In this masterclass, I spoke about our Feminine Spirit, how important it is to understand and balance our feminine and musculin energy within us, in fact, that is what the sacred union is really about. Also, how the role and expectations of women have been changing in the last 100 years and interestingly, how Goddess was actually the first deity to be worshipped since the beginning of mankind. I asked this question deep in our heart: "Who are we?" and "Who am I"? If you would like to get a boost on self-empowerment or to uplift your feminine spirit, watch the video or listen to the podcast for this week!

I was up in Brisbane last Saturday to celebrate the International Women's Day with a group of conscious and inspired women at the Perfect Portion headquarter. I delivered this Masterclass live in person over there. It was my absolute pleasure to speak about this topic and I also really enjoyed the discussions and questions after. Everyone has a story to tell, and through people's journey, there is always a lesson to learn. Each of us has a unique gift to share with the world, sometimes it is about our talent or success, but sometimes it is about our experience and truth that inspire others. Although I couldn't share the live event with you, I've decided to record the talk/presentation content and share with you this way.

This is a happy snap at the end of our event. To my left is the founder of Perfect Potion Salvatore Battaglia and to his left, Jennifer Jeffries who presented her Aromatherapy Insight Cards in the afternoon.

One of the key question I asked in the masterclass was "Who are we?" as women of today. Mothers? Lovers? Teachers? Pathfinders? Carers? Healers? Leaders? The next question is "Who are you?". I spoke about the goddess archetypes during the masterclass to help individuals to see their inner patterns as well as those around them. By knowing and understanding the "who", we get to accept and appreciate the "why" a lot easier.

For example, I like to use the example of Athena, the archetype of a strategist. As she is always smart, wise and intellectual. If you have an Athena sister and you just told her about your nasty breakup with your boyfriend, you may likely to hear something like "It is better for you this way." or "I think you should read this book, there are good information for your situation". And most likely, no big bear hug or chocolate or ice-cream... You get the picture.

It is not that she doesn't care, but her responses may be VERY different from yours. If you have a Demeter sister instead (the goddess archetype of Mother & Nurturer), she will definitely love to look after you physically and emotionally. Not one is better than another, they are just different people.

Later in the seminar, I also took the group to a quick Heart Intelligence exercise to connect with their heart and inner wisdom. The "Who are you" question inevitably leads to "Who do you want to become?" or "What is your deepest desire?". The exercise is effective and easy-to-do. If you would like to learn the technique, be sure to watch the video below or listen to the podcast!

https://youtu.be/5qZn7_cdS-M

In this masterclass, I spoke about our Feminine Spirit, how important it is to understand and balance our feminine and musculin energy within us, in fact, that is what the sacred union is really about. Also, how the role and expectations of women have been changing in the last 100 years and interestingly, how Goddess was actually the first deity to be worshipped since the beginning of mankind. I asked this question deep in our heart: "Who are we?" and "Who am I"? If you would like to get a boost on self-empowerment or to uplift your feminine spirit, watch the video or listen to the podcast for this week!

I was up in Brisbane last Saturday to celebrate the International Women's Day with a group of conscious and inspired women at the Perfect Portion headquarter. I delivered this Masterclass live in person over there. It was my absolute pleasure to speak about this topic and I also really enjoyed the discussions and questions after. Everyone has a story to tell, and through people's journey, there is always a lesson to learn. Each of us has a unique gift to share with the world, sometimes it is about our talent or success, but sometimes it is about our experience and truth that inspire others. Although I couldn't share the live event with you, I've decided to record the talk/presentation content and share with you this way.

This is a happy snap at the end of our event. To my left is the founder of Perfect Potion Salvatore Battaglia and to his left, Jennifer Jeffries who presented her Aromatherapy Insight Cards in the afternoon.

One of the key question I asked in the masterclass was "Who are we?" as women of today. Mothers? Lovers? Teachers? Pathfinders? Carers? Healers? Leaders? The next question is "Who are you?". I spoke about the goddess archetypes during the masterclass to help individuals to see their inner patterns as well as those around them. By knowing and understanding the "who", we get to accept and appreciate the "why" a lot easier.

For example, I like to use the example of Athena, the archetype of a strategist. As she is always smart, wise and intellectual. If you have an Athena sister and you just told her about your nasty breakup with your boyfriend, you may likely to hear something like "It is better for you this way." or "I think you should read this book, there are good information for your situation". And most likely, no big bear hug or chocolate or ice-cream... You get the picture.

It is not that she doesn't care, but her responses may be VERY different from yours. If you have a Demeter sister instead (the goddess archetype of Mother & Nurturer), she will definitely love to look after you physically and emotionally. Not one is better than another, they are just different people.

Later in the seminar, I also took the group to a quick Heart Intelligence exercise to connect with their heart and inner wisdom. The "Who are you" question inevitably leads to "Who do you want to become?" or "What is your deepest desire?". The exercise is effective and easy-to-do. If you would like to learn the technique, be sure to watch the video below or listen to the podcast!

https://youtu.be/5qZn7_cdS-M

It is no longer a rare occurrence that most of us have more than one career change in our adult life. With the rapid changes in information technology and artificial intelligence, more and more likely we will face more opportunities and triggers that would launch us into a new career. In fact, we often hear new professions and businesses emerge in today’s world. Sometimes it may be a slight change, say from a copywriter to become a published author. Sometimes it can be a big jump, like my dear friend and business colleague Carole Gridley, who moved from journalism to advertising & marketing and eventually in aromatherapy. She is an aromatherapist, teacher and creator of Festival of Ariel, a brand of personalized natural perfume. 

Carole started her career as a journalist and worked in the advertising industry long before she found her passion and purpose in Aromatherapy. I recently interviewed her and we talked about her journey with several career changes and how to manage such transitions.

Sometimes our desire to change comes from the circumstances, but sometimes we have this inner calling that is driving us to move to another direction. To create an inspired and fulfilling life, we need to find work that is meaningful and enjoyable for us. And that is why it is so important to follow our heart, and really understanding what success means to us, individually, and what truly makes us happy.

In this interview, we also talked about her "giving back to carers" project. To learn more about Carole, please visit:

https://www.healthtouchmassage.com.au/ or email her at [email protected]

Another useful resource you may find helpful is a book called Career Change by Joanna Penn. It has a step-by-step approach to help you to move into a new career. You can get it at https://thecreativepenn.com

I mentioned in the podcast that I will speak at two events. The first one is the Aromatherapy and the Feminine Spirit - a special workshop to celebrate International Women’s Day on 9th March in Brisbane. The second event is the Goddess with Many Faces Masterclass, with special guest Salvatore Battaglia, founder of Perfect Potion, and it will be on the 30th March in Sydney. 

Interview Show Notes

* Career Change: From Journalism to Advertising to Aromatherapy 

* Signposts that lead us to change 

* Self-awareness and inner calling emerge organically 

* How to handle career transition/s

* How the universe responses to our changes 

* Alignment and flexibility make all the difference

* Success means different things to different people 

* The importance of life-long learning 

* The use of essential oils for natural therapeutic purposes 
...

It is no longer a rare occurrence that most of us have more than one career change in our adult life. With the rapid changes in information technology and artificial intelligence, more and more likely we will face more opportunities and triggers that would launch us into a new career. In fact, we often hear new professions and businesses emerge in today’s world. Sometimes it may be a slight change, say from a copywriter to become a published author. Sometimes it can be a big jump, like my dear friend and business colleague Carole Gridley, who moved from journalism to advertising & marketing and eventually in aromatherapy. She is an aromatherapist, teacher and creator of Festival of Ariel, a brand of personalized natural perfume. 

Carole started her career as a journalist and worked in the advertising industry long before she found her passion and purpose in Aromatherapy.
I recently interviewed her and we talked about her journey with several career changes and how to manage such transitions.

Sometimes our desire to change comes from the circumstances, but sometimes we have this inner calling that is driving us to move to another direction. To create an inspired and fulfilling life, we need to find work that is meaningful and enjoyable for us. And that is why it is so important to follow our heart, and really understanding what success means to us, individually, and what truly makes us happy.

In this interview, we also talked about her "giving back to carers" project. To learn more about Carole, please visit:

https://www.healthtouchmassage.com.au/ or email her at [email protected]

Another useful resource you may find helpful is a book called Career Change by Joanna Penn. It has a step-by-step approach to help you to move into a new career. You can get it at https://thecreativepenn.com

I mentioned in the podcast that I will speak at two events. The first one is the Aromatherapy and the Feminine Spirit - a special workshop to celebrate International Women’s Day on 9th March in Brisbane. The second event is the Goddess with Many Faces Masterclass, with special guest Salvatore Battaglia, founder of Perfect Potion, and it will be on the 30th March in Sydney. 

Interview Show Notes

* Career Change: From Journalism to Advertising to Aromatherapy 

* Signposts that lead us to change 

* Self-awareness and inner calling emerge organically 

* How to handle career transition/s

* How the universe responses to our changes 

* Alignment and flexibility make all the difference

* Success means different things to different people 

* The importance of life-long learning 

* The use of essential oils for natural therapeutic purposes&...

It happens to everyone. There are days we don't feel as cheerful and positive as usual. Sometimes we feel disappointed or sad because something has happened or not happened in the way we hoped for. We may have missed an opportunity or made a mistake. Someone may have hurt our feelings, or we regret certain things we did or said. No matter how successful, healthy, wealthy or having it all together you may be, there are not-so-sunny days in life. But the thing is, sometimes we don't want to talk about that because we worry what people may think of us, or we don't want even to let people know. This blog and what I have included in the podcast is about how do we handle such times so that we can move through them more manageable and wiser. And trust me, it happens to everyone, and so you are never alone in this situation, which is essentially part of life.

However, what I refer to here is not about chronic or clinical depression, it is indeed a different and more serious scenario, and I am not offering medical advice here and properly treatment may be needed in that case.

What I have observed and experienced in myself and others are situations where our emotions are affected by our thoughts or mindset, and as a result, we feel down or unmotivated in what we usually do.

Often such feelings we experienced is triggered by an external event, like what I have mentioned above. In many cases, it is about something we want to happen, but it didn't happen, or we don't know when it will or if it will at all. It may be about finding a romantic and lasting relationship, or getting a job that we love, or succeeding in our business and financial goals, or it can be about improving our health. There are a few things that I like to remind myself and others when I hear about this type of scenarios:

Not everything is as it seems

Sometimes the fact that you don't get that job or lover is actually better for you, perhaps even a blessing in disguise. We may even know it in our hearts, but sometimes the face value sounds so good that our conscious mind may say, it is a pity we didn't get that. But is it really?

I believe the universe always has your back. So if it is not for you, then it is because the universe has another plan, a better one or you.

It can also be the case of "not now, maybe later". There may be a lesson for you to learn, a skill to master, an area to grow. But until then, it will not be the best for you to handle what is that you actually want. You are not yet ready to reap the full benefits. I can attest to this wholeheartedly. I know for sure if I have met my husband earlier in my life, it would not have happened. I wasn't as mature to recognise his qualities, and I don't think I would have been a suitable partner for him. In any case, trust the universe and be more open about other possibilities. When we are not fixated on a particular outcome, we will realise we can actually get more than we bargained for!

How you react or response is always your choice

Now let's say our negative emotions are triggered by

someone who disappointed or angered us in some ways.

Sometimes we let the emotions get the better of us,

and we reacted immediately and not necessarily appropriate. We may feel we

absolutely need to say something or send that email or SMS right the way. With

today's technology and power of social media, we can do that in an instant. But

later on, we may regret what we said, or realise we misinterpreted it, or

overreacted because we were triggered by something else.

That is called the lack of impulse control. Partly it is about not having a regular zen or mind...

It happens to everyone. There are days we don't feel as cheerful and positive as usual. Sometimes we feel disappointed or sad because something has happened or not happened in the way we hoped for. We may have missed an opportunity or made a mistake. Someone may have hurt our feelings, or we regret certain things we did or said. No matter how successful, healthy, wealthy or having it all together you may be, there are not-so-sunny days in life. But the thing is, sometimes we don't want to talk about that because we worry what people may think of us, or we don't want even to let people know. This blog and what I have included in the podcast is about how do we handle such times so that we can move through them more manageable and wiser. And trust me, it happens to everyone, and so you are never alone in this situation, which is essentially part of life.

However, what I refer to here is not about chronic or clinical depression, it is indeed a different and more serious scenario, and I am not offering medical advice here and properly treatment may be needed in that case.

What I have observed and experienced in myself and others are situations where our emotions are affected by our thoughts or mindset, and as a result, we feel down or unmotivated in what we usually do.

Often such feelings we experienced is triggered by an external event, like what I have mentioned above. In many cases, it is about something we want to happen, but it didn't happen, or we don't know when it will or if it will at all. It may be about finding a romantic and lasting relationship, or getting a job that we love, or succeeding in our business and financial goals, or it can be about improving our health. There are a few things that I like to remind myself and others when I hear about this type of scenarios:

Not everything is as it seems

Sometimes the fact that you don't get that job or lover is actually better for you, perhaps even a blessing in disguise. We may even know it in our hearts, but sometimes the face value sounds so good that our conscious mind may say, it is a pity we didn't get that. But is it really?

I believe the universe always has your back. So if it is not for you, then it is because the universe has another plan, a better one or you.

It can also be the case of "not now, maybe later". There may be a lesson for you to learn, a skill to master, an area to grow. But until then, it will not be the best for you to handle what is that you actually want. You are not yet ready to reap the full benefits. I can attest to this wholeheartedly. I know for sure if I have met my husband earlier in my life, it would not have happened. I wasn't as mature to recognise his qualities, and I don't think I would have been a suitable partner for him. In any case, trust the universe and be more open about other possibilities. When we are not fixated on a particular outcome, we will realise we can actually get more than we bargained for!

How you react or response is always your choice

Now let's say our negative emotions are triggered by

someone who disappointed or angered us in some ways.

Sometimes we let the emotions get the better of us,

and we reacted immediately and not necessarily appropriate. We may feel we

absolutely need to say something or send that email or SMS right the way. With

today's technology and power of social media, we can do that in an instant. But

later on, we may regret what we said, or realise we misinterpreted it, or

overreacted because we were triggered by something else.

That is called the lack of impulse control. Partly it is about not having a regular zen or mind...

In this week's podcast, you will find my personal updates (my eating adventures in China) and my interview about true empowerment with Ashlee Noonan from Perfect Potion. I am super excited and honoured to be speaking at their special event for The International Women's Day 2019. If you in the Brisbane area, come and check out the Masterclasses: Aromatherapy and Feminine Spirit on the 9th of March. I will be taking a group of woman on a mystical and archetypal journey to talk about Heroine Journeys and how to navigator them with tools and tips. Jennifer Jeffries will be leading the Aromatherapy masterclass that day.

You can listen to the podcast here or find it via most podcast catchers. Please subscribe to my podcast to get notificed about the next show!

So this week's blog on Empowerement:

You may have heard of a saying that goes "When a student is ready, a teacher will appear". Many years ago when I was going through some deep and reflective time, I heard a lecture by Marianne Williamson on A Course in Miracles (ACIM). Before long, I bought the book, and also I read many of her books such as A Return to Love, which is in Williamson's own words "like a cliff notes of A Course in Miracles". To this day, I still do the workbook exercises of ACIM, listen to her lectures and courses. For me, she is a truly empowered woman, not only because she is a best-selling author and lectured all over the world for 35 years. She is now running for the presidential candidacy for 2020. The main message of her campaign is clear, she believes that a moral and spiritual awakening is required to have deeper and meaningful conversations for this very critical time. Now, set aside any political views you may have, the fact she is running is already an act of courage.

She is a spiritual teacher, not a typical politician, everyone knows that. There are people who would likely to criticize and ridicule her, almost to be expected. In her own words, she is 66 years old, a grown woman who is in a stage of her life that doesn't need that kind of scrutiny, but she is doing this for a reason. She thinks she can help and it matters to her to do the right thing, even if it is difficult.

That is courage right then and there. If it is easy or comfortable, with no risks or nothing at stake, no courage is required. To do something that is scary and despite all can be lost (money, reputation, career, etc.), she still jumps into that, and it shows me only a truly empowered woman will do that. To take that leap of faith and fly high.

Those who are willing to be vulnerable, to face uncertainty and to take hard decisions or conversations, are those who are willing to be empowered and they are able to do it again and again.

There are many among us who are examples empowered men and women, just look around in your family, most likely not, there is someone who manage great odds and "made it", despite all challenges or disapprovals.

To be empowered is also about believing in yourself, the difference you can make to those around you and in the world. Everyone matters, I believe we are all born for greatness, each having a unique contribution to make. in ACIM, it talks about how when a problem occurs, the universe has already found a solution, God has sent you. Sometimes we think so little of ourselves when in fact we can do or undo great things, and then on other occasions, we think so highly of ourselves,

In this week's podcast, you will find my personal updates (my eating adventures in China) and my interview about true empowerment with Ashlee Noonan from Perfect Potion. I am super excited and honoured to be speaking at their special event for The International Women's Day 2019. If you in the Brisbane area, come and check out the Masterclasses: Aromatherapy and Feminine Spirit on the 9th of March. I will be taking a group of woman on a mystical and archetypal journey to talk about Heroine Journeys and how to navigator them with tools and tips. Jennifer Jeffries will be leading the Aromatherapy masterclass that day.

You can listen to the podcast here or find it via most podcast catchers. Please subscribe to my podcast to get notificed about the next show!

So this week's blog on Empowerement:

You may have heard of a saying that goes "When a student is ready, a teacher will appear". Many years ago when I was going through some deep and reflective time, I heard a lecture by Marianne Williamson on A Course in Miracles (ACIM). Before long, I bought the book, and also I read many of her books such as A Return to Love, which is in Williamson's own words "like a cliff notes of A Course in Miracles". To this day, I still do the workbook exercises of ACIM, listen to her lectures and courses. For me, she is a truly empowered woman, not only because she is a best-selling author and lectured all over the world for 35 years. She is now running for the presidential candidacy for 2020. The main message of her campaign is clear, she believes that a moral and spiritual awakening is required to have deeper and meaningful conversations for this very critical time. Now, set aside any political views you may have, the fact she is running is already an act of courage.

She is a spiritual teacher, not a typical politician, everyone knows that. There are people who would likely to criticize and ridicule her, almost to be expected. In her own words, she is 66 years old, a grown woman who is in a stage of her life that doesn't need that kind of scrutiny, but she is doing this for a reason. She thinks she can help and it matters to her to do the right thing, even if it is difficult.

That is courage right then and there. If it is easy or comfortable, with no risks or nothing at stake, no courage is required. To do something that is scary and despite all can be lost (money, reputation, career, etc.), she still jumps into that, and it shows me only a truly empowered woman will do that. To take that leap of faith and fly high.

Those who are willing to be vulnerable, to face uncertainty and to take hard decisions or conversations, are those who are willing to be empowered and they are able to do it again and again.

There are many among us who are examples empowered men and women, just look around in your family, most likely not, there is someone who manage great odds and "made it", despite all challenges or disapprovals.

To be empowered is also about believing in yourself, the difference you can make to those around you and in the world. Everyone matters, I believe we are all born for greatness, each having a unique contribution to make. in ACIM, it talks about how when a problem occurs, the universe has already found a solution, God has sent you. Sometimes we think so little of ourselves when in fact we can do or undo great things, and then on other occasions, we think so highly of ourselves,

I interviewed my dear friend and colleague, Deborah Shepherd, about her many soul adventures in life. In 2011, she left behind a big corporate career to become a purpose-driven and spiritual entrepreneur and business leader. She founded the Embrace Life Festivals and ran it across NSW Australia for about 6 years. She nurtured and mentored a community of health & wellness practitioners and created a movement called the Gratitude. She is now planning to launch Soul Advisors in Australia, a global non-profit organization with its founder. She is certainly a busy woman who embraced change and achieved a lot of success in her life. We talked about the ups and downs in navigating these soul adventures, what are the lessons learned and how can we best prepared for and manage these changes and challenges in our lives.

Here is the shownote:

* The leap from working in the corporate world to become a purpose-driven entrepreneur

* The good days, the bad days and lessons learned

* If you are not sure, meditate! 

* Everything happened for a reason, all experiences lead you to personal growth

* The Art of Letting-Go

* How to become more resilient and evolve

* What would you say to your younger self, a 20-year-old Deborah Shepherd

You can watch our interview here:

https://youtu.be/DKPnULk43T0

Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you would like to see more inspiring interviews! You can also listen to this interview as a podcast on iTunes or most podcast catchers. Just search for CoachSzeWing to download the show!

You can find out more about Soul Advisors here at https://www.souladvisor.com/

The following is the transcript of our interview:

Sze Wing: Hi! I'm super excited to talk to Deb today. Deb is my personal friend and we work on many projects before in the wellness industry and so today I'm really happy to be able to find the time together to have this interview and chat about one of my favourite topic, which is about authentic success, how do we embrace change and living a more inspired life which is a recurring theme on all my podcasts.

Sze Wing: So this is the podcast called #ConversationsThatMatter and we're talking about stories from women that aim to empower other women. So today we have Deborah Shepherd with us who had been in so many different international corporate projects and worked in the finance industry and she had about 30 years of it and then you changed and you started your own business as a purpose-driven entrepreneur.

And we're going to talk a little bit more about that. And she created the community called Gratitude and she delivered Embrace Life Festivals across New South Wales. She also has an online platform and now also doing consulting and mentoring. So she has obviously a few reincarnations of her career.

And now you're leading a project called Soul Advisors. So I guess for my listeners will be interested to hear firsthand from the woman who has embraced so many different ventures in the business world.

So our guest today is Deborah Shepherd. Welcome, Deb!

Deb: Thank you Sze Wing. Lovely to catch up with you as you say we've been connected with each other for many many years. So. I look forward to being here today.

Yeah. You know I often feel this is like a conversation you know imagine sitting in a cafe and then  we have our girlfriends and some I had never met that before and then you know that they all inspired to do something more in their ...

I interviewed my dear friend and colleague, Deborah Shepherd, about her many soul adventures in life. In 2011, she left behind a big corporate career to become a purpose-driven and spiritual entrepreneur and business leader. She founded the Embrace Life Festivals and ran it across NSW Australia for about 6 years. She nurtured and mentored a community of health & wellness practitioners and created a movement called the Gratitude. She is now planning to launch Soul Advisors in Australia, a global non-profit organization with its founder. She is certainly a busy woman who embraced change and achieved a lot of success in her life. We talked about the ups and downs in navigating these soul adventures, what are the lessons learned and how can we best prepared for and manage these changes and challenges in our lives.

Here is the shownote:

* The leap from working in the corporate world to become a purpose-driven entrepreneur

* The good days, the bad days and lessons learned

* If you are not sure, meditate! 

* Everything happened for a reason, all experiences lead you to personal growth

* The Art of Letting-Go

* How to become more resilient and evolve

* What would you say to your younger self, a 20-year-old Deborah Shepherd

You can watch our interview here:

https://youtu.be/DKPnULk43T0

Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you would like to see more inspiring interviews! You can also listen to this interview as a podcast on iTunes or most podcast catchers. Just search for CoachSzeWing to download the show!

You can find out more about Soul Advisors here at https://www.souladvisor.com/

The following is the transcript of our interview:

Sze Wing: Hi! I'm super excited to talk to Deb today. Deb is my personal friend and we work on many projects before in the wellness industry and so today I'm really happy to be able to find the time together to have this interview and chat about one of my favourite topic, which is about authentic success, how do we embrace change and living a more inspired life which is a recurring theme on all my podcasts.

Sze Wing: So this is the podcast called #ConversationsThatMatter and we're talking about stories from women that aim to empower other women. So today we have Deborah Shepherd with us who had been in so many different international corporate projects and worked in the finance industry and she had about 30 years of it and then you changed and you started your own business as a purpose-driven entrepreneur.

And we're going to talk a little bit more about that. And she created the community called Gratitude and she delivered Embrace Life Festivals across New South Wales. She also has an online platform and now also doing consulting and mentoring. So she has obviously a few reincarnations of her career.

And now you're leading a project called Soul Advisors. So I guess for my listeners will be interested to hear firsthand from the woman who has embraced so many different ventures in the business world.

So our guest today is Deborah Shepherd. Welcome, Deb!

Deb: Thank you Sze Wing. Lovely to catch up with you as you say we've been connected with each other for many many years. So. I look forward to being here today.

Yeah. You know I often feel this is like a conversation you know imagine sitting in a cafe and then  we have our girlfriends and some I had never met that before and then you know that they all inspired to do somethin...