Growing Business, Healing Self, and Caring for the Planet with Shaylee King

Discover the incredible power of nature therapy and photography with Shaylee King, a passionate environmentalist and documentary photographer. In this discussion, Shaylee shares how investing in her business not only helped her grow professionally but also transformed her life by providing a powerful source of healing and personal growth. By tuning in, you'll learn how to leverage your skills and interests to overcome self-doubt and limiting beliefs, while also expanding your business and finding greater success. Don't miss this opportunity to explore the full potential of your talents and discover the adventure that lies within.

What You’ll Walk Away With From This Episode:

1. How To Use Your Story To Empower Your Business: Shaylee discusses how she integrated her background and love for nature into her business, using creativity as a tool for advocacy and business growth.
2. What You Need To Do To Redefine Your Success: How to measure success in ways that go beyond just financial achievement. It focuses on learning to value personal well-being, practising mindfulness, and aligning business goals with personal values, offering tangible strategies to redefine what success means for them personally and professionally. 
3. How to Find Your Strength: What helps Shaylee to overcome imposter syndrome and embrace authenticity, Shaylee demonstrates how incremental steps and focusing on the true self can lead to a fulfilling life and impactful projects.

Shaylee's story of resilience will inspire you. Follow her on Instagram @shayleekingphotos & explore her website www.shayleeking.com

Transcript

Shaylee King: 0:00

You know, I really believe in the concept of like you can't love somebody fully until you love yourself, and I was not in a place in my early 20s, when I was going through college, that I really truly loved myself enough to be able to put my dreams and goals and ambitions in front of me. Like surviving was just the first thing that I needed to do. And it was a struggle to survive because I was dealing with not being healthy physically, not being mentally healthy, not having the capacity to do much besides go to school, work two different jobs, sleep and eat. Like keeping up with that was enough.

Nikita Williams: 0:45

Welcome to Crafted to Thrive, the globally ranked podcast for entrepreneurs living with chronic illness. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, and after being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses myself, I figured out the surprisingly simple missing links to growing a profitable business without compromising my health. Since then, I've helped dozens of women just like you learn how to do the same. If you're ready to own your story and create a thriving business that aligns with your health and well-being, you're in the right place. Together, we're shifting the narrative of what's possible for entrepreneurs with chronic illness. This is Crafted to Thrive.

Nikita Williams: 1:35

I am excited to on the show. She is like ride or die client. She's an amazing photographer, as I mentioned in the intro, and just an overall amazing human being. I'm so excited for her to be on the show. No pun intended, we're going to dive in into many different topics of her life, like partially diving into the ocean and like swimming with sharks and also being just an amazing photographer, but anyway, welcome to the show Shailie.

Shaylee King: 2:12

Thank you, thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

Nikita Williams: 2:15

So we were talking right before this was on because we're both kind of feeling like physically off Like weirdness happening in the world. But hey, we are showing up how we can, when we can doing what we can right and tell us a little bit about you and like your journey, your life. Tell us more about your life as just Shailie and Hawaii, and where are you planning to go with things.

Shaylee King: 2:45

Yeah, so my name is I am currently based on the big island of Hawaii. I am an outdoor guide. I work in the water, taking people out to swim with the manta rays. I'm also a photographer here on the big island. I'm originally from Alaska, which is kind of where my journey started. I've always just been a very outdoorsy, wildlife, adventure, loving human. And yeah, I'm currently on the big island to start to really work on underwater photography and outdoor education in the realm of the water.

Nikita Williams: 3:30

Yeah, so does all of that beautiful water work with the things that she takes pictures of. But what else do you do like online? Because you, you know, I know I could tell everybody, but you do some awesome stuff out of the water as well.

Shaylee King: 3:44

Yeah, yeah. So I've been working as a photographer for about five years now professionally, where I do outdoor lifestyle and venture commercial work. I also do a lot of farm to table photography and collaborations, as well as work with small businesses to support them in their endeavors for a more sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle.

Nikita Williams: 4:11

Yeah, and she's so, like I say, she, , is so good at it. You guys probably hear me talk about her often I never say her name in the episodes. When I'm talking about a client, that's like doing nature things Usually I'm talking and referring to because she is boss when it comes to that, in my opinion. I think she is. That's a place in her life that she's extremely confident in, I think, even though sometimes she feels differently. Right, but it's interesting because it's a little bit different for you. I feel like then, when I talk to other clients who are like trying to get out of their job job because they hate it there's a part of your like what you do, you enjoy, like it's literally a part of your -ness, like being in the water and educating people, and that's just a part of who you are, and so, as well as being a photographer, so what has been some of the challenges you've experienced? Like kind of being okay with being okay with being both of those type of people.

Shaylee King: 5:18

Well, it's definitely been a journey of challenges and now I feel like I'm really just starting to embrace those challenges and realize that the challenges aren't always bad but they're a learning opportunity to grow. So to give you a little bit of context, I've always been a creative. Since I was little, I used to do a lot of watercolor. Photography has always been part of my life. My family has always been kind of sort of this half and half like laborers and then creatives, and I think I'm a mix of both of those people. So when I went to school, I really enjoyed science and I loved biology, I loved chemistry, I loved a lot of different realms of science, and I also loved being creative and working with my hands, being the studio. And I also struggled with ADD, but I didn't know how to manage my ADD. I struggled with depression and I didn't know how to manage depression. I struggled with a different learning ability than my colleagues in school Right, and so I had this balance of figuring out my identity through that, trying to learn about the sciences and the things that got me excited about the sciences, but then also meeting that creative part, that creative streak in me that I always wanted and needed. So when I decided to go to college I was trying to really figure that out how to balance those things. The thing about college is that they don't teach creatives how to be in business. So when I was going to Portland State University I decided as a sophomore in college to go and seek an internship with the outdoor program that's there. On this internship that I worked in, you start off just as an intern and then, as you progress in your certifications and your experience and skills, you move up into a paid position.

Shaylee King: 7:39

I wanted to start doing outdoor education and do the outdoor program because that's just kind of part of my personality. Growing up in Alaska, you're constantly surrounded by mountains and the rivers and the wildlife and you're with the same types of people that just really love adventure and nature and the environment and I was missing that when I left into the Pacific Northwest. I was missing that sense of adventure and outdoor lifestyle. So I started to work in that field where I used to take students out backpacking and climbing and rafting and we would do service-based trips, volunteer trips, and we took students out and we taught them outdoor skills. We taught them communication skills and team building and I learned about facilitation and I learned about how to push my experience as somebody that just grew up in the outdoors and give that skill set, or give those experiences in a safe way, to these students. Some of my students had never even been in the woods before, never been on a hike, like didn't know anything about nature, and through that I started to learn that people that fear something don't understand it, and that's a huge reason, I think, why there's this disconnect between nature and us. Right, when you, when you fear something, you don't necessarily understand it, so you can't connect with it.

Shaylee King: 9:21

When I was working with these students out in the back country, I started to take my camera out there. At the time I was shooting weddings and portraits and things like that. But it wasn't until I took my camera out in the woods with all these students and I started to document our experiences outside. And when I would go back and start to edit these photos and look at these images that I created, I started to realize the impact that these students had, because I could see it in these pictures. I could see the way they transformed, I could see the way they connected with nature and I could see the way that they connected with each other and it was through their experience being present and being outside that really changed their lives, and that's what really made me start to shift towards an outdoor environmentalism community like community based kind of focus.

Shaylee King: 10:21

When I started taking my camera out and experiencing these things, I started to really focus more on my values and what I really wanted to do with my photography. That made an impact and a purpose behind my photography. So I then started focusing on sustainability. The Pacific Northwest in general, and Oregon specifically, is very sustainably focused. Just everything about it focuses on sustainability in terms of our consumption and transit, and Portland specifically is like rated top in the city for, or in the United States for, biking. So all these things really just kind of came together and I started to push the envelope further in that room.

Shaylee King: 11:16

I actually traveled to DC for the first Science March in 2017 and I got to really experience an entire community of people that cared about the environment and cared for change. So that inspired me to keep pushing towards those dreams to make photography a real impact. Through school, I also learned how photography has made an impact historically, how the sciences and the art actually really depend on each other to create some type of difference or change, to connect people with sciences, to connect people with nature. Science needs art, art needs science. Photography is also a tool technically for documenting things and being able to slow things down, to be able to actually see things beyond our eye. So I've always known that photography is a huge tool and a very important aspect of the life that the life that we live now.

Nikita Williams: 12:38

Yeah, I think that's the thing that, when we've worked together, what I've really enjoyed is your kind of discovery of the fullness of that story.

Nikita Williams: 12:50

I feel like this is the first time I've actually heard you say it all together. That feels so cohesively and it makes sense. I feel like for the time I was working together, you're like I don't know how these things fit, even though I know they fit. To articulate it, it's like a challenge and I think it makes sense what you're saying, like how they kind of work together and how you fell into this and I don't even want to say fell like you really chose to take this path of like connecting the creative world and the natural world into being able to see it. I think the piece I'm curious about is how has it been a challenge right now, like so I know I know this because I work with Shailene, I'm her coach but what has been challenging for you when it comes to telling your story, when it comes to marketing and telling people, or even telling people your story and how you see the world behind, like the camera, versus how everybody else sees it?

Shaylee King: 13:50

Yeah, that's a great question. I think the other struggles that I had through my journey was depression, and that's one of the reasons why I came to you and I mean I didn't really come to you, I kind of discovered you, which was a beautiful journey in itself. The fact that I found a coach that works with people that have chronic illness was very a new concept to me and I realized like I need that. Through my journey as a photographer and an outdoor guide, I have always struggled with depression and I've also, through that, have struggled with imposter syndrome, so depression has been a journey for sure.

Shaylee King: 14:39

I think one of the reasons why depression has been prevalent in my life is because when I started getting older and started really discovering how the world we live in today is in a lot of distress in a lot of ways, there's a lot going on in terms of climate change and just the reality of where our environment is today really put me into a difficult place, and that's not the only reason. I mean just growing up. You know life is hard. I had a lot of teachers and professors that put me down because I had a different learning ability, so I definitely struggled with thinking that I wasn't good enough or I wasn't smart enough or I wasn't fast enough that learning. So that really brought in my imposter syndrome and just struggles and lights. That happened. That really put my business on the back burner, and because I didn't know how to take care of myself, I had a difficulty struggling to even like function in life. I didn't treat my body well enough. I didn't do the things that I now know and have learned how to balance back then.

Shaylee King: 16:01

You know, I really believe in the concept of, like you can't love somebody fully until you love yourself, and I was not in a place in my early 20s, when I was going through college, that I really, truly loved myself enough to be able to put my dreams and goals and ambitions in front of me.

Shaylee King: 16:21

Like surviving was just the first thing that I needed to do, and it was a struggle to survive because I was dealing with not being healthy physically, not being mentally healthy, not having the capacity to do much besides go to school, work two different jobs, sleep and eat Like keeping up with that was enough, and my financial journey has been part of that too. I've always been just kind of paycheck to paycheck. I didn't grow up with a lot of money. We I mean, we were good but we were like live in that basic middle class, lower middle class lifestyle and I didn't really have the financial education to like be going through school by myself and going through work and just learning how to use my money in a way that could support a business. So now I have really learned how to balance all those things and it's through the concept of like baby steps that I've really learned to cultivate a lifestyle with healthier habits that actually align with the values that I want to have in my own life and the values that I want to have within my business.

Nikita Williams: 17:46

Yeah, I mean that's a really good point, I think. Oftentimes, just going back to the point about living with depression and anxiety, like so many, actually have a really good friend and was talking to her recently and she was like I just realized that depression and anxiety, like chronic anxiety, are chronic illnesses. I'm like they are, like they are I mean, we were to look up the definition of a chronic illness. It's something that affects the way you take care of any aspect of your life for three months or more. How many of us have had that at some point in our life? Right? And so I think a lot of times the world puts a lot of expectations of where they think we should be and how we should be doing something, and then we take those things and perceive that that's how I'm supposed to be, even though I'm going through all of these things that are happening in my life that deals and you know, kind of affects my mindset, affects my health. And to your point about school and like learning about your craft and all of those different things, it's absolutely wonderful, but when does the like hands and feet of how do you combine all of those things together so that they actually work and you're not like playing seesaw all of the time, of doing everything on this side and not taking care of everything on this side.

Nikita Williams: 19:10

And I feel like that's where I met you. Shailie was like at a moment of like I realized I have all of these juggling balls of things I need to do, but I have no idea how to throw them in a jar and like survive. That and, to your point, like the baby steps is a part of that. But what I found working with you, shailie, is like acknowledging that the power has been you aligning your gifts that came to you naturally that didn't have anything to do with school and then bringing those things into the rest of your life as if, like, that is your gift, those are your strengths and you've been able to kind of hone them and grow in them, but how to use them in a way that actually aligns with what you want. And I'm curious to hear like what has been some things that we have worked on together that's really helped you to kind of feel more empowered and confident and like showing up for yourself personally and in business.

Shaylee King: 20:08

So much. There have been a lot. I think the first thing that comes to my mind is the just questions that you've asked me. You've challenged my mindset. You're like is this true? What evidence do you have that says you can't show up online or that you can't even eat healthy? Right, I'm like I don't have time to cook. Is that true? Or are you just not making time to cook, right, like?

Shaylee King: 20:46

I know that sounds so simple, but when you're stuck in depression and anxiety and when you feel just like the world is against you, you get into a headspace that you actually start to like, believe those things are true. You actually start to believe that you're not good enough, you're not smart enough, you're not capable enough, and I think I just needed somebody to give me the energy and the time and space to challenge those beliefs in a professional way, to write. Like my family and my friends, they want to support me and they have tried to support me and keep me accountable for the way I'm thinking, but, like, also, they don't necessarily know how to do that in a way that I need as a working with a business coach. There's a level of separation, the non-bias right and just the capacity to help, right, even though friends or family want to help. They have their own stuff going on and that's totally okay. But I think I just I needed somebody to really sit me down, hear me out and then be like is that real, is that true?

Nikita Williams: 22:23

I love that you say that. Everyone says that to me. I really should become like the questions coach or something like that. I don't even know if that's a thing, like nobody would know what that is, but I feel like it's and I don't know. You tell me. I feel like it's.

Nikita Williams: 22:37

It's not that family and friends don't have the best intentions usually, right. I find that the challenge is that they don't know how to create space for the safety that's required for you to actually be vulnerable and say, well, even though you're asking that question, no, I don't have evidence. No, I feel this way. Know all of these things and allow space for that. That's something that I'm constantly. Everyone that I work with is like is it okay for me to say this out loud? Is it okay for me to say that I feel like crap? And then I'm like know all of these, these things we have in our head? I'm curious to know how did you feel, feeling like safe, or what helped you to feel more comfortable being able to show up in the space, to be you and to be that kind of vulnerable?

Shaylee King: 23:30

I mean honestly, I think it's a coach is like a therapist, but not a therapist In a sense, like like the therapist can't say certain things and they can't advise you on certain things, whereas a coach can, and vice versa, a coach can't say certain things and can't diagnose you with certain things, right, and so having a coach is this funny mix between having a therapist, having a professional consultant and having like a friend too.

Shaylee King: 24:06

That will challenge you in ways that will push you forward into a more successful lifestyle, right, like going back to the family friends thing, my friends don't understand my prices and why they're the way they are, because they haven't experienced the things that I have experienced or that you have experienced. We understand the value of our work because we have gone through the blood, sweat and tears of the work and we see little bits and pieces throughout our experiences that make up why that price is that price, whereas maybe a friend doesn't understand that a gallery of images is going to take me anywhere between five to eight hours just to edit and the capacity that that takes for you to do that, plus the shoot, plus the taxes, plus all of your other expenses, plus your talent. So all the friends and family will try to help you. They might not understand fully how to push you in a direction that will be better for you in the long run, so you can actually have the life you want to live.

Nikita Williams: 25:25

Imposter in the imposter syndrome piece to this, though, is real right. Like I'm always upfront with y'all, I'm like it's not that I don't have this stuff. I'm like I have imposter syndrome too, but that's why I have coaches, that's why I invest in my own being coach, but I also feel like it's powerful to have someone on the other end to see something that you don't believe. This is something. It sounds really bad when I say this, but when y'all say, oh, I can't, or this is not, I don't believe you, like I just don't. I don't believe you.

Nikita Williams: 26:00

I'm like I love you as a person, as a human Also. I know that you have stuff going on, but it's not necessary. I don't necessarily believe that you believe that it's oftentimes you don't see it in a certain way and you just need to figure it out. So we were talking about this before, about the feeling of being not good enough and not feeling confident enough and not all of these things, and this is your favorite, because you told me this before the show like, how have you been able to overcome the thoughts about I'm not good enough? This is not me when it comes to showing up in your business and being your authentic self and doing the thing that you do.

Shaylee King: 26:39

I mean, I think, one of the biggest things like within posture syndrome, two things, one of which is that you told me to start creating an evidence bank. Now, have I created an evidence bank every single time and actually put it on paper? No, so I took notes in my head and sometimes on paper, through reflecting, through mindfulness, through journaling, just reflecting on an experience, to actually celebrate and acknowledge when somebody gives me a good review, instead of just thinking, oh, they're just trying to be nice. No, it's their real experience and I learn to actually see it and then believe it.

Nikita Williams: 27:23

I see that.

Shaylee King: 27:24

And the other thing is, one day we were talking about imposter syndrome and showing up online because I'm like, I'm not a social media person.

Shaylee King: 27:34

I don't want to be online all the time, but through photography, that's my platform. In order to get my work out there, I have to show it, I have to be able to convey it in a way that feels good, that I can really put it out in the world and we live in such a visual world and photography is something to be viewed. And I was telling you that I was having such a struggle showing up online because, again, going back to, I'm not good enough or my work's not good enough. I'm not as experienced as this other guy that's traveled the entire world and has all this gear. You see other people online and you compare yourself to them, and then one day you're telling me that you thought it was pretty interesting that I'm having a hard time showing up online because of this imposter syndrome, that it's scary, that it's a big thing, that it's all these things that I was spiraling into in my head, and then you're like but you swim with sharks.

Shaylee King: 28:36

Yeah, that analogy was like I'm, like you're right. You're right, Nikita, I do swim with sharks. Yes, I do. And then when you think about the fact that I swim a shark out here in the waters and then I say, why can't I post a picture online if I'm out here swimming with these sharks, why am I having such a hard time posting a picture of that shark that I'm in the water with? That was funny.

Nikita Williams: 29:12

Yeah, it's perspective.

Nikita Williams: 29:14

Nothing changed, right. Nothing literally changed. It's not like you did a thing, it's not like we went on some kind of meditation journey or something. It was literally just for you. It was like I literally did not see that that way and now, wow, I see it. It's like oh, that makes a lot of sense, and I think that's the power of having a coach.

Nikita Williams: 29:37

I remember after we had that chat, you were like so I started posting and then you started showing up doing lives randomly and then you were like, hey, someone reached out to me. I'm like, yeah, that's yeah, Like it's strategy. This is the thing I think people focus so much on this strategy. That's important, but the mindset or the thoughts behind the strategy have more power of creating anything than the actual strategy. And I think for you we've seen that, because a lot of the work we've done together is majority mindset you have, like you tell me ideas and like that sounds great, that sounds great. It's usually the mindset that's like but I don't know right and I want to know like, what has been fun for you in this process of discovering what you are already awesome at? Like what has been fun?

Shaylee King: 30:31

Yes, I definitely want to tell you what's been fun, but you made me think of this, though, is like when terms of mindset and imposter syndrome just now, when you're talking, I think my past experiences of always having other people around me doubt me is what I really let get into my head. In terms of mindset, I mean constantly growing up and in school, and just my peers, the people around me. Anytime I did something or said something or had an idea, right Like it was very rare that somebody believed in that idea or didn't discredit what I had to say. So now I have like broken down those like chains in my head that I can't because, like you said, you're, like I know you can. So just even the belief in that I can has made me recreate and completely like shed of skin that I've had on me for so long, and that is really powerful as a creative entrepreneur.

Nikita Williams: 31:41

Yeah, I was just seeing her. She's doing her happy dance Really, yeah. So how much more fun is it to show up in this skin?

Shaylee King: 31:51

So much more fun. It feels like I'm a light feather just flying around, stoked on life. I feel way more like authentic and who I've always been Like. I've always been who I am today, but now I've it's like the light is at the end of the tunnel kind of thing. You know, like I was in this tunnel for so long and then the tunnel slowly started to open up and open up and now it's like I see it right there, there it is All that light is right over there. So it feels really good.

Shaylee King: 32:30

And the creative things that I have been doing that you helped me start was like I remember when we were first starting to work together, I was like I got to be good at the business stuff. I got to be good at the money stuff. I got to be good at the back of the house stuff. I got to be good at taxes, which is like all the stuff I hate, all the stuff that I despise in business, is what I was focusing on. And then one day you were like can you just go take some photos for fun? You reminded me just to be who I am and go have fun with it and go actually practice putting my thoughts and ideas and visions into life. You were like stop working on your finances right now.

Nikita Williams: 33:21

That's why you're stuck, because you're and you probably all met like you was like but no, nikita, but no, I have to.

Nikita Williams: 33:29

And I was like look, I love you, but listen, like it's not helping you.

Nikita Williams: 33:36

Sometimes we hold on to things so tight because we think that's the fix and oftentimes what I find with myself included is that the things that actually do feel a little bit easier and fun helps you do the hard stuff, like we want to do the hard stuff, because everyone says that's the stuff that you're supposed to focus on, that's what has to be quote unquote perfect for you to succeed. What they don't tell you is that the fun stuff, the messy, creative parts of trying to figure out how you show up in the world is what makes the hard stuff easier. Why are we focusing on the money and you ain't even got the business? Like what, right, it was like we don't need to focus on this. It's not like we have like clients knocking down the door right now, like you do. You've grown to that place now where you have clients come in here like girl, I got people like I've got weeks lined up and stuff and I'm like I know I'm so excited and we're like, yeah and now we're talking about.

Nikita Williams: 34:36

oh, let's think about the money stuff, all of those things, but that feels so much different, right Then, like if none of that was happening, so different.

Shaylee King: 34:45

Yeah, you're right, it does make you show up in a different way when you're. I think one of the hardest things that I was having a difficult time with was that I wasn't actually practicing the things that I was preaching. I was preaching sustainability, I was preaching health, I was preaching wellness, I was preaching adventure and education, and I wasn't doing any of it. And then you helped me come back down to the basic foundation of the survival skills. I've been in this like fight or flight mode, and when we talked about fight or flight, you really broke it down.

Shaylee King: 35:26

You're like you can't be doing this without first like drinking water, moving your body.

Shaylee King: 35:34

Somebody with ADD, for example, needs to move their body a lot, which makes sense, because I've been like active my entire life, but I didn't comprehend why or the real impact it has on me.

Shaylee King: 35:48

So if I'm waking up in the morning drinking my coffee, thinking I'm just like in a good chill space and I can like look at my bank account, no, I got to like go do my breathing exercises, my hot yoga, and then come back to it and feel level and flow, because without the initial focus on myself in the morning, I can't focus on other things that are for my future self. I have to focus on my present self in order to focus on my future self, because future is not future without present . And that was a big learning experience for me, once I actually took time to slow down and focus on like what I need. Now I was able to equalize my body and my brain to be able to think about three years down the line, five years down the line, 10 years down the line, what that would look like for me and what I want that to be.

Nikita Williams: 36:56

And you're doing so good, like I wanted, like I was reflecting on this the other day when we had our call and you literally recently had a trip that you went to back to Alaska. Right, and I remember the last time you went to Alaska the then, and the now and the Shaley that came back to Hawaii. From that trip this year, 2023, to the time we came back before, our conversations were very different, very different conversations, very different energy, very different. And the things you did before that trip. If you could share with someone who is in a place of six months ago versus now, what advice would you give them?

Shaylee King: 37:45

I would give somebody that was in my position six months ago advice on just being present, being mindful. I think the thing that I really struggled with last time I went back home to Alaska was I was so focused on not being productive enough on my work vacation, not having achieved my goals when I didn't even like set the goals in the first place. I didn't even focus on the goals before I went and then, therefore, when I was there last time, I felt so negative about how I wasn't productive enough, how I wasn't making money while I was there. I was just spinning into a negative talk, negative self-talk, negative everything. I enjoyed my trip, but there was always this thing in the back of my head that dulled everything because I thought I wasn't doing good enough.

Shaylee King: 38:43

When I went on my trip this year, I took five 10 minutes out of my day, out of my week, even if I didn't do it that every day, several months before I even left to figure out how many shoots I wanted to get done, how much time I wanted to spend with my family and how much time I wanted to edit at coffee shops or do what I need to do to get both my time in with my people and time to work and focus.

Shaylee King: 39:14

And because I started to apply this like 5% rule that you you told me to focus on, which is, you know, what capacity do you have today? What's the 5% that you can put towards your business each and every day? Because we always we can't always put 100% every single day. We have these spoons, as you say, of energy, especially as somebody with chronic illness, somebody that needs different aspects in their life to make a work life balance really achievable. And because I started to apply this 5% rule every single day, by the time I had gone to Alaska, I was 100% prepared and ready to go with the flow, adapt to changes, adapt to things that I needed to adapt to, to make business calls during that week that I was there and to actually even there then focus on that 5%. So mindfulness, gratitude, reflection, those things are really key to be able to make sure you have enough spoons for your business.

Nikita Williams: 40:28

That was so well done, like yes, like when you're stuck, you need all those three things. When you're in the like, you just in the like Receiving mode, all of that awesome stuff has happened. You still need those three things of just being mindful, reflective and grateful. Because, just like there is that line between like fear and excitement. Like literally is just a line of like. If flipping a switch, you could be on either side. So is success and not feeling like you're successful. Right, so is being enough and feeling, not feeling like you're enough. And I really do feel, like to your point of those things like being mindful and being present mindfully today, being grateful, doing that in all of those different scenarios helps you to get to where you want to go more stress free. So what are you looking forward to in your business now? What's coming up? What's happening? There's a lot happening.

Shaylee King: 41:27

I mean I'm really looking forward to continuing to implement these strategies you've given me, you know, to reflect and know how many spoons I have that day, to know what my 5% is.

Shaylee King: 41:39

To be able to take action in creation, to be able to have a level of professionalism and experience to convey to my clients. So they are going to be able to do that. I feel good leaving a shoot and they feel taken care of and they feel like they had fun and they feel like they accomplished their goals and something that they needed to have right. Like I absolutely love supporting people that are focused on the planet, people that want to give back to the earth, give back to their community and give back in their different realms of life right. So my biggest goal is to work with people in a couple different realms of environmental sustainability and innovation. I want to work with researchers and scientists that are trying to figure out how to clean up our oceans and help marine life. I want to work with small business owners, smaller creative entrepreneurs that are trying to give back in some way to their community and really be able to like showcase the people in the world that are just doing so many amazing and badass things.

Nikita Williams: 43:04

What about your podcast? Your podcast is coming right like it's work in progress. We're working on it, but that's going to be another really cool place that people can connect and learn about you and the people in the world who do, and really cool things.

Shaylee King: 43:19

Yeah, so I'm going to be launching a podcast called people for the planet podcast, which is going to focus on different interviews and collaborations with people that have different realms in the world of environmentalism and environmental storytelling. I have a wide variety of some people that I'm starting to set up interviews with are like firefighters or marine biologists, or farmers and chefs, or creative small business owners, people that really have a passion for what they do, that are providing really important and impactful things for our future.

Nikita Williams: 44:05

Well, I'm excited and I'm glad that I'm on the road with you. Me too, my husband always cracks up with me. You guys know I talk about Maurice all the time. He's like literally my other half, but he's always like I can always tell which clients you're on. Like when I get up and go and like take my little break after a client, he's like I can really pretty much tell which clients he's like.

Nikita Williams: 44:26

Every time you get off a call with and I don't tell him this, he just knows that I'm getting off calls with he's like that must be Shailie from Hawaii. He's like you feel like you come out of that room feeling like you're going to swim with a shark and I was like I'm not swimming with a shark, but he's like it's the energy I think that of like that I'm so excited she's got this and it's like that's the kind of energy that I mean. That's probably the reason why I love coaching is because the beliefs that you guys feel like you don't have, or the things that you feel like you're still working on, I still feel it and I like it fills me up knowing how much is there for you, and so I'm excited for whatever it is that you're going to be doing, because it's going to be awesome?

Shaylee King: 45:09

Thank you. I couldn't have done without you. I mean, I know that you say like you're the one doing the work, but honestly you are. You, as a coach, have extremely helped me in so many ways to be able to push myself out of that tunnel and get to a place, back to myself, the foundation of myself. Right, because you've given me the tools, you've given me the questions, you've given me resources that have helped me come back to this place of like I can do this.

Nikita Williams: 45:39

Yeah, you can and you did it. You did it. So thank you so much for being on. If you guys want to connect with Shealy, how can they find you?

Shaylee King: 45:48

You can find me through my Instagram at King photos. My Instagram handle also my website, which is just ShealyKingcom. I'll have that podcast coming out soon People for the Planet podcast. Watch out for that. And yeah, you can always send me an email or DM if you ever want to chat environmental stories, if you ever want to do photography, let's connect.

Nikita Williams: 46:14

Yeah, do you have prints still on your website? I think right, yeah, I do. Just so you know You're looking like for a beautiful, like ocean or like volcano, like y'all the girls, I mean. She swims with sharks. She swims with sharks, that's all I'm going to say. But you can get her prints. They're amazing too. Just wanted to put that out there as well. Thank you again for being here and being saying yes to working with me. I appreciate you so much.

Shaylee King: 46:43

Yes, thank you so much, and looking forward to what the future holds.

Nikita Williams: 46:48

That's a wrap, y'all. Thanks for tuning in to Crafted to Thrive, the podcast that helps entrepreneurs with chronic illness to thrive and build a holistic business and life. Check out our website at CraftedToThrivecom for this episode show notes and all the gifts and goodies. Connect with me on Instagram at Thrive with Nikita for more tips and behind the scenes and more. Tag me to share what you loved about this episode and I'll feature you on an upcoming episode. So until next time, remember, yes, you are crafted to thrive.