Resources, Retreats, Writing & Exciting News!
Wow. What a few weeks it’s been.
Today I wanted to pop in and thank you for participating in my launch for Flourish with Painting & Creativity – downloading the Creative Archetype Quiz ebook, commenting, sharing, asking questions, jumping on the Facebook LIVE with me and including me into your inbox. I know how precious that is, thank you!
I’ve got a few fun things to share with you today too. Little updates from my world, an invitation to a writer’s workshop, and hints at a new offering I’m about to release soon too.
Retreat with the Girls
Two weeks ago I headed off to the hinterland behind Byron Bay to meet up with my two gorgeous friends, and fellow co-creators of the Gentle Business Mastermind, Naomi Arnold and Amanda Rootsey.
We carved out time in our schedules (and Naomi flew down) to be together, reflect on the past six months, see where we are now and plan the next steps for our businesses and lives.
Retreating is one of my all time favourite things to do, and doing it with these two incredible souls completely filled me up with inspiration, helped me find clarity and direction, and the practical tools to launch a new creative project I’m VERY excited about (more about that in a minute).
We found a cute little house on Airbnb and brought fresh veggies, nuts, teas and fruit to enjoy preparing meals together. Lacey Jane got to come too, since Andrew was busy at work and I didn’t want to leave her alone on the boat (she LOVED having a back-yard to play in and raced around like a mad dog, playing her old game of ‘create-your-own-obstacle-course’ she used to play in amongst our veggie patch).
After settling in, we went through these ten reflective questions from the very insightful and inspiring Jen Carrington (whose podcast I have been devouring for the past three weeks). If you want to have your own mini-retreat, I highly recommend using her questions to guide your reflection and planning.
We all loved them.
Here are some pics from our time together…. 😀
We finished the weekend off with a fun-filled painting session together before blending our own essential oil face mists and using Amanda’s gorgeous kit of natural skin care to have a mini-facial at the end. It felt super luxurious and surprisingly grounding after focusing on our businesses so intently.
Having each other there in person to bounce ideas off, share what was on our hearts, and vision for the future was incredibly worthwhile, as it moved all of us forward in leaps and bounds.
If there’s one thing I’ve found as an entrepreneur it’s this: having people with you along the journey makes it SO much more enjoyable and easier, speeds up your learning curve and helps you feel safer too – as putting yourself out there can feel pretty weird and vulnerable at times.
We cheered each other on, offered a safe place to share ideas and grow into the next version of ourselves and what we feel called to offer in the world. It was a very special time together, and we can’t wait to hopefully hold a space like this for our Gentle Business Mastermind members later in the year.
Hay House Writers Workshop
I’ve also booked in to go to the two-day Hay House Writer’s Workshop in Melbourne in a couple of weeks time. Andrew and I are going to take a road trip in the van, with Lacey of course, and spend a couple of weeks catching up with friends and family and going to the workshop before we cast off the lines and sail north from Coffs Harbour.
If you would like to come along, you can get your tickets here. I think it’s going to be a great weekend! And if you do come, please make sure you let me know so I can say “hello”. Send me an email or let me know on Instagram that you’ll be there, so we can catch up.
At the workshop I’m SOOOO excited to get to listen to, and hopefully hug in person, Cassie Mendoza-Jones, whose work and books I have been loving. I joined one of her Business Alignment Mastermind webinars a few weeks ago and it sparked so many ideas for my business. I’m very grateful for her support and guidance.
You can also get Cassie’s wonderful Aligned & Unstoppable webinar for free from her website here, which I highly recommend. It’s lovely, inspiring and supportive, especially if you are feeling at a crossroads, or wanting to pivot your business or life in a new direction.
Speaking of writing…
I’m enjoying the process of editing my book. It felt overwhelming at first, so I broke it down into small chunks and stapled together bundles of 15 pages, then bought myself a lovely red pen, and have been methodically working through each bundle at a slow pace, with lots of cups of tea and walks along the beach in between.
If you have a project you are feeling stuck with, perhaps see if there is a way you can break it into even smaller steps. I usually find that helps me enormously.
It’s funny reading the chapters again. I have been working on this book in fits and spurts for about three years (I know my next book will be much quicker – because I understand the process so much better now!) and I honestly can not remember what I’ve written. So it feels like I’m reading a book written by someone else, only I relate to all the stories! So weird. And fun 😀
New offering coming soon
Now, I want to give you a heads up about a new offering I’m SOOOOO excited to be opening up soon.
After working with the lovely members in the Gentle Business Mastermind, I’ve realised I ADORE, like it-totally-lights-me-up, I-can’t-sleep-at-night-because-I’m-so-excited-about-it adore, coaching heart-centred, purpose-driven entrepreneurs.
I’ve resisted calling myself a coach for so long, preferring to use the term ‘mentor,’ but Amanda and Naomi, and my dearest friend Hayley Carr, have told me again and again they think I’m a really good coach. Which, in turn, opened me up to look into it and shift some beliefs I’ve had that have been holding me back.
So, I’ve been walking around practising saying “I’m a creative business coach & professional artist” in preparation for when people ask me “What do you do?” I’m finally owning it (and feeling so much energy after allowing myself to do what my heart is calling me towards).
I’m in the midst of creating a 1:1 business coaching package for heart-centered, purpose-driven entrepreneurs and will be announcing it soon. Watch this space, my friend. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you can tuck it away in your heart or on your vision board because it will be available soon, and please feel free to reach out to me in the meantime too.
And how about you? How has your week been? Please feel free leave a comment and let me know!
I’m so grateful for you. Wishing you a wonderful, creative week.
Be kind to yourself.
~ Nicola
PS. Here’s a quick summary of all the good stuff if you’ve just scrolled to the bottom 🙂
I’m going to this writer’s workshop in Melbourne and you’re invited to join the fun!
This set of ten reflective questions for big-hearted creatives is golden.
Cassie Mendoza-Jones’ free webinar “Aligned & Unstoppable” is awesome. You can get it here.
I’m going to be launching a 1:1 coaching package for heart-centered entrepreneurs soon – I’m SO EXCITED! Yay! Watch this space 😀