Molly Henderson
Summary
- Introduction to this episode.
- Introduction to Molly Henderson, co-founder of SoundOnYoga.
- Rapid fire questions and answers.
- Favourite thing about freelancing is the freedom to create.
- Cool feature to add to her dream house.
- Not owning a house
- Moving away from the sunshine and golden beaches of Australia.
- How did you decide to start a business in belgium?
- Moving from Bali to Belgium.
- How she decided to start a business here.
- Challenges of doing yoga outside in Belgium.
- A typical session at Sound on Yoga.
- Yoga on the beach with headphones.
- Yoga on the beach in Belgium.
- Most magical events
- A midnight corporate event with 60 night workers.
- The unique selling point of sound on yoga.
- The unique selling point of Sound on yoga.
- Yoga is more than just poses.
- The importance of having a mindset of abundance.
- The concept of zero-sum game.
- A mindset of abundance.
- Step one, face how you feel instead of guilting yourself.
- Step two, ask yourself this question.
- The biggest challenge of being an entrepreneur.
- Being gentle with yourself and treating people gently.
- The biggest challenge
- Next year plans
- DJ course.
- What’s your recipe for success?
- Partnering up with life partner and business partner.
- Work-life balance is difficult.
- The one rule they have for their relationship.
- Conflict management.
- How to deal with conflict in the workplace.
- Being gentle with each other and taking breaks in conflict.
- Awareness and taking a timeout.
- Respect, kindness and compassion are important.
- The one myth about yoga practice.
- Last but not least
- Lead a class live as a DJ and have someone else teach it.
- Invite three people to dinner.
- Connect with Molly on social media.
SPEAKERS
Qing, Molly
Qing
Before Freelance Forward was established, there hasn’t been much support for solopreneurs from around the world, but based in Belgium, especially in English, so in this episode, I’m sitting down with Molly Henderson, an Australian native and an expat freelancer to find out how she sets up and runs her business. Molly is the co-founder of Sound on Yoga. She used to be a professional dancer and performing artist and her years of experience teaching yoga spread over Australia, Indonesia and Costa Rica. Molly and I met at a pop-up summer bar when she was giving a group of yogis and outdoor vinyasa flow experience, wearing noise-cancelling headphones, and listening to the music sets curated by herself to inspire and uplift. So yeah, she’s sitting right in front of me right now. Welcome to this show.
Molly
Oh, my gosh, thank you. So that was a beautiful introduction. Thanks. I’m touched. It’s like, so nice to be here with you. And just, I remember after class, you came and asked me to do the podcast, I was like, ah, that’s like a dream for me. Absolutely. So yeah, I’m happy to be here and happy to share my thoughts with you. My, my mind with you.
Qing
Let’s kick off with three rapid-fire questions. What’s your favourite thing about freelancing?
Molly
My favourite thing about freelancing is the freedom that it allows to create and that it is just this infinite ability that you have to go in the direction that your soul and you… you’re being wants to go in. And you have this freedom, so it’s definitely freedom.
Qing
Right? If you were a wrestler, that would be what would be your entrance theme song? A wrestler, a wrestler?
Molly
Entrance theme song? That is a good question. Oh my gosh, I need my Spotify playlist. Where is it right now? I would probably say, I can’t say a song for sure. But it’s probably gonna be like a Cardi B song hip hop rap. She’s American. She is like, just so big and extravagant. And I just love her vibe. She just takes up space. And her lyrics are pretty like, what’s the word? Her lyrics really push boundaries? in certain directions. But I love her energy. And I feel like when you listen to her music, it’s like, you’re just like getting ready. I wouldn’t put it in my yoga class. For sure. But it’s a different vibe. Yeah, that’s it. Yeah, there
Qing
sounds like it sounds like she’s a good performing artist.
Molly
Oh, totally. Yeah, that’s great. You’ll have to listen to her after this podcast after we record it.
Qing
I’m sure because I’m not really following what’, … what’s Yeah, what’s hot nowadays? Yeah. What was the hit list? And yeah, I’m very more like a Frank Sinatra kind of girl.
Molly
Beautiful, also beautiful. I love that.
Qing
Next question, name, one cool feature you would add to your dream house or
Molly
one cool feature. And like, this is probably expected I would add a really cool, small personal space that I can wake up to, and just roll out my mat. And it’s like a meditation station.
Qing
And I really like a capsule, capsule kind of space.
Molly
I mean, it’s kind of like this space that you have up here. It’s beautiful. It’s got plants. It’s like cosy because of the gezellig is that the word in Dutch? and just like cosy. Yeah, like that’s my cool feature. Nothing too crazy.
Qing
Talking about houses. I know that you and your partner intentionally decide on not owning a house. We do. Yes. And you are house-sitting somewhere in Drongen, right? Yeah. And Tolman. Yeah, right. Yeah, that’s it. How do you feel about that decision and why? I mean, why this kind of like nomad lifestyle style?
Molly
Yeah, that’s it. Um, first of all, I mean, I talked about freedom. You know, I like the word freedom. And I love that about being a freelancer because my family are from Australia, and his from Belgium, we love the freedom of being able to travel. So when we go to Australia once a year and visit my family, then you know, because we’re house sitting, we don’t have that kind of mortgage that’s tricky to travel and visit my family because we have to pay the mortgage. It’s kind of a financial thing, but it really allows us that financial freedom to move in which direction that we want and just go with the flow a bit. Yeah, it’s a little bit different. And I know some people listening will be like, that’s crazy. House sitting it’s not easy all the time. But I love the garden and I love have to have a beautiful garden and yeah I love to get into the garden and just yeah go with the flow.
Qing
you to have the lifestyle you want. Exactly how much time how many months do you spend in Belgium in Australia and in other countries probably in Bali? I know you like to go to Bali I do
Molly
ya well, Bali. I mean, of course pandemic is the exception. Bali we would love to go that’s where I originally met my partner, we will go to Bali for two or three weeks a year. And we will visit my family in Australia for sometimes like a lump visit, like quite a big chunk visit. So like a yummy six weeks or something like that. Yeah, so and then the rest of it. We’re here in Belgium, and I’m just going 110% on to Sound on Yoga. That’s how we roll.
Qing
You guys met in Bali. And what happened then yeah what made you make up your mind to to move away from from the sunshine from the golden beaches. Oh my gosh, the warmth, right? Australia. That’s everything that we crave for here. So what was really going through your mind when you made up that? Oh my gosh, and not only to to come here, but also to start eventually start a business here. Right?
Molly
One word, and it’s love. Makes you do crazy things, the craziest things and I think Oh, I get this question so often, like you’re from Australia, what are you doing in Belgium? And yeah, like I met him in Bali. And it was just such a beautiful person. And so open. So excited. And we both love to surf. So we had that interest in common. And I didn’t know we’re here, you know, we moved to Belgium. And he somehow convinced me because of this love is blind thing let’s go for it. He convinced me. But it wasn’t even that it was more like as an Australian. I need to say this. And if anyone’s listening who’s from Belgium, or otherwise
Qing
or his bargaining chips to get you
Molly
a chance? Yeah, yeah. But I don’t even think I needed that much convincing
Qing
It is profound enough for found. Yeah. And
Molly
all I just, you know, he was so beautiful. And we moved so quickly. Because for me, as an Australian, we love Europe, like, we think wow, Belgium, you can get on a train, and then you’re in France, like that’s like a lifetime. We only do that once or twice in our life as an Australian. So for us, if you’re listening, you need to realise like for Australians, we love to travel Europe.
Qing
So understand. And also if you’re an Australian, you’re kind of far away from absolutely everywhere.
Molly
You’re isolated. It’s quite Yeah, but quite isolated. I mean, it’s beautiful weather. And the weather here in Belgium is right now it’s quite cold. But it does make you appreciate the summer even more. So. That’s true. Yeah, I’m keeping it positive.
Qing
That’s true. And how did you decide to start a business here?
Molly
A mixture of things. As you mentioned, I started you know, I met Tom in Bali, and I was teaching in Bali. I also taught in Costa Rica. And I’ve only ever taught outside, actually, I’ve only ever led a yoga practice with people outside in nature. And so for me, it was almost like a natural progression to go from, you know, these beautiful areas to I’m in Belgium, and I said, Well, am I going to teach yoga here? What am I going to do, like? So I want to teach outside. And it was just a natural progression of finding this path. And also so it was this kind of natural progression mixed with this total support of, of my partner. And he just his blind confidence and support was just like, that’s what I was saying. The other day when we had lunch together. Qing, it was like, this, like total support almost like blew me away. And he said you can do this. You can do it. Like, I love your teaching. I love being outside. It’s such a beautiful vibe. Like just go for it. And yeah, I guess I just
Qing
Yeah, it’s interesting because, like, I am quite sceptical or careful or cautious. Because the first thing that would pop up in my mind would be if you want to do yoga here outdoor, half of the time or 80% of the time. The weather is shit. So…
Molly
yeah, it’s not easy has definitely been talked to you about that. Yeah, he did. He did. Yeah, I actually arrived in the beginning of winter. So from the beginning, it was yeah, it was it’s not it. But we’ll get to that. I’ll definitely explain some we’ve had some challenges. But yeah, it’s not easy. And as you know, if you live in Belgium and you’re listening as well, like you have about five months of a year that we can practice outside so the rest is just winter. Yeah, that’s it. The rest is winter. Yeah. Yeah,
Qing
Tell us, how does the typical session at Sound of Yoga look like it?
Molly
On the outside it looks a certain way. But I would love to explain how it feels. So for me, yoga is all about how it feels. I don’t know you, you’ll turn up. I mean, you’ve been to a class two things. So you kind of understand that was a park class that we have in Ghent every Saturday. But let’s talk about the beach, because you’re not sure of that. So you come to the beach, it’s a beautiful sunny day, it’s the morning, you just stroll up and you just like, get there, and you meet me and I’ll check you in. We’ll just put some headphones on. And I always like to have a really beautiful morning song, whether that’s Xavier Rudd, Follow the Sun, that’s my favourite one. And yeah, just just to allow everyone some time to disground first. So when we start, oh, you know, change the playlist will begin and will just start just sitting like we’re doing now sitting on the earth, on the ground and just being present with what is with us. So being present with a beautiful sea in front of us being present with how our bodies are feeling. So taking like 10-15 minutes to just like ground and be with ourselves and check-in, then we, you know, move our bodies, maybe we sweat a little bit. So really active flow and just kind of breaking away all of this stagnant feeling that we have in our body when we’re sitting on a computer working all week, and just allowing ourselves to really move and sometimes groove a little bit. So we dance a little bit or get a little bit a little bit strange out of our comfort zone, expanding our comfort zone through movement. And then we end just like falling into after a bit of stretching, we end with just falling into just a blissed out meditation and like there’s nothing and when you’re on the beach, I mean, it’s sunny. It’s just like, such a beautiful feeling. And I love to, to guide people through this because it’s this feeling of people finish feeling even if you’re not into yoga and you’re not flexible. You finish feeling like I can do this. Yeah it’s just a beautiful feeling of connection with each other. But you’re also moving in your own little cocoon with your headphones.
Qing
Yeah, I do have a question. Go for it. Because I’m wondering, so doing yoga on the beach. I still have to try that. By the way. I’m gonna hold you to thatt. So you have the noise-cancelling headsets on. So actually, do you hear the music? Or do you also hear the waves?
Molly
Waves? Yeah, that is a great question. I love the sound of the waves myself because I’m a surfer and and a lot of people do. That’s why they come to Belgium. The sound of the waves of the sea is aren’t too loud. Sometimes it’s not always surf weather in Belgium. But I like to use certain music that really allows this kind of, especially at the beginning softer music that allows the sound of the sea also come through into your headphones. Yeah, I’m really particular with the music I use. So yeah, and incorporating sometimes they even have wave or whale noises in sound in the music in the playlist. So it’s always I always love to kind of bring it back to the sea.
Qing
That’s that’s a good strategy. It’s like immerse yourself in the surrounding that you’re in. blended with music.
Molly
Blend it in. Yeah. And just like I love music, and I think music is so healing and nature is so healing and you know, every time I go to the beach, I think I mean, the beach is my favourite place to practice. Don’t tell anyone if you’re listening, don’t tell anyone I said this, but I love the beach. And I think whatever mood that you’re in, if you’ve had a really hard week or, or whatever, you’re going through a tough time. Every time you go to the beach or in nature, and you’ll listen to good music, it’s always going to finish by feeling better and feeling. That’s the goal. That’s what I’m about. So
Qing
So you’ve been teaching on the beach. You’ve been teaching in the nature, probably some indoor locations as well, right? Yeah. So tell me about the most magical event that you’ve ever organised at Sound of Yoga, indoors or everything. Yeah, the indoor ones are also cosy, and maybe you can give me one indoor and one outdoor because it’s hard to compare them.
Molly
That’s absolutely that’s totally different vibe. Yeah, I’m all about the vibe. Indoor. We did a midnight corporate event. Okay, for night workers. Yeah, yeah, we were like midnight. That’s crazy. That was really interesting, because everyone was night workers. So they had a lot of energy. And that was really fun. There was 60 of us. It was almost like a party group. A big group. Yeah, we had I have like a video that I made on the end. And it’s such a big group and it was with these like glow in the dark bracelets and was almost like a little rave, like a rave for people who don’t like to take drugs. You know, like just one I feel this hive meta music and, and that was really groovy because I was sceptical that these people they look sceptical but they did it and I loved it.
And outdoor wine was definitely hot. I mean the beach, it’s hard to decide because the beach is so beautiful. And there’s been days where it’s just been like, wow, this feeling of connection. And afterwards like people and even during people are so happy. But I loved an outdoor festival last year. That was so beautiful because it was a vibe of music lovers. We did every morning at the green camping. And people were tired, some people hadn’t even slept, they hadn’t had any sleep. And they turned up the class every day. And I was blown away that and I think as a freelancer, like when you create something yourself or when you go for something on your own, you know, and you do it that’s also this feeling of like, Wow, I did this. This is so freakin cool. And people like when I’m serving on what I’m giving. And like, not only that, but I get to meet really cool freaking people whilst I’m doing it. And that week was dope, because yeah, we just met such, such a cool vibe of people. And yeah, that was for sure. One of the best outdoor weeks we had.
Qing
Well, this the surrounding like, I mean,
Molly
that’s a good idea. We’ll paint a picture. So it was at the camp, camping area, green camping, so everyone was camping. Then there was also a cafe behind us like a really cool bar, where they were people were walking around us there were hammocks, people were people were relaxing, it’s the green camping. So they were they were relaxing, having a good time getting in a good vibe before class. So it was like this cool vibe of people waking up at the festival, walking around seeing these headphones that we were setting up and asking like, what is this? And it was a very warm summer when a beautiful summer as you know, Qing last summer was so warm. And we had you know, a little cover over us. So we weren’t too hot. But it was just like this really warm practice and like physically warm, but also like, like mentally it was like felt really warm.
Qing
And also I think it’s very important in that kind of environment. I mean, during a music festival show kind of use the noise cancelling headset to create your own bubble in the middle of I don’t know, madness, chaos.
Molly
Totally. Oh my gosh, you’re like, you know this concept? I? Yeah, that’s it. And I think people are waking up. Some people are noisy. Maybe there’s even sometimes there was even music going at the beginning. But as soon as they put their headphones on, I just had like every day we had 55 People just fully immersed in this zone fully focused. So they couldn’t hear the past people walking by or saying like, what are they doing? Or like, oh, the yoga blah, blah, blah. They didn’t hear that. So that was really cool because it fully blocks out the noise as well.
Qing
Correct me if I’m wrong, Molly, it seems that there’s a lot of competition in your field of teaching yoga. Because if I google Yoga Studio in Ghent, there will be some 2020 results popping up so many. Yeah. So what makes you stand out among all the yoga teachers? What do you think is the unique selling point? Yeah, for Sound on Yoga?
Molly
That’s fine. It’s a nice question. I’m not always very good at selling myself. But I definitely think everyone does yoga for a different reason. I think we talked about this at lunch together the other day, it was so nice. Such a good lunch, by the way. We, we talk about it, and we say like, Okay, I want to start yoga, because maybe you want to start yoga, because you are on a lot of pressure at work and you feel like you’re burning out and you just need to find something to deeply relax you. Or maybe you’re feeling really stiff in your body and you want to start yoga because you want to get more flexible. Or maybe you want to start yoga, because you want to meet people, right? That’s kind of where I’m coming in. And from my perspective, there are so many different teachers and I think everyone’s suited to a different vibe or, you know, everyone’s got their unique selling points or the unique magic that they bring to their practice that they teach. For me. I think a lot of people come to my class and my outdoor classes with Sound on Yoga because they want to connect. So not necessarily like connecting with each other. But yeah, like first of all, connecting with everything around them. So what I’m really quite good at or not good at but experienced at that is bringing in there qualities of nature into our yoga practice. So we take yoga out of the studio and into nature, because we want we want To feel like there’s more than just the poses, yoga is so much more grand and more beautiful than just being about the asana, the poses. And that’s where when I’m teaching, we incorporate the elements of nature. So we incorporate the beautiful sand that we feel, you know, we might say, Let’s feel the sand or we become more present with the trees around us. So we might be laying down in Shavasana. And we wake up and I say, Look at the beautiful trees, like what do you see? What do you feel? And so. Yoga, That should you know, yoga is a Sanskrit word, right? And it’s
Qing
What does it mean actually, Sanskrit?
Molly
Yoga means unity in English. Unity. So mind body breath connection, right. But also, I believe yoga, this unity can be so much more expansive. So we can create this, you know, connection between our body and nature. And my reminder, when I’m teaching and my intention, and my goal is to help you be reminded that you are also deeply connected to nature.
Qing
Can this unity also be interpreted as a sort of, like, harmony?
Molly
Yeah, totally. There’s lots of meanings to it. But harmony is a beautiful word as well, I think harmony and, and just oneness could be some people call it God universe, it could be, you know, it could be many things. Love, I always say is part of harmony, and you can never have too much love. And that’s what I love to teach. And I think that’s why people find these classes, and they come back to it. And we’d have this beautiful group of people of like-minded people
Qing
who yeah, that’s, that’s really important, too. Yeah. To have your loyal students that actually resonate with your studio and your concept. Total and its warm sense of community.
Molly
Yeah, that’s it. Because, yeah, community, that’s it. And, you know, like, you can practice on your own. And I often do, and you do as well, right. And I think that’s, that’s so important, because we don’t always have time to go out, you know, but, but in summer, bringing people out to do something outdoors and expand their comfort zones and practice in public and nature is like, such a vibe, and it creates this community, I see people making friends after class, you know, I see people talking to each other. And sometimes at the beginning, I’m even like, before we start, like, I want you to say hello to the person to your right to your left, give them a high five or you know, just something that brings people together and creates a connection. So they feel very welcome and invited into the class,
Qing
I can definitely validate that as one of your unique selling points. Oh, yeah. Because I feel you’re you’re very good at and also you pay a lot of attention to really listening to your students what they need, what they actually like, and enjoy or not, then you can you can tweak it, you can you can adjust it and you try it. You can just repeat
Molly
Yeah, yeah, we never stop learning. Right? Like anything. Like if you’re a freelancer, I think it’s the same thing. Right? You never stop reflecting. And,
Qing
and also your natural energy, just to be very, you know, warm-hearted.
Molly
I’ve received that so nicely. That’s so nice. Yeah,
Qing
I’m pretty sure he got a lot of similar feedback like this. Yeah, students, right?
Molly
Yeah, Ido. And I think it just, like, totally warms my heart, because that’s, that’s what I want. That’s my goal. Because after COVID, we were so isolated for so long. And I think we’ve I personally sometimes think, have I held on to this isolation feeling of, of not connecting more, and you know, we’re online a lot on our phones, but the real connection is human connection is energy. And like, I just love it. I love it so much. And I’m glad that people feel so like it’s served them something that’s, that’s great to hear. And also,
Qing
I think, in our competitive, especially the competitive Western culture, yeah. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this concept of zero-sum game. In other words, yeah, like life is limited with resources with the availability of resources. Yep. So basically, because resources are limited. If you gain then I lose, because the pie is just this big. Yeah. So if you take one big piece, there is not much left for me. Okay, what’s or how important do you think it is to have a mindset of abundance?
Molly
I think it’s super important. And it’s so nice, especially these days, like the algorithm is anyone on Instagram, the algorithm constantly tells you you’re not doing enough that you’re not gonna get enough work, that someone else is gonna get the jobs over you. It’s so natural and normal to feel that way. And I have something really interesting to share with that. So I feel this feeling. Tell me if I’m going off topic here Qing, but for me, like when we care so much about what we do or create, it’s really normal to feel triggered, and feel this. What’s the word like? Mindset lack mindset, scarcity, scarcity? Yeah, scarcity mindset. And I get that, like, I, I feel that often. And I think the most important thing is that we, instead of feeling guilty, or angry or frustrated, and go down that path is that we implement, especially as freelancers a really good practice to stop and flip that mindset. So I have Yeah, right. And so I have something I can share if if you want, if we have time. Yeah. So it might sound a little, like woowoo again, but I’m a yoga teacher. And this is like, if you’re listening to a yoga teacher, you got to expect this. And I’m really passionate about serving and helping others to feel that abundance mindset through my classes. And also, yeah, I have to remind myself this. So this helps me, it helps me to stay grounded when I’m feeling scarcity mindset. And hopefully, it might help you too. So I’m going to tell you, so here it is. So two step things. So
Qing
take some notes, time to
Molly
get your notepad out, get your at your phone, or whatever you’re doing. So take a moment. And maybe you can do this to Qing if you want. So step number one. So whatever you’re doing, whether that’s sitting here together, maybe that’s maybe you’re on your phone, maybe you’re driving right now, and you’re listening to this podcast. So I want you to take a moment. And just when you feel that arise in your body, I want you to Firstly, you need to face how you’re feeling, instead of guilting yourself getting angry, I want you to pause, and I want you to close your eyes, think close your eyes. And I want you to take a moment to just take a couple of really deep breaths. So just take a breath in through the nose. Maybe open the mouth and inside. Just keep breathing. And as you do that, take a moment to notice the feelings that are arising and just truly acknowledge whatever comes in without pushing those feelings away, or shaming yourself for them. Step number two, you’re going to ask yourself this question, am I going to let this feeling or these feelings feed my body with fear? Or am I going to let what I’m feeling fuel my body up with light? And I want you to get really intentional. So let that feeling fuel your body with motivation and let it be the fuel that inspires you. And really connects you even deeper to clarity on what it is that you want to keep creating. Yeah, and I want you to imagine yourself really feeling this energy in your body of just like flipping, completely switching this mindset of lack and mindset of scarcity and fear and really let it fill you up with positivity and intention and whatever that might be motivation to be inspired and let that person or that thing inspire you. So when we do this beautiful when we do this, alright, so babes when you do this, it’s like, first of all, you’re taking what is perceived as a negative intention. And you’re switching it up into making it a positive experience or negative experience to a positive experience or in woowoo terms. You take lower vibrational energy, and you’re literally lifting the energy to a higher vibration. So that in you that energy in you and the energy around you. And this is not easy. It is a practice just like yoga. It’s a practice. So the more clear and intentional we can stop our thoughts and flip that mindset, the easier it’s going to be and I think that’s something sometimes we have to do daily even especially when you work on your own a lot and you have to motivate and pat yourself on the back and give yourself encouragement. But I think with all of this, you just need to be gentle with yourself. Because it’s, yeah,
Qing
it’s such a tough, tough world.
Molly
Such a tough world yeah.
Qing
Yeah, I think one of the things that I learned from the past two to three years, is that treat people gently, because you really don’t know what kind of struggle they’re going through behind that face that still smile.
Molly
Oh, my gosh, that’s so true.
Qing
What would you say is now the biggest challenge not for you as a yoga teacher? But actually, for the development business development of your yoga studio?
Molly
Well, you probably already know the weather is one. But that’s
Qing
coming with this coming.
Molly
Yeah, but the biggest challenge is that I am doing a lot of it on my own. And, you know, because I’m independent, so I’m doing much of it on my own. But the biggest challenge is growing it in a way that feels aligned to me, whether that is having another teacher in the future, or a few teachers, but just doing that, on my own can be sometimes quite scary. That’s, that’s one of my biggest challenges is, where am I going to go with this beautiful experience? And I want to keep sharing it with people in different ways. But how is it going to go? What’s the right path is just believing in what my path is. And then knowing where I want to take this? That’s the challenge personally,
Qing
have you thought about whether you’re going to scale up the business and hire yoga teachers as staff? Or are you just going to work with other freelance teachers? Yeah,
Molly
I mean, it is it’s a tricky thing, specifically for an outdoor studio, because we run our season from April until September. So to hire someone, just for those months can be tricky. It’s costly, right? And mostly yoga studios shut down during summer. And a lot of teachers I know go on holidays during that time. So yeah, I think I would like next year to have some guest teachers offering a different experience on like, Saturday night sunset session, or something really cool. And so
Qing
because I think you all have your own specialisations, right? Totally. Yeah.
Molly
Yeah. So someone else who also has some people who love nature and incorporate, you know, our core values of, you know, bringing nature into the practice and making it more than just being about the poses, and connection, but someone who has a little different flair, or like a different flavour of taste. And someone who doesn’t look like me as well, you know, like, you’ve got Molly every Sunday and Saturday, but someone who has something else to offer, yeah, or so maybe from a different culture. Maybe not a woman, maybe a man or an other person, whatever that looks like. That’s what I’m working on this winter. And I would love to bring that to people with this concept next year.
Qing
But don’t ever stop teaching. Promise me because people love hanging out with you.
Molly
Oh, I love that. Oh my gosh, there’s actually one little thing I’m working on. At the moment. I’m actually doing my DJ course. So I’m studying and practising DJing live, because, yeah, I love music. I love love music. As you know, I’ve been doing it for three years. I already know what works and what doesn’t work, but just to be able to do it live than if I have someone else teaching it. That would be sick.
Qing
But imagine next year at Dour Music Festival. You can teach people yoga. Yeah, and you can DJ mainstage
Molly
Oh, that’ll be cool. I don’t know if I can do two things at once. DJ and also teach like, let’s do it. That’s possible. No, no, but I’ll do DJ. Yeah, that’s what that would be sick. Yeah. That’s freelancing, you can just create and then yeah,
Qing
wow, it was it was such a nice talk. There’s one last thing that I really want to talk to you about, because I think you’re the person perfect person to talk to
Molly
Oh, my gosh. I’m ready. Let’s go.
Qing
It’s about partnership. Yes. It’s a very interesting topic. Because you have your life partner. Also as your business partner. Yes. So far. I guess it’s working. Yeah. So yeah. What’s your recipe for success?
Molly
My recipe for success?
Qing
I would say, you know, being in it together. Yes. Your marriage career? Yeah, by the way. Congratulations. If I Oh, yeah.
Molly
Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, we’re getting married in April in Bali in Bali. Yeah. I’m wedding planning right now.
Qing
Can’t be better than that.
Molly
Oh my gosh, I’m so excited. Yeah, it’s gonna be so much fun. It’s gonna be worth it in the end work with all the planning. But this is such a good question. Just like we said before, it’s a practice. It’s not always easy. But…
Qing
Have you set rules? Yeah. Or do you have a no go? Zone?.
Molly
Right… So I think it’s only I’ve been thinking about this, it’s really been the last year 2022, that I think we’ve gotten better at this. Because my partner, Tom, he’s amazing. He is my cheerleader, like, just fully supports me, but it’s also the technical specialist. So we have a lot of equipment with headphones, and he does all that stuff.
Qing
Yeah, maybe elaborate more on his role in this business. So you started the business together in 2019?
Molly
Yeah, right. Yeah, just just the end of 2020, beginning of 2019. So he really created the concept so that we could do it without power and do it in any location. And, you know, found the had the right headphones, and does the right equipment that it runs smoothly, and you have crystal clear sound in your ears. And it’s it’s technically really seamless that when people come to a class, they don’t notice how much hard work has gone into it to all the perfecting of it’s like a podcast, right? There’s so much that goes into it. So that that he does all the behind the scenes work there. He also helps me since this is a freelance podcast, I’m maybe there’s quite a few women listening as well. I personally find it’s quite difficult to negotiate and you know, write things in a way that talks my concept up. And as a woman, I find that it’s quite difficult. And I think the the male energy has really helped there as well with that, if that makes sense. But if we have a recipe, I would say, because the work life balance is difficult, right? You can you can talk about work all of the time. And we do we love to talk about it, especially if you’re freelance and you love what you do, and you just want to keep going and keep going. But you have to remember we we worked really hard the first two years and I reached a point where I was almost all we ever talked about was work.
Qing
By the way, he has a full time job, right?
Molly
He does. Yeah, he’s a man. Yeah, he’s a firefighter. Yeah. And he’s also he’s got like a PhD in biology, but is a firefighter so he’s, like, really random. And he’s just super excited. And entrepreneur. Yeah, he’s also like, got this this open, entrepreneurial mindset, which helped me step into what we do now. Yeah. And we kind of set up not like rules is actually we do have one rule. Big rule. No phone in the bed. No phone in the bed. Oh my gosh, it’s so easy to just when you are waiting for an email that you really hope for or something or someone messages you and you’re like, Okay, you could just work all night on your bed. But we have that rule,
Qing
because from the very beginning or not from
Molly
the very beginning again since 2022. Yeah, no phone in the bed. And just how do we like, come to this point where we both can talk about what we do. But after eight o’clock, we like to switch off and just enjoy whatever that is like, Okay, we’re going to watch a TV show together. Or we’re gonna do some yoga together. I normally like to practice if I’m practising yoga myself, I practice it in the evening. And after we have a long day of work and sitting. That’s where because I know Qing, you like to work do some yoga in the morning.
Qing
Yeah, I like to start my day with that. Yeah, sounds like you have a really good like, are different.
Molly
Yeah. And you have a really good little morning routine. And that’s, that’s like a recipe for success. But like, yeah, like having something that is sacred to you. So I love to move in the morning, no phone in the bed. And
Qing
let’s maybe dive a bit deeper into conflict management. How do you do that? When and how do you reconcile? Because I think for me, it doesn’t matter if it’s your life partner or your business partner. We’re all different. So conflicts, different opinions. It’s inevitable. But how do you reconcile that’s more important with my partner? Yeah, well, I really say, Yeah. Especially when, when when it concerns the business.
Molly
Yeah, totally. It happens often. We don’t always get it right. But here’s the thing, again, being gentle with each other. Right, you know, like empathy. Yeah. And, and taking breaks sometimes when we’ve been in like a big conflict about how business things should go, or, you know, even like the location, like it’s gotta be here. And then also, you know, it needs to be here because really, yeah, like you about that. Yeah. Even something as simple as that you
Qing
even have anything to say? Right, right. Right, right. Yeah.
Molly
No, but I think also because I asked him questions. Well, I want his opinion.
Qing
Yeah, we really value our partners’ input.
Molly
That’s it. That’s it, we want their opinion. But then at the end of the day knowing when to be like, Okay, actually, I really appreciate that. But at the end of the day, this is where we’re going to do this thing, you know? Because also do ya like other people’s, but I want his opinion on, you know, what’s going to be the most comfortable area that my Yogi’s are going to feel relaxed in? And is the sun going to shine too much on this time of day and day to day to day, but when we get into a conflict about Yeah, it could be anything negotiating or could mean associating something that we’re a project that we’re working on, for example, yeah, it can get quite warm and quite heat at the end of the day, like we care about each other so much. So we can get really angry and annoyed, but just taking like a timeout and being like, you know what, let’s just come back to this later. So in yoga, we say, awareness. So it’s just bringing awareness when you’re in it when you’re in this like conflict, or you’re getting angry, because also, if you’re working with your partner in any way, you you’re more expressive, you’re more passionate, you tell each other. Yeah, yeah. And you wouldn’t talk to a colleague in your office like that. So it’s like respect, but also like, when you’re in the middle of it, finding that practice, again, of pausing. And being like, you know what, this isn’t getting anywhere we are going in circles. Let’s just come back to this later. Because let’s just do something fun, and like, do something fun.
Qing
But sometimes I feel like that’s the most difficult part. Because it is difficult. We I don’t know, we’re so bad at emotion management, in front of the people that we are the closest to that, do you think,
Molly
yeah, we often the people we’re closest to, I wouldn’t say we, the people we’re often closest to we often overflow our emotions to them. You know, and that’s normal. And I don’t think I actually have the right answer for it. But I think at the end of the day, like, just respect and, and kindness and compassion for them, knowing that they always have the best interest in you as well, every time that especially a male energy. Because both of our partners are men, they have a male energy. So they are very logical. And that’s great, very logical, practical, and they will give you an answer that you don’t always, you know, it’s not like a soft answer. Like you’re not, you’re not listening, you’re not hearing me or whatever, you know, but then understanding that they have a different way of offering their empathy or offering their help. And yeah, being grateful that they have the best intention. Always. Yeah, sometimes knowing that you can answer your own question too
Qing
always keep in mind that it’s never you against me, but you and me together against the problem or the issue.
Last question for you, Molly. What is the one myths about yoga practice that you want to debunk?
Molly
There are many myths about a yoga practice. But I will say the number one quote or the number one thing I receive, when I say to people, I’m a yoga teacher, the first thing they will say is, I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible. Right? Oh my gosh, I if I could count how many times I was asked that. You do not need to be flexible to practice yoga. If you are closing your eyes for 30 seconds, and practising bringing your awareness to your breath and the present moment, that is Yoga, you are practising yoga. So that’s the myth. You don’t need to be flexible. Yoga can change your life, especially if you’re a freelancer, and you do a lot of your work on your own. Giving gifting yourself the time and the space to find a yoga practice that you enjoy. You can join me outdoors if you want in summer, but just finding a moment to yourself to practice yoga is beautiful. And you might get a little bit more flexible. That’s a side effect, but you don’t have to be flexible to practice yoga.
Qing
Three more questions to ask today. Yeah, go for it. That I will ask every single guest of mine. The next thing to accomplish on your bucket list.
Molly
Oh, yes. To lead a class live as a DJ yogi and have Yeah, and have someone else teach it and me mix the music live. That’s my bucket list
Qing
and Molly’s words. How sick is that? If you could invite three people to dinner anyone you want. Who would it be and why?
Molly
Oh, okay. Definitely my grandmother. I never met her. Her name is Emerald. Her first name my middle name is Emerald after my grandma and I’m Yeah, I feel like we were really connected. She’s She sounds really similar. She was also a dancer.
Qing
So she passed away before we were born.
Molly
Yeah, she did. Yeah. When my mom was much younger, so I would love to meet her. That’d be like my dream. Second person is probably Ram Dass or Baba Ram Dass and he is like a spiritual Mesoamerican is he was a spiritual teacher and just oh, he’s got so many beautiful, beautiful. It’s such a beautiful mind. And I think I would just love to sit down and have dinner with him. That’s so good. And probably I love music. I love Ella Fitzgerald. So she’s a beaut, she was a beautiful singer, really heartfelt music, and I would love to have dinner with those three people would just be so nice.
Qing
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Molly
that the universe is abundant there, I was taught there are literally 8 billion people in this world right now. Right? Almost, there is an abundant amount of success to go around for both yourself. And for everyone else in your field. You deserve to take up space, you deserve to be seen to be heard. And you owe it to others to show up because you’ve got a gift that you can bring. But other people aren’t going to experience that gift of yours if you don’t bring it. So show up. And don’t be afraid to just give it your all for other people. So
Qing
I love that ending and you are we don’t really need to take anything away from anyone in order to thrive or prosper. I Yep. Thank you so much, Molly. It was such a sick conversation. Congratulations. You will be the most beautiful bride in the most beautiful location, surrounded by the most beautiful people in this world. In Chinese when people are getting married. We always say well as a kind of wish to them. We say [Chinese words]. That means hand in hand. We grow old together till the end of life.
Molly
That’s such a beautiful saying thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Qing
Thank you for coming here today. We have this chat with me. Oh yeah. Before we go tell people where they can find you. How do they connect with you?
Molly
Oh, okay. Um, that’s a good question. Okay, so you can find us on Instagram On the Insta at Sound on Yoga. That’s where we offer all of our classes for summer between April and September and also pop-up events during winter. You can find us on Facebook as well and also our website www.SoundonYoga.com
