Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Author: Jules Schroeder

How to Creatively Combine Passion and Purpose for Positive Change with Rising Appalachia’s Chloe Smith

Thoughts inspired by some of Chloe’s favorite quotes:

“You’re Calling is Sometimes Louder than Your Comfort” Being a professional musician was never the initial goal for Chloe Smith. She grew up in a community of musicians and was one of the few kids running around with a bunch of adults.

It didn’t even occur that being a musician was a viable professional career path at the time. Both her and her sister were raised playing classical piano but weren’t interested in investing in the musical route until after they graduated high school.

One of Chloe’s favorite quotes is “your calling is sometimes louder than your comfort”, which contributed to her bravery to take the stage time and time again when music did, in fact, seem to be part of the path. Her quote beautifully represents this aspect of no longer being able to let the discomfort distract you from your purpose. Chloe shared that she’s made tons of material that has never made it to production and that she is usually her own greatest critic.

Is there something that’s been calling your name, but also seems wildly uncomfortable? Sometimes the path isn’t clear until it is, and even then it’s constantly evolving. Notice the breadcrumbs along the way and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Whether you’ve already taken the leap into entrepreneurship or you’re on the fence, the unknown and uncomfortable unfortunately deter so many from choosing the path that beckons their name.

Don’t let your comfort zone keep you forever. Check out what’s on the other side. If you’re anything like Chloe, you’ll combine aspects of your life that you’re deeply passionate about for greater impact and reach.

“Don’t do Art for Art’s Sake” Unlike her sister, Leah, Chloe was really uncomfortable on stage and had to make a conscious effort to choose this path. The sisters had always been very close and were deeply passionate activists. Using their voices for political purposes was the fuel that helped spark their music career, and ultimately a greater movement. This quote from their father naturally invoked a deeper meaning to their music. They set out to spread awareness about the issues that mattered to them and used the music as a platform to reach people in nontraditional ways.

The Slow Music Movement and Rise Collective became ways for them to honor the creatives and place attention on the misaligned values of the music industry. They talk openly about the pitfalls and injustices happening in the music industry. It’s all about leaving the towns they visit better than there were before arriving, advocating for slowing down and rooting deeply into the culture. It’s more than just the music for them. It’s about inspiring people to create the change they wish to see in the world.

Whether you’re an activist, artist, musician, or all three, the common thread is to inspire a deeper feeling, an action, a thought, something that alters or interrupts what was once there before. Even if you believe you haven’t a creative bone in your body, there is a way to incorporate art into your life or business. Add artistic elements to your environment, listen to an inspiring talk about something you’re interested in, or invite a friend to join you at a local event. Get involved with something that matters to you. Create a life that has a deeper meaning, something more than just the money, something that has the ability to make each day greater than the day before.

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Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator, writer, and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia consistently contributes her writing.

February 19, 2019
How to Utilize Your Eroticism to Fuel Your Creative Genius with World Renown Sexologist, Jaiya

It’s widely believed that intimacy must stay behind closed doors, but what if your eroticism is actually fuel that has the ability to awaken latent creative genius in your brain! According to Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich, when channeled effectively your sexuality has unimaginable superpowers. In fact, after a 90-day orgasm challenge, Jaiya tripled her income by using her pleasure as her purpose.

Once a shy little girl, Jaiya grew up in a poor, abusive environment and remembers spending countless hours hiding away in her Catholic school library. She’d dive into books about eroticism and sexuality, frantically learning as much as she could about the ways humans intimately interacted with each other. It’s clear to acknowledge the budding sexologist she already was at such a young age. From eradicating the idea of storks delivering babies amongst her peers to designing a masterful system that helps anyone discover their erotic type, Jaiya made it her mission to uncover and debunk the mysticism around eroticism.

Right before listening to Jaiya’s episode I took the quiz and found out I’m a Kinky Type (Find out what you are here). Initially sharing this feels vulnerable and exposing, but after sitting with what she shared in the podcast, I’m choosing to try on a new option which is to feel permission to be exactly as I am. In a world where sex is primarily a culturally taboo topic, Jaiya is an advocate for releasing shame and uncertainty by providing tools that empower people to embrace this sensational gift we were all given at birth. Sex is a fundamental aspect to life and yet time and time again, Jaiya saw how many of her clients would express dissatisfaction and shame about their needs or desires.

How frequently do you feel shame or misunderstood about your sexual preferences? Does talking about eroticism bring anything up for you? Understanding the drive of your body is a constant learning process, and Jaiya’s work came much from her own trials and tribulations. Part of her service to humanity is helping clients speak, heal and expand the possibilities of pleasure to experience turn on in all realms of their lives.

Jaiya believes that sexual incompatibility is a myth and that each type has its own language. Take the Erotic Blueprint quiz and see what your type is. Learn how to articulate your desires and needs. Share with your partner and learn their type too. Notice your behavioral patterns and thoughts about your sexuality. Find mentors, therapists, and support systems to assist your exploration. Be a student of sexuality and together we can carve a new awareness and greater self-acceptance.

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Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator, writer, and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia consistently contributes her writing.

February 12, 2019
How to Access and Express Your Greatest Gifts with Adam Roa

Try Out These Transformative Tips from Adam:

Look Inside. Once someone who believed he was purely a logical mind that lacked the creative pulse, Adam awakened his artistic potential and began sharing his wisdom to millions around the world. A modern day renaissance man, Adam realized at a young age that no amount of achievement would fill the hole he felt internally and went on a quest to question everything he’d been told about how life was and wasn’t. The longing for wholeness called him to turn his focus inwards and befriend the uncomfortable, vulnerable places within him that he’d once deemed unsafe or too scary. With fierce commitment to willingly look at these parts of himself, Adam is a powerful example of what is possible when you choose to step into the transformative fires to truly love yourself and live your own personal truth.

What parts of yourself have you labeled too damaged, wrong, impossible to be with? What ways of being have you subscribed to unwillingly or unconsciously? Is there a nagging voice inside that begs for something different than your current reality? From his own experience, Adam shares, “the only way to fill up that desire to feel loved, worthy, fulfilled is to go inwards, go inside ourselves and look at the places we don’t feel enough.”

Faceoff with the discomfort and sit with the things that don’t feel good. By choosing to address the aspects of yourself you don’t like, you will discover what lies on the other side of your fears. What will you uncover? What would be possible if your fears didn’t phase you in the way they once did before you faced them?

Breathe. In choosing to sit in the discomfort and give himself permission to feel, Adam continued to see how vital the awareness of breath was for his life. When you take a deep breath, your body begins to signal the parasympathetic nervous system which calms your nerves and shifts you into rest and relaxation. Often people are in a constant stress response, or fight or flight mode because they are taking shorter breaths which activates the sympathetic nervous system.

Next time you feel overwhelmed or nervous, start to focus on your breath. Whether you don’t know what to say in response to someone or you’re moving through an uncomfortable sensation, allowing yourself to have a few deep breaths will provide the space to come back to the present moment and calm your system. Deep breathing lets your body know it’s ok to feel and to be with yourself.

The invitation is to cultivate this awareness in your life and watch the shifts that start to occur.

Be. Adam believes that the greatest gifts arise out of our darkest shadows, and illustrates this statement through his journey of radical self-love and healing after painful, traumatic experiences. The Art of Choosing Love episodes are one of many ways Adam shares his realizations and reconciliations after his loving partnership of 9 and ½ years ended. It is an emotionally all-encompassing story of his healing journey – highs, lows, and everything in between. By being fully himself and modeling authentic and raw vulnerability, Adam illuminates the path to powerfully choose and discover what it means to truly love.

If you look back on your journey, where have you felt the most pain, suffering, sadness, or loss? Where have you perceived weakness or confusion? By giving yourself permission to share all parts of you, you are bringing awareness to those darker places to create different choices and honoring yourself in the process.

You are the Priority. Social media tends to only show the snapshot seconds of our joyous moments and paints a false picture of the full spectrum of the human experience. Adam saw how confusing and overwhelming the saturated messages from social media were, and chose to model the behaviors he wished to see in the world instead of just telling people what to do and how to live.

He prioritizes self-love by choosing not run from himself anymore. Personal development is not always a path of sunshine and rainbows and will likely bring up the scariest parts of you, all the places you’ve pushed away or numbed out. By prioritizing experiences with safe containers to express yourself, you are respecting your unique process and letting the misaligned aspects of your life fall away. When you love yourself enough to say “no more” to anything that dampens your creative expression, you are on track to deeper alignment and love.

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Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator, writer, and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia consistently contributes her writing.

February 6, 2019
Immediately Increase Your Income, Impact, and Influence in 2019 with Lena Elkins

Change Your Mindset, Make More Money. Lena stresses that the first thing that anyone needs to do before they can increase their income is to shift the beliefs they have about what they think is possible for them. Once you’ve opened up the gates of possibility and internalized it, the strategies and aligned action will come. Lena shares, “your beliefs are what ultimately produce your thoughts, and your thoughts are what inspire your reality.”

Notice the thoughts that occur when your bills come in the mail or the next time you go to swipe your credit card for a purchase. Are you having thoughts of ease and effortlessness or are there voices that are telling you that you’re losing money? How do you feel when you’re investing large amounts of money in yourself, your health, your friends, your company, etc? Attune yourself to the background noise that goes on in your mind when the topic of money comes up.

Find out where those thoughts that tell you that “you are enough” or that “you don’t have enough” are lingering and nip them in the bud!

Stop Sabotaging Your Success. How many times have you thought, “if only XYZ were in place, I would…” or “I can’t do…because I don’t have…”? Sound familiar? Quit sabotaging yourself! Lena demands that you stop giving yourself excuses that limit what is possible. She’s a firm believer that there is never a right time and that sometimes you just have to jump into the uncertainty to see what happens.

I love her no-bullshit persona.

What would happen if you chose to take your goals seriously? If no matter how many excuses your brain conjured up that you would take action that is aligned with your desired outcome. The ifs, ands, or buts will always be there, and they will consume you if you let them. Don’t give your brain, which is programmed to preemptively detect things to be afraid of, that kind of satisfaction. Make this the year that you take risks! You never know…you might just surprise yourself.

People Want To Invest in You. Let’s be real. There are billions of people on this planet. There are people out there that are waiting and wanting to pay you for your brilliance. People that need you and your unique offering! Lena says, “most of the time, the reason why people aren’t paying you is because you aren’t showing up and communicating in your own unique way consistently enough and at the level that you need to”. When is the last time you shared about what you were up to?

Lena suggests going on Facebook Live, setting up your sales page, creating an order form, and doing whatever it takes to create opportunities for people to hear what you’re doing. Keep sharing about what matters to you, make sure people know exactly what you do and what your offerings are. Figure out how many ways people can pay you, and share that too! Show up consistently, watch the magic unfold and money start to flow in.

This episode is a tiny taste of what Lena and Jules’ have in store for their Money Manifestation Master Course. Make this the year you transform your online business – sign up now!

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Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia is our Operations Director and consistently contributes her writing.

January 7, 2019
How to Live an Unstoppable Life with 11-Year-Old Fashion Designer, Hanalei Swan

Do you remember being asked as a kid, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Some of you might remember that question and laugh, wondering where the younger version of you got those fun ideas. Or perhaps, you’re more like Hanalei, and you chose to take action as fast as you could on said future dreams.

At the ripe age of 7 years old, Hanalei was asked: “what do you want to be now?” Her response to this question redirected her future someday self into taking immediate action. She’d been traveling around the world with her parents since the age of 1 and had always loved art and drawing. Through a serendipitous meeting at a restaurant in Bali, Hanalei and her parents would meet a fashion designer who would be instantly taken by Hanalei and her fashion sketches.

It was in this moment that Hanalei would declare herself as a fashion designer, ultimately stepping into her greater mission to change the world through slow fashion.

The Power of Your Mission. The more I listened to Hanalei share her story, the deeper I felt the magnitude of her belief in herself and her mission. This little lady is devoted to all that is important to her. The fashion industry is the 2nd largest contributor of waste on our planet, and Hanalei is doing everything she can to reverse these side effects through consciously chosen products and sustainable manufacturing practices. For every item purchased, she also gives a school uniform to kids in India, ensuring they can go to school to get the education they need to continue positively impacting a world that needs them.

What can others count on you for? What are you doing to have a greater impact in your industry? What shift could immediately shake up the status quo for positive change? Where are you giving more instead of consuming? Notice where your mission could be of benefit and apply your contribution to the health of our planet.

Action Over Uncertainty. Hanalei is a firm believer that there is always an immediate action you can take to make your dreams your reality. When I met her in Bali, I was immediately struck by her “let’s do this” attitude. She is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to execute and show up, shining brightly. Her brilliance is seen in how she is choosing to impact millions of people through empowering and inspiring them to dream bigger and challenge everything that societal conditioning has told them to push away or shut down.

Whatever may be inhibiting you from taking action on your dreams, let Hanalei’s words address the programming that has potentially distracted you from diving into the depths of your potential. Don’t let conventional wisdom imprison you. Discover your own internal wisdom and give yourself permission to pave the path that is uniquely yours.

The world is waiting to see what your limited edition dreams are.

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Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia is our Operations Director and consistently contributes her writing.

December 31, 2018