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What if you could get more of what you want in life? But not through pushing, forcing, or pressure.
You can.
When it comes to money, time, and energy, no one’s gonna turn away more.
And Kate Northrup, Bestselling Author of Money: A Love Story and Do Less and host of Plenty, is here to help you expand your capacity to receive all of the best.
As a Money Empowerment OG who’s been at it for nearly 2 decades, Kate’s the abundance-oriented best friend you may not even know you’ve always needed.
Pull up a chair every week with top thought leaders, luminaries, and adventurers to learn how to have more abundance with ease.
So what I've incorporated is, I think, the the belief that there is more than enough right now, and there's safety all around. There's safety all around.
Kate Northrup:I love that.
Victoria Steward:I don't think that without this program, I would have been confident enough into jumping in and starting my business because I would have panicked and gotten another job instead of giving myself space to actually take some time off, take some classes, relax into, yes, I can do this.
Kate Northrup:Welcome to Plenti. I'm your host, Kate Northrup, and together, we are going on a journey to help you have an incredible relationship with money, time, and energy, and to have abundance on every possible level. Every week, we're gonna dive in with experts and insights to help you unlock a life of plenty.
Kate Northrup:Let's go fill our cups.
Voice Over:Please note that the opinions and perspectives of the guests on the Plenty podcast are not necessarily reflective of the opinions and perspectives of Kate Northrop or anyone who works within the Kate Northrop brand.
Kate Northrup:Welcome to Plenty, Victoria. Thanks for being here.
Victoria Steward:My pleasure. Thank you so much for inviting
Kate Northrup:me. Yeah. It's so fun. So I'm curious. First of all, how did you find out about Relax Money, and what was going on in your life at that time that made you feel like this is the right time for me?
Kate Northrup:So Emily Fletcher introduced I love us. Emily. We were just texting before this.
Victoria Steward:Oh, my gosh.
Kate Northrup:She's gonna come on the podcast pretty soon. She is magical. Magical.
Victoria Steward:Yes. All the time. Yes. And I was doing the Evidence of Magic 6 month container
Kate Northrup:with her. Awesome.
Victoria Steward:And she I guess you guys had recorded whether it's Instagram live or something like that, and she shared it with all of us. And I loved your energy right away and somehow missed I I don't remember which one it was, like, the workshop Yeah. The master class that you had before the May relaxed money class. I missed it completely, and I was so upset. I had friends, like, from that who signed up, and I didn't even realize that they had signed up.
Victoria Steward:And I was talking to and I think I was still on your wait list for the next round. And so I've been talking to Melly who is in your spring class, and she's like, oh, yeah. I'm doing it. I love it. This is how it what's get what the download is really.
Victoria Steward:And I was like, okay. And then I participated in the flow. Yes. And, at that point, actually, flow, I think, was maybe 2 weeks before I left working for the Navy Woah. Without knowing what I was doing next Wow.
Victoria Steward:After working for them for 20 years. So, it just seemed to me like perfect timing as in I have more than 20 years left to work. I don't know what to do next. But I knew in my soul, like, an in a knowing that if I didn't change or make my relationship to money be a positive one, that no matter what I did next, it would end up being the same. And with all the work that I've done with Emily and all of the growing and with the meditation and everything else, it seemed very, very important to solve that maybe not solve.
Victoria Steward:Solve feels like there's a problem to fix. And, like, there is and there isn't all at the same time, but get that relationship to be something that is nurturing and everything else so that with whatever I did moving forward, I was in a positive place. Yeah. Place of abundance rather than working from a place of scarcity, which is where up to that point, I had been. Wow.
Kate Northrup:That is powerful. I didn't realize that you had left your career 2 weeks after flow, your career of 20 years.
Victoria Steward:Yes. And 2 weeks after that, relaxed money started.
Kate Northrup:Oh my gosh. Mhmm. So tell me more about what you were doing at the Navy Okay. And what made you decide it was time for a change in your life. So,
Victoria Steward:I am an engineer in education. So mechanical engineering, and then I did, a second master's in systems engineering management. So, I never did, like, technical engineering work. It was always more on the testing side of things because I liked being outside. I liked doing things.
Victoria Steward:And the more I did it, the more interaction you got to have with sailors, like the actual sailors doing the work. And it became a much more powerful connection to kind of the mission because you knew who you were helping or who you're helping to train and or protecting or giving them the tools so they can protect themselves, that kind of thing. So I did a lot of things. I started, working at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center up in Rhode Island. And then I worked for a couple of years with the explosive ordinance disposal guys down in the DC area, and then I came down to Florida, in 2012 working for, test and evaluation and a training range.
Kate Northrup:Mhmm.
Victoria Steward:So that means scientists could bring their stuff to test, and the sailors can bring their helicopters and submarines and ships to train. So I did that for quite some time working with what we called the range users, and then, I transitioned over to, like, the brace operation side. So that's, like, facilities Mhmm. IT, security, all of those things, and managed a big program after hurricane Matthew hit our base. We had to do a lot of repairs.
Victoria Steward:Yeah. So after that, I got a job as running the facilities branch, and that is what I did till the end of my career as running that facilities branch. And I honestly, I loved it, and I love the people I worked with and everything else. But when COVID happened, as, like, a lot of people, you kind of start reevaluating what's going on. And, you know, everybody was working from home, and then we started coming back to the office.
Victoria Steward:And it was very black and white about coming back to the office or not.
Kate Northrup:Mhmm.
Victoria Steward:And the I don't necessarily wanna bring in politics, but, the Ukraine war started immediately after COVID, and it just kind of boggled my mind that after so much, you know, trying to come together to solve the COVID problem, then the very next thing was, let's start killing each other again over land Yeah. That I felt like I I was there was dissonance in kind of because up I had been doing for about a year a year or 2, the meditation and growing and, like, being open to the possibilities. And the thing I'd learned even before I started meditating was that I very rarely have the right answer. Like and to be in kind of a career or a area where it's kind of black and white, they're right, we're wrong, when I know that usually there's something in the middle. It just didn't feel right anymore.
Victoria Steward:And with climate change and everything else, it felt like I needed to do something that was more in the positive direction. Yeah. And so even though, there was a lot of stress and all of the the normal things. And I wasn't setting myself up with boundaries and everything else. I had always, up to that point, put my career first.
Victoria Steward:Like, looking after myself was not a thing that really happened. I traveled a lot, worked long hours. I was very good at my job, but it was time to make a change. And it just with the work that I had done with Emily in the Evidence of Magic container, it just gave me the courage and the belief in the universe that, okay, this is the first next step
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Victoria Steward:Is to leave. Not knowing what is next isn't because I kept waiting. I had known I needed to leave or wanted to leave probably for about 5 or 6 years. Just something the dissonance was getting louder and louder, but I kept waiting for that certainty. Mhmm.
Victoria Steward:I know what I'm going to do next. And I realized, okay. No. You know what the next step is, and it's leaving and taking a break and seeing what comes in and what feels right.
Kate Northrup:So at the time when you decided to jump so you did the flow workshop. And then at the time that you decided to jump in with Relax Money Yes. Did you have any hesitations, especially given the amount of transition that you were already in in your life? Yes.
Victoria Steward:What were they? It wasn't in, like, a money investment. I didn't quite know what I was going to be doing with my time and how much was going to be available. I was losing the structure of my job, which I was a little concerned about how I would retain structure and to be able to do that work. I had been doing so much work on myself that it was a little felt a little overwhelming to then dive into the nervous system healing and also being like, well, I've been doing all this work.
Victoria Steward:Do I really need this nervous system healing? Now I know I really do, but still. Yeah. But it was, like, it was a lot of things, but I have I'm starting to be able to tell when, like, the fear is the right kind of fear versus the resistance fear. Not always.
Victoria Steward:And this was the right kind of,
Kate Northrup:like This was the resistance kind of fear. Not like fear, like, don't go there. Yes. So what are the signs for you? What is the difference?
Kate Northrup:This is like the question. It's how do I know when my fear is like my intuition pointing me away from something, and how do I know when my fear is just my sort of ego keeping me from growth? So how do you answer that question for yourself?
Victoria Steward:I'm still learning. Yep. Because sometimes I don't notice that it's happened until well after the fact still. Just kind of like if something gets me anxious, I might not notice until, like, 30 minutes into the anxiety that, wait a minute.
Kate Northrup:30 minutes ain't so bad. Yeah. Like, it could be 30 years.
Victoria Steward:That's true. That's true. But I think usually when a new something new pops in, and first, I get excited and then panic sets in. And if I like then think about it, I'm like, why am I I haven't done anything yet. Why am I so scared?
Kate Northrup:Like Wow. Yeah. Good point.
Victoria Steward:And it's just and it and for a while or for the longest time, it's only just recently shifted a little where every new thing, and I can't quite remember when it started, because I used to do new things all the time. I loved it. Like, somebody would, like, propose something crazy new thing. It's like I was like, I'll do anything once, like and then if I hate it, I won't do it again. But, but it became where every new thing, whether it was like, I'm going to buy a pair of jeans would be like fear.
Victoria Steward:It was like every new thing. And I was like, this is really strange because there's things that, a, there is no Yeah. There's no threat. Right? There's no threat.
Victoria Steward:Right? Why do I feel like I'm about to die Yeah. When I'm contemplating telling a friend of mine about something
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Victoria Steward:Because I think she's gonna judge me. Yeah. Or or, you know, I'm there is gonna be 0 money when I spend some this the, you know, the $3,000 for Relaxed Money Life. I'm like, that is nonsense. Yeah.
Victoria Steward:I you know, I have, right now, limited Yeah. Funds, but there's more than enough. And that's one of the things that I have absorbed and most of the way, part of the way from the course is that just remember that there's more than enough, and you are fine, and you're still fine, and everything is fine.
Kate Northrup:All is well in this moment. All of our needs are absolutely more than met in this moment as evidenced by the fact that we are here.
Victoria Steward:Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly.
Kate Northrup:And so so you so you decided, okay, this fear that I'm feeling is resistance fear. I need to move in the direction of this fear.
Victoria Steward:Yes.
Kate Northrup:Okay. Great.
Victoria Steward:Because I had been, like, anything having to do with money for the longest time was, like Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. I'm
Kate Northrup:podcast, she just covered her eyes and put her fingers in her ears. So alright. So you were you were more of a money avoider Yes. And not engaging, with your wealth building activities. Yes.
Kate Northrup:And so then you so you joined in our fall cohort. Yes. So you're relatively new to this work, which is so great. And I'm curious what have you what what did you take to right away, and what have you incorporated, and what have you noticed in your financial life or just in your life in general as a result?
Victoria Steward:So what I've incorporated is I think the the belief that there is more than enough right now, and there's safety all around.
Kate Northrup:There's safety all around.
Victoria Steward:I love that. Because I don't think that without this program, I would have been confident enough into jumping in and starting my business, because I would have panicked and gotten another job.
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Victoria Steward:And instead of giving myself space to actually take some time off, take some classes, relax into, yes, I can do this. Yeah. Because up to this point, in my mind, I had a story that I would never be an entrepreneur. I'm not creative in that way, and it actually took what you teach and relaxed money and also some of my friends pointing out, like, what do you have against starting a business that is in, like, the health Yeah. Or space.
Victoria Steward:It's because I said, I don't because in growing up, it was like, that is either too woo woo Right. Or, you know, the real careers are doctor engineer
Kate Northrup:Lawyer. Lawyer. Totally. Totally. And now you come in here with your sparkly hair and your Reiki business.
Kate Northrup:I love it so much. I just will be honest. I didn't really know much about your background, and I did not expect you to tell me that you worked for the Navy for 20 years. Like, I love it so much, and it just we all contain multitudes.
Victoria Steward:Yes.
Kate Northrup:And what's it like for you now in your life as you're exploring more your energetic side, more your spiritual side and leading with more of your magic? What's happening in the rest of your life as a result of that?
Victoria Steward:I got invited to come to this podcast.
Kate Northrup:Yes. You did.
Kate Northrup:Blew my mind.
Victoria Steward:I, like, have made some new friends just from coming to the relaxed money live. I'm building new kind of relationships, gaining confidence in myself as just myself Yeah. Rather than in how whatever way I present myself to the outside world. Because when I left the navy, I didn't even know how to describe myself because I would always say, oh, I work for the Navy. I'm an, you know, engineer.
Victoria Steward:I manage people. You know? I do this. I do that. And I was like, how do I even describe myself when I'm on a break?
Victoria Steward:You know? Or now and that's something that I wanna make sure I keep working on, that it doesn't become that I'm a Reiki practitioner only. Yeah. It's that I am who I am and all of that is just, you know, the accessories that are there.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. Totally. Now, you said that, as you were really looking at your life, you realized that you needed if you didn't engage with some kind of money healing work, you were gonna continue to live from scarcity instead of living from abundance.
Victoria Steward:Yes.
Kate Northrup:Now you just started your own business a within the last 6 to 9 months.
Victoria Steward:As in, like, 2 months.
Kate Northrup:Okay. Great. 2 months ago. So your early days, yes. Very.
Kate Northrup:And I'm curious as you're engaging with listen. Running a business is not for the faint of heart. It is just it is a real personal growth opportunity.
Victoria Steward:Mhmm.
Kate Northrup:And so I'm wondering what are you noticing and how are you catching those possibly deeply ingrained patterns of scarcity? And, what how are you incorporating more of the coming from abundance as you build this business and as you really, you know, open up this new chapter of your life?
Victoria Steward:So, it has been very interesting, because it's slow going, especially at the start, you know, especially in a place where many people have never heard of energy healing or Reiki. Most of my friends hadn't or haven't. I hadn't gone for a Reiki session before I took a class.
Kate Northrup:Oh,
Victoria Steward:wow. So, it's just it's been a big change because every time I kind of hit a little bit of a roadblock or what feels or before would have felt like a roadblock, I have been able to turn it around and realize it was a learning opportunity. Yeah. So, for example, I've only had a few paying clients so far. And in my old way, I would have been really hard on myself down in the dumps.
Victoria Steward:Like, okay, maybe it's time to quit, even though it's been 2 months. And instead, I said, okay, maybe the universe is saying you need to make sure you take this slow so you don't overdo it. You're still learning how to release other people's energy and everything else. That's a lot to
Kate Northrup:Totally.
Victoria Steward:Energetic hygiene is a real thing. Very much. And so and then instead of being upset about the fact, I just reached out to all my friends and said, hey. Anybody interested in some reiki sessions? I would love to get used to using my scheduling system to practice, having sessions so you guys can give me constructive criticism of, like, where something doesn't work or something was a little weird.
Victoria Steward:You know, all of those things so that I'm still getting into the practice of practicing Yeah. And doing the work, while I'm building Yeah. The customer base.
Kate Northrup:I love that. Because when you think about your experience as an engineer at the Navy
Victoria Steward:Mhmm.
Kate Northrup:The amount that something gets tested before it goes out there. And then we as entrepreneurs think we're supposed to have it figured out on day 1, which is insane. Yes. Like, it is completely insane. And so applying your testing, tweaking, researching to your Reiki business is brilliant, and I wish more entrepreneurs would approach things that way because we would get a much better delivery and a much better result in the end if folks really took that growth perspective, that growth paradigm and not the, like, if it's not perfect from day 1, I have failed, which is what a lot of people do.
Kate Northrup:And we are missing out on some incredible service providers and incredible magical people because of not trusting the timing and not doing the testing. I love that. How are you during this time bolstering your trust, building your patience, and enjoying the process as things get going in your business? What are you doing for that aspect of yourself?
Victoria Steward:So, one of the magical things is that because I'm doing a lot of distance Reiki sessions, I get to see a lot of my girlfriends who, like, see their faces, which, you know, you call on the phone or whatever else. And that has been so nourishing. That's so cool. Like, that you actually get to see your friends because life gets in the way. But once you put it on the calendar and it's an appointment, it becomes it's just delightful.
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Victoria Steward:It's delightful. And that has been really nourishing. And I think, also, just being more open. You know, I was always very scared of criticism even for criticism. And because it's some it's very hard to get constructive criticism from people.
Victoria Steward:Mhmm. And in this case, my friends are giving me constructive criticism Yeah. Which is amazing. And it and I think it's letting me also release some of that fear of getting feedback
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Victoria Steward:That it is not personal. Yeah. It's just feedback. And how do you get better without feedback?
Kate Northrup:Right. Right. Because, again, like, if you were testing a piece of naval equipment Yeah. You're not, like, shitting on the person who made it. If you have feedback for making it better, you're just, like, literally making the thing better.
Kate Northrup:And I think as entrepreneurs, one of the biggest mistakes that we make is that we conflate our identity with our businesses. Mhmm. And that actually halts our growth. So I love that you're really seeing the opportunity to get constructive feedback, which is being delivered with love Mhmm. And allow it to, infuse, you know, and enhance what you're offering.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. Yeah. So great. So
Victoria Steward:great. And I think the other thing that, has happened, and I'm not sure how all of it is related. It's probably just things building 1 on top of the other, is that I'm getting more comfortable in just saying in stepping up and saying, yeah. I'll do that. Yeah.
Victoria Steward:I didn't hesitate sending you the email to Oh, great. Because you asked for volunteers. I'm like, okay. I don't know what this is for, but okay. Yeah.
Victoria Steward:And then this magical Yeah. Event has happened.
Kate Northrup:You gotta put yourself in the ring. Yeah. Yeah. And seems like you're feeling safer to do that. Yes.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. So cool. Okay. So if somebody at this point is thinking about diving into this relaxed money work, what is something that you would want them to know based on your own experience?
Victoria Steward:I think it's to take the nervous system healing. And from the start, figure out how you need to do the practices to make it a habit.
Kate Northrup:Mhmm.
Victoria Steward:Because that is still something that I struggle with, probably because I haven't done that fully yet. And so I'm remembering to do it after the fact, not let me start this thing that I know will give me some anxiety. Let me make sure I ground myself first.
Kate Northrup:Right.
Victoria Steward:And then start and pay attention
Kate Northrup:and stop when I feel it again. Yeah.
Victoria Steward:That and I think take advantage of all of the of the live events because it is much easier to hold yourself accountable if you are doing it in real time and participating and, like, the community aspect
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Victoria Steward:Of putting yourself out there because you're gonna get to see everybody, the same people, couple times a week, once a week, at least for, you know, a whole year if you want to.
Kate Northrup:And for you as someone who you said your, you know, your friends are scattered around the country, you were in the navy for 20 you're working with the navy for 20 years. It's it's prob I'm sure there's, like, there's magical humans everywhere, but it's it's not known as, like, oh, these are the most, you know, personal development oriented, spiritually aligned. Like, I mean, I don't know. I've never worked in the Navy, so I have no idea. I mean, there's, again, there's magical people everywhere.
Kate Northrup:Yes. But it's really important to highlight how integral it is to have a community of people just like in Emily's program and then transitioning into relax money. This community of people who are all committed at the same time to healing and expansion and living their most magical lives because most of us do not have that in our workplace, in our family of origin, in our mom group, in our just, like, at school drop off. Generally speaking, that's not the vibe. Mhmm.
Kate Northrup:I wish it were, and it is more and more, you know, the more and more of us who do this, but I think that that piece that you shared of, like, you may not have had the courage to give yourself some time to start this business instead of just jumping right into your next job.
Victoria Steward:Mhmm.
Kate Northrup:I think that we can't underestimate how much being in a supportive community bolsters our courage and our confidence because it is the norm of a community like relax money. It's just like, this is how we do things, so you just kind of automatically become like that. Exactly.
Victoria Steward:Yeah. So, like, what you see and as an example, you absorb it. Yeah. You do. And, and that feels very, very important.
Victoria Steward:Like, I was, like I said, struggling for a long time to figure out what to do next. It wasn't until I was surrounded by a bunch of magical people who were like, of course, you can do whatever magical thing. Yeah. Who cares if you don't know what it is? Just jump.
Kate Northrup:Just jump. Yeah. Exactly. Because if you know that you're already safe Mhmm. And safety is all around, there's no risk.
Kate Northrup:No. There's like it's not a real risk. Like, you're not gonna die. Yeah. There's just infinite possibilities.
Kate Northrup:There's just infinite possibilities which you cannot access unless you take that leap. Yes. So I love it so much. I love it so much. Is there anything, final that you would wanna leave people listening, with before we find out where to come find you?
Victoria Steward:I just think that all of this work is just another way to kind of clear the space for your own intuition. Because of all the stories that we have in our own head, whether it's about money or other things that have been placed there, knowing what your truth really is in your own body, and that is a thing that you're learning in as part of relaxed money is so important because it can't steer you wrong. And once you start clearing all that junk out of the way, it it becomes clearer and clearer. And eve if you like myself, even a year ago, I didn't think I knew what my intuition was saying. I used to as a child.
Victoria Steward:Yep. Like, it was, like, all the time, I'd, like, get premonitions about things and everything else. And then it became very, like, black and white. I'm moving in this direction, and I lost connection to my intuition. And with each step that we're taking and, you know, getting the nervous system regulated and everything else, all of a sudden, you can actually hear what your intuition is saying.
Victoria Steward:And that is so important. You can get there in many different ways, but the relaxed money, a 100% has shifted things fairly like, drastically for me.
Kate Northrup:That's so cool. Mhmm. I love that. I love that so much. Okay.
Kate Northrup:So, Victoria, if people wanna connect with you, where should they go?
Victoria Steward:They can, go to Instagram. It's stagberryreiki.
Kate Northrup:Stagberry? Okay. Great. And the link will be in the show notes.
Victoria Steward:And my website is just stagberryreiki.com.
Kate Northrup:I love it. Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your story today. It's so great to get to know you and just hear about your experience. I'm really inspired.
Victoria Steward:Thank you so much for having me. It was amazing.
Kate Northrup:Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this incredible episode of Plenty and getting to know Victoria. I just absolutely am blown away by my ability to sit here and, like, do stuff from my computer and then connect with incredible people all over the world, like Victoria, who found this work at a critical juncture to help her transition out of her 20 year career in the Navy into something new, something incredibly magical, something really different, and trust herself and listen to her intuition to be able to build an even more beautiful life and an even more beautiful world through her work and her continued expression. It's just the best. So if you're inspired as well and you wanna check out Relaxed Money, make sure that you head over to katenorthrup.comforward/wide, where you can access the free workshop that gives you a taste of what this work is all about.
Kate Northrup:I only have one setting. So the way I teach in the free work, which I only do twice a year, is the same as the way I teach inside the paid program. And this is your opportunity to sample the wares and see if your intuition is telling you that this is your next right step. Thank you again so much for listening. If you liked this episode, please go ahead and share it on social, subscribe, leave us a review, and I will see you on the next episode.
Kate Northrup:Woo hoo. You made it to the end of an episode of Plenty.
Kate Northrup:Don't you feel expanded already? So if you liked this episode, go ahead and leave us a review. Subscribe to the podcast, text a friend and let them know they need to listen. And that helps us spread the word so more people can experience plenty together. And if you wanna ease your path to creating wealth, I created a money breakthrough guide for you where I interviewed over 20 of my high earning women friends, and I asked them what their biggest money breakthrough guide was.
Kate Northrup:And the responses were so mind blowing and helpful, I knew I needed to pass them along to you.
Kate Northrup:This is the
Kate Northrup:kind of thing that is often only shared behind closed doors, but now you can access it totally for free. So head over to katenorthrop.comforward/breakthroughs and get the guide. Again, that's katenorthrop.comforward/break throughs. And I'll see you next time for plenty.