Liz is the Co-Owner of The Fairie Shop, a physical shop and online space promoting wellbeing and inspiring people to realise and live as their authentic selves.
The shop sells crystals, incense, jewellery, books, oracle cards, candles and more both in person in sunny Eastbourne and online! Liz and her Co-Owner, Susie, also run yoga classes and provide holistic therapies in the shop.
She talks about the importance of listening to what it is that you don’t like doing when thinking about the kind of life you really want to have. Liz has learnt and continues to learn what she needs to about running the shop as she goes and doesn’t let the sheer amount of things she’ll need to get to grips with in order to make it a success put her off doing it in the first place because nothing matters more to her than freedom in her every day.
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Find Liz's life and career advice below.
Liz's life advice
01. Eliminate what doesn’t bring you joy
One of the things Liz is truly gifted at is being the refreshing voice that tells you you don’t ‘need’ to do anything. Her perspective truly changed my life. No matter what you’ve been told or what you’ve told yourself, you actually do not ever HAVE to do anything
Consequences of not doing things you’ve said you should can range from mildly surprising yourself, say for example when you don’t cook and you treat yourself to dinner out, to down right rocking your world, perhaps by quitting your job you thought you’d stick at for years because it doesn’t actually make you happy. Now, it goes without saying that we all have varying responsibilities and it’s not always easy to change plans, whether they’re formal agreements or just routines we have got ourselves into so as to keep up with all that we have on our plates. That being said, when you feel totally panicked by things you have on or just lacking in motivation to do what you feel you have to, sometimes hearing the words ‘you don’t have to do anything’ can feel revolutionary. At the end of the day, you have one life and every decision you make has the opportunity to provide you with greater happiness so check yourself, question whether you’re doing something because you said you would and feel you should or whether you are actively wanting to do it and going to benefit from it in the way that you want to
Liz talks about not enjoying big supermarkets so deciding not to go to them anymore. Life is too short not to cut out what doesn’t serve you, wherever possible
02. Make time for what relaxes you
Liz talks about how important reading is for her to get into a state of calm. She says that sometimes she’ll stay up until 3am to read if that’s what she has to do. You might be reading this and thinking surely sleep is the most important thing so prioritise getting a good nights sleep above all else. It might be time to question that. There is zero doubting that we all regularly need deep sleep to keep us healthy but when you’re stressed and need to partake in the things that relax you, simply trying to force yourself to go to sleep isn’t likely going to sort you out. It might be worth spending time writing, reading, playing your favourite game, listening to music, meal prepping, walking, bathing, or whatever it is that pits you into a mood where you feel like you again after a stressful period, then doing your usual life admin and getting your sleep in after that
Ultimately, if you don’t put your actual enjoyment and peaceful state preferences first then you’re going to end up in a constant state of franticness, to varying degrees depending on what you’ve got going on. Liz says she completely gets it, sometimes you do actually need to do life admin first but not all of it may be as time sensitive as you think
03. Let people surprise you
Apparently, Mother Teresa once said, ‘if you judge people, you have no time to love them’. It’s impossible not to judge people at all because of the way we’re conditioned but it’s vital we allow our perceptions to be changed about anyone and everyone when we’re shown signs that our presumptions were wrong. We can learn so much about ourselves, one another and the world around us when we surrender to surprise and welcome the unexpected in. You never know what amazing things you’ll be able to experience when you’re open to surprise
Liz's career advice
01. Don’t be put off by all you have to learn
Learning every aspect of your business as you go–not just how to lead it from the top–will serve your company well when challenges come up. No one who launches a business knows everything that they need to know to begin
Even if someone is extremely qualified in a certain area of business prior to them setting it up, it doesn’t mean that they will know how to hire the right people for the team, understand how to ship their product or will know their way around a manufacturing floor. As an entrepreneur and business owner, you have to embrace the learning process because it is constant
02. Share with a partner
If you are a solopreneur, perhaps you know the feeling of being a bit stuck creatively or having way too much on your plate. If that’s the case, you may want to consider either enlisting a business partner, someone who can share your ambitions and help you reach your full potential or asking someone to be your partner, unofficially, so that you can reap some of the benefits of having another person’s brain working through things with you when you need
Sure, it can be a vulnerable experience to invite someone into what you are doing, but it can also be totally worth it. Liz has a business partner, Susie, who’s praises she sings in the podcast. There is a great blog by Melissa Griffin on reasons why a partner can often completely transform your business for the best here
03. Take stock of what you have
Liz’s closing piece of advice in the episode is to take stock of what you have in life that’s going to be able to support you in your mission. From financial resources to a friend who always has your back, a skill or a strong belief, you will have things that will put you in good stead to be able to make a start and to rely on when you need reassurance. No one has everything they could to be in the 'perfect' place to begin or continue but we all have certain things to help us and when we can make sure that we believe that we have exactly what we need, as we are, then we'll be able to find the confidence to take the first steps and not look back
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To find out more about Liz's magical shop, click here!
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