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Hey guys, welcome back to the Raising Wild Hearts podcast.
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This is Ryan, and this is a show where we talk about guiding the next generation with patience, presence, and purpose.
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And these conversations are really about how we can take self-ownership in our lives to be happier, more fulfilled, and show up with a little more calm and a lot more grace.
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And today we're doing something a little bit different.
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I'm sharing a conversation where I got to sit on the other side of the microphone as a guest on the Beyond the Nine to Five Ceiling Summit.
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I asked Nicole, the host of the summit, if I could share this conversation on the podcast because I know that you guys are going to get so much out of it.
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And graciously, she said yes.
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And the heartbeat of this conversation is really about the tension that so many of us feel between ambition and work and motherhood and wanting to be present.
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Um, and we're really unpacking the fear and um the questions and everything that comes along with stepping away from a job or something that you've outgrown in your life.
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So I'm sharing a lot about my journey in this conversation and how I got started as a business owner and how that's looked and felt over the years.
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I talk about the seasons where I had to just say F it and burn it all down.
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Um, we also talk about slowing down and redefining productivity, making room for relationships and joy, and something that you know I'm always talking about, my own North Star, which is listening to your own inner knowing and trusting yourself.
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I am a big believer that your path does not have to look like my path, and that we all have different journeys here and different work to do, different challenges, different strengths.
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If you're someone who feels called to the unconventional path or the road less traveled, I know that that can feel a little bit lonely.
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So, in this conversation, I also touch on my antidote and what that has been for that loneliness that has crept up throughout the years periodically.
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So I'm really excited for you guys to hear this conversation.
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Let's jump in.
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Well, hello, Ryan.
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Thank you so much for joining us today.
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I'm so excited to talk to you.
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Thanks so much for having me, Nicole.
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I'm really excited.
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I know you have so much to share.
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And, you know, we'll kick it off with this.
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One of the things that I appreciate about your message is that it just really gives women permission to pause and to think about the kind of both life and motherhood that they want to create instead of just, you know, living on autopilot.
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So I would love to start at the beginning for you.
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Can you take us back to the season that led you to start, you know, sharing the message and building raising wild hearts?
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Like a little bit about that, what was stirring in your heart during that time when you started creating that?
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Sure.
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I started raising wild hearts with my third baby on my hip.
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And it was a season where I was really getting back to myself.
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I had two businesses prior and these different iterations of what I thought I wanted my work life to be.
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And they just didn't feel right anymore.
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And so he was about, my little man was like about one.
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And I just thought, like, I need some adult conversation, first of all.
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Like I need that so bad.
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I was homeschooling my other kids at the time, my big kids who were five and seven-ish at the time.
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And so I hit record and I didn't feel ready.
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I I had just turned 40, and my husband bought me two microphones and a mixer and some headphones for my birthday.
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And I thought, I'm just gonna do this.
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And I don't feel ready, but I'm needing this.
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My soul is like quietly whispering like, start making connections, start learning about the stuff you want to learn about, and just do it.
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And so I did.
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And it's evolved, of course.
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But it was really fun for me in the beginning and continues to be fun to this day.
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I so appreciate you saying I started this when I wasn't ready.
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And that wasn't gonna be my next question, but we'll go there.
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So many women, all of us, right?
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We want to feel perfectly ready.
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We want to have the perfect plan.
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We want to have it all mapped out.
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And the truth is it never works like that, right?
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Then you just delay and you stall and you never get started.
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So I love that you said you just weren't ready and you just went and started and made that decision.
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Yeah, I think that's an important thing to note because we stop ourselves and we let fear really get in the way of what it is that we're meant to do.
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And I don't mean like anything about making money or career.
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This could be any in any point in our lives.
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Like we really have all the answers inside of us.
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And so to sit with that and let it be okay to kind of feel that fear and do it anyway is it's been such a gift in my life, you know?
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It grows you as a person, right?
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You think you think about, I mean, I think about when you make a decision to do something and everyone's gonna have that fear.
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That fear is always so present.
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And you almost just have to tell yourself, what's the worst that happened?
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I try something, it doesn't work exactly as I planned.
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I'm probably gonna grow from it.
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I'm probably gonna learn from it.
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There's some benefit, regardless if it was mapped out and ended exactly as I planned.
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And once you do it a couple times, I think it's easier to have that mentality and that mindset shift.
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I agree with you.
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It's expanding capacity, right?
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So taking this baby step, seeing that you can do it, proving it to yourself, I can do this, and then one more small little step, right?
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Yeah.
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So, you know, I think so many women relate to that tension between wanting to be fully present with their children, and especially you at one point were homeschooling your kids, right?
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Wanting to be fully present with their children, but also just trying to keep up with the pace and the pressures of everyday life outside of that.
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You know, was there a specific season or moment where you realized something needs to shift for me?
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And what did that look like, you know, practically?
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Totally.
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I was on this runway in like 2018, 2019.
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I was, you know, posting on social media every day.
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I was in this high-level mastermind.
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I was like doing the work and really like putting myself out there, being visible.
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And I thought I was building this kind of coaching business, which, you know, at the time it felt right.
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Looking back, I was like, oh, sweet, sweet love.
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You know, I had to go through that season.
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So I'm like pushing hard, I'm hustling, I'm doing the girl boss thing, right?
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And, you know, my kids' schools like call and they're like, we're closing down, you know, whatever.
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Remember that time in society where everybody went crazy.
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Anyway, that's a different podcast.
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Um, and I tried for a couple weeks to with like a five and a I guess they were like four and six.
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I don't know.
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They were little.
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And I tried at the time to really like do this thing with them with me.
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And I remember doing a Facebook Live.
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It was something similar to this.
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It was like a summit or something.
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And I was doing a live and my kids are like right here, like in the video, like asking for more snacks.
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And I shut, you know, I I worked through that discomfort and I, you know, landed the plane on the live and I closed my laptop and I was like, I'm done.
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I'm done.
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And I just threw it all in the garbage can and just burned it.
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I was like, I'm done.
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And so I walked away from that.
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And um, it felt really uncomfortable.
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I felt, you know, I had to sit in this space where I was doing, you know, nothing, so to speak, nothing on the surface, nothing that was visible, nothing that was public, right?
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But I was uh doing this work of being with my kids.
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And that was the work in that season that I really needed.
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It was, and then I got pregnant with my with my third.
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And so I just made a baby and I hung out with my kids and I homeschooled and we went to the beach.
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I live in South Florida, and I just let it be.
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Yeah.
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It's so power.
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I'm so glad you said that.
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It's so powerful because one of my one of the reasons I had this vision with this summit is in talking to other women and where they're at in life and where I was at, you know, corporate career for my whole life, little kids.
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And you you have this tension of this and this pool of I want to be more present with my kids.
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I want, I this is so important to me.
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But then I've had this career, and these are the responsibilities of the career.
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And it won it hits you one day, or at least for me, this is what happened.
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It just hit me one day.
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My kids weren't getting any younger.
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And I said my priorities were my family, and that's what I wanted to put first, and that's what I wanted to have, you know, create the most time for.
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And yet I was intentionally choosing every day to make my career more important with, you know, the travel and the time and whatnot.
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And I say that because this isn't this isn't about me.
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This is about you today.
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But why I say that is because I know that so many people have certain priorities at different times in life.
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And at one point of life, it's working and it works and it's great, and then suddenly it doesn't.
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And just what you talked about.
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It was where it needed to be at that time, and then suddenly it wasn't.
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And so you you pivot, and there's a lot of different ways you can pivot.
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So I think about that.
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This actually goes perfectly into what I wanted to talk to you about next.
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You know, a lot of women feel a pull towards slower, more intentional, like an intentional way of living.
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And they're not always sure how to actually move in that direction, right?
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We've been trained do more, do more, do more, hustle harder, stay busy.
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What is it, what like what did it look like at first for you to begin to make those changes in your own life?
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I love that question because to be seriously so transparent, I'm still working on that.
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I had a dear friend who had a birthday this week, and she happened to have all these little meetups.
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She's turning 50 this week.
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She had all these little meetups this week of like, whenever you're available, and they were all on weekdays and they were all during the day, most of the things.
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And I was like, oh, I'm gonna miss out on this time and that time and that meeting and this meeting.
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And I, and I'm like, okay, you know, so I I clear my calendar for the things that I said I would be available for.
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And I go to the thing, and I have to tell you how much of a blessing it was to be sitting there in community with these sisters.
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It was all, it was a gathering of women, you know, celebrating a beautiful friend on her 50th birthday.
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And I was like, this is it.
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Like my computer's like calling to me, what?
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So I can get my editing done faster, you know, so I could answer another email, like, yes, like we have things we need to do, but we forget so much that like there are other parts of us who need to be nourished as well.
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And if you're here and you're listening to this right now, I have a feeling that you really like working.
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Like I really like to work.
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I feel comfortable at work.
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Like there's this element of control.
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We have like these, you know, this kind of ecosystem that we can have somewhat a sense of control over and to step away from that a little and surrender to the flow of life and the seasons and the up and down and the, you know, kind of flowing nature of life has been just such a gift for me.
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And so it continues to unfold to this day where I remind myself like having fun is part of the process.
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Yeah.
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But it takes intentionality, right?
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It's easy to get caught up in all of the responsibilities, whether that's at a, you know, nine to five career or you've created your own business and you know there's more to do, it can be hard to remind yourself.
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And that's one of the things I've loved about, you know, just this interview series and connecting with incredible women who have gone down different paths because when you get in rooms and get around people who have chosen that path, it's like much easier to remind yourself that there is more to life and so many important things that you, I love what you said, nourish your your nourish yourself in other ways.
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There it's it's you know, really important for women to do.
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So important.
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So, um, Ryan, as you think about, you know, choosing a different path, especially one that maybe doesn't follow the traditional nine to five structure, though you have many things that you need to do.
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It can feel very uncomfortable and scary, I think.
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You know, what helped you trust that as you evolved and as you made some changes in your own business, that what you were building was the right one for your family?
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I love this.
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So I'm taken back to the winter of 2014 when I quit my corporate job.
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And I, my husband and I had just gotten married, and so he has been and will always be kind of my biggest supporter.
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And so I'm so blessed and lucky for um for that.
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And so it's like, okay, I'm gonna kind of leap, right?
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And I start consulting and I'm using my skills and my experience to now basically freelance.
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So I'm unattached to this kind of nine to five structure, and I'm kind of making my own path a bit.
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And then I get pregnant and everything changed in me.
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It was like a a switch, like flipped, and I was a different person, and I would continue to become a different person, you know, as I evolved into a mother, which is my greatest, best favorite and also most challenging role that I've ever played.
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Uh, and so I changed.
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So spring of 2014, I'm growing this human inside of me.
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And my heart was telling me, like, now there is no way, like I had already taken this leap.
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Now there is no way at all that I could possibly go back to a traditional um workspace for me.
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And the choice for that was my heart was telling me, like, I wanted to be home with my kid.
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I didn't know how many kids we would have, but with this baby that I was growing, I wanted to be home with her.
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And um, so it was just, it was like this inner knowing, you know?
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And so I have a baby, and then I'm fundamentally changed.
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And I go back to, okay, now do what do I want to do for work?
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And I start playing with that.
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And the thing is, is that I was changed, but the way I was working wasn't.
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And so to really, the invitation is to really notice that shift within yourself of who you are becoming and who you want to be and who you know it is on your heart that you were meant to be in this life.
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Because, you know, I think for me, it would have been easier to play it small and stay in that nine to five, that secure or perceived safety net, right?
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And so to harness that courage takes a going within.
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It takes a knowing who you are, and it takes really intentional purpose work.
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So, what is my purpose here on the planet?
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And that is a question that I ask myself every day.
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Like, I don't do small talk.
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I'm terrible, you know, when I go out to cocktail parties that I need to be at for some reason that I'm not choosing to go to because I'm like, tell me what your biggest fear is.
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Like to, you know, it just doesn't work in that setting.
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And so, yes, like going within and just sourcing that courage because I promise you, I promise you it's there.
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Yeah.
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But it requires, it's it's hard, right?
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There's there's no getting around.
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It takes intentional courage, and you have to decide to make that step.
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I think so many, so many women, myself included, there's almost even from a financial aspect, the golden handcuffs, right?
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And like you said, that security in having a career.
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And you might it not be, it might not be a corporate career, right?
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It could be a medical professional, it could be anything.
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And but there's just subconsciously this thought that that's secure and doing something different isn't secure.
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But I mean, what's crazy now, and I'm sure you've seen it, but just in the corporate world, there have been so many key changes and restructures and layoffs.
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And even that now maybe doesn't always feel as as secure.
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But I love you saying it's that reminder of what am I created here to do?
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How can I help others?
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What gifts do I have that can truly like impact?
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Because you want to impact others positively, and we're each given, you know, our own gifts and they're they're all different in what you know you do or this person over here, like your gifts are different, intended for a specific purpose.
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So that's wonderful.
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I know, I know looking back, I'm sure, and not even looking back, as you know, you're still evolving and changing, but as you think about, you know, had you not made that shift to slow down and be more present, you know, what are some things now in your life that you've either been able to do or accomplish or experience that you wouldn't have been able to do if you would have stayed back there in 14?
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Oh my God, so much.
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I mean, at this birthday gathering I was at this week, I looked around and I said to these women, I was like, I'm building the life of my dreams.
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And I have to constantly and consistently remind myself that because does it look perfect?
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Like, absolutely not.
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Like it is messy, it is um challenging.
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There, my life is not perfect.
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I am not happy all the time.
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I full the I I feel the full spectrum of emotions, like, you know, on a daily basis, on a monthly basis.
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And yet it is still the life of my dreams.
00:20:06.939 --> 00:20:16.379
And so something that I love to do is remind myself, like, this is what I wanted, because sometimes in the beginning, we have this idealized version of like, what's it gonna be?
00:20:16.460 --> 00:21:41.849
And then we get there and we're like, wait, like we look around and we're like, wait, is this what we thought we wanted?
00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:50.009
And so, really, to consistently remind myself, like I get to do this, like this is amazing, and I get to do it, that perspective shift.
00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:52.409
And when you were talking, I brought up this little sign.
00:21:52.569 --> 00:21:54.969
It's probably gonna be backwards for, oh no, it's not.
00:21:55.049 --> 00:21:55.929
It looks like it's not.
00:21:56.169 --> 00:21:57.529
But I always look at this sign.
00:21:57.929 --> 00:21:58.169
Yeah.
00:21:58.409 --> 00:22:01.369
Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.
00:22:01.609 --> 00:22:07.049
And this is in my my studio here, which is just a little corner of like my bedroom, if I'm super honest.
00:22:07.209 --> 00:22:08.489
And this is in my podcast studio.
00:22:08.649 --> 00:22:14.329
And I look at it all the time because it's um that reminder, like there's 86,000 seconds in a day.
00:22:14.489 --> 00:22:15.849
I say this all the time.
00:22:16.009 --> 00:22:17.769
And that's 86,000.
00:22:17.929 --> 00:22:29.849
Hopefully, like we're sleeping for half of those or a third of those, but so thousands of choices in a day of coming back to the present moment and remembering we are here for a reason.
00:22:30.009 --> 00:22:31.769
We are here for a reason.
00:22:32.329 --> 00:22:35.129
And it takes courage to follow through with that reason.
00:22:35.209 --> 00:22:40.249
And I think about, you know, you don't ever want to live in thinking, what are my regrets gonna be?
00:22:40.409 --> 00:22:42.329
Cause that's not, that's not the way to live.
00:22:42.409 --> 00:23:10.969
But as you think about, you know, one of the things for me and talking to so many other women that we that, you know, has come out is if you were to think about your life five years from now, 10 years from now, and you were to look back and you were to say, okay, if how I'm living today doesn't change, is the future me going to be happy with the choices that I made, or wish I would have done something different.
00:23:11.289 --> 00:23:41.689
And I think that perspective can really fuel you to move and make a change, you know, that I was telling someone the other day, I don't know if you remember, probably four or five years ago, there was this reel going around and it consistently was you have 18 summers with your kids, you know, and of course, your kids are still your kids after 18 years, but the concept was they're in your house for 18 years and you have those summers with them.
00:23:41.849 --> 00:24:03.049
And I remember I was still in a corporate career at the time, and I was, I would see it, and I swear it would just keep coming up on my feed intentionally, and I would just have this like pit in my chest, thinking, I keep choosing this, I'm choosing this, and am I going to 18 years, you know, at this point, 10 years from now, look back and say, I didn't do it.
00:24:03.209 --> 00:24:03.929
I never did it.
00:24:04.089 --> 00:24:04.969
I chose comfort.
00:24:05.049 --> 00:24:09.289
I wanted to stay in the comfort secure, and now my kids are out of the house.
00:24:09.369 --> 00:24:12.169
And what I would give to go back and have that.
00:24:12.649 --> 00:24:14.169
you know, have that time with them.
00:24:14.329 --> 00:24:26.889
So I always love to hear um women who have done different really talk about what in their life looks different now that they've been able to experience what, you know, having that courage to do something.
00:24:27.129 --> 00:24:27.449
Yeah.
00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:27.929
Yeah.
00:24:28.169 --> 00:24:42.249
And I want to say too, the relationships, like this summit that you're putting on, it's so helpful for women to see other women who have gone before them to like know that it's a real impossible thing.
00:24:42.409 --> 00:24:57.769
Because when you're in that place and it does feel scary and it can feel hard, I truly honor, acknowledge that, and have been there to see me, to see you, Nicole, to see women in your real life circles.
00:24:57.849 --> 00:24:58.329
I hope.
00:24:58.489 --> 00:25:10.569
I hope everybody has women like that in their lives who are showing you like, look, I did this thing and maybe I'm three or five or seven or 10 steps ahead of you.
00:25:10.889 --> 00:25:20.649
But I promise you it's possible because I'm standing here in the version of my life today that 10 steps ago like I was just dreaming about.
00:25:20.729 --> 00:25:25.209
And so to see the possibility of that, I think is such a gift, Nicole.
00:25:25.289 --> 00:25:31.049
And so I think this conversation and conversations like this help with that courage piece.
00:25:31.129 --> 00:25:36.489
Like so ride the wave of this courage and then keep stepping in that courage.
00:25:36.649 --> 00:25:42.889
So after you, you know, after this summit is long over, like take this with you.
00:25:43.129 --> 00:25:56.649
Like remember this feeling source into this power that we're talking about right now because it's so easy when we leave the event, when we stop the podcast, when we forget, right?
00:25:56.809 --> 00:26:07.609
We have to keep this feeling with us as we walk through the next choices we're making because right here in this moment, right now, is when you're creating the future.
00:26:07.769 --> 00:26:15.609
And so you said five years from now, you're gonna look back and you know and I love taking it to like on my deathbed when I'm 100.
00:26:15.689 --> 00:26:19.129
Like I just go there and I'm like begin with the end in mind.
00:26:19.289 --> 00:26:20.409
Who do I want around me?
00:26:20.569 --> 00:26:21.529
What do I want to feel?
00:26:21.689 --> 00:26:27.369
What do I know that I wanted to experience but let's go five years because it's a little maybe it's a little more accessible for people.
00:26:27.609 --> 00:26:30.409
Um you know like really think about that.
00:26:30.569 --> 00:27:02.169
Like are you going to stay in the same place and then five years from now wish that you started because if you start when you know you're not ready and you feel that fear and you do it anyway and you source this courage that we're talking about right now, I promise you it's possible and it's not going to look exactly like my path and it won't look exactly like your path Nicole or any of the other amazing wonderful women on this summit, but it will look like your path and you're gonna just uncover so much as you walk it.
00:27:02.329 --> 00:27:04.649
So and that's why it's been so inspiring.
00:27:04.729 --> 00:27:09.609
And I hope everyone that listens to these interviews are inspired.
00:27:09.769 --> 00:27:33.369
I know they will be but you made such an incredible point right there because who you surround yourself with and who you're exposed to like you said who's done it before you or who's gone before you can really help fuel you and help in those times that no one's saying going off on your own and whatever you do is easy, right?
00:27:33.449 --> 00:27:34.729
It is not the easy path.
00:27:34.809 --> 00:27:46.489
It is not the comfortable path it gives you hopefully so many blessings down the road and the ability to bless others that maybe you wouldn't have had in the other path that you were on, but it's not easy.
00:27:46.569 --> 00:28:01.689
And so for have to have other women share their experiences and they're all different right you hit the nail on the head your path it's gonna look different than mine and the however many people are listening to this.
00:28:02.009 --> 00:28:24.409
And but the blessing is knowing that there are options that can work in your life that you can pursue to live a more intentional and purposeful life that impacts others the way that you would like to and gives you that flexibility with your family and those priorities that yeah that are important to you.
00:28:24.649 --> 00:28:25.129
That's right.
00:28:25.369 --> 00:28:39.769
Well this was so good and I always like to kind of at the end give you an opportunity if there's anything that we haven't talked about or that I didn't ask you that maybe you have on your heart that you want to share is there anything that you comes to mind.
00:28:40.089 --> 00:29:02.409
Yes and I'm like yes uh you said two things earlier and the first one was you use the word decide and I am like words are my love language and the word decide literally means to cut off the other options like the so it's like to cut off any other like choice.
00:29:02.569 --> 00:29:08.809
And so when you decide you are so clear in what you want to do.
00:29:08.969 --> 00:29:16.169
And so I want to put that on the minds and the hearts of the women with us right now because that's what it is.
00:29:16.329 --> 00:29:26.649
It's not like the on the fence thing and like oh I'm indecisive and I get that I feel that like and also what if you could just decide right now.
00:29:26.809 --> 00:29:39.849
And then the second thing I want to speak to is you said, you know, when you go out on your own and for me in the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey in 2014, it felt so lonely.
00:29:40.169 --> 00:29:42.729
And it wasn't actually something that I perceived at the time.
00:29:42.889 --> 00:29:44.809
I wasn't it wasn't conscious.
00:29:44.889 --> 00:29:52.089
I wasn't like you know doing my thing and kind of dabbling in the freelancing and figuring out my whole thing and thinking like I'm lonely.
00:29:52.169 --> 00:30:21.849
I it really wasn't a thing but I do want to speak to the women who are on the verge of making that first step perhaps and I want you to know that it might feel lonely and it might feel like you're going on your own and you're doing it all on yourself because in our careers if we come from a corporate background or a more traditional background we have team meetings and we have this meeting and we have that and we have this team and this network of people that are built into our experience.
00:30:22.009 --> 00:30:29.449
And when you like you said Nicole go out on your own most of the time you're out on your own and you it can feel like you're on an island.
00:30:29.609 --> 00:30:46.969
And so my best advice should you choose to accept it or not is to find your people and to come at it with a lens of service because when you come at it with a lens of service it takes the who am I to do this out of this like who am I to approach this person?
00:30:47.129 --> 00:31:06.489
You know, who am I to speak on this stage or at this thing and you take your gifts and you take your skills and you take your experience and you teach somebody else how to do something or you know so I really want to speak to the power of community and just find one person to start.
00:31:06.649 --> 00:31:18.009
Find one group find one local meetup where you can talk to your people and that has just made a whirl of a difference for me.
00:31:18.089 --> 00:31:21.529
So thank you so much for sharing that that was so that was so good.
00:31:21.689 --> 00:31:32.009
And I think that I'll end it but I think that statement that you made about if you I I not even I don't feel ready.
00:31:32.169 --> 00:31:59.289
Who am I to do this when you have a heart for giving and you have this has been put in me for whatever reason or this is something that I'm passionate about or I have skill in and you're and you want to give and you want to share and you want to train or teach or you know provide for others that part is what ends up that's more important.
00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:05.049
It gets you off of that it gets you outside of that mindset of it's about me.
00:32:05.289 --> 00:32:14.569
It gets you into a place of who is this for here who can I help who can I serve and ultimately that's what we all want to do to create you know lasting impact.
00:32:14.889 --> 00:32:26.809
So okay before we go I know you have a gift for our audience I would love for you to share that with them.
00:32:27.049 --> 00:32:38.809
Yes so if you head to raisingwildhearts.com slash do the thing I made a very short and powerful three part video miniseries.
00:32:38.889 --> 00:32:53.049
It's called Do the Thing and this is actually perfect for this conversation because it talks about and I teach you how to kind of find that spark of the thing you want to do because I feel like people are lacking that clarity sometimes.
00:32:53.209 --> 00:32:56.089
I know I was I was looking everywhere to like somebody tell me what to do.
00:32:56.249 --> 00:32:57.449
Somebody want to tell me what to do.
00:32:57.609 --> 00:33:29.689
And so I'm giving you prompts to really source that clarity from inside so that it's your path and not your you know mother-in-law's path or your you know sister's path it's like really true to what it is that you want so finding that spark and then creating the courage to go with the spark and then also of course the sustainability to keep walking the path on the days when it might feel hard on the days when it might feel lonely and so it's a really really fun series that I had a great time doing.
00:33:29.849 --> 00:33:32.889
It comes with a workbook um I've gotten amazing feedback from it.
00:33:32.969 --> 00:33:40.729
Women are like oh my God this is so fun like the first the first part of it one of my friends did she's like oh my God this is amazing I and she gave me all of her feedback.
00:33:40.809 --> 00:33:42.089
So come meet me over there.
00:33:42.249 --> 00:33:48.329
It's super fun, short, doable like you get a quick win and it's um yeah it's powerful.
00:33:48.569 --> 00:33:49.289
Thank you so much.
00:33:49.369 --> 00:34:00.489
I'm gonna be doing that and I know so many others will take it the opportunity to as well so I so appreciate you sharing that with us and I've loved our conversation and have just loved having you on here today.
00:34:00.729 --> 00:34:02.169
Thank you so much for having me.
00:34:02.409 --> 00:34:11.210
Hello and welcome back to the Beyond the Nine to five ceiling summit where we're empowering Christian moms to create impact, income and a life they truly love.
00:34:11.369 --> 00:34:15.929
Today I'm so excited to welcome Ryan Watkin, the voice behind raising wild hearts.
00:34:16.090 --> 00:34:26.409
Ryan is a wife and mom who is passionate about helping women embrace intentional motherhood and create a life centered around presence, connection and purpose.
00:34:26.650 --> 00:34:39.690
Through her platform she encourages women I'll start in that one over hello and welcome back to the Beyond the Nine to five ceiling summit where we're empowering Christian moms to create impact, income and a life they truly love.
00:34:39.929 --> 00:34:44.730
Today I'm so excited to welcome Ryan Watkin, the voice behind raising wildhearts.
00:34:44.889 --> 00:34:54.889
Ryan is a wife and mom who is passionate about helping women embrace intentional motherhood and create a life centered around presence, connection and purpose.
00:34:56.009 --> 00:35:08.969
Through her platform, she encourages women to slow down, be fully present with their children and raise their families with intention, even when that means choosing a path that looks different from the traditional or expected way of living.
00:35:09.210 --> 00:35:18.250
Her message resonates deeply with moms who feel the tension between the pace of modern life and the desire to truly be present in the moments that matter most.
00:35:18.489 --> 00:35:23.050
Brian I'm so grateful you're here today and excited for the women watching to hear your heart.
00:00:51.739 --> 00:00:55.100
Hey guys, welcome back to the Raising Wild Hearts podcast.
00:00:55.420 --> 00:01:04.459
This is Ryan, and this is a show where we talk about guiding the next generation with patience, presence, and purpose.
00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:17.579
And these conversations are really about how we can take self-ownership in our lives to be happier, more fulfilled, and show up with a little more calm and a lot more grace.
00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:19.579
And today we're doing something a little bit different.
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I'm sharing a conversation where I got to sit on the other side of the microphone as a guest on the Beyond the Nine to Five Ceiling Summit.
00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:36.539
I asked Nicole, the host of the summit, if I could share this conversation on the podcast because I know that you guys are going to get so much out of it.
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And graciously, she said yes.
00:01:38.939 --> 00:01:50.460
And the heartbeat of this conversation is really about the tension that so many of us feel between ambition and work and motherhood and wanting to be present.
00:01:50.539 --> 00:02:03.340
Um, and we're really unpacking the fear and um the questions and everything that comes along with stepping away from a job or something that you've outgrown in your life.
00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:14.539
So I'm sharing a lot about my journey in this conversation and how I got started as a business owner and how that's looked and felt over the years.
00:02:14.699 --> 00:02:19.180
I talk about the seasons where I had to just say F it and burn it all down.
00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:39.340
Um, we also talk about slowing down and redefining productivity, making room for relationships and joy, and something that you know I'm always talking about, my own North Star, which is listening to your own inner knowing and trusting yourself.
00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:51.099
I am a big believer that your path does not have to look like my path, and that we all have different journeys here and different work to do, different challenges, different strengths.
00:02:51.340 --> 00:03:02.939
If you're someone who feels called to the unconventional path or the road less traveled, I know that that can feel a little bit lonely.
00:03:03.100 --> 00:03:14.139
So, in this conversation, I also touch on my antidote and what that has been for that loneliness that has crept up throughout the years periodically.
00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:18.860
So I'm really excited for you guys to hear this conversation.
00:03:19.019 --> 00:03:19.899
Let's jump in.
00:03:20.139 --> 00:03:21.100
Well, hello, Ryan.
00:03:21.339 --> 00:03:23.180
Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:03:23.339 --> 00:03:25.019
I'm so excited to talk to you.
00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:27.100
Thanks so much for having me, Nicole.
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I'm really excited.
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I know you have so much to share.
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And, you know, we'll kick it off with this.
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One of the things that I appreciate about your message is that it just really gives women permission to pause and to think about the kind of both life and motherhood that they want to create instead of just, you know, living on autopilot.
00:03:47.420 --> 00:03:49.819
So I would love to start at the beginning for you.
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Can you take us back to the season that led you to start, you know, sharing the message and building raising wild hearts?
00:03:56.779 --> 00:04:01.819
Like a little bit about that, what was stirring in your heart during that time when you started creating that?
00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:02.379
Sure.
00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:06.379
I started raising wild hearts with my third baby on my hip.
00:04:06.540 --> 00:04:10.939
And it was a season where I was really getting back to myself.
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I had two businesses prior and these different iterations of what I thought I wanted my work life to be.
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And they just didn't feel right anymore.
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And so he was about, my little man was like about one.
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And I just thought, like, I need some adult conversation, first of all.
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Like I need that so bad.
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I was homeschooling my other kids at the time, my big kids who were five and seven-ish at the time.
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And so I hit record and I didn't feel ready.
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I I had just turned 40, and my husband bought me two microphones and a mixer and some headphones for my birthday.
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And I thought, I'm just gonna do this.
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And I don't feel ready, but I'm needing this.
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My soul is like quietly whispering like, start making connections, start learning about the stuff you want to learn about, and just do it.
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And so I did.
00:05:02.139 --> 00:05:04.219
And it's evolved, of course.
00:05:04.459 --> 00:05:08.939
But it was really fun for me in the beginning and continues to be fun to this day.
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I so appreciate you saying I started this when I wasn't ready.
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And that wasn't gonna be my next question, but we'll go there.
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So many women, all of us, right?
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We want to feel perfectly ready.
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We want to have the perfect plan.
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We want to have it all mapped out.
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And the truth is it never works like that, right?
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Then you just delay and you stall and you never get started.
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So I love that you said you just weren't ready and you just went and started and made that decision.
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Yeah, I think that's an important thing to note because we stop ourselves and we let fear really get in the way of what it is that we're meant to do.
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And I don't mean like anything about making money or career.
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This could be any in any point in our lives.
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Like we really have all the answers inside of us.
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And so to sit with that and let it be okay to kind of feel that fear and do it anyway is it's been such a gift in my life, you know?
00:06:15.979 --> 00:06:17.500
It grows you as a person, right?
00:06:17.579 --> 00:06:25.740
You think you think about, I mean, I think about when you make a decision to do something and everyone's gonna have that fear.
00:06:25.819 --> 00:06:27.259
That fear is always so present.
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And you almost just have to tell yourself, what's the worst that happened?
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I try something, it doesn't work exactly as I planned.
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I'm probably gonna grow from it.
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I'm probably gonna learn from it.
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There's some benefit, regardless if it was mapped out and ended exactly as I planned.
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And once you do it a couple times, I think it's easier to have that mentality and that mindset shift.
00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:49.579
I agree with you.
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It's expanding capacity, right?
00:06:52.459 --> 00:07:00.300
So taking this baby step, seeing that you can do it, proving it to yourself, I can do this, and then one more small little step, right?
00:07:00.859 --> 00:07:01.180
Yeah.
00:07:01.419 --> 00:07:13.180
So, you know, I think so many women relate to that tension between wanting to be fully present with their children, and especially you at one point were homeschooling your kids, right?
00:07:13.259 --> 00:07:21.500
Wanting to be fully present with their children, but also just trying to keep up with the pace and the pressures of everyday life outside of that.
00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:28.620
You know, was there a specific season or moment where you realized something needs to shift for me?
00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:31.259
And what did that look like, you know, practically?
00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:32.139
Totally.
00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:37.659
I was on this runway in like 2018, 2019.
00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:40.620
I was, you know, posting on social media every day.
00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:42.859
I was in this high-level mastermind.
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I was like doing the work and really like putting myself out there, being visible.
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And I thought I was building this kind of coaching business, which, you know, at the time it felt right.
00:07:56.939 --> 00:07:59.979
Looking back, I was like, oh, sweet, sweet love.
00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:01.659
You know, I had to go through that season.
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So I'm like pushing hard, I'm hustling, I'm doing the girl boss thing, right?
00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:13.979
And, you know, my kids' schools like call and they're like, we're closing down, you know, whatever.
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Remember that time in society where everybody went crazy.
00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:19.339
Anyway, that's a different podcast.
00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:26.779
Um, and I tried for a couple weeks to with like a five and a I guess they were like four and six.
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I don't know.
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They were little.
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And I tried at the time to really like do this thing with them with me.
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And I remember doing a Facebook Live.
00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:37.019
It was something similar to this.
00:08:37.180 --> 00:08:38.860
It was like a summit or something.
00:08:39.019 --> 00:08:47.259
And I was doing a live and my kids are like right here, like in the video, like asking for more snacks.
00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:57.180
And I shut, you know, I I worked through that discomfort and I, you know, landed the plane on the live and I closed my laptop and I was like, I'm done.
00:08:57.419 --> 00:08:58.139
I'm done.
00:08:58.300 --> 00:09:02.620
And I just threw it all in the garbage can and just burned it.
00:09:02.779 --> 00:09:03.899
I was like, I'm done.
00:09:04.060 --> 00:09:05.740
And so I walked away from that.
00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:09.100
And um, it felt really uncomfortable.
00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:19.980
I felt, you know, I had to sit in this space where I was doing, you know, nothing, so to speak, nothing on the surface, nothing that was visible, nothing that was public, right?
00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:23.820
But I was uh doing this work of being with my kids.
00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:28.379
And that was the work in that season that I really needed.
00:09:28.540 --> 00:09:32.620
It was, and then I got pregnant with my with my third.
00:09:32.780 --> 00:09:37.340
And so I just made a baby and I hung out with my kids and I homeschooled and we went to the beach.
00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:40.700
I live in South Florida, and I just let it be.
00:09:40.860 --> 00:09:41.340
Yeah.
00:09:41.660 --> 00:09:42.540
It's so power.
00:09:42.620 --> 00:09:43.580
I'm so glad you said that.
00:09:43.660 --> 00:09:57.259
It's so powerful because one of my one of the reasons I had this vision with this summit is in talking to other women and where they're at in life and where I was at, you know, corporate career for my whole life, little kids.
00:09:57.340 --> 00:10:02.860
And you you have this tension of this and this pool of I want to be more present with my kids.
00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:05.100
I want, I this is so important to me.
00:10:05.180 --> 00:10:10.540
But then I've had this career, and these are the responsibilities of the career.
00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:14.300
And it won it hits you one day, or at least for me, this is what happened.
00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:15.340
It just hit me one day.
00:10:15.500 --> 00:10:17.100
My kids weren't getting any younger.
00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:24.940
And I said my priorities were my family, and that's what I wanted to put first, and that's what I wanted to have, you know, create the most time for.
00:10:25.180 --> 00:10:34.379
And yet I was intentionally choosing every day to make my career more important with, you know, the travel and the time and whatnot.
00:10:34.540 --> 00:10:37.100
And I say that because this isn't this isn't about me.
00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:38.860
This is about you today.
00:10:39.020 --> 00:10:45.580
But why I say that is because I know that so many people have certain priorities at different times in life.
00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:50.540
And at one point of life, it's working and it works and it's great, and then suddenly it doesn't.
00:10:50.620 --> 00:10:51.820
And just what you talked about.
00:10:52.060 --> 00:10:56.940
It was where it needed to be at that time, and then suddenly it wasn't.
00:10:57.100 --> 00:11:01.580
And so you you pivot, and there's a lot of different ways you can pivot.
00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:03.020
So I think about that.
00:11:03.180 --> 00:11:07.180
This actually goes perfectly into what I wanted to talk to you about next.
00:11:07.420 --> 00:11:14.860
You know, a lot of women feel a pull towards slower, more intentional, like an intentional way of living.
00:11:15.020 --> 00:11:18.540
And they're not always sure how to actually move in that direction, right?
00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:22.700
We've been trained do more, do more, do more, hustle harder, stay busy.
00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:28.300
What is it, what like what did it look like at first for you to begin to make those changes in your own life?
00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:35.180
I love that question because to be seriously so transparent, I'm still working on that.
00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:42.139
I had a dear friend who had a birthday this week, and she happened to have all these little meetups.
00:11:42.300 --> 00:11:43.580
She's turning 50 this week.
00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:49.500
She had all these little meetups this week of like, whenever you're available, and they were all on weekdays and they were all during the day, most of the things.
00:11:49.660 --> 00:11:55.580
And I was like, oh, I'm gonna miss out on this time and that time and that meeting and this meeting.
00:11:55.740 --> 00:12:02.460
And I, and I'm like, okay, you know, so I I clear my calendar for the things that I said I would be available for.
00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:15.660
And I go to the thing, and I have to tell you how much of a blessing it was to be sitting there in community with these sisters.
00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:22.540
It was all, it was a gathering of women, you know, celebrating a beautiful friend on her 50th birthday.
00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:25.580
And I was like, this is it.
00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:28.300
Like my computer's like calling to me, what?
00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:42.379
So I can get my editing done faster, you know, so I could answer another email, like, yes, like we have things we need to do, but we forget so much that like there are other parts of us who need to be nourished as well.
00:12:42.540 --> 00:12:46.620
And if you're here and you're listening to this right now, I have a feeling that you really like working.
00:12:46.780 --> 00:12:49.580
Like I really like to work.
00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:51.259
I feel comfortable at work.
00:12:51.420 --> 00:12:53.340
Like there's this element of control.
00:12:53.820 --> 00:13:14.860
We have like these, you know, this kind of ecosystem that we can have somewhat a sense of control over and to step away from that a little and surrender to the flow of life and the seasons and the up and down and the, you know, kind of flowing nature of life has been just such a gift for me.
00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:21.340
And so it continues to unfold to this day where I remind myself like having fun is part of the process.
00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:21.740
Yeah.
00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:23.820
But it takes intentionality, right?
00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:38.300
It's easy to get caught up in all of the responsibilities, whether that's at a, you know, nine to five career or you've created your own business and you know there's more to do, it can be hard to remind yourself.
00:13:38.379 --> 00:14:01.420
And that's one of the things I've loved about, you know, just this interview series and connecting with incredible women who have gone down different paths because when you get in rooms and get around people who have chosen that path, it's like much easier to remind yourself that there is more to life and so many important things that you, I love what you said, nourish your your nourish yourself in other ways.
00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:04.700
There it's it's you know, really important for women to do.
00:14:05.180 --> 00:14:05.820
So important.
00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:17.500
So, um, Ryan, as you think about, you know, choosing a different path, especially one that maybe doesn't follow the traditional nine to five structure, though you have many things that you need to do.
00:14:17.660 --> 00:14:21.020
It can feel very uncomfortable and scary, I think.
00:14:21.259 --> 00:14:31.500
You know, what helped you trust that as you evolved and as you made some changes in your own business, that what you were building was the right one for your family?
00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:33.340
I love this.
00:14:33.660 --> 00:14:41.900
So I'm taken back to the winter of 2014 when I quit my corporate job.
00:14:42.540 --> 00:14:50.379
And I, my husband and I had just gotten married, and so he has been and will always be kind of my biggest supporter.
00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:54.379
And so I'm so blessed and lucky for um for that.
00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:57.820
And so it's like, okay, I'm gonna kind of leap, right?
00:14:57.900 --> 00:15:03.740
And I start consulting and I'm using my skills and my experience to now basically freelance.
00:15:03.900 --> 00:15:11.340
So I'm unattached to this kind of nine to five structure, and I'm kind of making my own path a bit.
00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:17.980
And then I get pregnant and everything changed in me.
00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:34.300
It was like a a switch, like flipped, and I was a different person, and I would continue to become a different person, you know, as I evolved into a mother, which is my greatest, best favorite and also most challenging role that I've ever played.
00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:36.300
Uh, and so I changed.
00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:40.860
So spring of 2014, I'm growing this human inside of me.
00:15:41.180 --> 00:15:46.700
And my heart was telling me, like, now there is no way, like I had already taken this leap.
00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:54.620
Now there is no way at all that I could possibly go back to a traditional um workspace for me.
00:15:54.780 --> 00:16:00.460
And the choice for that was my heart was telling me, like, I wanted to be home with my kid.
00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:05.820
I didn't know how many kids we would have, but with this baby that I was growing, I wanted to be home with her.
00:16:06.620 --> 00:16:12.300
And um, so it was just, it was like this inner knowing, you know?
00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:18.860
And so I have a baby, and then I'm fundamentally changed.
00:16:19.020 --> 00:16:22.700
And I go back to, okay, now do what do I want to do for work?
00:16:22.780 --> 00:16:24.060
And I start playing with that.
00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:29.900
And the thing is, is that I was changed, but the way I was working wasn't.
00:16:30.540 --> 00:16:47.660
And so to really, the invitation is to really notice that shift within yourself of who you are becoming and who you want to be and who you know it is on your heart that you were meant to be in this life.
00:16:47.900 --> 00:17:00.139
Because, you know, I think for me, it would have been easier to play it small and stay in that nine to five, that secure or perceived safety net, right?
00:17:00.379 --> 00:17:04.619
And so to harness that courage takes a going within.
00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:12.139
It takes a knowing who you are, and it takes really intentional purpose work.
00:17:12.379 --> 00:17:15.019
So, what is my purpose here on the planet?
00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:18.539
And that is a question that I ask myself every day.
00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:20.619
Like, I don't do small talk.
00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:30.299
I'm terrible, you know, when I go out to cocktail parties that I need to be at for some reason that I'm not choosing to go to because I'm like, tell me what your biggest fear is.
00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:32.779
Like to, you know, it just doesn't work in that setting.
00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:40.139
And so, yes, like going within and just sourcing that courage because I promise you, I promise you it's there.
00:17:40.299 --> 00:17:40.619
Yeah.
00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:44.059
But it requires, it's it's hard, right?
00:17:44.220 --> 00:17:47.339
There's there's no getting around.
00:17:47.579 --> 00:17:53.740
It takes intentional courage, and you have to decide to make that step.
00:17:53.900 --> 00:18:02.779
I think so many, so many women, myself included, there's almost even from a financial aspect, the golden handcuffs, right?
00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:06.699
And like you said, that security in having a career.
00:18:06.779 --> 00:18:09.019
And you might it not be, it might not be a corporate career, right?
00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:11.099
It could be a medical professional, it could be anything.
00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:20.220
And but there's just subconsciously this thought that that's secure and doing something different isn't secure.
00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:30.139
But I mean, what's crazy now, and I'm sure you've seen it, but just in the corporate world, there have been so many key changes and restructures and layoffs.
00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:35.339
And even that now maybe doesn't always feel as as secure.
00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:40.220
But I love you saying it's that reminder of what am I created here to do?
00:18:40.379 --> 00:18:42.220
How can I help others?
00:18:42.379 --> 00:18:45.819
What gifts do I have that can truly like impact?
00:18:46.059 --> 00:19:01.259
Because you want to impact others positively, and we're each given, you know, our own gifts and they're they're all different in what you know you do or this person over here, like your gifts are different, intended for a specific purpose.
00:19:01.419 --> 00:19:02.460
So that's wonderful.
00:19:02.619 --> 00:19:26.460
I know, I know looking back, I'm sure, and not even looking back, as you know, you're still evolving and changing, but as you think about, you know, had you not made that shift to slow down and be more present, you know, what are some things now in your life that you've either been able to do or accomplish or experience that you wouldn't have been able to do if you would have stayed back there in 14?
00:19:26.699 --> 00:19:27.980
Oh my God, so much.
00:19:28.139 --> 00:19:38.539
I mean, at this birthday gathering I was at this week, I looked around and I said to these women, I was like, I'm building the life of my dreams.
00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:44.939
And I have to constantly and consistently remind myself that because does it look perfect?
00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:46.699
Like, absolutely not.
00:19:47.019 --> 00:19:52.059
Like it is messy, it is um challenging.
00:19:52.220 --> 00:19:53.899
There, my life is not perfect.
00:19:54.059 --> 00:19:55.579
I am not happy all the time.
00:19:55.740 --> 00:20:02.379
I full the I I feel the full spectrum of emotions, like, you know, on a daily basis, on a monthly basis.
00:20:02.699 --> 00:20:06.779
And yet it is still the life of my dreams.
00:20:06.939 --> 00:20:16.379
And so something that I love to do is remind myself, like, this is what I wanted, because sometimes in the beginning, we have this idealized version of like, what's it gonna be?
00:20:16.460 --> 00:21:41.849
And then we get there and we're like, wait, like we look around and we're like, wait, is this what we thought we wanted?
00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:50.009
And so, really, to consistently remind myself, like I get to do this, like this is amazing, and I get to do it, that perspective shift.
00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:52.409
And when you were talking, I brought up this little sign.
00:21:52.569 --> 00:21:54.969
It's probably gonna be backwards for, oh no, it's not.
00:21:55.049 --> 00:21:55.929
It looks like it's not.
00:21:56.169 --> 00:21:57.529
But I always look at this sign.
00:21:57.929 --> 00:21:58.169
Yeah.
00:21:58.409 --> 00:22:01.369
Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.
00:22:01.609 --> 00:22:07.049
And this is in my my studio here, which is just a little corner of like my bedroom, if I'm super honest.
00:22:07.209 --> 00:22:08.489
And this is in my podcast studio.
00:22:08.649 --> 00:22:14.329
And I look at it all the time because it's um that reminder, like there's 86,000 seconds in a day.
00:22:14.489 --> 00:22:15.849
I say this all the time.
00:22:16.009 --> 00:22:17.769
And that's 86,000.
00:22:17.929 --> 00:22:29.849
Hopefully, like we're sleeping for half of those or a third of those, but so thousands of choices in a day of coming back to the present moment and remembering we are here for a reason.
00:22:30.009 --> 00:22:31.769
We are here for a reason.
00:22:32.329 --> 00:22:35.129
And it takes courage to follow through with that reason.
00:22:35.209 --> 00:22:40.249
And I think about, you know, you don't ever want to live in thinking, what are my regrets gonna be?
00:22:40.409 --> 00:22:42.329
Cause that's not, that's not the way to live.
00:22:42.409 --> 00:23:10.969
But as you think about, you know, one of the things for me and talking to so many other women that we that, you know, has come out is if you were to think about your life five years from now, 10 years from now, and you were to look back and you were to say, okay, if how I'm living today doesn't change, is the future me going to be happy with the choices that I made, or wish I would have done something different.
00:23:11.289 --> 00:23:41.689
And I think that perspective can really fuel you to move and make a change, you know, that I was telling someone the other day, I don't know if you remember, probably four or five years ago, there was this reel going around and it consistently was you have 18 summers with your kids, you know, and of course, your kids are still your kids after 18 years, but the concept was they're in your house for 18 years and you have those summers with them.
00:23:41.849 --> 00:24:03.049
And I remember I was still in a corporate career at the time, and I was, I would see it, and I swear it would just keep coming up on my feed intentionally, and I would just have this like pit in my chest, thinking, I keep choosing this, I'm choosing this, and am I going to 18 years, you know, at this point, 10 years from now, look back and say, I didn't do it.
00:24:03.209 --> 00:24:03.929
I never did it.
00:24:04.089 --> 00:24:04.969
I chose comfort.
00:24:05.049 --> 00:24:09.289
I wanted to stay in the comfort secure, and now my kids are out of the house.
00:24:09.369 --> 00:24:12.169
And what I would give to go back and have that.
00:24:12.649 --> 00:24:14.169
you know, have that time with them.
00:24:14.329 --> 00:24:26.889
So I always love to hear um women who have done different really talk about what in their life looks different now that they've been able to experience what, you know, having that courage to do something.
00:24:27.129 --> 00:24:27.449
Yeah.
00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:27.929
Yeah.
00:24:28.169 --> 00:24:42.249
And I want to say too, the relationships, like this summit that you're putting on, it's so helpful for women to see other women who have gone before them to like know that it's a real impossible thing.
00:24:42.409 --> 00:24:57.769
Because when you're in that place and it does feel scary and it can feel hard, I truly honor, acknowledge that, and have been there to see me, to see you, Nicole, to see women in your real life circles.
00:24:57.849 --> 00:24:58.329
I hope.
00:24:58.489 --> 00:25:10.569
I hope everybody has women like that in their lives who are showing you like, look, I did this thing and maybe I'm three or five or seven or 10 steps ahead of you.
00:25:10.889 --> 00:25:20.649
But I promise you it's possible because I'm standing here in the version of my life today that 10 steps ago like I was just dreaming about.
00:25:20.729 --> 00:25:25.209
And so to see the possibility of that, I think is such a gift, Nicole.
00:25:25.289 --> 00:25:31.049
And so I think this conversation and conversations like this help with that courage piece.
00:25:31.129 --> 00:25:36.489
Like so ride the wave of this courage and then keep stepping in that courage.
00:25:36.649 --> 00:25:42.889
So after you, you know, after this summit is long over, like take this with you.
00:25:43.129 --> 00:25:56.649
Like remember this feeling source into this power that we're talking about right now because it's so easy when we leave the event, when we stop the podcast, when we forget, right?
00:25:56.809 --> 00:26:07.609
We have to keep this feeling with us as we walk through the next choices we're making because right here in this moment, right now, is when you're creating the future.
00:26:07.769 --> 00:26:15.609
And so you said five years from now, you're gonna look back and you know and I love taking it to like on my deathbed when I'm 100.
00:26:15.689 --> 00:26:19.129
Like I just go there and I'm like begin with the end in mind.
00:26:19.289 --> 00:26:20.409
Who do I want around me?
00:26:20.569 --> 00:26:21.529
What do I want to feel?
00:26:21.689 --> 00:26:27.369
What do I know that I wanted to experience but let's go five years because it's a little maybe it's a little more accessible for people.
00:26:27.609 --> 00:26:30.409
Um you know like really think about that.
00:26:30.569 --> 00:27:02.169
Like are you going to stay in the same place and then five years from now wish that you started because if you start when you know you're not ready and you feel that fear and you do it anyway and you source this courage that we're talking about right now, I promise you it's possible and it's not going to look exactly like my path and it won't look exactly like your path Nicole or any of the other amazing wonderful women on this summit, but it will look like your path and you're gonna just uncover so much as you walk it.
00:27:02.329 --> 00:27:04.649
So and that's why it's been so inspiring.
00:27:04.729 --> 00:27:09.609
And I hope everyone that listens to these interviews are inspired.
00:27:09.769 --> 00:27:33.369
I know they will be but you made such an incredible point right there because who you surround yourself with and who you're exposed to like you said who's done it before you or who's gone before you can really help fuel you and help in those times that no one's saying going off on your own and whatever you do is easy, right?
00:27:33.449 --> 00:27:34.729
It is not the easy path.
00:27:34.809 --> 00:27:46.489
It is not the comfortable path it gives you hopefully so many blessings down the road and the ability to bless others that maybe you wouldn't have had in the other path that you were on, but it's not easy.
00:27:46.569 --> 00:28:01.689
And so for have to have other women share their experiences and they're all different right you hit the nail on the head your path it's gonna look different than mine and the however many people are listening to this.
00:28:02.009 --> 00:28:24.409
And but the blessing is knowing that there are options that can work in your life that you can pursue to live a more intentional and purposeful life that impacts others the way that you would like to and gives you that flexibility with your family and those priorities that yeah that are important to you.
00:28:24.649 --> 00:28:25.129
That's right.
00:28:25.369 --> 00:28:39.769
Well this was so good and I always like to kind of at the end give you an opportunity if there's anything that we haven't talked about or that I didn't ask you that maybe you have on your heart that you want to share is there anything that you comes to mind.
00:28:40.089 --> 00:29:02.409
Yes and I'm like yes uh you said two things earlier and the first one was you use the word decide and I am like words are my love language and the word decide literally means to cut off the other options like the so it's like to cut off any other like choice.
00:29:02.569 --> 00:29:08.809
And so when you decide you are so clear in what you want to do.
00:29:08.969 --> 00:29:16.169
And so I want to put that on the minds and the hearts of the women with us right now because that's what it is.
00:29:16.329 --> 00:29:26.649
It's not like the on the fence thing and like oh I'm indecisive and I get that I feel that like and also what if you could just decide right now.
00:29:26.809 --> 00:29:39.849
And then the second thing I want to speak to is you said, you know, when you go out on your own and for me in the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey in 2014, it felt so lonely.
00:29:40.169 --> 00:29:42.729
And it wasn't actually something that I perceived at the time.
00:29:42.889 --> 00:29:44.809
I wasn't it wasn't conscious.
00:29:44.889 --> 00:29:52.089
I wasn't like you know doing my thing and kind of dabbling in the freelancing and figuring out my whole thing and thinking like I'm lonely.
00:29:52.169 --> 00:30:21.849
I it really wasn't a thing but I do want to speak to the women who are on the verge of making that first step perhaps and I want you to know that it might feel lonely and it might feel like you're going on your own and you're doing it all on yourself because in our careers if we come from a corporate background or a more traditional background we have team meetings and we have this meeting and we have that and we have this team and this network of people that are built into our experience.
00:30:22.009 --> 00:30:29.449
And when you like you said Nicole go out on your own most of the time you're out on your own and you it can feel like you're on an island.
00:30:29.609 --> 00:30:46.969
And so my best advice should you choose to accept it or not is to find your people and to come at it with a lens of service because when you come at it with a lens of service it takes the who am I to do this out of this like who am I to approach this person?
00:30:47.129 --> 00:31:06.489
You know, who am I to speak on this stage or at this thing and you take your gifts and you take your skills and you take your experience and you teach somebody else how to do something or you know so I really want to speak to the power of community and just find one person to start.
00:31:06.649 --> 00:31:18.009
Find one group find one local meetup where you can talk to your people and that has just made a whirl of a difference for me.
00:31:18.089 --> 00:31:21.529
So thank you so much for sharing that that was so that was so good.
00:31:21.689 --> 00:31:32.009
And I think that I'll end it but I think that statement that you made about if you I I not even I don't feel ready.
00:31:32.169 --> 00:31:59.289
Who am I to do this when you have a heart for giving and you have this has been put in me for whatever reason or this is something that I'm passionate about or I have skill in and you're and you want to give and you want to share and you want to train or teach or you know provide for others that part is what ends up that's more important.
00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:05.049
It gets you off of that it gets you outside of that mindset of it's about me.
00:32:05.289 --> 00:32:14.569
It gets you into a place of who is this for here who can I help who can I serve and ultimately that's what we all want to do to create you know lasting impact.
00:32:14.889 --> 00:32:26.809
So okay before we go I know you have a gift for our audience I would love for you to share that with them.
00:32:27.049 --> 00:32:38.809
Yes so if you head to raisingwildhearts.com slash do the thing I made a very short and powerful three part video miniseries.
00:32:38.889 --> 00:32:53.049
It's called Do the Thing and this is actually perfect for this conversation because it talks about and I teach you how to kind of find that spark of the thing you want to do because I feel like people are lacking that clarity sometimes.
00:32:53.209 --> 00:32:56.089
I know I was I was looking everywhere to like somebody tell me what to do.
00:32:56.249 --> 00:32:57.449
Somebody want to tell me what to do.
00:32:57.609 --> 00:33:29.689
And so I'm giving you prompts to really source that clarity from inside so that it's your path and not your you know mother-in-law's path or your you know sister's path it's like really true to what it is that you want so finding that spark and then creating the courage to go with the spark and then also of course the sustainability to keep walking the path on the days when it might feel hard on the days when it might feel lonely and so it's a really really fun series that I had a great time doing.
00:33:29.849 --> 00:33:32.889
It comes with a workbook um I've gotten amazing feedback from it.
00:33:32.969 --> 00:33:40.729
Women are like oh my God this is so fun like the first the first part of it one of my friends did she's like oh my God this is amazing I and she gave me all of her feedback.
00:33:40.809 --> 00:33:42.089
So come meet me over there.
00:33:42.249 --> 00:33:48.329
It's super fun, short, doable like you get a quick win and it's um yeah it's powerful.
00:33:48.569 --> 00:33:49.289
Thank you so much.
00:33:49.369 --> 00:34:00.489
I'm gonna be doing that and I know so many others will take it the opportunity to as well so I so appreciate you sharing that with us and I've loved our conversation and have just loved having you on here today.
00:34:00.729 --> 00:34:02.169
Thank you so much for having me.
00:34:02.409 --> 00:34:11.210
Hello and welcome back to the Beyond the Nine to five ceiling summit where we're empowering Christian moms to create impact, income and a life they truly love.
00:34:11.369 --> 00:34:15.929
Today I'm so excited to welcome Ryan Watkin, the voice behind raising wild hearts.
00:34:16.090 --> 00:34:26.409
Ryan is a wife and mom who is passionate about helping women embrace intentional motherhood and create a life centered around presence, connection and purpose.
00:34:26.650 --> 00:34:39.690
Through her platform she encourages women I'll start in that one over hello and welcome back to the Beyond the Nine to five ceiling summit where we're empowering Christian moms to create impact, income and a life they truly love.
00:34:39.929 --> 00:34:44.730
Today I'm so excited to welcome Ryan Watkin, the voice behind raising wildhearts.
00:34:44.889 --> 00:34:54.889
Ryan is a wife and mom who is passionate about helping women embrace intentional motherhood and create a life centered around presence, connection and purpose.
00:34:56.009 --> 00:35:08.969
Through her platform, she encourages women to slow down, be fully present with their children and raise their families with intention, even when that means choosing a path that looks different from the traditional or expected way of living.
00:35:09.210 --> 00:35:18.250
Her message resonates deeply with moms who feel the tension between the pace of modern life and the desire to truly be present in the moments that matter most.
00:35:18.489 --> 00:35:23.050
Brian I'm so grateful you're here today and excited for the women watching to hear your heart.
