Blissful Boss Babe: How to stand out in a saturated market

I can remember very clearly, the day I decided that I was ready to start my new jewelry business, Love Ashlina Jewelry. It was such an incredible feeling, it felt like I was falling in love with life all over again. Just like in a fresh romantic relationship, it felt so utterly blissful. When you are in a state of searching for clarity, once it finally begins to come together, the experience can be absolutely invigorating. (Side note: if you are looking for clarity in your life and/or your business, Labradorite is an excellent crystal to work with.)

I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 10 years at this point but as I have transitioned from interior design to jewelry design, I feel like I am starting all over again. It’s like my second life. Luckily, I have plenty of experience in entrepreneurship. However, when I was starting out many moons ago, it was fairly easy for me to thrive because I didn’t have a super saturated market in my field. I was a pioneer of my particular type of business. Now, with my new jewelry business, I am navigating the ups and downs of building something from scratch, while trying to stand out in a market that is already plenty full.

I felt it would be important for me to share some valuable tips and tricks to help you navigate your own business. These tips can be useful for life too. As always, I feel it is important to document and share what I learn, so my blog has been a consistent element that I have found to be invaluable. Not only does it help when you document what you experience, it serves as a great resource for others and a great way to reference things. Hope you find these tips to be helpful.

#1 FIND YOUR WHY:

When you are wanting to start a business or even grow one that you are currently working on, I have learned that one thing in particular has been incredibly essential for staying focused and on track. Determining why you are even doing it in the first place. You have to find your why, something that goes deeper than money, and deeper than just a superficial desire to feed the ego. There has to be a meaningful and soulful reason why you are creating something. I dish more on this in episode No.45 of the Blissfully Ambitious podcast.

Before I began my jewelry business, I had already determined my personal why. It was something I deeply prayed about and worked on after reading this book. When you are called to and driven by a why that goes deeper than you, you will be spiritually more aligned with a flourishing business. When the core meaning behind your business is to ultimately help only you, you are going about it the wrong way. When you determine what it is that you can do in business, that is all about truly serving others for a higher purpose, there’s a grander supply of energy that flows towards that.

Once I finally got clear on my why, the idea for my jewelry designs came to my soul and the whole business fell right into place. I would also like to add that I find myself in a continual state of inspired ideas flowing right to me. I truly believe that it is because I am clear on the why and the purpose behind what I am doing. When the reason is bigger than you, the business grows that way too.

#2 STAY CONSISTENT:

Here’s the deal. Life is busy. It’s hard to work on your business and in your business while living a life. There are absolutely a million things to do between branding, marketing, emails, socials, networking, oh and not to mention the actual business or service you are providing. It can cause you to be effective in one area and not another or go lax on your accounting, etc. It’s important that even if you feel overwhelmed, you are being consistent in the way you do what you do.

No matter what happens in my life or world, I am focused on creating content that provides inspiration and education. Even if I am between ideas, feeling uninspired or just not in the mood, I do something that is creating value for my business and brand. And I do it consistently. The reason for this is that consistency builds trust and that trust will gain you a loyal customer base.

One of my mentorship clients is a personal trainer. She does virtual sessions. Sometimes she is slow in her business and so she takes a break from social media and goes MIA for weeks at a time. Then she comes back and wonders why no one really responds. I remind her that in today’s digital age, we are bombarded with 97234234 messages every hour. Naturally, we can’t keep up with everyone and everything. HOWEVER, If she were to offer an informative piece of content, consistently, her people will find her and crave her.

Picture this: a girl searches for diet tips for pregnant women. She stumbles upon your instagram page, every Tuesday she sees your business/brand offering ideas for recipes for pregnant women, she’s going to come back next Tuesday and look for more. She also will do all she can to find the past 52 Tuesdays for more information on recipes and tips. By the time she is done consuming all that content, she feels you are friends, she knows you, supports you and buys your product! Heck, she even signs up for your newsletters, too. This is how you build your cult following. Stay consistent, show up and keep going. It will pay off in dividends in the long run.

#3 SHARE YOUR TRUTH:

This is a tough one. Let’s face it, we all worry about what others are going to think about what we say, think or do. It’s just part of life. Other peoples opinions can be detrimental to the growth and expansion of our businesses. They say that starting a business is the best personal development course out there. It’s pretty accurate actually. In order to be honest and authentic, you have to work on yourself daily to be able to speak your truth and not be afraid of how that looks.

Let me ask you a question…do you refrain from posting things on social media because of what someone may think? Can you picture a particular person who may be standing in your way of your own authentic success? Most likely, there are a few people so it is very important to become aware of the people/situations that may be holding you back.

Begin to work on declaring truths about yourself. Who you are deep down. Are you a pink haired pixie inside but a blonde girl with extensions on the outside? Are you a vegan leather backpack carrier on the outside but a Chanel toting woman on the inside? Or vice versa? Do you do run on the treadmill 5 days a week but actually prefer to do a barre class but you’re scared to step out of the box? There are many variables to it but take some time to go deeper into who you really are.

For a long time I was in the spiritual closet. Not really sharing the meditating, soul searching, crystals, sage, etc. I would have crystals all over my bathtub and vision boards hidden all over the place. Over time I came around to it and luckily, the self development/spirituality world blew up.

HOT TIP: These little insider secrets that are your truth can actually help (not hinder) your business & its success. The more you come out of your own closet, the more you will inspire others to do so too and they will hire you or buy from you along the way. (The other day I saw a meme that said something to the effect of, I am not interested to check my phone for texts or emails but rather to see who is buying my products from online sales. For me, I could relate because each woman who purchases jewelry from me feels like a soul sister. It is a relationship I am thrilled to pour into because these are my people with little truths like my own)

If you are looking for an easy way to uncover those truths about yourself a little more, I highly suggest my book the Blissful Living Journal. Inside there is 30 days of journal prompts with deep diving questions that really give you the opportunity to get to know yourself more. I wrote the book when I was pregnant, a very transformative, soul searching time for me. It is the exact questions I gave myself when I was needing some more truths.

#4 SHIFT YOUR MINDSET

One of the things that I believe is integral for your small business success is to continually shift your mindset to one of major success. In order to shift yourself out of self-sabotage and into flourishing success, you must build up a mindset that supports you. In Neuro Linguistic Programming, you learn that through repetition and true emotional belief, you can manifest anything you want. You have to believe that you are the best at what you do, believe that you provide absolute value, believe that you are a gift to your customers!

There are several modalities that can help you program your mind for success in your business, I teach this specifically inside my 21-day video course, Soul Aligned Success. You can do this through repeating affirmations and mantras on repeat. Here are a few to get you started:

💕 My business is a huge success

💕 I believe in myself and trust in my abilities to succeed in all that I do

💕 Being successful is natural for me

💕 Success, money and happiness come easily to me

💕 My work makes a difference

💕 I am smart and successful

💕 I can achieve any goals I set myself in business

💕 I create wonderful business opportunities

💕 My income is constantly increasing

I am passionate about teaching women how to launch and grow their businesses, especially online. In today’s world, it is so important that we realize the limitless potential that the online world can give you. In my program, Online Boss, I teach you everything you need to know about building your online business empire.

The incredible wellness benefits of Palo Santo (aka the Holy Wood)

It’s pretty interesting how life can be such a rollercoaster sometimes. There are times when everything feels so wonderful and then other times when we feel overwhelm, anxiety, stress and exhaustion…even when everything is great. There are so many unpredictabilities that come with life, it is essential that we learn rituals and routines that can help us stay grounded.

I have a full toolkit of things that I turn to when I need some zen. One of them, that I found very beneficial, specifically yesterday when I was hands full with my little Roman, is Palo Santo. Picture this: toddler running around, hands full, folding clothes, music on, doing 79 things at once. Also starving and needing a bathroom break. It can sometimes feel impossible. Sometimes you just need a minute.

Yesterday, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my little spiritual wood stick, my Palo Santo. I grabbed that baby, lit her up and was instantly transported to a spiritual sanctuary in my mind.

I highly recommend getting yourself some Palo Santo so you too can wave the wood wand and curate your own bliss.

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BENEFITS OF BURNING PALO SANTO:

01 | Sensory stress relief

One of the reasons we experience life the way we do is due to the fact that our brain have the possibility of experiencing many realities at once. Just a hint of a certain smell can transport you to another time, a memory or a specific experience. That smell can illicit feelings, emotions, etc.

When burned, Palo Santo has notes of citrus and mint that evoke a state of internal calm. When inhaled, it moves directly through the brain’s olfactory system, where it helps to stimulate the body’s relaxation response to combat worry, anxiety, sleep disorders and depression.

I am obsessed with the smell, it instantly uplifts my vibe.

02 | Spiritual Cleansing

In South America (where the Palo Santo trees grow and fall), tradition has it that the clarifying smoke released from the holy wood emits negative ions that can uplift our mood and purify people and places from negative energy. Similar to washing your hands before a meal, burning palo santo will cleanse your aura before you preform ritual, meditation, prayer or other spiritual ceremonies.

03 | Holistic Healing

Palo santo is used to treat a wide variety of physical ailments including colds, flus, anxiety, depression, asthma, bronchitis, headaches, and emotional trauma.

04 | Vibrational cleansing and renewal for crystals

Just like we need a shower or a good wash of our hair every few days, our crystals also need an energetic cleansing regularly. There are several ways to charge and renew our crystals but Palo Santo smoke is a really beautiful way to vibrationally purify all of your crystals at home.

05 | Home Smudging

Burning your Palo Santo will cleanse the emotional and spiritual energy in your home. If someone comes to your home and it doesn’t feel good, burn Palo Santo to remove their stagnant energetic imprint. If there is tension, Palo Santo will dissolve that.

It is one of my favorite tools I use in my workshop, High Vibe Home. In Module 3 we discuss how to actually do home healing ceremonies as a form of purification. Whenever there is stress or tension at home, between family or loved ones, you must ensure that the energy in the home is cleared and no toxins are lingering. Learn more about creating a High Vibe Home here.

I burn palo santo as much as possible. Not only am I obsessed with the smell, these beautiful benefits are hard to beat.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Light the stick with a match set, I like to use wood on wood. The spiritual ritual of the wood burning is very grounding. Let the stick catch fire, and allow it to burn for about 20 seconds. Then, softly blow out the flame.

2. As you hold the stick, say and intention, prayer or a wish. Speak life to the flame.

3. Ask that the cleansing smoke of the Palo Santo will purify and cleanse you and your space.

4. Walk around the room and wave the stick in a clockwise motion to ensure the holy smoke aroma fills the room.

5. When you are finished, place your Palo Santo stick in an abalone shell or other fireproof bowl/dish. The burn will end on its own.

Have you ever used Palo Santo or cleansing rituals? Tell me in the comments below, I’d love to discuss.

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