The Art of Lost and Found with Brooke Estin

Rachel Rossitto is a coach, guide, and facilitator who has dedicated her life to supporting women in deepening awakening and empowering their Feminine Spirit using ancient wisdom, daily sacred rituals, and embodiment practices, many of which have been informed by her experience as a Birth Doula and as an Integrative Health Coach. Her approach is deeply transformative and rooted in a profound understanding of the sacred feminine energy. I know this first hand because I’ve been involved with Rachel and her work for several years now, dancing effortlessly between being a student of hers and her being a client of mine. In our conversation today, Rachel and I delve into the themes of feminine energy, creativity, and the often messy process of creation. Rachel shares her passion for serving women and helping them connect with their sacred feminine energy with the support, NOT banishment, of the sacred masculine. Her perspective expresses the importance of embracing the totality of who we are and the healing power of walking in our truth.We'll also explore creativity as a way of being and the value of staying grounded in our practice. Rachel's personal journey through the messy parts of life and the transformative power of meditation offer profound insights into the human experience.We get into altars, the intersection of creativity and business, and the dance between discipline and devotion. We'll also delve into her experience as a creative entrepreneur, and what it means to be a vessel for her work in this world.
Topic Areas​Embracing the Sacred Feminine: Healing and Empowerment​Creativity as a Way of Being: Embracing the Messy Process​The Power of Altars and Creativity​Bridging the Gap: Discipline and Devotion in Business​The Language of Reflection and Mirroring​Journey of Being a Vessel for the Divine​

Connect With Rachel​Website​Instagram

This week's mini-episode is a dive into how I'm managing to counter the dip in energy and spirits that often occur during the fall-winter seasons. For the next 21 days, I am committing to random acts of kindness as a way to cultivate my intentions of bringing in more love, abundance and freedom into my life. I share some of my own reflections on not meeting my own expectations and the disappointment that followed and why seeking perspective and recalibrating is essential during those lower moments. In setting the intention to manifest more love, abundance, and freedom, I've decided to challenge myself to align my inner world with the tangible external world. Takeaways The fall-winter seasons can bring a dip in energy and spirits, leading to self-judgment and fear. It's important to seek perspective and not dwell in negative emotions. Setting intentions for love, abundance, and freedom can help shift energy and cultivate a positive mindset. Acts of kindness and generosity can have a ripple effect and bring joy to both the giver and the receiver. Aligning actions with internal cultivation and practicing what you preach is essential for personal growth and integrity. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:37 The Decision to Do 21 Days of Random Acts of Kindness 03:00 Reflecting on Expectations and Disappointment 04:26 Seeking Perspective and Recalibrating 05:26 Setting Intentions for Love, Abundance, and Freedom 08:47 The 21-Day Kindness Challenge 10:14 Aligning Actions with Internal Cultivation 13:17 Opening Doors for Love, Abundance, and Freedom 14:37 Being Opportunistic with Acts of Kindness 15:35 Cultivating Energy of Love, Abundance, and Freedom 17:02 Commitment to 21 Days of Acts of Service 18:29 Invitation to Join the Challenge

In today’s episode, I continue my conversation with Rudy Hexter. Rudy is a man of many talents. He’s a builder of homes that are designed to facilitate thriving as well as a teacher of Qigong and the Life Mandala Training. In our last episode, we talked about finding stability and community in the face of isolation and how inner exploration and spiritual practices provide the spark and fuel for daily life. Today, we explore how this is expressed in the tangible world. After a near-death experience from a motorcycle accident, Rudy had to radically alter his day-to-day life and set aside his self-reliance in order to accept the love and generosity his community offered. With fresh insights and a strong calling, he joined us my signature program, Aligned x Design, where he called in the support he needed, right when he needed it, to intentionally shape his path forward. Join us as we explore resilience and hope in the face of adversity. You can learn more about Rudy here: https://www.facebook.com/artofasha

As we continue the theme of showcasing Aligned x Design alumni, I'm thrilled to welcome Rudy Hexter to today’s episode. Rudy is a man of many talents. He’s a builder of homes that are designed to facilitate thriving as well as a teacher of Qigong and the Life Mandala Training. While navigating a chaotic upbringing full of instability where love felt conditional and fragile, Rudy found himself drawn to embodied practices as a way of grounding himself. On the podcast, he shares how building community and engaging in circle work has helped him explore many limiting beliefs about his relationships to others and to himself that were preventing him from feeling a sense of acceptance and home. Join us in the first of this two-part interview as we explore how community and deep inner reflection can help us learn to nurture ourselves and, in turn, teach and support others.

Today I’m continuing a conversation with Safiya Carroll Labelle, who was featured in our previous episode. Safiya is a multi-passionate artist, musician, web designer and founder of Wildlight Creative, who I had the pleasure of getting to know during the beta launch of my 12-week program, Aligned x Design.  In this episode, we talk about how Safiya learned to create structure around her artistry during Aligned x Design to allow for greater creative expansion. From feeling lost in a swamp to being exhausted by screen time, Safiya shares about career challenges she’s faced and how she uses art as a healing balm to bring herself back into feeling and community. Join us in this second half of our conversation as we explore how we can create the conditions we need to thrive creatively. To Join Aligned x Design, head over to: http://alignedxdesign.com/ More info about Safiya can be found here: https://linktr.ee/Softfirearts IG: @softfirearts IG: @wildlight.creative

Welcome Safiya Carol Labelle to the Art of Lost and Found Podcast! Safiya is a multi-passionate artist, musician, web designer and founder of Wildlight Creative, who I had the pleasure of getting to know during the beta launch of my 12-week program, Aligned x Design.  She grew up on a small island in BC, Canada, in the loving embrace of a vibrant artists’ community. She shares what it was like to grow up in such a free-spirited place and how a traumatic parental divorce and uprooting move with her mother caused her to lose her sense of belonging at the tender age of six. From finding community to fighting traditional constraints as an artist, our conversation was so rich and nourishing that we’re splitting it into two episodes. Join us in this first half as we dive into trusting yourself in the midst of the unknown. **** My conversation with Safiya doesn’t end here–tune in to our next episode for the second half of our conversation where we’ll talk about strategies for building the structure that allows for creative expansion in your life and business. To learn more about Aligned x Design, head over to: http://alignedxdesign.com/

Journey of Creative Healing: From Loss to Authenticity Today we welcome Veronica Lichter to the podcast. Veronica was one of the original students in my signature 12-week Aligned x Design Program, and had a profound transformation that resulted in her quitting her full-time teaching job and making the leap into being a full-time artist. Reflecting on the emotional and nostalgic aspects of the creative process, Veronica shares about importance of gratitude in letting go of things that no longer serve her, including past traumas, limiting beliefs and restrictive identities. She shared her experiences of feeling disconnected from her creativity and intuition, but through self-awareness and cultivating stillness, she was able to reconnect with her true self and activate her creativity in a whole new way.  "There is so much power in trusting in the creative process and surrendering to the magic of life." We explored the concept of trauma and the importance of meeting one's own needs as part of the process of maturing and growing as adults.  By acknowledging and processing our own traumas in order to break the cycle and create a different experience for our children, in particular, Veronica's 6-year-old-daughter, Mazzy. The main takeaway from this episode around the importance of self-awareness, resilience, and bravery in personal growth. These qualities can help us navigate challenges, connect with our true selves, and create a meaningful vision for our lives and work. To learn more about Aligned x Design, head over to: http://alignedxdesign.com/ #neurodivergence #alignedxdesign #designyourlife #onlinebusiness #creativepodcast #theartoflostandfound #clientspotlight #studentspotlight

In today's episode, I finally share my own life story. It's also the origin story for my signature program, Aligned x Design. I didn't just achieve my lifelong dream of living in Spain or running my own 6-figure business overnight. Mine is a story of wayfinding, humbling learnings, and constant course correction. This is the story of my own transformation, and how I developed the frameworks for Aligned x Design. I'm thrilled to share where this life design strategy has led me and dive into how I'm using what I've learned to help guide like-minded creatives, coaches, and entrepreneurs in the process of building a business that supports your life rather than eclipses it. The main take-away is simple: Design for the life you want, not the life you think is available to you.

“Moving into product sales with my templates have given me so much more time. There's been a weight that's been lifted off of my shoulders. I'm not chained to like client responses and deadlines. I'm free." - Melissa Lunt, Brand + Website Designer, Template Designer Today on The Art of Lost & Found Podcast, Melissa Lunt discusses her journey as a creative entrepreneur. She shares about her childhood love for art, struggles with depression and bullying, attending an art magnet high school, and eventually realizing the importance of college for her career- and the challenges of balancing creativity and business. We explore how her transition from creating art for self-expression to using her creativity for business led her to study graphic design. She eventually shifted from doing custom work to creating templates, which gave her the opportunity to explore and grow as a designer and attract the her ideal clients. She shares how her website templates have allowed her to liberate her time while also helping others transform their creativity into a website that feels like them. CLICK HERE TO GET 20% OFF SUPERHERO DESIGN TEMPLATE: use coupon code 'creativeamplifier' at check-out ---- To learn more about Melissa's work, you can follow her below: www.superherodesign.co @superherodesignco

“When you become just a number, not a person, but just a number there to execute the work, It's not sustainable. But I had invested so much in this and the pivot felt like a failure. I needed a change, but I didn't know what to change to since this was all I knew.” - Phil Lashley, Motion Graphics Designer Phil grew up in Barbados with three brothers in a middle-income family where their primary entertainment was their own imagination. After becoming fascinated with TV and visual motion design, he developed the the dreamed of becoming a motion graphics designer. His vision, hard work and commitment led him all the way to the "dream job" working in Hollywood on some of the most successful movies of all time. While Phil was honored to have made it all the way, he felt that his life was slowly eroding. That his dream job had in fact, taken over his entire life. Health problems started to show and he knew that something had to change. But after so much time, energy, resources and money had been invested in his education, it felt daunting to even consider what came next. Pivoting to a new career felt like a failure. Carving out a new path for himself has been incredibly challenging, yet also a beautiful process of self-discovery and personal growth. Now Phil travels the world with his wife helping entrepreneurs use the power of motion graphics to tell more engaging stories across new media platforms. On the podcast, Phil walks us through his proprietary framework called, FRAME, which he used to help guide his clients towards a higher level story that helps share their message in a more resonate, creative and profitable way. To learn more about Phil's work, you can follow him below: www.phillashley.com @phillashley To learn more about Brand Builder's Group, get your Free Personal Brand Strategy Call here: https://freebrandcall.com/be/

Today we welcome Ana Juma (@anajuma), Founder of @prophsee.  She is a creative entrepreneur who believes the art of journaling can be a powerful therapy for anxiety and depression. Through her own process of learning to dance with the darker parts of herself, Juma developed a consistent and deeply supportive journaling practice that she is sharing with the world through her publishing house, Prophsee (@prophsee).  Juma recently published a book of her poetry called 'Back to Earth'. It is a confessional poetry book that tells the story of undertaking the journey from loss and heartache to reclaiming one's truth and sovereignty.  Note: This episode was recorded over a year ago, but so much of what she shares is absolutely timeless. ✨ To follow more about Ana Juma's life, find her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anajuma/

“It can feel like we aren’t worthy of putting ourselves out there or carving out a little corner of the internet because we haven’t achieved something yet.” - Amanda Bucci, Author of Followed: The Content Creators Guide to Being Seen, Facing Judgment, and Building an Authentic Personal Brand. Before garnering nearly half a million followers on Instagram, Amanda Bucci struggled with some of the same insecurities that so many of us face. And regardless of having "made it", she still navigates many of those same emotions today. During our wide-ranging conversation, Amanda dives into how judging creativity with a letter grade or some measurement of achievement drained the fun out of her creative expression. As she surrounded herself with science-based studies, she found herself thinking that the creative part of her simply didn’t exist. Cut to the present, where Amanda is a professional content creator who nurtures her creativity every single day as a tool for self-actualization. As we talk about her book, Followed: The Content Creator's Guide to Being Seen, Facing Judgment, and Building an Authentic Personal Brand, Amanda shares a core insight from her journey in entrepreneurship: her creativity isn’t only meant for marketing. She discovered that using her creativity purely to connect to herself with no outcome attached was her cure for burnout. This conversation is wide ranging. We cover creativity, social media, non-monogamy, coming out online, being triggered and so much more. Join us as we explore what it means to be a content creator in the age of social media in the face of being seen, feeling judged, and striving to listen to your own authentic voice.

“Money’s not the end-all and be-all because you can’t spend it from a casket.” - Landen Conner Have you ever found yourself thinking, “Is this who I am? Is this what my life is now?” You’ve put so much effort into getting where you are, only to look around and feel like something is off. This isn’t where you’re supposed to be. If you’ve ever felt out of alignment like this, then today’s episode is a must-listen. After establishing a career in pharmacy, Landen Conner had a serious health scare that forced him to stop in his tracks and deeply evaluate the direction his professional life was taking him. Landen was able to redirect his trajectory through the insight that pain may be necessary to help you get to a specific goal, but only when your actions continue to align with who you want to be as a person. Unnecessary pain comes from when he starts doing things that aren’t in the makeup of what he believes in or who he is. If he forgets to follow up with people or gets short-tempered, he knows it’s a sign he’s out of alignment and needs to shift. Landen found his calling as a personal branding photographer with a unique coaching technique that helps his clients overcome limiting beliefs, insecurity, and pain when it comes to being on camera. He believes that having one truly good picture of yourself can brighten any bad day by reminding you of who you are and who you want to be. Join us as we dive into his monumental pivot, exploring how realigning his actions with his heart fundamentally shifted his quality of life and his perspective on how pain shapes us. You can learn more about Landen at LandenConnerPhoto.com or Impact-Branding.com.

Today we welcome Lucy Alexandra Harper, a designer and creative workshop facilitator and multidisciplinary designer. She shares her story of how she lost her job in the pandemic and how she was able to not only rebound, but to redesign, reimagine and rebuild a new independent creative career. She shares insights on healthy creativity, releasing the need for approval, and taking charge of her own development. You can learn more about her work and follow her journey at: https://www.lucyalexandraharper.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/lucyalexandraharper/

Today we welcome to the podcast Ian Koniak, a Sales Coach and Digital Course Creator, who is known by many as "The Master of Sales". Ian has worked at some of the largest companies in the world and holds the sales record at Salesforce to this day. This is somebody who has experienced selling over $100 million. We met through Brand Builder's Group and I helped him create his first online program, Untap Your Sales Potential, which he has taken over the $3M mark in sales - in just its second year. In this episode, Ian shares about his humble beginnings and his deep journey into healing a variety of addictions from sex/porn to gambling to drugs and alcohol. Through chaos, hedonism, international travel, relationships and through the belly of addiction.  Ambitious and self driven from an early age, Ian made the fatal mistake of placing his sense of self and worthiness in the external. This is a familiar struggle for so many of us and Ian demonstrates an extreme version of this. Against all odds, Ian recovered and is actively in recovery. He supports himself through his relationships, habits and continuous investment in his own personal growth, Ian is a pillar for many in his community. He is one of the highest energy, most ambitious and most generous people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Although he is an expert in Sales, he is a master at navigating through the difficulty that life presents. Having wrestled his own demons, Ian is grounded in who he is now. His faith, family and commitment to self-care and growth have guided him through an incredible journey of transformation. Join us as we explore both the internal and external journey of going to hell and back. He is an inspiration to many (myself included) and it's a huge honor to have him as a guest on The Art of Lost and Found podcast. For more on Ian Koniak, check out the following links: website: www.iankoniak.comonline program: www.untapyoursalespotential.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iankoniak

Today we welcome to the podcast Laurie Shiers, a Creativity Coach who believes that creativity has the power to heal our lives and change the world. She helps her clients uncover fresh insights and possibilities, develop powerful habits and create meaningful and lasting change. Reconnecting with her innate sense of joy and wonder is what busted opened the door to Laurie’s own happiness and fulfillment. It allowed her to accept all parts of herself so that she could create with purpose, passion and joy, and align her inner world with her outer one. Laurie began her professional journey as an actor, but chose to pivot to marketing when she faced significant struggles with her inner critic and an unhealthy need for external validation. As she continued to work as a shadow artist making content for other people, she couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that she was out of alignment. She pushed through the grind until personal tragedy, the loss of her brother Robbie, forced her to step back and re-evaluate everything. In this episode, Laurie goes into how aligning her business with her ideal lifestyle helped her discover greater personal fulfillment, as well as how to better be of service to her community and clients. Join us as we delve into what it can look like when we stop and create the space we need to hear and trust our inner voice. For more on Laurie, check out https://laurieshiers.com/ or @brainchildcoaching

Today I’m talking to guest Carrie Alyson, an incredible professional visual artist and graphic designer. Carrie is an extra special guest for me personally.  We met back in 2021 when we were both part of a program called Creative Alchemy, which was run by artist and author, Amber Rae. Carrie’s energy was so warm, friendly, supportive, generous and engaging that she stuck out among the 70+ person group.  We connected more 1 to 1, and she eventually became a private coaching client. We recorded this podcast in 2021, so be sure to check out what Carrie is working on now at aspenhearted.com or on IG @aspenhearted . From a young age, Carrie learned to adjust who she was in order to fit in and feel accepted. She navigated the universal struggles of seeking external validation and feeling imposter syndrome whenever she didn’t express her creativity according to other people’s expectations. As her anxiety ran rampant and she continued to deny her authentic self, Carrie eventually burned out, which caused her to take an extended hiatus from creating. Being the resilient woman she is, Carrie refused to quit. She embedded herself deeper in creative communities and brought in the support she needed to heal. Through our coaching sessions together, she developed practical mantras and expectation-free experiments that helped her let go of the limiting beliefs that were holding her back. During this journey of self discovery, Carrie shares how she learned to let go of the outcome by refusing to put limits on her creativity. Join us on her empowering evolution from a woman just trying to fit in to an authentic and inspiring community leader, creating for others the accepting, exploratory spaces she longed for herself.

Our guest today is Zamir Dhanji. He is a Yoga Teacher - Storyteller - Holistic Counsellor and Founder of @the.mystic.yogi and the Inner Path Deck. A true creative at heart, he is is strongly influenced by developments in modern biology, physics and chemistry as he believes they provide a holistic and paradigm-shifting understanding of the body-mind system -  one that complements the scientific knowledge of ancient yogis. Zam and I go waaaaay back. He and I grew up together in Thailand and have developed a sacred bond over the decades In this episode, we explore the limiting beliefs that “we are not enough” and that “the world is not a safe place”. We dive into how our reactions to trauma often cause us to feel disconnected from nature and disoriented to life. Through deeply personal stories, Zamir leads us through the path he’s taken towards reorienting himself to life, death and a sense of purpose. From rejecting traditional studies on international relations to traveling with an empty wallet through Asia to sharing sacred final moments with his beloved grandfather, Zamir shares his revelations about the cycle of giving - the life practice of learning to give and receive freely with an abundant heart in spite of worldly traumas. Join us as we envision what the world can look like when we all open ourselves to this interconnected lifestyle of abundance and joy.

The guest on today’s show is Hanna Ruddies, an incredible healer, guide, coach and facilitator. Hanna spends her days guiding women through Feminine Embodiment, Ancestral Clearing, Female Sexuality & Womb Wisdom. When Hanna was younger, she had endless bladder infections, was diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), experienced sever pain with sex and masterbation, and had all but given up on healing. But instead of giving up on her healing, she decided to explore a different kind of healing journey and booked a spontaneous trip to Thailand for an intensive shamanism and tantra retreat that changed just about every aspect of her life. She discovered the connections between her illnesses and her deep traumas that went all the way back through her family lineage. The deeper she went, the more she discovered. Hanna says the Tantric, Taoist and Shamanic path opened her heart, body, soul and re-connected her with the divine feminine, which opened up new relationship dimensions across all elements of her life. Originally from Germany, and currently living in Portugal, Hanna now spends her time helping women reconnect with their bodies by learning to see the beauty, grace, power and purpose in all of life’s challenges, joys and changes. A special sidenote for this episode: We get pretty woo woo and unconventional around the topics of spirituality, mysticism, healing and alternative medicine. If that isn’t your vibe, this probably isn’t the episode for you. But if hearing things like “the Divine Feminine” or “Womb Space” is your jam, then let’s get into it.

Our guest today is Molly Elizabeth, a professional artist, imagination doula and founder of The Darling Revolution. She helps creatives come home to themselves so they can imagine & birth a better world. ​ As a Creative Professional, Molly has daily studio practice where she makes mesmerizing abstract expressionist art. She primarily works with acrylic paints, blacklight reflective pigments, collage or any other materials she can get her hands on. She also hosts a creativity focused podcast, also called The Darling Revolution, which dives into creativity, emotional literacy and finding your voice. ​ She believes that often, we are conditioned to stay quiet, stay small, not make too much of a fuss, and stop trusting our desires and imagination. If we can have a safe space to come home to these parts of ourselves, we can find the inner power source that we need to revolutionize our world. ​ But Molly wasn’t always the colorful, provocative, out-spoken creative doula she is today.  Molly grew up within a very conservative evangelical family and community, where she married young, had kids and eventually rose all the way to becoming a worship leader within her evangelical church community. Then, she experienced a deep loss that shook her faith in everything she had known.  She began to question her faith and the deeper she got, the more disconnected she became from what she had known. ​ On the podcast today, she shares her story, how had to lose everything in order to discover her truest self and how she uses her creative practices and communities to maintain the connection with herself and those around her. TOPICS COVERED: ​ Value and power of creativity Finding yourself in the midst of loss​ Grief for the loss of a loved one and how it led her to question her faith Losing her faith in the Evangelical notion of God Learning to forgive, rebuild trust and create a new version of community and so much more! ​ ​ CONNECT WITH MOLLY:​ ​ Molly Elizabeth on Instagram Molly's The Darling Revolution Podcast Molly's original artwork Molly's artwork merchandise