Episode 8: Heal the Way You Work With Kate Northrup of The Origin Company

Oct 21

Conversation

Episode 8 Season 3

[00:00:00] The Authentic Calm Podcast, your space to understand your natural sensitivity, why you have it, what to do with it, and how to move through life differently to honor it. Together, we will look at holistic and natural supports. Dive deep into our subconscious, our conditioning, our programming, and learn how to release it, how to step into a new perspective and reframe our life to match who we actually are. Let's dive in.

Jessi: [00:00:00] Welcome back, my natural sensitives. It is so wonderful to have you here. Do I have a guest for you,

Kate Northrop, the author of the book, Do Less, The Creator of the Origin Company, and really the leader in the space of living life with less hustle, living and moving through the art of entrepreneurship with less hustle.

And as much as that term hustle is now kind of like a swear word, . I do wanna use it because I think we all understand what that means. And Kate is someone that I have really come to respect when I look to. The concept of bringing someone in as an expander or as a leader in my life, someone I want to learn from a teacher.

I spend a lot of time observing them in their every day before I decide to jump into their [00:01:00]expertise, whether it's a book or a course, or a podcast or things like that. I really like to see how they actually live out. What it is that they say that they do. I am such a big fan of embodiment. It's, it's my own journey to embody what I, you know, teach and well first embody it and then to teach it.

And so I really respect when people do the same. And I've had the opportunity of observing Kate through Instagram specifically, and she is, She's a genuine source, you guys. She is the real deal. And so I am just beyond honored to have her on this podcast today to connect you and to bring her into your life, potentially as a leader, expander, and teacher as well.

So, as I said, she is a author, she's a best selling author, and is an incredible business woman, a mama. and a wife and just a genuinely wonderful human being. So the wisdom that she offers comes from that place. And uh, I'm [00:02:00] just so excited for you to get to know her. So I'm gonna try not to share too much more because she has a great job of explaining who she is and what she's about and what she's here to do.

So let's go ahead and jump in and get to know Kate Northrop.

Jessi: Welcome Kate. So excited to have you on. I’ve been just admiring and watching you mostly through Instagram, actually, and that's where I was first introduced to you. And I was just fascinated because for a long time I've just had this deep feeling that entrepre. Should be a healthy space and working should be something that blesses you and doesn't detract and doesn't put you into this state of exhaustion and eventually [00:03:00] illness and disease.

Right? And so I've always had that feeling, but I've never seen it done. And I've never been expanded in that way. And so when I step into entrepreneurship, it was something that I was kind of like, This is what I'm gonna try and do. But I have, I'm really looking for other women in this space that are doing it as well.

And so when I found you, I was like, Ugh. Oh my gosh, this is her whole thing. Oh, I love it. So and then immediately, you know, you're just so, you're so winning. Your personality's so sweet. And I just feel your, your genuine nature and your authenticity and everything you do. So thank you. So grateful. So I wanted to bring you on because this community is all about embracing our sensitivity.

My audience is, I'm coining a new term. I call it natural sensitive. So sensitives that are born with sensitivity. It's not a sign of unhealth, it's actually who we are. Um, if you've heard of hsp mm-hmm. , Um, so a lot of us end [00:04:00] up working for our. because we really thrive when we can control our own time and our schedule and.

What can happen though I've seen is that when we do step into that, we bring with us the societal expectations of grind and hustle, right? And so then we find ourselves in a state of disease. And honestly, probably confusion too of like, I thought this would be better. So I would just. Be so honored if you would share your story and kind of tell us how you came into this space of being a woman that honors and respects health within work.

So give it to us. Give us all the goods. .

Kate: Oh my goodness. Well, I just love this topic. I definitely consider myself a natural sensitive, I've never obviously heard that term before, but I love it. Um, I have a Pisces Rising and I, my family calls me the community crier. Um, I about love, love it things, moving [00:05:00] things, exciting things.

I love pise. Um, and so the way I got into what I do, Around really helping us to have, uh, have health in the world of entrepreneurship and being self-employed. , um, is that I was raised by two doctors and for anybody who knows the medical field, um, the great irony of that world is that the training is incredibly destructive to medical provider's bodies.

And they are supposedly there for health, and yet they are one of the least healthy groups because they are, uh, basically the, the training is needing to be able to completely disconnect from your own body and your own emotions in order to do that work. [00:06:00] And so as a result, I just saw two people work in really unhealthy ways my whole childhood because it's the way the medical field is like, it's not, not their wrongdoing at all.

Um, and I, so I grew up in this super high achievement oriented environment where both of my parents worked a lot and had. This feeling of like, there's always more to be done. And what's important is showing up for our obligations and for the world and, and, and, and like giving of ourselves in the highest capacity possible.

Um, and it wasn't until much, much later years that they brought into the conversation. Their own wellbeing and their own emotional lives and their own boundaries. And at the same time, when I was a, when I was a child, I really, [00:07:00] I wanted to be with them more. Um, you know, I just did like, particularly my mom, I just was a really super attached kid and, and I just, I freaked out when she traveled all the time.

Um, so I made a decision early on. I was like, I'm gonna run my own business so that I get to make the decisions about my own time so I can be present with my kids. One day. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, and so I started my own business when I was 18, as in the network marketing industry. Started selling vitamins.

Um, and I did really well. I built that business on the side while I was in college and I graduated with a full time income that was, um, you know, a similar to the starting income that my friends were getting, uh, working there. Right, right. Outta college jobs. And, uh, you know, there's like a lot of twists and turns in the story, but essentially I.

Just, I really wanted to just create something different than what I [00:08:00] was raised with and I wanted to be able to be there with my kids. And over the course of time though, I too came up in the entrepreneurial environment that was really about pushing harder and, and doing more and, um, going bigger and like 10 x results and high performance, and.

And so it wasn't until I got pregnant with my first daughter that I, for the first time in my life, I, I was just so tired. And as an athlete and as a dancer and as someone who, you know, I was just always physically like very strong and very capable. And this was the first time. That I did not feel physically capable.

And also I had so much mental exhaustion. I was so tired when I was pregnant and it was my first experience in life not being able to overcome something by being smarter or trying harder. Ah. Um, and I was just like, Hmm. My tool bag [00:09:00] is not working. Like, I'm just so effing tired. Yeah. And that experience that, that, you know, 10 months of pregnancy.

And then, um, the, I had a, a really unexpected birth journey with my first and a very unexpected, um, an intense postpartum journey and first year of her life cuz she was really sick. Uh, it really reorganized me. And it really reorganized my relationship with productivity and with, uh, the degree to which I had, despite.

Trying to do it differently. I had really aligned my worth with being capable. Mm-hmm. , and suddenly I was capable in a very different way, in a far less culturally celebrated way. And I needed to redefine my identity. And, um, the, the work that I do now at the Origin Company, my book Do Less, and our origin membership, my mastermind, and the, and the planner, all came from that experience.[00:10:00]

Re reworking my identity and also having a really wild experience, which is that first year of parenthood, even though I was so tired, she was like not sleeping at all. She was so sick sometimes she was waking up every 10 minutes at night, like screaming and scratching herself. She was severe eczema, so scratching herself bloody, It was just like awful.

Yeah. Um, and I had, I really didn't have much childcare. I thought like 10 hours of childcare would be enough for me to run my business and have 10 hours a week. I don't know what I was on. But anyway, um, at the end of that year though, we sat down with our accountant and, and we realized we had made more money.

that year than any previous year, and I had been working less than half the amount I'd ever worked as an adult, and so even though I never wanted to go back and repeat that year, I was like, Wait a second. What is happening right now, , like I need to really look at this and really look at how I've been [00:11:00] taught to work and how, and the 40 hour work week and like the whole thing.

Like I was like, the whole thing's a lie, so I'm gonna look at this. And so that's why I wrote Do this.

Jessi: Wow. That's amazing. I love what you said too, about how you had the intention of stepping away from your parents' patterning, but what I'm hearing is that it's subconscious. Yeah. It's programmed into you.

Right. And so it took a big moment, like it does for almost all of us. We always have to hit that rock bottom or that big. Life altering experience to give us a reframe and to really, I would say, flip it and show us ourselves. Right. And that's, that's amazing. I would, And none of us ever wanna have to go through those experiences, especially if, if someone else is suffering as well.

But also, what a gift, you know, to have that. That, uh, reframe come out of that experience. Absolutely. And to [00:12:00] birth a second baby, multiple babies out from that experience. That's amazing. So what does it look like now for you that you have that awareness? Um, how do you actually live this out? This idea of doing less and still being successful, profitable, and having a beautiful schedule that.

Kate: Are excited about. I mean, it's just so wild. Like, I wanna answer that question and I will, but here's what's true. Like I'm, I'm gonna give you, I'll give you all the strategies and all the things I do. I just don't really know how, Cause like, here's an example. I just took seven weeks off this summer. So my youngest is four and a half and she's, she started full-time school in September for the first time.

And back in March I just was like, I knew we hadn't this amazing o pair who lived with us for two years and I knew she was going on, on her next adventure. So I knew, and we, we, we live in Miami, so it's really hot here in the [00:13:00] summer. So I was like, okay, I know we wanna go. I know I'm not gonna have childcare.

and I really wanna spend this time with my kids, like they're only gonna be little during this time. And my oldest just turned seven and seven is like this very significant age in human development and psychology and astrology. I was like, feels like a threshold. Yeah. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna really be there this summer.

So I decided to take a seven week sabbatical and um, I did that. So here's one of the first nuggets in the how I is. It's really like aligning. Yourself. Life force meaning like really listening to your intuition. Really. Like, and, and I'm happy to like describe the, what I teach about cyclical living, but one of the things that happened is after my first daughter was born, I, uh, 13 months after she was born.

I got my period back for the first time and it was the [00:14:00] first time in a long time cuz I also did this really intense fitness program before my wedding. So I hadn't had a period for a really long time. Then I got pregnant and then, you know, you don't have it for a long time so , So it had been like years.

Since I had had a regular cycle and I was so excited, and the tracking process that I started this little journaling practice that I started, which became the do less Planner Planner, um, really helped me heal my postpartum anxiety. And it really helped me come into relationship with myself in a way that I had never experienced.

It was like, people talk about loving yourself, and I was like, I literally don't even know what that means, , but , but here, but, but tra like having. Like, Okay, what's happening with my body today? How can I support that today? It was the most practical way to love myself, I could have possibly thought of, and it helped me to get into alignment in my business in a much more powerful way.

Where I wasn't second guessing myself, [00:15:00] where the ideas were flowing, where my level of confidence, my level of power, my level of magnetism, all of those things started firing on all cylinders. So then cut to, you know, March of 2022, so this is six years later when I got the hit, like I'm gonna take a summer sabbatical.

I thought, Okay, well we'll see how the spring launches go and we'll see. And then I had a girlfriend who's so great. Um, she just was like, Yeah, how about, no, how about you're just taking the time off because this is your life and it's happening now. And I was like, Yeah, right. Yeah, so I just decided I'm doing this.

It doesn't actually matter how well the launches do, like I'm just doing it. And I will tell you the launches did not, They did great, but they didn't do well enough that I was like, my dream was okay, I'm gonna make all this money. It's gonna pay for everything so that it won't matter. Yeah, it didn't happen.

And you know what I said, I am taking this time because my life is happening now and wouldn't you [00:16:00] know it, I got my August numbers in and I was like, What? This is lyrical. We're, we made the same amount of money through August that we had in all of 2021. So I'm like, I have four bonus months and I wasn't even, I took two of those months.

So when I say like, my answer is I'm not sure. I'm not sure , but I do know that what's been essential. Getting in touch with my cyclical energy and having that deep intimacy with what's happening in my body because I know what's happening in my body for me is my strongest connection to source. Mm-hmm.

And then it's, you know, surrounding myself with smart people like my friend who was just like, you're taking this time off. Um, but it's really like deepening the relationship with myself and then, And then really like leaning back and trusting and just claiming my life and saying like, I'm, my life is happening now.

And [00:17:00] so that's one of the ways that this, this like what I actually do. Mm-hmm. . Um, so it's a combination of like strategy and energetics, but I will say, I'm, I always, I always look back in retrospect and I'm like, Wow, that's amazing that that worked out. But it's always required just taking the leap and trusting and taking the leap and trusting and just being like, I'll either fall on my face or not.

Um, but nine times outta 10, I don't.

Jessi: Yeah, I hear that. I hear a lot of trust. And I'm sure that's something that's built up over time too, like in, I think that's like a big discussion right now within just women in entrepreneurship, women wanting to make an impact in the world, is that beautiful blend of strategy and energetics when it comes to business, which I love and I'm really excited that that's kind of the.

The new focus in a way, um, because I think that's both are [00:18:00] needed. Right. And I hear that in all that you do. And on the energetic side, I even just hearing you go through that process, it's so. Thank you for being so honest too, to not be like, Oh yeah, no, I just trusted and I went and it all worked out. But you're like, I don't know about this

Cause that's really what it is. It's going, Oh, like of course I have this vision. I'm gonna hold this vision for what it can look like. But if the vision doesn't happen, I'm still gonna honor my body first. I'm still gonna honor who I wanna be. I'm still gonna honor this. Other, this, the bigger vision, which is who I am in this world, you know, And my first calling to my body, and then my family, my kiddos, and then my business.

Right?

Kate: Yes, a hundred percent. Uh, and, and I think like, you know, I don't know if you've heard it said that when we heal, we heal seven generations back in seven generations forward. From an epigenetic perspective, that is actually true. Yeah. Um, And then from an energetic perspective, of course it's true, but I think about like, so my husband and I took, did this getaway [00:19:00] this summer, um, to, and we were out to dinner in Shaboygan, Wisconsin, which is sort of a longer story why we were on that name is amazing, but you are.

And uh, we were sitting at this bar at a pizza place and this nice Wisconsin couple older couple starts, struck up a conversation with us and. We were talking about, they were like, What are you doing here? Da da. We were just telling them, Oh, well you know, our kids are in Indiana, so this was the closest romantic getaway.

Cuz if you Google like. Luxury, romantic getaway, Midwest. I will tell you, the list is short . So anyway, we went to Kohler, Wisconsin, which was actually super fun. And Sheboygan is post by, so we were telling them like, Oh, we're taking this summer off and we're traveling and whatever, and and they were so great.

They were just like, you know, they're probably in their early seventies and they were just, You [00:20:00] are making the right decision. Like we never would've done that. And because we would've thought like we're not allowed to, you know, all the reasons and and I told them, I was like, we didn't, I thought we were gonna pay for it all with our spring launches.

We're not and here we are. Cuz I was like, in the grand scheme of things, like, I know it's all gonna work out. Yeah. Am I concerned about like in the long run? No, and and most of my clients, I talk to them about this stuff all the time. The women in my Mastermind and stuff, it's like in the long run. Are you worried about your long term financial?

Financials like in five years, Like Yeah. Based on your current trajectory, is it all gonna work out? Yes. So then why are we obsessing about these two months? So I think about the seven generations forward and seven generations back. And I think about, like my parents, my mom said she always dreamed of being like a beach mom and like going to the beach every [00:21:00] day and making the sandwiches.

Being on the beach in Maine and she just, like, she never did it. She just didn't do it. And she's had a few chances to do it with me and my kids, which is super sweet. But I just like, I did that, you know, like I, I'm having those summers and I see that. . Um, we can repa like we can repa our lineage and we can reclaim, and the key is not waiting for external circumstances to change.

In order for us to give ourselves permission to have what we want. It's deciding we're gonna have what we want and then allowing the world to reorganize. .

Jessi: Mm-hmm. . And it's not always gonna look the

Kate: way we expect. Mostly not .

Jessi: Yeah. Yeah. I hear that so much from women. I admire that. Really honoring what you're describing is it's you.

And that's, that's the beauty of being human, is that we're just kind of a part of this, this universe, this world. And we're not, [00:22:00] We have free will. We have some control, but not ultimate, you know? And so it's, it's us leaning into what we do have and then trusting that the rest will work out. And so, That comes into the every day, right?

Even in those tiny decisions of like this concept of doing less, it's we're talking, you know, big scale of taking two months off of work down to like, do I have time to eat breakfast in the morning before I hop into that meeting? You know, like .

Kate: So I have an exciting one about that, like on a micro level.

So a couple years ago, within a span of a couple months, I had two friends, Amy Porterfield and James, we. Both asked me to submit, um, audio memos to them to feature on their podcast. They were featuring entrepreneurs about their morning routines. Oh, love it. And I was like, . I was like, uh, because I'm one of those, like, I would look at people with their morning routines, especially with new babies and like whatever, the [00:23:00] chaos of getting kids to daycare and whatever.

I was just. This is a hilarious request because I have no morning routine. Like my morning is like waking up with a baby crying and like a dirty diaper and like one on my boob and one being like, Mama. So, but what's been so cool is, and I also was just like, who has time for a morning routine? Like, No one has time for that, or I don't, That's for people who don't have children.

Right. That's what, over the last year or so, you know, six months I've started, um, a lot of like, uh, regenerative and detox protocol protocols. I've been really working on my health on like a super deep level, and I have organized my schedule, so that really between the hours of like eight and. I am not showing up for much work wise and I'm having all this time to like move my body and do red [00:24:00] light therapy and do all these things, and I'm just like, Isn't this amazing?

Once again, I am showing that Parkinson's law is true. The amount of time something will take us will expand to the amount of time we give. And if we actually just put in and crowd out, like if we crowd out the stuff that doesn't matter, by putting in the stuff that does matter first, like wellness practices or like whate, you know, whatever, reading date, night writing, content creation.

Like everything that needs to happen gets done and I am working so many fewer hours even than I was a year ago, and my mind is completely blown . Oh cool. So that's like a micro decision. It's like what is, you know, and I teach this the 80 20 rule. What are the 20% of things in your business or in your life, or in any smaller category, Like in your marketing or in your social media or in your marriage or in your parenting, [00:25:00] what are the 20% of things that are gonna get you 80% of the results?

And I walk people through an exercise on that in Do Less. It's in the Do Less planner. It's in my origin membership, it's in my program. Heal the Way you work. It's everywhere cuz it's so important. And when you get clear on what those 20% of things are, if you put them in first. Mm-hmm. It really, like people ask me all the time, Well, how?

How do you actually work less and get more done? I'm like, Well, you really just do the things that matter and then stop doing the things that don't, and then you get better results and it takes you like less than half the amount of time. It just works.

Jessi: It does. It just does. Absolutely does. Yeah, and the best way to know is to just try.

Experiment, experiment. Cuz I'm hearing from you a lot of experimentation, a lot of play, a lot of trial and error and cuz everyone's unique, right? What works? Like you've created this beautiful, I'll call it like a loose structure is what it sounds like. Like there's no, I [00:26:00] hear in you that ability to kind of.

Be flexible within it, which I love. Cause I think rigidity can be a little bit, is part of the problem. Um, so that loose structure, that flow right, especially with the feminine to really embrace that is so, so crucial. Um, oh my gosh. So this is starting on another tangent. So I would love to know for you, cuz I hear a lot of spirituality and coming from a family that sounds very.

Left brain to be very simple about it, you know? Was that something that was natural to you, to lean into the spirituality or is that something that grew or came in? How did those two merge? Cuz you're very practical, which I love. Um, but you, you merge it with that

Kate: spirituality. Yeah, so I was lucky enough to be raised by one super analytical left brain parent and one who was always really, really spiritual and always, uh, teaching us about the unseen.

And so [00:27:00] I did come by that, uh, from childhood. We, we didn't, we didn't go to church. You know, learned about tree spirits and celebrated the cross quarter holidays, like, um, you know, the equinoxes, the solstices. Um, and really were open to everything. You know, one of my friends from college, we were talking about religion and.

I was asking her what she believed in and it summed it up so perfectly. She was like, There's just so much magic. Why choose ? I feel the same. I'm like, There's definitely something

it, And so like. I, you know, I call it source, I call it life with a capital L I call it God, the universe like mm-hmm. and, and my connection to it is through my body, because I just think our bodies are such miracles and it never hit home as strong as when I was pregnant with my first child and I was like, I have never been [00:28:00] so tired in my life.

I have never slept so much in my life than during this pregnancy, and I made an entire human and I didn't have to make a to-do list. I didn't have to think about it. It wasn't like, Oh, today I better make an ear. And today we're doing the liver like. I just laid there and then my body made a human, and I just was like, Are you kidding me?

This is such a freaking miracle. And so, None of us knows what we're doing here as humans. Yeah. Right. Like we really don't know what's happening. And also the amount that we know about the human body and just nature in general is so infinitesimal compared to what actually is happening. Like, Scientists can tell you how we don't know.

We do not know. And so it's all theory. Mm-hmm. , if you're not, you know, there's this beautiful quote, which I'm don't know who said it, and I'm going to, you know, [00:29:00] paraphrase, but basically it's like if, if you are a scientist and you don't believe in God, Then like, you're not a scientist . I love that. Right.

That's

Jessi: so true. It's

Kate: impossible not to see. There's so much more that we don't know than what we do know. And that can either freak you out or be so exciting and inspiring. So I just figure let's, you know, let's open the lens and let's like tap into the bigger, you know, the bigger thing with the big, with the big B.

Um, because otherwise life is just really hard. If we think like the only thing that's happening is like what we can see and touch, we like

Jessi: mm-hmm. , that's a lot . And that aligns with the hustle grind mentality is that it's just what's tangible, right? So as soon as you step out of that, then you go wait at, these don't, this doesn't merge , these can't marry.

Like, how do I, how do I cast this vision that isn't tangible? Um, but live it out in this 3D [00:30:00]world. So it's that, that mesh of all the Ds, all the , all the levels, and it's, Oh, I, I think you do that really well, Kate, and I am so grateful for the way that you're leading women. In this manner. And whether it's through, you know, your high level mastermind or your free content on Instagram, like you're embodying that and I can see it and um, I see the joy inside of you.

Not that every day is like Disneyland, but you just, you're raw, you're real, you're honest and you're like all of us moving through it, you know, to the best of your ability. So thank you for speaking this out and sharing your process cuz I think so many times. We can keep these kind of, uh, pieces of gold to ourselves.

And cuz I know the other half of it, half of this is actually being seen. Right. Expressing what you found, bringing that forward in your business, time and time again, showing up when you're exhausted. , Um, honestly, holding [00:31:00] true and being, gosh, I, I can, from my little experience. Imagine how beautifully challenging it is to stay authentic in the work that you're doing.

And being like living, living out the do less . And especially as you start to get success, cuz more people will want to interact with you. And then it's like, wait, wait, wait. No, I have to do less. But now , how do I still maintain my impact and grow? And so you're probably constantly evolving this process for yourself and taking it further and further.

Is that. Absolutely.

Kate: Yeah. And I am like, I am a researcher for life. I mean, the, the book I just, I just love to learn. So I'm always like, Oh, wow. Be adding this piece and that piece and just really, really building on it and, and my life is my laboratory. So figuring out, tinkering with things and then also really asking like, yeah, am I in alignment right now?

And if not, doesn't mean I'm a terrible person, but how can I. How can I realign? How [00:32:00] can I get closer to what it is that I say that I believe? Because if you wanna look at like, you know, if we wanna look at what we value, we can say one thing. But if you look at your schedule, you'll actually find out what you're voting for with your time.

And that's really the most important thing is like, okay, how we live our days is how we live. And we're not getting more time. So every mo like it matters. It actually matters how we do our schedules, which is why I'm so obsessed with Schedule . I just love people scheduling because it just matters. It does.

Okay.

Jessi: So talk to us about that a little bit, because that is something you are a master of, and what you just said is gold. So anyone listening, your schedule. You know, I'm, I'm gonna paraphrase what you said, but your schedule is a mirror to who you really. Right? Is that what you're

Kate: saying? Yes. Your schedule is a mirror to what you really are.

Um, basically, you know, we vote with our. time So if [00:33:00] you're saying that what's really important to you is your health and family, but when you look at your calendar, it's all meetings and appointments that have nothing to do with your health and your family, then what you might actually be saying with your time is what's ma what is important to me is, um, making is pleasing my boss, or what's important to me is achievement.

Which is totally fine. We just need to be honest about it. not matter. Own it. Yeah. , it's like, this is true. And so, um, I teach something called self sourced scheduling. So instead of sourcing our schedule from external expectations, we are sourcing our schedule from our internal. Lived experience and from our internal values and desires.

And it's a pretty big reorientation to ask inside, what do I want? As opposed to ask from outside, what should I have or what should I be doing? And it takes a little time to reorganize that, but um, it's what, you know, it's what the do [00:34:00] last planner is based on. So just as one example, Uh, in the weekly spread of the do Less planner, uh, you start the week by asking what phase, what, what phase of my cycle am I in this week?

So am I in. Um, if you are somebody who has a cycle and you can use the planner even if you aren't, cuz it incor incorporates the lunar cycle. So, am I in a, um, am I, am I having my period, which means it's a time of rest and reflection. Am I. In my follicular phase the week after I have my period. So that's a time of planning and initiating, am I ovulating, which would be a time of connecting and being visible.

Am I, um, or am I in my moodal phase, which is the 10 to 12 days before you get your period, which is a time of completion and wrapping things up. So like, what's the energy of the week? And again, if you're not having your menstrual cycle, you would tune into what's going on with the moon because their lunar phases are the exact same phases as the menstrual cycle.

They're happening all the time. For [00:35:00] everybody. It's actually easier to do it that way, quite frankly, . But then it's really like, okay, so based on the energy that I'm working with in my body or in just the world, you know, right now, how am I gonna approach this week and use the energy that I've got as opposed to trying to be something that is not authentic to how I actually am right now.

And then it goes through and you make a a to do list for the. So first you make a to-do list for the universe, like things you wanna give over, things you want, you know, cosmic support with. Um, and then you come back to doing your own planning. But it's first really asking some of those larger questions so that by the time it comes to your own to-do list, you've already whittled down and you're, you've, you've, Put on the blinders or put on some headphones so that the noise of the outside world isn't so loud.

And you can come back and come back and come back to what really matters to you and what matters to your own goals and priorities, um, in your life. And then, you know, then you just kind of [00:36:00] stay on track that way as opposed to getting to the end of the year and be like, What happened to my year?

Jessi: Yeah, what happened to me?

I love that. I love that visual. That's when I often have too, is the blinders of just. Keep it simple. Focus

in,

Kate: Yeah. And especially as a natural sensitive, right? Like having the, the noise is louder, , it's very loud. It, it takes a little more practice to put on those blinders or put on those headphones and listen to your own inner truth.

And it just takes practice and it's worth.

Jessi: Yeah. And for you as a natural sensitive, what have you noticed is really helpful for you? Cause I know you work with a lot of women, so I'm sure not all of them are natural sensitive. And I'm sure you see the, you know, the range of what, what different people based off their skills and their own unique traits are able to do.

But for you as a natural sensitive, what have you found is incredibly helpful and powerful for you to put on those blind?

Kate: Yeah. So one thing that um, really [00:37:00] resonates with folks is I came up with a, a company, a list of our company, no policies. So instead of considering every single request that comes in individually, um, which of course we, you know, they're still all read and considered, but my team has our company, no policies, so they know ahead of time like what we are not available for.

Um, so I don't have to. Receive all of those because left to my own devices, I just say yes to everything . So we have, we put in a series of systems to essentially protect my energy and protect the team's energy. So for example, you know, We have a form at kate northrop.com/request. So when somebody wants to do a podcast interview, they fill out the information there and then it goes in this Google sheet.

And then at one particular time, a week, I go in and I review, and I approve. I approve them. And that way I'm not [00:38:00] willynilly all over the place saying. Here and there because I, but, but when I see them all at once, it gives me a much better sense of my capacity. It gives me a much, and, and I can just like do that in a ritual way.

Um, so that's one example. And then the company, No Policies is another one that just, and they're public as well, so people can just read, um, what they are and it just makes it so easy. So I can just be like, No, I just, I just literally don't do that. It's just a policy. It's not you, it's just a policy. I love.

Jessi: Anything. That's the nice thing about business is you can make it objective. You're like, Oh, I'm sorry. My business doesn't allow me to do that. like totally,

Kate: my business doesn't allow it. But I like in life also, so I, mine aren't as explicit, but I have a policy. Uh, for example, um, I had a policy, it's changing cuz my kids are getting older.

But I had a policy, I wouldn't be away from my kids for more than three nights, then I uped it to five next week I'm trying 10. We're gonna see how that goes. It's a world stretch. Um, but logistically like it. Impossible to book this trip without it. So [00:39:00] we'll see. Um, but like I would just, I have a policy for myself that, like, I don't go out more than two nights a week.

I just know it just doesn't work for me. Like, I start to feel disconnected. I, I live in Miami, so like opportunities are endless and Yeah. You know, so I just don't, um, and it really works for me. Um, I have a policy that, you know, I really don't go to bed after nine 30. Like six nights out of the week. So we can set up these things that are just our policies and it helps me to know what I'm saying yes to and what I'm saying no to.

Um, cuz I have a personal, you know, it's just a policy. Yeah.

Jessi: It's from our wellbeing. I call that your authentic flow, like you've created your unique rhythm. That you honor and you respect, and it's gonna look different from everyone because it's based off, as you said, your inner decisions, your inner leanings, your inner guidance, and that's huge.

Wow, Kate. [00:40:00] So a lot of people think that they can do that, but then when they actually go to live it out, If you had a situation where you know, someone was asking you and you knew like you loved that person, but you had a no policy, what is, how strict are you on that? How? Like where do you find that leniency?

You're like, You know what, this is a situation where I don't wanna be rigid, I'm gonna lean into this. Or it's, no, this is my policy, I gotta respect myself. Like how do you navigate that in between?

Kate: That's a good question. Um, I will say , I have many people come to me and ask me boundary questions because they're like, I really admire how good you are about your boundaries.

And I'm like, Oh, that's so interesting. So because I am known in my circle as somebody with really good boundaries, I definitely don't encounter a lot people trying to push my boundaries. Mm. So that's great. Um, I just like put out a vibe, [00:41:00] um, , but in terms of like, yeah, I mean I definitely, like, there are certain people in my life that there, you know, uh, Brene Brown said this beautiful thing.

Um, is something about like, I keep a small list of people in my life who love me for my. Bigness and also for my smallness, something that's not what she said, but it was something about that. And I actually had a really hard year in 2018 and I literally, I remember taking out my journal and writing down like my reference, I was like, Okay, these are my actual people.

Because it can get very muddy in career of like, Oh, my friend, my, But at the end of the day, like they're really a colleague or really, you know, it's not really real. And um, So I just have a real short list of people who I would do anything for at any time, and they would do the same. And so my policies don't really apply to them and that's fine because they really don't ask me to do things that I don't wanna [00:42:00] do.

I love, Yeah, they did. I would be on an airplane in a heartbeat be because they would too. Like it's just having that, I call them my family. Um, so having, I love that those people is just, It's everything. And at the end of the day, like everything in my whole life could blow up and I would be so rich in relationship.

Hmm.

Jessi: That's so sweet. I love that. What, what was it? Fren me. Fra Emily.

Kate: Fra Emily. Yeah. Fr me is the other one. Sorry. The no

Jessi: one the opposite. I love that. That's, and that's huge. I think it sounds like, you know, in a way you're creating those levels of access to you of like, you know, you are, you have the special card, like you're allowed to kind of come in and the roles.

Yeah.

Kate: And I don't wanna have like, um, with the people who are like my true, true, true, true, true people. Yeah. I ju like a lot of those people also have known me. I've known them for a really long time. And, um, I, you know, I also want [00:43:00] them to push back, right? Like when I'm doing something that they're like, that's not okay.

Or like, Hey, I'm noticing this, or whatever. Like, I want that level. I don't want people around me who are just like, yes people or who are, you know, try, like trying to get something or just, yeah.

Jessi: No . Yeah. They're your honest, true. Um, they'll go through anything with you and that's, that's who you know. And, and it sounds like too, it doesn't have to be family.

I think that's a big thing as well. No,

Kate: no. I think it's really important for all of us to understand that sometimes it will be, and there are people in that group who are my blood relatives and to let in others who aren't. I mean, this whole idea of like blood is thicker than. What is it? Blood is thicker than water or, Yeah, which I guess like , like biologically not true or I don't know.

Anyway, whatever. The whole thing of like family above everything. Yeah. I [00:44:00] think it can be really toxic. I think it can be really toxic and like, I, I just, I think we really need to question like, because family is also usually our greatest source of heartbreak. So like why would we bend over backwards for people who have been.

Mm. Like awful over and over and over again. And I'm not, you know, I'm not necessarily speaking from tremendous experience, but like we all have our stuff. Yeah. And so we gotta let other people in to let them be family too. Mm. When they have proven that they can hold a boundary, that they can be responsible for the energy they bring into a space that they're emotionally mature.

I mean, all of those things.

Jessi: Yeah. They can be, uh, equal in a way in the journey. Mm-hmm. . Exactly. You're not having to carry them and they're not necessarily always carrying you. It's an even exchange. I think that's really important. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. Oh, well you've just been drowning us in wisdom, so [00:45:00] I'm like, what else do I have to ask you?

Um, you're so efficient. I love it. . So as far as your own personal life, you've been sharing so much, are there any other practices that you really love? It sounds like you're in the world of health right now, which I love cause that's my passion, my world. Um, heard, you know, red light therapy in there. Is there anything else that you've found recently that you're like, this is incredible and this has been changing how I feel in my body?

Cuz your body connection is so crucial. I can hear that well.

Kate: Um. I don't even, I don't know, like recently, but I will say, I mean, my one practice that I just swear by and I'm actually working on an app for it, um, but it's the Daily energy Tracker that's part of the DOS planner. It's this daily. It's the journaling practice that I started when I got my period back after Penelope, and it just helped me locate myself and, um, [00:46:00] it, it became the daily Energy Tracker.

It asks you a super quick, it takes like two minutes in the morning, in like three minutes at night. And that practice. Just anytime I get off track and I start getting anxious or you know, I kind of like can run anxious, so when I start getting anxious or I start getting irritated when I come back to that, it's like, okay, yeah, it makes sense that I would feel this way because I'm in this phase of my cycle and it makes sense that I would feel this way because.

You know, like I know I feel really wired and kind of whacked out around the full moon. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me. It just is like, my kids don't sleep and I'm like up all night and I'm like, um, so that's fine. You know? So it just helps me to know, we, we spend so much time as women beating ourselves up and really that practice helps me to not beat myself up and give myself a lot of grace and, and all that saved.

Is phenomenal for doing other things. Um, so that I [00:47:00] love. Um, you know, my husband and I have a practice every night that we've been doing for years. I mean, over a decade, which is that we share three things we're grateful for before we go to bed. Um, and even if we're not together, we text it to each other.

So I really love that. That's like a mainstay of my life. It's very, um, which is a nice way to go to bed. That

Jessi: is, It sounds like you have a lot of practices that gave you that big. that pull your view out. That's

Kate: what I'm hearing. I do. Yes I do. Because it is so easy to get myopic and think that like life is about, you know, what's for dinner and it's just not, And, but here's the other cool thing.

When we have these practices that connect us to the bigger picture mm-hmm. , we also can like then like doing the dishes can become a spiritual practice and then I can like find so much magic in. Washing my kids' hair or you know, making chicken or folding the laundry. Like, because at the end of the day, we are here in these bodies.

We do live in the [00:48:00] 3d, but we can meld them. So it's like, how can I be having an embodied experience that then connects me to something greater? Because the more present we are, the more available we are to the majesty and, and the bigger picture.

Jessi: Absolutely, Absolutely. Every day is magic. And that's, that's how we have gratitude for those moments.

That's how we, how also we get free of that grind, hustle mentality. Yes. Because then that, that takes away the magic. Great.

Kate: Well, the grind to mentality at the, at the heartbeat of it is the idea that, um, there is there a, there, there, right. That like, when I get to x, y, z place, then I will be successful enough.

Then I will have achieved enough. Then I will, And anybody who has achieved this, that or the other thing knows that you just like reach the crest of the next mountain and you're. Oh, I still, me still want a million other things. . So it's [00:49:00] like yes. Achievement, yes. Joy, Yes. Celebration of all the milestones and, uh, divesting ourselves from the illusion that someday we are going to feel like we are there.

Like we just have to decide we're there now. Like we've arrived at the end. So now what?

Jessi: Hmm. And there's permission. Permission to enjoy life. Yeah. Oh, Kate's so good. Okay. I have one more question for you that's kind of off the wall, and I love asking it. If you were a plant of any kind, can be a flower, an herb?

What plant captures your essence?

Kate: Ooh, that's interesting. What a fun question. Well, I think I'll go with the Rosa Regosa, which is the Beach Rose. Um, it is my favorite smell in the world is the Beach Roses on the coast of Maine in the summer, and they come out around the end of May and it is just, um, their [00:50:00] smell is so, They're like pink and kind of like delicate, but also bright and cheerful.

Um, they have these, they do have thorns. They are prickly, so it's like really beautiful, but you also have to be mindful . Um, and they have these, um, this bulb and the bulb makes really incredible rose hip t so there's also like kind of this healing richness. Um, so yeah, I don't know, like. I wouldn't get too much into the metaphor there, but they are my favorite plant, so I'm just gonna go with that one.

Yeah, I

Jessi: see that in you, . I totally

Kate: see that. good boundaries. The Rosa Regosa, but also like yummy.

Jessi: Yeah. And bright and cheery. Um. But there's that sensitive side underneath. Mm-hmm. , you know, that's absolutely you. Yeah. And I see, I can feel your healing energy. Like I can sense it and feel it. And I know I just, you know, [00:51:00] observing your community too, I think you've really brought healing for a lot of women and this is just the beginning for you.

So thank you for sharing, and as I'm sure everyone is obsessed with you now, so how can we connect with you? How can we learn more from you? Support you. To listen.

Kate: Awesome. So, um, connecting with me on Instagram at Kate Northrop, that's the best place for sure. So just follow me there and, um, send me a DM if you wanna just say hi after listening.

And then, um, I put together something called the Business Pressure Relief Kit, which is free, and you could easily substitute the word life with business. So it's just really the pressure relief kit. So if you're feeling any kind of pressure, time pressure, financial pressure, achievement, pressure, Um, this is for you and it'll give you six strategies to relieve that pressure without anything in your external environment needing to change.

Um, and you can get that over@theorigincompany.co slash strategies. Perfect.

Jessi: Uh, well thank you Kate. Such an honor to have you [00:52:00] on, and I know people are gonna be diving into your books, into your programs and all of that after this. So thank you for your time and your gifts to all of us. Those of us trying to make it through

Thanks for having me.

You are called to live differently, my friend. What is one way that you can honor your natural sensitivity today? Take that one step and if you feel uncertain, hesitant about how to navigate life as a natural sensitive. I have something for you. I've created the authentic calm method, a beautiful platform and resource to create your [00:26:00] healthiest, most whole, authentic self.

We start with layer one of the reconnection. Tuning into the body. Layer two, we dive into your authentic rhythm, how you're meant to eat, sleep, move, be, work, rest, recover. It's so unique to you and it's so critical that you understand that. And lastly, we finish by uncovering the remedies that work best for you.

The tools, tonics and therapies that will optimize your health and give you your capacity back. Alongside all of this, we have the beautiful sensitive circle, a community where you can be seen and known, heard, and understood, where you can share your process as much or as little as you desire. If this intrigues you, the link to join is below.

It is such an honor to have your ear and to share this episode with you. Until we release our next I cheers to your health Avotre Sante.