Speaker 1: Apoday production. We begin today by acknowledging the traditional custodians
Speaker 1: of the land on which we gather today and pay
Speaker 1: our respects to their elders past and present. We extend
Speaker 1: that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's here today.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Grow and Glow Podcast. I'm Ashy, I'm Kiara.
Speaker 1: This is a podcast where we learn, laugh, and level
Speaker 1: up together. Let's go deep, let the emotions flow, combine
Speaker 1: the lessons to grow and Glow. Nothing is off the
Speaker 1: table with Grow and Glow, and we're here to be
Speaker 1: your expander.
Speaker 2: Hello everybody, welcome back to Grow and Glow. We're back
Speaker 2: in your ears. Hello, but today it's a little bit
Speaker 2: different and it's some very bittersweet, but we've got a
Speaker 2: big announcement to announce.
Speaker 1: This is going to be my last time in your Ears.
Speaker 2: Straight into it, just straight in. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't feel like there's anyway to really,
Speaker 1: you know, like in what this episode is about. And
Speaker 1: I feel like I've had so much that I wanted
Speaker 1: to say, and I didn't really know where to even start.
Speaker 1: So I actually wrote something out so I thought it
Speaker 1: would be nice to just read exactly what I've written
Speaker 1: from my heart and kind of relate to everyone why
Speaker 1: I've made this choice. And yeah, closing.
Speaker 2: The chapter of Grow and Glow, I know, crazy doesn't
Speaker 2: feel real, I know. Yeah, take it away.
Speaker 1: Okay, Wow, what an episode. Goodbye Grow and Glow. Firstly,
Speaker 1: I want to say this decision was something I wholeheartedly made.
Speaker 1: I chose to leave Grow and Glow, and here's a
Speaker 1: little rundown of why. When I first started my business
Speaker 1: seven years ago, my favorite thing about it was that
Speaker 1: I got to work around my family. I woke up
Speaker 1: every morning at four am when Curdie left for plumbing,
Speaker 1: worked until the kids woke up at seven am, worked
Speaker 1: in their naps and when they went to bed, and
Speaker 1: throughout the day. I really got the opportunity to soak
Speaker 1: up every answer to them and always be there throughout
Speaker 1: the days if they needed me. I didn't have to
Speaker 1: operate this way and didn't all the time like the
Speaker 1: days when I had help from Curti's mum. But this
Speaker 1: is what felt so beautiful and aligned with my values.
Speaker 1: Grow and Glow has been such an epic adventure. As
Speaker 1: she and I were so excited to start this chapter
Speaker 1: and sit down and chat together. We had such a
Speaker 1: beautiful friendship and I was so excited to Grow and
Speaker 1: Glow alongside her. When we first started Grow and Glow,
Speaker 1: it was just a fun little project that we literally
Speaker 1: paid out of our own pockets to do together. It
Speaker 1: was so fun exciting connecting, and also as she and
Speaker 1: I got to spend so much more time together, which
Speaker 1: was so nice. Plus I still had a lot of
Speaker 1: flexibility and could still balance everything else really well. Over
Speaker 1: the years, it has grown rapidly, which is so exciting
Speaker 1: but also does make it need a bit more of me,
Speaker 1: especially the next year with doing live events on top
Speaker 1: of already releasing two new episodes a week. I just
Speaker 1: didn't see how I could comfortably fit that inside my
Speaker 1: schedule while running another business, having three little kids, and
Speaker 1: showing up as a mum in a way that I'm
Speaker 1: proud of, especially with how much they've been needing me lately.
Speaker 1: In saying this, I made it loud and clear I
Speaker 1: did not want to hold Grow and Glow back. It
Speaker 1: has had so much potential and I didn't feel like
Speaker 1: it was fair for me to hold no Ashy back,
Speaker 1: but our producers as well, So this was completely my
Speaker 1: choice to part ways. I also did say on my
Speaker 1: stories a couple of months ago that the more I
Speaker 1: was taking in from self development, I was feeling like
Speaker 1: I was becoming less and less in touch with who
Speaker 1: Kia is and less and less authentic because I was
Speaker 1: always trying to be better or change something rather than
Speaker 1: just being okay with where I was at and just
Speaker 1: being me. I'm excited to get back in touch with
Speaker 1: Kiara at her core, getting more internal and taking less
Speaker 1: self development for a little while to just be and
Speaker 1: connect with myself. I want this to be a reminder
Speaker 1: that you are okay just as you are right in
Speaker 1: this moment. It's okay to grow when you feel like
Speaker 1: you need to, but also okay to just accept yourself
Speaker 1: as you are right now, especially while navigating different seasons
Speaker 1: of life. I wanted to end on a little story
Speaker 1: about how I came to this decision and why it's
Speaker 1: so important to always listen to your gut and the
Speaker 1: science of universe is giving you. Around four months ago,
Speaker 1: maybe even longer, I did a master class that was
Speaker 1: so incredible. I feel like it was the start of
Speaker 1: me really getting back in tune with myself again. In
Speaker 1: this master class, It was all surrounding, entering a new
Speaker 1: timeline and letting go of anything that didn't feel aligned anymore.
Speaker 1: I had a huge breakthrough during this class and was
Speaker 1: a sobbing mess on the ground. At the end of
Speaker 1: the session, she said to pick something you'd never notice
Speaker 1: or see to be a sign. I sat there for
Speaker 1: a while thinking about what it could be, and living
Speaker 1: near the beach, we rarely ever see red rocks anywhere,
Speaker 1: and that was what I chose as my symbol. Fast
Speaker 1: forward a few months later, I completely forgot about this
Speaker 1: red rock and kept living my life as usual. I
Speaker 1: was having a little menty bee in the shower on
Speaker 1: a casual Sunday morning, as you do, really questioning whether
Speaker 1: Grow and Glow was something I wanted to continue to
Speaker 1: do next year or not. I was bawling and looked
Speaker 1: up to the roof and said, please just give me
Speaker 1: a sign and let me know if this is the
Speaker 1: right choice. I took rega girl out for a walk
Speaker 1: that morning. Just as we went out the gate, she
Speaker 1: ran up to me with her little fist clothes and said, Mommy,
Speaker 1: I have a present for you. She opened a the
Speaker 1: little hand and said, it's a red rock. And you
Speaker 1: in that moment that I needed to make this choice.
Speaker 1: I wanted to thank Ashy for going on this journey
Speaker 1: with me. There's been so much any incredible memories and
Speaker 1: beautiful moments of creating such a beautiful bond over the years.
Speaker 1: I also wanted to thank our producers for just being
Speaker 1: such epic, amazing humans. I wish everyone all the best
Speaker 1: with the future of Grow and Glow. I also thank
Speaker 1: you to every beautiful human out there that has supported
Speaker 1: me on this journey. I love you guys so much,
Speaker 1: and you're such a beautiful community of people. Thank you
Speaker 1: guys so much. I love you.