Ever feel the call of the open road, the thrill of the unknown, or the lure of the unconventional? I'm taking you on an adventure with Ashley O'Connor, a registered nurse turned Health & Fitness Coach, as she shares her exhilarating journey through her first year of full-time entrepreneurship and nomadic living.
Imagine booking a last-minute flight and venturing out to a transformative business event in sunny San Diego. That's exactly the spontaneous adventure we embarked on, and we're excited to share all the details with you. We recount our transformative experiences, the magic of connections we made, and the profound growth we experienced. We also delve into a captivating session we attended during a lunar eclipse that led to deep personal insights and breakthrough moments.
Get ready to experience the joy of risk-taking, the magic of connections, and the growth that springs from new experiences.
We wrap up this discussion with a call to embrace the holiday season's spiritual meanings, reminding you to stay curious and keep an open mind. Tune in and let us inspire you to seek out the magic and possibilities your life holds. Let's dare to dream, explore, and create our own success stories.
Thank you for listening to Self(ish) Confidence! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or on your social media and tag me @jess.clerke so I can personally thank you for helping spread some confidence + love!
Check out my website at: www.jessclerke.com
If you're on instagram, come say hi!! 👋👋
My Personal Account ---> @jess.clerke
The Podcast Account ---> @selfishconfidence
Ever feel the call of the open road, the thrill of the unknown, or the lure of the unconventional? I'm taking you on an adventure with Ashley O'Connor, a registered nurse turned Health & Fitness Coach, as she shares her exhilarating journey through her first year of full-time entrepreneurship and nomadic living.
Imagine booking a last-minute flight and venturing out to a transformative business event in sunny San Diego. That's exactly the spontaneous adventure we embarked on, and we're excited to share all the details with you. We recount our transformative experiences, the magic of connections we made, and the profound growth we experienced. We also delve into a captivating session we attended during a lunar eclipse that led to deep personal insights and breakthrough moments.
Get ready to experience the joy of risk-taking, the magic of connections, and the growth that springs from new experiences.
We wrap up this discussion with a call to embrace the holiday season's spiritual meanings, reminding you to stay curious and keep an open mind. Tune in and let us inspire you to seek out the magic and possibilities your life holds. Let's dare to dream, explore, and create our own success stories.
Thank you for listening to Self(ish) Confidence! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or on your social media and tag me @jess.clerke so I can personally thank you for helping spread some confidence + love!
Check out my website at: www.jessclerke.com
If you're on instagram, come say hi!! 👋👋
My Personal Account ---> @jess.clerke
The Podcast Account ---> @selfishconfidence
I really enjoy talking to you and hanging out with you, just so you know.
Speaker 2:I also enjoy hanging out with you and talking to you. That's great, I'm really really glad.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Selfish Confidence, a place where you can connect and be real about how hard it is to be your damn self. My name is Jess and my goal is to help you build confidence and belief in yourself to live any life path you want, even if it's unconventional. It's time to flip off societal pressures and connect with women who've also felt on the outside by their life choices. We're here to encourage you to grab the mic and speak your truth. I know it can be scary, but we're in this together. Let's get started. Hello, hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Selfish Confidence podcast. It's Jess here and we have some really extra special fun episode planned for you today and I say we because my girl, ashley O'Connor, is here with me and I'm so excited to record. This is something we were going to do when we were away together in California, but it didn't happen because we were real busy. So it's really nice, a couple months later, for us to be sitting down and finally recording. So welcome, ashley, to the podcast again.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I'm always happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, I'm so excited because there's just like so many fun things that I've been wanting to chat with you about, and I know this is just a fun conversation, so like, why not do it on the mic for everyone to listen in and to hear about our crazy lives and also to just like maybe inspire them to, you know, follow their heart, even if they're not sure what that means or looks like, because we're pretty confused too. Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, that's a great word for us and crazy, crazy confused. Just, we can all do that a little bit more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, crazy and confused, I like it. Can you tell everyone a little bit about you, for people who don't know who you are?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my name is Ashley O'Connor. I am a registered nurse, now turned health fitness and career coach for other registered nurses and caregivers People who are tired of feeling like crap and burning the candle on both ends in an attempt to feel better. The people who are taking care of everyone else. I try to take care of them. That's my job. I also have a podcast called the Ashley O Show and I am finishing my first year in full time entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:Damn, damn. How's year one going for you?
Speaker 2:It's a wild one. Crazy and confused is a really good description.
Speaker 1:So they put under your, under your like credentials, and then it says, like crazy and confused, entrepreneurship yes TM.
Speaker 2:Trademarked. Yeah, that's how this year has gone in beautiful way, the most beautiful way. I wouldn't change it for the world, but it's been wild.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how? So why do you say wild?
Speaker 2:Well, I think it's a combination. So personal life too, I didn't even mention. My husband and I are have been living this past year as digital nomads, so he works remotely. And then I dove into entrepreneurship and so we kind of took off. We packed up our entire home, put that out for rent, and then we partnered with a couple of our good friends and we've been living in different short term rentals across the United States for a few months at a time. So that's been crazy, because every three to four months we are packing up again and moving across the country all over again.
Speaker 2:Where have you been, so we've been to. We started in Denver, colorado, we then moved to Bozeman, montana, and then we went to Westerly Rhode Island, which is the middle of nowhere, which that's where I saw you. Yes, jess came to see us in Westerly, so she knows it's like very small. We went to go see Taylor Swift's house we did.
Speaker 2:She has a house very close to where we were, so that's a cool part of Rhode Island, and now we are in Augusta, georgia. So this is our first leg that it's just my husband and I with our dog, and it's been a nice shift, also because living with people as a married couple is a little bit weird. It was fun, but it was also, I think, as an introvert. I was like, oh, this is hard for me. I didn't know it would be as hard as it was. It was great again. But I think all of that contributes to the wildness is like I started entrepreneurship and I was like let's uproot our whole lives. That could be a good idea. So entrepreneurship already feels like a roller coaster and then when you move every three, four months, it's just like a bigger and bigger roller coaster.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it's hard to settle too. Like I feel like for me it's only two years in business, so like still really fresh and really new, but like it wasn't until like I could finally like feel the roller coaster slow down a little, that I could even like get my head straight because, like you, I'm an introvert, so like I need time alone, I need time to process, any time to think, and that's a lot of chaos, that's a lot of chaos.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I was living with my husband's very much an extrovert, and one of our roommates was also an extrovert. So lots of energy, social energy, and yeah it does. It does contribute to entrepreneurship being a little bit more chaotic because the routine is constantly kind of getting uprooted, but I think that was. I think in the long run it's going to be a helpful thing, because I had to like restart over and over and over again.
Speaker 1:It really helps you to also see, like, what you want Because, like, this year has been such a test year, so it's like every time you get to like test things out, not only are you testing out places to live, you've been testing out like how different ways to do business and like different ways to, you know, have date night even without an abundance of finances, and like, just like it's been a lot of testing. Have you learned anything? That you're like, oh yeah, like we got that test right.
Speaker 2:I mean I feel like there's so many things One, honestly, that just popped into my mind. I don't even know if it actually answers the question, but just dealing with impermanence or impermanence, I guess, is just constantly letting go of things which in our day to day lives, I think we can forget that feeling a lot. But we just chose a life where we had to let go over and over, like we kind of have a place to feel like home. We would have friends and people that we met feel like home and then leave again over and over and over, and I think it just it gave us a few things like that practice I think made us just more resilient and stronger as a couple and just in our relationship with our friendships and everything else. But also I think it just also taught us to value people in our lives, even if they're there for a short period of time.
Speaker 2:So I think we got better and better at each chapter of Nomad life. So we learned a whole bunch. But I don't know if there's like one thing that we did right, because it was a lot of doing stuff wrong and chaos, but I think maybe that's what we did right was just living a life that way, because I know that I don't know 10, 15 years from now, I'm going to look back on this year Like what an insane and beautiful thing that we chose to do, because a lot of people have told us they wish they could do the same thing, and I think you can take it for granted sometimes when you're in it.
Speaker 1:Oh, 100%, 100%, because all you see is the chaos, because I think that too, now, like being a few years out of living in Barbados, like I still think that was crazy and everything that we went through was crazy, but like I wouldn't trade it, like I would do it all over again if I had to, because like it shaped who I am and it gave me this different perspective that you don't know until you live in other places, like if you're still living in the same place you grew up in, like you don't have the experience of making friends or of like stepping out of your comfort zone, or like there's just so many things I bet, like changing your physical location, especially internationally, that just like changes the game for you.
Speaker 1:Like I can't even at like thinking about Christmas a couple of years ago, when we were in Barbados, is like we spent the day in our lounge chairs at the beach and then went to someone's house where they had a pool and they were like having drinks in the pool and eating macaroni salad and I'm like what is happening? Like where's the snow?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I'm like I hear you on that too, and I think that you just sparked this in me, that just this idea of like valuing different places where we've lived, to Like I forgot how much I love Tucson until you like leave these places too. So every time I go back even though we're not planning on just moving permanently back there every time I go back, I'm still excited, though, because I just appreciate it so much more now that we've tried all these different places, and then each place we learned a whole lot about what we liked, what we didn't like, what was hard, what was fun, like there were so many lessons at each location that I would never have gotten if we didn't do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I love that and I love that you were so close recently, because you're only like an hour and a half flight away and then an hour train ride and then an hour drive, which honestly is not that far away from that, but during felt pretty far.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, just did not know how far we were from the airport.
Speaker 1:No, I'm blessed to live in a city that the airport is like maybe like a half hour, 40 minutes from my house. So that was that was. That was a new experience and I took it. I did it all by myself, like I got on the train and I got on the bus and then you met me, like at the station. So like I'm pretty resourceful.
Speaker 2:You got a subway ticket that you didn't need but then actually did need but didn't have anymore. I did. I was like oh this is the ticket I need.
Speaker 1:And then I go to like the conductor and he was like no girl, that is not what you need. And I was like okay, I'll go get another ticket and then I put it away as like a souvenir, because the expiration date on it was my birthday in 2025. I was like that's pretty cool, what a great sign. So I'll keep it as a souvenir. And then we needed that dang.
Speaker 2:So I had to buy another.
Speaker 1:Yep, it's only a couple of bucks, but still that was also fun.
Speaker 2:That's been cool too. It was just like being close to people and being able to do adventures like that. Like that one was probably one of my favorites, I think this year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you want to talk about that adventure?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, we definitely need to. I don't remember which one of us I think you texted me first about the whole thing, so I don't know how much you want to go into the backstory, but essentially I saw like a giveaway being done in the pitch club community which we can like tag her to, but this woman, rebecca, she was hosting an event and Tracy O'Malley was going to be there. That's why I saw it is because Tracy O'Malley posted it and entered the giveaway and I didn't even know that you also entered it. And then you like messaged me or like I put you as the person I would bring on this trip, and then I was making you feel bad, so you'd also put me.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know I had to fill anything out. So I was already doing it wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you weren't going to win unless I texted you because you were like, oh, I had to do something and I was like, yeah, you do. Here's the information.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I texted you and I was like, oh like, if I win, you're the person I'm going to take, because it was for two people to go to this event in San Diego hotel, vip experience, all the things paid for, super cool, and yeah, that was. That was pretty fun and I think for you and I, for like the two weeks that was like leading up to this giveaway, we were just so freaking giddy. We were just like, oh my gosh, like we're going to win. Oh my gosh. I had a dream we're going to win.
Speaker 2:We're so going to be there oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:I had this reading earlier this year that told me I was going to go somewhere warm, I was going to change my life. We're going to be there, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think we use the word crazy a lot. We were like are we crazy? Yes, yes, we are.
Speaker 1:Because this was like again, in like a two week span, if that I think we might have booked our flights like a week before we actually left. It was fast Now, fun, fun fact we did not win.
Speaker 2:I love telling the story too, because it always makes it sound like we're going to win.
Speaker 1:I know, everyone's like oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it's so cool, no, we didn't win. I think it was I messaging her yes.
Speaker 2:I messaged her and was just like hey, I submitted whatever for the for the giveaway. I'm really excited. I saw it posted on Tracy's and she's like. She messaged me back. The woman hosting the event was like oh, I'm sitting right next to Tracy, you know we're going to be doing the drawing. We're going to be doing the drawing. You know we're going to be doing the drawing in like tomorrow or whatever. But even if you guys don't win, we would love to give you two free general admission tickets. So then we were like well, what are we going to?
Speaker 2:do. Well, we're definitely going to win. We kept telling ourselves that. But well, and you can't say no to two free ticks. No, no, you just got to fly across the country, it's fine.
Speaker 1:I remember telling Glenn to like you know, like that where she said she'd give us two free tickets to California and he's like I already know you're going to go. Oh, okay, cool, so we're on the same page, Great Thanks.
Speaker 2:I don't remember how, even though you get two free tickets.
Speaker 1:for me it was still like a thousand dollar flight, and then you had the hotel room on top of that. Like it didn't make it like a cheap trip, other than we did get two free tickets to the event.
Speaker 2:We did, and I don't. I don't know your take, but for me that event was what I needed, so I got way more out of it than I don't know. A free general admission ticket, because it was even just in the experience of like having a friend that would do this with me, like I don't know, we are crazy. Yeah, like that's a really cool thing that you find in these communities, that because I met Jess, because she was my coach, yeah, like not that long ago.
Speaker 2:Like on the Facebook page she didn't even comment yourself, it was. It was another person tagging you and being like you should work with Jess and I was like, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then, not long after that, we are doing a spontaneous and sane trip to San Diego, and not even just that like a month before that we were together on stage speaking at another event and power her, which is just like wild too. So like we were together, said our goodbyes and then it should have just been like a see you later, like I told her. I'm like if I knew I was going to see you in two freaking weeks, I wouldn't have woken up at six am to come say bye to you. I would have been like seeing two weeks, girl Bye, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:We took this trip to San Diego, so let's talk a little bit about that, because that was like a really special thing from this year, really different and transformative experience, because we didn't know anyone at this event and like events like empower her and other events, like we know a lot of people there, you kind of feel at home, you feel really safe, like it's very comfortable. This event was there was nothing comfortable about it. Yeah, would you know?
Speaker 2:oh, 100%. I was very nervous. I was so excited up until the point where the vent was going to happen and then I was like, oh, I'm nervous now because I wasn't sure what to expect. And I think both of us went into it hoping that we would be kind of small fish in like a big pond, because we wanted that space, or at least I wanted a space where I could grow, because I felt like I was Growing out of spaces that I had previously been part of and I wanted I wanted to feel small again in a in a good way. So I knew that this was going to be a different kind of room, no idea what to expect, but I was definitely afraid going in.
Speaker 2:The women in there were so welcoming, so nice, and I don't even. The thing is, we went to this event and I don't think either of us were in it for the big networking like I think we normally would be at these. It was, at least for me, huge amount of internal work that I didn't even realize had to happen until I got in the room itself. Was that the same for you?
Speaker 1:Same for me. The focus was just like on business development. So, like, I wanted my own business development, of course, to be cool, to meet some cool new people, which we did but the focus was 100% on me and spending time with you and it wasn't about like, oh, I'm here to network and pass out my business card and make connections, which I think it's probably because we're both introverts too, but like, that's not really why I go to a lot of events. Anyway, I'm not, you're not going to find me being the person walking around with my business card, like, oh, like that's just not my style. But this event was very much about spending time with you, but also, yeah, finding that like solid foundation for my business. And I don't. I walked away with some business tips, but it definitely wasn't what I had expected. In that sense, it was like way more of like a personal and internal transformation, not like tactical skills for my business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean, the other thing that I loved in this event, too, was that she structured it so that there were speakers giving lots of tactical information about business but also about planning. I mean, there was so much information given, but then there was a lot of like meditation and breathwork and all these things sprinkled in, which I really appreciated to kind of put it all together and also just spend time with myself, which, again, was not what I thought I needed going into it, but was very much what I got out of. It was lots of those realizations just for myself, and I think all those things are going to impact business and my relationships and life in so many like larger ways that I probably don't even know yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was your experience with meditation before this event? Or even just like stillness.
Speaker 2:So for me, I have a kind of a crazy wild brain, I think. So, meditation in general, breathwork, kind of all those modalities. I enjoyed them and I think I found some level of like, oh, I'm a little less stressed, but I had a hard time connecting with all of those things. Like every time somebody was trying to lead me in a meditation, my brain was going 200 different ways. I never felt like I was doing it right, like that feeling like I'm doing meditation wrong, which is that's already my own problem that I'm wrestling with right, like how are you supposed to do meditation right? But in my head I'm like I'm not breathing correctly, I'm not focusing the right way. I'm not, you know, focusing my breath enough. My brain's doing too much when in reality that's probably what my brain needed to do. But before that, before this event, I very much struggled with really getting what I needed out of meditation and breathwork and those sorts of things.
Speaker 2:And at this event, the first couple sessions that we did, I felt the same where I wasn't connecting with what the speaker was saying and I desperately wanted to. I even talked to one of them the breathwork the first person who talked us through breathwork. I was talking to her about how I have a hard time connecting with my breath and I feel like I'm doing it wrong, and she was really helpful just explaining that the different ways that I could attempt the different techniques, instead of trying to do it the exact same way, and just really breaking down some of these barriers that I had where I'm doing this wrong, like she's, like there's no right way to do it. It's really just trying to connect with your breath. You know, get back to your center. She was explaining lots of things that were helpful and it wasn't until the last session that we did, which was like a an insane hybrid thing like breathwork, sound, bath and meditation all combined into one.
Speaker 1:It was a breathwork session with a sound bath, and then there was energy workers doing Reiki in the room during the lunar eclipse.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you know, just one of those casual.
Speaker 1:Thursdays or whatever.
Speaker 2:Super casual Saturday afternoon and that thing blew my brain apart, I think, which in a good way, like I think we had talked about it right before that too, where I said I'd not connect, I don't connect with these things, and I have a hard time like I hear other people like crying or having breakthroughs and I'm like I can't connect with that. I don't know how to be that emotional. For one, that was something that I think I kind of walled myself off against and then I just couldn't connect to the thing. I wasn't doing it right and I don't know what. Maybe it was the all of it when you jam it all together that it works, but it just blew everything open. And I think the the kicker, for me at least, was during that. We're like laying down, doing all the stuff and I like kind of start like couple tiers, nothing wild, and then that's a couple tiers is wild, though, for you.
Speaker 1:Let's just put that into perspective.
Speaker 2:For a second Even in a social setting, especially, yeah, so, and I'm probably actively trying not to cry, and I'm sure somebody can see that too All these energy healers I don't know which one did it, but one of them like reached down and touched my ankles and then I just like sobbed, which was really inconvenient for me.
Speaker 1:Even though everybody else in there is doing that too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. All I could focus on was like oh my god, now I'm doing it, but it was what I needed.
Speaker 1:And didn't someone say something to you as soon as we were done that?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, yes. So we get up and then, as this woman is explaining to us that that was all happening during the eclipse, which it wasn't supposed to we were late in this session, like everything was pushed and it happened during the eclipse. She's explaining that and I can barely keep myself together while she's doing it because my nervous system is like freaking out at this point Because they just opened up a whole can of worms, and so I'm like moving to the back of the room and one of the women who had led a meditation the day before, like, saw me and then like came over and hugged me and then whispers in my ear. She goes you don't have to be strong for everyone. Which just I just started sobbing in this woman's white suit. She's wearing a full white outfit and now I am working with her because I don't know she read that so well, like whether and this is my, I'm a skeptic.
Speaker 2:That's the other thing with a lot of the stuff is I'm like I try and logic my way out of it, like how did she just read me? But I don't know, I don't know how to explain it, but there was something there for me that it's enough of a connection that I'm like. You know what I'm going to explore more, and I think that's what it opened up. This whole thing was just this idea that maybe I can explore my connection with the world in a new way, because I think I was blocked off from that ever happening.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think for you you're so science based too. So like even just to be open, like hey, I'm open to whatever this is, something might happen, cool, might not, I don't know. But like just being open changes the game. Like there's something about even so many things in my life that I'd be really close off to, let's even say like pickles I hate pickles.
Speaker 2:Like oh I hate pickles.
Speaker 1:I'm never going to touch a pickle. That's disgusting. But like, even just being open to trying it just helps to like alleviate some of that stress, because closing that door is like so much pressure, pressure and stress too Right. Like just being so like anti anything is just like hard to so like the fact not that you were anti meditation, but like in general, like being a skeptic that was like wild, a wild experience, the energy work and just like the meditations. So for me, a couple, like a couple weeks earlier, when we were at empower her, like I had a big, like breakthrough moment in the breathwork session there, right before we got on freaking stage to go speak. I was like cool, thanks, kisha.
Speaker 1:That was like so wonderful for you to set it up just like that, so good. But I just had like this crazy moment of just like releasing something, because there's been some stuff that I know is stuck in there. I think it's just like stuff on the path and like disbelief and things like that and it definitely shook some stuff up. And that girl was also at this event. So I went after and I was like you shook some shit up at empower her. And then we had this one where, like you, the first couple meditations, I have a hard time in a big room because it's a lot of energies and I'm really sensitive to energies. So when you have that many people who are like super emotional, who are trying to tap into themselves, like I have a hard time putting a bubble around myself and like meditating in a room, so like I'm better alone. But the first couple were cool, cool, cool, cool. But that one the following day, you're right, like during the lunar eclipse, like I still think when we say it I still laugh because it just says like Ashley and I are like on the tip of the woo, woo, it's coming together. But it's just so funny to be like this wild, wild Breathwork, sound Bath, reiki session in the lunar eclipse. It's just wild to me and I have never cramped up like my whole body was cramped, which is a thing with breathwork, because you're breathing in and you're breathing out in like a way that helps to get energy that's stuck in your body to move around. And the lady told us to, like what you can typically do in like an hour of meditation, you can do in like 14 minutes of breathwork or 10 minutes of breathwork. It was like a crazy big difference in how fast you can get into your body with breathwork versus meditation. So the fact that we were doing this with the sound bath, um, was like the coolest thing.
Speaker 1:But my whole body cramped up Like I couldn't feel my feet anymore. I'm like we're like laying on this concrete floor and I'm like I don't think I can get up. Um, and I wanted that release. Like I just kept telling myself over and over like you are safe here, even though you don't know anyone and you feel a little nervous. Like you were safe here, it's okay.
Speaker 1:Like release this thing that you've been holding on to. And do I know a hundred percent that everything got released? Like well, let's be honest, probably not, there's still stuff in there and there's always work that needs to be done, but it definitely opened the door to a whole new experience. And, yeah, it was just wild. There were so many people and so many emotions, so the fact that I could also get into it and feel something was like really cool, and I'm the type of person who, like, wants to like reach over and hold someone's hand. Um, but Ashley was nowhere near me and we were in a room with like strangers, so I didn't get to hold any hands, but that's probably good though.
Speaker 2:Cause you are someone who worries about other people.
Speaker 1:That's true, and I would like absorb someone else's stuff through my hand, for sure, but like I do, like I do like to to snuggle and hold the hand. I remember looking back after that was done too, cause I was like whoa, that that was crazy. And if Ashley didn't feel anything, she's a stone cold bitch, like she's got nothing, okay. And so when I looked back and I saw that you obviously had cried, I was like, okay, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's great they had. We had eye mask. I ruined that. Oh happy to. I probably also ruined that woman's suit.
Speaker 1:I don't know. Yeah, you did, you definitely did, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I was wearing waterproof mascara. I don't know. I was trying to be prepared. Um yeah, that that was probably one of the. I feel like you. Like it was just a big sigh in the. In the whole event was just like a little cherry on the top, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and even to like beyond that, that morning, ashley and I we were going to go to this like yoga session that they were hosting and I really wanted to go to the ocean and I felt like I could feel, like the energy was, just like there was something really heavy going on and I was just like let's just go get in a cab. Right now it's six AM. Six AM. Okay, praise the Lord for the four hour time difference so I could be a morning person. But I was like what do you mean? Like we can't. And she's like no, we're going to go. And, as we said, at the light flicker and I was like, okay, we're there, let's go. So you call the cab. And we went out to the beach and took a walk along the beach and just like put our hands and our feet in the water, and I feel like that helped me to be a little more grounded, to like open up for this day that we were about to have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm sure the yoga would have been great. I don't think it would have done the same thing, cause that just kind of geared us up for for, like, yeah, a level of openness, because it was an openness with like, let's just go to the beach, let's not do the plan, cause I think for both of us at least I at empower, her and some of these other events we just kind of stick to the itinerary, like for the most part, and we're with other people that we care about. So it's lots of coordinating and this was a, there was like a freedom, and we just get to change our minds randomly on a Sunday.
Speaker 1:I kind of loved that it was just the two of us, because it's so easy to change it up or just be like hey, ashley, what do you feel like for dinner, which, honestly, it was takeout in bed pretty much every night because we were so exhausted, but like it was nice to just be the two of us, cause it didn't have we didn't have to coordinate with like 10 other people.
Speaker 2:Yes, we also did a tarot reading one night. We threw that on we're just like ultimate woo, let's go.
Speaker 1:It's just a throw in Ashley into it. There was a bunch of science to that came up, like about you know, being open and mindfulness and tarot or things like that, and you were like why do these things keep coming up? And I was like I think someone wants to talk to you.
Speaker 2:That's what came up in the reading also.
Speaker 1:Yes, it did actually. That was wild.
Speaker 2:That was why Do you want to talk about that I?
Speaker 1:haven't listened to it back. I'm like I got to save that for another day.
Speaker 2:I listened to it once I got a and I took notes. Of course I did. Yeah, yeah, the that piece at least was she was just talking. She assumed she was like I assume that you don't. You're not currently spiritual. She assumed based on cards, but that's was accurate. I was. I'm at a place where I think I'm open to it. It's the. It's the I don't know what to call it because it's not a religion, it's a belief system that feels the most approachable to me as a person. I grew up Catholic. I'm not religious. I have no problem with people who are. It's just not my belief system. But I've always wanted to be connected to something and I've never found what that could be. And I think being exposed to some of these different techniques and like your world, jess too, like Jess has the right amount of woo that's approachable. That was really helpful, yeah.
Speaker 1:Only a touch crazy.
Speaker 2:I mean I'm with you now. A little sprinkle of magic over here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just a little bit.
Speaker 2:So I've always been curious but never really connected, and she kind of read that in this reading, but in the cards at least it was sort of her. Her I don't know Explanation for me was that the universe wanted to connect back with me, that it sounded like I needed some sort of anchor, I think because the word that she used was an anchor, whether it's spirituality, another belief system, altogether, religion, whatever. She just explained that I needed some type of anchor and I already knew that I wanted that. Like I've always been, I've almost envious of people who have belief systems that root them in something and I just kind of I feel like I've always just been floating. So since then I've just been again more open to the idea that, yeah, maybe there is something that I can feel connected to. There's no pressure there, which I appreciate also, but I have enough people in my life that I can ask questions to and I'm curious as well and I mean, if anyone's listening and you are a fellow like skeptic and you struggle with some of these things, I feel like anyone who comes to from an analytical or like scientific background, it's extra challenging because it's going against things that you've had ingrained in you for a long time. But the moment that you open up a little bit more things just find their way in and it's up to you how you want to interpret them. Like I could probably logic my way out of all sorts of things that have happened since that event. But I could also be curious, and I think that curiosity has been the most impactful because instead of being closed off to like, oh, that doesn't mean anything, I'm just going to move on with my life.
Speaker 2:When I'm curious and I say I wonder what that could mean, suddenly my mind's opened up to different possibilities. Like whoa, maybe that means if that you know hawk that landed on the umbrella in front of me. I think I texted Jess and was like what does this mean? But when you look it up and it's like, oh, the hawk can symbolize like big change happening. I could have just ignored it. But instead, if I just look at, like interesting, does that mean that there's some sort of change coming? And then it just opens up my mind to different possibilities. So I don't even remember where we started with this question, but I think that's that's what I pulled was just a level of curiosity that goes a whole like a really long way in opening up your mind to new things that might be possible for you Maybe. Maybe this is for you going into 2024. Maybe just be a little bit more curious.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I love that. I have always been a firm believer in something, so like even growing up Christian, even as a young kid, like even if my parents didn't go to church, like I was just very connected with there being something beyond us and it's just has always been very easy for me to believe that. And I don't know if it's because I grew up going to church and, like you, I'm not really connected to religion anymore and in the church in general, it's just, it doesn't feel like a safe space for me. But this connection that I've had with God or the universe or whatever you want to call it nature, mother nature, anything of these sorts like I do firmly believe that there is something beyond us and that we can connect with it whenever we want. And one thing that I have always believed, even as a young kid, was, like I choose to believe. So choosing to believe that that hawk landing on the umbrella means something is way more magical to me than just been like, oh cool hawk. Like that means nothing. I want it to mean something and I'd rather die and find out like it doesn't believe any, like it doesn't mean anything, than die and find out it does, and I wasted my whole life on earth being like, oh, there's no magic anywhere. This world sucks Like nah. Like, why not If not? If you don't believe it, okay, cool, that's fine, your choice.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of guessing you listened to this podcast. You probably do believe it a little bit. But if you do and we find out later, it means nothing. Like we didn't waste any time here, but like being here you made it a little extra special. Like every time I see a little yellow bird or I see a feather on the street, like I choose to believe that that is magic, there's something special there and it just makes my days better. That's it. So it's like if it means nothing, cool whatever, I'll find out later it's not a big deal, but like to me it does, and like I think that's cool. Or when I have, like my Oracle cards and like I like to pray and connect with spirit and connect with you know deceased loved ones, like I just feel better believing that that's the truth.
Speaker 1:I would rather believe, and I feel emotionally even, as I think I'd rather believe that they're still here, that I can still connect with them, than to not, because like that sucks, like that sounds like a really lonely here, we're just on this miserable earth for like 100 years and then it's done like no thanks, yeah, no thanks. I don't wanna believe that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, yeah, and I've never believed that there's nothing. I think I've always held the belief. I've always identified as an agnostic in the sense that I I don't deny that there's something bigger than me, but now I don't know what I would call myself. Now I have no idea.
Speaker 1:Just figuring it out, learning A figuring it out person. Yes, that's me. We're just open.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I think that's a beautiful way to look at it because we get one shot, at least in this version, right In this world that we're in, right this moment, this life that we have right now. There's only one chance here. So, yeah, I agree, I'd rather that Jess texts me pictures of feathers or whatever than that not happening, than feathers just being trash on the street, like why not have things be more magical, more beautiful than that?
Speaker 1:And like I truly do believe, like there's no way that there was not some like divine intervention for us to meet, like I believe that with people that I meet, even interviews, or like there is a message that needs to be heard today and even for me to be like hey, ash, do you wanna come on? Like I believe that there is like connection. What are the chances that Ashley would put in this Facebook group that we were in, that someone else would comment that you should hang out with me and that we would develop this amazing friendship from there? Like what are the chances? Or like even meeting our partners? Like what?
Speaker 1:are the chances Like I'd rather just believe that's all magic, like why not?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that was also part of my terror reading. My husband and I are cupid. Cupid put us together, apparently, which is hilarious to think about, just cause we're both like jokesters. But also I can't deny that that could be true, cause he came into my life at a very strange time and that was not supposed to be the plan. So, yeah, why not just think of it as something more magical and like get for each and every one of you there's probably someone right now that needed to hear this that this is the possibility and that something in your life happening right now is more of a sign or mean something deeper than maybe it looks like on the surface.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and especially around Christmas, like why not believe that right Christmas magic is?
Speaker 2:in the air.
Speaker 1:I love it. Do you wanna talk real quick about like, what magical things you have coming up for, like 2024, or what you're hoping for 2024?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like I'm in tactical mode. So a lot of my things right now are very much in business, but they're vision. It's a bigger vision for my business. So I really just want 2024 to be a chance for this business to grow to a place where I can reach more people. So I really wanna help the nurses and the healers and the caregivers out there, like that's my mission, but it feels deeper.
Speaker 2:The people that I'm connecting with right now everyone honestly are going through some really heavy things. This is a big season. There's lots of burnout going around and people are in a space where they feel like they have to carry everything all on their own, and so I want 2024 to be a chance for me to take the load off of people so that they can breathe a little bit more, because when we do that for our healers and for our caregivers, the world gets better. So that's what I see, at least in business in 2024 is reaching more people and having bigger impact so that they can ripple their impact outwards as well, and that's through programs and memberships and live events and things like that, which are really cool. And then, personally, I one, I wanna get scary strong. I decided, cause that's my favorite thing?
Speaker 1:What do you mean by scary strong, like am I gonna be scared of you? Or like just like whoa, yeah, I want people to be like whoa.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like that, Geez, that's a lot I wanna be a lot.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so just for fun, cause I love strong women and I think it's the coolest thing ever. So if I can start and then help other people do that, that's beautiful. But just to really be more connected to my body too, because I say this a lot but our bodies are our homes and I think we can nurture them a little bit more. And this year I just wanna nurture mine by making it real scary strong and planting some roots. I think is gonna be another big thing in 2024 is, after this year of Nomad life, Just planting some type of roots. And our roots are different now. They aren't permanent like they used to be, Like we're very open now to the possibility of always being a little bit more mobile, but it's still like a little bit of roots in 2024.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that sounds good.
Speaker 2:What about you?
Speaker 1:I'm really excited to see this like scary strong version of you. I like that. Oh, what about me? Well, I did chill Ashley. I was trying to write out some manifestations, cause they said that this was like a good time to do it. But I definitely have some like monetary goals, financial goals, because I really wanna set up my business to flow really nicely, cause I'm working with like feminine energy and like really feeling like things are going in the right direction. So I want things to be really aligned. But also we have big things like Barbados, which Ashley is coming to, which is gonna be fricking sick. We have big things like the Confid Selfish Confidence Live happening in October, which you know spoiler alert Ashley's gonna be speaking at. So like, let's just put the spoilers out now. God wasn't planning to do that, but whatevs, and here we are. She's coming back to Canada Also, like just in general, building the sisterhood and really getting a lot of beautiful souls in there, a lot of deep connection and working with women to feel more confident, because I do think that that is like a huge step in this direction, like Ashley having more confidence has helped her to really step into this business that she has and has like pinpointed it down to who she wants to work with so that she can support and love healers.
Speaker 1:If we can do that for more women, that we can help them to have confidence, to start the things that are on their hearts, or to go after the things that they're thinking of, they're really just gonna start to like trickle, like this beautiful magic into the whole world. So even if we can help a few more women have more confidence, like that's huge, and really we're starting that with the Confidently you program coming out in January, which is fun too. What else have we got magically going on? I put on my list, too, like a bigger and deeper connection with myself, like I wanna be able to like know my body, to know who I am, to go inward, to really like just like deeply connect. And then of course, that comes through a lot of breath work and a lot of meditation and a lot of like deep work with spiritual connections. Like that's just kind of like my big thing, like I wanna be aligned in my business but also aligned with myself. And then I guess the other piece that I have on my list too is I really want my business to be built in a max of like 12 to 15 hours a week. Like that for me is really important and so I'm trying to get it to the point and, of course, I have support. It's not just like I'm the only one building my business in that, like I have support, but like that's a big one for me Because if, going forward, you know, we make changes in our lives.
Speaker 1:Like I want this business to be able to run in like smaller chunks of time and again as a projector, human design world, like I don't have the same amount of energy as Ashley does, or as a generator would have. So like I want it to be sustainable for a long time. Like I am in this business for the long run. I don't want to, in a year from now, be like sorry, gotta go, like I am burnt out right, like Ashley sees in nurses all the time. I want this to be something that I can sustain forever and that's gonna come from me having a deeper connection to myself, building this business in 12 to 15 hours a week max and having it like really like feminine and flowy and like feeling really aligned. So that's 2024.
Speaker 2:I love that, and now you've actually inspired me too. I was thinking, as you were talking, like the connection with yourself, my scary strong is very much. My normal connection is like physical strength. I think it's my like. I think that's like how I protect myself, which I'm still gonna do that. But I think a scary strong internal is also a good goal to add where, yeah, I need. It's a whole lot of work internally which I hate talking about, but I'm gonna get better at it the next time I'm on this podcast. I'm not gonna hate talking about it so much.
Speaker 1:Well, think about it. In like 10 months from now, you'll be speaking on stage at Selfish Confidence Live, so maybe you'll be going up on that stage and be like hey, I'm connected with myself, let me learn this magical meditation On stage, and then you'll like rip off your shirt and then, obviously, use your biceps, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'll do pushups. That's what, yeah, while I'm meditating. Oh yeah, I like that Cause movement does help.
Speaker 1:So like maybe that is how you get into it. You move with your pushups, that's your meditation.
Speaker 2:But yeah, we'll add that, though Scary strong, not just externally but internally, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, I like that. It's gonna be good. I keep writing for like next year to like you know how they say like pick words. I'm not sure what my word will be, but I keep writing just like health and wealth, like I wanna be like my healthiest and I wanna be my wealthiest, like health and wealth is the energy for 2024, and just life in general.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've actually. It's funny that you say that I've started really targeting bodies, brains and bank accounts. Ooh Bodies brains and bank accounts. I like it.
Speaker 1:That's some good energy for a 20-20-24. Everyone can take that, Take it put it in your pocket, say some prayers. We got this, we got this. Any last words or advice for people as we wrap up this episode.
Speaker 2:Really exactly what we said Embrace the magic in life right now. You guys already do that, because you're listening to Jess's podcast and she talks about it. She literally has it behind her that you are magic. But embrace that. Be a little bit more curious, especially this time of year. It's the holidays, there's a lot going on, a lot of energy. There's good parts and there's really heavy parts. Not everyone enjoys this time of year. So take what you need, but try and be a little bit more curious about the things coming into your life right now, because they might mean something deeper than they appear on the surface.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the next time you see an owl or a pheasant or anything, google what is the spiritual meaning of a pheasant in your yard and then see what comes out.
Speaker 2:It's really fun. You gotta do it, it's so fun.
Speaker 1:It's the spiritual meaning of a cougar in my backyard. You never know.
Speaker 2:Spiritual meaning of hail.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I gotta look that up. It was just hailing like a few minutes ago it was wild and now it's sunny, so we gotta look up what's the spiritual meaning of random hail storms.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can try that exercise right now. Okay, okay, perfect.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, Ashley, for being here, for sharing your truth with us. We love having you here every single time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'll come back a million times over. Your audience is amazing and I love them.
Speaker 1:I love them too, and I love you.
Speaker 2:I love you too.
Speaker 1:What's up, sis? I am so glad we could hang out today. If you love this episode, send it to a friend or share it on your social media and tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me sprinkle some confidence in the world. And don't forget you are magic. Let's show the world your shine.