Podcast S2E1: Living & Working Seasonally with Rachel Martin
Show notes:
(Please note that these are computer generated and therefore imperfect).
Ellie: welcome to The Capable Collective Podcast, a place for women who want to ditch the overwhelm and learn to run their business with ease. I'm your host, Ellie McBride. And I firmly believe that as women and non-binary folks, we are best as a collective. So together with my expert guests. We are sharing the tools, systems and ethos behind a simple yet thriving business.
This season, we are talking all about working with your natural rhythms and the episodes will be coming out every other Wednesday. I'm so excited to dive into topics like working with your menstrual cycle, living with lunar cycles, living seasonally, working from a place of rest and creating boundaries and so much more.
Ready to dive in? Let's go.
I am so excited for you to listen to this episode. Rachel is just a fountain of calm and just the peacefulness of nature seems to emanate out of her. So I'll tell you a bit about her. Rachel is the founder of rooted wings, a nature based business that seeks to gather and connect people to themselves.
Each other and the land we live on through nature, connection, holistic living nature education forrest school and adventures. She lives in Yorkshire, UK with her husband and four children, three of which are home educated. And one is a recent convert to school. They spend a lot of free time on the moors uphills in the woods and along the canals exploring.
Through this discussion, Rachel shared so much about what it means to live with nature, as opposed to living in this busy technological life that we have. To mirror the energy of the seasons and of our own rhythms. It's super important. And she's given us lots of really good tips. Ready? Let's hear it directly from her.
Today we have Rachel here she is the founder of Rooted Wings, which is an amazing. Nature workshop thing that I've never gotten to go to because she does not live in Northern Ireland. Um, but anyhow, welcome, Rachel. Thanks for coming onto the podcast.
Rachel: Good to be here.
Ellie: So let's start with the rapid fire around.
Um, let's start with, where are you from?
Rachel: I'm from Dublin in Ireland, where I live over in Leeds. And Yorkshire in the UK.
Ellie: Very, very cool. And what are your preferred pronouns?
Rachel: She and her.
Ellie: See, I always ask this question because I feel it's important, but that I often already answer it when I do the intro.
Rachel: I can see how that happens. I would, I would be the same.
Ellie: Um, and when did you start?
Rachel: So I had a slow start into Rooted Wings in the autumn 2017.
Ellie: And was it rooted wings as we see it today when you started or how, how has it evolved?
Rachel: Yes, interestingly, um, it was right at the beginning of our journey of evolution, if you want to call it fast.
Um, so we were, I came from primary school, primary school teacher. My husband was working in the, um, social. In just a sector of the local council and government and the charity sector and social justice, that kind of stuff. Our kids were all in mainstream school. Like everything was sorted, highest car jobs, life.
And then it also careful. Um, and we just needed to find a different way. So we moved to cities. We used to live over an hour away. And then we started attending a local forest school. And when I was teaching in primary school, forest schools was just coming into the mix as part of something that schools would offer.
And I was really interested, but because we moved and I was on maternity leave with my fourth child, I missed the opportunity to get the training in school. So I have to go and pursue that privately. But the first school that we went to was just amazing. And the girl who, and it was brilliant. She really encouraged me to go and pursue us.
And I did. So I did the training 2016, 2017. And then I worked alongside her for a couple of months running five and under sessions because both of my younger two were under five at the time. So my older kids went to her elder session and at the same time we went to the younger one. So it was quite different.
Um, and so since then it has evolved. Or has been a really good platform for the lifestyle that we live now, which is a lot more holistic, environmentally friendly nature in twined, seasonal, connected living. I guess you did describe it as, yeah.
Ellie: Well, I'm really excited to dive a bit more into that and how you live and work seasonally here shortly.
So tell me, so we talked a little bit about how you got started, but tell me what you love about your business.
Rachel: So, what I love about my business is being able to create and hold a space for people to come. Kids, families, adults, work groups, whatever it is. And generally, um, men, my experience, certainly with a big family and even actually as an adult.
The effort required to get out the door sometimes to go for a walk that you know, that you need to do is just huge. And so, you know, you've got kids in toes, like you got to have all the right gear. You've got to have the snacks, the drinks, the first day in case something goes wrong, but extra clothes, if somebody weaves wheezing, their pants or falls in a puddle in the first three minutes of actually getting out the door.
So the head is like so stressful. So, what I love watching is that exhale of when people arrive just full, he had his full year, like right at the tipping point of losing it. And then through the kind of space that I held in create for people and allow them to just recalibrate a little bit and slow down, uh, just by the nature of what I do.
You can see this kind of gentle slow. This is good. This is okay. The kids are okay. It's relatively safe. As long as they don't climb too high in the trees kind of thing. Um, I just love watching that unfold and it's just on people's own terms. It's not like a forced thing. You must exhale, but it's, it's just something that I've seen happen over and over.
I'm like, I love that. That's and that's what I love about what I do.
Ellie: That's a really good point. You're right. I think that. There's enough of that resistance to getting out and doing things when you're like a solo human and then managing like a pack or a brood or whatever you want to make that compounded
Rachel: quite a lot.
Ellie: And I think that I. Was no hair and saw that quite a lot when I'd come home with the parents could be all for those kinds of things. I've had minor experience with that never had that quite compounded with the relief that also nature. Yeah.
Rachel: And that's something really, really special. You definitely need to come by sometime.
Yes. You have to spend, you know, we're not living independently. Um, planning goals, kinds of international escapades though. So, you know, I might, I might rock up in Northern Ireland and deliver a few. It'd be amazing.
Ellie: Um, yeah, there's some really good people. Um, it's her bar, community and network too, that are some great spaces that you might be able to use.
Rachel:
Ellie: So tell me about, I like to talk because I, lot of businesses that I work with and talk to and stuff, we talk a lot about how we're running these businesses and a lot of what I talk about doing business with ease. And when you do business with ease, a lot of times people assume that you're doing it alone.
Um, and I think like for me, I have an assistant, I now have a podcast editor. I'm looking into getting an SEO specialist to help me with my websites. Like, so I'm, I'm building out like the small but mighty team. And it's not like I don't have any employees. I have contractors. So I want to hear about the things that you have to help set you up for success in your business, whether that be software or if it's team members, or if it's the way that your partnership works in your household.
Those types of things that make it so that, you know, you're not quite doing it.
Rachel: All of them. Yeah. So this is the steep learning curve, which is why I'm part of the capable collective. So, um, yes. So over the summer, um, I joined a business community, the assembly community with Mel. Um, and then from there, I've kind of been getting to know different people like yourself, who, you know, they offer it.
You offer just so much resource and depth and richness to making systems and online systems accessible and manageable. And so there's a steep learning curve. So I have created a website, which is amazing, and I've just transferred to Squarespace with the help of you. So this kind of stuff, doesn't come easy to me.
But the other side of stuff, you know, in terms of managing the children and the session and the face to face stuff, I find that a lot easier. But in terms of telling you what systems I use to manage that I couldn't articulate them so much. That that is, I guess, the experience of my life lift of, of how I manage that, my lived experience.
And I also have a really supportive husband, um, who is. So accommodating and encouraging of all that we do rigid rings is really an extension of our homeschooling. Um, so what I offer is, is to try and recreate some of what we do at home. It would be the same, obviously, and there'll be different elements to it, but it's an extension of what we do at home.
So, um, I just have a lot of good resources, reliable resources, and starting to build better knowledge, technological knowledge kind of thing.
Ellie: Yeah. Well, it's definitely a process. Like I think right now you're kind of in a phase where things are still really the one woman show. Um, and you know, I went through that phase.
I was in that phase for. Probably mostly the first two years I was in business before I had outsourced anything properly before I almost, maybe slightly sooner than that, but that I even bothered in investing in things like professional photography and professional branding. It took me a year before I invested in those things.
So it is a process to just like start early on and be like, okay, I
Rachel: have to live. Yeah. Yeah. I started with a really easy website builder, and then I maxed my capacity with that. Um, and then I also, you know, used Wix to do a logo. So it's all just like you say, it's the one woman show and there are things out there to help you.
But you know, at some point, like you say, you reach a capacity and then you need something more. So I'll be coming, knocking Ali, what do I do?
Ellie: Well, that's the great thing about the community is that there's a lot of people in there and using different systems, different tools. Um, there's a lot of people that are outsourcing various things.
So there's a lot of really good places to say, Hey, I need an even harping software or Hey, who have you worked with for photography? And they're, you know, they're spread out. So there's lots of people in different areas.
Rachel: Yeah, that is very true.
Ellie: Yeah, we've kind of talked about what systems you're using, which is right now, you're kind of in the learning process of the app.
So let's talk a little bit about today's. Kind of topic, which has, let's talk about mirroring nature's rhythms and our day to day. Can you describe a little bit about how that works for you? Because I'm not, I'm still learning in these types of like this whole season is really exciting to me. Cause I don't, I would be really like scientific and really like structured and organized and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And so I'm really wanting to kind of lean into a little more of, as some people say, like the "woo" of life, like I'm starting to grow into that.
Rachel: Yeah, brilliant. That was totally the way it's described. Like they could go off the deep end into this kind of stuff and it's like, it's totally, I have no connection to that.
Essentially. There's two quotes that I kind of float around my head regularly, which to try and articulate what it is. And one is from David Attenborough. The hero is we need to recognize that we are part of nature, not apart from us. Um, and the second one is by a Buddhist monk called Lao-Tzu, which is nature is never in a hurry, but yet everything is accomplished.
And I just think if the pandemic has taught us anything, is that we're, we're human nature. And we're really susceptible to things like we can't eradicate everything. And while we have so much technology to support us, We are not robots. So there's like a human nature to us that kind of in the process of technology, just growing and developing so quickly and so fast that we sometimes it can bypass the very human nature that we are like, hi, David answer puts, but we're polished all of us, not apart from us.
And the other thing I love about those quotes is just that it's encourages such like a relentless. Pace, like nature just carries on and gets everything accomplished. And it doesn't take a break in such that we would need to just like it doesn't have a nervous breakdown as such. I know there are things that happen and cause chaos, but you know, it just carries on and this rhythm and just keeps going year after year.
And I think that that is so powerful. So to be able to kind of harness the power of nature in our own human nature, that's recognize that we're a part of this. I'm not a part from it is a really powerful place to live and to be,
Ellie: yeah, I think two things. Um, one is that it just brings to mind, like, there's oftentimes that my husband will say something about animals and I'm like, no, but we're animals.
And I think, and that conversation seems to come around for us quite often. And I think that it's really easy for us to forget that we're just not actually that different from anything else around us. Right. Um, and then on the other end, I think I love that concept of like, That everything eventually gets accomplished if you live and work by the seasons.
And it hasn't actually been that long since we've become this weird hive that we're now in, you know, what, like a hundred years is technologies, but then like relatively advanced and maybe. A thousand or something since we've been living this way. So ever since we've developed a system that we're not always, always in tune with the seasons.
Rachel: Yeah. It's just, everything has advanced so quickly that it just is easy to kind of forget. What our needs are, you know, rather than cause we've got technology. And so it's like on my phone tells me what to do so much, you know, alarms and rings and apps, and this is what you need to do and close your circles and all those things that we rely so much on technology, your waving your watch at that.
That, um, we just forget to tune into ourselves to go, you know, I haven't moved my body today. I just need to go and do that. Or to like, think a bit more categorically like this. We have social, emotional, physical needs. And so. You know, recognizing that all of those need to be touched or soused or nurtured at some point during the 24 hours, I think is it's, it sounds so basic and simple, but the more I, and more I've done this, I'm like, Oh, okay, I need an app because I'm physically really tired.
I need to talk to my best friend because I'm an emotional wreck and I need a hug cause I need some, you know, relational context. So it's like tuning into our needs. It's like, you're getting your needs met in a healthy way. Rather than relying on trying to be like robotic about it. My friend says this, my computer says this, my calendar says this, which is really important.
I don't want to dismiss that. But you know, I think it's, it's not about having a balance as such. I hate the word balance because when you're balanced, you're standing still, we're always in forward motion. It's just, you know, the caption for this or your wish for this year, isn't flow. It's about ebb and flow.
Um, and I think nature is, can be really supportive in like managing our ebb and flow.
Ellie: When you were talking about making sure that you spend a little time when it feels right to be topping up in these different categories of your life. The what my, my millennial brain does, and this is the opposite of nature, but something I think about a lot and I have for.
I dunno since I was like 12 or something. And the first time I ever played Sims, but to me, it kind of reminds me of the Sims game where like you have these bars, you have your social bar, your hygiene bar and half your exercise bar and your work part. You have to like. And every time one of those gets a little low, you have to go and do something with your sites.
Rachel: Yeah. Very good.
Yeah. That's a great analogy to have. Absolutely like either we are, our nature is a sum of many parts and to ignore one part of it is to shut it down, which means, you know, you're not basically living at your fullest, you're not, you know, you're not being congruent to who you are, uh to human nature. We all know that when we're living from a place of congruency and rest and joy, and all those other wonderful things that everything is just so much easier.
And like, that's not to say we won't get bumps in the road, but it's like, you're not so depleted that you are absolutely floored by bumps in the road for like a long time, you know?
Ellie: Yeah. And I think that as a little caveat here, a lot of the things that I would do to feel really well-rounded and safe and calm, and like we can take bumps in the road.
I'm not allowed to do in a pandemic. Um, so there's obviously like take this advice forward in life, but also with a grain of salt in pandemic life, because I'm a really big extrovert. I fill up by seeing people and going out and traveling and by karaoking in a bar. And there's something about that rush for me of putting it all on the line and, you know, sinking or swimming.
Ellie: um, I'm not allowed to do some of those things right now. So. It's okay. Not to have, like all of your pots filled
Rachel: Oh, absolutely.
Ellie: Cause I've also realized that I spent the first. Maybe eight months of the pandemic, just like putting, living on hold.
Rachel: Yeah.
Ellie: Sort of crushed me in a different way. Yeah. So I'm doing my best to put a little, you know, every weekend I'm trying to go out for some sort of excursion and I, uh, I took a friend's idea and, uh, rented a hot tub to come, just so yeah.
Backyard for a weekend, like trying to find little ways to like, to live life, even though
Rachel: yeah, exactly. I champion that's, you know, that's, you know, it was one of my, my other points is I'm a simple level. Like we know our human nature. So whether they were introverted or extroverted. Or whether we're a nice house or morning larks that is such an effective way in a basic level, just to tune in with what your needs are and hard to get them match.
And I would say though that our world is largely settled for extroverts. So this is like, it'll be introverts. So like Brooklyn, their hands guide. Welcome to my world. This is how I live. What's all your problems.
I am, I can intimates. But like, I'm not like a split, but I had definitely an interest. So I need time to recharge for myself to the pens I'm making. That sense is helping as in like, there's just like this blanket, no to everything. So we don't have to feel like I'm having people done by meeting my own needs.
But at the same time, I do have four children. The husband's pulling off me at every turn. So finding my own space within the pandemic is hard too.
Ellie: Cause you don't have all your kids that have like, well, I guess you homeschooled already. So you just, you didn't have like sent the kids off to school, but it might be that you're having like 70 kids off to hang out with grandparents or friends or whatever, you know, the other ways that you probably had breaks from there.
Rachel: Yeah, you're right. And mentioning that it's not easy for anyone right now. And you're right in saying that, you know, recognizing that the global situation has put some massive limits on actually been able to meet these needs easily.
Ellie: Yeah. So tell me more about this. Like if on a practical level we've talked kind of touch bits and pieces.
Um, but I know you had some more that you wanted to talk about around the basics of mirroring natures rhythms.
Rachel: Yeah. So I think I got body, we touched on a little bit already. Our body is the best tool that we have and being able to tune in and listen to it. So, you know, just to go back a little bit to the introvert extrovert, Recognizing which one you are and an integrate doesn't mean that you're terrible well around people.
It just means that you don't recharge your young people or, you know, you need some time by yourself to recharge, uh, whether you're like a morning lock for night owl. So I I'm a morning person, but having children really scuppered that for me, because I'd be up late and all through them. But I know that's when I get up early, my brain works best.
My body won't be physically tired, but my brain is physically alive. So to be really productive, I get up early when I need to be productive. That's what I do. I get up and I do that, but some people are the offices and they're like awake to, I don't know which one you are, whether, you know, but so like it just capitalizing on that is really helpful.
Also recognizing, you know, as women, our monthly cycle. So that has a huge impact on this as well. And I read somewhere recently about not planning. I can't remember where I read it, but not planning big meetings around the time that you know, you're going to be at your worst. So that's a really helpful strategy.
So like, if you're in charge and you even run businesses, like we do, it's like, well, let's work this into our calendar and when we're struggling or we know we're going to be have pains or whatever it is that is going on in our cycles that we finished that in it, around our business.
Ellie: Yeah, I've got a guest that I've asked on to talk all about this, about working with your menstrual cycle.
Like that is a huge thing with women. Um, I think, yeah, it's a huge topic, but that I want to we'll hopefully get into more than the other episode, but it is a huge thing to think about because it does affect so much of our lives.
Rachel: Yeah, hugely. Absolutely. And then also just to notice, like what's. Going on in the world, remind us, like, what season are we in?
So I don't know if you know, people that, you know, really struggle with that disease in wintertime with a lack of daylight, hours of daylight has a huge impact on us as well in terms of productivity and how energized we guess. And then also, you know, what are you in resistance to? So sometimes I can winter.
You're like, Oh, I hate that. It's so dark and dreary. And it's like, well, what is that resistance in? You? You know, what is the push that's pushing you all the time and why can't, why don't you feel like you can take time out to recognize this is what's happening in nature. So, and I'm a part of nature, so it will somehow somewhere have an impact on me.
So they're like just really simple tools that I try and kind of. Capitalize on and use in my own day-to-day so if you break down the actual day, it's all reflected through nature. So 24 hours is like the rotation of the earth. Then the, the month is the cycle of the moon. And then a year again is like the earth Stony around the sun.
So our day is wrapped up in nature, but we're like, can be so resistant to it. Because we just want to get jobs done or you need me to be more efficient. And I think with, you know, more flexible working as well, you know, working in line, if you're, you can get up early or you can stay up late and get the work done because we don't have to do the nine to five.
We're in probably like a big shift. We ran the nine to five. So working that those things can really help as well in here in your day to day work.
Ellie: I definitely agree. I. Um, back home. A lot of my friends live in Portland, which actually rains more than Northern Ireland somehow. Um, but also living here in Northern Ireland.
So I found my first year in Portland, like was really hard emotionally because I came from a place that has like 300 days of sun a year, not the sun. I moved to Portland and I had a really tough time at first and I kind of got used to it. This Portland has this thing where. You can, uh, really look forward to the summers for the most part, the summers are going to be really nice.
And then I moved to Ireland where you get wet, like warm rain and cold rain. You cannot claim a summer day, the summer season. Like at summer day, you get every season of the day. And on top of all that, like, I hadn't quite realized how much further North it is. The back home. So the summer, it just there's, there's a point in summer.
It never properly gets dark here. Like it's, it was maybe a two week period where it's like dusk from about 1130 to three 30 in the morning, and then there's the opposite in the winter. Right. And I hadn't realized how much the do you work? Daylight hours would really affect me. So you're right. All these things.
Normally I'm a morning person. If I didn't have a husband or any other life, like I would go to bed at 10 and I would wake up at like 6, 6:30. And that would be like, if I would be so happy, but, but that puts at my age, especially that puts me into the old lady category to be in bed by 10, I bet.
Rachel: Right.
Ellie: So it is, and then that is something we talk a lot about, um, in my work, wouldn't it. When I was a tech VA or VA in general, I really helped people find their rhythm with productivity and doing work. When you feel turned on and doing different types of work at different parts of the day. For me, I know that I don't really like to do like deep work.
First thing in the morning, I like to get all the busy work done, where my brain is firing and I can handle the small, tiny little tasks. And then the afternoon is when I like to dig into like one project zone, not focus on anything
Rachel: else. Yeah. Yeah. They're really good distinctions to make, for sure. I'm taking notes.
Maybe it should I just be interviewing you?
Ellie: And one of the things that I, that helped me realize this is more of like a, again, a VA thing is I timed myself. I timed myself doing my tasks and I realized where I was succeeding and where I wasn't, where I felt overwhelmed and where I wasn't. And I've just sort of, that's something.
In business for the most part or when you are at least maybe freelance or working from home, for know, if you're employed, you get to make those calls as to which time you're doing.
Rachel: What thing? Yeah. Yeah. That's the real gift of what we're doing. I think, you know, to, to end up identifying these characteristics, uh, more of our nature, just they help us to optimize ourselves and live from a place of like authenticity and congruency.
And these are just really simple things, but I didn't realize how disconnected I was until I started looking at these things going. I have no idea what I am. You know, if I didn't have a, like what you say in an ideal situation, if I didn't have a husband and children needing from me, what would I naturally want to do?
And that's, that's a really important question to ask because obviously children and other dependents and other life situations. They will draw, they'll have needs for other, for your energy at different times, which might not necessarily actually be that congruent to your. Natural nature. That makes sense.
Um, so it's really important to recognize that because then you can put the boundary in, you know, like what I said earlier that our body, our body is the best boundary that we have. It's the best tool that we have and listening to our body that is going to mean that you're going to meet everyone's needs from the overflow of your rest and your recalibration and everything else, rather than continue being a deficit and being exhausted, because that's no fun.
Ellie: Parenthood. You might not always get the call as to whether or not you're woke up in the middle of the night.
Rachel: He said about reading for like, okay, well, I need like to set a day or two days where, like my partner is the one in charge, my time stuff so that I can recoup loads of different strategies for that.
And I think that's what winter really invites us to is this is this time of resting. You know, we, we had a retreat last week, didn't we on the unrest and we talked about how guilty we feel about taking rests and that it's not like a reward, but it is. Uh, rice is lucky. We are allowed to rest there's permission in this, and it's not synonymous with being lazy.
So when women are encouraged to take risks, like, Oh right. Another thing on our list that we're failing in achieving it's, it's not, it's just an invitation to notice in ourselves, like which part of my body is out of line. I was thinking, what if I need to rest? And what's the season, the natural season offering me right now.
So in winter is reduced daylight hours. So, there's things that we can't do. Like we can't go out late at night walking or talking or meeting with people. And obviously the pandemic is we can't grow at all, but it just, it gives us an invitation to kind of, uh, allows us to rest
Ellie: women have this tendency to like, I mean, we're the carers, we are the organizers of our family structures and things.
So yeah. And we've been socialized to be in charge and take care of everything and to take care of everybody before ourselves. Right. And that's the thing we talked a lot about in that retreat that we were both in last week. And it does take a practice of checking in with yourself when you are responsible for your household or your children or your parents, or whoever else in your life.
On top of running a business and everything else you're responsible for, you have to make sure to put it in a practice to do these things. You're totally right up the seasons where I found the pandemic a lot easier in the summer. Yeah, and it was, there was light. I could work outside in my front garden, even if I wasn't going anywhere.
Um, I had more opportunity to see people socially distance in a healthy way where I could have a beard in the park with a friend and those types of things. Whereas like now it's too cold to be doing those kinds of things. Like my only social activity comes from walking with a few of my friends that live in my neighborhood.
That's it. But that's part of as much as I'm an extrovert. Like I'm really bad at recognizing and respecting the fact that like winter is supposed to be a, to like a toned down rest season. Like we're meant to be, you know, resting in the evenings when there's no light huddled around a fire or hanging out with candle light, like.
It's meant to be a slower, stiller season.
Rachel: Yeah, totally. Where you can let things die off. You can just let things go, but so hard to achieve. And this is the struggle with, you know, our modern whales and technologies. It's so hard for cheap and we have so much unlimited access to the world.
Ellie: Winter in my head is so much like it's very commercialized.
Not that everything isn't, but it's so commercial, Christmas and new years and parties and pubs and things. It's like, it's just so much like. Do all the things, see all the people sparrows.
Rachel: That's how our bills, everything lights. Camera action. Yeah, totally. Yeah. And so again, it's like, it's, they're not all bad things, but it's listing to your yourself and what you need. And what your human nature is telling you, rather than being dictated to by the needs of the season or the, you know, marketers of this world have done an incredible job at selling a lifestyle to us.
But it's not always that achievable, but we don't give ourselves permission to go, you know, us, this is doing me no favors. So I'm going to make a new way. Yeah. Yeah. I want to say that it's like a really brave move because it is. It definitely is. Yeah. It's not easy for sure.
Ellie: Always break when you're living a more authentic life for yourself.
Yeah. So just to do a quick recap, you talked about some simple tools to help people, like kind of get started down this path of living more in tune with themselves and more seasonally. Do you want to recap those?
Rachel: Sure. Yeah, it was just start to make knowledge the time, the natural timeframes that we have in our world.
So we have a day, we have a month, we have night and day and we have a year and they're all based around natural rhythms and cycles in nature. Anyway. And then on a personal level was to kind of just start to tune into your body a little bit more because that is the best indicator of things that we have.
So things like work out where you. Uh, land on the sliding scale of whether you're an extrovert or an integrates, whether you're a morning Lark or night owl. So when is your brain more active and, and what type of activity check in with your monthly cycle and your hormone levels, and start to track that and work out where that lens, uh, and how that, how that arrives or how that appears in your day to day.
So, you know, when you're hormonal high, what does that look like in your body and in your mind and your emotions, um, and then to tune into what season that we're in. So currently, like we're in winter, so. It's the limitation on what you can do. And nature shuts down in winter. All the energy goes down into the roots ready for more growth.
And so tapping into the relentless power of nature of just like powering on and using that as a kind of authentic kind of ebb and flow rhythmic connection.
Ellie: Fantastic. And did you have any feedback about how you build this into your business specifically?
Rachel: It's probably a bit easier for me because my business is nature based, but in that sense, it's a little bit, it's easier for me, but building it into my business.
I think the way that this manifests itself is that. You know, another favorite quote that somebody said to me was what you do in winter. You will reap in summer. So whatever you manage to, like you let go of something or whether you're like just nurturing the roots of something for when it grows in summer.
So it's a time to kind of like be. Internal and to measure your internal kind of temperature, um, and are your roots nourished. Um, and then when the time comes at site pulling back a Slingshot, you know, you pull it back, pull it the back, and then when it's ready, you can fire. So I kinda, um, in allowing myself to rest and being intentional, it's like, I'm just sitting on the side for like a slob and like, no, I am intentionally resting my physical face and actually just tuning into that as being like really helpful, like, right.
I'm now doing emails. It's like, okay, I'm meeting an instructional need, but putting a time limit on us. It's kind of simple, simple ways, but also just guarding our human nature so that we stay true to that. And we're human because we are human beings, not human doings. I find this part a little bit difficult cause I'm so many of my business in nature.
So this is kind of rhythmic for me anyway, but for other people who are working in more of a sector, more relentless time, um, um, I don't actually have that many ideas for you.
Ellie: You know, I've been wanting and pushing and thinking about all this growth for the capable collective and found that it's both the pandemic, the drain, but also probably the seasonal drain that I found that I needed to take a step back and I will push forward with it hopefully later this year.
Yeah. I found that in almost every major pivot of growth that I've had for my business. So what I pivoted to doing just websites, when I found my vibe, um, For doing tech VA. When I quit my job, they were all in spring and summer seasons. Right. And I think this is for people who are running, especially cause I, a lot of people that I work with are doing online businesses, thinking through when you're launching new products, when you're pushing new services.
Yeah. When, if you are doing like a Bay, you know, launch where you have all the emails going and, or, or you're putting together this big event or something online, Summer is a great time for that. People are energized to be taking on new things.
Rachel: Yeah, definitely.
Ellie: Or even around your own content creation, maybe there is something you need or want to put out that it needs to be going out in January or February, but maybe you start prepping for it and planning the energy earlier.
Rachel: Yeah. And using the technology to support us as our human nature, rather than bending our human nature around technology. Yeah.
Ellie: Definitely. Alright. I know we're running short on time, so let's talk. What has been your biggest business wins so
Rachel: far? Yes, that'd make up a website. Definitely covered their biggest business with has been making some connections with like-minded people.
Yes. Just natural human connections has been brilliant and joining a business community has been really helpful. Running a business is sort of like a weird thing to do.
Ellie: Um, and it takes a certain type of like it's hard running a business is hard, right? It's sort of the hard path. Employment's a sort of the, not the easy path, but it's just like, there's a plan already created into it.
So you're forging your own path when you create a business. And I think that. There's like, nothing can be better than finding other people who just get what it's like to be in that world. Yeah, for sure. And what, what has been your biggest mistake or learning experience in running a business?
Rachel: Ooh, I'm not listening to myself, so not doing what I've just talked about for the last.
Maybe you learned the hard way. I definitely have for sure. Yeah, not listening and not watching, not noticing. So you know what, when I give out I expect reciprocity. So I expect to receive back. It may be in a different energy, a different way, but when I give out of, of myself that I received back from other people in the same way.
Um, and if it's, if it's not coming, if you're like, Hey, what's going on here? Get out quick, listen to your intuition.
Ellie: Yes, we'll speak to your gut is a tough, it's a tough and great thing. I think that we've all had relationships or investments or things that we've made in business that we were like, Hmm.
That one didn't work out, but it's all a learning experience.
Ellie: All right. So tell me what you're working on right now.
Rachel: Uh, my website, I've talked all about my website. Yeah. So it's definitely giving back. And then, um, I, I'm working on finding new spaces to use and developing new programs and courses and camps and adventures and fun learning experiences and just fun adventures for.
Everyone I felt was children, teens, dogs, not quite.
Ellie: So tell people where they can find all of these cool programs and things you're creating.
Rachel: Here we go again. My website is www.rootedwings.org. Um, actually just went live today. It's not finished, but, um, hopefully I'll have a bit of time before this podcast.
Cause I have an old everyone, the multitudes come running. Um, and then I'm on Instagram and Facebook. Um, I am on YouTube and Pinterest for this number, sir. Fantastic.
Ellie: Yeah, I think that go, definitely go and check Rachel out there. Her Instagram is amazing. It's just so like warm and relaxed and peaceful and nurturing.
And she does a lot of really cool videos of her time in nature. And then she also posted some of what she does with homeschooling with their children, because obviously that's related to her work as well. And so she posts these really cool, like nature based lessons. Um, so she's a really great resource.
Thank you so much for coming on, Rachel.
Rachel: It's been brilliant. It's been really nice to chat to you.
Ellie: Thank you for listening to the Capable Collective podcast. I really hope you enjoy this episode and have gotten value from it. If you did, please subscribe on your chosen listening platform. And if you happen to be listening over on Apple podcasts, please take a moment to leave a review. It helps other people to find and trust this podcast.
And it would mean the world to me, this episode was edited by Emily Crosby Media. She's amazing to work with. And if you are looking to start a podcast or for some practical media solutions, definitely check her out. Thank you so much. Again, have a great day.
