Raw Beginnings: Art, Healing, And Business

Ever feel like your life only makes sense when you stop trying to make it look perfect? That’s where we begin—no filter, just a clear line from a quiet kid in Tasmania to military drills, nursing shifts, a near breaking point, and a paint-splattered table where learning starts again. We walk through what it means to be an intuitive business coach and an artist at once, and why coming back to basics is the most advanced move you can make.

I open up about leaving high school early, stumbling through TAFE, nearly joining the military, and discovering that discharge can be a gift. Nursing taught me care and burnout in equal measure, and it also taught me why foundations matter. That same truth shows up in the studio: adjusting an easel, measuring what you see, training your eye, and building a portfolio with thoughtful photography. You’ll hear how acrylic pouring captured my attention, why still life painting humbles me, and how YouTube studies and steady practice are helping me push through the awkward stage.

We also go straight at mental health—depression, anxiety, complex PTSD—and the moment everything almost ended. Presence became a tool, not a slogan. Anxiety lives in the future, depression in the past, but craft lives here. That mindset now anchors my coaching: simple, repeatable business basics, real offers, human service, and new memberships designed for group energy without the noise. If you’re craving clarity, creative growth, or a reset on how you build your business, these stories, tools, and small shifts will meet you where you are.

Listen for practical takeaways you can use today: how to set up your drawing space, how to practice brushwork without judgment, how to photograph your art for a stronger portfolio, and how to prepare early so passion has room to breathe. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s rebuilding their craft, and leave a review with one basic you’re committed to mastering this week. Your next step can be simple—and that’s the point.

Hello and Welcome to The Aligned Path with Darleen
My name is Darleen and I support business women to have a Heartfelt Connection to their Business through working with their intuition.

You love your business as it has all started coming together and now you understand that Mindset, Spirituality and Intuition are just as important as the logical parts of business. When you work with your intuition in business you can make sound business decisions that you have confidence in; become more confident in yourself as a business woman; and have the ability to say no to things and people that are not aligned.

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Transcript

Artist And Coach Identity

Growing Up In Tasmania

Leaving School And TAFE Detours

Military Trial And Turning Point

Nursing Path And Burnout

The Power Of Basics

Mental Health And Staying Present

Learning Painting And Practice

Drawing And Photography Wins

Passion, Preparation, And Memberships

Future Topics And Gratitude

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Welcome to this bonus episode. It's number one. And I really, I get teary actually. I'm getting teary right now. I really wanted to actually be more raw and real about my journey, about everything to do with life, business, um, the courses, all of that. Now, not everything, of course. There are still things that I like to keep private for me, but I wanted to be able to come on here and just talk about me, talk about business. And if you've got questions as well, please ask because I'm going to be raw and real. I'm going to be more, even more authentic. Now, for those that don't know me, maybe you're listening for the first time, I'm an intuitive business coach and I'm also an artist. And I'm actually learning more about the art, which is why I'm doing the certificate three in visual arts, and I will continue on with other courses because all of that I love I love art. And for me, the one I've loved the most is what's called acrylic pouring. It's beautiful. Now, I grew up in Tasmania. I want to give you a bit of a backstory. I grew up in Tasmania and loved it. Now I did grow up in an era where it was still very male-dominated. My father was the head of the household, and that was the way it was. It was just one of those, one of those things. And you know, you did what he said. It was just, you know, you didn't have much of a choice. Now I love Tasmania. I didn't love high school, hated it with a passion. Absolutely hated it because, you know, I didn't actually have any friends whatsoever. So I was a person in the corner reading a book or going up to the library and doing stuff there because it felt right. It felt it just felt what I needed to do for myself. Now it didn't always feel right because you know it meant that I I didn't have friends. And then I actually left high school in year 10 because I had actually had enough. And I didn't go on. So what I did is I actually went straight into um TAFE and started doing a fashion degree course, a fashion degree, a fashion course, assert four, I think it was in fashion. Um I didn't end up finishing it, I was only one unit off because by the end of it I was done. It wasn't something I wanted to do at all. Now, after that, um I actually went back to um TAFE and started doing year 11 and 12 maths and English. I just wanted to improve myself. Then um after I think it was about a year or so, I got into the army, I got into basic training. Now I loved it. I was, I think I was about 20, 21, I can't quite remember. And I was a bit more mature. I'd been through a few things. So when I went in, you know, I had corporals right in my face screaming at me, and I stood there and I just thought, this is their way of breaking people down to see who will actually make it in the military because they need strong people. And I'm just standing there and I'm like, yeah, whatever. I just in my head, yeah, whatever. Didn't care. Now, unfortunately, my bones were too weak, and I ended up with a fracture somewhere, I won't say where. And they um discharged me. I'm actually grateful, I'm really grateful because I um I was only a couple of weeks out, actually, which is a shame, but anyway, um, because what happened was I did the test to see which core I would go into, C O R P. Um, and I could only be a cook or a clerk, even though I had been a volunteer paramedic, volunteer St. John Ambulance Officer, which is first aid, we go and do first aid at different events and everything. I had that experience and I wasn't able to be a cook or a clerk. Now, if I'd stayed in the military, unfortunately, I would have been over in different countries doing all of that. So I'm really grateful that I didn't actually um manage to pass and move on. What happened after that was I got into I applied for um the Sydney or the New South Wales Ambulance Service for Sydney, didn't get into that, but at the same time I'd applied for this program called Training Energy Nurse Programme, had absolutely no idea what it was, no idea. Funny thing was, I got into that, not the ambulance. And you know, I moved to Sydney, all of that beautiful, amazing stuff, worked, um, got fed up with being um an enrolled nurse. I wasn't back then when I did it, you weren't um qualified to give up any form of medications at all. That meant that I did all the basic um things for the beautiful patients. I was allocated to two RNs. That means I could have up to 12 patients that I needed to do all basic training for, um basic um daily task activities or daily living. I got to the point where I got really fed up because I was doing so much work and the RNs, I seen them at the desk sitting down, chatting to themselves, not even helping. And I turned around one day really angry and I said, That's it, I'm gonna uni, so I can be like you and sit on my ass. Excuse the language. Um, and I'm glad I did. I got through, um, I got through on just over two years because I was an enrolled nurse. Unfortunately, I wish I had actually done three years because I do feel I missed out on a lot. Back then, it was a one-year TAFE course, and there was a lot of a Nat and Fizz that was pretty basic. I didn't learn a lot of the um more advanced stuff, so I had to catch up with things like that. That was unfortunate that you know I didn't uh went straight into year two, and that's another reason that I'm actually starting at the search three in visual arts because and I'm going to do one course at a time because I want the basics. Now I've done some art in the past, I don't remember any of the basics, and I'm really glad that I'm doing this because it's all about basics, even in the healthcare field. I kept taking everyone back to the basics. I'd have um student nurses or um new graduates or even experienced nurses come through, and things would happen. And I go, okay, what's the basics? What do we go back to? And it was really interesting that I had to keep taking even experienced people back to what are the basics, you know, and that's what life is about as well is what is the basics? Can you do the basics in a day? Now, if you're not aware, um, and I don't label myself now as this, I ended up with depression, anxiety, and complex PTSD. And um I will say this, I was seconds off, you know, unfortunately being unalive, that's what we call it now. Thankfully, I had um, I believe it was an archangel come down and turn a switch in my head, and thankfully I'm still alive. Now I've had things happen in my life that have made things hard. A lot of that, I mean, most of that, uh not yeah, most of that is me. I have made things harder on myself. Same thing with um, you know, this cert three. I've wanted to do this cert three for years, and I mean years. And when I was living at Tweed Hez, there was a place I couldn't gone to, but unfortunately I did have a car and the public transport transport, it was a just a bit too far for me, just a little bit too far, which is unfortunate, because you know I could have been doing more. I don't regret anything though. That's the thing, even though I've had some pretty bad stuff happen to me, I don't regret a single thing. Because what that means, if I say I regret something, that means I don't feel I've lived my life fully. And I have, I have lived my life fully, fully to the point where um, as I was traveling around working, that meant that I don't have a car and I don't have a house. Yet the experiences and the friendships and everything that I got from traveling around was even I feel it was so much more. Now, do I wish I had a house? Yeah, of course I do. Do I wish I had a car? Yeah, especially today I had to go to uni own uni TAFE and it was raining. That's life though. I know a car is coming my way, and this is what I'm okay with. I'm okay with all of this, and I've heard people say they regret things in their life, and in a way I feel sad for them because when they say they regret, that means they're actually living in the past. So if you're aware, anxiety is living in the future, depression is living in the past, and for me, most of the time, I'm living here, right here and now. Doesn't mean I don't plan for the future. Of course I do, I plan things. I live here and now, though. Like today, when we were doing painting, I was in the moment of painting. That's all I cared about was that painting. I didn't care about anything else. The teacher even said, How about you get up and look um, you know, at the other students to because I was trying to do um a see-through glass, so it was a glass container. Now, this is only the second time I've actually done traditional painting since basically high school, and when I was advised um in in ways of not outright, but advised not to continue. And I looked at this painting, and so I was focused on that painting. That's all I cared about. I was living in the moment. Now, do I regret doing that painting? No, is it great? Well, not in my eyes, because it's my second painting. I'm actually going to practice and improve. This is what I love about me now. I know that it's going to take practice. Everything takes practice, business takes practice, life takes practice. And I really hope that you don't regret anything at all. I really hope. Now let's talk about my first week at the TAFE. I'm not going to name names or make anything so that you know what I'm talking about. Painting. I'm really struggling with that. Really struggling. And unfortunately, the teacher, lovely teacher, absolutely lovely, isn't helping me the way I feel I need the help. I feel it's KPIs, you know, like key, was it something? Something. Anyway, it's things that they need to achieve to actually stay in a job. I feel it's a little bit more about that. There are other parts that are fantastic. Like today, we were going through artists and composition of their paintings and what we liked and didn't like. That was great. The actual painting itself, I'm struggling with. That's why I'm going to sit on YouTube and I'm going to watch videos of how people paint still life, of how people paint glasses. Not eyeglasses, actual um, I should say bottles, actual bottles. I am going to watch as many as possible and then I'm going to practice. Because I do want to improve my painting. I want to get better at it. And I seen a painting today where it was literally all it was was actual brush strokes. So the brush stroke of different colours created the still life. The flowers were actual brush strokes, and it was a really cool thing to look at. I actually really liked it. And that's something I'm going to practice not tonight, of course, because I'm tired. Um, when I've got days off, I'm actually going to practice that kind of stuff because still life is we've got to do two still life, we've got it got to hand in two still life paintings. I need to practice that, and so that's going to be really cool. I'm actually really excited about that. Even though I'm struggling with a painting, I'm excited. Now, the other two days are drawing and photography. Drawing the teacher is incredible. Now, eccentric, and for um some people in the class, that's overwhelming, and that can be. Yet, this teacher taught us the basics of even the easel. How do you position an easel so you can actually look at what you're meant to be looking at and not like look over the top of the canvas or to the side? You're literally turning your head, looking at it, and then drawing. And it blew me away. I've never had anyone teach me that. And then he talked about we actually drew something, and then we actually talked about okay, what do we feel was good? What could we improve on? Then he taught us measuring, how we actually measure things so we get what we look at and we put it on paper properly. I loved it, absolutely loved it. And then Wednesday was photography. Loving, I'm loving photography. It was incredible, and I know it's going to make a huge difference to because I need a portfolio to get into the diploma of uh, I was about to say counseling, you've already got that diploma of visual arts. I need a portfolio. This photography will help us to be able to photograph our paintings so they, you know, they are shown at their best. And this is really cool. I love it. Now I've already, I don't have a camera. Thankfully, we can use the cameras there, and I've already bought a SD cart, you know, because I'm that excited about stuff, and I'm already planning ahead. There's um a couple of things we've got to do. So I'm already planning ahead of what I want to do, and this is what I'm excited about. Now, the painting class, I've today in class, um, the teacher was talking about the research project we've got to do. Well, I thought it was actually due today, and I've done it. I've done it except for one um I only looked at websites and so I've got a book out today. Once I've done that, I can get on and I can actually upload it. It's not due for well, nearly four weeks. It's not due till March. Yet I've already done it. This is what having a passion means, and this is why business, like I love my business, I love it, I'm passionate about it, and you know, more things will be happening with my business. I for me, you know, one-on-one, I love it. Yet throughout my whole life, I've taught and I've taught groups, and that is where I really feel alive, and that's why I'm moving to a couple of couple of memberships. I'll actually be creating memberships, and they feel exciting. And that's what's saying when you have a passion, you really want to do everything you can for that passion. Everything. That's why the research project is already up to date. I'm gonna sit down in a few minutes and I'm gonna do some homework after I've eaten something. I'm gonna do some homework because I want to make sure that I'm prepared. I want to make sure that I'm prepared for everything. Now that's been this episode. I've, you know, who knows whether I've rambled or not. If you've got any questions, please, please ask because I'll be doing more of these raw and real um episodes. I I feel that these are gonna be, you know, amazing. It's gonna be really cool. And I'm gonna, you know, be raw and real about the spiritual world as well. There are things I don't like, business world. I'm gonna be raw and real about that because there's a lot of things I don't like. And these episodes, because they're under the subscription, I can, you know, really go into what I love and don't like and you know, all of that. Again, if there's anything you want me to talk about, please ask because I'll create the episode for you. Thank you for listening, and I really do appreciate that you're actually subscribing to my podcast. It means so much to me. Wishing you a beautiful day wherever you are in the world.