Natalie is an intuitive femtor and author of Light The Way, with a passion for guiding women to tune into their innate wisdom, find sanctuary in their hearts and freedom in their souls. Through her work as a writer, author, radio presenter and yoga teacher, Natalie empowers women to push to their edges: to embrace their wild, honour their inner goddess and to begin truly dancing with life. As a soulpreneur, she embodies all aspects of her raw, divine femininity while breaking conventions, creating change and paving the way for others to follow. We were delighted to catch up with Natalie to discover more about her entrepreneurial journey as a successful founder.
Can you tell us a little about your background and the company?
Former vocal coach and singing teacher, Natalie Farrell changed career at the age of 35 to realise her business and personal aspirations to inspire people to be the healthiest versions of themselves in terms of mind, body and soul.
Natalie flew to America and trained as a yoga teacher, approved by Yoga Alliance under one of the world’s leading yoga teachers. In 2016 she qualified as an NLP Master Practitioner, Reiki Practitioner, Wellbeing Coach and Master Hypnotherapist.
No stranger to the barriers many people face when changing lifestyle habits, Natalie draws on her own experiences of successfully overcoming an eating disorder in her late twenties, to taking the courageous step to sell her thriving singing and vocal-coach business to follow her true desire.
With Yummy Yoga Girl set up as a wholesale business Natalie now focuses her energies into mentoring other soul led business women to take the unconventional approach to business and life.
How did the idea come to you for the company?
The idea for Yummy Yoga Girl came to me after I had returned from my yoga teacher training. I was still hearing many women putting themselves down both physically and mentally. Having spent 10 years in recovery from being a perfectionist and getting over my eating disorder I felt such a passion for educating them on multidimensional living.
To step over the restraints of comparisonitis and start to respect the skin they are in. Letting go of judgement and fear through attachment and learn to approach life and business in an unconventional “detached” way. The website became an online wellbeing hub with yoga tutorials, recipes, blogs, coaching and then of course the clothes.
The clothes were produced with sustainability as the core value with each step to production being transparent and soul approved. As Yummy Yoga Girl developed I felt a strong pull towards telling other women’s stories. To reclaim their voice individually and collectively.
Giving them a space to share their incredible passion for change. I started to set up a collective space which developed into collaborative sharing. One aspect which worked really well was sharing brand photoshoots, advertising costs and exhibition space.
How did you achieve awareness?
I achieved awareness through my inquisitive nature and natural ability to connect and create change maker conversations. I approached magazines to share my story and began to network in person and through digital forums. Through one of these connections I was invited to be a radio presenter for Wellbeing Radio. During this time my network began to grow exponentially being filled up with other soul led entrepreneurs with aligned values.
How have you been able to gain funding and grow?
I started Yummy Yoga Girl with a gift of £30,000. This investment offered me the monetary ability to produce clothes and marketing content. With my website I actually approached a marketing company and offered my skills as a new business manager, hours in lieu of a website. This way I could also probe them on the best practises for setting up an e-commerce site. Clever hey!
In terms of PR I slowly began to create relationships with magazines and journalists to spread the word of the business. Then companies began to approach me to stock the items and collaborate. The business was always going to be a small business.
I only ever made one production run of each style with as little as 10 items to each size. So once an item had sold out that was it! I am an advocate for individuality and exclusive design, buying something which only you have to cherish and enjoy. To this day I am still wearing items from the first Kandi Collection and celebrating this low carbon footprint achievement.
With the coaching business I took an unconventional approach. I developed the website and content myself then paid for a designer to tweak the design. I believe in the currencies of money,but also the currencies of trust, love and openness. So I work with a team of self employed kick ass females and we grow together. I have also created a network of support through the radio where we offer each other personal development, masterminds and co-working collaborations. This leads to client recommendations and ongoing relationships.
What are the key successes?
Funny! A year ago I would have talked about the success being the quality of product and service. But today I would say the key to the success is being me. My values are so strong and I stay aligned with them throughout each step of building a business to guiding others.
I am an excellent communicator and people align with me as I am honest and willing to talk about the failures and the success stories. Women are attracted to my work due to my vulnerability, truth telling and playful energy. My story as a leader is to generate the ability to combine business and lifestyle together creating the embodied blend, leading from abundance rather than scarcity and lack.
What were/are the challenges?
The challenges have been the small fish in a big pond mentality and how this shows up across the spectrum of beliefs and self sabotaging patterns. Which in turn can lead one away from their mission and passion which ignited the business into being in the first place.
Also another big challenge is to let go of a project when it is not working. And to say no to clients that aren’t right for you.
As the years go on I am practising letting go to the attachment of an outcome and trusting that the right opportunity and client will arrive. They always do. I have been shown this endless times. Setting up the structures then stepping away and taking time to play always brings in new opportunities.
What are your plans now as a successful founder?
Right now I am now planning the launch of my first book which will be released into the world on 16th September 2021. I am also launching a new product called The Discovery Portal in association with the book launch. In October 2021 I am opening my doors to 5 entrepreneurs who are ready to up level and enter into my Elevate Femtorship programme.
What would you like to share with other women to encourage them to start their own entrepreneurship journey?
There are two sides to the entrepreneurial journey.
- Structure
- Allowing
For an idea to flourish you need structure and for the idea to be birthed you need to allow yourself to detach from preconceived outcomes and be open to experience new ways of working that are right for the business and right for you. Taking the unconventional approach means that you allow yourself to be guided by opportunities which show up daily thus weaning yourself away from being successful to “fit in” with the image you want others to see.
Set boundaries at the beginning of your journey – the non negotiables – so you can have a good flow between your work style and lifestyle.
Go all in when it comes to sharing your story – each of us has our own individual flair which can be felt by the customers and clients. And there is enough space for all of us to be expressive and excellent business owners.
Can you share you top 5-10 tips for entrepreneurial success?
Failure Is Feedback – Failure is teaching you to find a new way or a new venture.
Create a Consistency Ritual – I create a list on Friday evenings that outlines the tasks, calls, interviews, events that are occurring the following week. I find this clears my head for the weekend ahead. And then activates me into action when I start my working week.
Stop. Drop. Resume – One challenge I am inviting into my day and to my clients is the Stop – Drop – Resume philosophy. This is especially helpful if you are stuck in a particular unhelpful state during a task. I adopted this as I was writing my book as it offered my back and arms time to rest! And it really is beneficial to giving space for creation and energy to flow back in the body. My favourite S.D.R activities are to make a cup of tea, listen to a podcast, jump around to loud music, shake my body, practise a yoga move, walk outside, observe nature.
Be Kind To Yourself – This is something I learnt from being a singer actually. I used to punish myself when I didn’t get the part or sing well in an audition. I was so hard on myself. So when I decided to combine all my skills and go into business I vowed I would remain aware of my self talk and be kind to myself as I moved through the transitions of each business chapter.
Celebrate – Taking the time out each week to celebrate your achievements is imperative. Celebrate the small things like ticking off a task to making a smoothie to keep your body and brain fuelled efficiently to the celebration dance each time you get a sale. Still after 4 years of starting Yummy Yoga Girl, everytime I get an order, I dance and high five with my boyfriend. It’s a mark of recognition, appreciation and gratitude and this translates very well into attracting more of the same, keeping your spirits high and your approach fresh and dynamic.
Who are the 5 women who inspire you the most?
Kelly Mchugh – @iamkellymchugh inspires me with her diversity and skills to stay authentic in the digital world.
Sarah Lloyd @sarahlloyd_ispr inspires me weekly with her approach to pioneer the soul led approach to business and PR in a mainstream sector
Alyson Charlie @iamalysoncharles inspires me to go all in and life my truth to celebrate the unique essence in my message
Gracianne Julito @ihelpcreate inspires me to uplevel and create beautiful content which speaks volumes
Nicola Humber @nicolahumber inspires me to go all in and live life and business the unbound way
What are your favourite inspirational /motivational quotes?
If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think – Oprah Winfrey
Be who you were before they taught you who to be – she’s still in there that my love is your power. Lola Fayemi Boss Ass Living
If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore Michelle Ruiz
Let what wants to come come, let what wants to go go. If it is mine it will stay. If not, something better will replace it. Tosha Silver
What are your social handles and website links so our readers can connect with you?
www.nataliefarrell.co Instagram @natalierfarrell
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