Latest / The James Granstrom Podcast - Super Soul Model series / Authentic Visibility Starts Within: Branding, Healing & Energy with Victoria Boyding

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Authentic Visibility Starts Within: Branding, Healing & Energy with Victoria Boyding · The James Granstrom Podcast - Super Soul Model series

0:01
SPEAKER_01: If you're building something meaningful right now, maybe it's a business, a brand, or even a new version of yourself, I think you're gonna really enjoy and appreciate this conversation.
0:11
SPEAKER_01: In this episode, I'm joined by Victoria Boyding as we explore branding, visibility, growth, and what it really means to show up authentically in the world.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Definitely a defining moment, and it was when I was forced to go through and heal one of my deepest traumas, and also coming out on the other side of that, it has just helped me grow into who I feel I'm supposed to be in a completely new level.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to the James Grandstrom Podcast Super Song Model Series.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: Today I am joined by Victoria Boyding.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: Victoria is a branding strategist and creative director with over two decades of experience working at the intersection of design, technology, and health.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: She works closely with founders and entrepreneurs to build brands that are not only visually strong, but structurally designed to grow, helping them find clarity in their message and confidence and how they show up.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: In recent years, Victoria's work has evolved into something a lot deeper.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: Through her platforms like Growing Aware and the Entrepreneur Detox, Victoria explains the connection between personal growth and business growth, supporting people to stay aligned with who they really are and as they build and scale.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: She's also bringing awareness to the impact that branding, social media, and digital identity are having on our children and the next generation, helping them shift the conversation towards confidence, self-worth, and authenticity.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: It's a great pleasure of mine to welcome Victoria to the show.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: Welcome.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, James.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: What an introduction.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, like the thing was I really wanted to be clear because there's a lot that you've been doing in the last two decades.
1:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: And that not everybody understands that the journey of what we go through to be able to understand the strategy, the branding, and of course, how that intersects with health and of course the next generation.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: And I know that's been something really important to you.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: And I really looking forward to asking you about that sort of question.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: But for the purpose of the audience and for us, let's just take us back to the beginning.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: You know, before we talk about the business, you know, what experiences have really shaped you?
2:28
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's a big question.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: And before we begin, James, I would just like to say I'm really happy uh for the interest you've shown in what I've been doing.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: My pleasure.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: My pleasure.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: I see, I see the authenticity there.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: And and I just think when I see it, I really like to share that.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: And that's what this podcast is about.
2:50
SPEAKER_01: It's about shining a light on the people that are doing very meaningful and purposeful things in the world.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: And I think what you've been doing of recent has been beyond what a lot of people particularly may think.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: And I think that that's quite a visionary aspect that you're bringing to the table.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: And I think people need to know about it.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: So it's a what really wonderful.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: And it's fun for me to have you on the show and have this conversation because I want to get to the heart of that and share that with the audience.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: As I'm sure they want to understand a little bit about you and what drives you.
3:25
SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: But um, let's take us back to the beginning.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, what shaped you?
3:31
SPEAKER_00: What shaped me?
3:32
SPEAKER_00: My background, it's a big question, right?
3:34
SPEAKER_00: Because all events, big and small, shape us to become the people we are today.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: For sure.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Right?
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Good and bad.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: But I think I might just wanna take everyone back to the beginning.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: Why not?
3:48
SPEAKER_01: That's not the end.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: We learn by going to the beginning.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, to my roots.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: Um I was born and raised in Denmark in a very creative home.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh a bit chaotic, but very creative and loving home with a dad who is a classical singer and has been a vocal coach for most of my life.
4:12
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, growing up, I was into music, theater, musicals.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh that was my whole world doing musicals with my dad, uh, singing every weekend.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Um later on, I became a teenager, started my first rock band.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Rock band, yeah.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: What was the band?
4:36
SPEAKER_01: What was the name of the band?
4:39
SPEAKER_00: The first one we didn't really have a name.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: It was uh one of a school band, but then in gymnasium, I started we started out as the butterfly effect.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I like that.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a good name.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: That's a good name.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: Then uh there were some uh copyright issues there.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: So uh we became Dawnbreak, and now we went into heavy metal.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Wow, you're thrashed you're into heavy thrash metal.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: I can't imagine.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: I know Victoria's slightly off-screen here, and uh you know she she seems a very well put together person, but I never can imagine you being into heavy metal, yeah, melodic heavy metal, so yeah, okay, like evanescence, night wish style.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: And a little inspiration from Iron Maiden as well.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Iron Maiden.
5:30
SPEAKER_04: Okay, the maiden.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: Um then came a time after gymnasium in Denmark.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: What's gymnasium?
5:41
SPEAKER_01: Gymnasium, you know, I mean that yeah, what is gymnasium?
5:44
SPEAKER_01: What is that?
5:45
SPEAKER_00: Like high school.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: High school, right?
5:47
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
5:47
unknown: Yeah.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, where I didn't know what to do with my life.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: But I had my band, it was my entire life, and we needed a logo, we needed a website, we needed merchandise, you know.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: So I thought Was it quite a successful band if you needed merchandise?
6:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're like 17 or 16, 17.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: We're trying to become successful, and in doing that, obviously, we needed a logo and a nice cover for our CD and stuff.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny, really funny account.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: And I my dad is very creative in that way as well.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: I've always seen him, he was dealing with Apple products um back when it was called Macintosh.
6:27
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, back in the 90s when everyone would look at me like I was an alien uh for using these weird devices.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: No one knew about Apple at that point.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: Right.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: Um and I've seen him work with Adobe Photoshop.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think that version was called Adobe Photoshop 5.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Right.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: Um and so I don't even know how I learned to use that those tools, but I did.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: And um so I had that interest and I didn't know what to do with my life, so I jumped on an education to become a web developer, a back-end developer.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Is this still whilst you were at school or at high school, or was this?
7:12
SPEAKER_01: This is after high school.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: So I applied uh for a programming education in Denmark in the Danish Media College.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: Um finished that education, got my diploma, still didn't know what I wanted to do.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: So I continued to study to become a graphic designer at the same school.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: And um then before I even graduated from that, I was offered a job on the school teaching those subjects.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh so got my diploma, started teaching, and then shortly after that I met a guy.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was always a guy.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: What I'm picking up from your story is is that you had a natural instinct for music, obviously helped by your father's influential music, but a bit rebellious.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: So if he's classical, you do the opposite, you rebel and do thrash metal.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: That's my interpretation.
8:13
SPEAKER_01: This is understanding the background of Victoria, yeah.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: And then from that, with the joy of the band, came a hidden gift, a hidden talent, which was the interest in the logo, interest in the design aspect, and then that took you into the beginning of your career.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: Fascinating.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: I've always had that um deep interest in I would call it concept development, like putting together all the pieces, having that overview and creating a concept where everything plays together, and yeah, I guess that's how I would describe it.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's a band, whether it's a um business now.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Um there's something about you you like putting the vision together.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: So from the story of meeting a guy, what happened next?
9:16
SPEAKER_00: I met a guy, a very um outgoing, extroverted, special character, and he suggested that we move to Marbella.
9:25
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Um and that was what that was something I would have never done on my own.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: I always felt like I didn't really necessarily belong in Denmark.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: I knew I had to go somewhere else, but it's not some it's not a decision I would have made on my own.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: I was very shy, very geeky, very introverted.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: Um were you wearing rock clothes?
9:49
SPEAKER_00: I was.
9:49
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: I was I love it.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: Not like that today, though.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh no.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Um I have both sides still.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: Nice to know because you know, we are, as characters, we're we're complex characters.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: From that design to moving to Marbella, what happened?
10:13
SPEAKER_00: So moving to Marbella is definitely a defining moment in my life.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, because that's what you were asking you asking me about.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: What shaped me?
10:24
SPEAKER_01: What shaped you?
10:25
SPEAKER_01: You know, the music shaped you, the design has shaped you, having a vision has shaped you.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: And moving to Marbella, the whole world, everything changed moving here.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Um the world just became so much bigger and also so different than what I was used to.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: Um Did you live in a small city?
10:48
SPEAKER_01: Did you live in a small village or I'm from the country.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so from the country, you know, it's like big dreams, isn't it?
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: It's nice because as human beings, we when we're in a small place, you know, I spent a lot of time in Hawaii.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: And then when you live on an island, after a while, you know, people want to get off the island and see what else.
11:09
SPEAKER_01: But then are interested in coming back after they've done a full loop.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: So when if you've grown up in some place, and where I grew up in the UK, in Surrey, I sometimes find myself going back there because my s my mother lives there now, and to notice how much what a different person I am now than where I what I was when I was growing up.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: And it's the same when we live in a on an island or in a little village or in the countryside.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: So it's fascinating to see how much Victoria's grown in this journey.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: So what challenges and setbacks have really shaped you then?
11:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this this guy that I was mentioning, um, our relationship didn't survive Marbella like many others.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: But of course, there was a new guy that I spent many years with during my time here in Marbella.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Um and something that really shifted something in me, something that made me wake up was the most difficult thing I went through up until this day was that breakup a couple of years ago.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: Um just because what happened there was a meeting with a very deep and old trauma of mine.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: So it hit me really, really hard.
12:34
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing.
12:36
SPEAKER_01: It's sometimes really hard to share our traumas because our traumas are some of the toughest things that we go to because they reverberate and stay in our nervous system for so long.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: And each of us and everyone listening has going through something or has gone through something, and it's part of the human experience, and it stings and can leave a lasting impression.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, at the same time, if we don't have those experiences, we don't grow, we don't evolve.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: You know, some of the hardest things we go through are some of the best setups for something greater to come.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: I truly believe that.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: And being around my father who died when I was with him, two of my best friends died, even at a young age.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, my sister going through cancer and stage four cancer, but surviving that and coming back and thriving.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: We had an episode with her not so long ago.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: These circumstances, as well as breakups and relationships, they challenge us.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: They challenge us to be better.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes the healing process can take a long time, at least emotionally, but in doing so, they make us be better and hopefully choose better.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's those challenges are are actually a gift wrapped in a bit of pain.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: But we can't see them.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: There's always a blessing in disguise.
14:03
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh so thank you for sharing.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what this was, definitely.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: Um I got hit really hard in the head.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Literally, actually.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: A week before everything was turned upside down, I uh my pedal partner hit me in the back of my head with his racket.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: And I ended up with four stitches.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: And then a week later, my whole my whole life changed.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: Um and as I mentioned, it was definitely a defining moment.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: And it was when I was forced to go through and heal one of my deepest traumas, and also coming out on the other side of that, it has just helped me grow into who I feel I'm supposed to be in a completely new level.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: So is that a realization for you?
14:54
SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, like as human beings, we we sometimes don't know the road.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: You know, when you're a kid, you it's not often that you know what you want to be or what you want to grow into.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes in your 20s or even early 30s, you still don't know.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: And I I think like life in in in my experience, I look at it seriously, but not that seriously so much anymore.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot a fine balance to recognize, you know, you're always in the position of changing from one state to another.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: And I was just having this conversation yesterday.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: I was like, I I feel like we're perpetually in motion, not trying to get to some destination.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: And I think that if I can just think of myself always in motion on some place to somebody else, when I arrive to someplace else, I'll be on a ro and I'll be en route to another place.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: And it gives me a lot of peace recognising I might never have to arrive at a certain place.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: I agree.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: Because it's an emotional state we're really seeking.
15:54
SPEAKER_01: You know, sometimes it's to be calm, sometimes it's excitement, sometimes it's feeling proud.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: But also on the other end of those really high emotions of the lower emotions that reflect us if we're really deeply sad, it's because we've experienced great joy.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's always putting everything into perspective.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: So thank you for sharing.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: So if that's realization of sh has really shaped you, how's that shaped your branding strategy?
16:22
SPEAKER_01: When we go into business, you you know, you you've been very un very professional about building a strategy for people to reach a certain deck destination with their brand.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: That is a great skill to know.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: But you also try to blend in these other things like health.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: And I find that fascinating.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: You know, what was what's helped you want to infuse those things in the way you you do branding and help people?
16:52
SPEAKER_00: I guess I started my fitness journey um about 12 years ago.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: I'd never been into sports, it was not a thing where I come from.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: It was dancing, singing, uh theater, this very artistic environment.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Um all my friends were playing football or doing some kind of activity.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: I was very much an outsider in in that sense.
17:20
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: Um but I started going to the gym and yeah, started my fitness journey.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: And now that's something I do more freak frequently almost than brushing my teeth.
17:35
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Um and that became a part of my life and it helped me realize a lot of things.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: And it also goes together a little bit with my concept of growing aware.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: Right.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, because I've just entered that world at such a late stage in my life.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: Well, you mean fitness and going to the gym?
17:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Physical health in general and that just that understanding of how the body works and with the right amount of exercise and if your body is healthy and a balanced diet, you don't need to struggle with um well, in my case, uh eating disorders and a bad self-image, which is something I was definitely struggling with a lot growing up.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: The branding is a big part of your world.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: And for many people it still feels, you know, quite surface level, but you do more than just logos, you do more than just colours and social media.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: You know, how do you define what personal branding is?
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Um as I mentioned before, I really love to create concepts and package things into a way that makes sense logically and but also from a creative perspective.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: And I think that is something quite unique or not something I've met in other people um or in a lot of other people.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: It is that as I mentioned, I started both programming and graphic design, and I don't really have a preference.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: I like to live in both worlds and somehow merge them.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: And for me, that is exactly what branding or packaging things is, because it's understanding and structuring the whole logic behind a system and also packaging it in a way where it's emotional.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: It's something that speaks to our emotions when we look at a brand or colours or a concept.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: Um which is the same for music.
19:47
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: It's also a very it's all math, right?
19:51
SPEAKER_00: It's just sound waves and math put together, but it's something that we connect with emotionally.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: So that's also a blend of those two worlds.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: That's really interesting because we don't necessarily think that branding is going to make us emotional.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: Because that's exactly what it has to be.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: It has to be.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, when we look at adverts on TV, you know, the the idea of you know having a Coca-Cola that says drink happiness.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: Because if you're if you drink it, then you'll be happy.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: You know, this is the clever branding.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: When it gets inside your mind, you're thinking, really, yeah.
20:21
SPEAKER_01: But how do you assist your clients?
20:25
SPEAKER_01: What do you want them to feel when they have the branding?
20:28
SPEAKER_00: So that depends on the brand.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: That depends on the product.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: Depends on the client.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: But if a brand doesn't make you feel anything, it it's not a successful brand.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Ross Powell Right.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: So it has to make you feel something.
20:42
SPEAKER_01: So your job is a whole point.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: So your job is to actually create an emotion with the branding that you're doing.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Ross Powell It's understanding the logic behind the company or the product and then packaging it in a way that it makes the target audience feel exactly what we want them to feel.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, like I've done my homework in lots of different brands in previous time and like things like Virgin, they had the letters in red and going upwards, and that just shows vertical movement of who we are as a company.
21:15
SPEAKER_01: Red is represented with power and the positive and energy, and that's exactly what Richard Branson did with Virgin.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: And when we look at things like McDonald's, you know, it's more about the the taste that you have when you're thinking about the adverts.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: And then when we look at cars, you know, you want to be thinking like Porsche is powerful, it's successful, and it feels like one of the cleverest adverts they ever did was a little boy seeing a Porsche outside in the car, so outside on the road.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: And he goes, We we recruit our drivers from an early age.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: And it was like that little boy dreaming one day out on that 9 11.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: And I thought that was really clever branding because ultimately what we're trying to do is say, This is a goal that I'm working towards.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: And this is a token of my success.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: And so for your branding work, I know that you go into a lot of detail with that.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: And it takes a lot of being in your head to receive right ideas.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: So would you say you spend a lot of time thinking as a person by yourself?
22:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I definitely spend too much time thinking about it.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: That's so funny.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: So how do you ground yourself from all of these sort of ideas that flowed?
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Because I think that's really important because to be creative and to have logic and success as you do, you still have to ground yourself.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: So how do you do that?
22:34
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, um meditation has changed my life.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: Right.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: Not something that's really exciting and something that's difficult to get into for most people.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: But I think exercise was the start of that, right?
22:55
SPEAKER_00: To just go to a space where you build discipline and where you also you're very present when you go to the gym.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: It's really and you if you really push, if you really go to the gym, it's really hard to be in your head thinking and worrying and stressing about something else than what you're doing right there.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: You have to be super present, right?
23:17
SPEAKER_00: If you're going for a lake workout, then yeah.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: Um so tell me about your meditation practice.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: So tell so what's your meditation practice?
23:26
SPEAKER_01: You know, like every you know, I talk about meditation a lot on this show.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's been absolutely an an instrumental piece of my evolution and transformation.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: So but like I'd like to hear what your practice is.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: Me too.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: Me too.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: So I knew for a long time that meditation was something I needed to get into.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was struggling to get there.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: And one of the first things I tried was breathwork, which is a really powerful tool, I think, in the breath work itself is excellent, but in getting into meditation, because just the focus and the controlling of the breath can help you get into that state.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: But honestly, what happened is I was trying to meditate uh over and over again, didn't really work for me.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: I would sit there for 20 seconds and my mind would go off and I would kind of give up.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: But after this life-changing breakup a couple of years ago, I was left in a place where I had no choice.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: You had to face yourself.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: I didn't have a choice, James.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: I was feeling so I was destroyed mentally and physically, and all I could do was I could sit down on my terrace, close my eyes, and meditate.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: And I just it came to me like that.
24:55
SPEAKER_04: Lovely.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: So for me it was a hit in the head.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: I knew I had to go there, and the universe helped me out by hitting me hard.
25:03
SPEAKER_01: You know, like can I say something?
25:04
SPEAKER_01: There's is that there is, whilst it sounds metaphorical to say that, you know, I've studied a few people who've had head injuries and have had phenomenal success after head injuries.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: It's bizarre.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying it's for everybody.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: But Liam Gallagher from Oasis got a hammer in the head when he was 15.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: And before he wasn't that musical, but after it, he became very musical.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: And people think, what?
25:31
SPEAKER_01: And people laugh at that.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes it actually alters something in the brain.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: Now, sometimes it can be incredibly damaging for the rest of your life.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: But actually, I hit my head about eight, nine years ago.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: Actually, yeah, and it made me start this podcast.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: Which is weird because I knew that I had to do it.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: It was a bit of a wake up, do it.
25:53
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
25:53
SPEAKER_01: And I'd put been putting it off for such a long time.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: And whilst there can be more severe reasons, sometimes life has a way of giving us a quick wake-up.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's just to be aware of that.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: And your meditation, is it a certain type of meditation, or is it yeah, what's your type of meditation?
26:14
SPEAKER_00: So as I mentioned, I started off breathing and just focusing on my breath and letting that letting my focus just go into that so that I could clear my mind.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: Now, what I do is I focus on becoming the observer.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: That means that I understand now that there is something else above me, I call it above me, that is the real me.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: And I focus on whatever I'm thinking or feeling, there is a bigger something observing that there has to be.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: And whatever is observing that, you can never see it, but you can just keep looking for it, and approaching that makes you understand it more and more.
27:07
SPEAKER_01: So if you're understanding what Victoria's saying, it's a really deep concept of simplifying that there is a larger energetic portion of yourself that is actually the real aspect of you, and this smaller part of yourself is your life experience.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: Have I got that right from what you're saying?
27:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, exactly.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, I'll I'm happy I managed to say that.
27:34
SPEAKER_01: But there's something I I I really like when you say the observer.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: I know Eckhart Toll talks a lot about the observer, and quantum physics likes to talk about the observer effect because when we look at something, it begins to change because we're observing it.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: And of course, in meditation or beginning to quiet the mind or giving yourself an opportunity to quiet the mind, if you can just observe your thinking and behavior, then you don't become attached to it.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: That's when you become free, and that's when your nervous system resets.
28:06
SPEAKER_01: And I've become incredibly present and I realize there's nothing really serious going on, but it seems serious when I'm in that.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: So even death and life and finances and relationships and health, whilst that might seem like a crisis sometimes and feels very vivid, if you can step back, you disassociate just for a moment to create more peace in the nervous system, which actually sets you up for what I like to call more green lights and more opportunities for things to heal and flow again.
28:41
SPEAKER_04: Definitely.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: So thank you for sharing that.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: So, with this meditation that you've been doing, is growing aware what this aspect of you helping kids and helping them want to grow and evolve from a young age.
28:55
SPEAKER_01: Is that something that has come out of meditation?
28:57
SPEAKER_01: Is that something that's come out of space for you?
29:00
SPEAKER_01: And of course, how does that tie into the entrepreneurial detox?
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Because this seems like a bit of a reflection of your own life to some extent.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Definitely.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: So I have just gone through such a huge development personally.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: Like after I came to Marbella, that's when it all started.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Like, really, I think.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: And I've just learned so many things that I felt if someone could have told me that when I was that age or that age or that age, it just would have helped me so much.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: And growing up, I was my parents divorced when I was eight, and nothing wrong in that, that happens, but I was quite uh anxious kid.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: I was a very anxious kid, and I didn't know the people around me didn't know, and it's not that I wasn't loved, it's not that no one cared, but no one knew or no one understood.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: And I think when you come out of a trauma or life hits you with traumas.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: Let me start there.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: And then there are two outcomes.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: One is you don't realize and you don't grow from it.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: The other one is you go through it and you grow from it.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: If you don't go through it and you don't even acknowledge or see that it's there, and you don't come out of it, then you tend to repeat that trauma and just put it on other people around you.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: If you do grow from it, I think you have a natural desire to help other people grow from that.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a beautiful case of transmutation.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: You use your own pain and your own journey to try and help other people, and that's actually how you heal.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: You know, this podcast is very cathartic.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: Writers and authors, they write creativity and music, of course, is a very cathartic experience.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: So what you're doing with growing aware.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: So just tell us a little bit about what that is.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I will, I will.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: So I meant to say just that I guess I want to be that person that I needed back then, you know?
31:15
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: And that's where it comes from.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Growing aware is a concept for where families come together to grow.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: It's a concept that is here to cultivate awareness of around mental and physical health in kids and young adults.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: And as an example, we're having our first family breath work now on Saturday.
31:41
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Where parents come together with their kids and they go through a breath work session together.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, it's a space for the family to connect over something different than TV or phones or the normal.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, right.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: That's very interesting.
31:57
SPEAKER_01: So, you are you sharing them how are they going to have an experience of breath work?
32:01
SPEAKER_01: Are they going to learn something that they can take away, or is it all all the above?
32:05
SPEAKER_00: All of the above.
32:06
SPEAKER_01: Right.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: So we have a structured little practice where we we start out with just explaining a little bit about the concept and then we go into talking a little bit about what is the breath and what kind of different ways of breathing is there.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: And what kind of different ways of breathing do we experience through a day, through life, just to bring that awareness into the breath and understand, okay, if I'm if I'm running, I breathe in this way.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: If I'm a little scared, I breathe in this way.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: If I'm relaxed, it's in this way.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: Just to create that awareness.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Then we're gonna do a shared breath work where families and kids will do the breath work together with the coach.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna present three different breathwork techniques and display um the power of that and how you can use those different techniques in different situations.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: And particularly in little kids as well, you know, like if you get stressed at school or you feel like there's potential bullying or exactly, you know, is there something you can do?
33:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, tools.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Then you have a tool that you can always you always have that with you, right?
33:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's the breath is always with you, you always have that to pull up where where if we're looking at our own experience of our own traumas and difficulties in childhood, and childhood can be incredibly hard.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: I think it is the heart, one of the hardest parts of our life experience.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: And you know, if we can find ways in which we have some tools that we're taught from a young age, then that can be massively life-changing.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: So you create healthier adults that are leading the way when we're old.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of like what you want.
33:47
SPEAKER_01: You want a generation of amazing new leaders who are conscious and who have tools at a young age that they can apply in certain situations to a talk by conscious adults.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: Conscious adults create happy kids.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: And especially nowadays.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: Nowadays, you know, the there's so much uncertainty in the world.
34:08
SPEAKER_01: And whilst we can't and won't exactly know what's going to happen and how it's going to happen, you know, I was even thinking today on my my walk, and I have a morning walk that I do, and uh it's my little recalibration moment after a meditation, just to go before I answer any emails, before I check any calls, I go and do this just to soothe my nervous system because I know it allows me to be incredibly focused later, and so my productivity is like a 20x, 100x in comparison with what it would be if I didn't.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: So we're teaching the kids some of these tools at such a young age, as I think it's incredibly forward thinking.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: So how many families are you taking care of in this?
34:53
SPEAKER_00: On this particular event, uh we have six families signed up.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, some with two kids, some with both parents, and some with one parent and one kid.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's a it's a perfect group, uh intimate, but still still.
35:11
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes intimate is the best way you can share the knowledge and share the wisdom, right?
35:15
SPEAKER_01: So they can get a a a vivid life experience.
35:18
SPEAKER_01: How exciting.
35:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
35:21
SPEAKER_01: So what's your vision of growing aware?
35:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: So because being a branding specialist, you have to have a vision.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: And we know that Victoria's life is about having a vision.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: You know, honestly, I just had a feeling.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: I had a feeling that I needed to do this, I wanted to do this.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: And then later on, I tried to put like a a strategy, apply a strategy and and put words to it, but it was just a feeling I was following from within, I feel.
35:52
SPEAKER_00: And I I have a dream of I'm drafting a bit on writing little children's books.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: Um just to put into words in a really easy way some of all the tools and techniques that I've learned in during my self-development.
36:15
SPEAKER_00: And then it was just quite a coincidence that I ran into um Jay, the soul coach is his name, who's gonna be the breathwork coach now on Saturday.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: Um and then we just clicked and it happened, and he's also worked with kids in a similar way, and it just felt right.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: And so now we're starting out with breath work.
36:36
SPEAKER_00: Then I wanna have other events where we maybe have focus on movement inspired by yoga movements and understanding, also putting that together with the the the breath and understanding and feeling our body.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: Um we wanna talk about screen time, phones, how it affects us, our lives, and present it in a way where it's not a lecture, right?
37:03
SPEAKER_00: Presented in a way where they understand what the effect that things have on us.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: Um we get different feedbacks and from over stimulation.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it's great for kids to understand because they've grown up with phones, they've grown up with these devices that we could use as a go-to when we need to fill in the blanks sometimes in our day.
37:30
SPEAKER_01: But that's not always the healthiest thing you can do.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: There are other tools, so that's great you're sharing that.
37:35
SPEAKER_01: So if we pivot a little bit from what you've been doing with growing aware, what about the entrepreneurial detox?
37:42
SPEAKER_01: What's that?
37:43
SPEAKER_00: The entrepreneurial detox, okay.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: Um I have a very active mind.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think I'm speaking on everyone's behalf when I'm saying that we're just over-stimulated today, and there is just too much input, there is just too much noise, and we cannot really think clearly, we cannot really hear our inner voice, we can't really be grounded with all of that noise and all of that input.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: So, but we still want to take part in the real world, right?
38:23
SPEAKER_00: And me working with uh in the online world, I'm very much a part of that, and being on social media, I'm advertising the concepts that are teaching you to stay off the screen through the screen, because that's where you reach people.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: So you have to find that balance where you can interact with the world, take part, influence people, but still not but you are still in control, right?
38:48
SPEAKER_00: You have to maintain control.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: And for me, a way of doing that is every now and then I'll go out offline, uh, preferably in a remote location where there is like I'm just gonna remove myself entirely.
39:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: So go off to a cabin, uh leave my laptop, and I I do bring my phone, but it's completely off.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh but sometimes you do need it for navigation or paying something, right?
39:15
SPEAKER_00: So shut it off completely and for at least three days, uh, just to detox mentally from all of this input and from from social media, from the internet.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, and what I experience after a few days of that is just incredible.
39:31
SPEAKER_00: You start getting this clarity and all your vision comes back, your creativity, you start feeling life.
39:37
SPEAKER_00: I start smelling the flowers, everything comes back to you, and suddenly I can just see clearly and see what I've been doing wrong and what I need to adjust.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: Um so the entrepreneur detox is wanting to share that experience with other people.
39:55
SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
39:56
SPEAKER_01: I just did an episode on nervous stimulation, and it's something that you know I've been very aware of.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: I remember like just last weekend, I was like, you know, I'm picking up my phone so often.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, that particular episode isn't about having a digital detox, it is about taking control and understanding other alternatives you can do because ultimately we're trying to fill a void of the need of stimulation, and stimulation requires it to be fed, and that's the thing that we get caught up into.
40:30
SPEAKER_01: It's not so much the dopamine or it's the stimulation.
40:33
SPEAKER_01: We need to keep feeding them.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: But if we keep feeding the mind more peace, if we keep feeding the mind more presence, that in two is wonderful fuel for the soul and creativity.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: So you being able to make a drastic change of like getting out for like three days and just go, right, not taking the laptop or anything like that, that's healthy.
40:56
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
40:56
SPEAKER_01: But is it doable?
40:57
SPEAKER_01: I mean, can you do it regularly?
40:59
SPEAKER_01: And do you do it regularly?
41:01
SPEAKER_01: Or is it just once in a while?
41:03
SPEAKER_00: Um like twice per year at least.
41:07
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh, which I think is doable for everyone.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: And uh so the thing is it it's not any fun, right?
41:16
SPEAKER_00: And the first one, two days, it's a struggle because as you say, you want to feed that emptiness that you feel when you're not getting stimulated by anything.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: Also, no no TV, no movies, no anything, you know?
41:29
SPEAKER_00: A book and a notebook.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
41:31
SPEAKER_00: A podcast.
41:32
SPEAKER_00: I allow podcasts.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: You allow podcasts, you can listen to this one.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's an active choice that you know you have to do for yourself.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like the people that will throw away all the candy uh Sunday evening to not be eating it during the week.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: I've got a question for you.
41:56
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel like with your understanding of branding and your understanding of, you know, taking that space, do you feel that there's a real pressure to perform, put on people at least, you know, from what you see?
42:11
SPEAKER_01: And of course I know you're trying to help the kids in growing aware and families, but do you feel that there's a an incessant need to perform and perform better and to be seen?
42:22
SPEAKER_01: Is that something that you witness?
42:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
42:25
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
42:26
SPEAKER_00: I think the world is very much today is so focused on the exterior, right?
42:34
SPEAKER_00: So we've forgotten to look inside and there is so much influence.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: If you think about if I don't if you go back uh uh I don't know, a hundred years and look at how much influence and how much you were exposed to influence from other people and other people's opinions, other people's lives, it was nothing compared to today where you open your phone and instantly you see the lives of thousands of successful, happy people on Instagram or whatever your preferred platform is.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: And immediately you start comparing yourself to these people's highlights.
43:16
SPEAKER_00: Right?
43:16
SPEAKER_00: This is something a lot of people are talking about, which first of all you cannot, and second of all, you cannot copy someone's success because or someone's version of success or lifestyle because we're all unique and we all have a unique purpose, I believe.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: And so if you copy someone else's um life or model, exactly, then you would just end up feeling a bit empty because you're not really living your true purpose.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: I like this.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: I think it's really uh a wonderful reminder to be told that everyone's got a a unique purpose and a unique gift.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: In Indian Sanskrit, they call that Dharma.
44:03
SPEAKER_01: And I remember when I first came across this like a long time ago, I was like, oh, what's my gift?
44:09
SPEAKER_01: And I recognized that my gift was people and communication and being able to simplify things.
44:15
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know what it was, but it took me a little while to recognize it is important to talk to people, it is important to share, and it is important to educate.
44:28
SPEAKER_01: And this becomes so fulfilling.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: And when you do follow your purpose, your dhamma, whatever it is, you make more money.
44:35
SPEAKER_01: You are happier.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: You do attract the wonderful relations.
44:38
SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't feel like a slog.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't feel like you're in the wrong job.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: It feels like you're in the right job.
44:42
SPEAKER_04: Right.
44:43
SPEAKER_01: My work feels so fun and light and rewarding and abundant.
44:48
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
44:49
SPEAKER_01: But when I was doing work that wasn't like this, it felt like heavy.
44:53
SPEAKER_01: It felt like a slog.
44:54
SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: So in branding and what you find there, do you feel that there is a connection with a lot of your clients?
45:01
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel that they are living their purpose?
45:03
SPEAKER_01: And can you tell straight away when somebody is or isn't?
45:08
SPEAKER_01: Because that takes awareness.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: If you're designing logos and designing brands.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: I think I can definitely tell, but I don't think I can go into that when I develop a visual concept for a brand or a person, that's up to that person to find their dharma and follow that, right?
45:30
SPEAKER_00: But if they want help with packaging their current business or product, then I'm here to do that and to understand what their vision is for that product.
45:42
SPEAKER_00: But if that's their dharma, I cannot really go into that.
45:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
45:48
SPEAKER_01: I think the the the truth is that you've got to find out sometimes the easy way, sometimes the hard way.
45:56
SPEAKER_01: So if someone's listening right now and they feel unseen, your job in branding is to make people see seen.
46:02
SPEAKER_01: But if someone feels unseen, whether that's professionally or personally, what tips would you give people?
46:10
SPEAKER_01: Because there's lots of people listening or watching right now who probably want to be seen or heard or acknowledged in some capacity, but on.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: I think my first advice would be to shut out all the noise and all the input from the outside world.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: Go somewhere quiet and try to listen to what is it that you can contribute with uniquely?
46:36
SPEAKER_00: What is it that's unique about you?
46:38
SPEAKER_00: What do you have to offer the world that other people don't?
46:42
SPEAKER_00: What what do you have here that you want to share with the world?
46:46
SPEAKER_00: And once you find that and you start sharing that, I think automatically you will get seen and it will feel right, and you will also at that point feel like you are standing in your own truth, that you are speaking your truth.
47:02
SPEAKER_00: And when you do that, you also care less about what other people think about that.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: So you're free then, aren't you?
47:09
SPEAKER_01: So then you're free.
47:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:10
SPEAKER_01: You're free of the external opinions of what you were trying to seek with external validation, and now you've got internal validation.
47:19
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: And then automatically that will be received, I believe.
47:24
SPEAKER_00: And you will be seen, and you will not be seen for something that is that doesn't mean anything to you.
47:30
SPEAKER_00: You will be seen for something that fills you with purpose because it's yours.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: Um Victoria, it's been so interesting speaking with you.
47:42
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing your soul.
47:45
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for your candidacy.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being so open.
47:49
SPEAKER_01: Um and I really was inspired by what you've been doing with uh growing aware and helping young people.
47:56
SPEAKER_01: I think that is something that I I really like to be able to highlight here.
48:01
SPEAKER_01: And uh I wish you every success.
48:03
SPEAKER_01: So I'd just like to say this week's super soul model is Victoria Boyding.
48:08
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, James.
48:10
SPEAKER_00: It's been a pleasure.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening.
48:13
SPEAKER_01: And if this episode resonated with you, make sure you follow the podcast and leave a review.
48:18
SPEAKER_01: It really helps us continue these conversations.