00:00

Welcome to Make More Money Without Selling Your Soul. The podcast for bold entrepreneurs ready to simplify scale and reclaim their time. I’m Polly Lavarello, Evergreen scaling strategist and cushy business pioneer. Join me and my occasional guests as we explore the themes of wealth, selling and well-being, because building a business that works for you changes everything. Let’s dive in.

00:37

Welcome to the show. I am your host, Polly Laverello, and today we are diving deep into midlife motherhood and what it really means to build a soul led business. My guest is Ekaterina Ward, a seasoned educator, business mentor and executive coach based in London. She began her career in teaching, before moving into corporate financial services, where she built up solid business experience, then retrained and worked as a corporate and executive coach for the past 11 years, Ekaterina has been empowering female founders and mothers in the workforce to become reliable moneymakers without burning out, while actually thriving in life. Now 50, she’s a proud mother and wife on a mission to redefine midlife as the most vibrant, fulfilling and powerful chapter of all. In this conversation, we talk about soul, mission, legacy, the magic and mayhem of midlife, and how to follow your joy and take action on it, especially when your kids need you less, but your desire for purpose feels louder than ever. Let’s dive in. Ekaterina, I am so excited to have you on the show. We have been in and out of each other’s lives for several years now, and it’s just been amazing watching your growth and your evolution. But before we get into it, please introduce yourself to my listeners.

01:59

Polly, it’s more than a pleasure to be here. And Hi. My name is Ekaterina, and I am a business mentor for female founders with kids that happen to be mothers as well, and I help them to thrive in business and also thrive in life. And my angle is, I know I’m about to say a really big word, but connect them to their soul’s vision and purpose. I found in my work this is the path of least resistance, because when you get anchored and steady into your own center, you magic happens. You stop looking right, left and center. What everyone does? You become the thing. You walk the thing, you sell the thing. So there is absolutely nothing between you and making this mission a success, and success in every way, as fulfillment, monetary success. So this is what I do now. Before that, I am an ex educator. I think it’s interesting for context, I am a qualified teacher, I thought in a classroom, also ex corporate. My seven, eight years stint in corporate England was a very positive memory for me at a missions trading desk out of all, and I think I am going to end with the most important mission and impact as a mother and in my immediate community of people who are very close to me.

03:37

Amazing, amazing. And with your background in education and in corporate, what was the thing that encouraged you to take the leap into self employment? Oh, that your own soul mission.

03:50

I think again, because a lot of women ask me, How do you know? What do I know? You follow the breadcrumbs and your soul? I believe I don’t know how Moody’s can get for your podcast, but I believe talks to you through that joy that you feel, that buzz that you feel, everything was really natural to me. So after education, I thought originally, so for those who are trying to figure out my accent, I come from Bulgaria. I came 25 years ago, just before the year 2000 and I thought I’ve just qualified as a teacher. I thought in a classroom, I absolutely loved it. As a matter of fact, when I was asked as a little girl, what would you like to do to be when you are grown up, I would say a teacher. I want to be in front of people. I want to teach. And when I came here, then out of a sudden, I was really interested in business. I thought so the progression was education, then corporate and then self employment. But it was a natural evolution, and I can this. Zoom in on the part that you want everything felt really natural. And the key piece was that I I kind of that’s what I’m into, that’s what I’m gonna do. Now, it was really kind of listening to that inside whisper.

05:15

Was there a kind of pivotal was there anything going on around you at that time that made it kind of cool, because I hear you when you say, it’s natural, but it’s also quite a leap of faith the moment we decide to move away from, I mean, education is such a kind of solid system to be within, and then corporate, equally, has its own kind of security around it. I mean, I say that, I mean, I mean security, security, but it’s still that leap of faith that one takes in themselves when they decide, actually, no, I’m going to work for myself well as always. I mean, I told you I absolutely love because I listened to your podcast and absolutely love your question. And this is really true. So what I felt when I came to London, I was like, I want that security. I want to make money. I want to live in a beautiful part of London. I want to go to beautiful places. I want to explore London from this perspective. And it was really interesting because I knew that I wanted that, and thinking about it now, looking back, prompted by your question, I wanted, I decided that I wanted that. I never, for a second, I think this is the ignorance is place of a young person. Never, in a moment thought, how could somebody with a an education as a professional teacher and degree in linguistics? I came out of university with Ma So masters in linguistics and professional qualification as a teacher. How would somebody go and work in corporate? Not a single moment I was like, I want to do that. And absolutely, at an event, I happened to meet people, to kind of get into a circle, and somebody knew, somebody who knew somebody who said they might be looking for somebody like that. I went to that interview, and I was initially employed as a personal assistant because, I mean, they were looking for personality, for somebody who has this, can do attitude, and is really organized. And I fit everything also, I kind of fit the idea of, oh, you could be front of desk. You could talk to people great, and that was and then the rest was history. I was promoted from that to an office manager, to a portfolio manager. I mean, it just happened from there.

07:31

I love that. So it started with that intention, and then the way kind of revealed itself. And I think that leads really nicely onto the theme that we’re talking about today, about midlife, because I think a lot of intentions take us in the earliest stages of our lives and then around our 40s, but or even our 50s, any age, really, I think ultimately what I’ve found so I’m about to turn 40 next year. My eldest is 11, my youngest is nine. They need me less. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still obviously very involved. Being a parent is still a very proactive part of my life, but it’s a very different feeling to when they really need you and you, you know every moment of your day is consumed with them. And that does leave this kind of expanse, this almost wasteland of kind of introspection, which can be avoided, but that sense of what next, you know, am I on the path I want to be on, or a path that’s different? And so I guess my question is actually, before we dive too much into the midlife pieces you mentioned at the very beginning, you support women business owners who have children, before we go into the specifics of the challenges midlife can bring and the opportunities, of course, what is it specifically about being a mother and a business owner that brings its own unique challenges?

08:50

Well, I think Polly, we know the challenges really well. I haven’t spoken to a woman who cannot give me a very clear list of her challenges. What we don’t think about is the blessing, yes, first of all, I think both, I mean to me, being a mother and being a bit I’ve actually got goosebumps, because what I’m saying is so true to me, being a mother and being a business owner, equally, is a vehicle for soul growth. It’s a spiritual journey on itself, and they are so interconnected. And I’m going to give you an example to be a role model you want to be for your child, you need to grow. You need to dissolve some resistance. You need to look deep into your patterns and understand and the beliefs and the emotional responses, and then commit to dissolve all of the distortions that you attach to for one reason or another. But the same is the business side of things I very often say to my clients, you will grow as your business grows. US, and you will your business will be capped, or it will stall, and it will be stuck. When you are stuck, it really, I have a really good argument and a lot of data to actually know that this is true. This isn’t just a belief of mine.

10:18

Yeah, well, I mean, I this is why I’ve always had a mentor in my life. Because, I mean, that sounds unrelated, but it’s related in the fact that we are so closely connected to our own limitations, and of course, we can learn those in time, and we can have scenarios that come up, but we’re so close to them, when we can have either a coach or a mentor who’s alongside us, who can start to see those patterns and help reveal them for you. You know, it’s not that they can do the work for you. They can’t, but it’s it can be, you know, triggering and challenging and enriching and all of those things. But I’ve certainly found the periods where I’ve hidden away from mentorship have been the same periods where I more easily fall into those same spirals, but yeah, the growth piece is huge. What I thought of when I was listening to you is that whole thing of children don’t learn by what you say. They learn by what you do. So if you’re telling them that you can do anything, if you’re telling them that you know like you can do, like whatever you’re passionate about, you can make it into a career. If you’re not the embodiment of that, then how much are they really going to trust? That’s the case, you know? So, yeah, it’s a real opportunity to come into oneself. And I really love that, by the way. Funnily enough, I was the next question I was going to ask is, and what are the blessings? And you beat me to it. You beat me to it. But I mean, I guess one question I’m curious to know, because when you’re talking about supporting mothers with children, are you talking about very young children, older children? Does it not really matter? Like, what does it normally look like for you?

11:47

This is a really good question, and I think there is a conversation so that is from a strategic perspective, which is something that you teach, is that you that you need to be very clear about the part of the journey your client is, and for me, I solely talk into the part of the journey my client is, which is similar to where you are. You have a little bit of time on your hands. You are still very involved in parenting, but it’s different now. It requires different things of you, and I think this is, this is who I’m talking to. But don’t you say that I I’ve actually had women, funnily enough, actually, the women that I’m working with now, most of them are at the beginning of motherhood, and I have so much empathy to that moment, to that kind of cycle of life, because I was a complete mess. But because of that, I know, okay, I’m looking back, I’m connecting the dots, and I am being the person who I wanted somebody to be. For me, it’s almost like reframing these two shall pass ground into the most important things you need to ground into today, and that is all that matters. So, yes, I think mainly I have, I have so much wisdom for us who are a decision of life, where we are close to I am 50, you are 40. It’s such a beautiful age. Polly, and I don’t know what your next question is, but I am now at a point where I’m thinking, if yesterday, the big word of legacy and impact sounded like a one day thing. For me, now I feel the urgency. It’s become important, but that is so beautiful, because I become a bigger embodiment of me to anchor into my soul, mission and my purpose here, which unsurprisingly helps my journey as a mother, but also as a business owner, really expands it enriches it. So yeah, legacy is a big thing that’s on my map, and actually something that I’m bringing, even to women, to women that I’m working with who are the beginning of the journey. Legacy is not the one they think is the two day thing. What is the legacy of this moment that you living compared to the last. What does legacy mean to you?

14:25

I think legacy, for me means really understanding what you are here to do. Again, this sentence has been so overused, but for me, really is about I’m going to use this word again, anchoring into your own center and kind of looking into the threads and saying, Okay, this is mine. This is my gift. This is what I’m here to do. And with that, the important piece is responsibility. I i am here to do that. I’m here to fulfill that. I’m here to spread that. I’m here to share that with other people. And when you become responsible for sharing that gift, then you know, the doubt dissolves. And again, as I say, the practical aspects of like, I’m going to sell that thing. I’m going to talk about what I do to everyone and anyone, even at the school gates, which has been very difficult some points of my life now, I’m like, big cringe, own your weird I’m going to talk about souls. And I’m going to talk about really taking a moment of silence and understand what is it that you’re here to do? And very important thing I want to say, it’s not one thing. It’s not that I haven’t sat down and here, okay, I’m here to do this and this for me, I’m here to listen to the whispers of my soul where the joy takes me, because I have realized every single pivotal moment of my life was when I listened to that. What gives me joy. Follow the joy, and do everything in the 3d world to fulfill it, to make it a reality. Take action on it. That’s it. Follow the joy. Turn action on it. Follow the joy. Take action on it. This is how you fulfill your soul’s mission, follow the joy and take action on that. I love it because it’s funny. I was curious to know your definition of legacy, because it’s not a language I speak, but purpose is and when I heard what you were saying, I was like, purpose. Yes, purpose is the thing that gets me out of bed. Purpose is the thing that gives me resiliency. Purpose is the thing that has me still showing up for a webinar that, you know, not as many people as I thought would sign up for have signed up for. Because it’s not about the numbers. It’s about the impact. It’s about helping people. It’s about knowing that every time you take a step in alignment to your like, whether you want to call it your north star or your purpose, you know, because I don’t know it’s weird, even though I’m a parent, and so therefore, maybe I should care about legacy. Maybe I’m just not that future minded for me. I just want my kids to vote. I don’t know anyway, so I find legacy a really interesting conversation when it’s with the kind of view of what we’re leaving behind, but the way you’ve described it, following joy and acting upon it, that is beautiful. And I think joy is also so important right now in the world we’re living in, where there is so much misery, at the moment, it’s so easy to be anxious, overwhelmed, depressed with you know, if we’re too inundated with everything that’s going on in the wider world, and joy is its own little act of rebellion. And you know that way of actually listening to our emotional IQ and not just what our heads telling us. So I think that’s really beautiful Ekaterina, and I wanted to so one of the things I did before inviting you, well, before speaking to you on the show today, was I downloaded your one of your free guides, and I was obsessed, obsessed with the exercises in there, because, as we were talking about, earlier midlife is such a pivotal moment, you know, we know, statistically, it’s a time where most divorces happen. Unfortunately, you know, I don’t want to trigger warning, you know, suicide. You know, a lot a lot of stuff can come up during those years. And a lot of that probably is because we have, in many ways, lost our purpose, lost our compass. And for mothers in particular. I imagine a lot of mothers lose a lot. I mean, I know I’m guilty of this to a certain extent. There’s a lot of me that I’m still reconnecting with that I lost in those years of parenthood. I’m not pretending to be the full package at this stage like I know, for me, I’m very proactively on a journey right now to reconnect with who I am on this other side of parenthood. So it’s a really important time. And the exercises you shared in your guide are beautiful, and it starts with the awareness piece, and I’d love for you to share a bit more on that. What does it look like to kind of bring awareness to where we’re at in our lives, in midlife?

18:54

Well, I think you something that you said is really important to start with is you haven’t lost anything. You’ve changed. You are different now. You’re completely different now. And it’s again, the awareness piece is important, because it’s taking a moment and ask yourself, Who am I now with the bigger understanding that I don’t know how you are, but now, at 50, I’m like, if not now, then when, with a bigger understanding that bigger part of who I thought I was was just attachment to stories. Let’s say, in my 20s and my 30s, who are you really? It’s an interesting question to me, because in a let’s say an universe of limit is limitless opportunity and possibilities and the human spirit, you are all of it and none of it at the same time. I mean, I don’t want to go too matter, but I think a really grounded understanding that your identity is an attached. Men to a story, a belief, and the first question to start is, is that belief empowering? Who am I? Who am I at the core of who I think I am? Is there an empowering belief?

20:15

Yeah, yeah. I think that’s such a simple but valuable exercise, because I’m glad you touched on that. Because I think it’s one thing to know we may be lacking an awareness, but it’s another thing to even know where to get started on that journey of bringing awareness to what serves us and what no longer serves us. And like you say, the stories we may be telling ourselves that are keeping us small. And as someone who has been through divorce, being having been a parent on benefits, lived in a different country, moved over here, all sorts of things. It’s been such a process of shedding unhelpful stories that came with that time in my life. And one of the things I’ve brought an awareness to is that there’s a part of me that’s still very much rooted in the survivor that I needed to be only six years ago. It’s such a process, isn’t it?

21:03

Yes, and it’s absolutely crucial that you have this understanding. Because here is, if I oversimplify the whole process, is if those some people are listening, they won’t hear what I’m they won’t see what I’m doing. But basically, if you meet yourself, where you are, the current reality, be blatantly honest. Don’t gaslight yourself. Just say exactly how you are if you imagine that there is this point in the future, presuming that time is linear, which is not, if you presume that there is this point B where you actually really want to be, or you look right there and see, oh, I want a bit of that. Why I want to be there, then I want you to understand that between those two points between you when you really are, but tell yourself the truth, where you really are and when you really say you want to be, it’s not an environment for us born in this world here, although it could be true for some people born somewhere else, is not an environment, is not anything outside of us. Between these two points is internal resistance. Why? Because of the limiting identity we indulged in, because of the limiting stories we attached to bars of resistance. There is absolutely nothing else. And when we look, kind of have this metal look, look outside and really understand our patterns. Because how we do one thing, we do all things, yes, it’s a pattern. We are a pattern when we understand our patterns, when they become from Invisible Visible, when we understand, ah, that’s that because of that belief, that loop is because of that belief, or what’s underneath that, when we then get into the root cause. And I don’t believe we need to spend a huge amount of time in healing the root cause, but just the understanding tells us, ah, you know what? I have a choice point where I can decide to detach from that belief, or from what I made this mean? I from that root cause, and I can indulge in another belief, or I can attach myself to another belief and take action from them, even if I don’t believe in it fully, and do it today. And in this next moment, in the next moment, in the next moment, it’s actually very simple, but it’s not simple because, well,

23:40

there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of belief, stamp pick, aren’t there? Like, you know, I remember learning a lot about manifestation early on in my business, when I first launched. And I remember when I first got up to, like, my first 360k a year, and being like, Oh, I’m really, I’m really nailing this receiving piece. I stopped rebuffing compliments. I started saying yes to people wanting to help me without kind of saying, No, I can do it myself, because I was very much that person before. And so, like you say, it was really across the board. I was very good at receiving, you know, my husband is very kind and generous and really takes care of me. And I was, you know, in an emotional way anyway. And I was very better at opening and receiving all of that, but, but I again, was working with a somatic coach who said, Polly, you know, yes, you’re good at this part. Well, I don’t think she said it this explicitly, but this is what we kind of got towards, where we recognize that, yes, I’m good at receiving money, but I wasn’t good at holding money. I was then, you know, in my mind, I was like, if it’s constantly flowing in, I want it flowing out, because that’s gonna there’s a belief that where the money was going back out again, I was creating security for my future in business, which in some ways, I’m still here. So in many ways, maybe that wasn’t the worst thing ever. But I will say I sometimes look back at some of those immensely profitable months and think, well, not even profitable, immensely high revenue months, which were not immensely profitable. And. Think, goodness. But I mean, I guess that’s the challenge, right with having a business is that, in many cases, you only learn these things about yourself through being confronted by these new scenarios, and then once you get past that first layer of like, okay, I’m now better at holding usually, something else comes up another belief, and that’s why working with someone like you is so valuable. Because as we progress, and this is why I’ve always had a mentor or coach, because there’s never a destination you reach where you’re done. There’s never like, okay, job, job closed, like, you know the work, the inner work, is always ongoing. And the more we can have that heightened level of self awareness, the better we can be. So I love all of this, and I one of the phrases you use in your book is, are you in the magic or mayhem, which I really love and I really relate to, because as I approach 40, I’m in, I don’t know if it’s premature, but I’m certainly very deeply in perimenopause. And so I think sometimes, and I see a lot of women doing this, and I’m curious to know your take on this. I feel like at this stage in life, through perimenopause and menopause, women can kind of gaslight themselves like, you know, is it me, or is it my hormones? You know, am I should I feel anxious about this? Or should I not care about this? Or is this because I have less estrogen, so I care less? Or is this because I’m not sleeping as well, so I’m more anxious? And so, do you feel like that poses a challenge to women making a certain like having awareness and making assertive choices for themselves.

26:24

I think at this age, I’m going to go back a little bit to what you said, something about the magic. And there is so much conversation about the healing and looking into the beliefs and into your pattern, and the piece about going into the body and working with the body is crucial. I absolutely acknowledge that, because the body knows the score. And being a part of those beliefs somebody some of the beliefs that you don’t even actually the easiest way to say this is that your body is your subconscious mind. He holds it there. Okay, so that’s the easiest way to oversimplify that. So then that polarity between the mayhem and the magic, the biggest shortcut for me, really, is sitting with my magic. Who is she? Ekaterina, her elevated Ekaterina, her purest essence of who she is, and radiates her thing from out of every single part of her body. Who is she? And so I have this practice. I sit with her, and I have a very good idea of who she is, for example. And I’m going to make this really practical for your listeners, because it’s very powerful. For example, that Ekaterina has six pack. When I close my eyes, I spend a lot of time kind of thinking, Okay, I want to see her. Who is she? And when I have the vision of her, she has a six pack. She has a really strong body. She’s a brilliant communicator. She’s in rooms where people are five steps ahead of her. She sells like she breathes. You know, she is so anchored in her soul mission that she talks to person on the queue, whatever she’s queuing, what she does, there’s no child. This is weird. I’m doing this, so there is so much more, and then when I anchor into that, and so I have a very good profile of this, you know, a little bit like you were teaching your clients to create this ideal customer avatar. Well, it’s almost like creating your it’s not your ideal, because you are ideal, you are human, but it’s creating your highest, elevate, elevated avatar, see them, look at them. Look through your eyes, feel through them, and then be it in the next moment. Okay, well, my Katerina, the highest avatar of a Katarina, has six packs. I better back and go to the gym. She has a strong body. I literally see myself when I close my eyes fully. So this is very personal, but I see her as a, like a goddess, but a really strong who could, like, Strong Body, strong like, I can see muscles everywhere, and I’m like, Okay, go to the gym. Yeah. That’s it. And that’s it, follow this, take the action. Follow this, take the action. Otherwise, it’s just a dream.

 29:27

Yeah, no, it totally makes sense. You know, where some of our habits, and a lot of our habits are habitual things we do all the time. And you know, if we want different results, we’ve the actions that are leading us there, but sometimes we’re just thinking way too small. And I love that exercise you’re sharing because it’s beating past what is possible, what we think we might be able to do, and instead leading with, you know, the absolute biggest dream of what it is that we desire, so that we’re taking strides rather than shuffles towards where we want to be, which I love. I want to say one more thing which has really helped me, because there is this big conversation in the self development industry of and especially in the industry who talks about sole mission and sole purpose, that you have to be 100% believe that. Know it, know it, believe it. This is not what I believe, and this is not what helps me on a daily basis. I need to believe it and feel it 1% more than I don’t. Yeah, do you know what I mean? Like, leave that 1% that I am walking towards, that highest version of this absolute goddess now I need to believe it, 1% that can make me pack my bag and go and lift weights.

30:42

Yeah, I have to say, that’s why, when I did energetic work, I combined it with somatic because bringing that element of compassion and curiosity to energetics, which I didn’t find, was naturally within energetic work. Just bought that balance I often talk about, like feeling like Icarus flying too close to the sun when I learned about energetics, and that when I learned about somatics, I then was kind of grounded, you know, like I wasn’t it was intoxicating and exciting, but it was also kind of burning me. And so there needed to be a middle ground, and that’s what kind of combining the two really brought. So I love that you mentioned that, because I regularly say to my clients, we can create success in the mess, because so often we can look on Instagram and see someone sharing their highlight reel of getting to the gym, of having, you know, like, their perfect makeup and their beautiful lifestyle, and kind of think, Oh, my life is so far removed from that. You know, I didn’t get to the gym today. I’ve got there all week. And just assume that we’re failing. And, you know, like, like you say, when we rooted in our own purpose, putting those blinkers on, not caring about what anyone else is doing, and knowing that, you know, some days we do just need to rest, restore or, you know, like, watch Love is blind for a whole day. Well, maybe that’s just me, but you know, you know that can all be part of that journey. And to Yeah. So it’s, it’s Yeah, finding that balance. I love that you shared that permission to be imperfect, permission to, you know, do it our own way.

32:08

And me, I just want to say one thing, because it’s so I also find this very helpful, and it helps in everything, in business, in parenting, in life. For me, the goal post is not to rupture. I will rupture. If I may use this as a metaphor. The goal is to repair, you know. So, for example, if I raise my voice and my child and there is rupture, then to go and connect to her to explain that I was right about what I wanted to say, but not how I said it. Or in my business, if I, let’s say, you say, spend bigger part of the morning just procrastinating, really avoiding the thing, then to say, Great, there was Rapture. Sure. Now get back on it. You know, repair. So repair for me has really brought me back to the path when I just want to check out like a human, like I don’t want to do it,  yeah, yeah. I love that. I love that that makes so much sense to me. Yeah, we’re human. We’re not always. We can have our high aspirations, but then our humanists can get in the way. I’m curious to know before we wrap up, you know, what is the process you take your clients through when you work with them? What does it actually look like?

33:26

Okay, so I, as we talked about now, me getting into my legacy and becoming 50, I am calling women to join me on to the vivacity movement and and vivacity movement for me, is anchoring into your center, into your life force. And as I said, I believe your life force talks to you through joy, this buzz in your body when you follow the next thing that really you know that gives you joy. And this is my invitation right now, how this actually looks like it’s exactly how I explain literally. The first session we have is tell yourself the truth. First of all, and tell me the truth. What is your current reality with how you experience in life, feelings, emotional responses, everything that’s in it, what you noticing about yourself, your patterns, your beliefs, everything. Then I really want a bit of that. I am here because I really, really want that. And then looking, what is the resistance in the middle that stop you from getting what you said you want. Why is it that you didn’t get what you want without any help? What is it and then, obviously, the value of a coach is to see what you cannot see. I look at the client, and my job is to as they lay the internal landscape. Out with words, I am the detective who see okay for this to be here. What else is underneath is that she’s insane, or maybe she isn’t consciously aware of and connect, bring it back to them so they can integrate and work with it. I think this is really is so essentially oversimplified, meeting yourself where you are, becoming really clear, a little bit like the higher self Ekaterina, knowing who is you, the identity of you, that would really make you feel fulfilled, make you feel like, Yes, I am walking into this room and I’m owning this. I’m owning me, so the identity of you, the expression of you through your business, or the way you mother, or the relationships you create. And then let’s see what are the bars of resistance. Let’s dissolve amazing and let’s learn how to maintain daily. This isn’t a job with the time that you have with me, I always say I want to give myself my clients the skill so that they only come back to me when they want to come up to the next level. Because I don’t know how you feel, but I feel like we’ve heard so much about elevating in the next level and the next level, and it’s become a little bit of a cliche, but I feel exactly what you said, like peeling these pieces, where I come to a point when I was like, Okay, I was blind, and now I see, yeah, and I know there was a, there’ll be a next moment where, and this is possible and within reach. I was blind, and now I see. It’s absolutely incredible. I mean, you get addicted to that.

36:49

Yeah, I hear you about the language around levels. I feel, I feel more attuned to seasons in that. I had a season where I didn’t have a coach at the very beginning of the year, between February and August, where I just needed to hear my own voice for a while, and I then recognized I was getting a little bit too comfortable and could benefit from an external eye. And so put myself back into the process again. But I think it’s in my mind. I think more about evolution rather than levels. I don’t know it’s all language, isn’t it? Ultimately, we’re always growing, and it’s a very personal decision as to whether it’s a benefit to have somebody on that journey with you or not, but certainly for me, it’s been a huge benefit, and I imagine for your clients, it’s a huge benefit, too, amazing Ekaterina. Thank you so much for sharing everything today. How can people find you?

37:34

People can find me on Instagram and I am at Ekaterina Ward and also on LinkedIn at Ekatarina Ward as well. These are my on my two channels. And if you grab the beautiful freebie, which is so based on research, you will then get to be added to my email community for female founders with kids. And I think I think my emails are really valuable. I bet  they are. I bet they are. Well, the links will be in the show notes, so you can dive into those. I will say I really, really enjoy the experience of going through your freebie and taking time. I know, I mean, I’ve looked at it too recently to be able to do it, but I’ve definitely made a note to go through it myself this evening, because it’s really valuable to take time to take stock of these things. So thank you so much for your time today and for being a guest on the show and for sharing your brilliance with my listeners.

38:28

It’s been a pleasure. Polly, thank you. Thank you so much for joining us for this conversation with the Ekaterina Ward. I hope it gave you permission to see midlife not as any kind of ending, but as a powerful new chapter, one where you get to rewrite the rules, reconnect your purpose and build a business that actually supports the life you want. If you’d like to connect with Ekaterina, you can find her on Instagram and LinkedIn, at Ekaterina Ward, and make sure you grab her free guide for female founders and mothers, which I mentioned in the episode. The link will be below in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this conversation, it would mean the world if you would follow the show, leave a review or share the episode with a friend who’s in the thick of midlife, motherhood and business building and finally, finally, if you’re listening and thinking, I’d love to be a guest on the podcast, I’m now looking for aligned guests for 2026 if you have a story, expertise or a perspective that would serve my audience of women in business, I’d love to hear from you. Just email hello@pollylavarello.com with a short intro and your idea for an episode. Meantime, thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next one.