Conversations with Creatives: Natalie Jepson

I decided to start this series to inspire others by sharing the stories of some of the woman who I admire in the creative industry. Creativity comes in many different forms and we can learn so much from each other. I hope you learn something from each of these amazing women and find yourself nodding along when you read through these posts.May these words help you along your creative journey and that you find others who can cheer you on.

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I found Natalie via my friend Keri Bainborough (who was featured in this series last week). She is an online & retail manager by day and started RitualKind as her passion project. She recently launched her brand new website which is stunning. I bought a smudge stick from her - my very first one - and I can confirm that by partaking in a ritual of self-care it has given me space to accept myself and manifest my goals to the universe. Let's see what she has to say...

Can you tell me a bit about yourself and what you are doing at the moment?

My full-time job is pretty diverse! I am an Online and Retail Manager with a strong focus on customer service, interaction and customer based brand building for a local SA based Company. In RitualKind news, I have just launched my new website and I am too excited!

How did RitualKind come to fruition?

I had been dreaming up creating a side hustle with a strong holistic focus and decided that I wanted to start making and creating something local and beautiful with meaning. A friend of mine and I had chatted about smudge sticks and she made one to help clear the energy in her home. I was immediately drawn to smudging and the spiritual meaning. After I lost my dad I found myself in a place of self neglect and struggling to carve out time to heal, focus on self-love and ultimately just found I had fallen in to the patter of being INCREDIBLY hard on myself. I needed to shift focus and find a way to create something to heel myself and others. RitualKind was born from the need to release and find ways of creating space for ones self through ritual and self kindness. It was my shining light that unlocked all the creative energy I had been holding back and really allowed me to find flow with nature, intuition and tapping in to my own feminine energy.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I am up from about 5am - compliments of our cat :) I start the day outside always, barefoot with a cup of chaga tea or coffee, currently giving the celery juice a go when I remember to buy celery! The 40min drive to work is usually spent listening to podcasts, voice notes or music. I get to work by 7:30am followed by a quick catch up with one of my friends at work and we usually take a walk and grab a coffee and chat before we start the day. The phones, email and work day starts from 8am and its a flurry of coordinating, custom queries, assisting in the retail space and working on projects. Home time is 4pm and again its podcast in the car ride home - helps with traffic! I am a big fan of hydration so I am always attached to a bottle of water that I carry around, I use my car rides as a good time to get my daily hydration in if I have slacked during the day.

Once home, its time with my kitty, usually rolling out my yoga mat, having a swim and then working on RitualKind and planning the month ahead. The weather is so good so I am pretty much outside first thing in the morning and the minute I get home. I love cooking so being in the kitchen and making dinner is usually some me time to switch off - but I do have days when cooking is not my favourite! I am human!

When my husband gets home we will usually spend some time catching up outside, eating dinner and relaxing a bit. Ending the night off we either read or watch series before bed.

For me, morning and evening time outside is my meditation time. I try be present and relaxed in my space and generally use the time to switch off and just be and enjoy nature. I am always trying new rituals, my latest one is using body oils made by my friend Kate from Heart Tree Natural. In the mornings I use the Happy Balance body oil to lift my mood and assist with hormone balance and in the evening I use the Mind unwind body oil to help me relax before bed. I try and add bits of self-care in to my day.

Tell us something you have learnt from having a side-hustle.

You have to believe in yourself and back yourself 100 percent, even on the days when you think you can’t and don’t want to, YOU have to back yourself. Most importantly you just have to jump right in and DO IT. I am a planner and love it when the stars align and everything is perfect, but running a side-hustle has taught me that sometimes you just have to keep on taking a leap of faith and jump right in, again and again, otherwise you never put anything out there.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

In other words – what is your “WHY”?

We have one life and one chance to make the most of it. I always feel ready to start the day when I tap into gratitude and remember that I am fortunate enough to have food on my plate, a roof over my head, a job, love, care, kindness and the ability to feel a range of emotions and experience everything from moving my body to travelling to beautiful places and engaging with incredible people. Most of all, that I am a living breathing healthy human and I never want to take that for granted.

Favourite place to go for coffee?

Ah without a doubt Starlings Cafe, Chardonnay Deli and Dalebrook Cafe!

What does self-care look like for you?

Self-care for me is really being kind to yourself when you want to indulge in all the doubt, and all the conditioning we have had in our lives that hold us back from putting in the time to provide space for who we really are and what we really need. It is breaking the cycle of self -negative talk and giving in to a greater sense of self-worth and value. It is listening and tapping in to my intuition and honouring what I need, If that is half an hour to catch up on admin, a quick home workout, an ugly cry in the car, reorganising my cupboard, swimming in the sea, taking 10 min to paint or read, it all comes down to really tapping in and understanding that you are worthy of time that is focused on you and what you need in that moment. It is allowing myself to be free of notions that hold me back and prevent me from being the best version of myself. It is investing in my health, wellbeing and spiritual self as much as I possibly can. I could go on and on ;)

Favourite Instagram accounts at the moment?