Transcript

Transcript

Catherine Crestani (00:00)
Sometimes it doesn't, just so you know.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (00:04)
Right,

right. Yeah, the band is good. So how do you say your last name? Crestani is that right? ⁓ I got it right. So we have Katherine Crestani and Let's start off. I'm really curious to know what exactly you do because from what I saw online it looks like you made quite a switch from speech pathology to things like shamanism and more it so

Catherine Crestani (00:12)
Perfect. Perfect.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (00:34)
Let's get to know each other. What have you been up to?

Catherine Crestani (00:39)
Well, it depends. Do you want the long version or the short version?

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (00:44)
Well, we have an hour, so you could talk

about it for 20 or 30 minutes if you wanted to. What's the slightly medium version?

Catherine Crestani (00:50)
⁓

slightly reading version. So yes, my background was as a speech pathologist, and I built two very successful companies ⁓ as a speech therapist. So the first one I did with a business partner, and that was a seven figure business. And then I chose to leave that for various reasons. But the biggest one was ⁓ to choose myself. And then I built my other company, which I was

running simultaneously and that ended up being a six figure business, but I'd run it in such a way that it just consumed my life. So I say I was working 24 seven because I'd wake up in the middle of the night and go do emails and things. It was not the healthiest way to set up a business, but that's why we do these things we learn from them. But my health wasn't okay. So the biggest thing from that is that I was suffering from burnout from anxiety, I had panic attacks, I had

adrenal fatigue, I was going to my naturopath every week to keep me alive. And part of that, you know, COVID happened and lockdowns happened. And because we're allied health, we were able to still stay open. So that wasn't the big pressing factor. But it was always this yearning that there was something more that I should be doing, there was something bigger that I should be doing. And yes, I helped 1000s of children.

to speak or to communicate or whatever level that I was working with them, but I never felt fulfilled. I loved celebrating their wins with them, but it wasn't, it was always something yearning, something bigger. So through 2021, I started a spiritual reawakening and it came through my naturopath. It's so funny how much he was in my life, but his partner had this offering and I said, hey, I saw that she's

offering these things because yeah, you should book in with her and I said, Okay, so I did. And every two weeks, I went back and it was like coming home, it was like, this is the information I have been missing in my life. This is what I've been looking for. And I just kept following my curiosity. So I went and did Shaman courses, I went into the herbology, I went into medical intuition, I went into neuro emotional technique like any T, like I just kept following and honoring

⁓ that yearning and that pull. And part of my spiritual reawakening, ⁓ if you ever this, there's always a dark night of the soul and it's not one night. So a dark night of the soul is kind of like your test of coming into your power and you make a choice. It's like you're at this crossroad and you can choose to go back or you can choose to keep, you know, unpacking. And I say it's round one, round two, round three.

that's how it shaped but mine was my company falling apart. So ⁓ the like in the space of a week, I had three staff resign. And I was so ⁓ broken because I knew I had to step back. I want to spend more time with my family, my health was precarious, you know, all these things. And then I lost three staff in the space of a week. And I was like, on the ball crying, you know, because

I didn't know how I would find anyone to replace them because it's incredibly hard to find good quality staff and train them and then where were all the clients gonna go you like all these things, right? Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (04:16)
have a question, was that adding to your burnout?

Were you having to cover all that work until you found more people?

Catherine Crestani (04:22)
Yeah. Yes. And so that was just, you know, making it like it was just even worse. That's why I was on a ball crying, you know, my husband's there telling me to get up my son's like, Mommy, it's okay, you know, get out, get up. And then my guides are saying, Get out, get up. So I did. And I kept going. And a month later, another three resigned in a week. And I kid you not. Yes, that's what's my

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (04:47)
does that

happen? Universe, coincidence, did they all have life events happening? How does that happen?

Catherine Crestani (04:55)
They had no idea that it was going on. I know why it was, I always say things happen in threes. So I understand the three symbology, but at the same time, this is what had to happen. I had to get to a point that I let my company go. So when the three resigned the second time, I was so angry. I was yelling at the universe. I was really angry. like, you want me to do this spiritual work, but at same time you're letting this.

You know, because I always had this vision that the company would run and I would step back and just it would be an income. But that's not what had to happen. I really had to let it go. And then a month later, another three resigned. Yes, there was. It was quite a big practice anyway. And then I went, you know what? They're not meant to be in my life anymore. And I'm not meant to have this company anymore.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (05:37)
Everybody? Was anyone left?

Catherine Crestani (05:50)
And I remember meditating and going up to my guides and they're just like, finally, she's figured it out. You know, this is this is what we were trying to show you. So I sold my business, which was really beautiful. And then I stayed working in it. ⁓ Whilst I was setting up coaching and that sort of thing, but I had to do a lot of work on myself because subconsciously, I didn't believe I was worthy of the money that I got paid for the business, even though I'd worked my ass off to get it. ⁓

you know, so I had to face my money story, I had to start to believe in myself again. And it was only actually when I invested in my own coach and started working with him that I then actually had that belief and started attracting clients, you know, I started to get all these. Yeah. Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (06:33)
Let's dig into that for a second, if that's okay. ⁓ Why

did you have that feeling about the amount? I won't ask you what the number was, but was it because you didn't grow up seeing those sorts of numbers? Was there a different reason?

Catherine Crestani (06:51)
because I didn't work hard for it. So because I end up with it. Yeah, that's that's that was the deep belief. It was I didn't work hard enough for this money. And that's what I really had to unpack. I definitely did. But in my subconscious, it's like, you know, we grow up with all those things, you know, like money doesn't grow on trees, you have to work hard to earn your money, you know, like all these cultural and societal things you have to unpack.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (07:01)
I needed,

Catherine Crestani (07:17)
it can be really, really difficult, you know, and you don't realize how much it actually impacts on you. And for me, it was definitely like a very imbalanced sacral chakra. So if anyone does work with chakras, I only learned this recently, the front is how you express yourself to the world, but the back is where you receive. And I was having a friend do a treatment on me. And I said, Can you check the back of my sacral chakra? Because she actually shared that.

And she's like, Oh, yeah, let me, she goes, Oh my God, it's so blocked. I said, I know, I said, I'm not receiving money. And then as soon she did that, all these kinds of shifts happen. But I had to do a lot of internal work to get there as well. So, you know, it was just, it was really interesting. And then, you know, once it started to shift, these, these chunks of money started to appear out of nowhere. I was like, Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (08:09)
How does that happen?

Catherine Crestani (08:13)
It just does. It just did. Well, for example...

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (08:13)
How do things appear out of nowhere? People were approaching you or were you finding examples, sorry, were you finding opportunities that you didn't see before?

Catherine Crestani (08:23)
Well, for example, like I said to my husband, said, I really want to keep working with my coach and he said, well, let's find the money. So we sold a car. So we had this massive surplus of cash and then we use that to invest in things. And then my parents just gifted us money out of nowhere. We didn't ask for it. They just gifted us money. I had clients would just randomly drop money in my account just because they were saying, thank you for being you. ⁓

I had another thing even when I was going through the worst thing where I really wanted to do a medical intuition course. And my guides were just like, just pay for it. I was like, but like, I have to take it out of my overdraft. I don't want to do it. They like just do it. Trust us. Just do it. And then sure enough, this client that I hadn't seen for years paid that amount that they owed, which was the exact amount for this course. So things like this happen when you're in alignment.

And when you when you really trust and follow and see what happens, you know, even you know, as I kept working, because after I sold my company, I kept working as a speech therapist. And staying there. I was ⁓ lots of things happened, which made me challenged and had to ask for money and things like that, because of just shifts and changes in the business. But the biggest thing was that I had to learn to listen to my body. So I conditioned myself that

I would quit the job when our house sold. Our house still hasn't sold, but I had to actually leave the job to allow that to start to shift and happen. But because I was ignoring that so much, I was actually going numb. So I lost feeling in my ⁓ my left pinky and it started spreading up to the point I couldn't feel half my face. And I was working with these two beautiful intuitives and they said their husband and wife Jen and Darryl and they said

The numbness will never go away until you figure out the underlying cause. And when you figure it out, you'll know, but if you don't figure it out and keep doing what you're doing, you're going to end up with an autoimmune. And I knew on my heart that it was true. Yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (10:23)
look at that. As a therapist,

you think part of this was that the stress or the pressure you're putting on yourself or the expectations might have been freezing you up? What do you think was happening?

Catherine Crestani (10:33)
you

I was numbing myself to go to work. So I was literally numbing myself to be there because I knew it wasn't in alignment with who I was anymore. But my autoimmune system was already fried from years of extreme cortisol and stress levels and the burnout and everything like that. So when your nervous system's already that fried and you're putting more ⁓

more weight and more need on it, it's not gonna it's not going to be okay. And that's where we can head to those autoimmune. And once you get to an autoimmune energetically, it's really hard to come back from. So I knew that it was kind of the cusp of that. And I was meditating ⁓ in a coaching session, we're doing like a group healing thing. And he's like, check in with your heart and watch your next step. And this was the end of April. And I got this non negotiable quit. That was the word.

quit. It was like, you have to quit, or this is it, this is your tipping point. And I was really numb at this point, too. And I was scared. I'm not going to lie, I was waking up fearful every day, because I could hear intuitively heading for an autoimmune and the numbness was just there constantly, no matter what. And I would go see these amazing tamer practitioners I had, and it was shit for one or two days, and then it would come back because the underlying cause was still there. So once I heard that,

I had a big blow up with my husband because he's like, where are going to get the money from your Aurora? And I was like, I don't know. Yeah, the fear it's the fear. It's the fear that keeps us small. It's the fear that keeps us where we are. And then ⁓ but the day I quit the numbness nearly all but disappeared, I still had a little bit in the palm of my hand. And then it came back a little bit like a week before I finished.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (12:06)
See you.

Catherine Crestani (12:26)
because I could feel like the, know, like, what have I done? You know? And, ⁓ but then once, once I shifted into being like my main primary focus is being a stay at home mom, and then everything else comes second, then the first day I was in that role, every symptom disappeared, every single symptom. So

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (12:35)
goodness.

Catherine Crestani (12:52)
This this is like a journey of for me of learning how to trust and follow my intuition in such a powerful way. And, you know, this is where I am now where I say I'm a leadership coach and intuitive healer because I lead people back to themselves. And I allow them and do that through whatever way ⁓ I'm guided to do that. And I hold space for them in that capacity. So you were sharing about, you know, shamanism and everything like that. They're all just aspects. And it's just, you know, like I

work with anything or anything, but any. Exactly, exactly. And some of the tools I have, I can't even explain to people because I was just gifted them in meditations or in breath work, I'm going to pass life regressions and things like that. And it was like a reawakening of these soul memories. And people like, how did you learn that? And like, I didn't, I just knew it, you know, so there's this ⁓

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (13:24)
they're all tools within your toolkit.

Catherine Crestani (13:46)
Even I remember the first time I was making a smudge bundle from scratch. I was using eucalyptus leaves because we're both in Australia, right? So I was trying to be honor, honor what we would do if we were exactly. And I made this smudge bundle and it was so easy. It was like I'd done it a hundred times before. And I was like, hmm, there's a soul memory. know, it's in it.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (13:55)
It's what's around as well, it's what's available.

Catherine Crestani (14:10)
people can't explain these things and they'll say it's deja vu, but I often say it's more than that. So there's deja vu where you catch up to a timeline, right? And you're like, I've already had this conversation, but I haven't had this conversation, but I have had this conversation. And then there's soul memories where you just know how to do things, which they're a bit more fun because you're like, I don't know how to do this, but I do know how to do this. And this is really weird.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (14:38)
Just pop that phone onto silent. Absolutely. Sometimes you just know how to do something. You're right. And I guess we all have things we try to do that just come easily into the other things. ⁓ to compare it for a second. I'm terrible with math. I just could not. And so some of us will have something like that where you could climb that hill. That's really steep.

Or just find the slightly less steep hill, whatever gets you in the same direction. So it sounds like you are finding the things that you know how to do easily.

Catherine Crestani (15:18)
Yeah, and a lot of them just come because I learned to really listen to that inner pool and that inner knowing. And that was a big part of my spiritual reawakening was really tuning in my intuition. And ⁓ when I stepped out of my role as well as a speech pathologist, it turned up even more because I suddenly had this space and created that ability to step in there. And I just get downloads. Well, I call them downloads. So I'll just have this knowing and

allows me because I have a podcast as well, but it allows me to interview people from like all over the world about such a huge range of topics. A friend asked me the other day, she's like, how do you even do that? And I was like, I don't, I just hold space, like, I just get the information I need, and I listen really deeply. And I just get this deep understanding, like, it's very rare.

that I'll get a guest that I have no idea what they're talking about. And then I can ask the questions because I'm genuinely curious. So it's okay.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (16:19)
Yes, it helps when you're the one asking the questions and you can let people feed the topic, the direction to you. And it feels like just talking to you for the first time ever, I can sense that you can naturally talk. You're a talker. And I think some people lean towards that more than others. and sometimes if you can just trust the words will come to me.

the words will come out somehow and that I think what I'm saying and what you're saying is that what you need will just appear. I remember hearing years ago a quote from Judith Durham where she would say she opens her mouth and trusts from something greater than herself that will help her to just get the right sound out. She opens her mouth, breathes and then something happens because

We are human and so it sounds like you simply know how to lead people into who they are meant to be.

Catherine Crestani (17:26)
Exactly. And that's exactly what I do with my clients. And I have this beautiful gift where I can see their highest timeline. And what that means is I can see their greatest potential and their dreams or their vision, and actually guide them to the steps to get there. So that's like a really beautiful thing that I love to do. And I can do it in such a practical way.

and having my own background of experience because you know, this is why I so go through different things of running my own businesses, I can tell them all what not to do as well. hey, from a person that's tried.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (17:56)
We need to learn that, what not to do?

Catherine Crestani (18:02)
Yeah, and even, you know, I was, I wrote a book and I published a book this year, and I was about spiritual ethics. And I was having talking to someone about it. And I said, Yeah, there's the red flags in there of what not to do, you know, like, if you go see somebody and you ask questions, and they don't answer them, run the other way, you know, like, or if they don't give you a response that feels right, you know,

then you're not in alignment with them. You know, there's a point where you ask too many questions rather than finding them yourselves. But then there's also a point where you're asking questions and they're avoiding them because they don't know the answer. And instead of saying I don't actually know that, they'll be like, stop asking questions, you know, there's this contrast of energy and those sorts of things. So yeah. And sometimes it's nice to know what the red flags are.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (18:45)
⁓

So it's when people don't

want you to dig deeper and you can see that there's something they don't want to reveal.

Catherine Crestani (19:02)
100%. You know, and, and that's where you're not really living in your authentic self, right? Because if you're aware and able to be vulnerable, and if you if you're so triggered about what you're sharing, you know, like I can easily share my story, because I've done all the work around it. It doesn't trigger me anymore. I don't have an emotional reaction to it anymore. Because I've done all the healing around it. But if you're someone that's

hasn't done the proper work, you haven't done the healing, you haven't gone deeper, you haven't had that compassionate inquiry with yourself to ask him what all those lessons taught you, you are going to be triggered as you know, that that's concerning that, you know, this is about knowing yourself. And there's actually a thing called knowing your chapter called knowing yourself and knowing others, because the more you know yourself, the more you know your triggers and your wounds, and the more you can make peace with them.

the less likely you are to be triggered by somebody else, but also the easier it is for you to hold space for people to work with them.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (20:04)
Absolutely. I have a question around that that could be relevant to leaders of a particular specialty or just any listeners at all. So if people are trying to see your authentic intention, be it in a traditional profession or in something alternative, and maybe you're still on that path towards

to say you're on that path towards healing something maybe you recently had a trauma something like that how do you suggest people can balance that if maybe they want to connect with their fellow humans but some things would maybe involve picking a wound a bit too much what should people do then

Catherine Crestani (20:50)
This is where you need to learn your own truth and discernment. So, you know, it comes back to what aligns for you and what doesn't because I can't tell you Melanie, what's right for you and what's not, because I don't know you at that soul level. You know yourself at the soul level. I can say this is what I can see, but it's always comes back to your choice, what you want to do or you don't want to do. And sometimes picking out that wound to the point that it feels really, really invasive.

that it's kind of you face with the choice you can keep. So for me, I run towards that stuff because I'm like, I don't want to deal with this again the next time I reincarnate. And I don't want to deal with this lesson again. So give it to me now and I'm going to heal it. So that's me, right? You know, because and it's funny, my spiritual mentor and I we joke to her like, we don't want to do this again. Who wants to do this again? I don't want to do this again. You know, let's just let's just deal with it and move on.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (21:35)
Noice.

Catherine Crestani (21:47)
you know, whereas ⁓ for some people it is too triggering. And that's the thing, you know, when anyone that you work with, if you're unpacking these layers, you need to feel a vulnerable and safe enough with them that you can go quite deep, but also have a way that if it is too much, you let that person know. And, you know, sometimes I've met with clients and they just want to have this one client. And she's like,

I want to cancel all my karmic contracts. And I was like, are you sure you want to do that? Because a karmic contract or a soul contract is what you kind of sign up to learn in this lifetime. And you know, if you don't learn those lessons, you have to do them again the next lifetime. And the image I got shown for her when she said that was it was almost like she's climbing a mountain and she's so close to the top.

that if she canceled it all, she has to start from scratch again. So I'm like, are you sure you want to do that? She's like, yes. I said, No, you're not 100 % sure we're not doing it. I said, I'm not having the karmic repercussions on me, let alone on you for canceling this out. And then she went to another practitioner that was a friend of mine, she asked the same thing. And she got the same image as I did. This is sometimes nice when you get this like confirmation, right? She's like,

Are you sure you want to cancel things out because she's like, you are so close. And, you know, even when things are the hardest, when we feel the lowest and that sort of thing. Sometimes that is the breakdown before the breakthrough, right. And that is that's, that's the juicy things. And as crap it is, is that is why it's so important to find support and find those around you that you can go to in those lowest times who will

not talk you off the ledge, but at the same time, help you like get a different perception, I want to say of everything happened to you, because when you're in it, it's really hard to get out of it. And that's why we often need someone else to pull us through.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (23:51)
Absolutely, you need an outsider's perspective because when you're in the center of something you don't know how it looks beyond that and especially sometimes I don't know if you saw this in a lot of other people but I found that in some chapters of life there's maybe storm after storm after storm and that becomes the new normal and you forget what else is even possible you forget that peace or

Catherine Crestani (24:00)
100%.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (24:19)
a healthy life where you're not completely energetically fried or something like that. You forget that's even possible. Have you seen that?

Catherine Crestani (24:28)
Yeah. And especially like I have a client at the moment. And basically, she knows the answer intuitively, but because there's so much crap happening, she just goes, it's just all too much. I said, you told me this last week, but you're still here. You know, and sometimes, you know, we get we have to be really careful when we're in these positions of ⁓ healer, bodyworker, you know, psychiatrist, it doesn't matter whatever you are, where someone comes to you.

looking for assistance, looking for empowerment, looking for healing, whatever it is. And we have to be really conscious that they don't turn us into a savior. And this is what this client was doing. And I said, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna save you. I said, I will support and challenge you. I will help you through these nitty gritty things. I'm happy to help you implement these things. But I'm not going to save you because well, a savior helps people stay in a victim mindset.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (25:17)
What's the difference?

Catherine Crestani (25:23)
They stay always looking for someone to help them and always for someone to blame or the perpetrator, right? Think of any Disney movie, right? There's always a hero and an antihero, right? That is a victim mindset. Whereas if you move into a creator mindset where you can create what you want in this world, then you're actually supporting and challenging the person and the energy is incredibly different. So instead of being a savior, you're being a supporter and a challenger and a challenger.

pushes you to the edge of your comfort zone, but to the point that you can then up, up, up level up level yourself, right? Whereas the supporter is going to go, yeah, you can do it. Keep going, keep going, you know, and, they're people you want in your life too. Whereas the hero is going to go, Oh yeah, let me help you with that. And you know, different energy. So, you know, go go go. Yep.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (26:12)
Do they encourage you to be

your own hero and your own rescue?

Catherine Crestani (26:22)
Yeah, to a point, but it's almost even taking you completely out of that mindset where you don't even need to look for a hero. So instead of saying, is this happening to me? You start asking why is this happening for me? Because you're then learning to get the gratitude and the blessing out of all the crap that you've been through. And when you start to look back at every hard moment you've had in your life that you have come through, what can you say is your blessing and what can you say you've learned from that?

And that is when you know that you've learned that lesson. That is when you can actually truly heal at that deeper level because you can go, wow, that taught me X, Y, and Z. If I hadn't gone through that, I wouldn't be who I am today. And I am grateful for that experience, no matter how crap it is.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (27:10)
Is that how you felt about winding up your business that it happened for you, even though there might have been moments perhaps where it felt like it was happening to you?

Catherine Crestani (27:21)
Partially, I feel like the happening to me felt when I had all the staff leaving, but the actual selling of the business, it just felt really aligned. And I still remember I had, so we used to be open on Saturdays. And the first and I used to run nature camps for kids on Saturday. So it was my own thing I did I take kids out into the bush, you know, we go connect with Nades to love it, absolutely love it, you know, and I plan to do it again soon.

And anyway, but once we were, was this about a month before I'd sold the business. I was getting ready to go out to take the kids out just finishing like having a cup of tea and I had all these missed calls on my work phone. And this staff member had slept in and was still an hour away and he he started an hour beforehand. And I was like, when are you going to actually get to the clinic? And he's like this time.

So I had to in the space of 10 minutes, like stressfully call, first of all, the client still waiting for him in the waiting room, the next client that was about to come sit in the waiting room, the client after to cancel them and the first client to profusely apologize for him missing the appointment completely. So, and I was just so frustrated because I was like, you're an adult, take responsibility for this, you know, like, this is, this is insane. You know, you should be the one calling your clients to apologize, not me.

because it looks better coming from you. anyway, fixed, fixed. So then I just couldn't also, couldn't believe that in this day and age you, can sleep in like that, especially when you know that you have to get up. And I have a child, a child wakes me up anyway. So anyway, so then the first week end that I didn't own the business anymore, the same thing happened. I was about to take these kids out on this nature camp and I had all these phone, these phone calls and messages. And I said,

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (28:50)
Sure.

Catherine Crestani (29:16)
Here's your new boss's phone number. Talk to him. So I was like, done.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (29:23)
is free.

Catherine Crestani (29:25)
It was freeing exactly it was freeing so it wasn't, you know, as soon as I stepped out of that victim thing of like, hey, you know, and I'm so grateful for running businesses, I know that I can build them up from scratch. I know how to see gaps in the market. I know all these things. And I learned so much from doing that. I also learned, like I said, what not to do. So I can see so easily the gratitude in

everything that I went through. And now it's my story, I get to share with people to inspire them that they don't have to stay in that rabbit, or the guinea pig, you know, the guinea pig wheel, you don't have to stay in that if you choose not to, you can build a life that aligns with you. And, you know, you can wake up and be excited about your day rather than hitting the snooze button 20 times over.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (30:16)
Absolutely. It's amazing. You're right. That professional knew that people were relying on him and there was a responsibility. People were aligning their day and arranging their time around that. And we need to honor people's time. So it sounds like once you had shifted that managerial hat to someone else, then you felt a bit of freedom. I've been wondering.

Those industries though still serve a purpose to particular people and sometimes people have to engage with those industries. And I'm wondering, so I'm not from that field at all, but I really hope so much that the people in those fields can work from a sense, from an energy that isn't burned out and from a...

a space where they can focus on helping people instead of, feel overwhelmed by all the, you know, sometimes people do get overwhelmed by the, yes, the paper, let's just say it, okay, look, I'm just saying it as someone from the outside who's not one of those specialists, but I can see even from here, they get overwhelmed by the backend or, you know, just hiccups like what you saw. So I'm wondering, do you have any words of wisdom?

Catherine Crestani (31:20)
Paperwork. Policies.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (31:42)
for those spaces so they can help people who need to engage with it in a way that everybody can thrive in.

Catherine Crestani (31:51)
Yeah, so the biggest thing that I started to do Melanie was when I had students, I would start to teach them actually self care protocols, you know, very early on, you know, and had these the last two students I had last year, were beautiful. And one of them actually I said to her, what's going on with you? And she goes, What do you mean? I said, you have a gift, don't you? She's like, I can see auras. And I said, Oh, great, let's unpack this.

you know, and she's like, and I said, this is your gift. I said, you're gonna, it's actually going to benefit you because of x y. And so we had a really cool session, actually, like I did a reading for her was really cool. And then my other but both of them, you know, there's this, do I describe that? There's something going on with the younger generations where they think it's okay to talk crap about each other. And I say like, they say really negative things, right? Like,

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (32:45)
Really?

Catherine Crestani (32:48)
you're so stupid. Like it's a joke, but yes. And yes.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (32:51)
explains so much. Sorry, I just, I saw

this attitude even directly from people who are a decade younger than me. I'm going to go ahead and turn it off. So is that just how they talk now?

Catherine Crestani (33:02)
Mm.

Hmm. So I had to actually stop them because I felt to and I had a really powerful conversation with them. And I said, if you keep saying that about yourself, you're going to become that because your words carry energy and power. And for one of them, she saw and it wasn't even the one that could read autos. It was the other one. I just saw this shift in mindset when she realized that's what she was doing to herself. And she actually like flipped who she was like halfway through that placement.

And I said to them, you're not going to have supervisors like me again, I know you won't because I'm like, you know, I'm a different field and they know that too. And then I said, but remember my words and remember these lessons because I'm teaching you now how you don't end up in burnout and how you don't end up in these things. You know, learn to go home on time, leave work at work, get stuff done so it doesn't keep lingering, you know.

these are the shortcuts you can do, but in a good positive way. You know, we're very lucky to that as ⁓ technology keeps speeding up and things, you know, when I started as a new grad, I had to handwrite all my notes. Now you can just like copy and paste and change the like change the outcomes for each kind of goal, you know, whereas, you know, so there's all these things that are more time saving. But at the same time, it's learning how to still be yourself.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (34:23)
Right.

Catherine Crestani (34:32)
in all of that. And there's this big movement of like, you have to be professional. And know, you can't be friends with them. I'm like, but you need to be friends with these parents, you need to be friends with the kids. Because if you're not friendly with them, if you're not kind and caring, and actually genuinely a human and concerned, you're not going to get this deep level of connection. And I find that this is the problem that's kind of going on where it's like, that's not professional, but

And I had ⁓ a client last week, and we were unpacking this. And she and her, her, her, one of her colleagues came in and said, professionalism is contextualized, because it's all depends on the person and their version of what professional looks like. So you'll have some people that will tell you professional is you have to wear a suit to work every day. Whereas I was barefoot wearing jeans in it my work polo.

And my clients loved that I was barefoot all the time. And I was like, I can't wear shoes. And my boss was like, you do you that's fine, whatever. And I was like, great, thank you. You know, so, ⁓ you know, it's how you show up, but I never had once had a client tell me I was unprofessional because I didn't have shoes on because I still cared about them. And I still as much as that job wasn't fulfilling me, I still cared about them. So I guess if you're still working in an allied health profession, your health profession, whatever it might be, remember to be human. That would be my

short answer to that. Remember to be human. And remember that kindness goes further than sitting there and judging. Because when we learn to be curious rather than judgmental, that is when you can have a really deep and profound human to human connection. And that is where you'll see the biggest growth with people as well.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (36:15)
We froze up for one second.

You still there? Okay. I think it's back again. You froze up for one second, but the dot points or the keywords I heard in that were curiosity and humanity. And that's so fascinating to me. I was really only exposed to that sort of field in the last few years, again, from the outside of it. Even it's really it's really funny that I came from a public speaking background and

Catherine Crestani (36:22)
They caught up. I'm still here.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (36:51)
I've seen some speakers that basically to word it badly, they turn a little bit robotic. It's like you're being more professional if you're having less expression or personality and the suit, like you mentioned, if you have the suit, but you're right. How human does that feel? And I used to hear early on.

keep the skeletons in the closet. There are some things here to never tell the world, but if you're not revealing anything about yourself or if you're not finding any common ground at all, then what are people connecting with? People need the humanity in, I think, any profession. Let me know if you agree that this could translate to people who teaching or training or even leading teams in any field. You're dealing with humans.

Catherine Crestani (37:47)
Mm-hmm.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (37:48)
I saw, especially in this, at this age in life, it seems like we're at a slightly similar age where someone might be great at their job, but they're a parent. And the reality is that they need to be on time, but also, people catch a cold, things happen, and you need to see the whole picture, or you know, there's the old-fashioned professional view of, you don't go talking about how someone just died. You just be professional and proper.

You have to acknowledge reality. Do you think so?

Catherine Crestani (38:22)
Yeah, and I feel that that's this, ⁓ whether we're being told to bottle up our emotions to write, so we get told not to get emotional, but sometimes, especially from working with children, explain explaining and displaying your emotions is the best thing you can do for them, because then they learn how to regulate their own emotions. There's no level of emotional regulation that we ever taught; we just get told to, you know, sit down, be quiet, don't talk about that.

You know, especially like you said, Melanie, our generation was very much, no, you don't talk about someone who has passed away. It's like, well, maybe they actually just want to know that they're okay. You know, even I was talking to a family member the other week, and something had happened. And to another family member, and they were pushing me to try and find out what happened. I just kept saying, well, that's their story to share. And they're like, ⁓ I don't know what to do with that. Because it was trying to get into that gossip kind of thing. So there's, if anyone's watched Ted Lasso, this is where that quote comes from, where it's be curious, not judgmental. Because when you're curious about why people are how they are, or why they might be sad, or you never know what is happening, they might have had the worst train wreck of the morning, and they've still shown up just as they are. Acknowledge them showing up just as they are. Thank you for showing up today. Really appreciate seeing you. ⁓ what? What?

But I look terrible. It's like, no, but you're here. Thank you. You know, and it can be as simple as that. And, you know, there's this whole movement of acts of kindness. It just needs to be kindness, really. You know, shouldn't be acts. It should just be kind and be human. And I guess the other flip side of that is, you know, yes, if it's a parent, you might run late because of what's going on. Or, you know, your child is unwell or things like that. But you also have to learn to be accountable.

Because if you're not accountable and take responsibility for that and own it, rather than blaming, there's a different energy. Blaming is very low energy, whereas if you're like, hey, I apologise for running late. ⁓ X, Y, and Z happened. And I understand it's really frustrating, but I am really grateful that you've been waiting for me. Very different energy, you know, so yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (40:41)
Absolutely, and you mentioned before that the worker you had could have apologised and tried to support the people who were waiting for him. Try to help to find a solution.

Catherine Crestani (40:51)
100 % you know.

Yeah. And I'm like a person if people start to blame other things for their not doing their job or things like that. It makes me really cranky because I'm like, own it, take responsibility of it. Like, actually, instead of blaming everything else, you're just going to stay in the blame and shame cycle rather than, okay, this happened. Let's move on. And what can we do to change that so we don't stay in that cycle anymore?

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (41:19)
For solutions and I have one more question about that moment when you shifted away from Allied Health and into something else because you said also that you had a moment of wondering what have I done and I'm wondering for anyone looking for a career change or just shifting what they do be it stay at home parent or going back to work whatever it might be how can you be sure

How can they be sure that they are making the most informed decision and maybe not acting out of fear and stress in the moment? Because we all know that he can have a stressed moment and then hours or days later, you're at ease and realising, ⁓ goodness, I've made a big decision. How can people be sure about that?

Catherine Crestani (42:11)
There's so much to unpack and what you just said, Melanie. So no, it's funny. So I guess the biggest thing I teach people and I just ran a retreat where this is the most powerful thing that everyone said they learned was first of all, you have a vision or a dream. Everyone has a vision or a dream. If you don't have one, you would live in somebody else's, so go get your own. That would be my tough love moment. But

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (42:14)
Sorry.

Catherine Crestani (42:35)
Once you know that you can tap into your values and then get really clear on what your yeses and nos are. And your no needs to be a powerful no, and your yes needs to be a powerful yes. What do I mean by that? If it's not 100 % yes, it's a no. And that sounds really extreme to people. But at the same time, a decision is just a decision. You make the decision, and then you make the next decision, and then you make the next decision. When you sit in the maybe energy, when you sit in the I mean, and I

It drains you is so draining. And it just exactly so you know, you can say yes, with conditions, you can say yes and move forward. And this is the biggest thing about what you said about knowing if you're going the right thing. If it feels scary and exciting at the same time, you are on the right path. Because if it's not scary and exciting, you're actually not growing, you're not stepping out of your comfort zone, you're not expanding yourself with who you are.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (43:06)
It's neither direction.

Catherine Crestani (43:33)
You know, and I can give you so many examples of things that I would never have thought I would share with you that I did to run a retreat, to write a book, to do all these things. But it's because I just kept having it risky, risking it all. Essentially, like quitting my job was throwing it all in going, I cannot do this anymore. And the week I quit my job, I hadn't even left yet. All these opportunities came. I got invitations to speak on women’s empowerment themes. I've got interviews booked in where I was going on podcasts. I had monetary things like that because I opened up the space to that. So if you know, 60 % of what you need to know about 60 % of where you're heading, because it won't all be there perfectly. And sometimes it's just such a strong urge, and no one else is going to understand it. And you just have to say yes to it anyway. Even if your partner says no, if your family says no, just do it anyway, because in the end, you have to wake up and live with yourself every day.

They don't. Even you think, yeah, even if you think your partner, no, they don't have to live with you every day, you have to live with your decisions every day. And if you can say, I did it, and I failed, but this is what I learned. And I feel that there's a lot of what you said to Melanie, there's this stigma around failing is a bad thing. You know, like relationships, like, even I went through this when I had a divorce, like my first marriage when I got divorced.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (44:34)
Absolutely.

Catherine Crestani (45:02)
There was a stigma in my family, like it was a bad thing. And I was just like, yeah.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (45:04)
I'm curious, when was it held? How were you?

Catherine Crestani (45:10)
I think I was about 26, 27. So I got married quite young. So the first time. So, you know, there was ⁓ this stigma around divorce, but I feel it comes from a Catholic upbringing and all that stuff. But in the end, I didn't see it as a bad thing. My family did. But I saw it as actually reclaiming myself and my freedom. And all my and all my clients were like,

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (45:33)
wasn't there in that rage, really.

Catherine Crestani (45:38)
Hey, have you lost weight? You look amazing. And I was joking and said I lost 80 kilos because that's what my ex used to weigh. And they're like, wow, I didn't know you were like had that much to lose. And I said, ‘No, I'm getting divorced.’ And they're like, I'm sorry to hear that. I said, I'm not, you know, I'm like so happy. And

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (45:57)
Isn't it funny how a breakup makes you actually lose weight?

Catherine Crestani (46:01)
I know, but it was just it was really interesting, like contrast and that sort of thing and coming from there. But in the end, yes, that was a scary decision. I was ending a marriage, I had to sort out our house, you know, like all things like that. But I never regretted it for a moment. And even I met this other beautiful lady at this cafe we used to go to a lot. And she got divorced and she had three kids so it was quite traumatic like the divorce because she had to try and get full custody because of the relationship dynamic and she goes look if I knew everything and I feel this is such a pertinent story but if I knew everything I had to go through to get to where I am right now I wouldn't have done it she said do I regret doing it no I would do it over again in a heartbeat as long as I didn't know what was coming because that's the whole point we're always on a journey we're always evolving

We don't know what's coming, but in the end, you get to your goal. If you do get to your goal, it's okay if you don't, you know, it's like, but you're heading somewhere and you're evolving. And that is the beauty of being human. And that's the beauty of our soul’s evolution because you know, we have to go through the lows to experience the highs. We have to feel sad to feel happy. We have to feel angry to feel that sense of peace because everything is polarity. And when you can find and see the beauty in that, and that everything's connected.

You know, even though there's so much talk about, you know, like all the evil in the world. I'm like, well, you need evil, because the evil balances out the good. You know, it's not that I'm saying condoning saying yes, you know, do evil things. It's not that it's actually showing you the contrast of what you don't want. And I think the biggest thing I learned was me saying, thank you, I'm glad that, I'm grateful. That's not my journey. Because otherwise, I would just go into judgment. And I'm like, Nope, I'm grateful. That's not my journey.

You know, and that can help you stay out of being pulled into that energy too.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (47:58)
Yes, the dark side of the world can show you what you don't want and what you don't need.

Catherine Crestani (48:03)
Exactly.

Yeah, but then if you sit in the fear of that, you're going to attract that to, you know, if you sit in the fear, and you sit in on all the things that you don't want, you're going to attract it like you're a magnet because like attracts like, and this is where this thing is when people are constantly looking at what they don't have and coming from that scarcity mindset. This was something I had to learn through my money journey. You have to flip it and be grateful. I'm grateful I can pay this bill. I'm grateful I can go have some food, I'm grateful I can buy groceries, I'm grateful I've got a roof over my head and I can pay the council rates, know, whatever it might be, rather than sitting in that scarcity, because that is where it will become misaligned and you'll just attract more of that into your life.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (48:46)
We froze up again.

There you are. The gratitude. Yes, you got back. It's okay. The gratitude. And in the last 10 minutes, this is a great direction to go in near the end. I feel like this is just flowed without having to map it out. This is amazing. So if people are trying to bring their attention towards the good that they want to.

I create the goodness that they want to aim for, then I wonder if you have any more advice on how people can bring their attention to maybe the specifics, or the goals or what that looks like. And to just bring one example into that question, the one marketing lesson that really stuck with me was that we see food ads more when we're hungry. And it sounds like if you are hungry for growth, you will see ways to grow.

Do you want people to be hungry for growth? What does that look like? Should they get a detailed or a broad umbrella? What would you say to people about that?

Catherine Crestani (49:54)
I feel it's learning to trust yourself that is the biggest thing in all of that. Because if you can't trust yourself and honour yourself, then it doesn't matter how many coaches you get, how many courses you do, how many different career paths you go down, because if you don't learn yourself well enough to know what aligns for you and what doesn't, then it doesn't matter any of those things, you know, and I always say to people, I don't care what your certificates are, or who you are, or whatever I care about what you do for me. And in the end, that's what it comes down to, you know, if you have something good you want to share in the world, it doesn't matter what background that you're in. In the end, you have to really come back to what why are you doing that? Is it because you know, and there'll be a selfish reason there too. And I don't like the word selfish. My coach calls it so full. And I love that. ⁓ But you know, there's always a reason you know, for example,

For me, I started my podcast because I wanted to blast open my throat chakra. And then that was my like kind of little selfish thing. And then it became a massive thing where I get to hear people's beautiful stories. I get to learn from them. I get to connect with them and network with them. And then I get to connect them with other people. And it's so beautiful how it evolved. But at the same time, it started for selfish reasons and self-full reasons. And if you have gone into a profession that doesn't excite you, that doesn't light you up, that doesn't make you want to like share it with the world for whatever reasons. There's so many people I talked to will be like, I had a session of Reiki or I had a session with this and then I was then I was curious, you know, so it started for selfish reasons, because it started off like, how can I nourish myself, but we have to find that balance between over giving and receiving and where we can find that balance in between. So if you want to get started, just dream - dream and see what you can come up with and then find ways to anchor that dream into reality with really manageable steps. And I know that's what I teach my clients to do. And that's how I work with people that come to me, whether it's just for a healing thing, or for coaching, it doesn't matter, it always ends up being the same thing, where we get actionable steps to move forward to keep going. But sometimes, the best thing you can do as well is invest in yourself in whatever way that might be, whether it's you want to learn more about you. So you go get, you know, astrology or numerology or human design or whatever, you know, you might get a reading, or you might want to start unpacking layers. So you go work with an intuitive healer or you feel pulled to it doesn't matter what it is, like it truly doesn't matter in the end, you need to learn what's true for you. And then discern from that because what's true for you isn't true for somebody else. What's true for me isn't true for Melanie, what's true.

You know, it's your truth, and that's what you need to learn to honour.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (52:50)
Catherine, you've really taught us to be within the directions that make sense for our strengths and what we can provide and how we can thrive. Because you started off talking about how you were literally going numb. And so going in a new direction might have saved your life and then helped other people in the process. It was through exploring this new direction that you ended up on your podcast and this podcast. And so you've connected with people that you wouldn't otherwise connect with by exploring that different space. And I want to thank you so much for showing us how being open to new possibilities can save ourselves and also save other people.

Catherine Crestani (53:42)
100%. Very well summarised, Melanie. And thank you so much for having me on the show and for letting me share my story. Thank you.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (53:50)
Thank you so much. Any last sentence or two before we wrap up?

Catherine Crestani (53:57)
I guess I live every day, and I wake up, and even it's on my alarm on my phone, and it says be the change you want to see in the world. And that's how I live my life because if you can't be the change you want to see, who else is going to do it for you?

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (54:13)
Spot on, be the change. Thank you so much. And I feel like we could have talked for hours, but thank you so much for your time. It was an honour.

Catherine Crestani (54:20)
Thank you, Michelle, Melanie. I would say Michelle, Melanie.

Melanie Suzanne Wilson (54:24)
I'll let it go.

Okay, well, next time.

Catherine Crestani (54:28)
Ha ha ha ha!