Wellbeing is the cornerstone of any business because without it, well, there really is no business. With so many of our Mums & Co community being solo business owners, we can't underestimate the importance of putting energy into a daily wellbeing practice that supports your growth and your rest.  Ingrid Jones is one of our Mums & Co wellbeing experts, former primary school teacher and life coach, as well as a master of mindfulness. She joins us on Mumbition today to share some of her insights.

‍Can you please share your story with us?

“In my mid thirties, I was going through a little bit of a tough time and I found myself writing one day and I flicked back. I just had this feeling of just like I feel like I've written about this in the same way over and over. ‍

‍At the end of 2019 I was running a series of wellbeing talks for the school that I teach at for the parent community, and I'd run my first run and I was just like, okay, it really didn't land,the things that I thought were going to be really good actually weren't what they needed or wanted.  I had this fabulous, honest feedback from a very good friend who was also a parent in the community. We sat down and I was like, okay. I took her feedback and thought, I need to do something completely different for my second session and I didn't know what that would be, but I was like, they need something that I can take away with them, I'm going to teach them the way I journal. I literally put it together as this step by step framework and I went in there and taught them each step. As I taught each step, they had that chance to journal so they could apply their learning straight away.‍

‍So what I really crafted over this time is a journal writing framework that guides people from venting through to musing, all the way to that “aha!” moment where you have a really exciting idea or a perfect solution that you can't wait to execute. So it's all about just getting that stress off your mind, resetting and freeing you up to get on with life.”

‍Can you share three things that you do, perhaps each week, to inspire your ambition, nurture your livelihood, and protect your own wellbeing?

“First of all, I meditate and journal every day. It keeps me connected with myself and my own vision and things like that, so that really resets me, so I will do that. With that, journaling often happens in the morning, but I'm actually absolutely flexible, I can journal any time, anywhere. ‍

‍For ambition, I love listening to podcasts. I love drawing on and being inspired by other people who have done great things and make a positive difference in the world. So, I listen to a lot and take on little gems from there. ‍

‍For livelihood, I think it's constantly finding wonderful ways to grow. Like to grow my own business and things like that. Is that what you mean by that? I love being creative, whether it's supporting groups or organisations with journaling, getting it into workplaces or finding ways to grow my own journal community. I have a community where we meet on a weekly basis to journal in supporting each other. So yes, I love finding ways for that to grow as well.”

‍What is it that you love about being a woman in business helping other women?

“I think it's an exciting time to be a woman in business because I didn't necessarily grow up seeing it. So then being able to step into it and learn to do it, I think it's really wonderful and powerful and just being able to help other women in business, I love it, I love people's ideas, I love helping people to help themselves. ‍

‍I think women have this incredible way of juggling and multitasking and being aware of so much. But they also have this incredible generosity because they also know how tricky or challenging business or life can be. So they are really great at supporting and expanding the network, so just generously giving.‍

‍I think I love doing that, I meet other people who are the same and I feel like there's this commonality between women when it comes to running businesses.”

‍Who is in your co and how are they helping to grow your business?

“I have so much wonderful support. My community, my own journal community is really core to that, I've built wonderful friendships and connections from there. I'm constantly learning from them with what works and doesn't work through that is a lot of word of mouth. My own friends and family are just absolutely fabulous as well. Some of the entrepreneurial connections I think that is so important to have in different communities, like minded and just that wonderful support.”