Core Values, Coaching and the Seasons of Womanhood

Before you read the show notes, I wanted to say a HAPPY St Patricks Day to all! 

In this thoughtful and honest conversation, I sit with Julie Parker — founder of Beautiful You Coaching Academy — to explore the many transitions women navigate across motherhood, work, identity, and wellbeing.

Julie shares her own journey from social work into life coaching, reflecting on what led her to build a successful coaching academy and the values that have shaped both her business and life along the way.

Together, we discuss the realities of balancing motherhood with ambition, the often-overlooked intersection of menopause and modern womanhood, and why support systems matter so deeply when women are building something meaningful.

This episode also explores the power of coaching as a space for accountability, reflection, and growth — particularly during seasons of change — and the importance of understanding your core values when making decisions about work, family, and the life you want to create.

A grounded and generous conversation about growth, freedom, and the reminder that you do not have to do it alone.

In this episode:

• Julie’s path from social work into coaching
• Building a coaching business through trust and relationships
• Motherhood, menopause, and identity shifts
• Why core values matter in life and business
• Daily wellbeing and personal rituals
• Support, partnership, and sustainable ambition

A few standout moments:

✨ “It’s all about relationship building.”
 ✨ “Find out your core life values.”
 ✨ “You don’t have to do it alone.”

Beautiful You - Instagram 

Website: Home - Beautiful You Coaching Academy 

Linked in - Julie - Julie Parker | LinkedIn 

 Chapters 

00:00 Introduction and Personal Connection

 02:53 Navigating Womanhood: 

Menopause and Motherhood 06:06 

The Journey to Life Coaching 08:57 Building a Coaching Academy 11:54

 The Evolution of Coaching and Client Relationships 14:56 The Importance of Authenticity in Coaching 17:48

Finding Balance and Freedom in Life 20:55 

Self-Care Practices and Wellbeing 28:26 

Morning Rituals and Spiritual Practices 33:58 

Balancing Motherhood and Business 40:01 

The Importance of Support Systems 43:36 Chasing Dreams and Core Values 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So well, thank you, Christina.

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Thank you for the invitation to be with you. And thank you so much, because I know you're busy um growing your beautiful flowers because I followed the one in Graham and I get so jealous because I'm like everything else is okay. Um so thank you for taking your time out of your busy day to to speak with me. I wanted to invite you onto this podcast for a very long time because I just love the work that you do. You've changed my world in so many ways. Yeah, studied to be a life coach when I was on maternity leave. Actually, Maggie was only a very small baby um at the time when I found out and found your course was starting. And it really did change the world that I live in and the way that I view what I can do for work and the different direction that I've taken since that. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Well, you're so welcome. And we have so many new mums and mums of little ones study with us, often during times of maternity leave. And um, that's just really beautiful to hear how it shifted things for you.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

So, Julie, do you want to tell us a little bit about um yourself first of all as a person, and then we can move into the actual beautiful new and what you do in your academy. But do you want to tell us about Julie Parker?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Well, what a big question, because I, you know, I am a post-menopausal 53-year-old woman now. And so I've been around for quite a long time, I guess, and especially a long time within the personal development industries. But at the the heart of it, when I think about myself as a person, is I'm really just a soul, like us all, having and wanting to have the most human experience in life that I possibly can. And for me, that involves being in service to others, which is something that was deeply instilled in me, especially by the women in my family. Come from a long line of women who have been everything from nurses to healers to counsellors to coaches. It just seems to be a part of the giving nature of my DNA and what we do. And I'm also someone who's very spiritually devoted to the natural world. And so hence growing flowers, gardening, spending time outdoors in nature. I guess really is my deep church and connection um to the outer world. And amongst that, I'm a stepmother to now a beautiful 27-year-old young woman. She was seven when I came into her life, and so I've had the privilege of, while not in the early years, certainly seeing her grow up from being a a wee girl. And I'm a devoted and very happily in love married wife now of 17 years to Glenn and a fur mama, and also a full-time carer as well to my mum who lives with us too.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Yeah, and I think um it's really interesting, and thank you for sharing all of that information, Julie, because it's uh all about being raw and real. But I think every one of us are in different stages, and I've got sisters, and one of them was just over that's obviously in the mere inland stages of the perimenipal or the merry the menopausal stages of life, and that's why I think connection is so important because it's really nice to obviously anchor into people that can share experiences with you, because while we might might not be going through it, we need to obviously share our experience so that people feel that that we're in it together and we're not just there alone in our experiences.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Absolutely. And I think you know, without necessarily even wanting to expand into this topic, but with you mentioning this, is that something that we're now becoming more and more aware of is that because women are having babies and becoming mothers when they are older, it means that they are actually experiencing the rites of passage of perimenopause and even menopause when they are mothers to young children and even babies. And this is not something that existed even just one generation ago. But it is now we're, you know, if a woman was going through perimenopause or menopause, her children were usually teenagers and or they were fully grown adults, and that's not necessarily the case anymore, and it means we need to take really great care of mums who are giving so much to young children at a time when their hormones are really shifting and changing, and they're undergoing a physical, emotional, and spiritual rite of passage that until recently we really haven't spoken about very much at all, and I'm so glad that's changing.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Oh my god, and I could talk about this topic with you as far as we went on this rabbit all because like someone gave me a fact where I was called a geriatric mom, right? So I had Meg. Oh yes, I've heard that term. Yes. And I was 39 and I said, What makes you geriatric? And they were trying to tell me I had to get like induced a couple of weeks before I felt ready actually to have Maggie. And I held off and I persisted, but they kept saying you're a geriatric mom. And I was like, Oh my god, that's just like I mean, I feel like I'm quite healthy. I look after myself, I eat well, I meditate, I go to the gym, and I felt really, like, really defensive about it. But then as I was talking to somebody a couple of weeks ago around this topic, she said, Yeah, but you know, you'll probably be full swing in menopause, and then you'd have Maggie straight into like the teenage hormones, and that horrified me. I was like, Oh my god, that is just something to look forward to, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:39

It is, and I know that you're being a bit facetious and ironic there, but I do want to let you know, Christina, as somebody that, as I mentioned, is now post-menopausal just this year, that don't don't be afraid and don't be careful about if all you're listening to, and this goes for any divine woman who's listening to right now, if all you're being flooded with is lots of horror stories about perimenopause and menopause, please know that everyone's experience of it is different. And there are so many more wonderful things now that we can do everything from natural therapies to Western medicine to nutrition to supplements to get in the gym and lift those weights because you're gonna need your muscle, all of that sort of stuff. We now know so many more supportive and wonderful things that we can do to help ourselves, even with simple things like getting a much better night's sleep than we once used to. And so it's not the horror show that maybe our mums or grandmas might have gone through. There's so many better options for us now, which is which is the way that it should be. Because if modern medicine can't support us with things like this, then I'm sorry, but what's it for?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Yeah, oh absolutely, and thank you for making me feel a whole lot better. And you're right, it just you have to be really careful in what you consume. And I say this to even all new mums, and it's just echoing what you say. I'm like, please follow the people that are real, and if they're on like if you don't feel like they're real, the miracle mornings where they're getting up at five when they've got a newborn, like that doesn't happen. Like it just can't happen because the baby, the minute they sniff their mums up, they're up.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Yeah, exactly. And that's such sound advice to give to everyone, because the truth is that this is also a period of time that is intensely, divinely expansive and amazing, particularly from a mindset perspective, because it really, really is true, Christina, that if you do the work and you, you know, and and you're helping women do that and you're doing it for yourself as well, when you get to this age and you realize that there is less of your life ahead of you than there is behind, you really do enter a stage of amazing personal power. You care less about what other people think of you, you are more nuanced and discerning with your boundaries, you will say no more, you will say yes only to those things that really work for you. You just become more powerful. And that's a great thing, you know. And I've not known it to not be the case for any woman around my age. It's a part of the process, and so look forward to that. It's coming. Good. I know I'm happy to have them strong boundaries in place.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

When my eastern drops, I'll be like, no, stop. Um, Julie, I'm really interested actually, and I probably know glimpses of your story because I've been fortunate enough to be in some of the courses with you and like them beautiful live sessions where you gave us so much of yourself. But can you just tell our listeners like what brought you into the world of beautiful you and what is it you do within that academy that you found?

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Well, my professional career started out as a social worker. That's the professional career I went into post-university. And for almost a decade I worked as a youth and family counsellor, and I absolutely loved that work. But along the way, as is the case for many of us with our careers, I started to feel and began to wonder about what more else might be out there for me. And in particular, the long hours, the bureaucracy of local government and health-related things started to really weigh me down a bit. And I began to really feel a call to possibly being more independent and doing my own thing. And that's when I found life coaching, which really was that's this is it's 25 years for me next year in the world of online business, and that was very much at the forefront of the profession, and not a lot of people knew what it was, and I knew as soon as I started studying it that it was an amazing way to work with people. And then a very truncated version of this, Christina, is that over a number of years I slowly built up my one-on-one life coaching business, and I primarily worked with women, helping them with issues of self-love, self-belief, self-confidence, body confidence, and things like that. And it built up to becoming very successful. And I was able to leave my salaried work and work for myself full-time. But then I ended up with a very lovely problem, but still a problem, and that is a very large waiting list of people trying to get to see me. And many of them had switched at that time to be coaches who were coming to me and saying, now I want what you want. How have you got this wait list? What are you doing with people? How are you attracting them? And why are you getting these amazing results? And I might be struggling a bit here. And so that eventually led into me, mind you, while having to do a lot of self-belief work and working with an a coach extensively myself to writing the Beautiful You Life Coaching course and my own version of very heart-centered, holistic, feelings-based coaching and starting the academy and training life coaches myself. And that is 12 years ago now, and we've trained at the Beautiful You Coaching Academy alongside your wonderful self, almost 3,000 coaches from around the world. And I absolutely love it. Absolutely love seeing people step into this world of service in their own way, working in so many different beautiful niches and areas. And I just feel very, very blessed every day that I get to do this work.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

I mean, it is um, I'm just gonna dance in front of this, the lights go off in this room. Um it's just such wonderful work. And I think in terms of life coaching, you're right in what you say. It's almost like people look at you and go, how do we get where you go? Because while we train with um Beautiful You, then it's like, then you're out in the big bad business world where it's like, okay, now we're lost in terms of you know, attracting clients. And actually, in fact, I wanted to kind of circle back to you saying that you had a wait list. I mean, there wouldn't have been any Instagram reels and art marketing and advertising back then, right? So you must have been really good at getting referrals and word of mouth and everything out there, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Well, the short answer is yes. You know, you know, there's no point in saying anything else. I must have been, otherwise, the evidence for that would not have been there. But you are 100% right, Christina. This is pre-TikTok, pre-Instagram. Facebook existed, but there were no Facebook groups to be in community with. Twitter was around at the which was now X, Twitter was around at that stage. But really, social media marketing and the ability to be able to find people through channels like social media just didn't really exist. And so what this meant was that in those early days, I was reliant upon meeting people and going to events in person that placed me in rooms with people where hopefully I had a soulful way of being able to talk about what I did while also listening to others share the same thing with me. But then you are 100% correct that really the primary way that my business built was through word of mouth and helping the people that I worked with get phenomenal results and get the things that they wanted, which then allowed them to organically and spontaneously open up and talk about that experience with others. And this is why I always say you can have the hottest website in the world and you can have a cute little Instagrid, and you can have all the strategies and marketing plans in the world. But if you're not great at what it is that you do, and you don't really help your clients get what it is that they're looking for and deliver the results that you say that you can deliver, then it won't mean very much because most likely your next client is somehow or another connected to a client that you're already seeing.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

And your words echo in my mind and so many times and occasions where I'm like, I must get my website done. But I'm like, actually, I've gotten lots of work from people referring me in terms of, you know, the human project as well, and some coaching um clients that I've gotten is actually from just talking about it in terms of like telling people what I do, and then I'm inside in a client and there's somebody and they're stuck in their career and they just need some support, and they've then messaged me, not on Instagram, asking me, is there a chance I help them? And is there any package that I could put in place? So you're so right in terms of it, doesn't necessarily need to be all the shiny marketing. And I think you know, you've got all those gurus out there at the moment, and you get so caught up in what everyone else is doing in the world of like social media and marketing, you have to kind of remember that. So thank you for reinforcing that because it's actually you need to be good at what you do, you need to get the results, and that is all that really matters.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

That's the baseline. Now, I'm not here to say that anybody can thrive as a successful coach or service-based business owner without a website. At some point in time, you're gonna need one, right? You're gonna have to have an online home, but we never want our attention to supersede into those things more than we do how skilled we are at our space holding.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Exactly. And that's so so true that you say that in terms of connection as well. I mean, it is all about relationship building, and you've got a big piece of that within your teachings in the course. Like, you know, it is pushing yourself out of a comfort zone and it is getting connected with other people and business owners and really getting out to meet those people. So I think everything, and I always refer back to your folder and my workbook and all the scratchings that I did throughout the course, and and I look and I always kind of chuckle to myself, but I'm like, it really does, it's just such a good foundation in like how you will get people to the where they need to go. Like if you follow that formula and you know, you follow the course as we were taught, you aren't going to get results if that person is up for it and they really want what they want.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Absolutely. If they're a truly appropriate coaching client, and that's something that's really important here because of course we can't make any other human being do anything that they don't want to, and of course we shouldn't. And this is where coaching clients have to be in alignment with what they say that they want and then what they're prepared to do. And that does not necessarily mean they're not going to have fears and doubts and concerns and take steps backwards as well as forwards and go round and round, because we all do that in our own lives, but ultimately in the end, do they want and do we want something more than remaining where we are and remaining where they are? And if they truly do, they'll move.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Yeah. And it might take them a while because I'm giggling here, and Fanila can see she's seen me go 360 and circle and go back and forward, but it's it's what I really want. So I've always come to the place that I need to be. But I think as well, it with the coaching, you'd agree with this, I'd imagine. I think it can be a very lonely world when you're out there by yourself. So to actually have a coach, it's really nice to have that accountability um person that's in your corner that can support you and ask you the questions that you need to be asked in terms of like how much do you really want this? And is that a story you're telling yourself, or is that something that's actually real? And then questions can be really powerful, especially you know, when you're kind of making all these excuses of I can't launch the podcast because is that a story or is that like the reality? So kind of when people bring you back to the base of like, yeah, you're just in your head at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

You have described within there, Christina, some of the primary roles of a great coach: accountability, support, encouragement, asking brilliant and wonderful questions, and this is what makes coaching such life-affirming work, and also amazing at helping people get results. You know, if there was one message that I could possibly spread to people who just really didn't know very much about coaching at all, it would be what you can achieve with a coach is mind-blowing by your side. And I know that for myself too, because not only am I a coach, but I've been coached many times. And I know that I have achieved more from working with a coach than I would necessarily have done on my own.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Yes, absolutely. And I think that's the important thing because you can just ruminate on things, whereas like I feel like once you've invested your time and energy into that coaching, then it's yeah, it's just gonna happen for you. Julie, in terms of your day to day, kind of what you get up to, I know that you love the garden and spending time outside, and you know, you obviously have some caring that you do for your mom as well, which is wonderful that she's got such a lovely daughter that looks after her. Um, what is it that you do day to day then? If you're not watching or if you're not running the academy?

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Yeah. Well, every single day is different for me, Christina, as a business owner, and that is exactly the way that I want it to be. I don't think I ever realized that I was craving that level of variety and diversity in my life when I was an employee. But now that I've known what it's like on the other side, uh, there's no other way that I would have it. So even within the business day-to-day, every day is different. So, for example, today I saw a client this morning. I have this podcast interview with yourself. I have to take my mum to a medical appointment later this afternoon. It's a stunning spring day, and so I will be in the garden planting some more dahlia tubers. And then tonight I'm going to a charity event to raise money with other local businesswomen for uh a local women's charity. And so, and that's that's just a very non-typical, but quite typical day in a way, because every single day, next week I have one day where I'm seeing three clients, another day I'm teaching in the beautiful U Life coaching course, and that's all I do that day. I just I'm completely immersed in that. Another day I don't have any appointments, and that will be a day for me to do quite a bit of admin, and also maybe I don't know, I might go and get a massage, probably book in a Pilates class that I get to go to at like 11 o'clock in the morning, which is just that to me is rich living. That I don't have to be at Pilates at eight o'clock at night or six a.m. in the morning because I've either coming backwards or forwards from a commute, you know? And so every day is different. I love that variety and feel very blessed that it's that way for me.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

And I think that's just in accord with me, and it will to most of our listeners, that variety and diversity. Like I now obviously, some of my other business is like I go into and I do consulting, and they're large corporate organizations, and I go in and I could have a three month contract or a two week contract, as in, you know, I go in and sort a certain problem out and I'm out again. And nothing makes me more happy than to leave again because I look and I'm like, you know, the people that have been there, and then they're institutionalized into what they're doing in there, and that's that's what they want, but it's absolutely not what. I want anymore. I walk out and I'm like, I'm so happy with my life that I get variety of clients, you know, I'll have a coaching call. It's the same as you. I love to not be tied to that like nine to five, and I think it's really important as a new mom and new mums, and like I'm not as new anymore. I've got a six and three-year-old, but like just having that like space to go, yeah, I can actually go and do that doctor's appointment, or I can go and get my hair done and work from the salon at 2 p.m. on a wedding's day if I want to, you know?

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Yep, absolutely. That is freedom. That's that is freedom. And look, when you when you start your own business, if you don't end up getting that in a way that's meaningful for you, time to tweak something. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

And that's a lovely gentle reminder to people who claim that's why we take all the risk, so that we can have that freedom, right? That time because not everything revolves around money anymore. I feel like with everything that happened with COVID, yes, we all live in like an expensive place. I live in Sydney. Money is fantastic, but it doesn't actually make you feel whole, or it doesn't actually fill up your cup, and it doesn't make you feel that you've got that freedom to move around and do what you need to do. So I think it's really important where people reassess what their values are and then kind of work towards what kind of business they want to be in. I think time and time again, what I've seen is like I've gone to organizations and people are burned out, and they come to me and we do coaching, and I'm like, is it the organization that's burning you out though? Or are you burning yourself out because you've got your loose boundaries? You know what I mean? Like, like, are you burning yourself out for an organization? And let's be frank, you are just a number there because you can be replaced. So, what is it that you're doing to allow that? And people just kind of have this aha moment, and I think they're like, Oh my god, so it actually is me, and I'm like, Yeah, it is, and I've made that mistake myself, that's how I can be so sure because I thought it was my company, but really it was my lack of boundaries and my lack of value and like not connecting back to what it is and my goals that I want and my values that I want that was burning me out.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

That is so powerful, Christina, and it's 100% true when it comes to how we feel or believe we might be experiencing something such as high levels of stress or overwhelm or burnout for any reason, it's very easy and also understandable because hey, we've all done it, including me, to externalize that and blame someone else. We're often a part of the fabric of things that have unraveled there for us to end up where we've ended up. And more often than not, particularly for those of us who are women, that has involved likely multiple times along the way, in families, in workplaces and more, saying yes when we should have said no, or picking up slack from someone else when we should have just let it be, right? Instead of stepping in and taking on more and doing that. And so, yes, and this is where somebody amazing such as yourself, as a coach in a sounding board, can ask someone questions and help them to see, hang on a second, I've got more power here than I actually am getting giving myself credit for, and I can take it back.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Yeah, it's so true, Julie, because it is you sometimes need someone to hold a mirror up to you because you are in that pitfall of like, I'm so stressed, I can't make a decision, I don't know what to do. I think it's my work, so it is actually having that soundly horrid. You're so right. Tell me this what is it that you do? So you've kind of sprinkled some little things of what you do for it to look after your own well-being and to keep you centered. Like there was obviously Pilates and gardening. What else is it that you like to do to look after yourself? Is there a meditation process?

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Is there a I think I have a re very regular, but I wouldn't call it routine, because I'm not a fan of routines, if I'm being honest with you. Like I don't have a morning routine. I find things like I I have deep respect for people who do and who do the same disciplined, committed, wonderful things every morning. And there is a big part of me that wishes that I worked like that because it looks just so sexy, but it's that it's just not the way that I work. In saying that, I do have a beautiful spiritual practice, and I do immerse myself in that most mornings, but it doesn't always look the same. I feel into what I need at any given time. So this morning it involved a 10-minute breathwork practice, some journaling, the pulling of an oracle card, and just a little bit ceremonially and ritually having my morning coffee out on the deck amongst my flowers rather than at my desk. That was my morning this morning. Tomorrow I have plans for it to involve a lot more movement. So I will sweat it up a bit and and then come into myself. And often a question I ask myself at the start of the day is what does my inner guidance want me to know? Or what will you have me know in some way? So it just allows me to connect in with what I might need from my higher self for the rest of the day. And Christina, I get all sorts of messages, you know, including everything from you need to calm down to you need to rest more, to you shouldn't do that thing that you're thinking about doing, to you gotta go for it today. Like you have to really push yourself today and make this happen. It could be anything. And sometimes I don't get anything specific like that. It might just be a feeling, like I might feel peaceful, and it's like, okay, I'm just gonna carry that energy with me throughout the day. But that practice is probably the cornerstone of well-being for me because it sets my day up most days as beautifully as I possibly can, connected to me and what it is that I need.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

That sounds absolutely wonderful, doesn't it? And you're right in what you say. I'd love to be the the morning person that has all of the structure in place and gets up and journals for but you know, like I said to my last guest, unfortunately for me, it just doesn't happen because I'm woken up by the sound of Maggie calling for mommy, or and I'm not gonna get up at 4 30 to beat that sound. I'm like, I will, you know, fit in a walk after I've done a drop-off to school, and I'll take out my headphones and be with me for a little bit and just walk and try and process my thoughts and take a couple of deep breaths before I get out of bed, and that's basically where I get to at the moment. It is kind of fitting them practices into where you are in life, and it's not to say that we can't, you know, we won't be able to make it a little bit more pressured in time or a little bit more time to do it, but it's just nice to be able to fit them pockets of time in, I think.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Absolutely, and you know what? It's enough. It's enough. And I think we have to cut ourselves some slack and a break as mamas, especially of little ones and young children. Just do what you can. Just do what you can, you know, and what you can is enough. It has to be enough. And then if for any reason it's not enough, it's an invitation for you to recalibrate and find out what would be.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Yeah, that's so such good sounding advice because it is we can only do what we can do. And I think there's a lot of external pressure from like social media that, like, oh my god, I should be doing more yoga or more whatever, but actually it could just be rolling out your mat and doing some simple, you know, sun salutations, something to ground you back into yourself. Yes. A very interesting part that you said there was around pulling a card. I've really gotten back into that lately. In terms of I was going through a big kind of decision in terms of like work, and I started going back to yoga on a Sunday morning and started doing some cards, and it just helped me so much because it was literally like my guidance was like, it's there, it's written down. It's like someone's telling you and pushing you forward, whoever it is looking for looking after me. And I think it's more than anything, it's probably you know yourself that's actually connecting back in, going, How does that feel? And sometimes it's just then questions of like how does that feel when you ask yourself that question? And you get that instant gut feel if you actually tune into it, don't you?

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Absolutely, and these sorts of tools such as oracle cards or candle work or anything like this, they're they're just meant to be tools that assist us to access our innermost wisdom. That's all. You know, they're just a nice way to be able to do that, and different things work for different people. For some it's prayer, for some it's meditation or oracle work. For others, it's like sweating it up on a dance floor, you know, and that's where the downloads come. And yeah, going for a swim in the ocean, different things work for different people, and none of them are wrong. It's all about what works for you. Absolutely, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

I think that will lead me into one of my next questions is obviously you've got you're an entrepreneur, right? So you've got like a lovely blend of business, you've got people that work with you, because I've obviously had the experience with them in the coaching world and they were fantastic. So you've handpicked these beautiful people that align with what you do. How do you balance the blend of like your caring and your motherhood and your business now? Like, what are the main key things that you can do to really blend them together?

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Well, you know, I think that one of the things that's helped me with this the most over many years now, Christina, is understanding that actually the pursuit of balance or trying to be balanced with all of those things all of the time actually, ironically, makes us unbalanced. That we're pursuing something that is in fact almost a form of perfectionism and is just not going to exist in the way that most of our minds constructs it to exist. And that is that we just feel and have the perfect amount of time for our children, our partner, ourselves, our lives, our businesses, our clients. And when I really grounded myself into that, it helped me to understand that with both myself, with my family and friends, and with my business and work, there are seasons where certain and certain times where some of those things will require more of me than others. So a perfect example of this is around times of launching or having big marketing output in the business. I have to really make sure that my family knows this is what is taking place. I may not be as available to do certain things spontaneously that we might have otherwise. And so, and to be mindful of asking me for more during those times. And that then stops frustrating situations of feeling like you're being pulled in lots of different directions, and so that helps. And also, may I add in there, I don't think it's possible to manage the juggle, so to speak, without excellent planning as much as you possibly can. We can't plan everything in life. There are lots of things that are out of our control, but I am the sort of person that manages. I need to manage my calendar, my time really, really well. Because if I don't, then what can happen is I can slide into too much with one of those areas or two, and all of a sudden another one will suffer. And the way I do that is by making sure that I plan things really well.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

Yeah, and I think that's a really important thing. It's the calendar, it's the checking in, it's and the clear communication to people around you and where you're at. Uh, because I find with friends sometime I'm in this growth phase now, I'm in the background trying to build logos, websites, you know, create my offerings for like businesses to offer off my well-being and my psychosocial services. And then I can't go to every Christmas dinner or lunch catch-up or you know, like, and I don't necessarily want to go out and drink alcohol because I do need that clear mind at the moment. Like I need space to like have them ideas that download and like have space to kind of create what I want to create. And then when that's when that's all in place, I'll be back on the scene again. But I I've I've definitely said that to some people. I'm like, I'm not trying to be distant, but I just can't do everything because it's just, yeah, this is a big ramp up time for me.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Absolutely. And you know what? You want people in your life that understand that and respect it because men do for each other. Yeah. Right? It's like they don't even have to say these kinds of things. I admire them for some of the ways they go about managing their own relationships. They might not talk to a mate for months and then one day text them and say, Do you want to play around a golf or do you want to go for a beer or something like that? And they're fine with it. Whereas for women, understandably, as more emotive beings, our worlds are more interconnected and things like that, but we often make assumptions about what another woman's busyness or her inability to be able to possibly accept an invitation means about us, when in fact she just might be living the life that she needs to live and doing the things that she needs to do, and that doesn't necessarily have to mean anything about us or even our relationship. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

And you're so true, it's so true. I was laughing when you said about men, you know, I'll see my husband and I'm like, Do you not want to go out with the boys? Let me text the boys, and he was like, If I want to go out with them, I'll text them. And then he'll just randomly text, they'll go for a beer on a Friday night and they not not see each other for another eight weeks. It's true. That's what they do. Um they don't need it. And I think you know, for us as well as women, we probably do need, and especially in seasons of our life like we're in, like it's nice to offload some or talk about shared experiences in business, in motherhood, and everything else that's gone along. But they need to be real conversations, right? Oh, yes, absolutely. The shallow ones, I don't have time for them anymore. So, look, I guess in terms of we're running out of time, and I just want to get this for last couple of questions in with you, Julie. So I just wanted to ask you, you've obviously got, like you said, and I've seen snippets on your your um Instagram, but you've got a really nice support system behind you and your husband, and do you think that's really important for you to be able to succeed in a business?

SPEAKER_01 37:06

It's not just really important, Christina, it's actually imperative. And I want to make something very, very clear. My husband and I, in many ways, have undergone somewhat of a gender role reversal in life and in our partnership, whereby I am the person he works in this business with me, not for me, there's a difference there with me. I'm the person that does the bulk of the work in the business and is most front-facing. And he works in the business part-time, but he is also fully almost, I would say 90% responsible for the rest of our life. He is the person who cleans our home, does the grocery shopping, pays all the bills, manages the fluffs with the vet, takes my mum to most of her appointments and varying other things. And there is no way, no way that I ever would have been able to experience the level of success that I have in business if I had basically not had a wife, like I have in him. And so he is a massive part of my success, and there is no way that I ever would have been able to do what I do without the work that he does in our lives.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

I think there's probably an opening for you there for you to add on a little part to beautiful you where your husband was the hobbies of the people that are treating to be that that's the word person. But it's so admirable though, because you know it's it's nice to see that men can actually do the role reversal and actually support their um wife in becoming big, big business people when they want to be a big business person and not just be the man and the woman supporting them. So it's really good to see. It's nice to hear.

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Look, he loves it and it suits him and it works for him. It might not necessarily for every man. Just like it might not for every woman to do that for her husband or her male partner. You know, everyone is different, but for Glenn, who loves to cook, who is more obsessed about animals than he is about people, and is a caring, nurturing person in and of himself, it really has seen him thrive and shine too. He's really, really enjoyed it. And so I am so grateful for that match. You know, we've just worked really well together in that way.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

And I think it's back to the universe gives you what you need at the time, right? So this is kind of all lining up for you. It is. I'm gonna ask you one last question before I let you go on your beautiful way, Julie. What would you tell any mom, woman that's sitting at home under fence, don't know what to do? What would what advice would you give them in terms of like chasing your dreams?

SPEAKER_01 39:56

You know, Christina, this is an answer that I'm finding that I'm giving more and more these days when asked a lot of different questions. And it seems to be the answer that's most pressing on my heart right now to share, and it just seems to have so many universal principles to it. And that is that if you want to live your most wonderful and best life and chase your dreams and go after it and you don't know where to start, start by finding out your core life values. Connect in with what it is that is truly, truly imperative to you, whether it's freedom or authenticity or creativity or joy or beauty or connection, whatever your three to five core values are, because once you find those, and if you have known them in the past, but it's been a long time since you've done them, do them again. Because once you find those, they can act as lighthouses for you about what may be possible for you next. But if you don't know what those are, really you're gonna find it very challenging to know what could be the next best step to take. Running alongside that, find yourself a fantastic coach like Christina to help you open up and explore this for because you don't have to do it alone, especially if you're feeling really lost and that might be impacting your confidence and how sure you feel about next steps. Oh my god, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

I'm taking it back in from my own advice. I'm drinking the advice. Julie, this has been such a beautiful conversation. I could talk to you for another hour, and they're gonna be a part too as I get this up and running. So thank you again for being so generous with your time and all your w wisdom. And I would encourage anyone that's listening to this, if they want to change or they look at anything, to look up Beautiful You Academy. They are like amazing. You get access to the most wonderful coaches. And so thank you for your time, Julie, and have a beautiful rest of your day. Thank you so much, Christina.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

I've loved every second for being here with you. Thank you.