20: Emotional Plumbing
Today we're diving into the wild world of kinesiology with the incredible Alice Bullivant, who's here to explain what the fuck it actually is (because let's be real, most of us have no clue).
Alice takes us on her journey from being a total skeptic to becoming a badass holistic kinesiologist and mind-body medicine practitioner. She's spilling all the tea on how this shit works and why it's different from other health practices that might be cramping your style.
But it's not all woo-woo chat - we get into the nitty-gritty of running a successful wellness business, including how to keep your own health in check when you're busy helping everyone else with theirs. Because let's face it, you can't pour from an empty cup (or wine glass, we don't judge).
Whether you're curious about kinesiology or just want to hear how another woman built her empire in the wellness space, this episode is packed with real talk, laughs, and zero bullshit advice. Trust us, your mind and body will thank you for listening to this one!
Number of fucks given in this episode: 16
Mentioned in this episode:
Before we had period undies, we had sanitary belts
Transcript
Emily: Welcome to the Fuck Around and Find Out podcast, where your hosts, Emily, Rah and Christine. We are three women who have built and run our own businesses, and I'm here to shoot the shit on everything about women in business and running your own business. Rah.
Rah: Hi. Tell
Emily: me about yourself. Hi. Dating profile, please.
Rah: Yeah, sure. So you want to know my age, sex, and location. That's what you used to have to type into chat back in the olden days.
Emily: You know, interested to see whether you what your kinks were. Oh, okay. Oh,
Rah: well my kinks are a clean file structure in everything, including documents, Canva. Photoshop layers. What I'm hearing is I'm immediately
Emily: not your kind of girl.
No, but you're my kind of girl. I am not a clean file structure kind of person. I'm a fucking chaotic mess.
Rah: I mean, I'm fully [00:01:00] capable of being chaotic. I am a Gemini, so.
Emily: We're literally a week apart, Geminis. How are you organised and I'm not?
Rah: Because I have such severe anxiety if things aren't organised. And then when things aren't organised, shit falls apart.
And I'm like, well.
Emily: I mean true, but I'm also organized chaos. Like, I know where everything is in my chaos. I mean,
Rah: which is fun, right? Thank god. But anyway, yes, so I'm Rah, I do digital marketing and I am sitting in between Em, but also Chris. Hey Chris.
Christine: Hey Rah. How you doing? I'm very, very good, thank you are you?
Tell us who you are. Well, I mean, I think I've said before that I'm Christine, I'm a Capricorn and I'm one half of Juniper Road. Tell us your picks Chris, come
Rah: on. Repeat what I said. Well, opposites attract because I
Christine: do like balance. I like empty places. Um, inboxes, um,
Emily: can I just caveat? I was saying Mm-Hmm.
Chris is so regimented with cleaning her inbox that she will send an email. And also have a response and it's cleaned out of the inbox before I've even had a chance to go in and read it. [00:02:00] And I'll be there like, where the fuck's his email gone? And then I'll look for the sent email and I'm like, where the fuck's the sent email gone?
And she's like, it's all in the box.
Christine: It's all
Emily: in the file. Can we not wait for like
Rah: a week before he's online? I think Chris, you need to do a masterclass on all of that.
Christine: I certainly do because there's a couple of rules, you know, um, of thought. Is you can be a zero hero, which is by the end of the day, you have absolutely no option.
Emails in your inbox or you're a one pager. It means you don't have to scroll to get to the bottom of your in emails That is what I aspire to because zero hero is incredibly challenging Um, and sometimes when all the ClickUp notifications come, it takes me a while because right now I'm scrolling ClickUp.
Yes, yes, you certainly are. Ah yes, so Juniper Road. One stop shop. I'm borrowing Emily's term, uh, Operational Shared Services for small to medium businesses. And, um, yes, [00:03:00] I've got a froggy throat today, so, uh, that's a challenge for today.
Emily: Yes. You're sounding great.
Christine: Thank you very much.
Emily: I'm Emily and I'm just whatever she said.
Just ditto. A big ditto. Ditto. I'm Chaos. She's Calm. We work together and it's beautiful harmony.
Rah: You guys are definitely a good match. very much. Yeah,
Emily: fuck yeah. Oh, the amount of times I laugh at that, it's ridiculous. Um, I was talking something last night and someone said something, I'm like, Oh no, that's Chris's problem.
That's what Chris does. Yeah,
Alice: that's right. I turn them
Emily: into English. You really do. Chris is going to introduce our
Christine: fabulous guest. I know, I have the great pleasure, um, in introducing Alice Bullivant from Kinesialis. Um, so let me tell you about Kinesi Alice. Um, first and foremost, Alice is a mother of two children, um, and also a wife.
I had the script different. I had wife and mother of two children. [00:04:00] Um, she is an integrative complementary medicine therapist, holistic kinesiologist, and mind body medicine practitioner. One of the first 15 in Australia, in fact. The great thing is you can cut that one out. Starting in 2013, Alice studied at the College of Complementary Medicine in Sydney and has an Advanced Diploma of Integrative Complementary Medicine, a Diploma of Kinesiology, a Diploma of Mind Body Medicine, and has also received a Certificate in Tissue Salts from Martin and
Emily: Pleasance.
Damn.
Christine: As a published author, having been asked to write a chapter for two box books, sorry, on health and wellness. Welcome Alice Bullivant. Thank you very much.
Alice: That
Emily: sounded real fancy. Yeah. Very fancy. I bow before thee. [00:05:00] Can I also say too, when I first met you and you were, we were both presenting at a marketing thing.
Yes. I loved the way you introduced yourself and how you were talking about kinesiology. I remember you being like, yeah, I didn't believe in all this crap. I was like, no, I'm on the, I'm on the bandwagon. Oh, totally. Please tell us about yourself. So
Alice: I'm Alice, I'm a Leo.
Uh, yes. So as I said, I didn't believe in any of that, you know, natural therapy rubbish many years ago. I, and I had to get smacked in the head a number of times before I figure it out, that maybe there was something in this whole, you know, natural therapy crap. Yes. So, over the course of my life I've worked in big business, I've worked in small business, I've worked for McDonald's, I've worked for pharmaceuticals companies.[00:06:00]
Um, yeah, I've done a variety of different things, but when I look back, except for McDonald's maybe, um, the I'm lovin it! We all are, don't worry. I look, you know It was a good, it was actually a really good job. I had a lot of fun, but, um, you know, McDonald's
Christine: rejected me. They wouldn't give me a job. Oh. Curse them to
Emily: the agents.
I know. I was a crew trainer. Oh, oh. Show up. Shut
Christine: up
Emily: until I walked out one day on mid shift and went, fuck a lot of you. And how this is being run in this stupid franchise. Mm-Hmm. . Mm-Hmm. , if anything. Yeah. Digs. Yeah, my
Alice: kids actually have and do both work at McDonald's, and yeah, some of the stores are interesting.
And others, yeah. So, but as a general rule, I've found that I have worked in some type of health related thing, somehow, over the course of my life. And I just, yeah, I never realised that until recently when I thought about it, and I went, oh, it was always there. [00:07:00] Just didn't see it. A lot. Yes. So, um, I ended up in kinesiology when my son, who's now nearly 20, was 5 or so, and just, I don't know, struggling to settle into life, I guess.
And we just couldn't, you know, did all the normal testing, couldn't figure out really what was going on for him. Then we found out he was, um, Rather bright, apparently. Um, I do wonder on some days. So, yes, and I love a boy. Yeah, so they sent me off to this woman who did this particular program, and she spent a bit of time with him and she goes, I think you should go see a kinesiologist.
And I went, what? And she goes, you know, kinesiologist, blah blah blah, they'll work it out. And so I went, and I just went, oh, I guess. And it just worked. And I went, huh. And then Things just seem to get better, and then I was talking to [00:08:00] a friend of mine who's actually been quite instrumental in my life, actually.
And I said to her, I'm seeing this kinesiologist, and she goes, oh my god, am I taking my kid to one too? And I went, Okay, cool. Um, and then she comes back to me about three months later and she goes, Oh, found this weekend cause we can go figure out what these weirdos are doing to our kids.
Wouldn't be the first time someone said
Rah: that. Exactly.
Alice: So, and I'm thinking, yeah, whatever weekend off 50 bucks. That sounds pretty good to me. I'm quite happy with that. So, uh, off I went and, uh, the, very first day of that course. I'm like, that's what I want to do when I grow up. Cool. Yeah. So, and then I signed up then and started studying the next week and here I am.
Oh my God. Yes.
Christine: Yep. Is seriously how to find someone. Something that just snaps, resonates so immediately, and then you can just get right [00:09:00] in there, um, and do it. So, you talk about, yeah, what are these weirdos doing to our children, kind of thing, so, what is kinesiology? Like, how does it differ, you know, for somebody who doesn't know?
How does it differ like from a physiotherapy or sports science or another allied health type?
Alice: Well, I find a good way to describe it is like being an energy plumber. Yeah. Uh, so the plumber obviously And a kinesiologist will unblock the energy in your body. But we're not just energy beings, we're also physical beings, we're emotional beings.
So it's about unblocking the energy and all of those things. Um, and I guess it's, it's kind of like, The GP of types for natural therapies. It's not exactly the same, but you know how the GP will look at a lot of the stuff. We look at everything, head to foot, inside [00:10:00] out, um, you know, stuff that's happened in the past.
How is your knee connected to your shoulder? You know, um, how is that stuff connected to emotions? How's that stuff connected to energy? So we look at everything. And I think that's the key difference for kinesiology over, look, literally everything else. So physiotherapy obviously is very physical most of the time.
Um, and they tend to focus on where the thing hurts, but just because that thing hurts doesn't mean that's the problem. Very often it's something else. So we look at, yeah,
Christine: brain kind of thing. So, you know, like you hear a lot of thing, um, you know, like information about, you know, a lot of ailments come from your gut kind of thing, but it shows somewhere else in your body.
So, Yeah, that's right.
Alice: So, and then even from that, look, most of the time I find, you know, when someone has something physical, even if it is gut stuff, there's still something emotional going on behind that. So, yes. And I love people. I love [00:11:00] people watching. I've always been like that. So it's actually a really great, I love it.
So. Bye. Bye. Yeah. So, and it's actually been a really good thing conveniently to be interested in people watching because it's what I do.
Emily: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It's funny how like the tie together of it, I know, like I had a friend. Um, a few years ago, Rave to me, before I, I feel like I told you this story when we first met, but um, She saw a kinesiologist and she was saying, she was just like, oh my god, you have to go.
She's like, I just sobbed my brain out for like a good hour afterwards. She's like, it just released so much inside me. I feel so light now, like I've really processed all of this shit I was going through. She's like, I can't, I can't, um, recommend it high enough. I was like, what's a kinesiologist? Yeah, exactly.
I mean, I don't know if I want to cry at that. I like to shove that shit down. Like, you know, but she was raving about it.
Alice: Comes back to bite you eventually. [00:12:00] So, yeah. And that's the thing I think is that most people want that, right? They just want to feel lighter. They want to feel release. However, that comes out.
And, you know, we can work through academically all the stuff that we like. But if it's stored in your body, it really makes no difference. So it still sits there so that you always get triggered or, you know, respond in the same way as you did the first time it happened. Because there's a really cool book called The Body Keeps the Score.
And it's really, it's about how your body will hang on to the stuff even if, you know, you think you've done the work. Because I actually Is that true? Yeah.
Christine: I feel like it is true actually. Like I No wonder my body hurts all the time. Yeah. I feel like it's a lie.
Alice: A lie.
Christine: You know, whether it's, you know, you've gone through versions of grief and hardship and trauma or, you know, like I think about myself and I mean, you know, dramatically not a size six kind of thing, but I think, you know, some of my [00:13:00] stuff I'm sure is in my physical, my physical appearance.
Um, some of that is emotional. I totally, and I
Alice: look, when I had my son, I actually had quite severe postnatal depression, which I didn't recognize because I had always been taught that people who had depression just needed to harden the fuck up and take a dose of Smith. So that was, yeah, that's right. So then I ended up with postnatal depression, end up in a psych ward for, I think nine weeks or something like that.
And That's such a shitty way to have a kid. Well, in the end, it was actually the opening of stuff for me, because I actually got from the point from, well, you know, there's something wrong with you, you need to harden the fuck up, to, oh, hang on, this depression stuff's actually real, um, to then when I got to kinesiology and when I started studying, um, You know, I'd been given a lot of the tools in the psych ward that I use now, [00:14:00] because I remember that first day with all the other women that were in there.
I'm like, Oh fuck, how much time do I have to spend with these losers? Followed by you want me to draw affirmation cards? Like what is wrong with you people? And then I'm not going to art therapy because that is bullshit. Um, And all of those things, that creative stuff, the cards, the, obviously the community with women, all of that sort of stuff is stuff I still use to this day.
So, but you know, when I left the psych ward, I thought that, you know, I was sorted and stuff. And especially when I got released from the psychiatrist, I'm like, yeah, I'm totally sorted. Yeah, that's right. So then I studied kinesiology. And I'm going to go help people, because, you know, I'm fine, so I'm going to help other people.
Cool. So, three weeks in, I'm like, fuck, now I have to do the work. I gotta do all that [00:15:00] stuff. And I thought I was sorted, and then I realised I wasn't really. I was still playing out the same behaviours, just with more. Maybe awareness of what I was doing, but yeah, still had to do the work. You just basically described me.
Not very much, just describing. Knew I
Emily: liked you. That's all I do.
Alice: Yeah. It's a thing, but look, it's, you know, that's life. Life is hard. Oh yeah. Being a mum's not easy either. Exactly. So, and, um, You know, you can not deal with it or deal with it. It doesn't matter. It's still, stuff still is going to happen to you.
So yeah, but kinesiology conveniently doesn't have to be, well I have to unpack this and examine it for the next 17 years. I can actually just release it sometimes.
Christine: I think it sounds like a very good idea. I mean, who here doesn't have some kind
Emily: of trauma? Oh my gosh. Everyone always. Be [00:16:00] prepared. Be
Christine: prepared.
I'll book with you because, you know, I do need to do some, um, packing. I went to a kinesiologist a thousand years ago, right? And, um, and I have problems with my lower back, but my neck used to often freeze up kind of thing. And, um, and it was a chiropractor who practiced kinesiology and I'm very frightened of chiropractors because I haven't met one previously or even after that who hadn't cracked my neck.
And even when I requested not to crack my neck,
Emily: Shout out to Jonathan, my lovely carer, who I've been preaching to you about. Yeah, I know. I have to ask him to crack the neck. Yeah,
Christine: no, no, please. Oh, you know, if you, if you crack my neck, I will hit you very hard, uh, kind of thing after I've recovered from the shock.
But anyway, saw the kinesiologist, didn't know what that meant, practicing it. Um, and it's so long ago, I don't remember absolutely everything, but I just remember [00:17:00] thing being told after, I don't know, pressure points or something like that, um, that I have a lactose intolerance, which of course to this day I kind of ignore because, you know, also told like you absolutely adore the stuff you shouldn't eat, right?
And so love cheese, milk, and I can't, I don't drink, um, you know, coffee or milk based drinks if I've got to talk like this because it does affect my throat. But, um, got told, um, that I should give up. Uh, dairy.
Alice: Um,
Christine: for four weeks and see how it, how it went. And of course at the time I was incredibly the chocoholic.
Like I just looked at chocolate, inhaled it, you know. I would, I had no memory of the chocolate I ate because I just inhaled it. Um, anyway, four weeks I gave it up. I endured. Rice, milk, and all of that, and you know, all that horrible stuff to replace it. Um, but I lost weight, and I actually did feel absolutely much better.
Um, and it wasn't about the weight loss, it was just about the, Oh my God, you know, this actually [00:18:00] is not really ideal for me. I should, um, go back there, um, and maybe, Give up dairy. Um, but yes, I like that to click up. Yeah. Could you have everything to click up? Please to remind me to click up. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah, so that's my, that's my limited experience with a kinesiologist, but it's always sat with me, you know, and I am, I'm going back to life.
last century people. Uh, that's how far back we're going.
It's a thing now. Yeah, I know. It's really scary. Well, my son. Mr. 17 year old will often say in the olden days, last century, when you were a young mum, you know, that kind of thing, which kids love to do it because I'm sure I did it to my mum or whatever in the olden days. We used to have like,
Emily: we watched this thing when we were younger about like frequencies, like over a certain age, you can't hear a certain frequency anymore.
And we'd find that recording [00:19:00] and play it. And just sit and watch and see if mom and dad would hear it and they'd just be like la la la la and we'd be like oh you're so old you can't hear the frequency. Oh my gosh.
Christine: That's
Alice: what we used
Emily: to do.
Christine: Oh love you too. Absolutely lovely. Yes.
Rah: Kids are such jerks.
Aren't they just?
Christine: So you've got, um, if we were to trawl through your website, which of course I did, restoration for today. Now she's got a list of things I need to fix too. Yes, we'll talk about some of those later. Um, but yes, so you've got blogs and, you know, article resources. And you're quite the writer in your blog, so you must enjoy that.
Alice: Yeah, I never, you know, again, when I look back over the course of my life, this stuff I saw early, I just didn't recognise it. Because I loved English at school. Um, and look, I was pretty good at it, but, you know, it wasn't something I obviously pursued. [00:20:00] Um, but yeah, I've found that's come back. I think I like it.
Um, teaching people. So, but I don't want to be a teacher. Um, but I do like teaching people. So, and I think that's why, cause I, yeah, I find that I'm trying to do that in my writing. Teaching people, so. And for me, that really aligns with what I do in my job anyway. Cause what I'm really passionate about is, um, helping you understand what your body's telling you.
So, it's all very well and good to, you know, test stuff and all the things that we do as a kinesiologist and go, well, you have this and you have that. Um, but it's also, okay, well, this is an issue and we can see it in this pattern and this behaviour and in your history and all of that sort of stuff so that you can start to see, like, connect the dots basically.
Oh, gosh, yeah.
Christine: And it's very, education's very important as well. Especially around bodies. So we had um, a guest on episode four and um, Sam Eberwhite um, was [00:21:00] talking um, and that was fascinating and we actually were, we ended up getting on the topic of sex education and sex education in the school system and um, just the need for you know, telling the truth, using the right terminology, And, um, and the fact that it's not just children, um, and teens who don't know much about their body.
There's lots of adults who don't know about their body and their functions and the bits and pieces and the names of the parts and all of that sort of stuff. Um, so I think the educate, the opportunity to educate, um, is very important and I think there's that hunger for a little bit more knowledge about our bodies.
I know. as someone who is going through perimenopause. The symptoms of that were incredibly Unknown to me, um, and you know, I think back to my mother and whilst my mother was very vocal about changes and anything in her body, that kind of thing, [00:22:00] but I have no recollection about a conversation about medicals and so I
Emily: just had one with my grandma and my mom this last weekend.
Yeah. Yeah. I was just in the room. Yes. Talking about it. My mum said she's passed it and she was like, Oh, apparently I've got good genes coming for me for this. Because both of them were like, Yeah, no, I've never had any hot flashes or anything like that. I'm like, wait, so if you both have not had it, do you think it's good for me?
She's like, Oh yeah, yeah, you'll be all right. Yeah,
Rah: until they start happening and then they'll be like, Oh no, you've got it
Christine: all. I think that's, but also my luck, but I think it's the, the common, um, thought of is, you know, menopause is, you know, of course, you know, irregular periods, hot flushes, um, But what else is there?
But there's such a long list, you know, no sleep. I mean, I've got the, um, I feel like ants are crawling over my skin. That is a symptom of menopause, um, type of thing. [00:23:00] And, um, so there is an, the unknownness. So I'm kind of thinking the education piece about our bodies. Is so so important because how do you know really that something is you can I know in your body You often think I don't feel right, but you don't know what it is, but I think it's important to know Yeah, you know what?
It's just not in my head. There is actually And look even if it is in your head. Well, that's true attached to your body. Well, it's hard. Yeah absolutely, so Yeah education totally
Alice: Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. Um, you know, this age now is such a generational change. Like I remember when I was a kid, my mum, when you know, came time for periods and stuff, my mum, I would try and talk to her about it.
So she gave me a book, Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret. Oh my God,
Emily: Margaret. Yes.
Alice: So, and I wasn't, I still wasn't prepared then, because in that book it [00:24:00] actually references when you used to have the little clip things attached to your periods. Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, to the 1950s, yeah, little belt thing, yeah, that's right.
And then, um, so, obviously that was vaguely, yeah. Mindly helpful, I suppose. Luckily, I like to read, hey. Um, and then followed by, um, you know, I've asked more questions. I've got another book, Every Girl. Um, and then when I actually got my period, and I remember that because I actually yelled out the window to my mum who was hanging clothes on the line.
So she came inside and gave me another fucking book. She gave me every woman because now I was ready for that. And we literally never had a conversation, literally never. So, and that's the thing now is, uh, especially, you know, with the technology that we have now, but just, I guess the way that we have changed as.
People, conversations are open now, we're having these types of [00:25:00] conversations around periods, menopause, kids sucking, and you know, stuff like that, and they were all the things we never used to, and now, yeah, at least our kids, or the next generation, will be much more prepared, I think, than we were, because we got to, as your podcast is called, fuck around and find out.
So, yeah. Yeah.
Christine: Yes. Oh, so moment. I think the story of how you came into and made a decision to become a kinesiologist is pretty awesome. But since training. Yeah. Graduating, setting up and getting into business. Is there a particular awesome woohoo moment in that journey? Um. One, two, ten, you know?
Alice: Yeah, well see, I think I've been a lot unconscious for a lot of my life, um, physically and metaphorically.
Um. And even [00:26:00] when I was studying, because, uh, to be a diploma level, um, uh, kinesiologist, which is basically what if you, if we ever get health fund rebates back, and that's another story, um, only diploma level qualified kinesiologists can get that, um, rebate things. So, so it does take a good couple of years at least, but honestly, you know, life is a lifelong journey to So, um, but even at that point I still hadn't figured out that I needed to run a business.
Um, and funny enough,
Emily: yeah,
Alice: well, it's turns out you can't really just go on. So you can find a job as a kinesiologist and yeah,
Emily: Hmm. Who would've thought?
Alice: Yeah. So then I kind of, and I never even intended to open up a business actually, I was practicing on friends. I was dragging my massage table around. I got over that real quick, let me tell you.
And [00:27:00] my best friend was coming to my house cause I was practicing on her a bit and she goes, so when are you going to like open a business? And I went, I don't know. I think I was, yeah, I think I was starting to get to the point with, Oh, I'm going to have to create this whole job thing myself here. Um, man, maybe I should do stuff with all this study I've done.
And, uh, and I went, Oh, I don't know, probably soon, I guess, probably have to figure out how to do that stuff. And she goes, cool. Cause, um, such and such, and I don't remember who it was now, but such and such is coming. Next Thursday. And again, yeah. And I'm like, Oh, okay. So anyway, I ended up setting up in my, um, I think I've had a number of moments actually, now that, um, you've asked that question.
So I, you know, literally set up in a book. Bedroom in my house. So people had to walk through my house, which was fun because you know with two small children Yes So and so I did that for a little [00:28:00] while and then I've kind of gone I think that I probably could maybe grow this business a bit by you know, moving out of home Not literally moving out of home.
Although that is appealing. Sometimes I have to say So yeah, so then I started, I had to do this whole big girl thing and you know, rent a space and I had to rent it for a day and a half and oh my God, it was the most terrifying things now. I'm like, okay, now I actually have to make money because I've got to pay bills.
So yeah. Yep. And so that went on for a little while and probably a few years, I suppose, because it's actually been 10 years I've been in business now, which is really cool. That's awesome. That is
Christine: seriously great.
Alice: So, and I used to, as I said, I used to work for a pharmaceuticals company, uh, as well. So I was basically got to the point where I was working three days in clinic and three days in this job.
And then I went. How did I end up working more than I did in the [00:29:00] first place? Like, how did I manage that? And then I was like, okay, well I'm probably going to have to, you know, consider this whole full time stuff. And I went, okay, well that's probably a job for future me. And then when I was at my, my job, one day someone came up to me and asked me for something.
And I went, no! And they went, what? Cause I was normally, you know, helpful. And, um, and once upon a time I was normally helpful. Yes. And, yeah. And I went, oh. And then he says to me, oh, you know, why not? And I went, cause I'm not your mother and I'm not your therapist. That, that's why. And then I went, Oh, I better go home.
So I shut my laptop and I left. So that was one woohoo moment. And then probably not long after that, um, I had a new boss, um, who was my colleague, and he'd become my boss, and he wasn't very good at saying no to people. And he insisted that I go to this meeting, and I [00:30:00] hated meetings, because this company I worked for insisted on having meetings for the sake of having meetings, and they have, would have meetings to prepare for the meetings for the sake of having meetings, and then have meetings after the meetings for the sake of having meetings.
And I hated meetings, right? Just in case you didn't get that from that. I got the vibe, yep. So yeah. And I said to my boss, I really don't need to go to that meeting. And he goes, no, no, you really need to go. It's really important. Blah, blah, blah. And I went, I really don't need to go. And anyway, he made me go and I've got 10 minutes into the meeting.
And that was when I had this fuck this shit moment. And I walked out because I'm like, I don't need to be here. I went downstairs to the coffee shop. Everyone else assumed that I was at a meeting. Because I'd left a meeting, probably to go to a meeting. And then I went, I think I'm done. So, yeah. So, then I quit.
And, yeah. Yeah,
Christine: that's awesome. And it's just like how it naturally it just [00:31:00] naturally that that demarcation between one thing and your mind and you're thinking to move on and take the leap because it's a huge big thing, isn't it? Oh, yeah. You know, taking the leap out of the comfort, you know, the financial security comfort.
of an employee to gig into your big girl pants having to yeah, pay rent and really, you know, make it work.
Alice: Yeah. But then you rely on your income one way or another and you've got to
Christine: absolutely make it. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. That's oh my God.
Rah: And to hear. That you did that? Yep. And you have, from looking at you, you haven't regretted it?
Alice: No, not at all. Like you would've had some
Rah: bumps along the way for sure. But to,
Alice: yeah, the first month after I went full time into the business, I had more cancellations in that first month and I'd had literally ever, so, and then I went. Ooh. Um, and then, oh yeah, totally. What have I done? Yeah, exactly. Um, and [00:32:00] then obviously COVID, you know.
Oh yeah. Um, but got through that. And actually, I mean, things generally got pretty bad. I did have, for the first time ever at the beginning of this year, I actually had quite a quiet period where I was like, Oh, if this continues, I'm probably going to have to get a job. Um, but then obviously everyone's. You know, got on board with their, um, where, how the finance, you know, situation is for everyone at the moment.
And yeah. I mean, that's the
Christine: thing, you know, the cost of living is extraordinarily painful. Um, and you know, sometimes I know for myself, I would, um, put something aside because yeah, the gym membership, I wasn't going to the gym. So I've canceled that. It's an easy thing to cancel. Sometimes I go, yeah, we don't need all of those streaming services.
So we get rid of one and all of that. But, I'm starting to feel the cost in my body of not having that gym membership. Um, [00:33:00] and that's, yeah, you know, and at the end of the day, I mean, I know you talk about health rebates and stuff like that, and not everything is covered by your private health insurance and your extras and all of that, and that sometimes is a hard pill to swallow as well.
But, the cost. Of not doing something becomes very expensive, I think, and I've got to that stage. Yeah, and I think
Alice: that's where everybody's got to at the moment. Because I guess we're kind of used to it to some degree, not that it makes it less painful sometimes. No, no, but you know. Yeah, but that's the thing, there's bigger picture costs.
Yes, yes.
Christine: Yeah, um, we have a business coach and um, I met with, um, Kirsten a couple of months ago. And we were just talking and she was talking about that painful epiphany moment. You know of, and essentially it's like your breaking point. Um, and how you need to make some changes. Cause this year for me has been like about boundaries.
And I struggle with [00:34:00] boundaries. I'm a big gap person. big work in progress. Um, and, you know, we're talking about that and, you know, she had a car accident several years before and she knew that that was her breaking point and needed to make changes. And we're going, Oh, well, maybe you have one. And then it's like, Oh, do Chris, you know, I, I jokingly say I broke my back like two years ago, actually.
Um, but I, you know, ended up, you know, flat on my back and then surgery and stuff like that. And I've just, You know, I've got to go back to the gym or something because it's like, I can't do that again. I've had my moment, but I've been ignoring it. Um, and I think, uh, it comes to a point you can't, we are, I can't, but got to stop ignoring it.
We've been having this conversation quite strongly
Emily: this last week. Yeah, I have got plantar fasciitis in my foot and I've struggled hard with that at the moment. Like it, I'll have days where. I just can't walk at some point and it kind of everyone whole fucking body is broken. So, but I'm, you know, the catch 22 for me is like, I want to go for a walk to try [00:35:00] and like get moving.
But walking hurts. So it's kind of like, well, what do I do? You know? And so I'm at the point where I froze my gym membership as opposed to cancel it completely because I got swindled by the girl at the desk when I tried to cancel it. Um, and now I'm like, well, maybe I need to go back and swim. But then it's like, where's the time in the day to do that?
Cause then I'm a girl, I got hair, I gotta wash myself afterwards. Yeah. It's a whole fricking process and I'm not a morning person. I'm not good with that. I am like the devil reincarnated when I wake up in the morning. I'm not a morning person. So getting up early to do that stuff is just not gonna fit me.
Um, and so it's like, what the fuck do we do?
Alice: I know this is, this is actually a really interesting because a lot of people have this issue where, where am I going to find time to look after myself? But the thing is, if you do keep ignoring stuff, eventually your body will bring you to your knees and make you [00:36:00] reprioritize stuff.
Cause look, we all do that at times, right? So, yeah, because I often will have women where the, the thought of spending five minutes doing something just for them in the day will cause them to have a panic attack. So, but that's the thing. It's so important if you don't look after, you know, that meme that you can't pour from an empty cup.
Yes. Yes. That's the thing. That's the thing, right? And if you're the cup, so if you, um, yeah, if you drain the cup, then how are you supposed to do all of the things that you're prioritizing? And I actually like, um, I've seen it before, I can't really remember where, but it's basically fill the cup and then give from the overflow.
Yes. Yes. Yeah. No, I like that.
Emily: You're right. And it's for me, I know it and I know Chris is the same. I wish. It's that whole, as I'm doing things, like going to the gym while yet I'll be like lacking it at the point. But then I'm also in the back of [00:37:00] my head is that constant, you have so much to do, like do this, do that, do this, do that.
There's still so much to do. And I'm just like, what the fuck. It's also my own fault because I overloaded myself. Yeah, but
Alice: the other thing is, you're a business owner and there is never I think that's the thing we focus on a lot, right? Is that there's an end point to stuff. And as a business owner, as we all are, there is no end point.
No. And there is no department to hand stuff over to for, you know, small business and that sort of stuff. We'll just
Emily: turn that to the marketing department. That's right. I would have really
Alice: liked an IT department today, I have to say. Um, but yeah, I think that's, The thing is that we think the stuff is finished and that's why we struggle with a lot of the routine stuff and also the, I guess the self care stuff because it's like once I finish this, but the thing is you don't ever finish.
It's just finish for that moment. It's like washing, you think, or you know, cooking. It never ends, right? Yeah. It's just [00:38:00] No,
Christine: it never does. No. Yes. Oh my God. It opens up a Pandora's box I've got at. Yes, absolutely. So, um, before we get to Pandora's boxes, um, I just was wondering, like, um, I'm sure there's a lot of, um, things facing, like in your, the kinesiology world.
Mm, a lot of challenges. Um, but what, um, would be. One piece, couple of pieces of advice that you would give to somebody who is looking to get into kinesiology which naturally ends up being needing to create a business because you can't find the job on seek kind of thing. So, you know, what, what, what would you recommend?
You know, my son is looking to be a kinesiologist, you know, that kind of scenario. What would be the advice? Yeah,
Alice: well, it's actually something I do work with, with people as [00:39:00] it happens. Um, so the first one, obviously, if you haven't seen one, you'd be amazed how many people become a kinesiologist that haven't actually even seen one.
Um, that fascinates me. Yeah, so maybe a go see one, but also you can look for sort of work experience with a kinesiologist as well. But I think the other thing that's really important is that you need to understand from the get go that you need to create a business and going to kinesiology school will not give you that skill set.
Yep. So, uh, I think that's the, the first thing is that you've got, you, you have to go and learn those business skills. You've got to go. Get a business coach or go to, you know, a program or whatever it is. Uh, you need to just understand that that's where it's at. So, and I think the second thing there is too, because obviously most people in.
service or helping based [00:40:00] industries or therapy or, you know, that sort of stuff, boundaries is a thing, right? And I think that people also need to understand that they are a therapist and they are a business owner and not to let business principles go by the wayside because of, you know, your therapy hat wear.
Yeah, because at the end of the day, as you know, because you have to run a business really to be a kinesiologist most of the time, that's not always the case. Um, you need to have, um, yeah, you need to have that good business structure around it so that you can, you know, You know, help people because if you can't run the business, you can't help people.
So, and yeah, and yeah, and help yourself in the process.
Emily: Big thing, I think too, for service based businesses, like, you know, that are very specific, like, you [00:41:00] know, our, all the three of us, our service based businesses essentially go towards the runnings of fundamental business anyway. So it's different for us because we're specialists in the business sense.
But for something like that, being a kinesiologist, or a physiotherapist, or a chiropractor, or any, anything like that, a cake maker, a photographer.
Christine: Hair salon, you know. Yeah, you're
Emily: specialized in that trade, in that skill set. But then, like, running a business is another
Alice: set of stuff on top. So different. And it's, especially when you're in, I guess, my type of field, too.
They're very different things, you know. Business needs rules, and structure, and people. Bills and all of those sorts of things and kinesiology is, you know, more soft and heart centred and all of that sort of stuff. You're almost two
Christine: people, aren't you? Yeah. And I get that, it's two hats in a business, but it's also two personalities, headspaces, because you certainly can't take your corporate business acumen [00:42:00] To the massage table.
Alice: No, absolutely. So, yeah. And actually that's an interesting topic because over the course of my time, I've actually figured out all of the things that I did before were all, because, you know, for anything you need to be ready to do it. Right. Um, so, but all of the things that I learned before and the experiences I had and the corporate stuff has actually helped me so much when I've got to this point where You know, I've, I know how that, that business stuff works to some degree, um, in order to be able to, you know, be the energy plumber.
Oh my God. I love it. It's awesome. Isn't it?
Christine: So. How does somebody find you if they would like a little bit of plumbing in their energy dump?
Alice: Well, they can. My business is called Kinesi Alice. Actually, that's a bit of a funny story too. So, when I was studying, there was a, she was a marketing person. I can't remember exactly what she did, but she stormed out of college one [00:43:00] day with, oh, I'm not kines Kate.
And I went, oh, that's gold. Oh, that is. So, yeah. So that's why I'm esi. I love Travis. Oh my God. Exactly. Absolutely. Yes. So you can find me on all the socials as ESI Ellis. My website is esi ellis.com au And I'll spell that just in case of people. It's K-I-N-E-S-I-A-L-I-C-E. So how many
Rah: times have
Alice: you stopped that over the last 10 years?
Yeah. So that's brilliant. Oh good, excellent. And I'm in Bella Vista currently. And you can also see a kinesiologist online as well, which is convenient. So if you're anywhere in Australia.
Christine: Oh my god, that's absolutely awesome. Obviously we'll put all those, um, those details in our show notes. But I've got one last question for you.
Can I see Alice if I had a box of all the things that you had lost across your lifetime [00:44:00] up to this point in time, what would be the one thing or something that you would hope to find and take out of that box.
Alice: The first thing that came to mind was this little yellow fluffy duck, uh, that I had when I was a little kid.
Um, we moved from this apartment block in Ashfield to to a townhouse in Ermington and I remember, I was only about four or something, I remember having a meltdown because I could not find this duck. I actually can't remember if I found the duck, so I don't think I did and it was missing one wing. It was very sad.
It's like Nemo. Yes, it was missing a little wing. Uh, yeah, so I think that I'd want that. But I know when, um, the other thing that came up too, so things that have gone missing in my house, I have like a Bermuda Triangle in my house. So in that box, if this box has that stuff as well, we will find iced tea, which I'd bought for someone.
I [00:45:00] literally emptied the fridge and could not find the iced tea. Like I took everything out of the fridge and it actually, no, that showed up like a day later. It was weird. Um, there's a set of car keys from a car I owned, Three cars ago. And there'll be an avocado too. Cause that way we'll see. All right.
But I'll have the duck. I'm happy with the duck. Cause the avocado
Christine: might not be in very good meat. Yeah, it might have gone a bit brown by now. Absolutely. Alice, thank you so much for joining us here. Absolutely. Thank you for having
Emily: me. No, you are more
Christine: than welcome.
Emily: That's it for today's episode. Thank you to our fabulous guest, Alice.
Yay! Can you say Alice? Thank you. Did I say it right? Did I say it right?
Alice: That's all right.
Emily: Um, thank you to the Bella Vista hotel where we are here today in the lovely free podcasting studio, um, for, thank you everyone for listening. If you have enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review and share it with your friends.
Like and subscribe as my little boy would say to all the videos he records of [00:46:00] himself. Thank you. And now we'll play fancy music.
