We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christa Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I love this question of what did your parents do right because even if you feel like you grew up in a dysfunctional household there is often something that sticks with you that helps you thrive in adulthood. I know it did for me. I come from a family of divorce and my mom was a single mother who worked full-time. Each parent taught me valuable lessons, but one from each standout. My mother was always creating art and encouraging expression. She purposely bought a full-length mirror before they were popular and set it up in our living room so we could watch ourselves dance as we listened to the music from the record player. She also let us paint on one of our bedroom walls anything we wanted. I remember taking advantage of both whether it was listening to Fire by the Pointer Sister or Country Joe and the Fish’s red album. It was a great way to see yourself outside of the internal sense of who you were. I wasn’t much of painter in my youth, but to know that we could paint a wall with anything and I mean anything felt so freeing. I think her example of self expression led to my internal push of being ok with doing something completely new and starting my own company. Self-acceptance about something you are passionate about to put out into the world to help others, but also free yourself in the process.
My dad also contributed to my belief that you can do anything you put your mind to, but in a different way. He used to take me back home to my mom’s house via bikes. He didn’t live that far away, but far enough that walking would have been too much. So on our bikes we would go and he would come up with songs for us to sing along the way. One of my favorites was the Frank Sinatra hit, High Hopes. The song about the silly old ant thinking he could move a rubber tree plant. My dad purposely changed the lyrics to make the ant a SHE and it instilled in me that as a woman (girl) I could do the impossible with belief in myself.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
They say whatever you’ve done for 10,000 hours makes you an expert. When I paused to think about this I realized I was born to nurture. Throughout childhood, I wanted to ensure all those around me were feeling good despite the circumstances. Fast forward to 2020 when death and destruction and the racial injustice resurgence was all around I was working on a formula on how to live your best life. My father had passed away a few years prior and I stumbled into a deep depression following the loss of his physical presence. After about a year of sitting in that depression I realized I needed to do something to dig myself out and start living again. A friend introduced me to Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret and the Law of Attraction. After watching to movie in 2018 I set off to putting the law in motion and liked the upshift in my life. I realized I started doing several of the same steps that seem to make a difference, and I wanted to share it with everyone. Especially in the midst of COVID. During one of the times when it was ok to see people again after quarantine, I wanted to share the steps I implemented into my daily life to feel better. I put together a basket of feel good goodies like, a blanket and mug for tea and a journal and pens as well as bath or shower salts along with the simple steps I implemented. One of my visits was to my friend Nikki Boyd of At Home with Nikki and she gave me the idea to turn my steps into a book. I thought why not! Talk about moving through a new endeavor with fear and doing it anyway! I never considered myself a writer- there were plenty of those in my family and I knew I wasn’t one early on. I was more of a bullet point speaker, not someone who could wax on with the beauty of words. Nevertheless, I liked Nikki’s idea and went about writing a book that as one of my reader’s described it is for the TikTok Generation- poignant but short. A Starter Kit to Joy is a 5 step repeatable process to help you cultivate joy in your life. By following these 5 steps you will be able to live a more joyous and harmonious life.
After I self-published A Starter Kit to Joy, I added Coaching services so women wouldn’t have to go on this new journey alone. They would be able to receive insight and support during our sessions. I am certified as a Body and Belief Code Practitioner which works with the subconscious to remove blocks that we may or may not know existed. Most often the trapped emotions, body realignments and belief removals are eerily aligned but every now and then some things show up that were deeply hidden and not of the conscience mind. It works using quantum physics and can even be done over email with no need to stop and take time out of your day. Video or voice coaching appointments can be set up as well. Whichever way works for your schedule will work for me!
In addition to 1:1 Coaching I offer self-paced, complete at your leisure courses that help you along the 5 step process in A Starter Kit to Joy as well as taking a Deeper Dive into getting to know what’s blocking you and helping you step through towards your success. Each of these self-directed courses, A Journey to Joy and A Journey to Joy- a Deeper Dive provide 1:1 feedback via email as well as one individual coaching session. If live workshops are more your style, I have those too! Held several times virtually throughout the year, these course help you move through your blockages in life and help you step into success. The camaraderie of being in a safe place with other women and hearing some of their sharing (optional) can often bring insight that you didn’t even know you needed.
If you are part of an organization that needs a keynote speaker, I also have several motivational topics that strengthen a sense of self and empowers the group.
One thing about me is I was blessed with the gift of giving unconditional love (which ties back to being a nurturer). Who couldn’t use more love in their life? If you’ve notoriously been your harshest critic, work with me to turn that dedication into being your best cheerleader! By removing blockages and focusing on loving yourself more, the energy around you shifts and you create the life you’ve only allowed yourself to dream of. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by taking care of everyone around you and no time to take care of yourself, I can help. If you are an overachiever and focused on being the best you, but realize it is exhausting, I can help. If you are a single mom with a high-powered career and doing it all but just surviving, I can help. If you want to turn chaos into calm, I can help! I guarantee you, working with me will change your life!
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
I think the best thing you can do is to align with what you want your business to be. It may seem like an idea at first but gaining clarity of what it actually looks and feels like is important. Once you truly align with what your services are and believe in your ability to provide them, success follows.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I never aligned with the perfectionist title, but I did think I had to get it right. I focused on what I thought other people wanted from me and delivered that to them. I got it right for them. I was focused on achieving goals that were set by others and some by me, but the ones set by me were really what society/family thought success looked like. I had to unlearn what standard success looked like and realized the ultimate success was getting to know the real me and aligning with my purpose. It may sound simple, but you don’t know what you don’t know. As you get more curious about what makes you tick, you unpack beliefs that you never questioned before. It can feel unmooring and like you are moving backwards. Instead, by deconstructing societal and parental beliefs, you end up building a new and impenetrable foundation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.igniteyourlifeco.com
- Instagram: @igniteyourlife.co
- Youtube: @IgniteyourlifeCO
Image Credits
Photography by Jontell Vanessa