Why Female Founders Undercharge and How to Stop with Nikki St Paul of Breathing Mindful Coaching

Why Female Founders Undercharge - and How to Stop with Nikki St Paul of Breathing Mindful Coaching

Episode Description

What does it mean to scale your business without burning out? Nikki St Paul, leadership coach and nervous system guide for purpose-driven women, joins Emily Jean to share how subconscious beliefs shape our success, why rest is a power move, and how female founders can lead with both strength and ease. Nikki blends neuroscience, embodiment, and mindset work to help women step fully into their power while creating sustainable businesses they love.

Highlights

  • The meaning behind “lead like a powerhouse, rest like a queen”

  • How subconscious beliefs quietly sabotage business growth

  • The signs of burnout most women ignore until it’s too late

  • Why ease and easy are not the same thing

  • Practical tools for rewiring hidden rules about worth and work

  • A powerful client story about charging what you’re worth

  • Why rejection can be a sign of growth, not failure

  • Hustle culture vs. sustainable success in the female founder space

  • The truth about rest as a strategic leadership move

  • Simple daily practices to regulate your nervous system and thrive

Why this episode matters

If you’ve ever tied your worth to your work, pushed past burnout, or wondered why scaling feels harder than it should, Nikki’s perspective will hit home. She offers a blueprint for building a business that honors both ambition and wellbeing - because leading with power and resting with intention are not opposites, they’re the formula for sustainable success.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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SEO Keywords
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Transcript:

Emily Jean (00:00)

I remember being so unwell, I could remember it on my bed and I sat there with my laptop and I was supposed to take no more than half an hour just to close stuff down and let other people get on with it. And I can literally remember, literally two, three hours later, still there, sending emails, updating, trying to get things done. And I just remember just thinking, what are you actually doing?


Your body is really talking to you right now. You either take on the advice and take this time or something else is going to happen. So when you look in the mirror, like what's the story that you're telling yourself, the story that never leaves your lips, that's the story to work on.


Emily Jean (00:36)

welcome to or welcome back to Founders in Jeans. I'm your host, Emily Jean. And before we get into the episode, I just want to say a huge thank you so much for listening to my podcast. It means the world to me. It is a really special project to me. It's very close to my heart.


I just wanted to come on here and say thank you so much. I also wanted to say that if you enjoy the show, feel free to leave a review on Spotify or Apple, wherever you're listening to this, and also to follow us. You can follow us on Spotify, of course. You can follow us on Instagram at FoundersinJeans You can also find me on Instagram at Emily.Jeans.


or you can look me up on LinkedIn. I'm always happy to connect with people on there and I have a lot of good conversations from listeners. Also, you can always leave a bad review for us. I'm totally fine with that. And in fact, I think that's exciting. I would love to know what we can do to improve. So you can also leave comments below and let me know what you enjoyed, what you didn't enjoy. I actually do read every single one.


We also have a newsletter that comes out once a week so you can get all the updates from us. also put in


some weekly business and marketing updates as well as some personal notes from me. You can subscribe to that on my LinkedIn, also through the Instagram and in the show notes below. Anyways, that is all from me. I'm so excited for you to listen to this episode. I hope it's a good one and I'll chat to you soon. Bye.


Emily Jean (02:15)

All right, well then, Nikki of Breathing Mindful Coaching, welcome to Founders in Jeans. How are you doing today?


Nikki St Paul (02:24)

Thank you so much, Emily. I'm so pleased that we connected and excited for this conversation. I'm doing really well.


Emily Jean (02:31)

Good. Well, why don't you give everyone a little introduction of yourself in your own words.


Nikki St Paul (02:37)

That's always such a small question, but such a deep question as well. Like, who am I? Could spend ages talking about that. But at the surface level, I am Nikki and I'm a leadership coach and nervous system guide for purpose-led female entrepreneurs. So women who are running their own business, whether they are on their own or they have a small team. But the work that I do is really around helping women to heal the subconscious, often sneaky.


subconscious beliefs and blocks that will ultimately sabotage their success and stop them from scaling their business to wherever they want to get to, whatever their highest heights is, whether that's multi six figures, seven figures, whatever that is, whatever amazing looks like for them. If we don't tackle these sneaky little things that have been in charge for way too long, they will impact like


the way that you succeed and how you feel while doing it. So that is the work that I do and love to support women with.


Emily Jean (03:40)

So I love this and I have so many thoughts and questions to ask you because it's such a brilliant mission and it's so well founded. I think it's like perfect, perfectly timed as well. I know you've been doing this for a bit of time now, but I wanna just dive in and start with, I know your tagline is lead like a powerhouse and rest like a queen. So I love that.


Nikki St Paul (04:04)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.


Emily Jean (04:07)

Where did that come from?


Nikki St Paul (04:09)

It's actually been, you know, and this is the thing, maybe you hear this from other founders who you're speaking to. Sometimes you're doing the work for a long time and then it just becomes super clear like, wow, this is the through line. This is really where all of my different parts of me, because we're so...


or I am at least multifaceted. I have many different things I enjoy doing. And this tagline really kind of cements all the different things that I was doing and kind of makes it all make sense. So honestly, this tagline came from years of watching what happens when we...


When we give our power away, when we give our power away to some guru who says that we need to do it like this or society, parents, education that says this is what your life should look and feel like, and you give your power away to either other people's expertise, other people's expectations, perhaps your own self-imposed expectations that are really hard. It's like when we give our power away.


we are not able to realise our full potential. So leading like a powerhouse is realising that I can take my power back, okay? And resting like a queen is also, I can take my power back because it links to the beliefs that we hold as our own, the story that we tell that is not even ours to tell. So the story is like, actually success and ambition mean this.


And they mean that I don't ever take my foot off the gas. They mean that I don't ever pause for a moment. They mean that somebody else's vision is the vision that I should hold when actually maybe deep down inside you have a different vision, a different soul's purpose. And so needing like a powerhouse is like, I'm going to hold the power stick. I'm going to hold onto it. And I'm also going to be of full awareness that my greatest power is within. And at the same time,


I'm also going to know that my mind will sometimes make me believe things that are not true. So this is the other thing. It's like, yes, you have your mind that says, that's too much. Don't go after that. And so leading like a powerhouse is actually realizing that just because the mind may tell you something is fact, it doesn't mean that it is. And we need to go to the source of like, where did this belief come from? Where do you believe that you are not able to go for something or that?


something is out of reach for you. So it's really about self leadership, self mastery, but really focusing on not just, you know, your lofty visions, but what are the things that could get in the way and how can you get in front of them as well.


Emily Jean (06:52)

Right.


And I guess I want to ask too, because I have my own thoughts about this and I'm sure you, I know you have lots and I'm sure we'll get into it a bit more later too, but why do you think that work is so important specifically for women?


Nikki St Paul (07:11)

I think, you know, a lot of the time we, I guess I can only speak from the perspective of a woman really, in terms of not being able to speak from the perspective of anyone else. But I know that we often carry this view of if I'm not working, if I'm not pushing, if I'm not trying to prove my worth, because ultimately as human beings, we just want to feel like we belong.


We want to fit in from a safety perspective, first of all, like from centuries ago, it's like we needed to fit in to be in the pack so that we could be safe. But actually this links to I'm only worthy if I'm able to deliver a certain amount of output, if I'm able to be productive. So this work is so important because if we have all these outside expectations and stories and beliefs that ultimately


will either make us overwork, will either make us undercharge, will either make us over try to please everybody else but ourselves. So this work is important so that we can, when I say so that we can do the work that we're meant to do on this earth with more ease. Now when I say ease, some people go, ⁓ you think it's gonna be easy?


No, I'm talking about ease. Ease is so different to easy. It's like sometimes we can get to this place where we are pushing so hard that we are doing things not in the most easeful way, right? So there are ways that we can maybe not complicate it as much. There are ways we're like, actually, I have produced, I've done an acceptable amount.


today, like, and I'm not going to measure my sense of worthiness and how good I am as a human being by how many of those things on that list I've ticked off. So this work, I think is important for all human beings, but I just work specifically with women because I know that there are so many stories that we've taken on as our own that will prevent us from rising as far as we can if we don't look at it.


Emily Jean (09:17)

Right.


Right. I love that distinction too between ease and easiness.


Nikki St Paul (09:22)

Yes, yeah, because people hear


it and they're like, you think it's easy? No, it's not. But like, everything doesn't have to feel like this resistance, this struggle. And often the struggle is internal. It's not even like outside, it's within. Like we want to do something and then we're like, I can't do that. no, I can't. And it's like a tussle.


Emily Jean (09:26)

Right. Right.


I was chatting to somebody the other day about this concept that somebody told me, said, Western culture, Western cultures are more obsessed with this desire to be happy and fulfilled, like constantly fulfilled in their lives. And I was thinking about that a lot. And of course everybody's perspective and answer is probably gonna be different. But I was thinking, I'm not quite sure if it's an obsession with being.


happy slash fulfilled, but at least maybe making it better. which I do think there is a distinction there is like, it's not, I don't think people are constantly striving for the easiest or simplest route, but just a better way of doing things or at least a way that feels more natural in some parts.


Nikki St Paul (10:13)

Yeah.


And often that's within, we all find that inside, not outside. And that's the, that is why the inner work then shows up on the outside, right? And how we show up when we get out into the world. It's like, when we look in the mirror, how we see ourselves, that story that we tell ourselves is the story that more people need to work on.


versus the story that they say to the outside world, right? Because it has a direct influence. So when you look in the mirror, like, what's the story that you're telling yourself, the story that never leaves your lips, maybe the story that you don't even know is running in the background, like, that's the story to work on first. And then the messaging, the positioning, the, like, how we get the, how we're able to communicate our offering.


Emily Jean (11:09)

Right.


Nikki St Paul (11:19)

Like that's important, but what about the story that's not even leaving your lips? I think that's the story to work on.


Emily Jean (11:24)

Right.


Exactly. So then I'm curious, have you always been this passionate about helping women scale sustainably or where does this journey start for you?


Nikki St Paul (11:37)

And I've been doing this work for a couple of years, but prior to that I was in the corporate world in the pharmaceutical industry for about 18 years. So I haven't always been doing this work, not directly, but when I look back, I look back even like into childhood, look back into...


The person that I was, like in my teens, 20s, 30s, was really somebody who operated on a level of dysfunction, over-functioning. And I operated from a place of...


stories that told me that certain things that were hard were unsafe. So then I would just be in this place of working, overworking, trying to outdo almost myself, right? And that takes its toll on your body, on your nervous system and experiencing burnout. And I think it was 2008 when I first experienced it. So


To answer your question really simply, have I always been doing this work? Not with a title, but my life has been this work because I know what can happen when you let stories that are not true about what's possible for you and how you can succeed in the world. If you don't even shine a light on it, let alone shift it.


rewire it, it will ultimately mean that you are not going to reach the place that you want to reach. And some people may look at this and go, well, I've done really well. I did really well at school. I do really well in business. But actually, how much further could you get? Or how much more easeful could that journey be? So it might be a mixture of both. Maybe I'm already very far. Or maybe I'm not that far. But either way,


there's an opportunity to change the scaling journey, to change the growth journey by seeing more possibility and not always seeing the opposite of that.


Emily Jean (13:40)

want to talk about burnout for a minute because I think it's such a sneaky little devil. ⁓ And I think in my experience, you don't really realize you've burned out until you're kind of out of it and you've gone over the hump. For women listening to this, looking back, are there any signs or things that stick out to you now that you're like, ⁓ I was really overworking myself?


Nikki St Paul (13:47)

Thanks


Yeah.


my goodness. So when I experienced burnout, it wasn't called burnout because right now the term burnout is used a lot. That doesn't mean everybody understands it, but it's used a lot. But at the time, my body was screaming at me to slow down, to take it easy, to listen a little bit more.


I wasn't listening. I didn't listen. I didn't listen to the signs of like the little eye twitches, the headaches, the, just the getting ill very easily. not sort of a low level illness, low level things that you can push through with caffeine or just kind of like, I can do it sort of thing. And I think sometimes we're praised for pulling rabbits out of hats for coming in.


to work or getting on with things when actually we should probably not be doing that. So when you get praised and rewarded for certain things, even if it's just verbally, you think, ⁓ this is the way and everybody else is doing it. And I think the real turning point for me was I remember being so unwell. I went to my GP. He signed me off. I was like kind of like closing down things at work.


I was at home and I can remember it on my bed and I sat there with my laptop and I was supposed to take no more than half an hour just to close stuff down and let other people get on with the stuff I... And I can literally remember literally two, three hours later still there, you know, sending emails, updating, trying to get things done. And I just remember just thinking, what are you actually doing? Like this...


Emily Jean (15:45)

Hmm.


Nikki St Paul (15:47)

is going to continue whether you're here pushing it through or not and your body is really talking to you right now and like it was like a sort of a talk to yourself moment where it's like you either take on the advice and take this time or something else is going to happen which you're not going to be able to just turn the switch off on.


So for me it was that even though my body got to a point I was still trying to like get other things done and that's all based on linking your worth to your work, linking your worthiness to your work so tightly that who are you without it?


And it's difficult because we're passionate about what we do. If we're running our own organization, we're doing things. We're passionate. But there needs to be the ability to say, my worth is not tied like glue to the work that I do. Because if it is, then it's kind of circumstantial. It's in other people's hands. How hard they clap. How many people come to work with you? Do your clients sign back on?


I think it's this case where if our worth is tied to our work so tightly, Emily, it just means that it's often in the hands of somebody else, often in the hands of somebody else's decision to tell us.


that they are happy with our work, whether that's in choosing to work with us, in choosing to resign with us, in choosing to leave a testimonial, in choosing to whatever the decision is, refer us, recommend us. But what if they're not doing that? Does that then mean that we're not inherently worthy? And there's always a story. There's always a belief that's quite deep that has made us believe if I'm not doing stuff, I'm not valuable. I'm not useful.


And then that will lead to overworking, will lead to eventually burning ourselves out, our body telling us to stop.


Emily Jean (17:51)

Right.


Emily Jean (17:51)

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Emily Jean (18:56)

Right. And for women who are not familiar with, you know, what a subconscious belief is, how do you define that and what's kind of your simplified breakdown for what that is and how that works?


Nikki St Paul (19:11)

That's such a good question actually. think subconscious beliefs, they are often like hidden rules, hidden like ways that the world works for us as individuals. So we'll each have not the same rule book. Some rules will be kind of universal, certainly in different cultures, but often we've picked up these rules like without really realizing it about what we have to be.


what we have to do, what we have to prove, like what's acceptable, what's not acceptable, what's successful, what's not, what's safe, what's not. And they're often shaped by like early experiences, often childhood, familial, cultural school, the workplace. And like they quietly...


And I say quietly, and this is the important thing, is they sort of drive how we show up in the world, and in particular, in this case, in our business, in our careers. Like, even if we know logically better on the surface, so we can logically know something to be true. But then if underneath that hidden rule, that hidden belief that's been shaped by our experiences tells us something different, that's the thing that wins. So it shows up.


in ways such as feeling like nothing I ever do is ever enough. Maybe somebody always told us off like, you're so lazy. You know, you don't do enough. Maybe a teacher said something. Maybe a parent said something. Maybe your first employer said something. Or it could be like, I'm going to put off the really big move, the scary thing, because it needs to be perfect. Maybe someone told you that something wasn't good enough and you had to do it again and again and again.


So then you learnt that that's the way it works, right? Maybe you overthink every single decision because you don't want to get it wrong. Because you've been told that getting it wrong or failing is not a good thing. So I think it's like, it's those kind of examples and these beliefs, they don't live in logic. They often defy logic. They live in your body. It's like a fabric. It's it's soaked in and...


That's why tackling it is not something that you can just sort of say an affirmation or do a journal prompt and then you're sorted. It's the subconscious at play. And when you're able to get to that, like, where did this come from? Where did you learn that to behave in this way was the safest thing to do? And when you understand that, you can release the emotion and the energy around that.


then you can choose to rewrite, recode a new story, a new standard for how you operate in whatever realm that is. So this is really what my work is about, is helping women to spot those hidden beliefs, to rewire them, and to start leading from a place that's actually going to serve them and is going to be in line with their ambitions for their company, their career, whatever they're doing.


Emily Jean (22:13)

So how do you help these women see and identify these blocks when they can't see them themselves?


Nikki St Paul (22:20)

Well, because I think the first thing is with any goal setting or with any, with any goals that we have in our life, we need to know like where we're going. And often this is why I always talk about everything starts from within. Because unless we truly know like what is your genius in the world? What is your, what is the thing that only you can do? And this is why every time I work with my clients, we start on


Okay, what is your genius? Let's pause and get clear on where do you actually want to be going? Not what someone's told you that you wanted to aim for, but like, what is your North Star? So this is really where we begin. But then it's actually about, okay, if that's where you want to go to, if that's what you want to achieve, what are the, what kind of person would get to that place? Who would you need to be to get there?


So then it might be, okay, I'm gonna be somebody who is very assertive. I'm gonna be somebody who just pitches without worrying about saying, no, I'm not gonna be afraid of rejection. I'm gonna go for these big things, whatever the standard are, like the behaviors, the characteristics. And then it's a case of saying, so if that's who you need to be, it's about, well, how far away are you from that place? So if you want to be in this position where you say,


I know that high ticket or big companies work with me. They work with me and they want to stay with me. But what are all the yeah-buts that fall underneath that? So what I mean by that is we always talk about affirmations, Emily. We say, I'm enough. I'm worthy. I'm wealthy. Money comes to me easily, just as an example. But there'll be reasons why you do not believe that to be true underneath.


And so we need to understand where that is. What are all the yeah, but underneath this statement that says money comes to me easily or I am a, I run a six figure company or multi six figure organization, whatever it is, we need to understand, ⁓ okay, yes, that's what you want. What are all the yeah, buts and I tend to use powerful tools like EFT tapping embodiment nervous system.


work to ensure that we're able to get to the core, the root of where did it come from? This belief, this yeah but, the reason why you don't believe that thing, where did it come from? And we go to that place and once we're able to heal from that original place where you first learn that it was safer not to speak up, where you first learned that it was safer to do as you were told or to over give.


and to say, yes, there was a time when it was safer to do that, but that's no longer the conditions, but you've carried on behaving in that way. And this is really where then from we can then build stronger boundaries, rewrite some of those narratives. And from a place where you've gone back and you've healed and you've been OK with the fact that that was the safest thing that you had to do at that point so that you don't lead with shame and guilt for however things have turned out since then.


So that's the work that I do.


Emily Jean (25:37)

love that that's so that you combine so many modalities there with that. I think that makes it so much more impactful. I love that. so I'm, I'm curious, I think, for people who are not familiar with this kind of language and these concepts, could you share a client transformation or something like that, that feels powerful?


Nikki St Paul (25:42)

Yes. ⁓


Yeah.


Emily Jean (26:00)

and can kind of put people at ease who think this might not be applicable for them.


Nikki St Paul (26:05)

Yeah, such a good question, isn't it? And I think I just, one of the things that's like immediately coming to mind for me straight away as you said that was I've got a client that when we started working together at the start of this year or back end of last year, she was doing really well on paper. Things were really growing in her own business. But like behind the scenes, there was a lot of doubting herself.


especially as it comes to, can I charge that much? Can I show up in that way? Can I put myself forward for bigger opportunities? And there was a deep rooted belief, which we kind of got to that, you know, she's not the kind of woman who can get big projects, who can ask for bold things, who can say, actually, I don't want to do with that, or this is my price for this. And actually, she felt that success at the next level, you know, was that really for her? Was it it?


Was it within reach? OK, so we worked together on this subconscious level, like healing some of these subconscious beliefs, using, as I said, the tapping, the nervous system work, the real belief rewiring. And I think what shifted for her wasn't just her mindset, but it's her identity. She started actually pitching for the kind of work that she would almost go, that's not for me. Like putting herself forward for projects, actually pricing at the level that actually


the work that she's doing, the value, the expertise, because she was able to see that the old belief of I'm not, my expertise is not as valuable, I'm not as worthy. And I think what was so powerful is one of the projects that this, you know, one of my clients pitch for this huge project didn't get it and actually still was able to say, you know what, I felt so.


totally okay with that news. And I know that I'm so proud of myself for putting myself forward for it. And I know that I'm worthy to be able to do that in the future. Like, and that sense of, that also shows the fact that I put myself forward for something and I didn't get it. It doesn't mean that I'm not good enough, that I'm not worthy. And this is coming from someone who beforehand was like, actually, I don't think I can put myself forward for larger opportunities or.


I'm willing to do stuff at a price that actually, deep down I know, is way below the value of where things should be at. And this has all come from getting to the root of where does this come from? What is the initial story behind it? It's the initial belief that we've taken on as gospel, as truth.


Emily Jean (28:45)

So I love that. I love too. think that's, it's such a, being able to step back from a rejection like that and say, well, it's okay. Like a walk away still with gratitude is so powerful.


Nikki St Paul (28:54)

Yeah.


It was wild. I


didn't, I don't know whether my client thought it was this bigger win initially until I was like, hang on a minute, let's just take a step back here and look at this. There were things that you wouldn't have even put yourself forward for. You put yourself forward for it because you actually said, I'm worthy of doing that, which was so powerful to hear those words. You didn't get it. And we often are going to get tons of rejection like that's, unfortunately, the more you put


Emily Jean (29:25)

That's a part of it.


Nikki St Paul (29:26)

yourself forward, the more rejection that you will see. And to be able to look at that and not feel like, OK, I won't do that again. That's the last time. To actually go, no, it's not the last time. This is the beginning. And that just felt like such a huge shift and change to see, because we went back to those stories, those initial beliefs and where this came from.


Emily Jean (29:37)

Right, right.


I want to ask you then, I think in the female entrepreneur space, there's a lot of the last couple of years, there's been this influx of girl boss and hustle culture, which in part, you know, is very capitalist driven. And I have my own thoughts about that. But what is your take on that kind of recent rise in this hustle culture in that space?


Nikki St Paul (30:17)

I think like my take, I think as you said, like my tagline is like need like a powerhouse rest like a queen. I think it's really important in the female founder space to make sure that I don't give the impression that I'm suggesting that you lay back on a hammock and let everything come to you. Because I think that's the first thing that I want to say. And I think that there is a difference between like


Emily Jean (30:24)

Mm.


Nikki St Paul (30:43)

I'm going to work really hard on this because I really, really care about it versus the person who's saying, I am going to push myself like a machine, like a robot. I'm going to ignore the signs that my body is telling me. And I think when you keep on moving, you also ignore the potential intuitive nudges that might make you do something differently, put something across in a different way, because you're just so busy moving without even taking a moment to.


see like how is this, how does this fit in my body, does this feel like the right move for me? So I think when we come from a society where if you think about when there were factories, right, we would clock in and clock out, we would have to produce and produce and produce and that has just continued on in a lot of people's mind. Though I said people are rewarded for it, they see everybody else doing it, so it just becomes part of what you do. And I think the way that I


would love to see it is for people to understand that taking care of yourself and rest is the most strategic power move that you can make. It is refueling. It is not checking out. Some people think, I don't want to check out my business. I don't want to lay back. I don't want to retreat. But actually, it is checking in. It is checking into who you are. Are you on the right path? It's


giving your nervous system the ability to come out of that heightened state so that you can think more clearly, get more creative, get more innovative, make decisions that you're prouder of when you look back on them because they're more from a responsive rather than reactive. And so when we start to see rest not as a retreat and as checking out, but we see it as a strategic power move, then and only then will we


be able to build a business that's sustainable. So I think for me it's like changing the narrative that I'm saying don't work or lay back and watch the stripe pings come to you. Sometimes you have to put in a lot of work, but it's about checking in with your body and seeing that rest doesn't have to mean that you take a three month sabbatical.


Emily Jean (33:00)

Right.


Nikki St Paul (33:00)

The idea


is that actually you rest in micro moments throughout the day. A pause can be a breath, Emily. A pause can be one breath that makes the difference. A pause can be five minutes, whereas a pause can also be, taking two weeks off to go to Thailand. So a pause is, there isn't one way to do it, but we need to do the pausing. And the more often you do it in little segments, you're then able to.


really benefit from that as a leader.


Emily Jean (33:28)

Right. Well, I don't want to take up too much more of your time. And it's actually the perfect transition to my first rapid fire. So I'm curious then what is the most rest like a queen thing that you've done recently?


Nikki St Paul (33:44)

You know what, think you, I love this question and my immediate answer is I rest in such simple ways every single day, right? And I think this is the thing. When we start to think, ⁓ rest has to be me having a certain massage or a certain facial or something really out there, we then start to reserve it for like a special time. So maybe that's not the answer that you were looking for, but it's like in the everyday.


It's in my pauses in between client sessions. It's the short walk I take. It's the fact that I am able to decide to do something creative to allow my mind to rest. But I am going to be doing something cool quite soon. I'm actually looking into booking a flotation tank experience because I've just heard some really amazing things about it. And there's one opened up in the area near me. So I want to try that. But I think the main message is


Emily Jean (34:29)

cool.


Nikki St Paul (34:38)

It's not an outlandish, always outlandish activity. It could just literally be you sitting on your porch, on your deck, with a cup of tea, coffee, and just looking out, getting some sunlight, reading a cool book, listening to something, listening to the birds. It doesn't have to be like this. I need to go and do this activity because then we reserve it for the weekend or another time. I hope that's okay to answer like that because I...


Emily Jean (34:59)

Yeah. I think that is


the best answer because it's so true. I didn't really realize until you said that, but I was chatting to my mom recently, actually, who is a very hard worker, like most women I know. I was telling her, should go get a massage. She was like, but then I have to call and I have to schedule and I have to book it and I have to drive there. I'd rather just lie in my bed.


And I kind of gave her a bit of a hard time. So now I definitely owe her a phone call and I need to apologize. Like, Mom, as per usual, you were right and I was wrong.


Nikki St Paul (35:35)

You


Yeah, because sometimes we think we have to go to a spa or we have to go to a certain place in the world or in our town. And this is why part of my work, as well as the subconscious healing, which is my main work, which is how we can heal these subconscious beliefs, but I also have a virtual rest community membership called Restable. And it's all virtual. And the idea behind it is that you rest in your home space.


You don't have to go anywhere and you learn because it is a practice. You can't read about it. You need to do it. Be it.


Emily Jean (36:14)

I love that. Okay, well then my next rapid fire is what is one non-negotiable in your daily routine? I think I might already know but.


Nikki St Paul (36:25)

Well the first thing aside from coffee which is like a daily non-negotiable that I'm working on but the first thing is actually my morning. It's my morning and I'm not a 5am girly okay just gonna get that out there I'm not somebody who gets up at really I get up early but not not that early.


Emily Jean (36:27)

Mm-hmm.


everyone.


Nikki St Paul (36:44)

But whenever I get up, I need at least 20 minutes, at least ideally an hour, but that doesn't always happen, but like 20 to 30 minutes of just me, literally time to myself, whether it's to do my tapping, my meditation, my breath work, sit outside or my little swing chair that I've got. Like it's, I need that moment before the world wakes up.


for everybody else before I get involved in other things. I have to start with me. that is, if I don't do that, I notice that I'm not quite settled the whole day. So I try to prioritize that.


Emily Jean (37:20)

Right. that's great. Yeah.


Nikki St Paul (37:21)

I don't try, I do.


I'm just going to correct myself there.


Emily Jean (37:25)

Good. Yeah, language is important.


Okay, well then my last question for you is, do you have a song that instantly puts you in your power or at least one that you're really enjoying right now?


Nikki St Paul (37:33)

Thanks


I do, I do. It is called Level Up by Ciara, which I just, it's exactly that it's about, but it's just the beat, the music, the flow. It's like really, anytime I'm feeling a little bit like the opposite of Level Up, I put that on. And I think it's like less than five minutes the song. And I dance around in my little office space where I am now. And I just instantly feel like,


Emily Jean (38:00)

love.


Nikki St Paul (38:03)

In fact, I'm probably going to go and play it after this now that you've reminded me, but that is, that's been my song for like a while now. ⁓ So any other podcasts I've been on, I may well have answered with that same answer because it's true. It's one of those ones that I like.


Emily Jean (38:05)

Great.


Yeah.


Yeah, well, I love Ciara and that also feels very on brand for everything we just talked about. ⁓ okay, well, where can people find you, Nikki?


Nikki St Paul (38:24)

Yes.


Yeah, so I'm on Instagram and LinkedIn, so LinkedIn, Nikki St. Paul. Obviously, I think I'll share the links with you, Emily, so that you have that. And Instagram is at Breathing Mindful. So those are the two kind of social places that I hang out.


Emily Jean (38:46)

Okay, great. And that'll all be in the show notes. Well, thank you so much for joining me, Nikki. You were great. You have such like a calm energy. feel like, god, was like, okay, like I'm ready to rest. Yeah, thank you so much for coming on. I loved everything you said, really.


Nikki St Paul (38:55)

People say that.


Thank you so much for having me. Please do connect. If you do have any questions about anything I've covered, then like honestly, I am so open to receiving your thoughts, anything that really resonated with you. So we'd love to connect and, you know, see how I may be able to support you on your journey with, you know, with the work that I'm doing with my clients, which is mainly one-to-one on my membership, but I'll be having some really cool group opportunities coming up soon. So yeah, definitely give me a follow.


Emily Jean (39:34)

Okay, all right, great. Well, I'm excited to hear about those group opportunities. Okay, well, Nikki, thank you so much. And that's a wrap.


Nikki St Paul (39:37)

Thank you.








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