The Power of a Mastermind Group with Julie Skon
In this inspiring episode, Julie Skon shares her belief in the power of starting with self-healing to alleviate suffering in others. She shares her process for creating impactful meditations, from finding inspiration in nature to reframing self-limiting beliefs. The episode also delves into the practical aspects of growing a meditation business, emphasizing the importance of taking small, consistent actions and the value of finding a supportive community for personal and professional growth.
GIFT FOR YOU
If you’re a meditation teacher or coach who wants to create unique meditations people listen to over and over again, enroll in my free course Meditation Script Mastery
Music Credit: Nova by River Roots - https://www.youtube.com/riverroots
Podcast Transcript
Lou: Hello, friends. Welcome to another episode of the Art and Business of Meditation podcast. I'm your host, Lou Redmond. And today we have Julie Scott. Julie is a trauma healing and life coach, somatic practitioner, entrepreneur, two times best selling author, global meditation teacher, and Reiki master. Julie is wildly passionate about learning and sharing tools, methods, and practices to heal and thrive. I can't wait to dig in with Julie on how she developed her gifts and developed her business as we're the art and business of meditation. So I can't wait to chat with Julie. Julie, thanks for being on the show.
Julie: Lou, thank you so much for having me, and thank you for that introduction. I am just so excited, so excited to be here and have this conversation and share whatever I can.
Lou: So when I started this podcast, I was like, you know what? I don't want to just ask people about their stories. And as I've gone along, I'm like, it's kind of important because I think I used to do some podcasts back in the day, and sometimes I would get tired telling my story. It'd be like, I need to tell my story. So I want to preface you with that. And as I was doing some research for the show, I kind of saw that you had an interesting, unique background as far as what brought you to your healing journey around what I saw around gun violence. And so anything you want to shine a light on what brought you to the place of now offering kind of your healing and gifts to the world, what was that kind of catalyst, as we all have something that kind of takes us down our path?
Julie: We do. And I love that you ask stories, because I think in this line of work, whether it's meditation or mindfulness, typically it comes with a reason why you're there, why you find it, why you become passionate about it. It becomes your purpose, and there's so much healing for yourself and that you get to offer others. Right? So my journey started really when I was 22, and I was crazy in love with my college boyfriend, and he was also 22, and he was shot and killed in a random act of gun violence. We were living in Santa Barbara, and at that time, and when I look back on it and I still feel it, like, in my heart as I talk about it, it's so filled with emotions. But I did not have any tools to grieve to understanding what trauma was, to process, to talk about it, to really not only just heal, but to be present with what I was feeling. And it wasn't that I started doing that work then. It just was this catalyst that later, about ten years later, became a real reason why I needed to and wanted to heal. So fast forward ten years, I was in my early thirty s. I had two young, amazing daughters, and I decided that I needed to and wanted to have a divorce. So I was going through a divorce, having some space and some time to realize that I was on. It's not even a path, but this non path of feeling like every day, the next day I was going to feel better. Like tomorrow I'll feel myself, tomorrow I'll feel more joy. It was just kind of this process of burnout and again, a lack of tools. So I decided one day that in order to be the best version of myself, from myself, from my kids, from my friends, for my family, that I really needed to dive in, I needed some help. So I started reading books. I did Louise Hayes 21 days of self love. And I was like, oh, wait, this is working. These things are working. Here we go. So it just took me on this wild journey, which I'm still doing today. Right? We're always learning. We're always growing. It went to Reiki, and I became a Reiki master. I loved the energy work. I did a spiritual and business coaching developing class, and one of the last ones I did before I started becoming kind of more of an entrepreneur in this realm was a meditation, six week meditation certification course with David G. A fellow insight timer friend of ours.
Lou: Sure. Yeah. I've been to a workshop with David G. That's great.
Julie: So good. Yeah. So that was a long winded answer to your question.
Lou: Yeah. No, it speaks to such a strong why what I'm hearing, and that's actually something I don't think I've spoken with on this podcast. I'd love to double click on that around the why behind what we do, why we do this work. And it sounds like what I heard from you is really to be a good mother, to show up for your kids, for who you want to be in the world. Would you say that that's your why, or would you talk about that in a different way?
Julie: I think the why has to start with yourself wholeheartedly. And so I think my why was to
Julie: not hurt. That was my why, to not hurt so much. And I knew there was ways to take that hurt and turn it into a purpose. I didn't necessarily know at the time that's where it would go. But eventually it was like, oh, wait, my why now is because I don't want other people to have to hurt unnecessarily. Right?
Lou: Yeah, I was just reading a poetry book, and I just flipped to a page and I forget who it was, but it was to take your pain and thank it, because it's brought you closer to God in some ways, as Ram Dass would say, suffering is grace. So that pain often brings us to the place where your story needing to seek help and now wanting to ease other people's pain, which I believe our purpose, and I want to maybe ask you about that, since you use the word our purpose in some way, is to ease the suffering of the planet. And that could show up, I think, in many different ways. There's many different ways to ease suffering. That doesn't always have to be like, I am helping people heal directly, but I think, like a musician helps ease the suffering, right. By finding our favorite music.
Lou: Yeah. I'm curious your thoughts around people may be struggling that are wanting to ask themselves, what is my purpose? How do you think of that word specifically or that kind of idea of purpose?
Julie: That's a great question because like you said, it's unique for everyone, right? And not one person can't say, oh, go become a meditation teacher. You'll find your purpose. Go here, find your purpose.
Julie: I guess one way I can say it. I guess if I was to turn the question into, how could I help someone discover their purpose? Or in that sense, it's like finding the little things or the big things that bring you joy and going after it, whatever that is. That's where that intuition or. I love talking about signs, right? On a whole level, like following those nuggets that come your way when you're open to them and allowing that to be the energetic pull towards discovering this bigger purpose for you. What do you think? How would you answer that question?
Lou: Yeah, I always talk about purpose, and I love what everything that you said, right. That's kind of those sparks that lead us to kind of a state where we feel like we are on purpose. And so I take the perspective that purpose is not something that we do, but it's something that we are. And in some ways, our own uncovering and unfolding and growth journey is our purpose. And in that, it kind of leads us to maybe doing many different things, but we kind of can always shift into an energy of being on purpose, of being purposeful. Then that kind of leads us into all the different things. Just like you and me, we do different things, whether it's meditation, whether it's coaching, whether it's teaching classes, whether it's creating, whether it's writing books. So you might not say that you're just a writer or you're just a teacher or you're just that. There's a lot of different tendrils out there in what we do.
Julie: Yeah. And I think you just brought up a really good point. Especially, like, right now, in this time of the year, we're all kind of feeling like we have to do or be a lot of things. But sometimes that purpose or that feeling, that unfolding comes in the quiet times, it comes just not having to be, like, having those healthy boundaries that sometimes just include you. Right. I love the word unfolding because it's almost less. Sometimes less is best, as they say.
Lou: Yes. And if we could start there, the sense of actually, we don't have to do anything. Who we are is inherently whole and complete and enough. And if we can actually access that state and that embodied realization of that, of, like, oh, wow. That I am this beautiful being and there's nothing that really need from that space, then the inspiration, the natural kind of action, unfolds right from there, which is such a beautiful. Yeah. Which is such a beautiful way to think about it.
Julie: And that's what I love so much about meditation, is what I didn't understand before taking the course and becoming someone that loves to meditate was that within meditation, there are thousands of directions you can take it. Before, it was this thought of, you're just sitting still, you're trying to be quiet. It actually kind of annoyed me, to be honest, which is why I wanted to learn more, because I was like, I see all these people and they're all peaceful, and they're sitting quietly in the morning, and they're talking about their morning meditation. And it was really irritating to me because I felt like, okay, how can sitting still make you feel like you're more productive? Wouldn't you just be annoyed again, thinking, I need to do more? But then with meditation, as you know, it's like you can just calm your breathing, like, calm your nervous system through it. If you're feeling stressed, you can go on a visualization in nature, have an adventure. There's a world of options within meditation. You do it when you move, when you're outside, when you're in the car for a minute before you get out of bed. And it's like dropping. Like someone said to me once, meditation is like dropping gold coins in a bucket, in a sense, where you're adding to not only yourself, but to the world around you in this crazy, cool, beautiful way.
Lou: It does feel like, for me, it feels like a charging like, I kind of get a little recharge and I can't overcharge, it seems like. But it continues adding to this kind of battery life that over a long term period, I think, in my energy field, feels like it's growing, even if it doesn't always feel, even if the meditation, I'm talking more specifically, maybe more sitting traditional. But you're so right. It can look like so many different things. And for people listening here, and you heard me beat a dead horse with talking about meditation as an art, right? Learning how to create and weave your own art via your meditation. So I'd be curious to hear how you think of specifically creating your meditations and just maybe your process or how you see that. If you see it as an art, if you see it as like, no, I want to follow these specific things. Yeah, I'd be curious to hear how you look at that.
Julie: That's probably two ways that I approach. Three, actually approach what I want to create. And when I create it, one, I look for the need for myself, but also with people that I coach, what is coming up for them. It always seems to be, there's a pattern, right? It could be the time of the year, the season that we're in, the planetary alignments, whatever it is. But there always seems to be something that's coming up that week or that month for people. So I listen to it. But one of my deepest self love, self care tools is that I love to run down mountains. It's how I release my stress. So I carve out time as often as possible to get out on a hike. And when I'm running down, it's almost when my creativity explodes. And I'll just listen to again, what is coming up. Like, I created a course on grief for insight timer, using the acronym of grief, and that came up all while running my ass down a mountain and sweating. It's like, oh, yeah, there we go. There we go. There we go. That's kind of how I click into the creativity. And then the third step is that I don't question it. So if I'm feeling like this is what I want to create, this is what needs to be created, I go for it. And I think that that is so valuable in my own art expression because, hey, it might not be the exact thing at the right time, might not flow perfectly, but you learn every time. And you also, I think, keep that energy flowing. So it's like kind of a self belief. It's not filtering. I remember hearing once, we're thinking about how many works of art, whether that is music or painting, books have not been created because of our own self limiting beliefs, right? Oh, is that going to be good enough? Is that people going to like that? Is everyone going to hate it and am I going to be made fun? All those things that come up, my way of working through those is to just try and have the mindset of like, no, there's a reason for this. Even if it helps one other person, there's a reason for it, and that's enough.
Lou: Was that always the case for you of like, okay, I'm just going to trust my creation and ship it? Or did you have to figure that out along the way of facing a lot of resistance or impostor syndrome? Because I think I know people listening. That's amazing to connect with that, just like, hey, this is my idea and I'm going to let it chip and I'm going to be unattached to why or thinking it's the best, or needing to be perfect. Was that trained from experience or you tendency to already be in that state of releasing it to the world?
Julie: It was definitely trained. I was an actor in my twenty s, and with that craft comes so much rejection, and you can personalize it all day, or you can say, okay, I'm the wrong height. I didn't look right, I didn't nail that audition, whatever it is. So I was definitely trained to let go of, um, the pain of rejection, or holding on to rejection in a sense. But I also, when I was young, was really made fun of for having a really soft voice, which caused me to hold a lot of my words back. So part of becoming a meditation teacher was working through that fear, and I knew that in order to get through that fear, I just had to put it out there. Right. And over time, you kind of learn to trust the process and be okay with rejection, be okay with feedback, take the feedback people give you and say, that didn't resonate. Okay, cool, I'll do it better next time. Doesn't have to be perfect out the gate, right? That's just like stopping the momentum. Just get it out there and see what happens.
Lou: It sounds like you had your own rejection therapy. I call it, can you actually let yourself be rejected over and actually seek rejection in some ways so you can kind of ease the burn of it where it doesn't feel as big of a thing because you're used to it, you kind of develop a comfort around that. So what an amazing training to constantly have to feel that actor. And also, what a gift. I know you had to work through at least the expression of your voice, but the making fun of having a soft voice. One thing that you can't teach when someone's learning how to do meditation is like, our voice is our voice. So naturally, there's going to be like, I'm super grateful that my voice is conducive to slowing down and guiding someone through something. And so that it's interesting that your thing that you were made fun of also became something that you share as a gift.
Julie: Yeah, it definitely switched. Oh, yes. Right. How do you find your creativity? How do you tap into that for your writing and meditation?
Lou: You're inspiring me because I've been doing a lot of running. I ran a marathon recently, so road running has been a big thing for me recently. But I always love if I'm hiking when I get to jet down a trail because to me, such a presencing thing, because you're missing, you're skipping the rocks. You're really looking at your feet. So the fact that you told me about downhill running, I think I do have some trail running shoes coming because I want to start getting out on trail. So one, you're inspiring me. Maybe that'll give me some. This was like my message from the universe of like, this is where your next big idea is going to come from. Yeah, it's such a great question, and sometimes it's in meditation. Actually, the idea for I had a podcast I started last February, and originally it was called awakening to purpose. And it was very broad and I didn't really know what I was doing with it. It was kind of like, well, people have a podcast. I have this content. I'm just going to start moving talks I'm doing on inside timer. I'll also use them on podcasts. And then I started interviewing people, but I didn't really know who we were talking to. It was such a broad topic that I didn't know my audience, and it was hard to get me energy to actually invite people. And so in May, I did a challenge to myself to do an hour meditation each day for the month of May. And through just that prolonged sitting, at least in that month, I got the idea for, oh, either I'm not doing this podcast because it's not fun for me, I have no energy in it. And then it was like, no, this is what it is. Because I had been co teaching in a meditation teacher certification with, I don't know if you know David Gandelman. He's kind of bigger on. And so I was spending time with a lot of people that were wanting to be teachers, and it was just so energizing. And then I just kind of, in my meditation, just saw this shift of, like, I could see it. It was all so clear, and I kind of made that pivot in May. And so it's been a lot more fun. It's easier to reach out to people, too, because I'm like, I know who we're talking to. This is what it is. So that's kind of recency. It isn't always in meditation, though. I think I kind of find if I can just start, if I have a thread of an idea, and typically maybe it'll start from my newsletter or maybe it's a meditation, just like something that maybe I'm seeing in the world or something that happened to me. I tend to go towards my own experience where I can kind of see the lesson or something that feels like there's something here. I just want to start exploring, and I'll get on a blank piece of paper. And for me, creativity happens as I'm making connections, as I'm writing in that moment, there's like, oh, this whole new thing. It's like I open the channel for, oh, this connection is made. And I could have never prepared for that thing to happen until. Unless I just started writing on the thing. Yeah, that's kind of how there's a couple of answers towards it. And one more thing is in learning human design a little bit, I don't know if you're familiar with human design, so learning that, for me, has actually given me permission to not always need to be creative, to actually let the cycles. Not forcing it. I always feel like I need to force it. But actually letting those cycles happen in a natural process, it's giving me a lot of permission because I always feel like I need to be kind of, like, every day, grinding after it. Very kind of that energy.
Julie: I experienced that same thing and learned that lesson strongly because there's nothing worse than sitting down, being like, this is my time to be creative, and nothing is happening. Might as well go outside, do something fun, right? It's kind of that purpose thing or that run down the mountain or go to yoga, do what makes you happy, and boom, there's that light. There it is. So the hours spent trying to be creative are now filled with something that lights you up, and you can sit down and pound something out real quick in a great way that's creative. And I wanted to bring something back full circle because I think it was super aligned. But how you started your podcast broad, not necessarily knowing the niche, but you started it, right? You planted that seed, which when I was talking about not the fear of rejection, but putting something out there because you don't know where it's going to take you. So don't wait for something to be perfect because it will lead to something else. If you hadn't started that podcast broad, you might not have been seeking it. More meditation to get it to more of a niche that aligned with you now.
Lou: So true. Thanks for that reflection. That's a really important note and something that I'm honestly like, yeah, you're right. Things can evolve so many. If you just look at startups, so many startups, they pivot so much that they're an entirely different company from when they started because this is what it wants to be. You have to kind of start it and then learn. And so we're talking about ways to get out of ways to get out of our own way to just do it. And so someone that's listening, that's really in their kind of maybe self sabotaging critic voice, really maybe feeling a lot of hesitation or paralyzation besides maybe going to a yoga class or going running, like doing these things to get us out of our way. Is there any other processes or practices that you find helpful or mantras or just kind of inspiration for someone who feels stuck in their maybe creativity? Let's focus it in that way.
Julie: Yeah, I think this is okay to tap into because it's a trauma healing process, but it doesn't have to be based in trauma, right? It's those self limiting beliefs. It's that self talk that makes us stuck in our fear, unwilling to move through it. So I think a great practice, I do it all the time too. And these things surface is to slow down, take your deep breaths and witness what yourself talk without judgment. Get out a piece of paper, write it down, what is coming up for you. I'm not enough. No one's going to like my voice, right? I'm not educated enough, like all of the things that we all have at different times, whatever that is for you, but really witnessing it, writing it down and then taking the time to reframe it. So it's just I am enough. I'm putting myself out there. I'm proud of myself. My words do matter. I have a lot to say. It sounds simple, but neuroplasticity, like you can rewire your brain, you can rewire your thoughts. So keep that piece of paper next to you with the self talk, that's going to help you when it comes up. Keep saying it over and over again. I am enough. I am great. I'm going to do good. And eventually it starts to unfold and work, right. You have to tell yourself the opposite story and then, yeah, put it out there and celebrate it. Celebrate that step. I remember the first track I put on insight timer. I could barely sleep because it was like, oh, congratulations, it's released. And I'm like, oh, my God, am I excited? Do I want to hide? This is so scary. And it is neat to look back and reflect on. Okay, now I still get excited every time I create something, whether it's inside time or something else, but there's more confidence in it only because I am afraid. People still say, no, not enough space for me. They give feedback. I like that. Like you said, we never know how it's going to grow and explore. So my advice would be, check those self limiting beliefs because the world does want to hear your voice.
Lou: Reminds me of a question that I sometimes like to ask people. I think it's from Byron, Katie and her four questions that she asked, but of what if the opposite were true? Starting to argue for finding the opposite of I'm enough. But what if the opposite were true? What if you were enough? What would that look like? What would be true? How would that show up? So kind of like shifting that reminded me of kind of that ninja move to shift it in the opposite.
Julie: Asking yourself that, what if I am enough? Right? That's great. I love that. Because that you feel that energy shift within you, even asking yourself that question.
Lou: And you start looking towards that. You start looking towards how life is, showing you that in some ways, right? So you start to do some of these practice, you're on your healing journey, or in your early 30s, you kind of realize you're going to start to do this for yourself and kind of figure this out for yourself and then wanting to help others. And so when was, like the beginning of, okay, I've been doing this to, here's my stake in the ground. I have a business. Was there a moment? Was it slow?
Julie: There was a real defining moment because I wasn't sure that I wanted to turn what I've learned into a business. I wasn't sure, but I had just finished my coaching certification and a really close friend of mine called me and was on the verge of ending her life. And I knew I was sitting outside, like under the star. So it was one of those moments where time kind of slows down. And I knew right then that I was ready to help, that I had the tools to support her. And I said to her, I said, listen, I'm going to coach with you as a gift. Our exchange is sobriety and 100% dedication to the work that we are going to do together. And it was all in. I wouldn't have said that in that place in someone's life without knowing that I could do it. And that was it. It was like the next day we started coaching, and it was kind of just this, like, it was so powerful. It felt like that word on purpose again, but it felt so on purpose. And then in meditation, it was the pandemic. It was being at home, wanting a community, wanting to, needing community for myself and for whatever, not even necessarily to help people. It was just. That was the time to tap into my voice and meditation teaching, which is when I started on insight timer.
Lou: So is there doubts? Has it been effortless? Like, okay, now, what a beautiful story to do that for your friend and really, like, okay, I'm doing this. When you did that, did you have a full client roster, like, next week? Because I think people need to hear, right? Wherever you're at, whatever that journey is. Like, that can take time or it can take a process, and there's a lot of maybe frustration or doubts or fears. I won't speak for you, but I know I've experienced a lot of that. What is that like for you?
Julie: Ebbs and the flows and the ups and the downs. I have a rule that I tried to follow in growing business, and that is just one thing a day towards it. If that is that your mouth is open and talking about what you're doing, if that is writing something new, if it's working on your website? We all have a lot of parts of our lives, right? I'm a single mom, and my energy is divided. But when it comes to my work and growing business, it is one thing a day that before I go to bed, I feel like, yes, I did that. And eventually, as you know, those things grow, right? It's like putting a drop of water in a cup. Eventually it starts to fill up, and I think there's no way if all of a sudden, I would have had a full roster of clients that I would have necessarily even been able to manage that flow.
Lou: Which one of the things, and you may not have an answer for it, but of all the things that you do, where do you feel like your heart's at most? If you had to just do the one thing and you were paid handsomely for it and you can just do the thing. Is there one, or would it continue to be, like, multiple and maybe this is a bad question.
Julie: No, it's a great question because it's kind of hard to answer. I love to write as you do you? I love to write, but I think if I was writing full time, I have to have the balance between writing, the quiet time of recording, and the one on one with people. So, yeah, it couldn't be one or the other for sure.
Lou: It is a nice balance. Yeah, I think a balance. I think there is, like, this dream of me where actually I just want to have book contracts and just be able to sit and write books and do my own thing and have not anything on the schedule besides that and whatever things need to be tied up. But I do appreciate the balance, and I try to structure my weeks. It never works out that well, but I try to stack coaching on the same day or as much as I can on the same day because it's also like an energy that I'm in, and it's nice to have that breakup in the week. But would I want to be coaching five sessions a day, five days a week? Absolutely not. That would be way too much. And some people, they do. That's like, they're tried and true in that way. But I do like having a lot of things in the fire, so to speak, because I can get bored quickly, too, with things, and I need to jump to this next thing.
Julie: Yeah, we're so similar like that. I try to do coaching, like, first few days of the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and I like to leave Thursday, Friday for more free creativity and things happen. But, yeah, I couldn't do coaching all the time either. Right.
Lou: I love your acronym for your coaching of, like, we ignite life dreams wild. I don't know if you picked that on a run or if it was another.
Julie: I picked that on a run.
Lou: Just give you, like, the acronym game strong. That's amazing. This is what's calling for me. I can't wait. I'll let you know if I go on that trail run. Like, if there's some insights that come.
Julie: And you hit it right. I could even feel it when you're like, oh, it's like a game that happens as you run down a mountain, right? It slows down, you're bouncing off the rocks, the air is fresh, you can hear the nature, all the things, but it is like this crazy, wild meditation moment, the alchemy of all of it.
Lou: So which of your dreams that you've brought to fruition, whether it's coaching, writing, which have been most challenging or rewarding for you.
Julie: I wrote a poetry book called Unbroken, which I released on the 20 anniversary of my boyfriend's passing. The angel bursary, we call them. And I released it on that day, and that felt so vulnerable and so just like a huge leap in surrendering and trusting. And I had written the poetry in that book, and it's a little one, but over the course of like ten years of grieving, of sitting by the fire, filling my heart and, you know, with poetry, it's like sometimes you can say so much in a sentence or two or a phrase. So it just felt that was a huge accomplishment to me because I never thought I would open that vault up to other people.
Lou: Yeah, what a beautiful creation. And to get a book out. I know it's not however long the book is or however what kind of book it is. It's like a whole project and process.
Lou: Let me ask this, for people that want to write a book of some sort, is there any wisdom that you have as far as writing process or publishing it, sharing it, something maybe you wish you knew before you published it? We tend to, oh, I could have, should have done that, or this. Anything come to mind around that? Because I know so many people listening, so many in this journey have that dream to write their story or to write what's helped them. So what could you tell them that might be helpful from your journey?
Julie: Yeah. So the second book I wrote was called rise. And this is a great tool for people listening that are meditation creators. So I wrote 50 mini morning meditations for rise, and I gave myself a six month deadline to create them. But I did it with layers of purpose. One, I wanted to be super healthy and have early mornings because that makes me feel the best. So I was doing the 05:00 a.m. By Robin Sharma. Gloves. I was getting up at five, having a couple of hours of writing time. And writing morning meditations was super peaceful and relaxing. But I wanted to publish a book. I self publish, which, there's more tips on that. But I also knew that I could use the meditations to create content for, say, insight timer or for my clients, whatever. So there were multiple layers woven in there of why I published that book, and I still use it for contents. I have do like a 50 day free meditation on my website, things like that. All from that. Right? So I would recommend that for anyone because it's like building up your content library on top of getting your voice out there. And I love the self publishing world. If it's your voice and these are your meditations, it doesn't have to be filtered by all respect for the editors and the publishers and the agents in the world, so much respect for them. But if you're in that realm of, like, I want to trust this and trust this process, go for it.
Lou: Yeah. If you can start building your own audience, self publishing gives you so much more freedom. Obviously you get more of the revenue from it, and it's fun and it's a beautiful, and there's so many platforms and things that can help you create, give you the structure to do it. But I love how you broke it down in a way to kind of a daily practice or a daily kind of writing and how you're using that for other content. It actually is super supportive and it's making me think of like, okay, I have seven courses, could I create a whole with all the lessons? I know there's 100% a book in there, but it's making me think of what that looks like, because actually I've been thinking of, I wrote my first book, published it in 2017, so it's been a little while, and a lot of things have happened since that time. And even the theme of this podcast, it feels like for me and this book that's just starting to percolate of the come up in a way. How do you take this? And for me, since I had quit in a corporate job pretty drastically and dramatically, and there was no going back for me, and there was also didn't know really what to do or what that was going to look like. And so I had to figure it out. And it took a while. It really took from at least four years to two years after I even published the book to really actually start making a living. And so that process to me was so meaningful and challenging that, and I also love the intersection of entrepreneurship is actually how I got into meditation. So it's like, I love this kind of intersection because it was beginning of my journey. And so I'm sharing this because you're inspiring me to think of what my second book is going to be, which is kind of maybe mapping the journey, how someone else might kind of bring their purpose to life in a way. So I don't know exactly what that's going to look like, but it has the essence of why I'm doing this podcast, too, to help specifically talking to a specific person here. But maybe the book is going to be a little bit more broad.
Julie: So we'll see, this is exciting. I can see it. I can see it forming. I can hear it. I love it.
Lou: So with this topic of niching, this podcast is for a niche. My coaching, I feel like, is not very niched. I mean, there are people who I love working with, but if you go to my coaching page, I'm pretty broad. And it's something that I've been thinking about recently of, like, okay, you always hear find your ideal client, really speak to that person. And I've tended to fortunate, especially because I've been grateful to grow the audience through insight timer that's cast a wide net to use that. And I've gotten to work with so many different people, and so I'm constantly thinking of what niche do I want to stake my ground as a niche? I don't think so. There's different things, programs, offers that are more niche based. But I'm curious what your thoughts around niching, whether it's for coaching or if you even think about that, because I know it's a topic that many people are asking themselves about.
Julie: Yeah, I mean, niching marketing wise is super smart, right? But on the other end, for me as a coach, and it sounds like you as well, we have this opportunity of connecting with people at all different places, different walks of life, different ages, different countries, different reasons why they're looking for coaching. And it's hard, I think, to sometimes come up with the words that describe what that is. Why would someone reach out if it's not just grief navigation coaching or trauma healing? And I started by just saying I'm a trauma healing coach, which is in essence, people are like, okay, I've reached this place in my life. I'm at a standstill. I have some pain in my past that I want to uncover and enroute so I can move through it. Which is kind of universal too, right? In a sense, everyone's like, oh, here I am, I'm stuck. But the niching is tough because I personally want to work with people in that place and I feel very fortunate that when I work with people, they are ready to move through that. Right? That's kind of why you hire a coach. It's like, okay, I'm ready to make some changes here, some big ones, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, whatever that is. And that can come in the relationship. Transitions come with grief, job transitions, right? I want to write a book. How do I write a book when I am facing all of these thoughts that are holding me back, whatever that is? And that's where that wild acronym came from. We ignite life dreams because I want to work with people who are ready to actualize their dreams. It sounds cheesy and cliche, but it is possible. I see it all of the time. Right? Whatever you want, you can get there. It just sometimes takes the support of other people to help you work through the weeds.
Lou: So to me, that sounds like two different niches in a way. So are you focusing more on someone wanting to live their dreams, bring a project or someone focusing on healing the trauma, and they both can go together. Right. When you heal through things, you're like, well, now I want to live a bigger life. So I'd just be curious because I'm imagining listener was like, oh, that's like two different niches in one. So how do you speak to that? To maybe like, if someone were to come to your coaching page and learn about it, does that make sense?
Julie: Yeah. And that's the golden question, is how do we use our words to describe what it is that we do? Right. And I do think that's constantly evolving, even whether it's my website or how I'm talking about it or seeing how it is evolving. But like you said, they are two different things, but they do go hand in hand. So I don't know if you or any listeners have advice.
Lou: We're trying to figure this out, too. So you listen to this podcast. If you think we have it figured out. Definitely not the case. Just trying things out. I know I'll speak for myself, just continuing to try things out, test things. Does this work? Do I like this? Does this feel right? And just kind of making it up in some ways as I go along and that's kind of the fun of it. So, yeah, let us know if you have this dialed in. We'd love to hear from you.
Julie: Exactly. We would. That's so good.
Lou: Is there any, and I know this is a broad question, but any other kind of business or advice you would maybe give to yourself starting out on sharing or creating, or maybe you would give to someone else who just started thinking about developing their first workshop, just created their first meditation business and or other kind of insights to them that come.
Julie: Yeah, I think something that I wish I would have done years ago and that now I finally am doing and I'm getting so much value out of it, is find a creative partner, not necessarily that you're working on anything together. It could be a group or it could be one other person, but having a creative session once a week together to just explore ideas and to say it out loud, it goes so far because you get to hear yourself saying, okay, this is what I'm thinking. What do you think? And even that saying it out loud to someone else where they could say, I like it, I don't know, it's not resonating. It's just that so much of being an entrepreneur lives inside of yourself. Right. And it's giving it out, having someone to bounce it off, having that support. Yeah, I would say start that today, find that person.
Lou: That's amazing. That's amazing. And I think getting around other people doing it is important. And I've been thinking about this. I run a mastermind group for, I would say, the target audience of this podcast, and it's my first start of it. It was kind of a beta test, three months, and my plan for it is for it to continue. And it's going well enough, and I'm having fun enough where I'm wanting to continue, and it's like a normal thing. But what I'm thinking of doing is creating, in addition to our weekly meetings, which is a group of ten or so, and it's really about getting support around what you're working on and just seeing other people doing it. And so I'm also wanting to add in, similar to what you're saying, where we show up on Zoom for an hour, everyone talks about what they're creating, what they're working on. We don't really have to go on video, and we just kind of go in the background. It's kind of like a co working space together. And so I'm thinking about adding that in. It's a little different. I think your idea of actually having something where you're having someone that can give you feedback and ideas, obviously a coach can do that too, right? But you don't necessarily need a coach if it's just like this creative. So finding someone like that is a really unique advice and really powerful advice. I think it's super cool. So let us know if you do that, because it's always fun to hear when people actually do things that you talk about.
Julie: Yeah, I know. I'm telling you, I just started doing it and it's a game changer. So, yeah, younger me would have had that for sure set in stone. And what do they say? Like, even with an accountability, I mean, this is a coach version, but if it's the creativity for fun and it's not even coaching, but that having an accountability partner, you're like 93% more likely to succeed at what you're doing. So that alone is worth any advice? Right. It doesn't have to be a solo journey. Find your team, find your crew.
Lou: Yes. Any books, business or otherwise, you would recommend to. Could be anyone, but maybe it could be like a teacher starting out that you found supportive.
Julie: That's such a good question because there's so many of them.
Lou: I know it's a good question. It's like the worst question because I'll give you some time to pick the perfect one or not pick the perfect one. Just whatever comes to mind.
Julie: Ironically and kind of amazingly, I put books under my computer for Zoom and kind of. But this is the great work of your life. Stephen Cope is Stephen Cope. Stephen Cope. But that's. Have you read that book yet?
Lou: No, I haven't, but I think I've heard of that name before.
Julie: Yeah, that's all about working on purpose. So I think there's a reason why I pulled that book out today before our interview, because that's a great read. I like to read before I'm falling asleep, but it's like, it's inspirational. So if you're someone that has some wild dreams, it kind of plants the seed for good dreams, I think.
Lou: Like real dreams and actual life dreams.
Julie: Yeah. Actually sleeping dreams.
Lou: Yeah.
Julie: Creativity flows all the time. Right. When you fall asleep, open that up, you get amazing ideas there, too.
Lou: Well, the great work of your life. I'm going to check that out. Julie, is there anything else that we haven't talked about that is still kind of rustling inside that you feel called to share?
Julie: I guess. I have a question for you.
Lou: Okay.
Julie: What are you creating outside of the book? Like, if there's one thing right now that you are creating or feeling called to create, what is it?
Lou: This mastermind is a creation as much as it's kind of more group thing, and it's really not me teaching. It's very anti course in that way. So it feels like a creation. It's kind of already created, so I'm still kind of letting it evolve some tending to it for me. I've been doing a lot of interviews on this podcast recently, and it kind of started out more heavily solo episodes. So I think I'm wanting to get back to developing some solo episodes because I really like just kind of riffing and rapping and letting my mind just go in that kind of free form in a kind of solo podcast episode. So probably thinking about ideas for what that could be. So if you have any recommendations open to hearing and
Lou: outside of it, I think creating a partnership and a marriage and things that are coming up for me and stuff that's showing up for me that's like shadowy and challenging. It feels like a creative act that is asking me to lean into. And that's been a little different energy than typical creativity. But there is something creative, I think, in stepping into that.
Julie: Absolutely. That's beautiful.
Lou: Thank you for sharing.
Lou: Where all of them. Thank you. What are you excited about? What do you got coming up? Where can people find you anything? Kind of what you're creating. Maybe now.
Julie: Yeah. Well, my website, you need to go to Julie Scon or myrituel rituelle.com brings you to this same website. And of course on insight Timer, I am feeling a new book happening, but I haven't landed on it yet personally. Actually, another book I'm listening to a book on boundaries right now, which has me really excited because I would thought I was someone that had really healthy boundaries. And in a lot of areas of life I do. But through listening to this, I was realizing how much more growth there is to have. And with healthy boundaries comes more freedom, which is, I used to think opposite. So over the next couple of weeks, I'm focusing on that and I feel like by having healthier boundaries, more will come to fruition in terms of creativity and all the other goods. So right now I'm kind of less is best creating some things for inside timer. But I think in 2024 there'll be a new book for sure.
Lou: Amazing. Love the paradox. So powerful. Julie, this was so, so much fun to hang out.
Julie: Yes. Thank you so much, Lou. This has been amazing.
Lou: Hope everyone enjoyed and look forward to seeing you on the next episode soon.
Julie: Bye.