Get Merry

It's been a crazy start to the year! We've been super inconsistent with the podcast, but here we are! In this episode, we chat about Carla's pregnancy and how we're preparing to balance nurturing a growing business and the arrival of a new life.

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• Carla is 22 weeks pregnant and well over the halfway mark. 
• She has had no morning sickness and feels amazing!
• Emma thought the baby grew inside the placenta, inside the womb. Yes. Serious. 
• Carla's baby bump has popped but she's struggled most with her boobs growing bigger. Her self-acceptance practice (from MerryBody) is so strong and this is helping her a lot. 
• We are feeling confident (yet realistic) about balancing baby and business. 
• We are officially starting our second cohort of the MerryBody Teacher Training on the 17th of March. We already have 27 cohort trainees. We are so excited!
• If you haven't signed up yet, now is the perfect time to join. It's going to be 16 weeks of potential life-transforming magic.

It's been an amazing start to the year and we're ready for the coming months! Bring it on!

If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Check out all the Get Merry Podcast episodes on iTunes and Overcast and Stitcher for Androids. Plus we are on Spotify over HERE! If you loved this episode, if you love this podcast, we would appreciate you leaving us a review on whatever podcast app you're listening to.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for part 2! Emma shares more of her Roman adventure! This episode is more about the places to visit in this wonderful city, and we're not just talking about the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain. Think, majestic medieval towns that are just a short drive from Rome. If you're a foodie, go back to Part 1 of this episode where we talked all about food in Rome.

If you prefer to read, check out this epic blog post with lots of advice on what to do and where to eat in Rome!

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• Tivoli is a small town on the mountain tops and a just a 40-minute drive away from Rome. Throughout history, noble people went to Tivoli for their summers to escape the Roman heat in summer. 
• The Villa d'Este is an ancient Renaissance site with beautiful interiors and mind-blowing gardens.
• Caprarola is a small town in Lazio region, where Rome is also a part of. The Palazzo Farnese is a Renaissance mansion in Caprarola known for its pentagonal design and amazing frescoes or plaster wall paintings.
• The Rocca Calascio is a medieval castle on top of the Apennine mountains in Abruzzo.
• The Castello Orsini Odescalchi is a 15th century castle in the Bracciano region. Here you'll find a massive collection of weapons used during the war and spectacular views. 
• Calcata is a little medieval village on top of a cliff that has a very Bohemian artistic feel with lots of arts and crafts. 
• If you visit Tuscany, it must be an overnight trip to see the beautiful sites such as Volterra.
• When you go to Orvieto, a small town in Umbria, you can visit the Cathedral. Just book a little train trip from Rome and you're there.
• The Via Appia is one of the earliest and most important Roman roads of the ancient Republic.
• Trastevere is a historic neighbourhood known for its narrow cobblestone streets. You can go here for dinner or drinks.
• Ostia Antica is a massive archaeological site outside the main city. If you are a lover of history, you have to go here.
• The Aventine Keyhole is a beautiful view where you look through the keyhole and you will see perfectly framed St Peter's Basilica.

There's just so much to see in Rome and six weeks were not enough. You could walk around the city centre every day and you'll see something new. I also really recommend going at different times of the day. When you travel to Rome. Ahhh, Roma! When you travel to Rome you experience so much, you learn so much about yourself, about the history and culture. You come back a different person.

If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hear Emma talk about her recent 6 week experience in Rome, Italy. This episode is all about food, from how to eat healthily in Italy to how to avoid tourist traps. Check out this page for all the extra links and more details. Daje!

Also, my 6 weeks in Rome did not improve my Italian or pronunciation. Scusa! Piano piano. I also skipped so many things, I got overwhelmed! Ahhh well!

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• Don't go stressing about putting on weight in Italy. Time is too precious and there's too much fun and deliciousness to experience! Besides, in my opinion, the Italian typical diet is probably far healthier than the standard Australian or American diet. I talk about why I believe this. 
• There's a huge focus on really fresh produce. There's a love and passion for food in general.
• If you're usually gluten-free (but not highly allergic or celiac) I invite you to consider trying the gluten in Italy. Eat the pasta and the pizza, and just see how you feel. 
• Carla asks: How did you overcome the guilt and anxiety around food? Have a routine and something that gets you present and feeling positive about your body.
• Book restaurants later in the evening to experience authentic culture and avoid tourist traps. Don't eat dinner at 5:30pm (hahaha)
• If you want to maintain your budget, you can buy fresh produce from delis and markets to create meals at home.
• Pizza Nader is an amazing pizza place where you buy pizza al taglio made with ancient grains.
• Must-try foods in Rome: carbonara, cacio e pepe, alla gricia, all'amatriciana, artichokes, suppli, pizza Romana, puntarelle
• Sweet treats in Rome: maritozzo, oh and of course cornetto.
• Pasta broth with broccoli was one of the most delicious pastas I've ever had.  

Italian food culture has played such an important role in healing my relationship with food. It has guided me from a past tainted by bulimia, body image issues and an obsession with dieting, to a present where I feel excitement, love and joy that food can bring.

In the next week's episode, Emma chats about the places she visited in and outside of Rome.

We'd love to hear it! If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to 2024! We feel like the first month has just been jampacked. Emma just got back two weeks ago from her 6-week trip to Rome. Her jetlag took about a week to get over (longer than normal!) but now we are back into everything in Merrymaker land. Can you belive it, on Sunday we’ll celebrate our 11th year in business.

On 17th of March, we’ll start our 2nd round of Yoga Teacher Training. The first round was a huge project that was way bigger than we thought. This round is all about refinement and making small tweaks to make the program flow even better. We already have 21 amazing women joining us and the Early Bird special closes today, so if you have an inkling to join us, visit our site.

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• Surrender: our word for the year 2024
• We can only plan and implement so much, so having the intention of surrender reduces suffering and makes life more enjoyable.
• Letting go and trusting our path to create a more content and less stressful, anxious life.
• Our annual challenge, 21 Day I’m Already Amazing Challenge. If you’re not a MerryBody member, you can still join us with a one-off payment.
• We are also running a live half-day urban retreat on the 17th of February on the Gold Coast, featuring Andrew, our philosophy teacher inside the Merry Body Teacher Training. Use the code MBLOVE and get some nice discounts for you, your friends, and your family.
• Carla’s having a baby.. and it’s a boy! 

In the next week’s episode, let’s all experience Rome, as Emma shares her experiences during her 6-week trip.

What’s your word for the year? We’d love to hear it! If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we chat about the holiday blues, a common experience of feeling blue, sad, flat... during the holiday season. We provide 5 simple ways to help us navigate through it all.

Read more about our Yoga Teacher Training HERE. Checkout the early bird rate! 

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• Let go of expectations.
• Don't compare yourself to others or to past holiday seasons.
• Limit social media and welcome in JOMO (joy of missing out)!
• Make the effort to stay connected with your loved ones.
• Moving your body instantly puts you in a good mood and improves your mental health.
• Maintaining a routine during the holiday season and ticking off accomplishments throughout the day can help you get out of the holiday blues.

If you have something to add to our list, do let us know. If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Although the holiday season is typically associated with joy, it is often filled with unrealistic expectations for events, gifts and family and friend time. This can lead to impatience, frustration and arguments. In this episode, we chat about the importance of patience and ways we can cultivate it during the festive time.

If you're looking for the perfect wellness and calm-bringing gift for the holiday season, we now have gift cards for our MerryBody app. Or, if your loved one is looking to dive deeper into the world of Yoga, we also have our Yoga Teacher training available as a gift card. Best present ever! 

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• Patience is a skill that can be learned by adding a pause or taking a breath before reacting.
• Practising mindfulness and being in the moment helps you gain control and minimise impulsive reactions.
• Being empathetic helps with being more patient because you become more understanding of other people's situations.
• Soften arguments through empathy and don't dwell on the problem. Focus on the common goal, which is to have a great Christmas together.
• Set more realistic expectations of each other or just release all expectations of what might happen. Allow yourself to have fun and not let the little things get to you.
• Cultivating gratitude and laughter during these moments spent with our loved ones can help us navigate any quirks or annoyances that may arise.
• Remember, these moments altogether don't happen all the time!

If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it possible to be yourself 100% of the time? We chat about this question in today’s episode. We also provide actionable steps to help you feel more connected to your authentic self.

If you’re looking for the perfect wellness and calm-bringing gift for the holiday season, we now have gift cards for our MerryBody app. Or, if your loved one is looking to dive deeper into Yoga, we also have our Yoga teacher training available as a gift card.

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• We don’t have to show and share 100% of ourselves, but it’s important that we are being ourselves and we just choose the amounts that we show.
• Have moments of self-reflection to understand who you are as a person.
• Our devices are big fat distractions that make us feel disconnected, so it’s good to have social media-free days.
• Check in with your values and what’s important to you.
• Self-acceptance is embracing our uniqueness. It’s realising that we are enough exactly as we are.
• Confidence is the ability to be yourself in a room and then walk into another room and be yourself once again.
• Practising positive self-talk builds inner confidence.
• Avoid comparisons, both with others and with your past self. Release expectations that you should look, be and achieve in a certain way.
• Develop mindfulness through Yoga and Meditation to help you stay present and aware of what is going on.
• Surround yourself with a supportive network of friends and seek feedback when you need it.
• Learning helps add dimension to your true self.
• Set boundaries and learn to say no when something doesn’t align with your values or goals.
• Be patient and kind to yourself.

Maybe there was one action step that stood out that you can now go and implement. Let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we continue our discussion about our journey in building our Merrymaker business. If you haven’t listened Part 1 and Part 2 yet, we recommend jumping to those just so you can understand exactly where we’ve come from and how we’ve ended up here.

The waitlist for the MerryBody Teacher Training Program is now open. Our second cohort will start in March 2024. It’s going to be amazing!

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• How we came up with the idea for MerryBody. We were trying to formulate an extensive program, then we simplified it. Often, less is more!
• We jumped into video with little experience, start before you are ready! 
• The idea of MerryBody was not just our bliss, but it was a really important message to share.
• We did 3 MerryBody challenges first and then in March 2019, launched our membership.
• How MerryBody went from a desktop website to a simple app and eventually a custom app. We are so grateful for Jarrod in guiding us through this development.
• COVID-19 happened and we had a spike in members during the pandemic.
• We hired a business manager and a virtual assistant to help us build out our systems and processes so we can actually give time to the more important things and put our zone of genius into play.
• We got distracted with our personal stuff when crypto became a thing.
• We finally hired Mum! It’s so fun to have her on board and part of it all.
• In March 2021, we bought an investment property together. And then, we bought another investment property.
• In 2022, we made the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training. What an experience this first decade of business was, we are even more excited about the next decade!

Business can be hard, so you need to have a strong mindset and believe in yourself.

If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the second part of our 3 part business journey series. If you missed last week's episode, go back to 395: Our Merrymaker Business Journey Part 1.

Also! The waitlist for the MerryBody Teacher Training Program is now open. It's a 16 week course that will welcome personal growth, self-love and total mind-body transformation. Our second cohort will start in March 2024. If you have an inkling that this is maybe for you, we encourage you to join the waitlist so you are first to know about when our early bird opens.

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• Business relationships are super important, some will be amazing and integral for business growth!
• Going to conferences and networking events was a big positive, but not too many because they can get overwhelming.
• We said no to a book deal and self-published our very first hard copy cookbook. The self-publishing was a nightmare but we got through it. Listen to Episode 55: How Merrymaker Sisters Self-Published and Launched 2 Hard Copy Books
• We built a recipe app that went #1 in the App Store.
• We created the Merry Biz Hustle 4-week Challenge and had 49 sign-ups.
• We created the Merrymaker Club membership but ended up refunding people, and then publishing our second hard copy recipe book.
• We were featured in SBS Insight which became a very traumatic experience. But it led us to where we are today.
• In 2016, we moved to the Gold Coast. A year later, Carla signed up to the yoga teacher training and Emma signed up to the Pilates teacher training. We re-found our bliss and this changed everything!
• We got invited to teach in the studio and we created our own MerryBody 4-week program.

We'll see you next week for Part 3!

If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been receiving quite a few requests for a podcast episode no our 10 year online business journey. So, this episode is a bit of a walk down memory lane as we share with you some stories, lessons, mistakes and key moments in our business journey. It turned into a 3 part series!

The waitlist for the MerryBody Teacher Training Program is now open. Our second cohort will start in March 2024. if you have an inkling that this is maybe for you, we encourage you to join the waitlist so you are first to know about when our early bird opens.

This is what we spoke about during the episode

• We were unhappy in our government jobs and wanted a change. "There's gotta be more to life!" 
• In between all of this, we were forever on a diet. We soon discovered the paleo 'lifestyle' (still a diet) and started sharing photos of our dinner on Instagram.
• We began blogging. We realised this was our bliss!
• Don't be afraid to not know what you're doing. You need to learn, and the best way to learn, is to do.
• We created our first recipe e-book and got 300 sales from just one e-mail. Key lesson: don't just promote something once. Keep on promoting for a successful launch.
• We made a decision to quit our jobs. 
• We were totally naive. Perhaps, this was a superpower!
• It's very important to have the supportive people around you.
• Our first online challenge was successful, and we replicated the challenge concept multiple times and focused on content marketing.
• We started our podcast in 2015.
• We said no to the accelerator program and yes to diving into the online business world ourselves.

Stay tuned for part 2 and part 3. They will be published over the next 2 weeks!

If you loved this episode, we would love to hear from you, send us an email to [email protected] or [email protected] or message us on our Facebook and Instagram accounts @themerrymakersisters.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

P.s if you ever need further help or guidance please contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. Asking for help is pure courage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.