A conversation with Elle Nagy, a self-leadership artist and founder of Unapologetic Woman.
Elle Nagy is a Self-Leadership Artist who helps women consciously create the life they desire through intentionality, balancing mindset with hearts, and taking complete authority over themselves. Through her approach, she “re-empowers” women to tap into their intuitive knowing and creative powers and become their most evolved selves.
Elle grew up in a middle class South African household, where money was not always there when you needed it. She remembers wearing hand-me-down clothes, or clothes made for her by her mother or grandmother, and having a sense of shame that her family couldn't afford store bought clothes.
Elle feels that life blessed her with the inability to fit in. As long as she can remember she was the "odd one out"; and the clothes and the money were just another expression of this. She remembers the first time she truly felt at home was when she touched the ballet barre at the age of 6; she remained dance obsessed untill the age of 18 when an injury ended her dreams of a dance career.
She then went through a series of roles, from chartered accountant to psychologist to restaurant owner to owning a recruitment company. The common denominator in everything she has done is her genuine care for people. In her own words, Elle is a a "follow her gut instinct" kind of lady, and it's never brought her anything bad.
"When I look back on my life, you just need to be willing to say yes, be open minded, be adventurous, and kind of see what the crumb gives you. Everything is just little crumbs on the way, so I just keep saying yes to things. And then it takes me to the next spot." Elle Nagy
Key takeaways:
- Say yes to life. Elle shared how she has done many things in her life, including being a dancer, a chartered accountant, a restaurant owner and a life coach. She attributes these experiences to her openness to life, and to her willingness to say “yes” to things that come her way.
- Understand that life is always changing, and that decisions are not forever. Elle believes that we run the risk of losing the magic and richness of life by analyzing things to death. Recognize that the choices we make are for now rather than forever.
- Ask yourself: what’s the worst thing that can happen? Elle has found that, if we keep asking ourselves this question, the ultimate answer will be that we are afraid to die. Once we can accept that death is inevitable, it allows us to consciously choose to live each day to the fullest. She says, death is inevitable, but thriving is a choice.
- When going through a challenging period, rather than choosing to be a victim, Elle finds it can help to reframe and ask yourself: what is this coming to teach me? What can I learn from this? Who is it that I get to become through this process?
About the guest:
Elle is a Self-Leadership Artist who helps women consciously create the life they desire through intentionality, balancing mindset with heartset, and taking complete authority over themselves.
Through her approach, she rempowers women to tap into their intuitive knowing, creative powers, and become their most evolved selves. It's not just about achieving success, but also having the best time of your life unapologetically.
Her work spans 3 decades with professional qualification including BA (Honours) Psychology, ILS Coaching, Pranic Psychotherapy and Yoga teaching, bringing a truly holistic approach to the embodiment of greatness potential.
Her book “Keys to Self-leadership” is due for publication in 2023 in which she brings to light new and innovative concepts such as The Herstorian’s Journey and Rempowerment.
Website:-https://unapologetic-woman.com
Linkedin:-https://www.linkedin.com/in/elle-nagy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theunapologeticwoman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunapologeticwoman/
Email address: unapologeticinitiative@gmail.com
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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment or financial advice. It’s for informational purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.
Elle Nagy
When I look back on my life, you just need to be willing to say yes, be open minded, be adventurous, and kind of see what the crumb gives you. Like, everything is just little crumbs on the way, so I just keep saying yes to things. And then it takes me to the next spot.
Narrator
Welcome to Making Change With Your Money, a podcast that highlights the stories and strategies of women who experienced a big life transition and overcame challenges as they redefined financial success for themselves. Now, here's your host, Certified Financial Planner, Laura Rotter.
Laura Rotter
I am so excited to have as my guest today, El Nagy.
El is a self leadership artist who helps women consciously create the life they desire through intentionality. Balancing mindset with heart set and taking complete authority over themselves through her approach. She empowers women to tap into their intuitive, knowing creative powers and become their most evolved selves.
Elle Nagy
And it's not just about achieving success, but also having the best time of your life unapologetically. So welcome Elle to the making change with your money podcast.
Thank you so much, Laura. Thank you for inviting me. And I want to make one little correction. I do not empower women. I re empower women. I stand in the remembrance of their power so that they will empower themselves. I believe it's an internal game, not an external game.
Laura Rotter
Beautiful. Thank you for that clarification. I'm going to start our conversation the same way I start all my conversations, which is Elle, what was money like in your family growing up?
Elle Nagy
Money was, oh, I grew up in a typical South African Afrikaans household.
So first of all, I'm originally from South Africa and there it is very much, we don't talk about money. We don't Look at money. Money was never available for us, you know, even as children, if we wanted something, we really thought 10 times before even asking for it, because you were often shamed. For asking, looking back, I can see that it's because my parents didn't have the money and they felt bad about it.
So their response was very defensive. You know, I have a lot of compassion as well for my parents because they didn't know what we know these days. But yes, grew up in a typical middle class family. Money was always not there for us. Money was what other people had. Money made people evil. And I think maybe that is one of the ways that we convince ourselves that it's okay not to have money.
It's a, it's a way to feel better about not having money is by making money and therefore people who have money. So, yes, I remember getting a hundred rand, a hundred rand is around ten dollars, and then being told you have to buy the season's clothes with that. Now understand as well that a hundred rand went a long way forty years ago.
It only happened once in my life and it was the most mind blowing. I still remember buying a red and white checkered little sunny dress with it and just feeling like the most wealthiest little girl on the planet. Because that never happened in my house, you know, we, we either wore hand me downs or my clothes were made by my mom and my grandmother.
And looking back, we're like, holy shit, your clothes were all made for you. But as a little girl, I felt grateful to my mom because I could see how much effort she put into it. But there was a sense of shame as well that you wore the handmade clothes because you couldn't afford store bought clothes.
Laura Rotter
What I'm hearing, El, is that you were very aware of, like, your family's financial situation relative to others around you, that you were aware that others would go shopping for new clothes and yours were handmade.
Elle Nagy
Yes, yes. And instead of seeing it as a beautiful, unique wardrobe, you would see it as a mom used the last pieces of material to make one more garment by putting them all together. And yes, wow. You almost feel a little teary because looking back, the amount of effort my mom went through in being so creative to give me one more piece to wear, but as the little girl it was a He just wanted the labels.
Laura Rotter
And I feel a little teary for the little girl, you know, when we're younger, we wanna, we wanna fit in. We wanna be like everyone else. It takes a certain level of maturity, which just isn't appropriate for that age to be able to sympathize with your mom.
Elle Nagy
Well, I think that life blessed me with the inability to fit in.
Laura Rotter
Oh, I love it.
Elle Nagy
We can, we can say it was because of money, but the truth is I was born walking like a duck. Um, I eventually became a dancer because if you can't beat them, use them. Right. So I became a ballet dancer. So I was always. Teased even as a little girl because I didn't walk like everybody else walked and I, I didn't speak like other people speak and I don't think like other people think and I don't see the world like I, so I was, I was always from as long as I can remember on this planet, the odd one out.
So I guess that the clothes and the money was just another life expression. of being the odd one out.
Laura Rotter
Interesting. So just for me to get a picture, do you have siblings?
Elle Nagy
I do. I have a brother who is exactly a year older than me.
Laura Rotter
And was he more typical or, like, did you feel in the family that you, even in your family structure, you were the odd one out?
Elle Nagy
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I didn't fit into the family. I used to often think that I was either swapped in the maternity ward or the Stork just dropped me off at the wrong house and he used to think, really Stork? Like, what were you thinking? So no, in no way did I fit in to the family dynamics.
Laura Rotter
Oh, now I'm so curious to hear. So, El, please share with our listeners, you, you said you were a dancer. What was the transition? When did you realize that you were called to be a dancer? Is that at a young age or after school? Please share your journey.
Elle Nagy
I would always. Dance. Wherever I was, I would be that little girl dancing in the shops, in the lounge, in the garden.
I just wanted to dance. And I remember growing up and my mom just being, Oh my God, we have to get this child to walk with her feet straight. And she would make me walk up and down with a book balanced on my head thinking that that would help me to turn my toes in. I remember her putting a string around my big toes so that, you know, that would hurt if you, if they pointed out.
And so you would try and, but nothing worked. And then when I was about six years old, she said, okay, fine, just go and do ballet. And the very first time that I touched the bar, it was just, Oh my God, I'm home. It was the only place where I really felt, yes, this is where I'm meant to be and was dance obsessed until I was 18.
I was planning on going to study dance further at university overseas and started the application process and then smashed both my knees. In a rehearsal kind of scenario and my dance career was ended and that was, that was a huge blow for me. I was really lost after that. I didn't know what else I would ever want to do.
Um, and especially because it was my final term at school and I was getting ready to move and embark onto adult life straight off to that and ended up working in a bank banking institute, but in the back office. And life just changed after that.
Laura Rotter
So this was in South Africa. In South Africa, did you go to university or college first, or you went straight to?
Elle Nagy
I went straight to work and I worked for two years and discovered that I wanted so much more out of life then. Doing an 8 to 5 job and met a bunch of chartered accountants who came and did audits. At the bank and thought, this is what I want to do. Oh my goodness. I want to be a chartered accountant. So, um, my mother, who is an amazing woman, puts me through university and I went and studied chartered accountancy.
Except after the first year, I thought to myself, what am I doing? This is so boring. I really don't care about economics and numbers and all the things. And I was partying more than studying. I was going more to, I would. Go to the university and not go to class. I would just go straight to what's called the crawl, which is where the, you know, the, the food and the drinks are, and I would start drinking at like nine o'clock in the morning because I was a student and life is good.
And. Life is a party. So I completed my first year and just said to my mom, mommy, I think this is the wrong thing for me. I really can't see myself doing this and sent me to one of the counselors there and did all the tests and they said, no, you need to be doing psychology. So I was like, Oh, okay. Well, I love people.
I think people are amazing. Why not? I went and studied psychology instead. And then got blessed with suicidal depression along the line and discovered that, well actually no, psychology is not for me after all, even though I was then at my honours degree in psychology and had worked as a counsellor and done trauma counselling.
Cause it was so stuck. I was like, Oh my God, kill me now. Couldn't do therapy anymore. And remember sitting in my car one day after a therapy session and just going, God, I can't do this one more time. You have to show me another way. Like I'm done with this. And on my way home, I drove past a kickboxing dojo and I went in and I signed up and I stopped going to therapy and within weeks, I was off medication.
I was no longer depressed and life took me on a whole new direction. So yeah.
Laura Rotter
It's so interesting, Elle, because the first
thing that came up was when you decided to be a chartered accountant, right? This is a woman who's lived in her body, who rejoices in movement. What made you think that you would want to, like, what skills did you identify in yourself? That made you think you wanted to be a chartered accountant.
Elle Nagy
So this is the really cool thing about just saying yes to life in, in my, my humble opinion, I loved their interaction with people now, just to fill you in, I gave a very high overview, but. I worked in a bank, then went and studied chartered accountancy, then in order to help pay for my studies, I went into the restaurant industry, became a restaurant owner, I've sold canopies and tow bars, I've done recruitment, I had my own recruitment companies, like all of those things happened in between.
And what I found was the one common denominator in everything that I did is that I genuinely care about people. I genuinely see greatness in people and I genuinely love being with people. I am super free flowing, but I'm also super organized. So when I look back on my life, You just need to be willing to say yes, be open minded, be adventurous, and kind of see what the crumb gives you.
Like, everything is just little crumbs on the way. So I just keep saying yes to things. And then it takes me to the next spot for whatever I get to say next to yes, but to answer your question, it was the connection with people. Always loved that. Just love connecting with people.
Laura Rotter
Thank you. I'm just smiling to myself because of course, yes, you're wonderful. You're good with people become an accountant. That wouldn't be my first recommendation.
Elle Nagy
I don't do research about things. So maybe that's the other missing piece in this conversation. So I didn't do research about what a chartered accountant is. I just looked at the conversations I was having with these people and think, you're fascinating and interesting.
Oh, this must be a really cool thing to do. So without understanding what chartered accountancy is, I just enrolled and did it. Didn't really understand what psychology is when I went and studied that. I thought psychology was the celebration of magnificence of people, not finding fault with them. So didn't know that.
I became an Ironman without understanding what would be required of me in order for me to become an Ironman. I move countries without doing research of the countries that I'm moving to, or what it even entails to move to the country. So it's like, Oh yeah, of course I'm moving there. Okay. Let's make this happen.
And it happens. So I don't over analyze Things I'm very much a follow my gut instinct kind of lady, and it's never brought me anything bad. And I think maybe people lose the magic and the richness of life because they analyze things to death. What will this entail? Because there's a belief system that this has to be forever instead of this is for now.
Laura Rotter
I love how you, I mean, you've already Looked back and created a narrative from the changes, the decisions, the multiple decisions you made about how you want to invest your time. And my question is, while you were going through it, and especially as a younger person. What was going through your mind? Was it enthusiasm or was, were there other emotions that came up?
Elle Nagy
Well, I think enthusiasm is my natural state of being. So there's always that. I deal with fear. Like I have fear the same as other people have. I, I have a very different relationship with fear than most people have. And I think I process it a lot faster. My question is always, well, what's the worst thing that could happen?
And following it down to, Death. Whenever we go into fear and we follow the, what's the worst thing that could happen, and then what's the worst thing that could happen, and then what's the worst thing that could happen, it always comes to death. Like, we're always afraid that we're going to die. Sky is going to fall in on our heads and we're going to die.
And I've come to realize, well, we're going to die anyway. So I've made peace with death a long time ago, and I think that was one of the real blessings of the suicidal depression, is that understanding that Yes, death is inevitable. I'm going to die, but I choose to live. I choose to live. Every morning that I wake up, I have made a conscious choice to live another day.
My being did not check out of the human, like we are still playing on this planet together.
Laura Rotter
So I guess I, I'm still wondering. You mentioned, which I, I can take at face value, that enthusiasm comes naturally to you. You did have a period of time that you refer to as sort of suicidal. Can you talk about that? Like, where did that come from? I mean, how old were you? Are we talking about 18 or 28?
Elle Nagy
Oh, in my 30s. No, in my 30s. In my 30s, young mother had two babies. Moved countries, was really struggling when we moved countries, my youngest baby was only six weeks old. So I had a two and a half year old and a six week old.
We moved to a country where I had no support system. Um, still had the hormones raging, kept going to doctors and going, Oh, I'm not feeling like I'm not coping. Um, and being told, well, you'll get through it. You just need to buckle along. And then waking up when I was 30 and going, who on earth am I? I have become somebody's mother.
I have become somebody's wife. I know that I'm somebody's daughter, but who am I? I had completely lost my identity in marriage, in motherhood. And I really struggled with that. I struggled with that for a very, very long time because I felt that I had lost the confidence, take the bull by the horns, fun loving, life filled woman that I've always been and become this very serious.
Oh my God, everything is dark and everything is hard and there's nobody to talk to. And I just kept on going through the motions, suppressing who I am, suppressing my desires, suppressing me. To fit into a little box that was required of me at the time. And I remember going to my mom once and going, Mommy, I'm not coping.
Like, I think something's very wrong. I think I'm, I'm depressed. And my mom just said, Women in our family don't. Get depressed. We are strong. And she didn't know, right? Again, I'm not judging my mom. Please don't judge my mom. She was doing the best that she knew how to do. And so I felt ashamed of my struggle and kept going deeper and deeper down the pit until I woke up one day and I was sitting on the bathroom floor with a box of sleeping pills and going, I think I want to see tomorrow.
Like, I think I've had enough, I'm ready to check out. And then hearing my boys in the room next door and thinking, I don't want my kids to grow up thinking they did something wrong. And so I phoned up the local doctor, I've never met him before, went into his office and I said to him, if you don't help me today, I won't see my kids tomorrow.
And so I was identified with suicidal depression, put on antidepressants, sent to therapy and going through that, for me, absolutely painful process. Not bashing therapy for everybody. It works for some people. It does not work for everybody. And so I just want people to understand as well that if something isn't working for you, there's nothing wrong with you. It's just not right for you. And there are alternatives.
Laura Rotter
Thank you for sharing that. It sounds like it was a difficult period of your life, so how soon after that did you discover physical activity could take you out, change your frame of mind?
Elle Nagy
Well, it was the kickboxing. Right. So when I asked for another way out and I was taken to the kickboxing dojo, I knew that there was a purpose for that.
And just feeling how quickly I shifted was remarkable for me. And that's when I started going, Whoa, there's more to this than meets the eye. And I actually went and did research and found energy healing and I signed up for an energy healing course because I was like, wow, well, if therapy isn't the way for me and medication is not the way that I choose to heal, then let me explore energy healing.
And the day that the course was supposed to start, I got a phone call from the, the institution and they said, we're so sorry to tell you this, but the course has been canceled. We don't have enough people. Okay. And they said, but there is a life coaching course that's starting tonight and it's the same investment as the energy healing.
And I was like, what's life coaching. Now this is 20 years ago in South Africa. I'd never heard of the term. It was not widely known at all. And the lady said, well, why don't you come and try it? And if you don't like it, we'll give you a full refund. But if you like it, we'll just transfer your details. And I went and from the very first session, I fell in love with coaching.
Everything is connected. Your mind is connected to your biology. Your biology is connected to your energy body. And when we start understanding this interplay, we simply cannot sit still anymore because we want to experience the strength that is within all of us mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. Universally, collectively, singularly. It's all this massive cosmic dance and you have to start tapping into what does it feel like when I move my body like this? What is the impact that has on my thoughts? How do I get to change this? How do I get to strengthen this? How do I get to flex this? How do I get to become more supple in my thinking?
How do I use my body to do that? It's, it's all connected. And once you start realizing that life becomes easier and so does learning, because we no longer need to learn out of a textbook. We learn by being really, really present in our lives, in our bodies, in our minds, and becoming the observer. You can learn everything that you need to know, to To be your most remarkable self by just being present in life instead of thinking somebody else has to teach you everything.
Laura Rotter
Yes. So very true. So Ella, as, as you describe these things, you're describing everything right now from a position of enthusiasm and strength. And often people who listen to this podcast are in a period of uncertainty as they go through a transition, go through a big life change and. You know, perhaps I'm projecting, but really get comfort from sensing that other people also went through a period of uncertainty and challenge.
And so back, I'm trying to tap into that at first, an 18 year old, a 30 year old, when you did this coaching training. Have you come to this realization on your own, or was it embodied in the training itself? I mean, what, again, trying to get a sense of the younger Elle and what was going on for her. You described the fact that you were in a non supportive marriage.
How did that change take place where you decided to liberate yourself from that situation? And what were the, how did you have strength to do it?
Elle Nagy
I have a core belief that everything happens for me. I think we need to put that as the premise. Everything happens for me, for my personal evolution and for my highest good.
Even when what's happening for me at the moment smells of old socks. If you have that core belief, life changes because I think that we are all conditioned to believe that things are happening to us. Because I believe everything happens for me, I take a different perspective. on life occurring than most people.
I don't feel ever that, Oh my God, this is horrible. Oh, woe is me. I sit my sweet self down and I think I always have Laura. I don't think that this is something that I was taught. I have the ability to step back and go, wow. Okay. Why is this happening for me? What is, what is the, that I'm supposed to be learning right now?
Who is it that I get to become? Through this process and sometimes it happens instantaneously and sometimes it takes a long time. I don't put pressure on myself to rush through life anymore because I understand there's no destination. It really is the journey. You know, I was horrendously addicted to pain.
I knew that I had a lot of emotional pain that I didn't want to deal with. So I became a competitive cyclist and forced my body into absurd physical pain and I would sit on the bike and go make this hurt more because I don't want to think, make this hurt more because I don't want to deal. So please don't ever think that I am beyond or above or that I did not have the full human experience.
I absolutely do. But I've also come to understand There is more gain without pain. Like we don't need that narrative anymore. I also come to understand that if I just step back and look at things and ask myself different questions, I'll always find different answers. So I was in my marriage for well, almost 20 years.
We were married for 19 years before I left and out of the 19 years. 19 years were unhappy, so I have an extraordinarily high level of tolerance for pain, but I knew that I wanted to leave in love because I saw what divorce in resentments did to my mom and I didn't want to go through a divorce like that.
So, I knew that there must be a reason that I was in this marriage. There was something that I needed to learn. There was something that I needed to become. And I was committed to only leaving once I had figured that out. And once I could love him, I left him. And I had to first realize that I had to love myself.
Because until we can love ourselves, we are not operating on the frequency of love. Until we love ourselves unconditionally, we're on the frequency of fear. And so we can only conditionally love and conditionally feel loved. But once you choose to tap into the frequency of love, and that is your inner tone that you are Then only do you fully receive love, unconditional love, and fully unconditionally love others.
So once I knew that piece. I was still terrified of leaving. I was a mother with two children. I was self employed at the time. The business wasn't doing great back then. So I was like, Oh my God, I'm really stuck. Why can't I make this move? I feel so ready, but I am terrified. What is going on here? And more importantly, how do I change this?
And then I sat down and I thought, I do some crazy shits like I have been known to do crazy physical things that is life threatening and I do it for fun and I thought why do I do it for fun and I thought because I see it as an adventure and when I see something as an adventure I just take the next step because I don't know what two steps ahead are going to be physically like I climbed a mountain.
physically, not knowing if I could take the next step, but it was an adventure. And then I thought, what if I saw leaving my marriage as an adventure? What if I saw being on my own with my kids as an adventure? Just reframe the story in my head. And then all of a sudden it was like, Oh yeah, I can do that.
This gets to be fun and I moved within a week because it was an adventure. So sometimes we can sit in the uncertainty and be with the uncertainty. I think it's delicious to sit in the unknowing. We forget the creative power within darkness. You have to go and find your next adventure. And honey, death is inevitable, but thriving is a choice.
And you can choose that regardless of your circumstances right now because any circumstances that are happening for you right now, happening for you right now, you created that for your highest evolution. So start alchemizing what is in front of you. and start using that for where you truly desire to be next.
Laura Rotter
That, that's a big statement. I do love the philosophy that things are happening for you. as opposed to to you. I'm just curious, how old were your boys when you, when you left the marriage? I'm assuming they were, they were old.
Elle Nagy
Teenagers, young teenagers. Yes. So they were still at home.
Laura Rotter
You were not yet an MP Master. And so you so beautifully described, Elle, the philosophy and life view that helped you do it. And also, can you talk a bit about what financial questions, if any, came up as you left, you did mention that you, your business was not doing that. Well, I'm wondering how growing up as you did without taking finances for granted informed your decision or not.
Elle Nagy
For a long time, my story was, I can't afford to leave. I can see that. And more importantly. I don't know how to financially stand on my own because I had been married for such a long time that I remember calling my dad and saying, I don't know how to draw up a budget. Like what, what is it that I need to take into consideration?
I don't understand about insurance. How do I get internet in my house? What are the, what are the contracts that I need to read? What is it that I need to budget for? What does a normal household budget look like? I didn't know any of these things because for the most parts. My husband at the time took care of things like insurance and electricity and yes, during times my businesses were doing exponentially well, but we would always use that for big project work.
So it was never a case of me understanding, well, this is what it looks like for a budget with children in the house. Because when I asked things, it was just like, it's taken care of. Coming back to a culture of the man is the head of the house. And the woman is there to have babies and take care of the house.
And yes, we can have our jobs and everything, but the main financial responsibility is still with the man. So I had to have humble pie and go. Daddy, I don't understand. You need to tell me how to, how do I do this? How do I do a budget? Where do I go for insurance? What, what is insurance for? What, what about my medical expenses?
How much do I budget for food, dad? Like, how do I pay the rent? Like I had to get really humble and ask all of these things as a woman in her forties, who everybody would think would know these things. But I didn't, and I didn't always feel confident in asking because a lot of the conversation, when you speak to financial people are really snooty.
Now I need to make sales, but I chose to make sales in faith. That everything is working out and when I started showing up for money, money started showing up for me, like how do I look after my partnership with money so that money can partner with me in creating the life that I want. And that was a game changer.
I show up for money in that I give money somewhere to go. I have a purpose for money to be in my life. And I show up for money in, I love service for money. I love receiving money through my business. It feels good for me to receive money through my business. And so I show up for the business. The business shows up for me and understanding of the energetics and not allowing myself to be defined by my bank accounts. But understanding that my bank account is there in service to me.
Laura Rotter
What I'm hearing as well, Al, is an understanding that money is meant to flow. That money is not just to sit and accumulate. But it's an energy, that comes in and goes out and is meant to water everything that we have in our lives and to go to others.
Elle Nagy
Absolutely. You know, every time that I buy something, I always listen to people who say, Oh, things are so expensive. And then I go to the grocery store and I pick up a bag of fruits and I go, everybody's saying you are so expensive. But what went into getting this bag of fruits in my hands right now?
Somebody had to plant seeds. Somebody had to nurture the soil. Somebody had to let the plant grow. Somebody had to pick the fruit. Somebody had to pick up the fruit. Somebody had to clean the fruit. Somebody had to package the fruit. Somebody then had to freight the fruit. This company had to buy the fruit to put on the shelves.
It's like they're employing somebody. To put the fruit on the shelves. They're employing somebody to put the fruit through the till. Really? People think this is expensive? This is not expensive. This is... So affordable. And that is where my money wants to go to next. And as I'm paying for the fruits, I'm going, and I get to bless the person at the tills life.
I get to bless the person who packed the fruit on the shelves life. I get to bless the person who owns the stores life, and you can literally go through the entire chain and go, Oh my goodness. And then I go. And the exact same thing for my clients, like every time that they pay me the money, they go, Oh my goodness, I am getting blessed by Al's gift that she's sharing with me and I get to bless her.
So we are creating win win wins. In this world, and money is just an easy way for us to do that. And when we can start taking it, don't think of it as money and just think of it as the energetic blessings that we get to receive and pass on. That's all it is. You're receiving an energetic blessing and then you get to use that and multiply that by so many other lives that you get to bless.
That's really the gift of money. It's just a token of blessing and appreciation. I think that we've made too much out of it. I think that we've given too much heaviness to money and that people feel that it defines them depending on how much they have or not have or whatever. The now it doesn't, it's just an energetic blessing.
Thanks for blessing me. Let me bless you. Let it flow. Why would you want to keep the blessings to yourself? To do what with? You've already been blessed!
Laura Rotter
I love that message. So, so beautiful, Elle. Thank you. One other question as we come towards the end, which is you've said several times that the money is there to help support your life and your vision and your values. How has that shifted over the years? How are you using the money differently, perhaps, than you might have a decade ago?
Elle Nagy
I am more conscious. That everything that I purchase creates a good or even better state of being in myself. So when I purchase food, the food that I purchase creates a good and even better state.
in my body. When I purchase clothes, it creates a good and even better state in how I feel and play with my body and expressing myself in fashion. I no longer experience money as surviving. I experience money as just a beautiful flow for thriving.
Laura Rotter
Thank you. It sounds like there was a time when you did feel like you just needed money to survive and that that has shifted for you.
Elle Nagy
I think that most of us are blessed with a life experience where we go through a survival Mindset, I think it's part of the consciousness evolution at the moment, because we are coming out of that scarcity consciousness becoming out of survival consciousness. It's why we're seeing more and more self made conscious millionaires now than ever before, because we're shifting from a scarcity to an abundant mind state.
So when you can just start becoming aware of what are my judgments against money, is it the root of all evil? Is it easier for a, for the rich man to go through the needle? Camel. I don't know. I can't remember the exact phrase, but I remember that was something that my mom used to say a lot, you know, that made, made rich people bad somehow that they were not deserving of heaven, that they weren't going to go to heaven because they are rich.
Like you have to just become aware of all these things and then compassionately ask yourself, is that what I want to continue to believe? Or what is the new story that I want to weave into my consciousness to form a new belief system from which to start living and not making anybody wrong, not making anybody else's experience is wrong.
Be really focused on your own experience. This is your life. It's your responsibility. What is it that you want to create and that you want to experience? Bust out with everybody else, like this is your life, live for you.
Laura Rotter
So well said. I love all the philosophies you've expressed. Elle, who are your favorite kind of clients to work with? And if any of them are listening to this call, how would they get in touch with you?
Elle Nagy
Absolutely. If you're a female founder, a leader, a creative, a woman who wants to create and live. A legendary legacy. Then you're the type of woman that I work with. Because you are the type of woman who look at what else is possible, not what is wrong.
What else do I get to create? What is the tone that I get to set in my life? How do I choose to live this lifetime? Those are the women that I love working with. And how to get hold of me? Well, you can either email me al at unapologetic woman. com or go to my website, unapologetic woman.com www.
unapologetic woman.com And book a consultation, read the magazine, listen to the podcasts, whatever it is that you are feeling drawn to, that's probably the best place to find me.
Laura Rotter
Oh, thank you. And is there anything else that you'd like to say before we end our conversation?
Elle Nagy
We are more powerful than what we ever give ourselves credit for. And we are more worthy than we are ever led to believe. When we start understanding that we are a human being, you are a human and you are a consciousness being creating through your human experience, and that the universe, life itself is throbbing with delicious potential for you, To create, to experience, like nothing brings the universe greater joy than when a woman says full body yes to herself and allow everything else to be a no.
When you start remembering that, when you allow yourself to have a delectable life experience, like even the dark times will not feel heavy or painful for you. When you remember who you are. Life becomes magical. Don't you just want to have a magical life?
Laura Rotter
Thank you so much. This has been such an inspiring conversation.
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with El Nagy, founder of The Unapologetic Woman. Some of my takeaways. Say yes to life. El shared how she has done many things in her life. Including being a dancer, a chartered accountant, a restaurant owner, and a life coach. She attributes these experiences to her openness to life and to her willingness to say yes to things that come her way.
I also came away with understand that life is always changing and that decisions are not forever. Elle believes that we run the risk of losing the magic and richness of life by analyzing things to death. Recognize that the choices we make are for now rather than forever. Number three, ask yourself, what's the worst thing that can happen?
Elle has found that if we keep asking ourselves this question, the ultimate answer will be that we are afraid to die. Once we can accept that, that death is inevitable. It allows us to consciously choose to live each day to the fullest. She says, death is inevitable. Thriving is a choice. And then finally, when going through a challenging period, rather than choosing to be a victim, Elle finds it can help to reframe and ask yourself, what is this coming to teach me?
What can I learn from this? Who is it that I get to become through this process? Are you enjoying this podcast? Please subscribe and then you won't miss next week's episode. And I'd really appreciate it if you would leave a rating and a review. If you're actually enjoying the show, it would be so greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much.
Narrator
Thanks for listening to making change with your money. Certified financial planner, Laura Rotter specializes in helping people just like you organized, clarify, and invest their money in order to support a life of purpose and meaning. Go to www. trueabundanceadvisors. com forward slash workbook for a free resource to help you on your journey.
Disclaimer, please remember that the information shared by this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. It's for information purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.