We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shelly Horton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shelly, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
Naturally, I am a very happy and upbeat person. Always looking for the brighter side of things or silver linings. I think it originates from my parents and especially my mom, who grew up in a very different part of the world with limited resources. My mom grew up very poor in a province in the Philippines and i think philippino people are happy-go-lucky as a community. When you have limited resources like running water, limited food supply, cinderblock walls. Take out the things that you do not have and replace it with things that you do. I am able to source my food in my backyard. My neighbors are my community and it takes a village to help each-other. My optimism comes from a constant side of gratitude.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
During the second year of COVID while the world was slowly opening up is when I was beginning to understand that I needed to make a change in my life. I started to actually question “what is it that I want in life…” Not what was everyone else doing by the age of 25, 30, 40…..I did a yoga teacher training and it was the most life changing thing for me. In the middle of having a big WTF moment at 26 I realized I needed a change from working for a hotel, every weekend, evening and holiday to find more balance for myself. Working out, moving my body, doing yoga helped me practice the internal movement that I needed with the physical. I realized that most of my clientele was in a similar position. There was so much anxiety and uneasy feelings that people needed movement, exercise is a great outlet for stress. I started to practice yoga twice daily, started to focus on my nutrition and do a lot of breathwork. Worked with one of my yoga teachers and did a mentorship. Got into manifestations and heard “You are capable of living your best and most authentic life” that stuck with me. I started to do “The Work” that everyone talks about. Not just all the healthy outside stuff, but dealing with my own inner demons, started some therapy and really worked through a lot of my own bullshit. I have learned so much about how I operate and how I operate in my relationships, with friends/family that I now SAW who I was. Things that I liked and dealing with my shadow….not pretty but honestly. Really fucking worth it. Doing a lot of the work I began to see my own self-worth, getting over people pleasing tendencies and standing up for who I am, what I believe I deserve and how that translates to my business. I have truly found myself at my deepest core at this stage in my life and I have not looked back. Practice your gratitude daily, be so present in your life that it becomes its own addiction. Presence is liberating.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions. Ask anything and everything, look to people in your life who are your expanders, people want to root for you and want to support you. Reach out to other people in your field either in social media, or locals to collab with. Everyone sees the world specific to their eyes, pay attention to that. Be open and eager, stay humble and stay hungry. If someone or something puts you down, you have to keep going back to your why moment. There has got to be a bigger and deeper reason as to why you opened your business or are thinking about it. Create a sticky note and plaster it somewhere you can see it on a daily basis. And if you are done with your current position wherever you are, make sure you have an F you fund, 3-6months or more of savings so you have something to rely on while youre on the journey.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
Balancing home and work life. I think this is a constant struggle for me, I am only 1.5 years in and the deeper that I dive in, I know its going to be hard. Being mindful of the reason why I wanted to start my own thing was to make time for my family and friends. Find the balance and taking it one thing at a time. Making sure I have my do not disturb on my phone and really focused when I am at work I work and when I am at home then its home time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kalmamtbodywork.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectivestudiowellness/://
www.instagram.com/babenwellness__/
https://www.instagram.com/kalma_touch_/.
Image Credits
@nikkidaskalakis for photography