Mindful & Millionaire

#3 Fia Forsström: You are the star of your own life

• Steffy Roos du Maine • Episode 3

Share episode

Today, we will discuss how spirituality, pursuing your passion and being an entrepreneur can mix. And we invited a very special guest with us.

Fia Forsström, or “Fia”, is a spiritual singer/songwriter known for her catchy melodies and inspirational lyrics. Her music was featured in a meditation app developed by the University of California Santa Barbara Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential. Immediately it was a hit, especially among US high schoolers. She’s a total sweetheart and an inspiration to many.

Key Takeaways:

  • How does spirituality, being a business owner and singer, go for her?
  • Practice by making scary decisions and changing habits and patterns within yourself. 
  • Fia shares her struggles in accepting her sensitive self and her journey toward acceptance
  • How does she integrate her spiritual life into her business?
  • Feeling rich to her is to feel satisfied. 

Links & Profiles:

Photo credit: Stance Photography.






Steffy Roos du Maine: Welcome to the Mindful & Millionaire podcast. I'm Steffy Roos du Maine and I'll be interviewing the most inspiring guest on the culmination of spiritual growth and business success.


My guest on today's show is singer and songwriter Fia. She's from Sweden and gives shows all over the world. Fia is one of the leading voices in the spiritual music scene. Her music is even featured in a meditation app for high school students in the U.S. I listen to Fia's music every day, so it's an honor to interview her. 


Welcome, Fia. Great to have you on the show.


Fia Forsström: Thank you. I'm happy to be here.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Thank you. I'm a big fan of your music, which is obvious. The first question I would love to ask is – the show is called Mindful & Millionaire and I'm wondering how – for you, the spirituality, which is so present in your songs, in your life, does it combine with running your own business, being a creative singer? How do those two combine?


Fia Forsström: For me, it was pretty obvious early on that I was not going to be able to hold down a regular job, such as being hired by someone else and being told what to do, when to do it, not that I have a problem with authority in an unhealthy way. I have a normal skepticism, but I realized that my energy is best served when I get to choose what I focus on and what I create. When I get to follow my joy and my excitement, I do a really good job.


I've always wanted to be in the music business but didn't really know how to make that happen because I was brought up in like, "Okay, you either make it or you don't." It wasn't until I started to receive these songs that were more spiritually inclined and talking about these topics that I realized, "Okay, I really need to carve my own path. 


I gave myself permission to become an entrepreneur, to become a creative business owner. Because no one was going to give me the permission, I had to do it myself. I realized it's a lot of fun, too, because at the center is my desire to serve. When I allow that to propel me and guide me in every single decision I have to do, then I feel supported and I feel held by life and the universe.


Steffy Roos du Maine: That's a beautiful lesson I think for everyone in life that you have to give yourself permission. How did you learn that lesson? What was your journey to get here? 


Fia Forsström: Well, I think when it comes to the giving the permission piece, I think it's realizing that you are the star of your own life and that if you choose it, you can peel away all these layers that are just in the way of you creating that which you wish to bring to the world. Now, that's going to look different for everyone, and it might not be being an artist or anything else. It could be raising a family or being a firefighter, whatever. I think it's about cutting out the noise that is distracting you and really listening, "Well, what do I want to do?" Then you practice, you practice making scary decisions. You practice by changing habits and patterns within yourself. 


Slowly but surely, you will see that you are becoming closer and closer home to your authentic expression. When you're in that, it's such a powerful force. We can feel it when we meet people who are aligned within themselves, who are excited about life. It's inspiring.


I believe that it's available to everyone. We all have our different sets of challenges and social structures that might be in the way. Deep within us, we're all the same. I believe we all have a soul. The power of the soul is such a force. I've been writing music since I was little. Like I told you, I wanted to be in the music business and then I just continued doing that, and I've been listening. It's like, "Okay, we want you to write these kinds of songs and just put them out there, and keep showing up as yourself and the people who are meant to listen to your music will find you." That's what has brought me to where I am. I have kept on putting myself out there. I kept on sharing my voice.


People talk as well. When something is good, we like to tell our friends about it. I'm grateful that word of mouth is one of the biggest ways that people find me and my music.


Steffy Roos du Maine: I recommended you to all my friends and I was like, "Oh, my God! Why didn't I notice before?" I'm like, "Yeah, it's really there." I love how you said that you have to make scary decisions because I can imagine people looking at you and they're like, "Oh, it's so perfect and she sings amazingly in this amazing voice, and the loops may be easy," but it's hard work to get into this process of getting to know yourself, getting your soul out there. I mean, it must be quite difficult also to be so vulnerable.


Fia Forsström: The world can be a scary place. If we're not used to taking up our own space, that's going to be a process. For me, it's really been about realizing that me being me is enough and that I don't have to pretend. If people are going to resonate with me, will resonate with me, and not everyone will, like, "I have faith in you." It's a fake thing in our world we project upon people who are taking up space in the public as them being very accomplished, super successful, never sad, all the things. We know that that's a lie because everyone is human. 


Social media is a polished thing in many times. Most often also, the people you see who have what you call success, it didn't happen overnight. Often, I get this picture in my head of this iceberg. You only see the top of the iceberg floating in the sea, but you don't see everything that's underneath it. Everything that you have to move through – no one comes out accomplished or at the top of their profession. I think it's like plucking people down from pedestals and realizing they are people who just decided to follow their dreams, and they've done a lot of work.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Nothing comes easy. 


Fia Forsström: Nothing comes easy. We like to rephrase that. I don't think that just things get handed to you. I think you need to be an active participant in life. You need to have a certain drive to get where you want to go.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Maybe not even by working hard but also by doing the work inside. I feel with you. This may be even more important than working really hard. Let us talk about the obstacles you had said like it's a tip of an iceberg you see now, but what's underneath all of it? What have you experienced? What have you learned on that journey? What are the highlights of the journey?


Fia Forsström: Well, I think right before I was able to support myself for my music business, I was working as a preschool teacher, and I was not happy at all. I would get called in the morning, they would wake me up with a phone call saying, "Hey, Fia, can you work today?" I'd be like, "Okay." I have to say yes because I have bills to pay. Everything from living in a tiny, tiny apartment that felt really, really not good to be in, but I didn't have money to have a bigger place or buy a house or whatever. On that practical, physical plane, not everybody has financial support from parents or friends and family, so it's going to look different for everyone.


For me, I've been blessed with a very loving supportive family but middle class. No one's been an entrepreneur and no one really knew what that was. Me and my family, I am pioneering like that. Then you're on a soul level, I mean, it's hard, too. I can't share everything, of course. Let's see what is the most important to share there. 


I have always been in school, a little strange, a little different. I've been sensitive and I've been aware and I'm being curious and asked questions, and was very into the arts. At that age, being a teenager, trying to figure yourself out, that was fucking hard. When people felt like, "I miss the school days," I'm like, "I never want to go back. I never want to go back." So happy I'm out, so happy I'm an adult. School was not super fun. Then coming out of school and those steps from school until getting into the work life, it was very confusing. I was very scared. I'm like, "What if I end up somewhere I don't want to be and I get stuck there?"


I think the biggest thing has been to realize that life is happening for me, connecting to my spirituality, feeling that I'm loved by God, that there's a purpose that I'm here making myself important to myself because where else am I here? Realizing that there's a space for me here, there's a seat with my name on it and I'm going to fucking sit on it, and I'm going to do my thing. I always want to become more me and that comes with going into the subconscious that goes into looking at the parts of me that I don't necessarily like. Why do I do those things and what is underneath that, working with all levels of our bodies?


Steffy Roos du Maine: Beautiful, beautiful. What is the biggest insight you had about yourself that you're like, "Hmm, I'm not sure if I like this much, but this is also me?"


Fia Forsström: Let's see. Well, I felt like for a long time I hated my sensitive stuff. I really struggled accepting that part of me, feeling really judging myself and really hard on myself. I would start crying in hard situations. I would feel overwhelmed. I would not feel comfortable at parties, small talking. For a really long time, I was just really hard on that part of me. It wasn't until I accepted her—this part of Fia—fully that I transformed into a superpower realizing my sensitivity makes it possible for me to make music that's possible for me to connect with people on a deep level. Wow! That's something. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: It's a big insight and really nice one, to not be so hard on yourself. What I love about you and why I thought you are the perfect guest also for this show is that, yes, you're very spiritual, very sensitive, you can hear it in all your songs, but you're also an entrepreneur. I think a lot of people, especially creative people, don't think like that because they have like, "I have this passion, this creativity inside me," but you crowdfunded your first album. Can you tell us about how did you get to be an entrepreneur? It wasn't in your family, you already told me. How did you get this mindset? 


Fia Forsström: It was really me feeling inside like I don't want to have to settle. I want to be able to go as far as I can go. I don't want to have any limit or ceiling that I can hit. It was like I don't want anyone else to decide how much money I'm going to make; I want to decide that. When that dropped in, I remember, I think it was a YouTube video where someone said, "Hey, you can decide yourself how much money you make if you choose an entrepreneurial path." I'm like, "Oh! Well, I like the sound of that because I want to be able to create more art. I want to be able to have fun experiences. I want to be able to give." 


I realized early on that I need to figure this out, like how do I build a brand, how do I build a social media presence in a way that feels authentic and fun. It took a lot of work to, first of all, peel away that it's a societal belief that artists are to be poor, that we are just to be passionate about our art and it doesn't matter if it makes money or not. That's true for some people; that was not true for me. I wanted to be able to support myself through my music, so I'm going to figure that out and realizing that that wasn't something bad. 


People make money in all kinds of weird ways and are unethical and not kind. I'm like, "Okay the world's not going to be a worse place for me stepping into the business; it's actually going to be a better place because more people get to partake in my art because it serves a purpose." I think it's really fun.


Steffy Roos du Maine: You see it and you're lighting up. I love how you talk about this. I feel we need this more, especially in the creative world but also in the spiritual. It's almost frowned upon to want to make money. You just bought a house. Congrats! You need money to do that and you want to share your wisdom, your songs. I think for us as listeners it's perfect that you can do this full time and you make money of it. I mean, imagine if you do it after your job, then we would have so much less songs to listen to. Can you tell us about your newest song, Glorious One?


Fia Forsström: Yes. It's a song that's been a long time in the making. I wrote it when the pandemic first hit and I was in Australia at the time—borders were closing, flights were being canceled—and my partner and I got out on the last flight home to Sweden. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: Wow! 


Fia Forsström: Right those very weird days, right before we traveled, when the news was on all the time, I just sat down by the piano in this beautiful Airbnb and started writing because I felt so overwhelmed. I'm like, "I don't know what to do. Let's do something I know how to do it. Let's write some songs." 


Glorious One is about surrendering to God, that there's a bigger plan that was held by the universe. No matter all the things that happen in the world, I can choose to believe in the power of the good and stay rooted in love. The greatest love, I believe, is God. God is the universe whatever you want to call it, and I'm connected to that all the time. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: It's beautiful. I love it. How do you integrate your spiritual life into your business? Can you take us through your day or your routines?


Fia Forsström: Yeah, that's a good question. I usually start my days very slow. I make a cup of tea and I go and I sit on the couch. I have a little dog, so I let her out into the yard. She comes back in and we settle down. Light a couple of candles and then I just put on this really nice music that I like. The first thing that I do is that I journal. I just share how I'm feeling, what's happening in my life. It's both documenting my journey for myself and then I write affirmations from the perspective of it already being a reality. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: Oh, wow! Nice.


Fia Forsström: After that, I do a meditation and the meditations vary, depending on what I need, but something to connect myself and to connect the divine. From that space, every day is different. I make a little list of things that I want to get accomplished because otherwise, I'm all over the place. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: I believe you.


Fia Forsström:: It's a lot of energy and a lot of creativity that needs structured to be able to create what it is that I actually want to put out there. 


Some days it's songwriting, other days it's specific content creation for social media, and other days it's pure admin—emails and invoices, and those kinds of things.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Wow! Beautiful. I get all that energy. Because you're creative and I can imagine it's harder if you want to write a song, how does it go? Do you schedule time for it or are there always down lows? I talk a lot about this but are there writers and people – how do you mix those things? You have your time, your schedule and you have your universe talking to you.


Fia Forsström: What I do is that I put time on the schedule, too. For me, this is not going to work for everybody, but for my brain, I thrive in a schedule, I thrive in that structure. I fill my schedule with connection to the divine, with songwriting, which is bad as well, and working out and relaxing, everything goes in there because I want to make sure that I hit all the targets for my entire well-being.


When I write songs, usually I write in the evenings when my list is done. The last thing is usually that I write when the light has settled, it's getting a bit dark. I light a fire in the fireplace. I like to create, set a scene and a mood, and then I connect up and I say, "Hey, I'm here. I'm available for music. If there's anyone who wishes to write through me or drop any inspiration or is there anything inside of me that I can alchemize into a song." I can take two tracks there, either pure inspiration or personal processing.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Nice. I love how you schedule. I do that, too, with writing. I feel there's always maybe this misunderstanding that being creative is something that overcomes you, but you can also make time for it. 


Fia Forsström: Absolutely. I feel like when I add one thing, it's also a muscle. I come from a classical music background. In that world, you practice. You practice, practice, practice.


Steffy Roos du Maine: True.


Fia Forsström: The top soloists, the top performers, they practice, practice, practice. I have that ingrained in me. I feel like my own personal journey with myself is like, "I want a path to mastery, self-mastery," and that requires me to show up. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: Absolutely. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing this. A question I always ask to anyone on the show because it's called Mindful & Millionaire: what does feeling rich mean to you, and do you feel rich? 


Fia Forsström: Feeling rich, to me, is feeling satisfied, feeling that I have everything that I need. It doesn't have to be extravagances. I love extravagances. If you go to the very baselines like, "Do I have food in my fridge? Is there a roof over my head, clothes on my body, water to drink, people who love me? Yes. Okay, I'm good." Everything on top of that, no. It's wonderful. I like to keep it very simple like that because those, for me, are the true riches.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Absolutely. I also love that you love extravagances. Tell us about one extravagant thing that you still remember.


Fia Forsström: From the very superficial, I love beautiful dresses and shoes, and expressing myself through clothing. I love to travel, and also booking an extra nice hotel, for example, because I enjoy the feeling of that. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: Yeah, giving yourself permission to enjoy those things.


Fia Forsström: Yeah, total. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: Wow! Love it. How did you get so wise? I know it's a very broad question, but how?


Fia Forsström: It's a really hard question. Thank you, that's very kind of you to say. I think it's just a part of how I was created and that I walk through life with a curiosity to learn and to just be present. I think that when we are engaging actively in life, we become wise. We learn from experiences. We hear people sharing their stories. Everything of this gets gathered and stored and it becomes just life's experience.


Steffy Roos du Maine: What is the best advice anyone ever gave to you that you listened to and did something with it? 


Fia Forsström: I think it's the thing that I've been saying all throughout this conversation, but be yourself. There's really nothing else that you need to do. Just be yourself. That's enough. You are enough. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: I think the problem is not with not being ourselves but we have so much layers and things we think we should do.


Fia Forsström: Right, and that creates a lot of stress.


Steffy Roos du Maine: How do you deal with stress? I can imagine there's quite some stress, but you're out there, people have opinions, and touring also, writing songs. How do you deal with stress? 


Fia Forsström: I take a lot of time for myself however possible. I've also chosen, like, when I'm home, I'm relaxing a lot. Now, I have a dog, we walk in the forest. She's sleeping on the couch right now. I'm just looking at her and saying –   


Steffy Roos du Maine: Awww...


Fia Forsström: – "Oh, that's right. Relax." Yeah, taking time to do things that are only for me. If you're a person that is out there, a business owner that is serving in any way, it's so important to give yourself time to recharge and fill your own cup in whatever way suits you. For me, it's a forest. For me, it's seeing my friends and family, and it carries me. That makes it possible for me to be out on the road and give all of me because I know that I get to come back and just shhh... 


Steffy Roos du Maine: It's so important. I think we need that reminder almost every day from someone else or from ourselves like fill your own cup with all the things you love doing. 


I love talking to you. Thank you so much for sharing so openly also all kinds of things.


Fia Forsström: Thank you. I really enjoy these conversations and it's really sweet to meet you in this space. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: Thank you. Hope to see you in real life for once. 


Fia Forsström: Yes.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Have fun in Amsterdam. 


Fia Forsström: Thank you. I will. 


Steffy Roos du Maine: I'm sure I'm going to see hundreds of movies for my friends. 


Fia Forsström: Yeah.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Thank you for your time. 


Fia Forsström: Thank you.


Steffy Roos du Maine: Bye.


Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Mindful & Millionaire podcast. I hope you enjoyed and got inspired. You'll find all the interesting links and information in the show notes. Let's keep in touch on Instagram, steffyroosdumaine, and I'll be super grateful when you will rate, review or share this podcast. 

 

END