This series is called SOL Sessions. What is it that you do that makes your SOL sing?
Living my values.
Tell us about your career path. How did you get to where you are now?
What does living a Soulful life mean, or look like to you?
To me that means living your values, exercising and getting into nature each day making sure you have a balance between all things that are important to you and creating.
How important is creativity in your day to day life?
It's a core part of the human condition and one that is so important to me. I have so many interests and ideas, I love creating art, businesses and exploring new concepts. If anything it's too important because I've got into a mindset that if I need to be productive at every waking moment and that is a gauge of a successful day. If anything I need to learn how to chill the F out and be more mindful and present and simply enjoy the creativity of the present moment as it is e.g. nature rather than feeling I need to be the one to create.
What have been the biggest challenges, or lessons in creating a values aligned business?
The greatest challenge for me has been reconciling value-aligned with revenue. The way the world works is that the environment comes cheap and any work that is beneficial to it or society should be no cost ... which is frigging crazy. Polluters don't pay, people expect social or environmental work to be done pro-bono or given for free and some people criticise others for trying to allow themselves an income by doing good work. It's changing but needs to change faster. A price on carbon would be a good start.
Do you have any daily routines that nurture your soul?
I have the ultimate soul morning and I honestly can't understand why more people don't do it. A 6am run with my besties through bush track and ending with a cold swim (no matter what the weather)... seriously the best thing in the world and I get to do it every day. Awake, rejuvenated and have had fun before the world (or the rest of my house) wakes up.
Talk us through your creative process. Where do you start?
I start by starting. I'm a big believer in fake it til you make it. I've started 2 businesses with hardly any capital and I get my course participants to feel like they are living zero waste before they even change their shopping. It's all about starting when it's less than perfect, doing snowball actions (actions that lead to more actions e.g. launching a course with only 1 week created... good incentive to get the other 5 weeks done) and building a website. The number 1 piece of business advice I can give is start building a website... by the time you are ready to hit 'publish' you will have used the website process as your creative process to refine your business ideas and you'll have a business!
Finally, tell us about an upcoming project you’re passionate about.
Sending my book version of 6 Weeks to Plastic Free to the publisher and getting it published.!! Hopefully writing this is a snowball action that will keep me accountable for getting it out the door. Watch this space.
For more information on Jacqui's 6 Weeks to Plastic Free course visit www.6weekstoplasticfree.com
