IEP019: Meet Your Spiritual Support Team with Helen Jacobs

Brigit E.:                               Welcome to the Intuitive Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Brigit Esselmont, intuitive business strategist and mentor. As the founder of Biddy Tarot, I turn my love for tarot into an abundant seven-figure business. The secret to my success? Making intuition and strategy my entrepreneurial superpower. And now, I'm inviting you to do the same. In this weekly podcast, I'll be sharing advice, tools and real life examples from some of the best intuitive entrepreneurs to show you how you can trust your intuition, align with your purpose, and create a positive impact through your work. Let's make it happen.

Brigit E.:                               Hello and welcome back to the Intuitive Entrepreneur Podcast. Today I'm talking with the beautiful Helen Jacobs, who is the author of You Already Know, and also the host of The Guided Collective Podcast. She's an intuitive mentor who is passionate about helping others reconnect with their intuition and discover their true life path. After a successful career in PR and marketing, Helen left her corporate life to pursue her own intuitive nudges and forge a flourishing practice as a psychic. And today, I have the joy of talking with Helen about how we can integrate our intuition with our business.

Brigit E.:                               In this conversation, you'll hear more about Helen's journey, about how she left behind that career of PR and marketing, which was very high paced, exhausting, stressful, and so on, into a new business which was much more about listening to her inner wisdom and following her guidance and also just taking it a lot more easy and being in flow with her business. Helen also talks about the spiritual support team, and this is fascinating to me because this is about how you can connect with your guides to support you as you grow and develop your business.

Brigit E.:                               Helen also talks about her book, You Already Know, of course, which is just filled with so much goodness particularly if you're wanting to get in connection with your intuition. And she talks about business as this entity that has a soul of its own and how we, as business owners, really need to be able to get out of the way and allow our business to unfold in the way that it is destined to. I think you are going to absolutely love this conversation, so let's get straight into it. Hi, Helen. It is so fun to have you here on the call today. How are you doing?

Helen Jacobs:                     I'm really well, thanks, Brigit. I'm really excited to be chatting to you. I feel like this is a long time coming.

Brigit E.:                               I know. And we were just chatting how are you in the thick of your book launch right now, so I'm so glad that I've been able to grab you and get some of your time and your energy today. So, it's good.

Helen Jacobs:                     No, I'm thrilled.

Brigit E.:                               Take me way back to when you were working in PR and then what led you to now be the psychic that you are now. What happened?

Helen Jacobs:                     Certainly not my plans. I guess, so I worked in PR for around eight years. And while I loved it, I was quite disconnected. I mean, looking back, I was really quite miserable and I had actually been on antidepressants. And so from the outside looking in, it probably looked like I had it all, whatever that might be. But I just didn't feel very happy and it didn't really matter what I was doing externally to feel better. Any of the things that I was told that was going to make me happier weren't working. And so if I actually backtrack many years prior, my aunt had passed away. And when she passed away, she had come back to visit me.

Helen Jacobs:                     And I actually talk about it in the book, this was an event that I later realized was trance mediumship. It had gone on for like four hours in my family's living room in the middle of the first real grief I'd ever experienced and witnessing grief in my family, extended family. And at the time, I put it off. And so, it wasn't until later that I realized so much of that disconnection and really my depression at the time stemmed from the fact that I'd ignored this huge, also quite traumatic experience in my life. It was actually trying to show me what I was meant to be doing with my life.

Helen Jacobs:                     Here I am working in PR, miserable, can't figure it out, and was like, "Oh, well, I'll go and see a psychic." And actually, the psychic didn't answer my questions that I thought she was going to about my career and why is my love life not happening and why am I so miserable. And it was the last thing that I said to her, I was actually getting up out of my chair, and I said, "This really weird thing happened to me years ago when my aunt passed away." And that's really why ... I'm getting goosebumps. It's really actually why I guess I ended up going to see her because she encouraged me to explore it. And it just completely changed everything.

Brigit E.:                               When you allowed that to flow, what opened up for you? What started to become real for you?

Helen Jacobs:                     Yeah. It became very apparent very quickly that when I, and I didn't know how I was doing it, but when I, I don't know, internally allowed or set the intention to receive information, it was like these floodgates opened. So, I'd gone along to this workshop that this psychic was holding and was ... She actually said to me, "You do not need to learn how, you just need to practice." I was like, "Oh, okay." And so actually, I got my sisters to recruit some of their friends because I figured these are people that I know but not, I trust them and they trust me, but I don't really know the ins and outs of their lives. So, I can practice what information comes through in a safe space, but without any real logical knowledge.

Helen Jacobs:                     Really, I was still working PR and now I'm doing these psychic readings by night. They were for free. We would sit down in my living room with a cup of tea. And I think back now, they were really quite disjointed and just random snippets of information, but it was like a learning back and forward with these beautiful friends who would come. And I just kept saying to them, "Can you just send me someone else, if you know someone who wants to let me practice?" And then this went on for a while. And I realized the first person who turned up, and God love her, I said, "No, no, no. Don't pay me," but she brought me a bottle of wine. And I realized, "Oh, people want to reciprocate here." And then eventually, someone then was so far removed that they'd offered to pay me.

Helen Jacobs:                     And I actually realized that life had answered the question that I'd gone to the psychic for because I wanted a career change and I wanted to know what am I meant to be doing, and it was actually right under my nose. It was just trusting, I guess, and following each little bit and allowing it to unravel and to let go of really anything my mind could possibly fathom. I had no concept of what was happening, and I would just sit down and turn it on and then hope I was turning it off. I had to learn how to turn it off in between sessions. My biggest challenge wasn't tapping in, it was actually really understanding what to do with this torrent that was washing through me.

Brigit E.:                               Did you move to doing psychic readings full-time or was there a little bit of that transition point where you're still doing your normal, that [crosstalk 00:08:40], normal job before you fully committed to the psychic business?

Helen Jacobs:                     I was working that PR agency. When I resigned, I left the meeting room with my bosses with no plan in place. By the time I'd come back down the stairs and at my desk, there was another offer from a friend of mine who'd been trying for some time to get me to come across in-house to an online travel agency or travel business. By the time I'd got back downstairs from resigning, another of her emails were there, and this time, I followed that lead. So, then I had six weeks off. I ended up getting that job. In that six weeks, I was doing some of this practice work and some of the paying clients started to turn up.

Helen Jacobs:                     I ended up taking this other full-time job in PR. I was about six months in and realized, "Okay, I'm working full-time here." Literally Monday through Thursday, I was doing reading at nighttime and then all day Saturday, and was like, "Hm, maybe they'll let me go part-time and I can muddle my way through." And they wouldn't. And I just went, "Oh, well. Let's just give it a go." So, I ended up quitting and went full in. In theory, it was enough to replace my salary.

Helen Jacobs:                     But I also then had to really quickly realize, "No, Helen. You can't just do this from nine to five every day like a full-time job. You will burn out." And I did. So, there was a lot of adjustment to figure out ... I had no plan, Brigit. None whatsoever. I was really quite naïve. I just thought that I would replace the hours of work with this work, and therefore replace the salary. And that was not how this was meant to work.

Brigit E.:                               Yes, and I think this is a really good point because I know many of our listeners are in intuitive services of some kind. And making that transition from a normal day job, you do have that thought of just, "Oh, yeah. Well, if I worked nine to five, surely I could do the same with my tarot readings or psychic readings or healing," or whatever it might be. And it sounds like you quickly realized it. I quickly realized it in my own path as well that uh-uh (negative), that's not going to work. What was the next evolution after you realized that?

Helen Jacobs:                     Right. At this time, I had figured out how to do readings for others, but I was still actually in my own life figuring out how I was even doing it. So, I was having these conversations with my spirit guides really asking the big questions like, "What is happening here? What am I even meant to do with this? I've left my job, I'm giving readings. You guys have to keep helping me out here because this is so far outside of my realm of familiarity." And actually, what they kept coming back to me with was, "Just rest, just rest." I was like, "Yeah, but how am I going to pay my bills? That resting's not going to pay my bills." So, there was a very steep learning curve in trust and letting go. And all of the things of course that I went on to teach my clients, that I didn't see it at the time, but life was actually bringing me all of the other things that I needed to create a very different rhythm and a very different life.

Helen Jacobs:                     And so not that long after, I realized that I could start doing some small workshops and got a taste for, oh, I see. If I'm not just working one-on-one and I'm working with many people, I'm expending the same amount of energy, but in a concentrated period of time. I don't think it was too far long after that that my spirit guide started showing me the images for my oracle cards. Somewhere in that mix, I also ended up having my first child. And it became very apparent that that sort of business model of my time for money just would not work. And so out of that was born this idea for the business that I had at the time, The Little Sage, where we had some digital products and a few physical products. I think around that time, the first program that I ran was there. And it was enough to give me breathing room again. In hindsight, a lot of this was just enough to give me breathing room. And had [inaudible 00:13:25] and things pivoted again.

Brigit E.:                               Yeah. Tell me about that. What happened after you had your first baby?

Helen Jacobs:                     Well, I again found myself struggling between what I guess that big pivot point of becoming a mother and how do I balance motherhood and my own passions and my own desire and my really, this burning purpose and mission. No matter what, however burned out I was or however tired I'd been or however much I couldn't figure things out, it's like, "Okay, I'll get up again tomorrow and I'm going to keep doing this." And then that's alongside the sleepless nights of early motherhood and am I doing this right?

Helen Jacobs:                     Fortunately, I had taken some time out of the business, and the shop was able to cover the expenses and for me to take some time off to be with her. But I knew that when I came back into the business, it had to be a little different. And also taking that time off, my understanding of the impact that I wanted to make or if I say it more correctly, that I knew that my guides wanted to make or that the message had to make. It was never really about me. If anything, I would've preferred if I didn't have to be at the front and center of it.

Helen Jacobs:                     But I realized that, "Okay, well, now it's not just about my energy, but how do I actually put this in such a way that more people can interact with this and benefit from this?" And that was around the time that I realized, "Oh, I need a team." And you know what? I'd had a few people sort of come and go and help me administratively before that, but now I realized, "No, no. This is so much bigger than me, and I can't do all of this." So, I got back into work and really, we rescaled how we were doing the oracle cards. The shop really took off at that point. And I had my sister and a dear friend, actually one of her best friends and a great family friend of ours, step into the business. And they really made such a big impact that I could do what I needed to do, and they did everything else basically.

Brigit E.:                               Yeah. I think a lot of people at that point where they know that they can't do it all themselves. And this whole idea of bringing on a team is sitting in front of them, let's say. And I mean, for me, the idea of building a team was exciting. I love doing that and I love growing. I mean, that's why we've got 19 people in our team now. But I do know that for many people, the whole idea of bringing on team members, being responsible for their financial wellbeing or having that financial contribution, being responsible for how they contribute value to the organization, being able to let go of tasks that were like, "I thought I could only do this." So, I'm just a bit curious to hear how that was for you as you brought on a team.

Helen Jacobs:                     Well, it's also really curious because I find myself in the same situation again now. I've learned a lot of things, and I'm revisiting them now. I'm also listening to myself about to answer this. So, I will replay it back and remind myself of this as I build this out again. But the way that I had it structured at the time is that I had still put myself in the position of being the only person who could do certain things. And so it was really administrative and marketing that the girls had come in to help me with. And with hindsight, they would often say to me, lovingly, "Give us more. We can do more. You can trust us more."

Helen Jacobs:                     And in hindsight, I really could have. But for whatever reason, that was what I was learning and I couldn't push it. But also upon reflection, I still had the business model wrong. So, I don't think that it was really the shop and the constant churn that I was meant to be doing and the constant creation that I was in. I had to learn that the hard way. So, I'd actually set up this model where I was constantly creating, and I'd put a team in place. I guess with a background in marketing and PR, I was still used to this very fast production cycle.

Helen Jacobs:                     I really enjoyed that period. But again, here I am burning myself out, trying to figure out a team structure based on where I'd been, not ... And it was guided at the time, not because it was necessarily the answer that my head wanted, but because it was exactly what I needed to learn all of this. And I think sometimes, at least in my own experience, and I have seen it with some of my clients too, we're often wanting our intuition or our guidance to make it easy and to give us the answer of, how do I figure all of this out to have this really flourishing business? And that can still be there, but it's actually your intuition and your guidance is going to put you where you need to learn and to experience what it is that you need to experience.

Helen Jacobs:                     So, I don't know that I've really got these vast lessons for anyone else trying to set up a team other than you will make lessons, but that's why you've been prompted to set up the team to begin with. It's not the magic answer or the magic bullet, it's like, no, you've got to go into that classroom and get this right.

Brigit E.:                               Yes. I think that's a really neat way of looking at things actually because as business owners, we go into things that may feel uncertain. We don't what it's going to turn out like. Then we get in there, and we're like, "Oh my goodness. I don't think I like this anymore." But instead of seeing it as, "Oh, I've made a mistake," or "I've failed in some way," to see it as, "All right. Yeah, you have stepped into that classroom. Yep, this is what it feels like when you do it like this. Okay. Over to you, buddy. You work it out. How do you want to do it differently, or how do you want to do it better?"

Brigit E.:                               And also, I think coming from that corporate experience too, I really believe that many of us have had corporate experience and are now stepping into these more, I don't know, intuitive roles or intuitive business because we're being called upon to take what we've learned in corporate and do it a completely different way. But still, all the best bits from corporate, but we do them in this evolved, more intuitive way. And perhaps that's part of that experience of getting in there, doing it how you think it was done previously, going, "Ugh, that feels really off," and then doing it differently. Does that resonate for you?

Helen Jacobs:                     Absolutely it resonates. And I often will see it like a pendulum swinging. Broadly speaking, when we're in corporate, it is very masculine, go, go, go, output, constant growth, constant everything. And then at least in my experience, what I've seen with my clients, I imagine it's the same in your business and also with your community that we swing right out the other way. And of course when then we step into an intuitive business, everything is intuitive, and let me flow with all of this and let me just feel my way through it. And absolutely we have to do that, but now we've lost all the structure. So, we come from corporate where it's overly structured and then we want to really flow and be creative, and we're trying to figure out how to do that, but we've still got this corporate structure or model or reference point. And at least then we can see the extremes. And as with anything, it's always trying to bring us back to center.

Helen Jacobs:                     And so yeah, I think that's part of the plan. I think that not only each of us individually setting up these intuitive businesses, and individually, we're figuring it out and probably feeling like we're making a mess of it, at least I [inaudible 00:21:55] I'm not the only one who's felt that. But I think it's also the point because those of us who are figuring it out, hopefully, there is, I believe, still a bigger wave that's yet to come of people stepping not only into intuitive businesses in the way that you and I would think of it, but just business in a traditional way. The cafes of the world and the, I mean, imagine when banking does it this way and governments do it this way.

Helen Jacobs:                     I honestly believe that's going to come, that we'll have kind of figured out a lot of this as the pioneers so that we can not only have it in the businesses that we set up, but actually take it back into those corporates and the institutions and those organizations. And I honestly believe that when that pivot point comes, so much of our world will change even more rapidly than what we're seeing now.

Brigit E.:                               I love it. And what a beautiful vision to lay out for inspiring us as intuitive entrepreneurs about what, how this all can potentially unfold.

Helen Jacobs:                     Well, I hope so. And some days, I can get caught up in misery of it all and the ... As we're dismantling everything, surely it has to get better. So, yeah, sometimes I do have to remind myself there is a bigger reason for all of this, surely.

Brigit E.:                               Yes. Now, something you've talked about in this conversation, but also in your book of You Already Know is about your spirit team and your guides. And I'd love to understand this a little bit more. How do we know if, who they are, if we have them, who they are? And then how can we integrate drawing upon our spirit team to help us grow our businesses in meaningful and purposeful ways?

Helen Jacobs:                     Yeah. As a starting point, I think it's like when you live with someone and you know that they've got home, but you haven't heard them and you haven't seen them come into the house, but you can feel that their presence is there. So, for anyone listening, you might know what it feels like when your partner or your children or a friend, your parents, whatever, enter the room before you've seen or heard them. And so that's actually where I started, because of course there's no physicality to our spiritual support team. There's no necessarily neon flashing light that tells us when they're there. And so, I had to get to know them by feel.

Helen Jacobs:                     And a lot of people, I've had this question so many times in my life. It's like, "Well, what are they called and what do they look like?" And actually, my experience, perhaps different people will have different ideas about this, but my experience is they don't really care what we call them. They don't have a physical body. They're not of the earthly plane, and so they don't really have names either. So, I've given my spiritual support team, well, actually, collectively a name. My husband gave them the name Chris because it just became a bit ... Literally, we would be sitting in cafes and I'd be like, "And then spirit told me this and then they've told me ... " And Harry was like, "Look, why don't we just call them Chris, so we know what we're talking about, but the people at the table right beside us don't know that we're talking about spirit guides?"

Helen Jacobs:                     So, collectively, I just call them Chris. And as I got to know them by feel, I realized that different beings were continually turning up if I was asking different questions. Actually, in those really early days, there was, the best I can describe it is a business guide. And it kind of took me by surprise because I was like, "Oh, surely they're here to heal or to save the world," or these really big ideas. And then here is this business guide. I think in some ways, it is on the earthly plane where we've each got a role or a job or some mission. These spirit guides are there for that too. So, I started to conceptualize it as a team, like a spiritual advisory board. In big business, there are people that will sit on your board but have different expertise and different knowledge.

Helen Jacobs:                     So, yes, you can have maybe a business guide. Every single one of us will have at least one main guiding being who is with us from, I was going to say birth, but I suspect probably more from conception or even preconception as we're figuring out who we're coming in to live with in this life that are overseeing the blueprint and the details. So, we start small, in like, "Okay, who is here?" And then we have to build a relationship with them. And I say this repeatedly, but sometimes it is through trial and error of, "Who is this? Are you the same guy that turned up yesterday? What are you telling me? How do you communicate with me?" Because they'll all communicate in different ways.

Helen Jacobs:                     It can ... well, at least for me anyway, it felt like this big mess of opening up. Actually, the clairvoyant image that I just got was like walking into a carnival and wanting everyone to talk to you at once. And there's all this noise and color and stimulation, and it's like, " ... I can't make out all the sound and the colors." But with practice, you will figure out who each of these guiding beings are. And then, you call on them at different times. And like I hinted at before, I was very frustrated that my business guide's advice was rest and meditate, rest and meditate. I was like, "What kind of business advice is this?"

Brigit E.:                               You're fired.

Helen Jacobs:                     Yeah. And sadly, you can't ... Well, I mean, you can kind of say, "I don't want to talk to you anymore." But they're not going to go anywhere.

Brigit E.:                               No.

Helen Jacobs:                     They will still be there. Yeah, so it is like any other relationship. You might go head over heels, go straight in, or you might be a bit more reserved, you might, like, "Well, screw you. I'm not talking to you. Don't come back here anytime soon." But I've figured out it's better to listen.

Brigit E.:                               Yes, yeah. How can we communicate with our spiritual support team? Is it through meditation, being silent? Is it through writing? Is it through whatever feels good for you?

Helen Jacobs:                     Yeah, I think ultimately, it comes down to whatever feels good for you. If you're starting from scratch, then we definitely need to first create enough space and stillness so that we can even notice that there is communication beyond what we can physically see and hear. So, sometimes that means that there is this meditative practice. Sometimes that's just to actually calm our nervous system and to get us centered before they even make contact. But there's a reason that I've got guided meditations on my website because I did use a lot of self-guided meditations where they were explaining to me how to connect with them and they were leading me through this process.

Helen Jacobs:                     Meditation can definitely help. I used automatic writing, which blew my mind because the writing didn't look like mine. I was writing back to front and had to hold it up to a mirror to actually ... My sisters thought that I was possessed and they will still laugh at me about those old automatic writing entries. Different things for different people. Sometimes it is by using a pendulum or paying attention to our dreams. I mean, of course when we're turning tarot or oracle cards, depending on your practice, it may be that your guides are leading that.

Helen Jacobs:                     There are so many different ways, and I think it ultimately comes down to trusting yourself and what you're naturally called to. And then also being flexible enough that, for example, I very rarely sit in guided meditation anymore and it's while I'm driving or I ask and it comes through. Also, I guess it's getting into that state to connect with them first and then asking them, "What is the best way for me to communicate with you?" Because they also have a preferred method. Each individual guide has a preferred method.

Helen Jacobs:                     As an example, there was one guide, and also when I used to do a lot of medium work where I would sweat a lot. And it's so unglamorous. I would get really sweaty and just be burning. That was their way of telling me that they were there. And I was like, "I am not available for this. This is not a good way to communicate with me." And so we were able to adapt that. So, sometimes it is through physical sensation too. Often we think our intuition is a standalone piece, but that is actually a way that our guides will reach us too with that pain in our stomach or the sensations in our body. We just have to be practiced enough to maybe master one area and then move on to the next because otherwise it's really overwhelming.

Brigit E.:                               And I imagine also looking for patterns. I have this funny little thing with, I think it's with my hearing. I don't know what it is. It's like this little blip in the sound waves. I just started to notice that as a pattern and I would become more consciously aware of what was happening at the time and what I was thinking and feeling. For me, it feels like my little sign to tune in and to listen and to be more connected.

Helen Jacobs:                     Absolutely.

Brigit E.:                               Yeah. Yeah.

Helen Jacobs:                     And a lot of people will look for signs and symbols. It's become really, a lot of people know about feathers or number patterns. Or for me, and I mention this in the book, the use of songs would get my attention.

Brigit E.:                               Oh, yeah.

Helen Jacobs:                     It's really, yeah, just noticing anything repetitive. I say this in the book too, it's the thing that gets you to sit up and pay attention. It's like, "Well, that's weird. Why does that keep happening?" And it's like, "Okay, so now follow that thread. Follow that line of inquiry because it's trying to get your attention to open that gateway or just to create enough of a gap for something else to come through."

Brigit E.:                               Yes, absolutely. Now, there's a quote in your book and it says, "We can't think ourselves out of the problems our rational minds have created. We must turn to our intuitive mind and feel our way out." And I think this is really important for us as entrepreneurs because I think we get so well trained at rationalizing and analyzing. I know that's how my brain is wired. But how can we get into that space of feeling things through? And perhaps maybe you've got an example of where maybe you've even had a bit of a grapple between logical, rational, analytical mind versus your intuitive mind.

Helen Jacobs:                     Yeah, I feel like that's my entire life. Let me talk generally first. I'll tick over on an example for you. Certainly I would know this when I had been thinking and plotting and planning and mapping everything out and wanting everything to be just so before I would take action or I was taking action according to this business plan or business model or just life plan that I'd had in place. And I think we all know that feeling of when it starts to grind, when it's like, "I can't go any further here." And so that's probably one of these signs, like, "Okay, not necessarily don't go in that direction, but just cool your jets for a minute. Just sit here and feel."

Helen Jacobs:                     So, it is then being able to come back into our bodies. Of course, we're not trained to do that. So much of our life is around not feeling and expressing and emoting what is true and real for us. And so we do need to relearn what we're feeling. What is this frustration? Why am I so angry that this isn't working out the way that I want it to work out? And what do you mean it's not on my timeframe? And so it's actually sitting with that and allowing those feelings, again, to be this gateway or a portal underneath the surface. And that's then I think where this inner transformation starts to happen where we start to not just know where we're going, but we start to transform so that we become who we need to be to arrive there.

Helen Jacobs:                     And so, yeah, there's this process of creating that stillness and the space and silence to find that self-love and compassion and the patience to be in it. Because when we create that space, it actually starts to take care of itself. The knot starts to unravel for us. And I think we've all probably had that experience of maybe mulling over something or we're trying to knot something out. We're figuring something out in our minds only to go for a walk or to, I say do the dishes, but that's not really my life.

Brigit E.:                               Not your jam. Not my jam either.

Helen Jacobs:                     Maybe take a shower.

Brigit E.:                               Maybe have a shower, yes.

Helen Jacobs:                     Although interestingly enough, it's usually where water is involved.

Brigit E.:                               Yeah.

Helen Jacobs:                     But essentially we go and do something else that the nugget drops in like, "Oh, that's a great solution," or, "Oh, my god. Why didn't I see it that way before?" And I think that's still our intuition or a higher guidance that's making itself known to us. But if we harness that, if we actually figure out how to do that on a deeper level by going into our body and processing physically and mentally. So, the thoughts and beliefs that got us into that pickle to begin with or the energetic structures that are behind that and we start to shift those. It's not now just opening a doorway or opening a gateway, it is like opening the floodgates to really being in the flow. We actually come back into this slipstream where we now don't have to necessarily think about what we're doing, but we ride the wave.

Helen Jacobs:                     The example just turned up. As I'm talking to you, spirit's talking in my ear also. And actually, the publicity for this book is a great example. I've shared, I started out in publicity. I was in PR and marketing. And I thought that when I started my business, I'll just have a PR plan and I'll create, I know how to run a marketing budget. By the way, I had zero budget so I don't know what I thought I was going to be able to do. But my plan was, I'll take care of this, and it didn't work. It didn't matter what I tried. Publicity came, but not from my own avenues.

Helen Jacobs:                     With this book, what spirit said to me was, "You need to be energetically set up for this and you want this to be easy. You want this to be joyful and if you stay in that state, this will take care of itself." Fortunately, I've gone with a publisher, so there is a publicity team. There is someone else who's doing a lot of that marketing for me, but having now spent, this is for me as much as your listeners, the spirit is now saying to me personally, and I don't want to cry, but it's like, "You had to have got it wrong so many times in the first 10 years, so that when this book got here, you were really going to trust." And so, anything that's come my way with this book isn't because I've necessarily reached out or plotted and planned. It's because I'm in the energetics of it and I'm watching the energetics of the book, and it's doing its thing. Maybe that's an example of how I've ended up there.

Brigit E.:                               Yes, yes and yes. I am absorbing this like a sponge right now because I am feeling the complexity of our growing business. And I'm also trying to stay really aware of what's feeling light and easy and fun and joyful, and what feels really heavy and stuck and complicated. Because it does, it really comes down to trust too because there's a part of myself that just wants to get in there and make it all precise and exactly the way I think it should be.

Brigit E.:                               But I'm actually getting in the way of what the universe wants and how it wants to channel this through. And so if I can just get out of the way just even as a person, as a business owner, as a leader for my team. I can see so many times where I'm like, "Oh, Brigit. I've just got in the way again. Get out and allow it to flow." But ultimately, it does come down to trust and believing in yourself and believing in that everything is actually all just set up exactly as it needs to be without your pushing or intervention on it.

Helen Jacobs:                     Absolutely. I think it also comes back to being able to recognize who and what is being sent to you. Perhaps just as another example, this time last year, I was in a very, very different place. I had closed The Little Sage. I was starting to go out under my own name. Again, I had these plans. I had all of this channeled material. There was going to be all ... The school was going to be here and all of my online programs. And I trust at some point that will be here, but it's not today.

Helen Jacobs:                     Actually, it was like, "No, just stop." I hadn't actually signed on for the book deal yet and it was just like, "Take a step back and just ..." I scaled back who was on my team. I scaled back what we were working on, and it just came back to me. And I had my VA and I went back to doing a lot of one-on-one work. It was like, "What is actually possible for me? What do I have availability for?" I didn't want to grow the team or be responsible for a team or deliver, like the same thing I was saying before, over and over and over and over and over again. It's like, "No, I just need a whole lot of space." So, I created that in the business, scaled everything back. And of course, the next week, signed on to write the book.

Helen Jacobs:                     And so I think that, I mean, obviously you and I have quite different businesses, and I'm sure everyone listening has a different type of business too. But one of the things that I have to keep coming back to is it's even within the business that we've got is to not be so fixed on it always having to be that business, that it can shift and change and scale down or scale up or pause or pivot. Because if we need that as the business owner or the business as its own entity needs that, yeah, we have to be able to respond to it so that we're not, yes, getting in the way, but thinking that our plan for our business is better than the business entity and the soul of that business. It knows better than we do.

Helen Jacobs:                     It's like as mothers, we raise our children and we give them the best possible start in life that we can, and then we have to listen to them. Who are they? Who are they here to be? What impact are they going to make on the world, and then how do we support them to do that? Not who I want you to be. And it's the same with our businesses. This business isn't here based on who we want it to be. We've actually birthed this soul entity into the world and our job is to sit back and to listen to who it wants to become.

Brigit E.:                               Oh, that is the gold right here, Helen. That is, yes, 100% yes. And I just can feel that resonate so much. And yeah, just stepping out of the way and just allowing that to unfold because it needs to.

Helen Jacobs:                     And what a privilege that this business has come to us and said, "I have this thing and I've chosen you, and I want this to come through you because I know that you'll learn through this, but you're also the best custodian for this message or this energy or this impact to come into the earth." And so it is such a privilege to be in procreation with our business. It's not us.

Brigit E.:                               Yes. Oh, I [crosstalk 00:42:58] this conversation so very much. I have to be really honest, all of the interviews I do for this podcast, I love getting the message out into the wider community, and I'm loving everything that I'm receiving, I'm absorbing like a sponge. It's beautiful. Helen, is the custodian of your book, You Already Know, just tell us a little bit about the book and who is it for and what can you expect to get out of this book? Because it is like ... it's beautiful. I just love hearing your words.

Helen Jacobs:                     Oh, thanks, Brigit. It is actually, I wrote it for me where I was 10 years ago. And actually in the dedication, I dedicate it to my seven-year-old self who had this vision and had no idea how it would ever come to fruition. So, I knew that I would become a published author, but I never knew how. So, this book is for anyone has that something that is burning inside of them that they know that they are here to be something, to do something, and to bring something through. And most likely, they are starting from anywhere but clarity and knowing. They are probably, like I was, starting in confusion or disconnect or what the actual hell am I meant to do with all of this?

Helen Jacobs:                     I think it's for anyone who wants to live a more soul aligned life and to live more intuitively and that is also willing to go through the transformation that it's going to require of us. And hope for this book is that is going to find people in that pivot point or in that moment of change or maybe even hardship in their life where, like I was, it's like, "I just want someone to show me how to get out of this in a way that feels good." I hope this book may help someone do that.

Brigit E.:                               Beautiful. And where is it available? Is it just in Australia or is it also reaching some international place?

Helen Jacobs:                     It is, and I'm so, so thrilled. As of September 3, it is available in Australia and New Zealand. It will be available in the UK shortly thereafter, and I know that it will be in the USA from November. But if you are international, you can still pre-order it to make sure that it lands right in your hands as soon as humanely possible.

Brigit E.:                               Yes, and send lots of pre-order love because I know that that's-

Helen Jacobs:                     Oh, it's so important, right?

Brigit E.:                               ... know it's so important.

Helen Jacobs:                     Oh, I've said this to my community, I am sorry that I have banged on about pre-orders for so long, but they really are important. And yeah, it can just make such a big difference for the author, especially a first time author. But like I've said, this book has got a life of its own and so it's going to do what it needs to do. But if you do want to pre-order it, please go ahead.

Brigit E.:                               Yeah. Do it. Do it now. Awesome. Well, I just want to wrap up with just one more question because I could talk to you for hours. And I just want to understand over the next six to 12 months, what new aspect of yourself is emerging right now? What are you evolving into here?

Helen Jacobs:                     What a brilliant question. And I think that spirit's playing tricks on me and has prompted you to ask this question because I've been asking that all week. It's really interesting this week because I've been ... We're recording this just as the week before the book is meant to come out. And so the process of writing the book has really asked me to step into seeing myself as the author and the leader and the fully embodied, engaged woman who has a message to bring through. And beyond her essence, my essence, yeah, I don't know what she's going to do with this yet. And yet, I also know what she's going to do with this. So, yeah, I'm really being asked to step into and embody the truth of who I was always meant to be.

Brigit E.:                               And are you able to put words around that just yet, or is that-

Helen Jacobs:                     Well, clearly not. Honestly, no, I don't know yet. You've asked me on a day where I'm still in the throve of energetically letting that land. So, actually, no, not today. I don't know.

Brigit E.:                               ... Yeah. And I think publishing a book really is also about birthing a very new part of yourself in a very public way as well. So, I can fully understand how you might be feeling, like, yeah, I can see this is unfolding, but I don't know exactly what it is yet. I know that feeling.

Helen Jacobs:                     Of course. I mean, I remember when I delivered my children. And I intellectually knew that I was a mother. But my children are now seven and a half and four, and it's like, "Oh, this is what motherhood really is." But I couldn't answer that one hour after delivering my babies. And so, I've got a concept of who I'm stepping into and who this book is asking me to be. But because it's not entirely yet my lived experience, it's also very unfamiliar to me. And so, I am in that unknown place of, I don't know, I'm trying on a new dress and I don't know how it fits yet.

Brigit E.:                               Yeah. Yeah.

Helen Jacobs:                     And I think I could've answered this in some polished PR way. I could've gone, "Oh, yeah. I'm like this person." It's like, actually the honest trust is I don't know yet. I think I know. Well, I mean, the irony is the book is called You Already Know. So, on some level, I do know who I'm becoming, but I haven't fully remembered her yet.

Brigit E.:                               Well said.

Helen Jacobs:                     And I'm just enjoying the process of getting to know her because I've waited a really long time to come back to her.

Brigit E.:                               Yes, beautiful. And so Helen, where can more people find out about you and also your book?

Helen Jacobs:                     Well, they can find me at helenjacobs.co. Of course they can find the book there, but if you are purchasing, it's in all good bookstores and you can pre-order internationally through Book Depository. And you will find me, helenjacobs.co, on Instagram as well.

Brigit E.:                               Fabulous. Oh, Helen, what a lovely conversation we've had today. I so appreciate it. Thank you.

Helen Jacobs:                     My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me, Brigit.

Brigit E.:                               Thank you for joining me for today's episode of the Intuitive Entrepreneur Podcast. If you loved this episode, please leave an honest rating and review on iTunes. It really helps to get the word out and of course, I read every single comment. And if you want weekly inspiration to help you trust your intuition, align with your purpose, and create huge business success, then head on over to brigit.me and sign up for my free weekly emails. That's B-R-I-G-I-T dot me. See you there.