May 19, 2025 • 51 mins
In this powerful episode of Growing Tall Poppies, Dr. Nat Green is joined by the deeply insightful and courageous Kathryn Thompson. Together, they explore how true healing unfolds when we allow ourselves to be fully seen — through embracing vulnerability, openness, and creative expression. From a traumatic childhood incident to navigating the corporate world and reclaiming her voice, Kathryn shares her journey of breaking generational patterns and finding freedom through somatic practices and radical self-acceptance.
Kathryn is a Canadian-based entrepreneur who inspires people to use their stories as a way to create change in the world. She's an award-winning marketing and communications expert with more than 20 years of experience. After growing one of her businesses to close to a million dollars in sales in less than four years, she sold it with a single email. Kathryn is now the founder of Creatively Owned, a marketing and communications firm that helps entrepreneurs use the power of words to create instant appeal for what they are selling.
Together, Dr Nat and Kathryn explore how embracing vulnerability, somatic healing practices, and deep inner work can lead to lasting emotional freedom and authentic personal evolution.
Whether you're on a path of personal healing or supporting others through trauma, this episode is a heartfelt invitation to connect with your body’s innate wisdom and lean into the transformative power of authenticity.
💡 In this episode, you’ll discover:
- The hidden cost of emotional suppression and why saying “I’m fine” keeps us stuck
- How vulnerability and openness act as the gateway to healing and transformation
- The difference between intellectualising trauma vs. feeling and releasing it somatically
- Why tools like EFT tapping and TRE (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises) are game-changers for nervous system regulation
- A fresh take on healthy boundaries, emotional triggers, and not taking on others' pain in helping professions
- The shift from fixing others to empowering clients and ourselves
- How integrating daily healing rituals into your life and business creates sustainable change and prevents burnout
- How breaking repeated patterns of trauma requires both courage and self- compassion
🎧 Tune in if you’re ready to:
- Break free from the past and step into embodied healing
- Embrace your vulnerability as your superpower
- Tap into your creativity as a tool for transformation
- Discover how somatic practices can shift your nervous system and your life
Connect with Kathryn
Website: https://creativelyowned.com
Website: https://creativelyowned.com
Resources:-
Free Quiz - What's You
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Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.
Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr Nat Green (00:01):
Welcome to the Growing Tall Poppies Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Nat Green, and I'm so excited tohave you join me as we discuss
what it means to navigate yourway through post-traumatic
growth and not just survive, butto thrive after trauma.
(00:23):
Through our podcast, we willexplore ways for you to create a
life filled with greaterpurpose, self-awareness, and a
deep inner peace.
Through integrating the manyyears of knowledge and
professional experience, as wellas the wisdom of those who have
experienced trauma firsthand.
(00:44):
We'll combine psychologyaccelerated approaches.
Coaching and personal experienceto assist you, to learn, to grow
and to thrive.
I hope to empower you to createdeeper awareness and
understanding and strongerconnections with yourself and
with others, whilst also pavingthe way for those who have
(01:08):
experienced trauma and adversityto reduce their suffering and
become the very best versions ofthemselves.
In order to thrive.
Thank you so much for joining meon today's episode.
Welcome.
I'm really pleased and gratefultoday to bring you our next
(01:28):
guest on the Growing TallPoppies podcast.
It's my absolute pleasure andprivilege to welcome a lady who
I met recently through an eventfor podcasters, and she has a
wealth of knowledge andexperience and has generously
agreed to come and chat with ustoday and share her wisdom.
So let me start by introducingKathryn to you all.
(01:50):
Kathryn Thompson is a Canadianbased entrepreneur who inspires
people to use their stories as away to create change in the
world.
She's an award-winning marketingand communications expert with
more than 20 years ofexperience.
After growing one of herbusinesses to close to$1 million
in sales in less than fouryears, she sold it with a single
(02:13):
email.
Kathryn is now the founder ofCreatively Owned a marketing and
communications firm that helpsentrepreneurs use the power of
words to create instant appealfor what they are selling.
So welcome, Kathryn.
It's so great to have you here.
Kathryn Thompson (02:29):
I'm so excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
Dr Nat Green (02:33):
All right, so we might just start with you giving
us, even though I've given abrief introduction, how about
you give us an introduction ofwho you are and what you do in
the world?
Kathryn Thompson (02:44):
Yeah, so I think the bio kind of sums it up
lovely, but I'll just, I'llbridge off it a little bit more.
I'm a highly intuitive, veryemotional empath and so the
people I typically work with arealso equally very heart centered
and I support them in creating.
Sharing their story to createand put out the meaningful work
(03:05):
and the work that they wanna doin the world, but more
specifically in a reallyaligned, authentic way.
So some of the values that Icarry, are integrity,
authenticity, creativeexpression, and so I really help
people stay true to who theyare.
When it comes to marketing andsales, because I know a lot of
people that come into my worldstruggle with that.
(03:25):
They feel like they're losingthemselves in it because they
don't necessarily agree with alot of the tactics and whatnot
that have been taught.
And so I really help them honorwho they are so that they can
bring their most meaningful workout into the world and share it
with people and really get itinto the hands of more people.
That's me in a nutshell.
Career-wise, I'm verymulti-passionate.
I'm a creative myself.
(03:46):
Photography, videography,pottery, you name it.
I'm very creative at heart, so
Dr Nat Green (03:53):
Oh, I love that so much.
And.
I, yeah, I can see why weconnected immediately because I
share the majority of thosevalues, particularly
authenticity and integrity.
So I love that.
And especially in the world ofmarketing, I.
We see so many things and somany people who are out there
(04:15):
and they just seem so misalignedor I feel misaligned to them.
So I love that you help peopletell their stories and share
their story in a beautiful way.
Yeah.
I'm just wondering if I can askthen a little bit, you've got to
the point where you help peopleshare their stories, so today
(04:36):
I'm wondering if you'd bewilling to share a bit of your
story about how you got to beable to do that in the world.
Kathryn Thompson (04:44):
Yeah, amazing question.
So when I went to university, Ireally had no idea what I wanted
to do.
Originally, I was gonna go inand be a forensic
anthropologist, like that was mything.
I know.
And then I ended up.
Talking to a counselor whotalked me out of it.
I've always really loved tryingto understand people, places,
(05:07):
things, culture, right?
So it's not that far off.
And my dad's an accountant andso I was like, okay, I'll just
go into business school.
It's a safe thing.
I was playing competitivesoccer, so I was going to
university really to play soccerand fill, fulfill that dream.
But I knew I had to do somethingand I wanted a degree that would
at least set me on the pathwayto.
(05:28):
Have a career after it, right?
So not just maybe your basicarts degree.
Nothing wrong with that, but Ijust knew if I'm gonna go to
school for four or five years, Iwanna be able to get out and get
a job.
So initially I was gonna go intoaccounting, and the beautiful
thing about commerce or businessschool where I live, is that you
get to try all the classesbefore you actually pick a
major.
But accounting is the thing.
Yeah.
(05:49):
And accounting was the thingthat my dad did.
So I thought, oh, I'll probablydo that and then I could work in
the family business yada.
All the things.
My first accounting class, I waslike, this is boring.
Ain't doing this.
And I went into my firstmarketing class and I loved it
'cause it was so creative.
And so I got my undergraduate inmarketing, spent the first, six
(06:10):
or seven years of my careerdoing marketing, but feeling
duped because I was working forother people.
And they had a likeincorporations that they had a
very particular marketingdirective, so there wasn't
really anything creative aboutit or that creative about it.
So I ended up going to getting amaster's in communication
because I was trying to escape.
(06:31):
The discomfort that I wasfeeling in my career of not
really jiving with it.
And I ended up going to thePhilippines as part of my
master's research, lived in aremote village, did a visual
ethnography, really experiencedtheir way of being, and then
came home and started to tellstories about it.
And that trip really changed thetrajectory for me'cause it
(06:51):
really changed.
My life course, my beliefsreally helped me get back to my
values of, authentic connection,integrity, authenticity, all of
the things.
And from there, I ended upditching my corporate career
after 15 years and divingheadfirst into opening my brick
and mortar business.
To sell and produce wine and Iknow I
Dr Nat Green (07:15):
love it.
So it's such a big change.
Such a wild,
Kathryn Thompson (07:19):
yeah, and I, when I reflect back now to what
drew me to that business wasagain, the direct experience,
being able to deal with avariety of different people.
And I also love food, wine,travel, all the things.
And so I just ended up naturallybeing able to talk about it and
sell it.
The business model and thepartnership weren't aligned, and
(07:41):
so we ended up selling afterfour years, and I came back to
my roots of marketing and sales,but knowing I wanted to do
things very differently,especially having gone into the
online space where I felt like Iwas being hit with this, what is
going on here?
Because all of the.
Things that weren't in integrityto me were like amplified on
steroids.
(08:02):
All of the sales tactics thatwere manipulative.
And I was like, what is goingon?
So my goal was to rewrite thatnarrative, and that's what I've
been doing for the last sixyears and Creatively Owned, was
I'm gonna help all thosebusiness owners that want to do
really good work in the worldwho value integrity and
authenticity, and I'm gonna helpthem because I have the decades
(08:22):
of experience now in marketingand sales, and I can help them
in doing that.
That brings me to present day ina nutshell.
Dr Nat Green (08:29):
Oh, what an interesting story.
Like so many different things.
And we see that so often, don'twe?
That oh, we think we'll followin the footsteps of our parents,
or we'll do this because there'sthis expectation that maybe we
should, so isn't it wonderfulthat you tried it Yeah.
And then made your own decisionanyway?
(08:50):
Yeah.
That, that you also took that.
Risk and backed yourself andwent and explored things your
way.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So as we know, a lot of gueststhat I have come on the show and
they've experienced trauma oradversity in their life, and we
(09:13):
talk about how they've navigatedthat experience.
And I firmly believe that ifyou're human, you've been
through some sort of adversity,there's.
I don't think I know anyone whohasn't, so I'm wondering if you
would be comfortable sharingsome of that story as well, so
our listeners can understandsome of the things you've been
through and how you've overcomethem.
Kathryn Thompson (09:35):
Yeah, I think the corporate world and
environment was traumatic in andof itself for me because I was
having to fit myself into.
The values of a company that Ioften never resonated with.
So for example, at two differentstages of my career, I ended up
(09:57):
actually working for A CEO thathad, or leaders of a company,
directors of a company that Iwas a direct report to.
That had narcissistic tendenciesand so yeah, so one particular
incident, which is why I endedup quitting this one position
and ended up going after mymaster's in all the thing was
(10:21):
they were trained to fire myboss, and they were going around
it in a backhanded sort of way,and they were trying to pin on
me that I had been harassed bymy boss.
To a point that HR in the city Ilived in contacted me for a
private meeting to say that myboss was harassing me, which
(10:43):
never was.
So I was being pinned with thisthing and I ended up being such
a toxic experience for mebecause.
For me integrity is important.
And so when somebody is tellingsomething about me that isn't
true,
Dr Nat Green (11:00):
that
Kathryn Thompson (11:00):
such wrecked havoc on my system, that took,
years for me to recover from.
Which is interesting'cause Ithen moved on to another job
where the CEO was the same way.
Very narcissistic tendencieswhere they say things to you
that's like a gut punch andyou're like, that didn't feel
(11:21):
good.
Why doesn't that feel good?
And then you're like, Ooh,there's some manipulation
happening.
For example, this particular CEOsaid to me after I left the
company, really smart peoplemake dumb decisions.
Basically implying that mequitting was a dumb decision.
Like it was these undercuttingwe, we often called, it was like
(11:44):
this undercutting.
Statements that almost hit youafter the fact.
They hit, gut punched you andthen you'd go away and you'd be
like,
Dr Nat Green (11:53):
oof.
Kathryn Thompson (11:54):
So I had a tendency, I think it's me being
an empath, I had a tendency toattract and navigate
narcissistic behaviors that wascorporate reality.
So that the trauma around that,and then having to navigate that
through corporate and then ourbusiness partnership in my brick
and mortar.
Wasn't the greatest partnershipand that created a lot of trauma
(12:16):
for me and probably everybodyinvolved because it was family.
So I was in partnership with myhusband, my brother, my
sister-in-law, and we were atodds for four years that the sad
part about it was is that itfractured the relationship,
which is now taken a turn andthe relationship is mending, but
(12:36):
it's taken a lot of years forthat mending to happen.
Dr Nat Green (12:40):
There's often so much fallout isn't there and
yeah.
I know that we often get warneddon't go into business with
friends or family, but there'sso many layers to that because
it can turn out so differently.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for sharingyour journey and it's
interesting.
That, that corporate spacereally is very different,
(13:05):
particularly difficult with thenarcissists when we are empaths,
when we feel so deeply'causethat gaslighting is rife, isn't
it?
You leave there thinking, whatdid I do?
Oh my goodness, it's me and youreally take it on board as
something is wrong with that.
With me.
With us, yes.
Kathryn Thompson (13:27):
Yeah.
And it's because we care sodeeply, it becomes that for me
it was a spiral, right?
I was just spiral down becauseI'd be like, what's wrong with
me?
What did I say that was wrong?
And then you start to try tolike mold yourself so that you
don't get these undercuttingbackhanded gaslighting
situations.
You're just like, and that justmakes it even worse because.
(13:47):
You move so far away from yourcenter and your core and your
values, you're just trying toavoid.
And that was what I was tryingto do was avoid those
situations.
But even in the avoidance, I wasbeing pinned for something that
I was like, where is this evencoming from?
I've never once said my boss washarassing me.
It was so crazy.
(14:08):
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (14:09):
Yeah.
It was that underlying agendathat they had and Totally.
You were.
The fallout of that.
So how did you initially copewith that?
Like your nervous systemwould've been screaming at you,
this is not okay, but you werestuck in this situation.
You just had to keep going.
I.
Kathryn Thompson (14:29):
Yeah, my coping mechanism that I
identified after the brick andmortar, after we sold the brick
and mortar, and I really healedfrom that, which was probably
two years where I felt like Iwas in a neutral state when it
came to thinking about thepartnership, the relationship,
the conversations.
I was very neutral about it.
It took me about two years.
My natural tendency though, wasescapism, and so I quit the job.
(14:54):
I left the situation.
I.
And then I just kept recreatingit in my existence.
Because I was never actuallydealing with the, all of the
things that were going on.
As a, not that being in anarcissistic relationship is not
your fault, but to be able toidentify and navigate it and not
be a sponge to it, which is whatI was, I just escaped.
(15:16):
I'd quit, I'd run away.
I'd walk away.
And that ties back to anexperience I had in my early
childhood where I essentiallyhad to run for my life.
Call it a potential kidnappingsituation, whatever we want to
call it.
Yeah.
I was four years old and I waswalking to a friend's house and
these four women were walkingdown the street towards me, and
(15:38):
I had never seen them before onthis block.
And I lived, grew up in a smallcity.
Quite small, and I'd never seenthem before on my block.
And my gut instinct was like,cross the street.
I don't know why my gut said it,but it did.
And as soon as I crossed thestreet, they said, get her.
And I ran to the archbishop'shouse on our street who is never
(16:00):
home and never answered the doorlike ringing the doorbell.
I ended up hiding behind thesetwo big cedar trees.
Oh.
And then jumping a veranda toour other friend's house and
finally getting someone to helpme.
So I think I've been running formy life my whole life.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (16:17):
That, thank you for sharing that.
That would've been likehorrendous at any age, but as a
little, yes.
4-year-old girl.
Yeah.
So much fear and yet you werebrave enough or to know, to
trust your gut.
Yeah.
That this doesn't feel right.
So you were really in tune withthat even back then.
(16:40):
Yeah.
You still were able to getyourself outta that situation
and know to ask for help.
I think there'd be very few fouryear olds, to be honest, that
would be able to navigate thatin that way.
That's amazing.
Kathryn Thompson (16:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which then I think translatedand played out to, like I said,
things in my life and how Ihandled adversity was like, I
quit, I'm done.
I would just avoid and move onrather than actually dealing
with it until it came to a headin my brick and mortar where I
was forced to deal with it.
Dr Nat Green (17:14):
Yes.
So it's funny how we play outthose patterns throughout our
life, and so often in the workthat I do with clients to do our
breakthrough session, we get tothe root cause.
So back then.
That significant traumaexperience led to that pattern
of I'll escape.
I get out of it.
(17:35):
Whenever I feel unsafe, I getout.
So that's exactly what you'vedone.
Yeah.
Just wondering, Kathryn though,if at that, that little
4-year-old girl had that reallydeep intuition and trusted her
gut when you were in thosecorporate environments.
Were you getting that gutresponse and not able to listen
(17:57):
or were you listening?
Kathryn Thompson (17:59):
I was getting the gut responses.
I wasn't listening, so I.
My natural tendency was to get,I would get it instinctively.
I'd be like, Ooh, that's notright.
Or Ooh, I could feel it in mygut.
It was like a gut punch.
But then I would justify, oh,you're overreacting.
And I think that came with thegaslighting or the, I didn't
(18:20):
mean that.
Or you're taking these twopersonally, or you're too
sensitive, or you care too much,or whatever.
That was said, and so then Iwould.
Play it in my head.
Oh, I'm overreacting.
They didn't mean it.
And I was highly forgiving inthose moments.
And I would give people 15chances when I probably should
(18:41):
have only given them two.
Dr Nat Green (18:43):
Yeah.
And we, that's the nature of whoyou are as a person.
That's that tendency to trust,to see the best in people.
Yeah, and have that integrity.
It's interesting though, that weoften see, and I know we chatted
the other day about that head,heart, and gut, the three
(19:05):
brains, so that gut brain wasswitched on and really getting
that response.
But after we go through traumaand adversity over and over
again, going through being letdown with the narcissist stuff,
everything going on, your.
Capacity to listen and have thehead and the heart and the gut
(19:29):
continuing to be integrated.
Lessened.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you could cognitively go inyour head and your head brain
was working and your heart brainwas questioning that, but
somehow you'd managed to shutoff that gut brain because of it
being quashed based on theexperiences.
Kathryn Thompson (19:52):
Yeah.
Totally.
And then the ruminating, like Iwould ruminate for almost to a
point, especially when I had thebrick and mortar, like I'd give
myself a headache fromruminating so much playing
scenarios over and over in myhead, trying to convince myself
that what I was experiencingwasn't true.
(20:12):
Even though I felt it deeply, Iwas like, Ooh, I could sense
things.
And my husband always says thisyou have this like sixth sense.
You just know.
It's almost like you can predictthings before they happen.
And then people often go that'snot true, or It didn't happen
that way, or I don't see it thatway.
And then I go, oh, maybe I'mwrong.
(20:34):
Yeah.
So you question
Dr Nat Green (20:35):
yourself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so then you finally, yourback was to the wall in your
bricks and mortar business withthat extra dynamic of tricky
family relationships.
What was it that got you to thepoint of, I need to listen, we
need to be done?
(20:55):
How did you get to that point?
Yeah,
Kathryn Thompson (20:58):
it's wild because.
It is wild.
So Covid hit, as everybodyknows, COVID hit in.
2020, and it was April of 2020that our store was shut to the
public and everybody else'sstore and our location was shut
to the public.
And there was some disagreementat that time, and it was middle
(21:21):
of May, and I was pretty muchcarrying the brunt of the work
along with a lot of support frommy husband.
But I was doing most of it.
And I just, it was internal gutinstinct.
I'm like, I am sending an emailto my list on June one.
I didn't even tell my husband, Ididn't tell my other business
partners.
I just did it.
And everyone was like, you'renuts because it's Covid We're
(21:44):
closed to the public.
No one's buying a brick andmortar business.
'cause nobody knew at that pointwhere things were going.
And I just said, I don't care.
I'm done.
And that's.
Also a trait of mine of likewhen the light switch goes off.
And I often say this, when thelight switch goes off and I'm
done, there's no getting me backat that point.
(22:05):
Like I've made the decision andwhen I make the decision, it's
go time.
Sent the email, had 11interested buyers.
Wow.
In two signed NDAs.
Yeah.
And sold that business withintwo and a half months.
Like we transferred ownership bythe middle of August of 2020,
and I was finally out of thestore by middle of September of
2020, and people were like, howdid you do this?
(22:28):
And it was like amazing.
My internal instinct was like,send the email.
Dr Nat Green (22:34):
So again, somehow in amongst all of that chaos
within you Yeah.
You were able to trust your gutand you did it anyway.
Yeah.
Reconnected with yourself.
And knew that the pain ofstaying where you were wasn't
worth it for you?
Kathryn Thompson (22:51):
No.
Dr Nat Green (22:51):
No.
Wow.
That's an amazing story.
Kathryn Thompson (22:56):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That decision was a wild onebecause it was like nobody's
selling brick and mortar.
It's 2020.
So much is unpredictable rightnow, and the beauty of our
industry that we were in waswine.
Wine sales went through the roofwhen.
Restaurants and everythingclosed because people weren't
buying, they weren't going outand eating.
(23:17):
They had a lot more disposableincome.
So all of a sudden our saleswent through the roof and that's
what really helped.
It was just such a, yeah.
Divine timing.
Perfect.
And we're all staying home
Dr Nat Green (23:28):
to drink our wine.
Yeah.
Basically.
Yeah.
There's much else to do whenyou're stuck at home and the
world had shut down.
Was there, yeah.
Oh goodness.
So as you look back then, youthen said you had a good two
years before things felt thatthey neutralized.
Yeah.
In that two years, what sort ofthings did you feel you were
(23:51):
able to do to move forward?
Kathryn Thompson (23:54):
Yeah, so I did a lot of internal
self-reflection, I definitelygot into like victim mindset in
the brick and mortar.
Lots of blaming, lots ofprojecting outwards, lots of
anger, lots of resentment, andso I knew for me to repair any
relationship I had and also forme to stay healthy.
I needed to go inward and Ineeded to heal the resentment I
(24:16):
needed to have the forgiveness Ineeded to acknowledge where.
I was in reaction to behaviorsthat I didn't like, and that was
okay because I had reached abreaking point.
So when.
Oftentimes, and I was beingpunished for my reactions.
'cause my reactions weren'talways the greatest because I
(24:39):
was frustrated, angry, burntout, you name it.
But I had to do a lot of innerwork.
And then of course I worked withvarious practitioners to help me
navigate this.
So I didn't do it alone.
I had a ton of support.
Over the years and still do alot of personal development
work.
So it's not like after two yearsit was like, okay, it's neutral
(25:00):
and we're good.
It was like, this is an ongoingevolution for me.
So that I don't get back to aplace and repeat these patterns
that I've experienced for a vastmajority of my life.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (25:10):
Yeah.
And really having that insight.
Not everyone has that insight.
So being able to tune in againand recognize Yeah, there's
things that I'll own.
Yeah.
But also knowing why they werethere and where they had come
from.
Yeah.
And being able to connect withsome, people who could help you
do that.
'cause you're certainly, it'snot something you can work
(25:32):
through alone.
Kathryn Thompson (25:34):
No.
No.
And yeah it just isn't, and Ithink that's a message to, to
send far and wide is you needthat witnessing, especially, and
this going through trauma andthen trying to heal trauma.
It has to be done in relation, Ithink.
With a therapist, with an energyhealer with.
Whatever, but yeah, whateverworks
Dr Nat Green (25:54):
for you, yeah.
Whatever modality works for you.
Yeah, exactly.
It's not, it's definitely not aone size fits all, and some
people, you go to a therapist,they're not my thing.
I want go down this way.
And as an empath and having thatlevel of intuition, it probably
wasn't your stock standard pathto heal your nervous system.
Kathryn Thompson (26:16):
Very somatic.
A lot of, I think that wasprobably the greatest
transformation for me was the,like actually coming back into
my body and somatically healingmy body.
Because intellectually Iunderstood
Dr Nat Green (26:29):
my
Kathryn Thompson (26:30):
brain's really smart and intellectual.
I understand I can talk myselfout of things and into things
and you name it, but it was allstored in my body and I could
feel it.
I had chronic pain.
I, I was disconnected from mybody.
There'd be moments of am Iactually even, I couldn't, I
didn't even know what it feltlike anymore in a lot of ways,
like what do, yeah.
(26:50):
So lots of somatic work.
Dr Nat Green (26:52):
Yeah.
So you'd done what most highachieving professionals that I
know, and they're the ones thatI tend to work with.
Really, we, in order to.
Keep ourselves safe, shut downthat feeling part because we
have to compartmentalize thingsto be able to keep going a lot
of the time.
(27:12):
So that work is so essential forus, isn't it?
To tune into our body and feelthings again, even though it's
painful, it's very painful.
Yeah, and you've gotta workthrough it though, don't you to
move through.
Kathryn Thompson (27:27):
And I wouldn't have been able to go to the
depth without somebodywitnessing me and holding space
for me in a safe place becausemy brain would often talk me out
of it, this is silly, this isstupid.
This doesn't work.
Like all the things we, and thenwhen I would, when I'd be
working with somatic therapiststhey would, they could sense
there's more let's get to thedepth of that anger.
(27:48):
There's more like you're notsharing all of it.
And that's.
You know was a pattern, right?
It was like, I'll just suppressit and push it all down and I'm
good.
I'm fine.
Dr Nat Green (27:59):
And isn't it interesting when you say that I
could see you squirming in yourseat?
And I was thinking, I wasfeeling that internally too,
because we are called out.
Yeah, totally.
Where we need to be because wefeel things, we know that.
Yeah.
They've got me.
I can't hide that anymore.
(28:19):
So it's uncomfortable, but it'sso important and really brave to
be able to do that work becauseit's the only way we're gonna
move forward after some sort oftrauma or really challenging
situation, isn't it?
We have to own it.
Yeah, totally.
Totally.
Do you think there's anyspecific qualities or personal
(28:41):
attributes that you see as beingkey for moving through trauma
and into post-traumatic growthwhere you are now?
Kathryn Thompson (28:50):
That's a great question.
I think for me, what was reallykey was openness to just be open
and allow myself to be open.
Vulnerable in those experienceswith my coaches, my mentors, my
healers, my practitioners.
Is for me it was opennessbecause I was someone who really
wanted to suppress the emotionand not really show it.
(29:13):
Yeah.
And so I needed to be open andvulnerable.
Which was key for mytransformation, but I wanna say
that it's probably unique toeverybody and their experience
and what they actually need inthe moment, like what their
patterns are and stuff likethat.
I think it's possible foranybody if you're willing to do
the work and you're willing togo to those places that you're
(29:36):
trying to hide or don't want togo to or whatnot.
So I would say openness andvulnerability to the process.
Dr Nat Green (29:43):
Yeah.
I love that so much, and.
It's funny'cause in the lastcouple of episodes, they're the
things that have come up thatvulnerability.
Because often as professionalswe feel like we have to be able
to do everything and not showthat part of ourselves because
people hold us up on this almostlike a pedestal.
(30:06):
It's ridiculous that, yeah, weneed to be perfect in so many
ways.
But the reality is we're allhuman.
Yeah.
And until we're willing to bevulnerable and be real and
authentic and have integrity,things won't change, will they?
No, exactly.
Yeah.
(30:26):
So what would you say is one ofthe most important lessons or
learnings as a result of whatyou've been through?
Kathryn Thompson (30:35):
Yeah.
I think the, for me is actuallytrusting my gut and not.
ruminating or second guessing,that first instinct that comes
through.
But I think the most importantthing for me is that mine would,
I was very reactive, so I wouldget that gut instinct.
I wouldn't like the situation,so I'd be very like judgmental
(30:57):
or reactive to, towards.
The person, the environment,whatever, and I'd get angry and
resentful.
Now I know to ask myself, whatis this telling me about what I
value and what matters to me,rather than just reacting to the
person?
Because that reaction neverbrings anything great, right?
It just breeds more conflict.
(31:18):
And so pausing, getting curiousabout what this tells me about
what I value.
And then continuing to honorthat value because it's, to me,
it's in that resistance.
It's not something I need toovercome.
It's just connecting me back towhat is in integrity to me, but
also knowing that what'sintegrity to me might not be the
same value or integrity tosomebody else.
(31:41):
Now, it doesn't make it right orwrong, unless of course it is
psychological or emotionalabuse, right?
There is a right or wrongelement there.
But if I'm being triggered, forexample, because somebody's
doing something that's not inthe same value as me or the
integrity as me, rather thanreacting and being judgemental.
Just understanding what I valueand then getting curious about
(32:04):
maybe what they value and if,there's a misalignment in
beliefs and values, that's fine.
I don't have to judge them forthat.
They get to be who they need tobe and just have that
acceptance.
And I think that's probably thebiggest lesson for me, is just
accepting people for who theyare without trying to change
them because they don't match myvalues and my integrity.
Dr Nat Green (32:25):
Because that was what had been happening to you
in those other situations, thatyou were being molded because
your values didn't align withtheirs.
Yeah.
But they hadn't done that workand weren't as astute and
developed as you yeah.
Really interesting how it goesfull circle, isn't it?
Yeah.
(32:46):
Yeah.
So what else really stands outthen as.
Being something that helped aspivotal
Kathryn Thompson (32:55):
to move you forward?
Yeah.
I think the thing for me, Ithink I had to come to that
breaking point.
I had to come to that, like ithad to come to a head where it
was like, call it your rockbottom, call it your most
emotional low, whatever it mightbe.
And for me, again, I think itwas somatic and I resisted
somatic work for a long time.
I would do like the talk therapyor the mental stuff that was
(33:18):
comfortable and safe.
But for me,
Dr Nat Green (33:20):
I.
Yeah.
Kathryn Thompson (33:21):
Oh yes.
EFT tapping was probably one ofthe most profound things that I
did.
But EFT tapping with somebodythere to witness me, because if
I was just to do EFT tapping onmy own, I would not do it as
deep as I needed to go.
My, practitioner was like, shecalled me out.
Often in a very loving,compassionate way that allowed
(33:44):
me to really get the anger andthe resentment out.
So that was, yeah, huge.
Dr Nat Green (33:52):
Yeah.
And it's an interestingmodality, isn't it?
The EFT tapping and there's nowso much more research.
It's one of those things I wantit to be able to work for me,
but again I've tried it and it'slike I get nothing.
It's yeah maybe I'm resistingthat and I need to go deeper or
maybe it's not my thing.
(34:13):
And modeling, like you said,you've gotta find your thing.
For me, I'm loving the TRE,which is the trauma and tension
release exercises, which I knowI talked to you about the other
day.
It's really around gettingwhatever's stuck in our nervous
system.
Yeah, from years of hearingpeople's stories, carrying our
(34:36):
own stories, carrying otherpeople's stories, and working
out a way that we can let thatbecome unstuck in our nervous
system through EFT.
Tapping for you, for TRE for me,doesn't matter what it is, does
it?
Yeah.
Kathryn Thompson (34:50):
Yeah.
Yeah, that process sounds socool.
I know we've talked about it andI'd be interested in Yeah.
Trying it because I think, yeah,EFT is great and I think yeah
that, that release in thenervous system's huge.
Dr Nat Green (35:03):
It absolutely is.
And I think the more we knowabout trauma and see the
benefits of these.
Alternative ways of doingthings.
The more information we get andthe more research that's done,
the more we realize that justplain old talk therapy isn't
enough.
(35:24):
Totally.
It works and it's helpful in somany ways, but as you said
before, we intellectualizestuff.
We need to feel it as well toreconnect the parts of ourselves
that maybe haven't felt safeenough to be connected.
Yeah.
Totally.
Yeah.
So you made that decision, yousold the business, it worked in
(35:48):
your favor.
It was wonderful.
You had a couple of years whereyou really dug deep and did the
work.
What next?
Tell me about how thatpost-traumatic growth curve
really went for you then.
Kathryn Thompson (36:01):
Yeah, so for me it was, I was a lot.
More calmer in this business.
And because I deal a lot withpersonalization and one-to-one
work a lot with people that Ilearned not to take on their,
like their stuff with theirfrustrations, which I'd often
internalize and then try to fix.
(36:23):
So I stopped becoming thisfixer.
And I wasn't carrying the burdenlike, I need to carry you up the
mountain.
I need to fix you.
Which then has allowed me toreally expand the business
because when I first launched,when I left the brick and
mortar.
I was terrified.
I was terrified to have morethan five people in a group
program with me because I didn'twant all the energy, I didn't
(36:44):
want all the problems, and itwas all that my nervous system
could handle until I did thework.
And now I've been able I'm morereceptive to receiving, but I
also have really clearboundaries of what's my
responsibility and what isn't myresponsibility, which then
allows me to have that muchmore.
Flow into my business.
(37:05):
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (37:06):
So how do you do that?
How do you,'cause I know a lotof our listeners are health
professionals, helpingprofessionals who do have people
telling their story.
How do we.
Not carry that burden of thatperson's story and keep that
separate.
I'd love to hear that.
Yeah.
Kathryn Thompson (37:23):
Secret for that.
Yeah.
So me was the EFT tapping.
Really?
It was, that was a big one.
And meditation is another onethat allows me to ground like.
I have a daily practice that Ido, and then I also have set up
my business in a way that allowsme to integrate those daily
practices into my clientsessions.
(37:45):
So I'm not going into back toback to back sessions so that I
can clear the energy around me.
So that I'm not carrying thaton, but it's like almost like an
energetic boundary that I wasable to create by getting really
clear about what myresponsibility was and what it
isn't, because I wasn't clearbefore.
(38:08):
Yeah.
And so that's part of why I tookon the burden of the stuff, was
because I was acting as themartyr, the fixer I'll fix that
and I'll fix that, and I'll fixthat.
And then all of a sudden you'rewrapped up in their world.
Now I am very clear on what'smine, what isn't.
And if I feel like I am takingsomething on, then I do the
work, the cord cutting, themeditation, those sorts of
(38:29):
things, those practices gettingout in nature really grounding
for me and lots of baths.
Being in water is a big one forme.
But again, I think it's findingyour method, your way that
really works for you.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (38:44):
Yeah.
So really knowing how you bestground yourself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So whatever it is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So for me, I know it's having acoffee by the beach.
I just sit there and I enjoy thepeace and quiet of that.
I don't need anyone else there.
I'm just sit and have my coffeefor you, the bath.
(39:05):
But just getting out in natureis also really grounding, isn't
it?
Kathryn Thompson (39:09):
Yeah.
And being aware where you aretaking the responsibility on.
So like the thoughts that aregoing through your head, so you
know, if you're assumingsomething about a client or you
are like.
However it might be, oh, I theymight be pissed off'cause I said
this, or whatever it might be.
Where you get in, where yourbrain starts to create drama.
It's also starting to, like Istarted a trigger journal where
(39:32):
things started to, anything thattriggered me and then I'd go,
what is this teaching me aboutwhat I value?
Where was a boundary crossedblah, blah, blah.
That has been absolutely wildfor me because it's just
unpacked so many triggers.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (39:46):
I love that.
I'm gonna write that one down.
So trigger journal and even, andone way it just came to me then
we have gratitude jars.
We could have a trigger jar, orI remember doing this a long
time ago with a client withthings that they took on board
that were negative aboutthemselves or their environment.
(40:06):
They would put it in this.
Shoebox, I think it was, butthen put all your triggers in
there and then have a burningceremony or something like that
to burn it and get rid of it.
So there's so many ways.
I love that.
So a trigger journal or triggerjar or trigger box or something
like that would be powerful.
Thank you.
(40:27):
That's a great tip and strategy.
Yeah.
Any other little
Kathryn Thompson (40:33):
wise?
Yeah.
The trigger, like thedocumenting my triggers and
getting to the root of it hasprobably been being the best
meditation nature.
Yeah.
I'm trying to think of any.
I also love to cook, so anythingthat allows me to get into my
creative flow will take me outof my mental brain.
(40:55):
But I've, I have such a calmermind now with that combination.
And understanding of what, why Iwas triggered or that sort of
thing has been really helpfulbecause I've always tried to,
I've always looked at triggeringas a bad thing.
I'm, why am I triggering?
'cause I'm judging.
But now I've reframed it too.
It's actually just showing mewhat I value.
(41:16):
For example, I often gettriggered by like big money
claims, right?
Like how to make 14 K in twodays.
Yeah, trigger me.
Yeah, they trigger me.
And I would have people say it'sbecause you're afraid of money
or you don't like money, or youhave a negative charge around
money.
And I was like, it's actuallynot that.
I am looking at the transparencyof that.
(41:38):
I'm going, there's more to thatstory.
And as a depth worker, assomebody who likes to go to the
truth of things, I'm going, yes,is that profit?
Is that right?
My brain start.
So it's more around what I valueand I'm I align with, it has
nothing to do with the moneypiece and it's not an obstacle I
(41:58):
need to overcome.
I just know where I need to goas a result of that.
And I think that's really helpedwith the reframing'cause I was
always trying to fix myselfbecause of these triggers and
it, there was nothing for me toactually fix.
Dr Nat Green (42:11):
No.
So recognizing that a triggeris.
Again, it's just a word.
It's not negative or positive.
It's a trigger is a sign thatsomething is out of alignment,
whether that's what they'vesaid, what they've done, it's
about then being able tonavigate that path and put it
where it needs to be for you,positive or negative.
(42:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, I really love that.
That's excellent.
Yeah, and I think, that doingsomething that's creative is
really, that's moving it fromone half of the brain to the
other half of the brain, theanalytical part through to
creative, and it helps you movethrough that and help reduce
(42:55):
that charge.
Exactly.
Totally.
Get outta your head and intoyour heart space.
Kathryn Thompson (43:00):
Yeah.
And usually with things with myhands, right?
Pottery, photography, cooking,right?
It's now I'm using this otherside of my brain that isn't over
analyzing and all the things.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (43:11):
And it's that doing.
Yeah.
And being so doing both and justbeing in it and sitting with it
as well, which you can do moreof when you're in that creative
space.
Yeah.
Rather than push, push.
Which is so common, isn't it, ashigh achievers where we just
keep pushing through and pushingthrough.
(43:33):
Yeah.
'cause that's the way societyset things up a lot of the time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But we need to do more being andsitting.
Yeah.
And just allowing time andspace.
A hundred percent.
Yeah.
What I'm, what I'd love you todo now is a little bit more
around what you do now and yeah,tell us more about you and where
(43:56):
we can find you.
Kathryn Thompson (43:58):
Yeah, so you can find me at creatively owned
my website's, creatively ownedInstagram, Facebook creatively
owned, and I hang out most onInstagram.
And basically what I do now is.
Predominantly support thoseselling the invisible, like
selling a service and offeringthat isn't tangible and doesn't
often fit into traditionalmarketing, right?
(44:20):
That tells us we need one big,tangible result.
We need to take people from A toB, but in the healing world, our
healing is often non-linear.
So it doesn't actually fit intothis roadmap.
That's if you just do this step.
You'll heal all of your trauma.
If it was that easy, we'd all bedoing it.
We'd all be fixed.
Yeah, basically.
(44:40):
And it's more of a spiral andit's more of a, trial and error.
It's more of a non-linearexperience.
And so I really support peoplein articulating the value of
what they do and how to reallypackage and position that in a
way that's.
In integrity with what they'reactually offering.
'cause again, a lot oftraditional marketing is give a
guarantee, tell'em they'll gethere by this date and this time.
(45:02):
And lots of healers, as arelike, I can't promise that.
And everybody's experience isunique and everybody's there
might be similarities in trauma.
It's everybody's unique in howthey're.
How they're wired and operateand even just, you and I have
very different experiences withour, the modalities that we use,
and that's okay.
And so I help them put intowords what they do, how they do
(45:26):
it, so they can really get theirmeaningful work and their
healing work out into the world,into the hands of more people.
Oh I think
Dr Nat Green (45:33):
this is amazing, and I'm thinking, oh, I can
already think of so many peoplethat will benefit from the
approach you use, knowing thatit's okay for us to be ourselves
and show up exactly as we are,rather than feel we need to fit
in this box because it's so nota one size fits all, whereas
(45:55):
often that need to market andcommunicate.
Our worth and our value is thathustle culture that doesn't feel
right to us.
Yeah.
As healers and helpers.
Kathryn Thompson (46:09):
Yeah, totally.
Dr Nat Green (46:12):
Oh, I love that.
So I'll put all that in the shownotes, and I know that you've
also got a quiz, so you wannatell us about that because I'm
definitely gonna take that quiz.
I'm really keen to find out moreabout that.
Kathryn Thompson (46:25):
Yeah.
I love my quiz.
It's the, what's your ElevatedEdge quiz, and basically when
you take it, it gives you thisvery in depth.
If you haven't already felt thisabout me I'm, I call myself a
depth worker.
The people that come into myworld are depth workers, right?
They like to go to the depths ofthings.
They understand people arenuanced.
(46:45):
So through this quiz, when youtake it, then you get this
really in depth report.
I'm talking in really in depthabout.
Your natural gifts, what makesyou different?
Like maybe even the marketingplatforms or channels to be on,
right?
So again, it's not about thecookie cutter.
It's about how to really honoryour authentic expression.
(47:07):
What's your unique edge in thisworld and how to put that out
into the world and share it.
With the world and get paid forit without the compromise,
without having to fit yourselfinto a box.
And so it's a really fun quiz.
My intention was you could walkaway with it and have almost, I
don't wanna call it a blueprint,but I.
(47:28):
Anyone that's taken it has said,I finally feel seen.
I feel like you wrote thisspecifically for me, which is my
whole, was my whole intention.
I wanted people to feel seen andunderstood and be able to just
go, okay, I can be me and I canexpress myself authentically,
and that actually my uniquenessor my weirdness, or my quirks or
(47:51):
whatever are part of mysuperpower.
And that's okay.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (47:57):
What a gift.
I think you're a gift to thisworld.
I just think the stories you'veshared today are, oh, I honestly
feel so honored to have sharedthis space with you.
I've, one question that I ask atthe end, usually and given the
very beautiful, powerful storyyou told about 4-year-old you,
(48:21):
what do you think your youngestself.
Would think of what you'veachieved.
Kathryn Thompson (48:28):
I think my younger self would be so
impressed, and I'd also think myyounger self would say, maybe
there are areas that you'rebeing a little modest, that you
could push yourself just thatmuch more to really step into
(48:48):
that highest potential that.
Up until this point, all yourlived experiences have maybe had
you playing a little bit modest,and now it's time to fully
shine.
Dr Nat Green (49:00):
I love that.
So it's time for you to be atall poppy.
Yeah.
To grow even taller.
I love that.
Yes.
Look, lookout world.
I'm really excited.
I'm going to do that quiz today.
Absolutely.
Gonna go off there.
I wanna find that.
Yeah, the secrets and feel seenand see where's it gonna take
(49:21):
me.
And I'm really grateful thatyou've offered that.
So I'll put that in the shownotes as well.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for being you,Kathryn, and for showing up and
being the most amazing,authentic version of you and
sharing that with our guests.
Been really wonderful having youon.
Thank you.
Kathryn Thompson (49:42):
Yes.
Thank you so much for having me.
It was a pleasure connecting andchatting and sharing my story
and I am just so honored to bein this space with you as well.
Dr Nat Green (49:50):
And I look forward to our chat on your podcast
soon.
Kathryn Thompson (49:53):
Yes, I know.
I'm excited to have you on.
Dr Nat Green (49:56):
Yes, so am I, and I look forward to sharing that
with everyone as well.
So thank you so much, Kathryn.
Bye for now.
Kathryn Thompson (50:03):
Thank you.
Dr Nat Green (50:08):
Thank you for joining me in this episode of
Growing Tall Poppies.
It is my deepest hope thattoday's episode may have
inspired and empowered you tostep fully into your
post-traumatic growth, so thatyou can have absolute clarity
around who you are, what mattersthe most to you, and to assist
(50:30):
you to release your negativeemotions.
And regulate your nervous systemso you can fully thrive.
New episodes are published everyTuesday, and I hope you'll
continue to join us as weexplore both the strategies and
the personal qualities requiredto fully live a life of
(50:50):
post-traumatic growth and tothrive.
So if it feels aligned to youand really resonates, then I
invite you to hit subscribe andit would mean the world to us.
If you could share this episodewith others who you feel may
benefit too, you may also findme on Instagram at Growing Tall
(51:11):
Poppies and Facebook, Dr.
Natalie Green.
Remember, every moment is anopportunity to look for the
lessons and to learn andincrease your ability to live
the life you desire and deserve.
So for now, stay connected.
Stay inspired.
(51:32):
Stand tall like the tall poppyyou are, and keep shining your
light brightly in the world.
Bye for.
Welcome to the Growing Tall Poppies Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Nat Green, and I'm so excited tohave you join me as we discuss
what it means to navigate yourway through post-traumatic
growth and not just survive, butto thrive after trauma.
(00:23):
Through our podcast, we willexplore ways for you to create a
life filled with greaterpurpose, self-awareness, and a
deep inner peace.
Through integrating the manyyears of knowledge and
professional experience, as wellas the wisdom of those who have
experienced trauma firsthand.
(00:44):
We'll combine psychologyaccelerated approaches.
Coaching and personal experienceto assist you, to learn, to grow
and to thrive.
I hope to empower you to createdeeper awareness and
understanding and strongerconnections with yourself and
with others, whilst also pavingthe way for those who have
(01:08):
experienced trauma and adversityto reduce their suffering and
become the very best versions ofthemselves.
In order to thrive.
Thank you so much for joining meon today's episode.
Welcome.
I'm really pleased and gratefultoday to bring you our next
(01:28):
guest on the Growing TallPoppies podcast.
It's my absolute pleasure andprivilege to welcome a lady who
I met recently through an eventfor podcasters, and she has a
wealth of knowledge andexperience and has generously
agreed to come and chat with ustoday and share her wisdom.
So let me start by introducingKathryn to you all.
(01:50):
Kathryn Thompson is a Canadianbased entrepreneur who inspires
people to use their stories as away to create change in the
world.
She's an award-winning marketingand communications expert with
more than 20 years ofexperience.
After growing one of herbusinesses to close to$1 million
in sales in less than fouryears, she sold it with a single
(02:13):
email.
Kathryn is now the founder ofCreatively Owned a marketing and
communications firm that helpsentrepreneurs use the power of
words to create instant appealfor what they are selling.
So welcome, Kathryn.
It's so great to have you here.
Kathryn Thompson (02:29):
I'm so excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
Dr Nat Green (02:33):
All right, so we might just start with you giving
us, even though I've given abrief introduction, how about
you give us an introduction ofwho you are and what you do in
the world?
Kathryn Thompson (02:44):
Yeah, so I think the bio kind of sums it up
lovely, but I'll just, I'llbridge off it a little bit more.
I'm a highly intuitive, veryemotional empath and so the
people I typically work with arealso equally very heart centered
and I support them in creating.
Sharing their story to createand put out the meaningful work
(03:05):
and the work that they wanna doin the world, but more
specifically in a reallyaligned, authentic way.
So some of the values that Icarry, are integrity,
authenticity, creativeexpression, and so I really help
people stay true to who theyare.
When it comes to marketing andsales, because I know a lot of
people that come into my worldstruggle with that.
(03:25):
They feel like they're losingthemselves in it because they
don't necessarily agree with alot of the tactics and whatnot
that have been taught.
And so I really help them honorwho they are so that they can
bring their most meaningful workout into the world and share it
with people and really get itinto the hands of more people.
That's me in a nutshell.
Career-wise, I'm verymulti-passionate.
I'm a creative myself.
(03:46):
Photography, videography,pottery, you name it.
I'm very creative at heart, so
Dr Nat Green (03:53):
Oh, I love that so much.
And.
I, yeah, I can see why weconnected immediately because I
share the majority of thosevalues, particularly
authenticity and integrity.
So I love that.
And especially in the world ofmarketing, I.
We see so many things and somany people who are out there
(04:15):
and they just seem so misalignedor I feel misaligned to them.
So I love that you help peopletell their stories and share
their story in a beautiful way.
Yeah.
I'm just wondering if I can askthen a little bit, you've got to
the point where you help peopleshare their stories, so today
(04:36):
I'm wondering if you'd bewilling to share a bit of your
story about how you got to beable to do that in the world.
Kathryn Thompson (04:44):
Yeah, amazing question.
So when I went to university, Ireally had no idea what I wanted
to do.
Originally, I was gonna go inand be a forensic
anthropologist, like that was mything.
I know.
And then I ended up.
Talking to a counselor whotalked me out of it.
I've always really loved tryingto understand people, places,
(05:07):
things, culture, right?
So it's not that far off.
And my dad's an accountant andso I was like, okay, I'll just
go into business school.
It's a safe thing.
I was playing competitivesoccer, so I was going to
university really to play soccerand fill, fulfill that dream.
But I knew I had to do somethingand I wanted a degree that would
at least set me on the pathwayto.
(05:28):
Have a career after it, right?
So not just maybe your basicarts degree.
Nothing wrong with that, but Ijust knew if I'm gonna go to
school for four or five years, Iwanna be able to get out and get
a job.
So initially I was gonna go intoaccounting, and the beautiful
thing about commerce or businessschool where I live, is that you
get to try all the classesbefore you actually pick a
major.
But accounting is the thing.
Yeah.
(05:49):
And accounting was the thingthat my dad did.
So I thought, oh, I'll probablydo that and then I could work in
the family business yada.
All the things.
My first accounting class, I waslike, this is boring.
Ain't doing this.
And I went into my firstmarketing class and I loved it
'cause it was so creative.
And so I got my undergraduate inmarketing, spent the first, six
(06:10):
or seven years of my careerdoing marketing, but feeling
duped because I was working forother people.
And they had a likeincorporations that they had a
very particular marketingdirective, so there wasn't
really anything creative aboutit or that creative about it.
So I ended up going to getting amaster's in communication
because I was trying to escape.
(06:31):
The discomfort that I wasfeeling in my career of not
really jiving with it.
And I ended up going to thePhilippines as part of my
master's research, lived in aremote village, did a visual
ethnography, really experiencedtheir way of being, and then
came home and started to tellstories about it.
And that trip really changed thetrajectory for me'cause it
(06:51):
really changed.
My life course, my beliefsreally helped me get back to my
values of, authentic connection,integrity, authenticity, all of
the things.
And from there, I ended upditching my corporate career
after 15 years and divingheadfirst into opening my brick
and mortar business.
To sell and produce wine and Iknow I
Dr Nat Green (07:15):
love it.
So it's such a big change.
Such a wild,
Kathryn Thompson (07:19):
yeah, and I, when I reflect back now to what
drew me to that business wasagain, the direct experience,
being able to deal with avariety of different people.
And I also love food, wine,travel, all the things.
And so I just ended up naturallybeing able to talk about it and
sell it.
The business model and thepartnership weren't aligned, and
(07:41):
so we ended up selling afterfour years, and I came back to
my roots of marketing and sales,but knowing I wanted to do
things very differently,especially having gone into the
online space where I felt like Iwas being hit with this, what is
going on here?
Because all of the.
Things that weren't in integrityto me were like amplified on
steroids.
(08:02):
All of the sales tactics thatwere manipulative.
And I was like, what is goingon?
So my goal was to rewrite thatnarrative, and that's what I've
been doing for the last sixyears and Creatively Owned, was
I'm gonna help all thosebusiness owners that want to do
really good work in the worldwho value integrity and
authenticity, and I'm gonna helpthem because I have the decades
(08:22):
of experience now in marketingand sales, and I can help them
in doing that.
That brings me to present day ina nutshell.
Dr Nat Green (08:29):
Oh, what an interesting story.
Like so many different things.
And we see that so often, don'twe?
That oh, we think we'll followin the footsteps of our parents,
or we'll do this because there'sthis expectation that maybe we
should, so isn't it wonderfulthat you tried it Yeah.
And then made your own decisionanyway?
(08:50):
Yeah.
That, that you also took that.
Risk and backed yourself andwent and explored things your
way.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So as we know, a lot of gueststhat I have come on the show and
they've experienced trauma oradversity in their life, and we
(09:13):
talk about how they've navigatedthat experience.
And I firmly believe that ifyou're human, you've been
through some sort of adversity,there's.
I don't think I know anyone whohasn't, so I'm wondering if you
would be comfortable sharingsome of that story as well, so
our listeners can understandsome of the things you've been
through and how you've overcomethem.
Kathryn Thompson (09:35):
Yeah, I think the corporate world and
environment was traumatic in andof itself for me because I was
having to fit myself into.
The values of a company that Ioften never resonated with.
So for example, at two differentstages of my career, I ended up
(09:57):
actually working for A CEO thathad, or leaders of a company,
directors of a company that Iwas a direct report to.
That had narcissistic tendenciesand so yeah, so one particular
incident, which is why I endedup quitting this one position
and ended up going after mymaster's in all the thing was
(10:21):
they were trained to fire myboss, and they were going around
it in a backhanded sort of way,and they were trying to pin on
me that I had been harassed bymy boss.
To a point that HR in the city Ilived in contacted me for a
private meeting to say that myboss was harassing me, which
(10:43):
never was.
So I was being pinned with thisthing and I ended up being such
a toxic experience for mebecause.
For me integrity is important.
And so when somebody is tellingsomething about me that isn't
true,
Dr Nat Green (11:00):
that
Kathryn Thompson (11:00):
such wrecked havoc on my system, that took,
years for me to recover from.
Which is interesting'cause Ithen moved on to another job
where the CEO was the same way.
Very narcissistic tendencieswhere they say things to you
that's like a gut punch andyou're like, that didn't feel
(11:21):
good.
Why doesn't that feel good?
And then you're like, Ooh,there's some manipulation
happening.
For example, this particular CEOsaid to me after I left the
company, really smart peoplemake dumb decisions.
Basically implying that mequitting was a dumb decision.
Like it was these undercuttingwe, we often called, it was like
(11:44):
this undercutting.
Statements that almost hit youafter the fact.
They hit, gut punched you andthen you'd go away and you'd be
like,
Dr Nat Green (11:53):
oof.
Kathryn Thompson (11:54):
So I had a tendency, I think it's me being
an empath, I had a tendency toattract and navigate
narcissistic behaviors that wascorporate reality.
So that the trauma around that,and then having to navigate that
through corporate and then ourbusiness partnership in my brick
and mortar.
Wasn't the greatest partnershipand that created a lot of trauma
(12:16):
for me and probably everybodyinvolved because it was family.
So I was in partnership with myhusband, my brother, my
sister-in-law, and we were atodds for four years that the sad
part about it was is that itfractured the relationship,
which is now taken a turn andthe relationship is mending, but
(12:36):
it's taken a lot of years forthat mending to happen.
Dr Nat Green (12:40):
There's often so much fallout isn't there and
yeah.
I know that we often get warneddon't go into business with
friends or family, but there'sso many layers to that because
it can turn out so differently.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for sharingyour journey and it's
interesting.
That, that corporate spacereally is very different,
(13:05):
particularly difficult with thenarcissists when we are empaths,
when we feel so deeply'causethat gaslighting is rife, isn't
it?
You leave there thinking, whatdid I do?
Oh my goodness, it's me and youreally take it on board as
something is wrong with that.
With me.
With us, yes.
Kathryn Thompson (13:27):
Yeah.
And it's because we care sodeeply, it becomes that for me
it was a spiral, right?
I was just spiral down becauseI'd be like, what's wrong with
me?
What did I say that was wrong?
And then you start to try tolike mold yourself so that you
don't get these undercuttingbackhanded gaslighting
situations.
You're just like, and that justmakes it even worse because.
(13:47):
You move so far away from yourcenter and your core and your
values, you're just trying toavoid.
And that was what I was tryingto do was avoid those
situations.
But even in the avoidance, I wasbeing pinned for something that
I was like, where is this evencoming from?
I've never once said my boss washarassing me.
It was so crazy.
(14:08):
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (14:09):
Yeah.
It was that underlying agendathat they had and Totally.
You were.
The fallout of that.
So how did you initially copewith that?
Like your nervous systemwould've been screaming at you,
this is not okay, but you werestuck in this situation.
You just had to keep going.
I.
Kathryn Thompson (14:29):
Yeah, my coping mechanism that I
identified after the brick andmortar, after we sold the brick
and mortar, and I really healedfrom that, which was probably
two years where I felt like Iwas in a neutral state when it
came to thinking about thepartnership, the relationship,
the conversations.
I was very neutral about it.
It took me about two years.
My natural tendency though, wasescapism, and so I quit the job.
(14:54):
I left the situation.
I.
And then I just kept recreatingit in my existence.
Because I was never actuallydealing with the, all of the
things that were going on.
As a, not that being in anarcissistic relationship is not
your fault, but to be able toidentify and navigate it and not
be a sponge to it, which is whatI was, I just escaped.
(15:16):
I'd quit, I'd run away.
I'd walk away.
And that ties back to anexperience I had in my early
childhood where I essentiallyhad to run for my life.
Call it a potential kidnappingsituation, whatever we want to
call it.
Yeah.
I was four years old and I waswalking to a friend's house and
these four women were walkingdown the street towards me, and
(15:38):
I had never seen them before onthis block.
And I lived, grew up in a smallcity.
Quite small, and I'd never seenthem before on my block.
And my gut instinct was like,cross the street.
I don't know why my gut said it,but it did.
And as soon as I crossed thestreet, they said, get her.
And I ran to the archbishop'shouse on our street who is never
(16:00):
home and never answered the doorlike ringing the doorbell.
I ended up hiding behind thesetwo big cedar trees.
Oh.
And then jumping a veranda toour other friend's house and
finally getting someone to helpme.
So I think I've been running formy life my whole life.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (16:17):
That, thank you for sharing that.
That would've been likehorrendous at any age, but as a
little, yes.
4-year-old girl.
Yeah.
So much fear and yet you werebrave enough or to know, to
trust your gut.
Yeah.
That this doesn't feel right.
So you were really in tune withthat even back then.
(16:40):
Yeah.
You still were able to getyourself outta that situation
and know to ask for help.
I think there'd be very few fouryear olds, to be honest, that
would be able to navigate thatin that way.
That's amazing.
Kathryn Thompson (16:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which then I think translatedand played out to, like I said,
things in my life and how Ihandled adversity was like, I
quit, I'm done.
I would just avoid and move onrather than actually dealing
with it until it came to a headin my brick and mortar where I
was forced to deal with it.
Dr Nat Green (17:14):
Yes.
So it's funny how we play outthose patterns throughout our
life, and so often in the workthat I do with clients to do our
breakthrough session, we get tothe root cause.
So back then.
That significant traumaexperience led to that pattern
of I'll escape.
I get out of it.
(17:35):
Whenever I feel unsafe, I getout.
So that's exactly what you'vedone.
Yeah.
Just wondering, Kathryn though,if at that, that little
4-year-old girl had that reallydeep intuition and trusted her
gut when you were in thosecorporate environments.
Were you getting that gutresponse and not able to listen
(17:57):
or were you listening?
Kathryn Thompson (17:59):
I was getting the gut responses.
I wasn't listening, so I.
My natural tendency was to get,I would get it instinctively.
I'd be like, Ooh, that's notright.
Or Ooh, I could feel it in mygut.
It was like a gut punch.
But then I would justify, oh,you're overreacting.
And I think that came with thegaslighting or the, I didn't
(18:20):
mean that.
Or you're taking these twopersonally, or you're too
sensitive, or you care too much,or whatever.
That was said, and so then Iwould.
Play it in my head.
Oh, I'm overreacting.
They didn't mean it.
And I was highly forgiving inthose moments.
And I would give people 15chances when I probably should
(18:41):
have only given them two.
Dr Nat Green (18:43):
Yeah.
And we, that's the nature of whoyou are as a person.
That's that tendency to trust,to see the best in people.
Yeah, and have that integrity.
It's interesting though, that weoften see, and I know we chatted
the other day about that head,heart, and gut, the three
(19:05):
brains, so that gut brain wasswitched on and really getting
that response.
But after we go through traumaand adversity over and over
again, going through being letdown with the narcissist stuff,
everything going on, your.
Capacity to listen and have thehead and the heart and the gut
(19:29):
continuing to be integrated.
Lessened.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you could cognitively go inyour head and your head brain
was working and your heart brainwas questioning that, but
somehow you'd managed to shutoff that gut brain because of it
being quashed based on theexperiences.
Kathryn Thompson (19:52):
Yeah.
Totally.
And then the ruminating, like Iwould ruminate for almost to a
point, especially when I had thebrick and mortar, like I'd give
myself a headache fromruminating so much playing
scenarios over and over in myhead, trying to convince myself
that what I was experiencingwasn't true.
(20:12):
Even though I felt it deeply, Iwas like, Ooh, I could sense
things.
And my husband always says thisyou have this like sixth sense.
You just know.
It's almost like you can predictthings before they happen.
And then people often go that'snot true, or It didn't happen
that way, or I don't see it thatway.
And then I go, oh, maybe I'mwrong.
(20:34):
Yeah.
So you question
Dr Nat Green (20:35):
yourself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so then you finally, yourback was to the wall in your
bricks and mortar business withthat extra dynamic of tricky
family relationships.
What was it that got you to thepoint of, I need to listen, we
need to be done?
(20:55):
How did you get to that point?
Yeah,
Kathryn Thompson (20:58):
it's wild because.
It is wild.
So Covid hit, as everybodyknows, COVID hit in.
2020, and it was April of 2020that our store was shut to the
public and everybody else'sstore and our location was shut
to the public.
And there was some disagreementat that time, and it was middle
(21:21):
of May, and I was pretty muchcarrying the brunt of the work
along with a lot of support frommy husband.
But I was doing most of it.
And I just, it was internal gutinstinct.
I'm like, I am sending an emailto my list on June one.
I didn't even tell my husband, Ididn't tell my other business
partners.
I just did it.
And everyone was like, you'renuts because it's Covid We're
(21:44):
closed to the public.
No one's buying a brick andmortar business.
'cause nobody knew at that pointwhere things were going.
And I just said, I don't care.
I'm done.
And that's.
Also a trait of mine of likewhen the light switch goes off.
And I often say this, when thelight switch goes off and I'm
done, there's no getting me backat that point.
(22:05):
Like I've made the decision andwhen I make the decision, it's
go time.
Sent the email, had 11interested buyers.
Wow.
In two signed NDAs.
Yeah.
And sold that business withintwo and a half months.
Like we transferred ownership bythe middle of August of 2020,
and I was finally out of thestore by middle of September of
2020, and people were like, howdid you do this?
(22:28):
And it was like amazing.
My internal instinct was like,send the email.
Dr Nat Green (22:34):
So again, somehow in amongst all of that chaos
within you Yeah.
You were able to trust your gutand you did it anyway.
Yeah.
Reconnected with yourself.
And knew that the pain ofstaying where you were wasn't
worth it for you?
Kathryn Thompson (22:51):
No.
Dr Nat Green (22:51):
No.
Wow.
That's an amazing story.
Kathryn Thompson (22:56):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That decision was a wild onebecause it was like nobody's
selling brick and mortar.
It's 2020.
So much is unpredictable rightnow, and the beauty of our
industry that we were in waswine.
Wine sales went through the roofwhen.
Restaurants and everythingclosed because people weren't
buying, they weren't going outand eating.
(23:17):
They had a lot more disposableincome.
So all of a sudden our saleswent through the roof and that's
what really helped.
It was just such a, yeah.
Divine timing.
Perfect.
And we're all staying home
Dr Nat Green (23:28):
to drink our wine.
Yeah.
Basically.
Yeah.
There's much else to do whenyou're stuck at home and the
world had shut down.
Was there, yeah.
Oh goodness.
So as you look back then, youthen said you had a good two
years before things felt thatthey neutralized.
Yeah.
In that two years, what sort ofthings did you feel you were
(23:51):
able to do to move forward?
Kathryn Thompson (23:54):
Yeah, so I did a lot of internal
self-reflection, I definitelygot into like victim mindset in
the brick and mortar.
Lots of blaming, lots ofprojecting outwards, lots of
anger, lots of resentment, andso I knew for me to repair any
relationship I had and also forme to stay healthy.
I needed to go inward and Ineeded to heal the resentment I
(24:16):
needed to have the forgiveness Ineeded to acknowledge where.
I was in reaction to behaviorsthat I didn't like, and that was
okay because I had reached abreaking point.
So when.
Oftentimes, and I was beingpunished for my reactions.
'cause my reactions weren'talways the greatest because I
(24:39):
was frustrated, angry, burntout, you name it.
But I had to do a lot of innerwork.
And then of course I worked withvarious practitioners to help me
navigate this.
So I didn't do it alone.
I had a ton of support.
Over the years and still do alot of personal development
work.
So it's not like after two yearsit was like, okay, it's neutral
(25:00):
and we're good.
It was like, this is an ongoingevolution for me.
So that I don't get back to aplace and repeat these patterns
that I've experienced for a vastmajority of my life.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (25:10):
Yeah.
And really having that insight.
Not everyone has that insight.
So being able to tune in againand recognize Yeah, there's
things that I'll own.
Yeah.
But also knowing why they werethere and where they had come
from.
Yeah.
And being able to connect withsome, people who could help you
do that.
'cause you're certainly, it'snot something you can work
(25:32):
through alone.
Kathryn Thompson (25:34):
No.
No.
And yeah it just isn't, and Ithink that's a message to, to
send far and wide is you needthat witnessing, especially, and
this going through trauma andthen trying to heal trauma.
It has to be done in relation, Ithink.
With a therapist, with an energyhealer with.
Whatever, but yeah, whateverworks
Dr Nat Green (25:54):
for you, yeah.
Whatever modality works for you.
Yeah, exactly.
It's not, it's definitely not aone size fits all, and some
people, you go to a therapist,they're not my thing.
I want go down this way.
And as an empath and having thatlevel of intuition, it probably
wasn't your stock standard pathto heal your nervous system.
Kathryn Thompson (26:16):
Very somatic.
A lot of, I think that wasprobably the greatest
transformation for me was the,like actually coming back into
my body and somatically healingmy body.
Because intellectually Iunderstood
Dr Nat Green (26:29):
my
Kathryn Thompson (26:30):
brain's really smart and intellectual.
I understand I can talk myselfout of things and into things
and you name it, but it was allstored in my body and I could
feel it.
I had chronic pain.
I, I was disconnected from mybody.
There'd be moments of am Iactually even, I couldn't, I
didn't even know what it feltlike anymore in a lot of ways,
like what do, yeah.
(26:50):
So lots of somatic work.
Dr Nat Green (26:52):
Yeah.
So you'd done what most highachieving professionals that I
know, and they're the ones thatI tend to work with.
Really, we, in order to.
Keep ourselves safe, shut downthat feeling part because we
have to compartmentalize thingsto be able to keep going a lot
of the time.
(27:12):
So that work is so essential forus, isn't it?
To tune into our body and feelthings again, even though it's
painful, it's very painful.
Yeah, and you've gotta workthrough it though, don't you to
move through.
Kathryn Thompson (27:27):
And I wouldn't have been able to go to the
depth without somebodywitnessing me and holding space
for me in a safe place becausemy brain would often talk me out
of it, this is silly, this isstupid.
This doesn't work.
Like all the things we, and thenwhen I would, when I'd be
working with somatic therapiststhey would, they could sense
there's more let's get to thedepth of that anger.
(27:48):
There's more like you're notsharing all of it.
And that's.
You know was a pattern, right?
It was like, I'll just suppressit and push it all down and I'm
good.
I'm fine.
Dr Nat Green (27:59):
And isn't it interesting when you say that I
could see you squirming in yourseat?
And I was thinking, I wasfeeling that internally too,
because we are called out.
Yeah, totally.
Where we need to be because wefeel things, we know that.
Yeah.
They've got me.
I can't hide that anymore.
(28:19):
So it's uncomfortable, but it'sso important and really brave to
be able to do that work becauseit's the only way we're gonna
move forward after some sort oftrauma or really challenging
situation, isn't it?
We have to own it.
Yeah, totally.
Totally.
Do you think there's anyspecific qualities or personal
(28:41):
attributes that you see as beingkey for moving through trauma
and into post-traumatic growthwhere you are now?
Kathryn Thompson (28:50):
That's a great question.
I think for me, what was reallykey was openness to just be open
and allow myself to be open.
Vulnerable in those experienceswith my coaches, my mentors, my
healers, my practitioners.
Is for me it was opennessbecause I was someone who really
wanted to suppress the emotionand not really show it.
(29:13):
Yeah.
And so I needed to be open andvulnerable.
Which was key for mytransformation, but I wanna say
that it's probably unique toeverybody and their experience
and what they actually need inthe moment, like what their
patterns are and stuff likethat.
I think it's possible foranybody if you're willing to do
the work and you're willing togo to those places that you're
(29:36):
trying to hide or don't want togo to or whatnot.
So I would say openness andvulnerability to the process.
Dr Nat Green (29:43):
Yeah.
I love that so much, and.
It's funny'cause in the lastcouple of episodes, they're the
things that have come up thatvulnerability.
Because often as professionalswe feel like we have to be able
to do everything and not showthat part of ourselves because
people hold us up on this almostlike a pedestal.
(30:06):
It's ridiculous that, yeah, weneed to be perfect in so many
ways.
But the reality is we're allhuman.
Yeah.
And until we're willing to bevulnerable and be real and
authentic and have integrity,things won't change, will they?
No, exactly.
Yeah.
(30:26):
So what would you say is one ofthe most important lessons or
learnings as a result of whatyou've been through?
Kathryn Thompson (30:35):
Yeah.
I think the, for me is actuallytrusting my gut and not.
ruminating or second guessing,that first instinct that comes
through.
But I think the most importantthing for me is that mine would,
I was very reactive, so I wouldget that gut instinct.
I wouldn't like the situation,so I'd be very like judgmental
(30:57):
or reactive to, towards.
The person, the environment,whatever, and I'd get angry and
resentful.
Now I know to ask myself, whatis this telling me about what I
value and what matters to me,rather than just reacting to the
person?
Because that reaction neverbrings anything great, right?
It just breeds more conflict.
(31:18):
And so pausing, getting curiousabout what this tells me about
what I value.
And then continuing to honorthat value because it's, to me,
it's in that resistance.
It's not something I need toovercome.
It's just connecting me back towhat is in integrity to me, but
also knowing that what'sintegrity to me might not be the
same value or integrity tosomebody else.
(31:41):
Now, it doesn't make it right orwrong, unless of course it is
psychological or emotionalabuse, right?
There is a right or wrongelement there.
But if I'm being triggered, forexample, because somebody's
doing something that's not inthe same value as me or the
integrity as me, rather thanreacting and being judgemental.
Just understanding what I valueand then getting curious about
(32:04):
maybe what they value and if,there's a misalignment in
beliefs and values, that's fine.
I don't have to judge them forthat.
They get to be who they need tobe and just have that
acceptance.
And I think that's probably thebiggest lesson for me, is just
accepting people for who theyare without trying to change
them because they don't match myvalues and my integrity.
Dr Nat Green (32:25):
Because that was what had been happening to you
in those other situations, thatyou were being molded because
your values didn't align withtheirs.
Yeah.
But they hadn't done that workand weren't as astute and
developed as you yeah.
Really interesting how it goesfull circle, isn't it?
Yeah.
(32:46):
Yeah.
So what else really stands outthen as.
Being something that helped aspivotal
Kathryn Thompson (32:55):
to move you forward?
Yeah.
I think the thing for me, Ithink I had to come to that
breaking point.
I had to come to that, like ithad to come to a head where it
was like, call it your rockbottom, call it your most
emotional low, whatever it mightbe.
And for me, again, I think itwas somatic and I resisted
somatic work for a long time.
I would do like the talk therapyor the mental stuff that was
(33:18):
comfortable and safe.
But for me,
Dr Nat Green (33:20):
I.
Yeah.
Kathryn Thompson (33:21):
Oh yes.
EFT tapping was probably one ofthe most profound things that I
did.
But EFT tapping with somebodythere to witness me, because if
I was just to do EFT tapping onmy own, I would not do it as
deep as I needed to go.
My, practitioner was like, shecalled me out.
Often in a very loving,compassionate way that allowed
(33:44):
me to really get the anger andthe resentment out.
So that was, yeah, huge.
Dr Nat Green (33:52):
Yeah.
And it's an interestingmodality, isn't it?
The EFT tapping and there's nowso much more research.
It's one of those things I wantit to be able to work for me,
but again I've tried it and it'slike I get nothing.
It's yeah maybe I'm resistingthat and I need to go deeper or
maybe it's not my thing.
(34:13):
And modeling, like you said,you've gotta find your thing.
For me, I'm loving the TRE,which is the trauma and tension
release exercises, which I knowI talked to you about the other
day.
It's really around gettingwhatever's stuck in our nervous
system.
Yeah, from years of hearingpeople's stories, carrying our
(34:36):
own stories, carrying otherpeople's stories, and working
out a way that we can let thatbecome unstuck in our nervous
system through EFT.
Tapping for you, for TRE for me,doesn't matter what it is, does
it?
Yeah.
Kathryn Thompson (34:50):
Yeah.
Yeah, that process sounds socool.
I know we've talked about it andI'd be interested in Yeah.
Trying it because I think, yeah,EFT is great and I think yeah
that, that release in thenervous system's huge.
Dr Nat Green (35:03):
It absolutely is.
And I think the more we knowabout trauma and see the
benefits of these.
Alternative ways of doingthings.
The more information we get andthe more research that's done,
the more we realize that justplain old talk therapy isn't
enough.
(35:24):
Totally.
It works and it's helpful in somany ways, but as you said
before, we intellectualizestuff.
We need to feel it as well toreconnect the parts of ourselves
that maybe haven't felt safeenough to be connected.
Yeah.
Totally.
Yeah.
So you made that decision, yousold the business, it worked in
(35:48):
your favor.
It was wonderful.
You had a couple of years whereyou really dug deep and did the
work.
What next?
Tell me about how thatpost-traumatic growth curve
really went for you then.
Kathryn Thompson (36:01):
Yeah, so for me it was, I was a lot.
More calmer in this business.
And because I deal a lot withpersonalization and one-to-one
work a lot with people that Ilearned not to take on their,
like their stuff with theirfrustrations, which I'd often
internalize and then try to fix.
(36:23):
So I stopped becoming thisfixer.
And I wasn't carrying the burdenlike, I need to carry you up the
mountain.
I need to fix you.
Which then has allowed me toreally expand the business
because when I first launched,when I left the brick and
mortar.
I was terrified.
I was terrified to have morethan five people in a group
program with me because I didn'twant all the energy, I didn't
(36:44):
want all the problems, and itwas all that my nervous system
could handle until I did thework.
And now I've been able I'm morereceptive to receiving, but I
also have really clearboundaries of what's my
responsibility and what isn't myresponsibility, which then
allows me to have that muchmore.
Flow into my business.
(37:05):
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (37:06):
So how do you do that?
How do you,'cause I know a lotof our listeners are health
professionals, helpingprofessionals who do have people
telling their story.
How do we.
Not carry that burden of thatperson's story and keep that
separate.
I'd love to hear that.
Yeah.
Kathryn Thompson (37:23):
Secret for that.
Yeah.
So me was the EFT tapping.
Really?
It was, that was a big one.
And meditation is another onethat allows me to ground like.
I have a daily practice that Ido, and then I also have set up
my business in a way that allowsme to integrate those daily
practices into my clientsessions.
(37:45):
So I'm not going into back toback to back sessions so that I
can clear the energy around me.
So that I'm not carrying thaton, but it's like almost like an
energetic boundary that I wasable to create by getting really
clear about what myresponsibility was and what it
isn't, because I wasn't clearbefore.
(38:08):
Yeah.
And so that's part of why I tookon the burden of the stuff, was
because I was acting as themartyr, the fixer I'll fix that
and I'll fix that, and I'll fixthat.
And then all of a sudden you'rewrapped up in their world.
Now I am very clear on what'smine, what isn't.
And if I feel like I am takingsomething on, then I do the
work, the cord cutting, themeditation, those sorts of
(38:29):
things, those practices gettingout in nature really grounding
for me and lots of baths.
Being in water is a big one forme.
But again, I think it's findingyour method, your way that
really works for you.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (38:44):
Yeah.
So really knowing how you bestground yourself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So whatever it is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So for me, I know it's having acoffee by the beach.
I just sit there and I enjoy thepeace and quiet of that.
I don't need anyone else there.
I'm just sit and have my coffeefor you, the bath.
(39:05):
But just getting out in natureis also really grounding, isn't
it?
Kathryn Thompson (39:09):
Yeah.
And being aware where you aretaking the responsibility on.
So like the thoughts that aregoing through your head, so you
know, if you're assumingsomething about a client or you
are like.
However it might be, oh, I theymight be pissed off'cause I said
this, or whatever it might be.
Where you get in, where yourbrain starts to create drama.
It's also starting to, like Istarted a trigger journal where
(39:32):
things started to, anything thattriggered me and then I'd go,
what is this teaching me aboutwhat I value?
Where was a boundary crossedblah, blah, blah.
That has been absolutely wildfor me because it's just
unpacked so many triggers.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (39:46):
I love that.
I'm gonna write that one down.
So trigger journal and even, andone way it just came to me then
we have gratitude jars.
We could have a trigger jar, orI remember doing this a long
time ago with a client withthings that they took on board
that were negative aboutthemselves or their environment.
(40:06):
They would put it in this.
Shoebox, I think it was, butthen put all your triggers in
there and then have a burningceremony or something like that
to burn it and get rid of it.
So there's so many ways.
I love that.
So a trigger journal or triggerjar or trigger box or something
like that would be powerful.
Thank you.
(40:27):
That's a great tip and strategy.
Yeah.
Any other little
Kathryn Thompson (40:33):
wise?
Yeah.
The trigger, like thedocumenting my triggers and
getting to the root of it hasprobably been being the best
meditation nature.
Yeah.
I'm trying to think of any.
I also love to cook, so anythingthat allows me to get into my
creative flow will take me outof my mental brain.
(40:55):
But I've, I have such a calmermind now with that combination.
And understanding of what, why Iwas triggered or that sort of
thing has been really helpfulbecause I've always tried to,
I've always looked at triggeringas a bad thing.
I'm, why am I triggering?
'cause I'm judging.
But now I've reframed it too.
It's actually just showing mewhat I value.
(41:16):
For example, I often gettriggered by like big money
claims, right?
Like how to make 14 K in twodays.
Yeah, trigger me.
Yeah, they trigger me.
And I would have people say it'sbecause you're afraid of money
or you don't like money, or youhave a negative charge around
money.
And I was like, it's actuallynot that.
I am looking at the transparencyof that.
(41:38):
I'm going, there's more to thatstory.
And as a depth worker, assomebody who likes to go to the
truth of things, I'm going, yes,is that profit?
Is that right?
My brain start.
So it's more around what I valueand I'm I align with, it has
nothing to do with the moneypiece and it's not an obstacle I
(41:58):
need to overcome.
I just know where I need to goas a result of that.
And I think that's really helpedwith the reframing'cause I was
always trying to fix myselfbecause of these triggers and
it, there was nothing for me toactually fix.
Dr Nat Green (42:11):
No.
So recognizing that a triggeris.
Again, it's just a word.
It's not negative or positive.
It's a trigger is a sign thatsomething is out of alignment,
whether that's what they'vesaid, what they've done, it's
about then being able tonavigate that path and put it
where it needs to be for you,positive or negative.
(42:34):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, I really love that.
That's excellent.
Yeah, and I think, that doingsomething that's creative is
really, that's moving it fromone half of the brain to the
other half of the brain, theanalytical part through to
creative, and it helps you movethrough that and help reduce
(42:55):
that charge.
Exactly.
Totally.
Get outta your head and intoyour heart space.
Kathryn Thompson (43:00):
Yeah.
And usually with things with myhands, right?
Pottery, photography, cooking,right?
It's now I'm using this otherside of my brain that isn't over
analyzing and all the things.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (43:11):
And it's that doing.
Yeah.
And being so doing both and justbeing in it and sitting with it
as well, which you can do moreof when you're in that creative
space.
Yeah.
Rather than push, push.
Which is so common, isn't it, ashigh achievers where we just
keep pushing through and pushingthrough.
(43:33):
Yeah.
'cause that's the way societyset things up a lot of the time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But we need to do more being andsitting.
Yeah.
And just allowing time andspace.
A hundred percent.
Yeah.
What I'm, what I'd love you todo now is a little bit more
around what you do now and yeah,tell us more about you and where
(43:56):
we can find you.
Kathryn Thompson (43:58):
Yeah, so you can find me at creatively owned
my website's, creatively ownedInstagram, Facebook creatively
owned, and I hang out most onInstagram.
And basically what I do now is.
Predominantly support thoseselling the invisible, like
selling a service and offeringthat isn't tangible and doesn't
often fit into traditionalmarketing, right?
(44:20):
That tells us we need one big,tangible result.
We need to take people from A toB, but in the healing world, our
healing is often non-linear.
So it doesn't actually fit intothis roadmap.
That's if you just do this step.
You'll heal all of your trauma.
If it was that easy, we'd all bedoing it.
We'd all be fixed.
Yeah, basically.
(44:40):
And it's more of a spiral andit's more of a, trial and error.
It's more of a non-linearexperience.
And so I really support peoplein articulating the value of
what they do and how to reallypackage and position that in a
way that's.
In integrity with what they'reactually offering.
'cause again, a lot oftraditional marketing is give a
guarantee, tell'em they'll gethere by this date and this time.
(45:02):
And lots of healers, as arelike, I can't promise that.
And everybody's experience isunique and everybody's there
might be similarities in trauma.
It's everybody's unique in howthey're.
How they're wired and operateand even just, you and I have
very different experiences withour, the modalities that we use,
and that's okay.
And so I help them put intowords what they do, how they do
(45:26):
it, so they can really get theirmeaningful work and their
healing work out into the world,into the hands of more people.
Oh I think
Dr Nat Green (45:33):
this is amazing, and I'm thinking, oh, I can
already think of so many peoplethat will benefit from the
approach you use, knowing thatit's okay for us to be ourselves
and show up exactly as we are,rather than feel we need to fit
in this box because it's so nota one size fits all, whereas
(45:55):
often that need to market andcommunicate.
Our worth and our value is thathustle culture that doesn't feel
right to us.
Yeah.
As healers and helpers.
Kathryn Thompson (46:09):
Yeah, totally.
Dr Nat Green (46:12):
Oh, I love that.
So I'll put all that in the shownotes, and I know that you've
also got a quiz, so you wannatell us about that because I'm
definitely gonna take that quiz.
I'm really keen to find out moreabout that.
Kathryn Thompson (46:25):
Yeah.
I love my quiz.
It's the, what's your ElevatedEdge quiz, and basically when
you take it, it gives you thisvery in depth.
If you haven't already felt thisabout me I'm, I call myself a
depth worker.
The people that come into myworld are depth workers, right?
They like to go to the depths ofthings.
They understand people arenuanced.
(46:45):
So through this quiz, when youtake it, then you get this
really in depth report.
I'm talking in really in depthabout.
Your natural gifts, what makesyou different?
Like maybe even the marketingplatforms or channels to be on,
right?
So again, it's not about thecookie cutter.
It's about how to really honoryour authentic expression.
(47:07):
What's your unique edge in thisworld and how to put that out
into the world and share it.
With the world and get paid forit without the compromise,
without having to fit yourselfinto a box.
And so it's a really fun quiz.
My intention was you could walkaway with it and have almost, I
don't wanna call it a blueprint,but I.
(47:28):
Anyone that's taken it has said,I finally feel seen.
I feel like you wrote thisspecifically for me, which is my
whole, was my whole intention.
I wanted people to feel seen andunderstood and be able to just
go, okay, I can be me and I canexpress myself authentically,
and that actually my uniquenessor my weirdness, or my quirks or
(47:51):
whatever are part of mysuperpower.
And that's okay.
Yeah.
Dr Nat Green (47:57):
What a gift.
I think you're a gift to thisworld.
I just think the stories you'veshared today are, oh, I honestly
feel so honored to have sharedthis space with you.
I've, one question that I ask atthe end, usually and given the
very beautiful, powerful storyyou told about 4-year-old you,
(48:21):
what do you think your youngestself.
Would think of what you'veachieved.
Kathryn Thompson (48:28):
I think my younger self would be so
impressed, and I'd also think myyounger self would say, maybe
there are areas that you'rebeing a little modest, that you
could push yourself just thatmuch more to really step into
(48:48):
that highest potential that.
Up until this point, all yourlived experiences have maybe had
you playing a little bit modest,and now it's time to fully
shine.
Dr Nat Green (49:00):
I love that.
So it's time for you to be atall poppy.
Yeah.
To grow even taller.
I love that.
Yes.
Look, lookout world.
I'm really excited.
I'm going to do that quiz today.
Absolutely.
Gonna go off there.
I wanna find that.
Yeah, the secrets and feel seenand see where's it gonna take
(49:21):
me.
And I'm really grateful thatyou've offered that.
So I'll put that in the shownotes as well.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for being you,Kathryn, and for showing up and
being the most amazing,authentic version of you and
sharing that with our guests.
Been really wonderful having youon.
Thank you.
Kathryn Thompson (49:42):
Yes.
Thank you so much for having me.
It was a pleasure connecting andchatting and sharing my story
and I am just so honored to bein this space with you as well.
Dr Nat Green (49:50):
And I look forward to our chat on your podcast
soon.
Kathryn Thompson (49:53):
Yes, I know.
I'm excited to have you on.
Dr Nat Green (49:56):
Yes, so am I, and I look forward to sharing that
with everyone as well.
So thank you so much, Kathryn.
Bye for now.
Kathryn Thompson (50:03):
Thank you.
Dr Nat Green (50:08):
Thank you for joining me in this episode of
Growing Tall Poppies.
It is my deepest hope thattoday's episode may have
inspired and empowered you tostep fully into your
post-traumatic growth, so thatyou can have absolute clarity
around who you are, what mattersthe most to you, and to assist
(50:30):
you to release your negativeemotions.
And regulate your nervous systemso you can fully thrive.
New episodes are published everyTuesday, and I hope you'll
continue to join us as weexplore both the strategies and
the personal qualities requiredto fully live a life of
(50:50):
post-traumatic growth and tothrive.
So if it feels aligned to youand really resonates, then I
invite you to hit subscribe andit would mean the world to us.
If you could share this episodewith others who you feel may
benefit too, you may also findme on Instagram at Growing Tall
(51:11):
Poppies and Facebook, Dr.
Natalie Green.
Remember, every moment is anopportunity to look for the
lessons and to learn andincrease your ability to live
the life you desire and deserve.
So for now, stay connected.
Stay inspired.
(51:32):
Stand tall like the tall poppyyou are, and keep shining your
light brightly in the world.
Bye for.
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