hazel Katherine Larkin.
Hazel Katherine Larkin is a mother, writer, teacher, activist, actor, and academic. Her daughters are 13 & 15, of mixed Irish and Indian heritage, and inspire her to be the best version of herself. Hazel has written for stage, screen and publication in Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, and Dubai, and her memoir Gullible Travels was published at the end of 2015. She has designed and delivered workshops for women and children in a variety of disciplines including personal development, language arts, mental wellness and recovery, and sexuality and consent. She has also devised the first series of workshops ever available in Ireland for midwives and birthworkers around the provision of trauma-informed support for women who have survived sexual abuse. Hazel is a survivor of child sexual abuse, and she writes and speaks about this, and has devised a series of lectures for medical students around the long-term effects of child sexual abuse. Her first loves - Story-telling and Theatre – inform the production and performance all her work. Hazel is currently a PhD candidate researching transgenerational trauma, with particular regard to sexual abuse. Hazel also works with an agency for single parents in Ireland, influencing opinion and policy, and is also a founding member of MAM – Mothers Artists Makers
In this episode we really dive into Hazel’s story. Hazel shares the realities and the struggles of being a truthteller, her experiences of recovery and therapy and how she learned there is no overnight magical transformation, but instead there are lots of small magical steps.
Hazel shares how being a truthteller has been imperative in sharing her own experiences of surviving childhood sexual abuse, great wisdom about telling the truth in stages and the importance of empirical truth.
We dive into the nuances of the #MeToo movement: how we have the choice whether we disclose and to who, how it is enough to draw strength from nodding your head with other people coming forward and the importance of believing yourself when it’s hard.
As Hazel says, one of the most isolating things about sexual abuse is feeling like you’re the only one. This episode is a reminder that you are not alone. Hazel shares advice on what to do if you’ve never disclosed or talked about your experiences and want to start dealing with them, fantastic advice on choosing a counsellor/therapist who works for you and some book suggestions which I’ve added at the end of this episode.
Hazel is a true gift to the world and I am so happy this conversation exists in the world. Hazel says in this episode that her job as a human being is to be the most useful human being she can be and this episode is testament to that.
About Hazel:
Hazel Katherine Larkin is a mother, writer, teacher, activist, actor, and academic. Her daughters are 13 & 15, of mixed Irish and Indian heritage, and inspire her to be the best version of herself. Hazel has written for stage, screen and publication in Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, and Dubai, and her memoir Gullible Travels was published at the end of 2015. She has designed and delivered workshops for women and children in a variety of disciplines including personal development, language arts, mental wellness and recovery, and sexuality and consent. She has also devised the first series of workshops ever available in Ireland for midwives and birthworkers around the provision of trauma-informed support for women who have survived sexual abuse. Hazel is a survivor of child sexual abuse, and she writes and speaks about this, and has devised a series of lectures for medical students around the long-term effects of child sexual abuse. Her first loves - Story-telling and Theatre – inform the production and performance all her work. Hazel is currently a PhD candidate researching transgenerational trauma, with particular regard to sexual abuse. Hazel also works with an agency for single parents in Ireland, influencing opinion and policy, and is also a founding member of MAM – Mothers Artists Makers
Things We Talked About:
- Being a truthteller and being honest and authentic at all times
- How living on hope is like living the smell of bread when you’re starving
- How it’s enough to draw strength from other people coming forward, nodding your head
- Empirical truth vs perception
Resources Mentioned:
- ‘Needlework’ by Deirdre O’Sullivan
- 'The Body Keeps The Score' by Bessel Van Der Kolk
- 'A Child Inside: Understanding, healing and freedom following childhood abuse and trauma’ by Sharon Shaw
- 'Gullible Travels' by Hazel Katherine Larkin
- #CSAQT Survivor Twitter Chat 8pm Mondays BST
- National Helplines and Websites
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
Hello Couragemakers, and welcome to episode 76 of The Couragemakers Podcast!
This week I’m chatting to Maggie Minor. Maggie is multi-passionate entrepreneur, sculptor, print-maker, room designer, blogger and author….and it’s all tied together into one vision: Maggie wants to help people make their spaces align with how they want to feel and their future goals. Maggie grew up in North Carolina as the daughter of a woman contractor (one of two in the entire state) constantly dreaming about designing homes and traveling the world. In college she spent a life-changing semester in England, which lead to working at the New Yorker magazine and attending graduate school in Australia. This in turn led to 12 years as a Peace Corps volunteer and humanitarian worker. Maggie loves to travel, meet other multi-passionate entrepreneurs, be near water, and being creative.
In this episode, we really dive into the power of women’s stories and women’s art, the stories we tell ourselves and the importance of what we surround ourselves with and what messages they send to us.
We explore how as women we’re taught not to be whole on purpose, what happens when you realise your stories are important, and Maggie’s life as a story collector.
We also have a great conversation about how to get through hard periods in your life where it feels like you’re wading through mud, and the things you learn along the way.
There is so much I love about this episode - from Maggie’s ‘Do You Give A Shit Test’ to the way Maggie is so open about what she admires about herself and how interesting her own story is.
I know you’re going to love this episode as much as I loved our conversation!
Enjoy the show!
About Maggie:
Maggie is multi-passionate entrepreneur, sculptor, print-maker, room designer, blogger and author….but it’s all tied together into one vision. Maggie wants to help people make their spaces align with how they want to feel and their future goals. I grew up in North Carolina as the daughter of a woman contractor (one of two in the entire state) constantly dreaming about designing homes and traveling the world. In college she spent a life-changing semester in England, which lead to working at the New Yorker magazine and attending graduate school in Australia. This in turn led to 12 years as a Peace Corps volunteer and humanitarian worker. Maggie loves to travel, meet other multi-passionate entrepreneurs, be near water, and being creative.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
Things We Talked About:
- Maggie’s ‘Do you give a shit?’ test
- Sharing your story and realising that your story is interesting
- Exploring our dark places - that’s often where we find the truest things about ourselves
- Retro feminism and the importance of women’s art
- Viewing your home as a 3D vision board
Resources Mentioned:
Bethany Webster - The Mother Wound
The Desire Map - Danielle La Porte
Martha Beck - How to design your home for maximum happiness
The Power of Unpopular - Erika Napoletano
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 75 of The Couragemakers Podcast!
This week I’m delighted to be joined by Andrea Owen. Andrea is an author, mentor, and certified life coach who helps high-achieving women let go of perfectionism, control, and isolation and choose courage and confidence instead. She has helped thousands of women manage their inner-critic to create loving connections and live their most kick-ass life. She is the proud author of 52 Ways to Live a Kick-Ass Life and How To Stop Feeling Like Shit and the host of Your Kick Ass Life Podcast. When she’s not juggling her full coaching practice or hosting retreats, Andrea is busy competing in triathlons, chasing her 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter or making out with her husband, Jason. She is also a retired roller derby player having skated under the name “Veronica Vain”.
In this episode, we’re really challenging the myth that everyone has their shit together. Andrea shares her journey to reaching rock bottom and working her way back out, as well as her family origin story and how you explore your own.
We dive into listening to your intuition, the importance defining our values has in our lives, and we challenge the zero fucks mentality and faux positive Pinterest quotes.
We also have great conversations about how we get in our own way and what we can do it about it - from people pleasing and numbing out, to isolation and perfectionism.
Andrea and I had so much fun during our conversation, and it’s just so refreshing to talk about embracing what makes us human and really debunking the fact that no one has their shit together, and we’re all paddling like hell underneath!
Enjoy the show!
About Andrea
Andrea Owen is an author, mentor, and certified life coach who helps high-achieving women let go of perfectionism, control, and isolation and choosing courage and confidence instead. She has helped thousands of women manage their inner-critic to create loving connections and live their most kick-ass life. She is the proud author of 52 Ways to Live a Kick-Ass Life and How To Stop Feeling Like Shit and the host of Your Kick Ass Life Podcast. When she’s not juggling her full coaching practice or hosting retreats, Andrea is busy competing in triathlons, chasing her 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter or making out with her husband, Jason. She is also a retired roller derby player having skated under the name “Veronica Vain”.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Youtube |
Things We Talked About
- Showing your human side and that you no one has their shit together
- You don’t have to share everything with everyone
- Bearing the weight and the pain of your own story
- The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Alice Walker
Resources Mentioned:
- How To Stop Feeling Like Shit - Andrea Owen
- Codependent No More - Melody Beattie
- How to find a great therapist and how to get the most out of therapy - Your Kick-Ass Life Podcast
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers (join the party here!) or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!
We’re back! Happy New Year Couragemakers, I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back!
If you’ve been listening for a while, you might have noticed that Couragemakers has been on hiatus since October. The end of last year was a hard one, I lost one of Grandmothers and had a health scare (luckily everything is okay). Taking a break felt incredibly scary - but it was a great reminder that the world doesn’t end when you need to take time for yourself and there’s no shame in needing time for yourself!
So, as I mentioned, Couragemakers is back to its usual Monday schedule! I have fantastic interviews lined up which I know you’re going to love, and I couldn’t be happier to start the new year off with this wonderful conversation with Amy Parker!
Amy is an in-house copywriter and general creative who loves making a mess, enjoys documenting her life (but not necessarily publishing it!), decorating things with washi and stickers, and generally finding little ways to make the world more joyful. She is the woman behind HappyPostBox and shares memory-keeping and planner-related posts on Instagram and sells printable planner stickers in her Easy shop. For the last year she’s been living by her first ever ‘word of the year’ - ‘joy' - and would absolutely encourage anyone else to give it a try, too.
In this episode, Amy shares all about choosing her word for the year, what she has learned during the year and some really helpful practical tips to set your own intentions for your year
We’re really dive into starting your year without pressure, how to use your creativity to record life without getting lost in the act of recording your life, perfectionism and liberating our inner people pleaser and treating your future self as a different person.
One of the things I love the most about this episode, apart from the fact that both of our cheeks were aching from laughing and smiling during our conversation, is Amy’s flexible approach to using a word to guide your year. I love how she sees it as a lens rather than something which you can use to create a rigid plan. I really admire Amy’s honesty in sharing the bumps in the road of her Year Of Joy are it’s really refreshing to see that her journey wasn’t linear, and that you don’t have to do it right, or in a certain way.
I hope this episode helps take the pressure off and helps you to add more joy to your own life.
Here’s to a Hopeful, Inspired and Creative New Year!
And remember, if you’re listening to this episode further along the year, you can start your own Word of The Year journey any time!
Now, onto the show!
About Amy
Amy is an in-house copywriter and general creative, who enjoys documenting her life (but not necessarily publishing it!), decorating things with washi and stickers, and generally finding little ways to make the world more joyful. She shares memory-keeping and planner-related posts on Instagram at @happypostbox and sells printable planner stickers in an Etsy shop of the same name (which started a couple of years ago when she couldn’t find any stickers for her planner of choice, the Passion Planner). For the last year she’s been living by her first ever ‘word of the year’ - ‘joy' - and would absolutely encourage anyone else to give it a try, too.
Things We Talked About:
- Getting honest with yourself and choosing your word of the year based on what you need instead of what you feel you should be doing
- The little things that bring Amy joy
- Capturing real life versus what makes us look good
- What Amy’s year of joy taught her
- Treating your future self as a different person
Resources Mentioned:
- Oneword365
- The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo magic of tidying up
- The Miracle Morning - Hal Elrod
- 1 Second Everyday Day App
- Gretchen Rubin Podcast - four tendencies
- The Curse of Lovely - Jacqui Marson
- The Passion Planner
- Planning Instagram Hashtags: #plannercommunity / #plannergirls
About Meg & That Hummingbird Life
I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate.
I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum.
When I’m not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It’s made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!