What if I need to change my story...?

Claire Markwick: 00:00:08

Welcome to fierce woman rising. The podcast that ignites your inner fire and introduces you to women whose shattered norms, rewritten rules and embraced financial independence. I'm Claire, accountant, business mentor, coach and your guide on this transformational journey. Each week, I'll be sharing powerful interviews with women who have embraced a life of purpose and taking control of their destinies. Learn from their stories. Empower yourself and if you feel called, join us in rewriting your own story. Financial independence, joy and abundance are not just a dream. It is your birthright. Let's rise together with fire and become the next fierce woman rising. Hello, hello. Hello and welcome to another episode of the fierce woman rising podcast. My name is Claire Markwick. And I am absolutely delighted to have the beautiful Sonia Marie Kok with me today who is just a breath of fresh air. She absolutely is. If you have listened to any of the other episodes in this podcast, you'll know that we share stories of freedom and fun and abundance and just living a life that we love. And if there is anyone who totally encapsulates that, it is Sonya. So I am so grateful to have her here. And I'm so excited to share her story and for you to hear her journey from her line in the sand moment to where she is now which if you can see the vision is in her caravan on the road traveling with her husband. So I am so thrilled to have you here. Sanyo. Welcome. Thank you. Thanks, man. Yeah, let's get right into it. I would love for you to share. So our audience can understand a little bit more about your your background, where you came from. And what led you to the line in the sand moment that cause you to go you know what this can't be what life is all about.

Claire Markwick: 00:02:16

Sonya Maree Kok: Thanks for that really appreciate it. When I get asked that question, I think oh my gosh, I could write a series about my I read or data or anything, I would have to say I went to uni. I had three children under the age of three. And it was during that time I had struggled at school. But I didn't learn to read until I was 15. I felt dumb and stupid in the classroom. And then when I had my own children, I saw them having struggles. And I thought, No, I don't want this to be my children's story. So actually, as a 30 year old went back to uni. Well, back to I've never been in uni before. And I thought you know what, I want to change that trajectory. I don't want my story to be my children's story. So I got really passionate about education and teaching and learning. I was doing family daycare at that time. So I was looking after a lot of teachers, children. And they kept saying you need to go to uni, you need to train to be a teacher, you'd be amazing. And so I remember failing my first academic essay and thinking I'm just so dumb, so stupid, I can't do this. And it was actually this beautiful journey. I remember Tony Robbins back in the 80s on the cassettes. I don't know if you guys ever remember those. But I remember listening to him and like that visualization of standing there on the podium and throwing my hat and getting my degree and everything. So I started doing that. And anyway, sort of fast forward. I actually, you know, graduated with honors and got a scholarship. And you know, and that was the start of my teaching career. And I just thought, oh my god, this is just the best thing. And then 14 years into that journey, I suppose like it started to wear a bit thin I started getting exhausted at that time my teenagers were my teenagers and if anyone's got teenagers, I thought they had either gone to I don't know another planet and had been replaced with aliens or I've been such an amazing relationship up till then. But

Claire Markwick: 00:04:37

if I'm 100% honest now reflecting that I was a bit of a sergeant major sort of, you know, control mum because everything had to be in order. I was busy. If I didn't have schedules, nothing got done. So I had really high expectations. And I realized during that time that I I had an image I felt I had to uphold. You know, like, I did not want the cracks to show, you know that maybe things were crumbling. And so there was all this pressure to be that teacher in a small town. You got

Claire Markwick: 00:05:18

all your shit together? Yes, I

Claire Markwick: 00:05:21

Sonya Maree Kok: didn't say that. And then really behind closed doors, you know, there's the teenagers, the hormones, and all of a sudden, they're not being, you know, doing what you've asked them to do. And it was just like, I had a breakdown, actually. But I call it a break through now, but at the time, it was a breakdown. Yeah, and I remember going to a shop because I've always been a person that if I'm going to fix something, there's going to be a book out there that's going to tell me how to fix something. And so this was my mindset, I'm going to fix the girls like it was never about me, how could it possibly be about me? And so I was like, okay, so I got in the car drove two hours to a bookshop, one of my favorite book shops. And I walked in, and I'm looking around, and there was this book, and it was called teenage Princess bitchface. I don't know if you've ever heard of that. Anyway, I picked it out. And I literally said in my head, I said, hallelujah, praise the Lord. I found the book, I'm gonna fix the girls. Yeah. Anyway, at that time, my eyes dropped down to the next row books. And there were all these pretty books and one said, Love and another one said, compassion. Another one said, pays. Another one said, Fine. And anyway, I picked up this book. And I looked at the back of it, and it said something like this, it was like, Do you feel like a woman that you've got a noose around your neck? Do you feel like a woman that your whole world's falling apart? Do you feel like a woman and I just remember standing there and like the tears to start us in the bookshop, the tears just started rolling down my eyes. And even now, I feel quite emotional. And that was like quite a few years ago. And it was in that moment, for the first time in my whole life, that I realized that it actually wasn't about the girls. It was actually about me, and my journey and where I was, and oh, my God, that just sent me on a whole rabbit hole. It sent me on his

Claire Markwick: 00:07:29

spiritual journey. And so that's when I started looking for something other than education. Because of that system, and I did, like some people thought maybe I needed to go to weigh, you know, like Wardy, which was extra special health event do

Claire Markwick: 00:07:49

Ellie

Claire Markwick: 00:07:54

Sonya Maree Kok: is wondering, to put me on medication. People thought, Is she gonna start drinking? Is she gonna, you know, start using light, but I went on the spiritual journey, but I went on a hike for five days into the wilderness without anyone, just my backpack, these books because I bought all these books, there was five of them, if anyone's

Claire Markwick: 00:08:15

face one.

Claire Markwick: 00:08:18

Sonya Maree Kok: And it was like, I went into my tent, and I'm just crying. And for five days, I felt like that caterpillar, you know, going in, and I was reading these books, and I'm crying, the nights and days of passing. And I'm like, I remember it must have been about the fourth day, I physically remember coming out of that tent. And I just felt like a new woman. And I call myself rainbow heavy blossom. I was like, I started wearing colors. And I was bare feet. And I was spiritual. And like, you know, it was just this amazing transformation. And I remember the beach and going nudie swimming and dolphins. And I'm just like, yes. So people thought I needed to go, but I was, I was on a high on life. Like, I just had this beautiful awakening. Anyway, I also, it was a time that I needed to be there for my girls, because one of my girls started self harming. And I wanted to be home with her and she actually was on suicide watch. And they were going to put her in hospital and I said, No, I'm gonna give up my teaching. I'm going to be home with my daughter, and I'm going to support her the best way that I possibly can. So at that time, I was looking for other ways to do work. And, you know, I had my photography and I did my coaching and we did fly in fly out and I just, yeah, it was like there was something missing. It was like, I was on this entrepreneurial journey, but I didn't totally have the freedom I didn't totally have the money, or I didn't totally have like the community that I was after. So I just knew I hadn't quite found it yet. And, you know, a lot of years sort of passed between there and where I am now, because my journey with Enagic sort of started two years ago. And during the pandemic, I feel like for a lot of people, and we'd had a business then like a retreat center, which we absolutely loved. And I thought I was going to die there. And that was just going to be a big thing. Yeah. And I feel like that has been a big lesson. Like, I'm a bit

Claire Markwick: 00:10:40

of a universe girl, a bit of a God, girl. And I felt like, what are you doing God, like, this is the plan, this is where I'm at. And I feel like sometimes we can be so focused on what we think the plan is, but we don't see what the bigger picture is. So something that my husband has always wanted to do is to travel around Australia. And we've done it in stints between holidays and words. But his dream was always to travel around with no end date. But we were never in a position to do that. Because we've either had mortgages or the kids,

Claire Markwick: 00:11:22

or work commitments, or

Claire Markwick: 00:11:26

Sonya Maree Kok: working or now wasn't the right time. And, you know, we'd had parents that had traveled and then they couldn't because of their health failing. And you know, we'd be on holidays, and people would have those holiday blues where they just done a stint. And then they had to go back to work. And I thought, yeah, I've been there. I don't want to do that I really don't want. So it was like, how do we have our cake and eat it too clear? Why are taken eat it too. And so we've had a few not so good financial things, like we've lost our money and super and we've lost 1000s of dollars in crypto when we bought some toys and lost money on those. And we we had to sell the house and start all over again. And you know, I'm 56 and I'm thinking, why haven't I got my shit together? Yeah,

Claire Markwick: 00:12:21

like, come on, like you haven't? Enough? Haven't you sent me enough sheet? Haven't I done? What happened? I don't my time Come on.

Claire Markwick: 00:12:32

Sonya Maree Kok: Which is, when I really reflected, I thought I can see some patterns happening here. And as you know, when am I going to be totally aware that this is a pattern and I need to look at this pattern though. Is this pattern really serving me? Or do I need to change the story? Or do I need to become a different version in order to do the things that I really love and desire? So it was like, I had also grown up with people sort of saying, oh, gosh, what's on you doing now? I just done the she's done there. I was like, we just can't keep up with you. What are you doing now? So I used to make that mean? Not such a nice thing, where now it's like, yeah, what am I doing now? It's frickin awesome and exciting. Like I'm green and growing. And I'm gone with the times and things like that. But it took me a little while to own that because I used to see it as a as a negative thing. And it's from

Claire Markwick: 00:13:35

one thing to the next can't quite make your mind. Midlife crisis. Yeah, it all resonate with your story so much different, yet the same story we tell ourselves the same bullshit in our head. Yeah.

Claire Markwick: 00:13:49

Sonya Maree Kok: And I feel like people are watching on the sidelines, like he got to stick with this versus this other phase or is this another thing? And I was just talking to you earlier about, you know, I'm having a bit of internet issues at the moment.

Claire Markwick: 00:14:05

And Facebook.

Claire Markwick: 00:14:08

Sonya Maree Kok: I'm a bit of a tech savvy girl and I love tech. But I feel like the difference for me is that when shit hits the fan, I see like chocolate sprinkles now and I Okay, what am I going to do, but I still it does fluster me at times. And I was saying to Renee in bed last night, it was like, Ah, I'm over this, like, I'm really over this. This is really, really hard. And he goes, Well, you can't be over this without a plan. We don't have a B plan. This is our a plan. And I said, Yeah, I know. But just let me feel it for at least 10 minutes because I'm actually over it right now. And it's interesting that I say that because when I really truly look and really think about all the jobs I've had I've been in corporate I've been, you know, like, I've had my own business, I've done coaching, I've, I've done a little bit of network marketing, you know, I've done a lot of things over my life. And when I really look at business models, and I think history really, really is a good business model. And know that it's going to give me what I want, I know that it's going to take, you know, anywhere from one to five years to really get that legacy income. So I'm definitely in it for the long, but it's been a learning curve, and some days are hard. And anyone watching thinking, oh my god, she's not really selling the business. I just want you to know that we get to choose our heart. And even though some days are hard, I have had the most Grace and I am living my fully expressed yes life while I'm doing the heart. Now I've done the hard before and not living my fully expressed Yes, life. It was like you do the hard now and maybe in 510 1520 years, you can live your fully yes Express live. But I get to do my hard alongside living my fully Yes, express live. And so that is huge. That is a huge game changer for me. Also, because we've lost all our super, it's gone. We just got an email a week ago to say that bye bye, it's gone. Oh, my goodness, it was like, I

Claire Markwick: 00:16:37

could have been really distraught about it. But I'm actually not because it's okay, I can make that again. Because I've got a plan and I've got a business model that's going to help me replace that the more that I

Claire Markwick: 00:16:51

love, I'm sorry to interject for some it just popped in my head and like I feel I just, I have to share, because what you've just said, then I have always been one of those people where if something happens and shit has happened to me in my 43 years, you know, like, a lot of shit has happened. And in the moment, like I might have my 10 minutes, our two days week, whatever of sulking and sitting in it and doing whatever. But then I'm like, alright, alright, let's get on with it. And let's get on with it. And for a very long time, I almost ridiculed myself for that. I did not see that as a positive, because I was like, clear, when are you going to take life seriously, when are you going to realize that, you know, you can't just shrug it off, dust yourself off and go off in another direction. That's not, that's not what grownups do. Like, you've got to settle down at some point, you've got to accept, you know, and I would tell myself this story, that it wasn't okay to just dust myself off and, and move forward with something else. And I think the reason I did that was because I had that mindset that I'll find a way. But I didn't have a way I just had this trust that I find it. And now since I found Enagic and come into this business exactly like you. I'm like, well, there's my way. Like, there's my way, it's not a freaking get rich quick as it is not sign up and Dang, you're earning like 10,000 or $20,000 a month, like in your first 90 days. Possible. People have done it, but let's be real. It's not your everyday person that's gonna do that is it but it's, it's there. It's proven. It's, you stick at it. It's going to come and I just I love what you just said then like, you could be feeling really down and oh my god, life is over. What are we going to do our supers gone? But you're like, No, that's all right. I've got a solution. I'm feeling a bit low right now. Don't worry, we'll get through this. I'll pop out the other side. And it's

Claire Markwick: 00:18:58

okay. Thank you.

Claire Markwick: 00:19:03

Sonya Maree Kok: Thank you. No, that's cool. It's the same with the crypto like, don't get me wrong. I invested I think it was like 30 grand or something. And it was our hard earned money. Yeah, it was our nest egg. And when we found out just probably a month ago that there's no way we're going to get that back either. I'm like, here for real like, oh, yeah, cool, you know,

Claire Markwick: 00:19:26

one of those emails.

Claire Markwick: 00:19:30

Sonya Maree Kok: And then that was like, We upgraded our car for the caravan because the car that we had just wasn't quite, you know, cutting the mustard. And so we had sell the car really quickly. And like we'd only had it for 12 months. And we literally lost 10 grand on it. And I'm saying to Rene, I said like we've lost 10 grand here. We've lost all our super, we've lost, you know, and you hear people say oh no you need to invest your money in Super or invest your money here or invest your money there or doing affiliate marketing? It's too risky. I'm thinking, Oh my God, I've got a whole handful of examples that show you that there's no guarantees, absolutely no guarantees. And I was saying to Rene, as well, we have the amazing conversations with sort of traveling all the time. And it's like, do you know even like, because we're within magic, and with our K eight that we have in the caravan, we replace everything. So we've not bought shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid sanitizer, cleaning products, anything for two years. And I'm a bit of a environmental girl like reducing single use plastic. So I'm like, can you imagine how much impact just we are making just because of not doing that, and I even added it up, you'll be proud of me clear, because I know that you're into numbers. I actually added a job. So we're saving probably about, I don't know, $150 a month, because we're not buying all these other products that we used to buy. And I mean, over a year, like you're looking at probably $1,800. And I'm thinking about, you know, so even if you didn't make this a business, like within three years, you've pretty much paid for. Yeah, and if you do turn it into a business that's like, and I was thinking, it just makes so much sense. Like why Why am I not talking about this more? Caring about this? Why

Claire Markwick: 00:21:45

No, right? I was literally telling my mom last night on the phone, like my, our eldest son in his body is just very, very sensitive to anything nasty. So colors, preservatives, sends him off, you know, artificial chemical smells, air fresheners, deodorant, shampoo, all that kind of stuff. Since him off his body just does not like it. And so now he's getting a teenager and you know, the the teenage skin. And and I was just saying to my mom, I love the fact that I can create a natural, it's water, like product for him the 11.5 the high pH water, high alkaline water that he can use on his face, and it's absorbs all that oil. And you know, his skin is so much clearer and he I don't have to be paying 1015 bucks a bottle of chemical shifts. So I'm saving, I'm saving money there, I'm saving his body from having to deal with the toxins in that product that his body can't deal with. And yeah, and the plastics of the bottle as well. I'm like, How good is that? It's worth it just for that.

Claire Markwick: 00:22:57

Sonya Maree Kok: Definitely. And I know because I went on a healing journey because I had, like, they call it fatty liver disease, but it's non alcoholic fatty liver disease. And it can be just not because of food, but also from toxins. So the fumes, you know, sprays oil, so I had to get rid of all that when we were sort of two years ago. Anyway, I basically healed my liver. And I have all the blood tests everything to prove my doctors like I don't know what you've been doing, but you need to keep doing it. And one of them was that we replaced all our, you know, got rid of all the plastics and everything and started using it. When I do do the 11.5 for the washing machine. I will put a little bit of eucalyptus oil in it because I don't know it's about the smell of smell. And when I am cleaning and sanitizing I have a little bit of I might use a little bit of essential oils like lavender or maybe some tea tree just for the smell. Yeah, psychologically. Yeah, I don't I just need that. But other than that, like I'm still saving heaps of money. It's good for the planet. Good for us. Even our fur baby dog like you know she's a water snob now. Oh my gosh, our dog

Claire Markwick: 00:24:20

is too he will literally like he has a big bucket of water that's just out of the tap and we have we're pretty lucky where we live like He has mountain spring water and he's like it out the back anyway, you know, we're not on town water. But he has he has a special goal of kangen water like next to the fridge in the house. And if that bowls empty, he will come up to it and he'll be like, and then a walk to the laundry where he knows okay he is and he will just sit there saying Come on. No one the good stuff. Wolfman, he's a big dog and he's always had achy joints, you know after a run and stuff like that. And Terry and I were talking just the other night. It's like, we were like Is it weird to say that our dog smiles more now he drinks, water. Oh, we really see so much happier and so much freer moving and like they go the freedom lifestyle can work with dogs.

Claire Markwick: 00:25:17

Sonya Maree Kok: I love it. That is so beautiful. I know, as I was saying before, you know that how I get to have the heart. And it's only have because it's new. And it's a skill and you know what it's like when you learn new skills. It's, I was saying to my friend, Karen, who I'm mentoring at the moment as well. I said, it's like, you know, you need to get here, and you're here. But it's all the little steps to get there sometimes. And yesterday, if you're into analogies, yesterday, we were climbing down a cliff to get to a beach. And I love beaches. And so I would walk over fire to get to the beach, you know. And so I broke my leg about five months ago. So I'm out of the moon boot, and I'm on the way back. Coming down the cliff, I had a little bit of a flashback, I feel like there was a bit of post traumatic stress, they're thinking about, Oh my gosh, I don't want to break my leg again. And you know, I started getting hot and clammy and sweaty and everything. And I was looking at the beach, and I could see the cliff. And my beach might be your first 10k Or your first 100k or, you know, going traveling or retiring your, your partner and bringing them home. So this analogy is that was my beach. And what I realized was, as soon as I focused on my forte, and looked at my immediate next step, all that anxiety, you know, sort of come down. And I feel like our entrepreneurial journey, anything in life that we want to go after, sometimes we're focusing on the beach, yeah, and we get to go, okay, the beach is over there, you know, the 100k is over, they all went anywhere, going anywhere, but you know, that's where you're heading. But sometimes I feel that if we focus on the beach, it can be really overwhelming. So for us legacy income might be really overwhelming, like, you know, one to five years, that's just too much. Yeah. But it's like, what is your first immediate step. And so I'm looking at my feet, and I'm looking at these rocks. And you know, I've got a

Claire Markwick: 00:27:33

dog on a lead, and I don't, it's just like, you could just imagine and you know, the some of the rocks are a bit loose and your your ankle twists, and like you want to jump to the next rock, but you don't know if it's going to be stable. And it was like that it was hard work. And I feel like that's what the entrepreneurial journey is about. But what happened was, as I was walking, before I knew it, I actually was on the beach. And in that moment that I actually had a good look around. And I actually saw a new path that was better than the path that I had walked down. But from the top looking down, we could not see that path. And you know, it just got me thinking like reflecting. And I know Mr. Ishiro talks about, just do don't think just do don't. Um, because as you do, the path will reveal itself, as long as you know where you're going. And then just focus on your immediate next step. So in this space, it might be, well, I don't know how to set up a Facebook group, you know, say that is your immediate next step, or I, I don't know how to do Rios, then that might be your immediate next step. You don't even look at anything else until you've overcome that immediate next step. And so that's something that I've been mentoring with my team. And also it was just such a good reminder for me to have that yesterday and see, sometimes we have to be on the journey. And course correct. Yeah, as new information becomes available to us. But that will never become available to us if we don't start the first step. And it was just so powerful for me. And I thought, that's a critical analogy. I hope I get an opportunity to share that

Claire Markwick: 00:29:31

guy. The whole world has the opportunity of hearing that now.

Claire Markwick: 00:29:39

Sonya Maree Kok: It wasn't I thought it was good. I thought, wow, that just really made me realize that sometimes we do get overwhelmed but it's because we only focused on the end result and we're not focusing on the tiny little steps that we need to take in order to get there. And if we put our energy in our flow cuz into those steps, we will be at the beach sooner.

Claire Markwick: 00:30:04

And what I absolutely love that you shared that because that's something that and you probably have as well, experience in people that we talk to, you know, people will want more messages. So like, Okay, tell me about this thing that you're doing affiliate marketing, how does it work? And,

Claire Markwick: 00:30:19

you know, we walk them through the process that is there laid out for us kind of be, and a lot of the time I get, I could do it. You know, I've tried things like this before and, and like you say, it's that focusing on that end goal again, isn't it? It's focusing on that beach. It's like, oh, my god like to, to have this as a successful business to get to that beach. It's so hard and, and it's going to be painful. And what if this and what if that and yada yada, but I love that just focus on the first step, what's the first step but let's, let's watch a video, let's find out some information. What's the next step? Let's do the discovery course and learn a bit more what's the next step let's have a conversation with someone was there an every single step is laid out, it's done. And there's like a whole community of people to support you to take that step as well isn't there to like, hold your hands and be there in case you fall back and hold that rock in place for you. But you don't know that if you just sat in the carpark walking down and go and God, I wish I could be on that beach.

Claire Markwick: 00:31:25

Sonya Maree Kok: I love that you said that too. Because it was like, okay, so I did that once to get to the beach once. And then I found an easier path. Now, if I did it twice, I'd probably find it an even better path. And then I did it three times, I'm gonna get quicker and better. And the beautiful thing is that when you bring people in, they don't have to start where you started, you get to share the quicker path. And that's what I love about Christie and Clinton, you know, our mentors, because like they've been before us. And so we get to fast track where they were. But we'll also have people that we get to fast track because of our experiences and what we've had. And you know, even though I'm having some really big issues with my internet, and Facebook and ads thing at the moment, I know, I'm like journaling, every step that I'm taking, I'm documenting the whole journey, because I know someone in my team is possibly going to experience what I'm experiencing, and I'm gonna have, you know, a fast track for them. And it is

Claire Markwick: 00:32:38

standing in the carpark and go, Hey, don't go that way, go down that way, down

Claire Markwick: 00:32:42

Sonya Maree Kok: that way Daphna definitely go down that way. So I feel why anyone wanting to be in this space, they definitely have to have a why they have to have a beach, they have to have a beach they want to visit. And they also have to be flexible and know that the path they choose may not be the best path. Even though it looks like the path that time, there may be a better path, and just being flexible in our mindset. And I think the biggest part for me as an educator was learning to be the student that my bright knows everything. I might like to think I don't know everything and I need to be a student. And I feel like when we get to be the student, it's like new possibilities come available for us. So I feel like if you really rigid and set in your ways and you're not willing to be a student you're not willing to trust yourself and trust in the people that have the results that you desire, then it's going to be even harder for you you know, it's going to be harder. Absolutely.

Claire Markwick: 00:34:01

I think having having Kai home homeschooling he is a kid who is so smart that if he can't get something straight away he'll I noticed he was getting particularly at school was getting into the mindset of like you said at the start I'm done I'm done can't do it like maths in particular can't can't do maths kind of thing. And I've had to we've had to teach him that you know you're not supposed to know it straight off the bat you know like you don't wake up go to school and expect to know maths be able to do maths. You go to school to learn maths or you home educator learn maths or whatever you choose to do. Like the process is learning and are supposed to know it from the get go and it's the same with this isn't it you don't any entrepreneur whether it be in the online space with Enagic who we partner with whether it be you go on buy a car Fe whether you go and start your own accounting business or plumbing business or what painting business or whatever it might be, like, you don't go into it knowing everything you might know bits and pieces, like if you're a painter, you know how to paint a wall. But do you know how to like, record your income and expenses? Do you know how to luxury best? Do you know how to, you know, the process for recruiting and apprentice? And of course you don't you don't know that at the beginning? You you learn that along the way. And I think I love that you shared that story there. Because like, that's another thing that can really, that can really be a block for people kind of say, well, I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to do ads, I don't know how to get out there on my social. I don't know how to do that. So no, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna be any good at that bullshit, isn't it, it's just another one of those stories that we tell ourselves to keep ourselves nice and family safe where we are.

Claire Markwick: 00:35:51

Sonya Maree Kok: I really love that you shared that. And the other thing that I really, really love is that, you know, often I hear people go, I just don't have time. And I go, actually go, now, I'm a bit of a directive person, a bit of a kick up the ass, we'd love that. It's like, you know, you get to use that as an excuse, or you get it to propel you into transformation, you know, it can keep you stagnant. So we get to choose how we say that. But the thing is, like, I say to my peeps, you know, like this three areas of this business, I feel like I feel like there's the education or the personal development, the mindset, but you can't say that's the business, that is something that we're on a journey anyway. And some of us, like yourself, have done coaching. And, you know, some of us have been on that journey for a while. So maybe we don't need to spend as much time in that area. But you can't count that as business because that is totally different. And then you've sort of got the other area where you've got the business. But as you would know, business is like having those conversations, you know, looking at your numbers, looking at marketing, looking at, you know, sales, but that is what business is. But if you're on a health journey as well, then you can't count that as part of your day for being business. So for me, I probably do spend at least an hour a day on business. But on education, I probably spend another hour or two on education, because that's what I choose, because that's what I value. And yes, it does help me with the business, you know, but I don't count that as the business and then you know, other areas, maybe I don't know how to do reels, I don't count that as business. That's me upskilling my skills. So when someone says to me, so how much due time do I need to spend on the business and I'll go, you'll need to spend at least an hour a day, you know, in pockets of your time. And it does depend whether you want to fast track or not.

Claire Markwick: 00:38:03

I do this full time now. When I first started, I was working three jobs, my husband was working three jobs. And we were doing it in pockets of our time. But after 12 months now I do it full time. And maybe I do spend six hours a day in the business because I'm 56 years old. Time is not an issue for me, I've got an abundance of time. So why would I not maximize that time to speed up my results? Absolutely. That doesn't mean you have to spend six hours on your business because you're in a different season to me, you know, so if your time poor, you'll start like I started and just stored in pockets of your time. And so I feel like that's a really big block for someone. And you know, like I was scrolling on social media anyway, I was binging on Netflix. I was there was so many times that I was wasting time anyway. We're now like I know there's a lot of educators at the moment of that you go into school holidays, and they've got like 12 weeks now mind you they need four weeks to recover from the year that you know

Claire Markwick: 00:39:13

next year

Claire Markwick: 00:39:15

Sonya Maree Kok: they're gonna do for the next eight weeks like dream of the next summer holidays and that was me. I just think Christmas is coming up. This is the best time to be learning anything like this. You get to take photos of your holidays and videos, get to read the books you know you get I think it's just the most perfect time to get into a mentor. And do this now because you've got the time now you make the time now and just imagine in 2020 for how different your years going to be because you've got you've got a plan. You've got a plan.

Claire Markwick: 00:39:57

This This was me it was this time last year it was that like we were just talking about it before we hit record that end of year blues that kind of, you know, you're starting to think about winding down and for me last year that was really freaking depressing because it's like, oh my god, like, what then what am I going to wind back up to like the same old shit, you know that not getting me where we want, you know, we want we want our house by the beach, you know and what we were doing was allowing us to live life like we it's not like we were destitute we were living a fun life, but it wasn't getting us where we wanted. It wasn't getting us that extra to help us move to where to what we wanted to be doing. And it was this time of year Exactly. Like you've just said, I was like, Alright, show me the goddamn mask. But show me that webinar. Just show me now kind of thing. And then I had that Christmas period, that quiet period, because I always, always was quiet during my coaching and training business over this holidays because the boys were home. So I never really booked stuff in. And that was the time that I had to then, like fully research fully, like, get into the platform that we use our education platform and binge watch and just absorb and then so come sort of ended January, February, I was like, dang, I am good to go. Let's get this rolling rather than doing all that in January, February. And then before you know it, it's frickin Easter and like quarter the years gone already, you know, it's like do it now. Like, the time to absorb and love it.

Claire Markwick: 00:41:31

Sonya Maree Kok: I feel like this is something important too, because we put in place a date that we would put Rene's noticed in his work. And we put a date in for January was the end of December 2022. And Renee was really nervous because he was like, what if your business isn't replacing my income that I can't leave work like until that and I said, we're leaving, right? Regardless, you know, I'm gonna work my butt off and work really hard, like, doing something that's going to help us do that. And, you know, come the day, and I hadn't replaced his income, but we followed through with it. And so we've been traveling full time over what 30 months now. And we've been our needs have been taken care of. I've had money coming in while I'm sleeping. You know, there's been times it hasn't come in quicker. But then there's been other times that it has. I've traveled to Vegas, I've been to Bali. I've you know, I've had more travel, more experiences, more joy, more quality time with my husband in this last 12 months than I have. We've been married for 33 years. And it was it's been the most exciting year yet. Have we reached our income goals yet? No. Are we having a frickin amazing time? Yes. Yeah, yes. But are we having fun along the way? Hell yes. And Renee is not working three jobs. And he's living his dream. His dream was to travel. And, you know, sometimes we think it's about the money. But, you know, money is good. And it allows us to amplify what we're doing. But why we're working towards that. We still can be living our fully expressed Yes, life. And I feel this business model allows us to do that. And yes, I feel really good about getting back to Facebook. Now.

Claire Markwick: 00:43:39

This is conversation and talking it all through and giving you the energy to get back on Facebook and be like, Come on, we can do this.

Claire Markwick: 00:43:49

Sonya Maree Kok: I just love that we get to be real, we get to be totally transparent in like you said we as a sisterhood as a Brotherhood as a community. Regardless if we're linked financially or anything, like I just love the like the culture, the culture of Enagic and the freedom era, and even our dream team as well. So yeah, it's as a teacher, I love teaching and I get to transfer all those skills and mentor as well. I get to do all my photos got to take beautiful photos of you and have fun in Surfers Paradise at our beach and so yeah, honestly I'm starting to feel like you know one of those preachers that's preaching you know, knocking on peoples door you have to join us we're amazing that's how exciting it

Claire Markwick: 00:44:47

is, isn't it? Like I know there's people in my in my world that have that have kind of closed the door and got okay you know, she's gone off doing one of these scam scheme things, yada Yatta and, you know, I'm just like, whatever, okay, you do that you go off and think that I'll continue on, you know, and I just, I love the community. I love that, like you say, the vibe I love, the thing I absolutely love the most is the belief now within myself that everything we could possibly dream of is possible. Like we've got a way of making it happen. It might not be your way that we can make it happen next week. But we've got a mechanism to make it happen. And if we just keep taking that one's one step, I'm doing little steps on the desk, and really taking one step in front of the other and just keep moving. We know that pathway is going to open up, like we know, we're going to see the way and that having this, having this behind me has given me that conviction. And I know there'll be people out there that say, Well, you should have been able to find it within yourself. And fair enough, maybe. But this has been the tool that has given me that conviction that has given me that confidence, and I see it in you as well. And we we see it in all of us in our community, this, this gives us the conviction that the faith, the belief, the knowing that we're going to make everything happen.

Claire Markwick: 00:46:19

Sonya Maree Kok: Yeah, definitely. And like just speaking to the coach space, like I did training for four years in the coaching space. And it was a full on, it was full on. And I loved it. But I was burnt out, I did not have systems in place or duplications or anything, I felt like I was a one woman show. And I still get to coach in this space. Because we have a lot of mindsets. So now the coaching isn't so much about putting bread and butter on my table or a roof over my head or buy me that house, the coaching comes as a result. Because this business requires you to be able to, you know, share your journey, and be there for people and hold space for them. And you know, when they don't have belief in themselves to help breathe belief into them, which is that and what mentorship is all about. And it's like, oh my gosh, and I love photography. And I get to take photos and videos and I love going on retreats, oh my gosh, I get to go on. After run them now I get to be a participant in them. And I was feeling really lonely. My kids had left home, I didn't want to be that full time nanny that's just like, totally voted for the grandchildren because I had this entrepreneurial Fire Spirit within my soul as well. And I wanted that I felt like it was my time now as well. And so I do now get to have my cake and eat it now. And Enagic is like my umbrella. And then my I have my freedom, lifestyle vision, my beach, we all get to have our beach. And I get to build this beautiful personal brand, sharing what's on my heart and my truth and taking people on the journey. So I don't lead with the products. But I talk about them, but I don't lead with them. And I don't really lead with the business. But I do lead with a freedom lifestyle. And this is what I love about this business model is that you get to choose whether you want to create a product brand or a business brand or a personal brand. Like we get to support you wherever you're at, you know, we

Claire Markwick: 00:48:47

have the autonomy and the flexibility to even try a brand. And if it doesn't work out, then trust something else. Try something else. Because at the end of the day, like you know, we all sell energy, but people buy us. And yeah, we all resonate with different people. So if you're not out sharing your story where people can relate to you, then you know that that's what helps us stand out. That's how we use attraction marketing. And I really love that. So I feel like this business is like ticking all my highest values, the environmental to the, you know, like the the ethical tip, you know, all those sorts of things. So yeah, I could talk for hours quite

Claire Markwick: 00:49:36

a bit. I want to just how you bought that back to how you bought that back to you know where you started, and you did the nice circle there. I think that was just the perfect place to leave it because I'm the same I could keep talking, which is why I started a podcast so I can talk to different people about it every week. Thank you so so much. I'm going to share if It's alright with you or your contact details in the show notes of this episode. So wherever you're listening to this from, you can click into the notes section and you can follow along on this journey on Facebook or Instagram, which semi she gets the Facebook working again.

Claire Markwick: 00:50:18

Sonya Maree Kok: So anyone can do

Claire Markwick: 00:50:20

so lately. Absolutely. And if you have loved loved this conversation, I am sure Sonya will be happy to connect with you as well and and share some more. She has some more insights on her journey. So follow along on her socials, follow along on mine there in the show notes as well. And certainly I am going to wish you a wonderful afternoon. Thank you so much.

Claire Markwick: 00:50:45

Sonya Maree Kok: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Claire Markwick: 00:50:48

I swear to goodness, I do have the best job in the world. I've said that before. But I love having these conversations with people who are really lit up because they've reached that line in the sand moment. And not only have they reached it, but they've acknowledged that this isn't what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life. And I don't even think we got to this part in Sanya story. But you know, imagine being measured having the values of like freedom and fun and adventure and being a teacher in COVID times if you are an educator, if you are working in that space, over the COVID times, it was friggin stressful, I cannot begin to imagine I know it was stressful enough for me as a mum as a new person getting into the home education space as a trainer and facilitator you know, my world was flipped upside down and and I think it was a it was a time that all of us were given the opportunity to question Okay, is what I've been doing up to this point what I want to continue doing and it was a while it was a massive big thing for a lot of us it was a amazing opportunity and amazing stimulus and amazing trigger to consider the fact that there might be other ways of doing things and I absolutely love that I will continue to sing from the rooftops about Enagic as a direct sales business. The the high ticket commissions that come with a higher ticket product are what has really sold it for me, you know, my accountant brain just could not see past the return on investment could not see past the compensation plan. And whilst you know, it's not easy, like we it is easy, but it's not easy. You know, it's very simple and as much as everything is laid out for us. But like Sonia said, like we when we step up in the entrepreneurial space, when we say hey, you know what, I'm not going to settle I'm going to push myself, I'm going to be the creator of my dreams, it will bring shit up and we are going to face have to face demons that we've been able

Claire Markwick: 00:53:04

to push down and we're going to have tech issues and we're going to have to learn new skills and we're going to have to stretch ourselves but we know that when we do that we're becoming the next version of ourselves and the more I elevate and the more Sonya elevates and the more everyone I speak to in this community the more we elevate the more we are open to receive and that is what I absolutely love about this space. Okay, I am going to stop talking and sign off and go and enjoy my anniversary dinner. If anything in this conversation has resonated with you and you want to learn more about what we do what how we do it and what exactly is involved then shoot me a DM or click on the message me button in the show notes of this episode. And I will send you through a masterclass that will start to open the door to the possibilities of what this business could look like for you. So just message me masterclass Sonya and I will send that through to you. And if there's someone in your network that you think needs to hear it then please share share the love and let's spread this fierce woman rising message to all those who need to hear it. Thank you so much for lending me your ears. I am as always incredibly grateful and I will be back in your ears next week. Until then, bye bye