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Welcome to Take Control with Nicole, as business owners we experience first hand the fine line between our personal and business lives. During our conversations, we will look at simple hints and tips to create time, reduce overwhelm, and help you to navigate through your journey to where you want to be. If you’re looking for smarter ways to work, and create space and time freedom in your day, then you’re in the right place. All right, let’s go.

Nicole Smith
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Take Control with Nicole. Today I am speaking with the fabulous Laetitia Andrac, all about growing your business with F.L.O.W. Laetitia is an energetic and strategy business mentor, AKA a business doula, I love that, and she had this name for her work. She is the founder and CEO of Essential Shift Consulting, she helps women, leaders and entrepreneurs in creating a soul aligned business, career and life without burning out. She believes that what you think in your head in mind, what you feel and are passionate about in your heart and soul, and what you are creating with your hands and will, are deeply connected. Hence the logo of her business, Essential Shift, with the three circles which represent these three fabulous elements. She is making ancient spiritual wisdom accessible for the busy modern entrepreneur. She has a solid grounding in mindfulness, starting meditation at five years old, and spirituality lineage of healers, along with an authentic say it as it is approach and impressive business savvy and strategic background, she incorporates her 15 plus years in business and leadership to guide fabulous women and create soul and business alchemy. Her passion is to bring a sense of the sacred and intentionality to every light. She is a mother of two girls and lives in Cronella Beach. She is attempting to practice what she teaches, coaches and mentors, creating a life that is aligned and sustainable.
Well, hello, welcome to the podcast. I’m so excited to have you on board. That was a mouthful, but I’m so excited to dive in.

Laetitia Andrac

Thank you, Nicole for having me.

Nicole Smith
So let’s just start, tell me a little bit about you, your journey. Where have you been? How did you get here? All the things.

Laetitia Andrac
Wow, that’s a long question. So I’m going to, like structure this and flow into it quickly. So I grew up in the South of France, you may all have noticed by now my French accent, which was not listed in my bio, but I am born and raised in the South of France and I moved to Australia about eight years ago after burning out in strategic consulting, which will potentially come up during this episode. But I come to become a business doula by blending my breath of expertise as being a former strategy consultant, a leader in strategy innovation in Australia as a general manager. And blending this with spirituality as I grew up, as you’ve said in a lineage of healers started meditation very early, but also lived in India, in my 20s in Brazil. So I just blend all of those practices into my work to really help women and entrepreneurs to be who they’re meant to be and bring flow in the way they’re doing things. And I love to say I want them to be blissed out instead of burnt out.

Nicole Smith
Love that, feels calm already, doesn’t it? South of France is one of my most favourite places. I lived in London for six years and my husband Simon and I would frequently jump on the Eurostar in the car, we drive on the train and over we go and it’s such a beautiful place of the world to be in.

Laetitia Andrac
It’s very special. I grew up in a very small town maybe you don’t know the town but it’s close to Santo Pei and goes to Babylon. So I’m very privileged in the fact that I grew up in such a beautiful place in the word and very connected to nature and my family told me about the respect of nature which for me is deeply spiritual spirituality is respecting nature because we are connected so this is beautiful to know that you’ve been to the South of France.

Nicole Smith
I absolutely love it. I actually funnily enough I’ve been visiting myself and being over there again been saying it I don’t know why I can imagine myself there drinking the beautiful rose. Anyway, we won’t go down the wine track we’ll do that after the stop button. But I love that you call yourself a business doula. I’ve got a lot of friends that are midwives and in that sort of area to help you know fabulous women when they’re pregnant about to give birth and having that support human there is so essential and bringing that over into business. It just makes sense to me.

Laetitia Andrac
Thank you. So the thing is like, I had a love and hate relationship with the word coaching, because I come from a background of consulting, I trained as an accredited as an international coach with the Federation like, but I had this kind of love and hate relationship with a coach and I was like a more than a coach because I also give advice. I also create things for my client I am, you know, in between the mentor, the coach and the consultant. And one day I was meditating, which is what I do daily, since my early childhood, and when I was meditating, the intention was like, how do I call myself because I really want to find a name for the work that I do that is really intentional, really authentic, really aligned and the word in French it’s a crucial is the business so I could choose means doula in French. And so I had this coming up, and I was like, oh my gosh, doula, doula, business doula. This is what I do. I help others birth, the new growth in their business, birth their dream business, birth and new offering, and I really hold this sacred space. And funnily enough, I trained as a doula and I was like, fascinated by the doula word after giving birth to my first child, I was like, oh my gosh, maybe I can become a doula. It’s one of the 100 trainings that I did that I’ve done, by the way. And I was like, as this read business, doula, and what I love, it’s a beautiful conversation starter. A lot of people are like, oh, business doula, what is that? What do you do? And so yeah, so it’s a permission for anyone listening to this to choose their name, in the work that they’re doing. I really like this freedom that we can give ourselves as business owner.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, it is really fun, isn’t it? You know, the title, if we come from corporate land, it’s like you have a title. And that is your role and responsibility. Whereas we come out into the creative entrepreneurial space, you can call yourself anything you like, whatever is connected with you, and you have that story behind it. It’s just it’s magnificent. What you can come with and what I’m what you just shared there, that connection with the word coach, that is something I hear a lot across my sphere, because I guess I’m in a similar, I’m a consultant, but I’m there I’m in your business. So seeing all the bad bits, seeing all the good bits, like if you’ve had a not so great week, we’re talking about that now session may not have nothing to do with what we’re doing together. But it’s all part of it. Right? So it’s that real support that you provide your clients. So absolutely love it. I’d love you to share a little bit about you’ve mentioned the word flow. Yes, I had a lot already in our conversation. And it feels beautiful to me, because it’s just, it’s just I caught it. I equate it to dancing. So yes, yes, the floating around the floor and how beautiful and natural it feels when you just allow it to be a thing. So how does F.L.O.W work in your world and how you support your clients?

Laetitia Andrac
Thank you for asking this question. And I think F.L.O.W is really trending at the moment. So that’s why I also will see F.L.O.W everywhere. And for every one of us, it’s it looks different. So the first thing that we need to know it’s like your F.L.O.W is different to my F.L.O.W is different to my husband F.L.O.W to a friend’s F.L.O.W to one of my clients F.L.O.W. So each of us we have different F.L.O.W. And the way I love to teach about F.L.O.W is using an acronym I’m also known as the acronym queen. I come always up with a lot of acronyms. I think it’s my strategic consulting background where we always you know, draw up RFP answer with a lot of acronyms on and I love a good acronym.

Nicole Smith
It makes it easy though right, when you create something like that, it makes it really easy to connect with it.

Laetitia Andrac
Exactly. So I carved a method around F.L.O.W and it’s really blending the structure that we need for the F.L.O.W. If you think of a river, a river cannot flow without boundaries. And same with a dancer, they need, you know, a structure in place to know the rules. And same with painting, you know, the paint on a canvas, so you always need a structure. So, the way I will describe my F.L.O.W methodology, it’s a mix of structure, divine masculine energy, as I love to call it, strategy, devotion, the bhakti in ivenna that we call an intuition. So how I designed the F.L.O.W the F and you’re gonna love this and Nicole knowing you, it’s for foundation, and we can talk about what does it mean. But we need foundation, we need things for the F.L.O.W to happen in our business. It’s our you know, structure our processes. How do we call ourself like whatever it is, this is your foundation. Who are your clients, all of that foundation for the F. Then we can go to the L, which is your vision, light your vision, what is the vision? What is your why? What are you going after? And we need that for the F.L.O.W to happen. And then the O is owning your path. So this is a devotion parts you are devoted to your path you are devoted to taking this leap of faith and going all in and trusting and doing the work and all of that, but not trying to be someone else, not comparing yourself to anyone else. Of course, you can be inspired by other people around you, it’s really important to feel expensive, and so on. But you own your past. And the W as a business doula comes from the womb creativity, when we have the foundation, when we have like the light vision, when we own our path, then we can connect with our womb, to add our own creativity, and to birth things that are needed to be born through you as a channel, through your business, as a receptive organ for it to be born, as your clients that you will want to serve. So really connecting back to the womb and connecting back to this powerful force that we have as women and reconnecting back with your cycle, reconnecting back with the moon, that influence your womb, creativity, all of that. So this is why the W stands for womb creativity in my acronym, so F Foundation, L for light your vision, O four own your path, and W for womb creativity.

Nicole Smith

I’ve honestly been smiling this whole time, this feels just feels so good. As you said, I talked about creating those foundations in your business because it does. It does actually create the space for you to be you and dance around in between I know. So you know, when you first hear foundation, you might think concrete, you know, like you’re building a house. But without that you can’t build a house.

Laetitia Andrac
Yes, and if we connected back to, you know, a tree with the roots grounded in the earth are we connected back to the chakras I love to blend, Ayurveda in my approach and human design and astrology, we always start with a root chakra, with our foundation and a business needs to be grounded needs to be rooted needs to add those foundations. Otherwise, it’s beautiful to have a vision but it needs to be rooted first. So first, let’s grow a root and I love your analogy of the house. So let’s do that. Let’s set strong foundation. And then let’s dream. And they go together for the F.L.O.W to happen, right? It’s not one or the other. It’s just let’s do them together. We don’t manifest just by saying, oh, I want this. Oh, it’s happening. I have a vision board it’s happening. No. And I’m looking at my vision board, as I say that it’s either a vision board, but then what are the steps towards his vision? How do I work backwards from that vision back to the reality? And how do I put the foundation in place? I own my path. I don’t try to do what someone else is doing. I do my own thing. And then I can create with my womb with my uniqueness.

Nicole Smith
And isn’t that a thing? Especially when you first start a business? You do look outward. Fabulous business owners out there, especially, you know, when there’s someone that just comes into your world and sparkles so brightly they’re like, oh, yes, I want to be around them. I love what they’re doing. Like, look at all the fabulous clients they’re working with. How do I do that? And sometimes you just naturally acquire things from them. But really, it comes into your own when you discover your fabulous uniqueness and stand and really step into it. Step into that light.

Laetitia Andrac
Yes. And going back, you know, to your own experience, and walking this on path. And of course, it’s so important, as you’ve said, to find people who inspire and we need those Unicorns of sparkles as beautiful light beings are like, oh, it’s a wrap them I just do that thing to do. But just going back to yourself and that’s why I always say, the biggest spiritual journey is an entrepreneurial journey. When you are a business owner, you’re going through the ups and the downs and really the F.L.O.W in business and really kind of discovering more and more about yourself and going back to those little stories or little things that you learn in the past and I’m actually writing a book at the moment where I use this analogy of collecting the little mirrors to put on your own disco ball and I write my book all around this disco balls that will then illuminate what you are meant to be creating. So look at the little mirrors that you’ve been collecting across your life. I’ve mentioned quickly I did, I don’t know how many trainings, I’m trained in so many things so different my husband sometimes like why do you do a shamanic woman training? And why do you do you know, I read a training and why did a Reiki Mastership and I was like, because I’m sure one day it will help me and you will help someone. And at that time, I didn’t know about Essential Shift, I didn’t know I would create this business. I was just following my own path and going through the teaching and the learning that I wanted to gather at that time. So yeah, just look at the other people, but also look back inside of you and make the space to receive your own intuition, guidance. And inspiration.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, I love that I love learning too it’s just been all throughout my career have always been interesting. Let me do this. Or, you know, and it’s funny you do, I do forget, sometimes what I’ve done. So, I was talking to somebody the other day, I’ve had a couple of friends that have got engaged over the last month. And I said, oh, you know that I’m a qualified wedding and events planner, right? And they’re like, you what now? Yeah, that’s what I was gonna do. I love organising events, I always had in my, all of my past roles, I’ve always been that person. So head of the social committee, the, you know, the social responsibility, like I was the head of doing all the things. I just decided I like to be on this side of the glass versus the other side, you know, on the day to day, so I decided to not do that. You forget that all of these little pieces of mirrors that you collect throughout, has brought you right here. And own those and love them and share them, talk about them. Because, you know, that’s how we also connect with our communities, when you actually share those pieces of, you know, knowledge and wisdom that you’ve learned across your own journey.

Laetitia Andrac
Yes. And the other day, I was, as I’m redoing my website, at the moment, when this episode will be released, it will potentially be live. But I was reflecting on how successful my business has been in its first year. And everyone is like asking me question, how successful, how did you do that just in a year? And then I was like, no, it’s not, you know, a year is actually a 10 year process. It’s actually a 15 year process. It’s actually something of putting everything together that today, of course gives me this competitive advantage, like incomparable advantage. And then I can shine my own light. And I can, you know, bring the impact that I bring to business owner. But everyone is having this capacity of bringing something unique, once they start collecting the pieces. And I am here to say, for anyone who is listening to this, there is nothing as overnight success. Of course, you can experience Quantum Leap, you can experience things that have no logic in terms of how it accelerate in the time. But please don’t buy into last hour I made this match without doing anything. For how long have you been showing up daily, for how long have you been building a community, for how long have you been? So I just want to demystify this. And this is where the F.L.O.W method can help anyone to go back and be like, what are the foundation that I set 12, 10, 5, 3 years ago, that put me in the position that I am today?

Nicole Smith
That’s such a good reminder. Because when you do start businesses, so you have been through that journey, you think you’re starting from scratch, like you’re like oh well I’ve only been in business for six months, I can’t charge that much. And you know, who would want to work with me because I haven’t had that experience, la la la la la, all the stories and then you get to a moment you’re like, hang on a second, like past world was working with x y z, whatever is equivalent to your journey, why am I playing so small over here and thinking I can only work with these people? When actually I should be working up here this is where I’m going to add the most value this is where I’m going to enjoy working these are where my humans are. A real like that’s me my story basically in the last six months since the start of the year I’ve realised, okay Nicole it’s time to get your big girl pants on and just like actually properly step in I’ve been taking little micro steps because the last couple of years and now I’m like no this is happening. It’s going big.

Hello there. I’m just interrupting this episode as I would love to invite you to come on in and join us inside the Members Lounge. My community have shared with me that they joined initially because they really wanted to discover the power of ClickUp. They wanted to be able to design, build and connect their ClickUps within their own individual businesses. However, once they were inside, they really discovered how the power of looking at the foundations of your operational areas of your business, and designing those really to set you up for success is such a powerful element. And guess what else, we have a fabulous community inside. So once you’re in, you’re never gonna want to leave. So come on over, have a look. Go to my website, theartisans.com.au and pop up up to the Members Lounge button at the top. And we look forward to supporting you as you discover how fabulous it is when you’re confidently striding down easy street. See you inside the lounge.

Laetitia Andrac
Being on your tippy toes, you know really owning your past without taking the stage like stop getting in a box and step onto the box and shine bright rather than having the corner around you like protecting your life. No, no, no, go for it. Nicole, I just love the work you do. And I think it’s time it’s time for anyone listening to this, if you dive into this podcast knows that it’s a synchronicity. It’s a sign, it’s something for you to be like, where can I own my path? Where can I shine my light brighter? What are the pieces that I can collect today? So that I can add the impact that I want to add in the world.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, so good. Oh, goodness gracious, well, I’m imagining that the clients that you work with just have such transformational experiences, because they probably come to you feeling a little bit like it’s all a bit much and I can’t do all the things. And then you’re like, I gotcha. What have you seen from your clients or even your own personal journey when you’ve applied the old F.L.O.W method to to their experiences or yours, that you’ve really sort of have been a standout moment for you?

Laetitia Andrac
So I will start with my own experience, and then happy to kind of share some of the experiences of my clients who share openly on testimonial and so on. So I’m not breaking any confidentiality here. I think it’s important to say that because unfortunately, again, it’s important to keep confidentiality and some clients don’t want us to share that journey. But some of them are like, yes, my video testimonial, this is my journey. This is it.

Nicole Smith
It’s a trust thing right? Whoever we’re working with, it’s all about you don’t break the trust.

Laetitia Andrac
Exactly. So I just want to say that as a huge disclaimer, I’m not sharing anything that is not sacred or not allowed to be shared. So the first thing like for me, when I realised that I actually I’ve been applying the F.L.O.W method, my whole life, like everything I’ve done, if I tell you how we moved to Australia with my husband, you’d be like, are you mad, but this is how I had the F.L.O.W method. I was like, okay, I like it’s not working anymore for me to be in Paris. I’m feeling too attached to becoming the new face for a big firm in consulting, I don’t want this I want to just expand like spread my wings and do something more intentional and more line and we’re not going to burn out and so on. And Australia called me. So then I started looking at the foundation, what does it mean? Can I work in Australia? Can my partner work in Australia? And then we light our vision. So we set the intention of moving to Australia, my husband quickly got a job offer in Australia, I got one as well. But I had to go back in France after 18 months, like nanana, not gonna happen. So we moved to Australia and then in Australia, I created different businesses, I joined a big cooperate called Telstra, where I was a general manager in innovation and strategy with them. And on the side, I created three other businesses before this one. So I really went through my own F.L.O.W method during that period. And then when the time was right, I launched this fourth venture which is called Essential Shift, which is a business I run now, and experienced big shift, big success, incredible expansion very quickly and at the same time in a ways that was spacious and serene. But all of that, thanks to the F.L.O.W method, I never did anything like reckless, it was all intuitive. It was all devoted to my own vision, it was all clearly aligned with my foundation. So this is how I experienced it. And when something feel out of F.L.O.W, I’m just like, let’s look at the path of least resistance. What is the path of least resistance now and how can I invite F.L.O.W again? And then I let go of the thing that will maybe create resentment later on or will maybe create frustration or burnout so I just let go of those and that’s okay, and I go back to my F.L.O.W. So this is really important and knowing that in the F.L.O.W, it’s not just not doing anything just channelling and intuition, right? I mentioned its strategy and structure as well, the balance of divine feminine and divine masculine. So this is about me really like the flowy creations that I had. And I had to go through there now to really find back my F.L.O.W. So as this is my own wake up call, then with my clients, what I have seen is some client come to me, they’re like, oh, my gosh, I have a successful business but I’ve lost complete mojo, I’ve lost complete passion about it, I’ve lost connection with why I’m doing this, yes, I have the foundation. So I have the F, but like, the L, the O and the W, you know, the creativity is not happening anymore. And like, I don’t even know what I’m doing right now. So I help them reconnect back to their vision, you know, on your light and reconnect back to this vision. And then we create this realignment of everything. And I have one of my clients, she is currently travelling around Australia in a van, she was running a very successful multiple six figure business, but she lost connection with her vision. And then what we did is we reconnected with it, we moved most of her business as passive income. So she could travel around Australia with her three kids, her husband, retire her husband, and work around Australia, in F.L.O.W in alignment with everything that she is meant to create, and all of that not to the detriment of the impact, or of the wealth. And when I say wealth, it’s not just money, it’s everything, wealth of time, wealth, of connection, wealth of community, and all of that, and really reconnecting with all of that. So this is like an example. Then I have another client coming to me, they’re like, oh, my gosh, I just created a business that I quit a nine to five, and now I’m working 20/7, 7 days a week, like what the fuck is happening? I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Where this is where it you know, I help them set the right foundation, and start outsourcing and start surrounding themselves with the right team. Because, as I have mentioned, I used to be a general manager and Telstra. And before that I was, you know, principle, and so on and so forth. In strategic consulting, I always lead big teams, I’m a huge advocate of outsourcing and delegating the decision as well, because otherwise you become the bottleneck. So I have them just have the business that they deserve for the expansion to be flowy rather than chained to the laptop and in front of their screen and doing everything themselves because it’s the only way to have it done perfectly. No trust the experts around you that are just asking to work within your team to support you. So the kinds of shifts those clients experience stepping into the F.L.O.W is really the growth with spaciousness in their day, the growth in their business with realignment with their own value, and the thing that really matters, rather than someone else’s definition of success. So I hope that answers your questions.

Nicole Smith
I love ya. Oh, gosh, stop at my cheeks are just hurting from smiling. This is a great conversation because it’s just like, ah, yes. I’m such a fan for delegation. I can’t remember if there might be an episode or something I’ve written in the last few days anyway, that basically says, when I started my business, I knew that I didn’t want to be doing all the doing. And I knew that because I’ve done I was the go to for everything. IT, HR admin, all the everything in the businesses that I’ve been involved in, and I can do it all I know I can, but I don’t want to do it all. And I want to build a team around me that I can like banter back and forth with and I feel like I’m supported. And so I know that if I’ve delegated something, I don’t know. I’m not a micromanager. I’ve been micromanaged, it feels yuck and achy and learn and you’ll never find me doing that. When you’ve got the right aligned people in your business. That is not even a thing. You’re like, hey, can you go off you go do this and if they do it and they do it, it comes back and it’s fabulous. And I’m allowed to be over here creating and doing the things that I want to be doing in my business so, so important to have someone like you, especially when they you know that I’m working 24/7, like that moment being able to shift through that, makes my heart sing.

Laetitia Andrac
Yes. And you know, what is very powerful in that it’s the decision that you make early on in your business journey. And same with me, you know, I always had PA and team members and like, you know, no way I’m not going to become an entrepreneur and do everything like I know there are experts out there. So I straightaway hired someone to do my content marketing, someone to do my social. You know, the websites that I’m revamping, I’m actually not doing the work. I’m reviewing the work and giving feedback. I’m not the one like doing the web designer, I could. It’s not hard with Squarespace or Wix and so on. But I, as you said, I don’t want you and it’s not my zone of genius. This is where investing in the right team member. And again, doing that as a right time to go back to the foundation. I’m not telling anyone listening to this, you need to outsource everything straight away, because I did it. Or Nicole did it. Every one of us we have different F.L.O.W. Remember what I said at the beginning? So go back to your own foundation, and what are those foundation that you want to add? And one thing that I always repeat my clients is stop treating your business, like it’s a hobby or passion, or like other people project that on you, oh, well, it’s your little business. It’s not a little business, okay. I’m a CEO of Essential Shift Consulting Pty Ltd. It’s a big business, it employs this many people generate this much in revenue. I’m paying myself this much in salary. So it’s a little business. It’s a big, impactful business. So just own your vision.

Nicole Smith
Oh, yes. I love that, too. I remember, you know, when you first start with it, my experience anyway, I have always looked at my parents for that kind of thing. I’ve always been that that person to go, Look, mum, look dad, look what I’m doing. They just didn’t get it. And so even recently, mum says to me, “wouldn’t it be easier if you just go and work for somebody else?” I was like, I’m just going to stop you right there. That is never happening. That is not happening. I said, I love what I’m doing here. We’re going through a growth period, there will be more things that I’m focusing on and more things I’m doing. So what I’m going to do is da da da da. And that’s going to solve that problem right there. And she’s like, “okay, cool. Winning, we’re on the same path”. But you can get kind of sucked into that approval. External approval zone can’t you? Especially at the first you know, when you’re first starting.

Laetitia Andrac
Yeah, that’s why the O of the own your vision is so essential, really knowing why you’re in it. Because you will have moments of doubt. And I have moments of doubt. I’m not here to be like, oh, my gosh, I’m enlightened. I’m the best of the best. No, I have moments. So I have moments where I’m like, okay, let’s go back. Let’s take a moment. Let’s take a deep breath. Why am I doing what I’m doing? What is the impact? What is the legacy I want to live? What are the things that really matters to me right now and that I really want to birth into the world? And then from that space, you can reconnect with that unique impact you want to have. And then you don’t care about anyone else. And my parents, my grandparents, no one understand what I’m doing. Because, you know, I come from a farming background. So they’re like, what do you do? Like, do you grow potatoes? Like no, I don’t do that.

Nicole Smith
I help people grow their businesses.

Laetitia Andrac
Exactly. I help them grow, I help them flourish, I help them move to the blossom. And this is what I love to explain when I illustrate my work to my family.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, that is a beautiful synergy really doesn’t, you know, you’re starting again, the foundations of whatever your whatever projects you’re growing, you look after it, you nurture it, and you really connect with what it needs. And then it just flourishes. And yeah, beautiful.

Laetitia Andrac
And we don’t rush, it’s right? You’re never gonna go and be like, okay, potatoes, I just mentioned you yesterday. Are you ready for anyone who is a gardener? Let me tell you, it takes time to grow potatoes. So I think that’s why we go with this analogy. But it’s just like, it takes time. And it takes devotion, dedication, commitment, and really doing it in your own way. And trusting in those moments where you don’t see the potato but trusting that the seed is going to it’s going to happen, it is going to happen. So surrender to the process as well.

Nicole Smith
I would love us to just end our conversation on any tips and tricks that you have. I know we’ve sort of just spoken a lot about reconnecting and but is there anything if someone’s listening and going, yes, I need this in my world. What can I do to sort of start getting started?

Laetitia Andrac
So the first thing I always start with and I’m sure Nicole you’re gonna love that because I were really aligned with that is make space. You just look now at your calendar and you delete everything that is not moving the needle in your business that is not making it work because you need space for introspection. And then you pick your ritual for introspection to reconnect with what are the essential foundation for you we go back to the F okay as a tip is for the F for you on Foundation. You need to make space for introspection for this to come to you. So it can go through journaling. It can go through therapy, meditation, walking nature, sport, whatever it is your avenue, just go for it and connect with what is really moving the needle right now what is really going to help me move the needle right now in my business? And then you go hard on this. Is it redoing your website? Is it adding Nicole to your processes in ClickUp? Is it having someone like me helping you reconnecting with your vision, your path, your own blueprint? And applying the right strategy? Is it adding someone else in this world with potentially doing everything around your email list? Is it someone doing Facebook ads for you? What is the thing that we’re really moving the needle, and to do this exercise of going back to the right foundation, you need space? So make space, the first thing is you look at your business and you feel less, you’re just deleting. If I show you my calendar today and be like, oh my gosh, there’s so much white space, what is she working? I’m working when I’m meditating, because I’m channelling things, I’m connecting with my true self and I’m not having any distraction. When I go on a walk, and I’m very mindful, then I’m connecting with my creativity. So spaciousness. And it’s the first element I teach in one of my course, which is called Ayurveda in business, the first element you need in your business, if we go back to ancient spiritual wisdom, it’s space, nothing happened without space. We start with the element of space.

Nicole Smith
Isn’t that funny? Because everyone’s like, oh, but I have to be doing all the things. Actually no you don’t, because if you’re busy, and you’re doing all the things, then you don’t actually have the capacity to really give yourself the space to look at that, take a step back and look at it. I know recently, for me, I noticed something that was not quite right, you know in my business. And so I did that, I took a step back and I think I sang, I’m a singer, so I just do the singing thing. Oxygen and all the stuff going around, and I pinpointed what it was. And I took action. And I changed that. And the F.L.O.W on effect from that has been amazing. But if I didn’t have that space, I would still be going why isn’t this working? Why does it feel not quite right?

Laetitia Andrac
Yes, it’s always when we say it’s like we slow down to accelerate. So if you never give yourself space, and I am a busy mum, I have two younger girls, four and six and one of them is hyperactive like I am. So really hard to give myself space, but it is essential for me. So I have Mondays and Fridays where I’m really having those spaciousness days, where I don’t have much on and I’m just kind of connecting with what really matters. So not everyone here listening to this may have the luxury of having two days a week where they can really connect with space. But hey, it’s my craft. So I need to embody what I teach. But at least having half an hour in the beginning of the day, in the middle of the day, at the end of the day where you can reflect or an hour, a week or two hours a week or a day or half a day. Just please make space to connect back to what is really, really important because we can get stuck in the hamster wheel. And just trying to do everything which actually brings nowhere because you’re just throwing spaghetti everywhere. And this is looking very messy.

Nicole Smith
I have a three and a half year old and a six and a half year old. And the bolognse goes everywhere when she’s eating her dinner. She’s literally in there with the hands. She’s an eater. But it’s so true. It’s so so true. We talk about designing your day, your week, but knowing that when you are your own boss, your own human, you actually have the opportunity to design the way you want to work. That’s the win. That’s the how often, that’s how many clients, that’s where physically as well, like all of those elements pulled together. And when you find the right mix, it’s just like beautiful. I don’t start before 10:30, like that’s just the thing. And that’s me. And it’s good because I know that that fits with me. Oh, nice morning in the morning, just chillin out and doing my things. Enjoying my new coffee in my coffee cup. This is the best coffee cup, made by Fresco.

Laetitia Andrac
Nice.

Nicole Smith
It keeps the drinks hot. It’s worth it. Sad promo. Oh my goodness, this has been fabulous. Well, do you have any other things you want to any nuggets of gold you want to leave us with? Or are you happy to jump on into our three questions?

Laetitia Andrac
I’m happy to jump on your three question and if anyone has any question, feel free to reach out.

Nicole Smith
Okay, you ready?

Laetitia Andrac
Yes.

Nicole Smith
What is your go to app that creates ease in your day?

Laetitia Andrac
This is not like no affiliate here just, you know vouching for an absolute really save time with my team. So ClickUp really love it. Otherwise, everything on Google Drive like I use Google Drive, I’m a huge fan of Google Drive, the Google Doc, like, I see everyone modifying it, and I can modify as well. So I’m a huge fan of Google. And then my own systems that I use for my email list and for my, you know, membership space and my courses, which is called Kartra, which is similar to Kajabi and so on. It’s a lifesaver in many ways, like automating, scheduling email that my team is writing and putting that like, it’s just so good. I went away in France for four and a half weeks, took five weeks of holiday in July, in June and July, best decision ever. And actually, the business carried on as usual, thanks to all of those systems and all of those processes in place. So yeah, ClickUp, Google Drive, and KArtra would be my go to.

Nicole Smith
It’s beautiful when you find that amazing, the tech ecosystem that works for you, that you’ve designed in a way that you love your team love, and they just seamlessly move between them all. And perfect time to go back over to France. Amazing time of year.

Laetitia Andrac
Summer in France, winter in Australia, so it was perfect.

Nicole Smith
Okay, online, paper or hybrid to do lists lover?

Laetitia Andrac
I have a mixture of the two. I’m really a mixture of the two. Because when I do my own ritual, my own journaling ritual. I you know, I put my new moon intention, which is how I plan my my month’s I plan it in alignment with the moon cycle. So I call it moons. So I plan my moons in paper, but then we transfer it into ClickUp. But I started on paper and then I put in ClickUp.

Nicole Smith
I love that. I’m only just becoming aware of the whole the moon things. It’s funny when something happens, and I’ll message Kathy and Serena in our group chat. We’ve got WhatsApp, Kathy’s, like, it’s a new moon. I’m like, that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. All about awareness. Because I know you mentioned human design, as well as something that you do all of these things. Another one that I’ve recently discovered is Enneagram or something like yeah, and yeah, all of those points of data that just helps I guess, to connect you with the things in the world. It’s some it’s been really fun to explore those. Learning again, right? Well, you might have this down pat already. But what would you do if you created more space in your world?

Laetitia Andrac
I already feel I’m very lucky. But what would I do if I had even more space? I think I would love to be even more present for my daughters, because, you know, they go nine to three to a Montessori school. And I would love for, you know, sometimes when they ask for some parents to come to just go and do the thing without being like, oh, actually, I like to have this space for myself. So yeah, giving back to the community giving back to, you know, as a school where my daughter attend, which is a Montessori school, very community driven. So I think if I had more space, I say yes, sometime, but I don’t say yes to everything was I want to involve the parents. Otherwise, I feel like I couldn’t work at all. But I would love to dedicate a bit more time to that.

Nicole Smith
Yeah, I feel a bit the same. I know like today, it’s book week, where as we’re recording, so any parents listening, you’ll know what we’re talking about. She’s gone as Anna from Frozen.

But today at 330, she’s got like a book, tour, book, club, whatever it’s called, you know, so I’ll pop down to kinder and do that. And it’s fabulous to be able to have those decisions, when they let you know, in enough time as well. Being an organised person, if it last minute, sometimes it’s like, oh, but you can make the decision if you’ve got the space. Right. Ah, thank you so much for coming here. Having a chat today. It’s lovely. We’re just talking. We’ve been sort of floating around the same networks for a while and it’s really lovely to have you on and learn more about your business and about you. And I’d just love you to share as well where can we find you? Because I know there’ll be people that want to connect.

Laetitia Andrac
So I love to hang out on Instagram. I am with the handle, @essential.shift. So you can come and send me a little DM I always reply to my DM. It’s the thing that I haven’t outsourced yet, because I love to be here for you. If you have any questions, you can hop into my DM and ask me any questions. If you love this episode, just let us know and we would love to support you moving forward.

Nicole Smith
Yes, beautiful. And what’s your website as well, because I know that you said it’s coming. It’s getting more revamped. And it should be up and live. And we’re going to shout that from the rooftops the website.

Laetitia Andrac
www.essentialshift.co. Essential Shift altogether dot co. And yeah, I am a huge advocate of launching something when it’s imperfect and being ashamed of it. And I launched my website a year and something ago didn’t touch it since. And I was really ashamed of it. It was time for a revamp. So that’s why we’re going through a revamp. So hopefully when this is released, you will go on the new website.

Nicole Smith
It’ll be beautiful, so lovely. It’s so lovely when you’ve especially had somebody just put you through that journey, and you’re so excited to share it with the world. So I can go and have a look. Check it all out. All those details will be in the show notes. So please go on over and connect and say hello. And as you mentioned, if you loved the episode, please tag us and say hi, and what was your moment of like, aha, I get it. Is it f l o w or all that?

Laetitia Andrac
Thank you so much, Nicole, for having me. And for everyone listening to this podcast.

Nicole Smith
It’s my pleasure. Thanks for joining me and for everybody who’s out there listening, have a wonderful rest of your day and enjoy creating space and time freedom by now.

Well, there we go. Thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been such a pleasure having you on board. Have we connected on social jazz? If not, please come on over. Say hi, I’m on all the platforms at the artisan solutions. So I’d really look forward to seeing you over there. And if you enjoy today’s episode, don’t forget to tag me and I’d love it if you could leave a review. And of course, share this with others so others can come and join us next time. All right, that everyone have a fabulous rest of the week and until next time, see you then.