[00:00:00] Roxanne: Podcasting from under my blankets. So it’s quiet enough to hear me. This is re-imagining hustle, a podcast for entrepreneurial parents, creating a life where business and parenthood live peacefully in the same space. I’m your host, Roxanne Merket, a mom of two micro business coach and serial entrepreneur on a journey to prove that. It really is possible to do what you love. Without sacrificing all of your precious time. Let’s do this.
[00:00:34] Welcome back to the Reimagining Hustle podcast. I’m so excited to introduce you to my guest today. I have Natasha Astara with me. Natasha, how are you today?
[00:00:43] Natasha Astara: Oh, hi Roxanne. It’s so great to be on with you on this podcast. I’m very excited.
[00:00:49] Roxanne: You and me both. I’m so thrilled. This is gonna be really fun. Natasha, can we just dive right in and will you just tell us about the work that you do and your journey to get there.
[00:00:57] Natasha Astara: Yeah, sure. Um, now, so my work is a little bit unusual, um, but I’m just gonna start with saying I’m a single parent with two daughters, two beautiful daughters. And, um, my entrepreneurial journey has been through a few businesses. Um, but my. Vocation at the moment. This is what I’m working on, is that I’m a spiritual artist and a clairvoyant, and most of the work I do is working with parents who have star children and really highly sensitive, um, people.
[00:01:28] And we go on a spiritual kind of coaching journey and a healing journey together. And then I create a, an artwork for their space. Um, and it’s been a really amazing, um, flowering and blossoming of my career. . Um, because for 20 years I was an acupuncturist working with, um, women wanting to get pregnant, and I was an entrepreneur then as well.
[00:01:52] Um, but I got to a point where I was like, well, actually I want more time with my own children and I want, um, to have more kind of expansive, um, time working on my own projects. And I also really wanted to start using my clairvoyance more, um, which I had been doing, um, in, in my acupuncture practice, but it wasn’t so overt.
[00:02:13] I was kind of having to fly under the radar, um, cuz I was working with doctors and IVF consultants, so, My, the business that I’m working on now is much more a collaboration of all the things that I’ve ever wanted to do, um, following my heart and making time for my own family and my own kind of wellbeing in that.
[00:02:36] Roxanne: Wow, that’s I. What a beautiful journey to have been on. I wonder if you would clarify a term for me, because this is, I’m, uh, this is a term that I’ve heard in passing, but I’ve never had an opportunity to truly ask, if you don’t mind. You mentioned star children. Can you talk to me about what that is?
[00:02:53] Natasha Astara: Yeah. Um, so I guess, um, this is a, a kind of new term I’m, I’m guessing, but it’s usually really high vibrational children. Usually really sensitive, um, uh, kids, but they can also be adults. Actually, I’m meeting much more empathic adults and I. Um, very spiritually sensitive people in general, but star children are coming in to bring more healing to our planet and they’re, they’re bringing in some really high, wonderful gifts and skills.
[00:03:24] Um, and we’re gonna just see more and more and more of what they’ve got to offer, um, in our world, which is, you know, it’s just mind blowingly wonderful
[00:03:32] Roxanne: What a beautiful explanation of that too. And I appreciate you letting me ask because like I said, that’s a term that I have heard recently. It’s not something that I’ve known for a long time. I’ve heard that term recently, and so I appreciate you letting us clarify the meaning of that and what a beautiful thing. So as you’re doing this coaching, what kind of questions are people asking before they hire you? Before they call you up and say, Hey, I need to work with you.
[00:03:54] Natasha Astara: Yeah, sure. Um, I find that people usually find me through being recommended and, um, usually I’m on the kind of path of people who are very, very sensitive and they’re sometimes having kind of issues with their kids, like they don’t understand why their kid is getting depressed or they’re, they’re not quite understanding, you know, why they’re not eating or why they’re not just fitting in in the way they want them to. Um, and it’s not because, you know, there’s anything wrong with those children. They’re just so sensitive that they’re just being pretty much bombarded by their environment, you know, what’s going on around them. And so the, the kind of parents that I get coming usually are, you know, they’re looking for answers.
[00:04:37] They’re looking for solutions and they want, um, you know, just to raise the vibration of their home space, their, you know, their living quality with their kids, and to have more understanding and connection with, you know, what they can do, what they can do to help, to be really great parents.
[00:04:54] Roxanne: Yeah. Well, and what a great question to be asking as a parent too. I think that that’s so incredible to be in tune with your child that much, that that’s a question that you are actually asking. Natasha, I wonder if you could give us an. And this is, I’m gonna try to make sense of this question here that’s spinning around in my mind.
[00:05:12] You mentioned raising the vibration of your home and I wonder if there’s any particular advice that you might give to my listeners if they kind of have a sense that perhaps there is a child, a star child, like you said in their home, that they are looking to raise that vibration a little bit. Is there anything in particular that you could recommend?
[00:05:28] Just kind of generally speaking, I recognize that you do a lot of really individualized work, but is there anything generally speaking, that you might recommend.
[00:05:35] Natasha Astara: Yeah, sure. So I would look at what kind of colors are being used in the home cuz star children are very connected to color. Often they’re born under a certain color ray. And so like my own kids, um, my younger one who’s called Ocean, I would. Create a kind of pink or coral color that’s really good for her soul vibration.
[00:05:56] And my older one who’s called Indigo, I would, um, choose a kind of blue, like a sapphire blue cuz that really helps her just get really aligned with her own energy, um, if she’s feeling about out sorts. So choosing color that resonates with your kid. It’s really good. And also, um, decluttering, I would say this across the board, like, um, the clutter we have in our homes also, um, is like a metaphor for the clutter we have in our kind of mental space or our in, you know, like our, uh, psychic space.
[00:06:27] So the more we can declutter, the better
[00:06:31] Roxanne: Mm. I am so grateful for those suggestions and let, thank you for letting me just like call, like ask you point blank What Wonderful suggestions. Thank you.
[00:06:39] What does success look like?
[00:06:39] Roxanne: Natasha. I’m curious, what does success look like to you as you’ve kind of shifted this work from working as an acupuncturist and, and you know, especially helping women conceive and, and having that be your focus for so many years and now you’ve shifted this work into coaching and helping.
[00:06:56] What does success look like to you now?
[00:06:59] Natasha Astara: Yeah. You know, I thinking that this has changed quite a lot, you know, um, in my twenties, like success looked like a big home and, you know, maybe a nice car and some money in the bank account. And then as I got older and especially having kids, um, it’s become, you know, what do I wanna do from my heart? You know, what’s gonna make me really happy?
[00:07:20] What’s gonna nourish me inside? Um, what’s gonna make my heart sing every time I wake up? I wanna feel, oh, I, I, I love my life and I’m full of joy. Like, how much joy can I have today? Um, so success is looking more like something that fills me up from the inside and helps me glow and, and radiate. And I think having kids has, has really brought that home cuz I want them to see me as, um, you know, a really healthy human you know, someone that inspires them and someone that’s showing them, well actually this is how you enjoy life.
[00:07:57] You know, this is how we can. be very fulfilled and nourished by our human experience. Um, because I don’t know if you had this experience, but my, my parents’ generation, my grandparents’ generation, it was kind of like, oh, we do this nine to five. We have money in the bank, we have food on the table, and then when we retire, we finally get to do something we wanna do.
[00:08:20] Roxanne: Yes.
[00:08:21] Natasha Astara: It’s kind of weird and I, I never really wanted to be like that. So this is a kind of ongoing process and I have to say that like, you know, maybe six days out of seven I’m feeling really great to be alive and I’m happy and joyful about my day. So I think that’s pretty successful.
[00:08:38] Roxanne: Yeah. Yeah. It’s so interesting that you mentioned that too. I remember hearing one, somebody saying that you can have like pick two time, money or energy to do the things you wanna do. And so as we’re young, we have the time and the energy, but we don’t have the money. And then in, in kind of our mid-years, we have the money and the energy, but not the time.
[00:09:00] And in our later years we have the money and the time, but we don’t have the energy. And I just, I always thought. That was, it felt so sad to me, and so I, I am just so inspired by your description of success here. It’s just so beautiful. How do you mind me asking, how old are your girls?
[00:09:19] Natasha Astara: so I have a seven year old and a 10 year old.
[00:09:23] Roxanne: Okay. Very fun. And how, how do you talk to them about success?
[00:09:27] Natasha Astara: Hmm. Now, whenever we have a career conversation, you know, like I think all parents and kids have this career conversation at some point, I’m always saying to them, you know, just do what you love. I really want you to pick something that you’re interested in and follow that feeling, follow that thread and keep feeding it, you know, like a fire.
[00:09:46] And you know, just feel that passion for what you love. You know, I want it to come from without, within them, like an impulse rather than them having these thoughts like, oh, I better get a job. You know, I’ve gotta earn money and the survival stuff. I really want them to be fulfilled enough to, for it to come out of them.
[00:10:04] Um, and I think, you know, talking about star kids as well, that is more the, the future of the human race, I believe is this is where the star kids are gonna take us, you know, on this trajectory into a more heart led, um, existence.
[00:10:20] Roxanne: Mm. It’s so interesting hearing you speak of this because I feel like there’s just such like a peaceful and hopeful energy as you talk about this. So thank you for letting me ask too as well. I think it’s so important that we discuss how we’re talking to our children about success, so thank you for letting me ask you that.
[00:10:38] Natasha, I would love to know how has being a parent during this journey of yours, so this entrepreneurial journey, which you’ve been on for some time now, how has it changed you personally?
[00:10:50] How has being a parent changed you?
[00:10:50] Natasha Astara: Hmm. Um, now, well being a parent is this sort of massive job that I was not expecting at all, how big it was gonna be. It, it’s always asking you to expand yourself and see how far you can go and like with learning, and it’s a bit like being an entrepreneur actually, where you’re sort of teaching yourself as you go along and, you know, just like really trying to learn, you know, what’s the right way to do this and, you know, um, how can I do this right?
[00:11:19] How can I do this? Well, all those kind of questions coming up. Um, but you. . The main things I’m, I’ve experienced is managing my time, like really prioritizing my time so that when I do have free time without the kids, I’m doing two things. I’m one nourishing my wellbeing. That’s really high on my list. And two, following my work, like getting all the all the words, like, you know, all the work in no procrastination, just get down to it and just get it done. Action, action, action. Um, in that short space of time. Um, so it is getting that balance, I think, and I, I know that when I didn’t have kids, I only had two things to fulfill. One was my wellbeing and the other one was my, you know, work and my clients.
[00:12:02] Whereas now I’ve gotta share it into three, and I think I do that quite well.
[00:12:06] Roxanne: do you ever experience guilt around it?
[00:12:10] What about guilt?
[00:12:10] Natasha Astara: Hmm. You know, sometimes like, um, you know, we are doing this podcast. I sent them in the other room, , ask
[00:12:16] Roxanne: Yeah,
[00:12:16] Natasha Astara: be quiet.
[00:12:18] Roxanne: You know what? I did the same thing. I always scheduled these podcasts when my kids are away be because of that. So I understand , I understand very well.
[00:12:25] Natasha Astara: Absolutely. And actually I do the same, like most of the bulk of my work with where I’m talking to people, where I can’t reschedule time is when, when they’re away. Um, but yeah, I guess there’s, there’s always gonna be bit guilt. I think that comes hand in hand with being a mom. Um, , but I also realize like the gifts that I’m giving them and to myself, you know, this is two ways that we’re, we’re both creating something together and, um, I think that far outweighs any sort of feelings of inadequacy or, or kind of wondering if I’m doing the wrong thing.
[00:12:57] Roxanne: Hmm. I love that perspective too, of just kind of it weighing out the guilt. Right? It’s so true. I mean, just to be able to, to find peace and space and I, the thing that I tell myself often is, Like, of course I feel guilty, right? Cuz I feel like I should be spending all the time doing all the things, which is impossible.
[00:13:16] But when I’m, when I’m prioritizing the things that are really important to me, I’m giving my kids permission to do the same. And so I feel like you’ve just described that idea to us so beautifully. What do you wish people knew about being a parent? And an entrepreneur, especially from where you come from such a, a heart led and a, a soul led space of entrepreneurship.
[00:13:38] What do you wish people knew about running in these two worlds at the same time?
[00:13:44] What do you wish people knew?
[00:13:44] Natasha Astara: Um, well, I, I think that the one, the main thing that strikes me is that they, we can be as creative as we wanna be. Um, you know, we can create our own schedule. We can create how we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna, we can create what, what we’re gonna focus on, who we’re gonna work with. So there’s a lot of freedom.
[00:14:04] and a lot of choice. I mean, obviously there can be a sort of, um, a a a kind of driving force, you know, that’s thinking that we’ve gotta get this done or, you know, but that’s gonna come in any work that’s, you know, whether we’re being employed or working for ourselves. So I would say having this creative palette that we can, um, just choose how we wanna spend our energy, you know, who we wanna spend it with, and then we can really make really good discernment and decisions about what’s the best way to pl what’s the best place to place our energy into, to make it work for us. Um, yeah, I, I, I hope that’s covered it.
[00:14:45] Roxanne: Yeah. No, it is. I, I, I feel like you’re giving me permission to let my brain kind of explore this idea a little bit more and, and, . I’m just, I’ve, your words are just so beautiful. So thank you for that, uh, that inspiration. Natasha, I wanna ask you a question around the name of this podcast and I’ll, I’ll give you a little background so that you understand where the question is coming from.
[00:15:05] When I first started my entrepreneur journey, I was not a parent and I loved the hustle culture. Like it felt so good to me, right? Go, go, go, hustle, hustle, hustle. Like put in everything and, and just, you know, when you stop, business stops. That sort of idea, it felt really, really good to me. Like I was accomplishing a lot, you know? And then I had my first child and my whole world stopped, you know, as as it does when you have your first child. And I have realized that that idea of hustle is actually quite toxic. And so I’ve been on a quest to reimagine what this idea of hustle looks like since then.
[00:15:43] And so I would love to know, how do you reimagine this concept of hustle?
[00:15:49] Reimagined Hustle
[00:15:49] Natasha Astara: Yeah, I love this because I’m a daughter of a, an eighties mom who was like shoulder pad wearing, you know, red car driving. Um, worked in like really high up in a direct as a, was a kind of director of this global company. Um, and, you know, was at work all the time
[00:16:07] Roxanne: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:07] Natasha Astara: Um, and, and the epitome of that hustle energy and it’s it’s quite, it can be quite addictive, can’t it? Cuz it’s this adrenaline kind of pumping, you know, like you’re on a treadmill like fast
[00:16:20] Roxanne: Yes.
[00:16:21] Natasha Astara: Um, and it’s very yang. And so I kind of noticed that when, you know, when I, I’m quite sort of yin, yin and yang based cuz um, obviously I have a, a trainee in Chinese medicine.
[00:16:32] Um, , but when I had my daughters, you know, giving birth you, you do somehow like just initiate into this more deeper feminine, um, you know, this juicy, feminine holding, nourishing nature. And what I’m really interested in is, Is women entrepreneurs who are balancing that yin and that yang, you know, like filling themselves up with energy, holding energy, um, rather than just spending it all the time. Um, and one of the, um, one of the. Authors I’m really keen on reading, um, is Denise Duffel Thomas,
[00:17:09] Roxanne: Oh
[00:17:10] Natasha Astara: she wrote something called Chillpreneur. And so I love that. That’s just, you know, if we could sit in a hammock and just like laze around all day and money would come into our bank accounts, that would be fantastic.
[00:17:21] So I’m, I’m looking at this sort of balance, you know, like how I can nourish myself, how I can stay in balance and my energy will attract in what I need. You know, that there’s a universal flow of energy and that does equate into money . Um, and that we can, we can receive that and we can actually work with that, um, in a really conscious way and get what we need.
[00:17:44] Roxanne: Mm, what a great way to reimagine it. Do you mind, uh, explaining to me a little bit more about this concept of yin and yang energy?
[00:17:52] Natasha Astara: Yeah. So, um, in Chinese medicine we have the yin and we have the yang. Do you, you know, that little symbol that a lot of people know
[00:18:00] Roxanne: I’m familiar with the symbol, but I, I, I just, I, it’s kind of one of those things that I feel like, you know, we see it so often that I don’t really think about it.
[00:18:08] Natasha Astara: Yeah. It’s like, what does it mean? Well, it’s basically the masculine and the feminine. It’s the, it’s the opposites. It’s a dynamic opposing and working together opposites that are moving from flowing from one to the other always. And so our modern world, In Europe and probably America too is very yang driven.
[00:18:29] You know, it’s this kind of hustle culture, um, adrenaline, and we see it as quite male. And that sort of testosterone led, you know, like push, push, push, push, push. And what we often do is then deplete our yang, but we also deplete our yin. So we end up, uh, not feeling like we can be peaceful or settled or centered, or.
[00:18:49] Roxanne: Hmm.
[00:18:50] Natasha Astara: Or, or fill ourselves up with creative energy. So really it’s like that masculine feminine principle. You know, we want to fill ourselves up with feminine energy, like in the womb, and then we want the masculine energy to then take action. So we we’re always in this dynamic flow of filling ourselves up with, um, uh, nurturing soft, gentle, nectar filled energy, and then using our energy to push forward onto what we want.
[00:19:20] So the trouble we, I see with a lot of people is they don’t fill up enough and then they’re, they’re work. They, they don’t have a tank. Basically. The tank is empty when they went, go to take action. That’s the sort of dynamic flow that then leads to a lack mentality. And we see it a lot in our society. Um, people coming from thoughts about lack and also, you know, just not having the energy for anything.
[00:19:47] So, um, I think this is changing. Like, and entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, I think are changing it, um, purely because. We have to, um, be there for our, our children and we’re often holding things, you know, in our families and in society. So, um, we realize the, you know, the importance of having a big, well of nectar to draw on, um, to feed everyone, including ourselves.
[00:20:14] Roxanne: Hmm. I feel like I just have so, Imagery that you’ve just painted a picture of. Thank you for explaining that, uh, concept of Yin and Yang in such a, a beautiful way. I love that idea that yen is nurturing and holding and, and hustle is more yang and that executionary and, and, um, and I, you’ve just explained it in such a way too, that I’m recognizing how needed both of those energies are.
[00:20:38] It’s not one or the other, it really is both. So thank you for explaining it that.
[00:20:43] Natasha Astara: Absolutely. It’s a bit like somewhere in the modern light at the modern world. People forgot the feminine energy, the yin . Um, but, but bring, you know, we need, we do need both. We, we need them both working together, you know, that is, that’s healthy
[00:20:58] Roxanne: yeah, yeah. Right. Balance is healthy. Who knew ? Who knew? Right? Oh my goodness. Natasha, this has been just. An absolutely enlightening conversation. I feel like I could just ask you questions all day, but I really do wanna be respectful of your time. So I just wonder if you would give us some parting words of a pep talk for other parents who are on this entrepreneur journey.
[00:21:19] Pep Talk
[00:21:19] Natasha Astara: Oh, I would say, you know, being an entrepreneur really allows you to build your dream and you can build your dream in any way, uh, that feels right for you. I mean, I’ve met people that have sewn together all different types of their own personal talents that you thought would never go together, but they have kind of drawn them together and made it, um, something that they were passionate about.
[00:21:43] So I, I mean, I’ve loved being an entrepreneur. It’s given me so much flexibility in life and I have grown through so much through the experience. Um, and particularly if you’re like me, and I’d never really liked having a boss,
[00:21:58] Roxanne: Yeah.
[00:21:59] Natasha Astara: I never really liked being employed and having someone above me telling me what to do.
[00:22:02] So, um, I, you know, my own boss really
[00:22:05] Roxanne: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:07] Natasha Astara: and I have to say, that makes me smile a lot.
[00:22:09] Roxanne: I, I love it cuz we can hear it in your voice. Do we can hear that smile in your voice as you expressed that. Oh my goodness, Natasha, this has been just an absolute tweet. Thank you for that, that pep talk as well. Would you let us know where we can get more of you? Where can we find you online?
[00:22:23] Natasha Astara: Sure. So I’m, um, I have my website, which is uh, www.earthmotherstarchild.co uk. And you can also find Earth Mother Star Child, you know, on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. I’m, I’m out there.
[00:22:39] Roxanne: Oh my goodness. Wonderful. And we’ll make sure that we link everything in the show notes. Natasha, thank you just for the gift, not only of your time, but of your wisdom, of your energy. This has been for me. We’re, you know, we’re recording this on a Friday afternoon where I am and it’s, I feel like you just grounded me after a really stressful week at a, after a really hectic week.
[00:23:00] So thank you so much for giving me that gift, and I know you’ll give that gift to my listeners as well. Thank
[00:23:05] Natasha Astara: Oh my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on.
[00:23:10] Roxanne: Thanks for listening to Reimagining Hustle with Roxanne Merket. If you like the show and want more, check out reimagininghustle.com and please leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back next week with another episode. See you soon.
