Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Fabiola Angelí. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Fabiola, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I believe that pursuing our creative ideas and daring to create from our heart and soul is one of the biggest risks we can take. So as creatives we basically live taking risks! It not only involves the risks of finances, stability, and job security, but more than anything it involves the risk of vulnerability and being seen. When we create from our hearts and souls we are opening ourselves up and exposing our humanity to the world. In that journey, we are allowing our authenticity and all that we are to birth our ideas. As we water those ideas, they grow into art, services, programs, and more. With that in mind, I see my entire journey of being a creative entrepreneur as taking a risk.

When I began entrepreneurship in 2019 my main goals were time and financial freedom so when I pursued opportunities that was my main driver. Some of the things I did include selling shampoo and beauty products; trading in the forex and crypto markets and educating others on it; creating and selling my art online; print on demand products; and more. Through time I realized that I could seek all the opportunities available out there, but what was truly fulfilling to me as an entrepreneur was taking my story, my pain points, my knowledge, my vulnerabilities, my transformation, and my growth and creating solutions for others that were in my same shoes. As I look back, I believe that is the biggest risk I have taken as an entrepreneur. Betting on me and choosing to pursue a creative entrepreneurial route, creating from my heart and soul because I believe that what I have to give to this world through my creative ideas has a purpose and God is calling me to use it for impact.

This risk was not just one big decision, but it has been a series of constant small decisions that repeat over and over again as life evolves and my businesses change and grow. Some of these smaller decisions that are “bet on myself moments” are:
– July 2020: When I started my art business with no formal art education while living in isolation during the pandemic in Derby, England. I just had the desire to create and share some empowerment with the world. I started with what I knew and created an Etsy shop. Those were the baby steps of creating something and allowing the world to see it.
– June 2022: I had the job opportunity of my dreams in Costa Rica and as I moved there for three months, I decided to stop trading and educating to be fully present in mentoring youth girls on leadership. During those three months, the confidence in my ability to lead through my authenticity was born. I learned that being myself is exactly what the world needs from me.
– November 2023: After a life changing breakup, I decided to enroll in a holistic health coaching certification with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) to build my coaching business. I knew I wanted to coach others so I committed to educating myself on it. This certification has changed me in all areas of my life.
– July 2024: I said no to several job opportunities in New York to create space for what I know is for me instead of settling for what’s good and secure.
– October 2024: I created Authentic Narratives LLC and committed myself to the vision and mission of helping others cultivate authentic narratives of life through my creative entrepreneurial projects such as art courses, travel retreats, and more.

Today, as I look at the alignment I am experiencing in my life, the peace and confidence I feel, and the doors that are opening, I can confidently say that the risk of choosing to bet on me, be vulnerable, live creatively, and follow my creative entrepreneurship is paying off. I know that there will be more decisions in the future in which I will need to choose to bet on myself and continue the risk taking. I am looking forward to them. To anyone out there considering taking the risk of betting on themselves and their creative ideas, please do, the world needs what you bring. Your authenticity and creativity will lead the way to things only you are meant to shine in this world. Let’s keep living out loud, risking, choosing, and creating.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Fabiola Angelí and I am a holistic health coach, artist, and tour guide in Costa Rica. Through holistic coaching, art, and traveling, I help others reconnect with themselves, reclaim their power, and cultivate an authentic narrative of life. The goal is to heal from the roots and cultivate healthier and happier human beings that embrace their authenticity. The more we allow ourselves to shine the more we allow others to shine. I currently offer travel retreats in Costa Rica, digital art and healing courses, wellness events, and I create and sell empowering handmade art. These services will only continue to expand and evolve, so I invite you to stay in touch and come with me on this journey.

How did I get here? There is the timeline of life events and decisions that have led me here such as moving away at 18 to study my undergrad in New York and play volleyball, moving away in 2019 to do my masters in England, or moving to Costa Rica for 2.5 months in 2022 to work with high school girls student athletes on leadership development. But more than that, there is the story of pain and healing that birthed my work. When I was a little girl, I did not behave well according to the school standards. I was disruptive, loud, hyperactive, distracted, and I did not fit in with their rules. For this reason my parents and teachers had to take action and help me become a good girl and student that did things right and followed all the rules. I had to fit in to be accepted in school. I understand my parents and teachers did the best they could with the circumstances. This programming of the good girl in combination with unhealthy family dynamics and abusive relationships led me to grow up as a perfectionist, drowning in self-doubt and shame, not able to set boundaries, and always following the “shoulds” and “what is expected of me.” In 2020 after hitting rock bottom mentally and emotionally, I discovered the power of personal development and healing so I took the responsibility to heal myself. I no longer wanted to be a victim of my circumstances or a floating person with no direction. I wanted to heal and feel better. It’s been four years since I promised to love myself standing at the top of a mountain while hiking in Norway and all roads up to this day have led me to cultivate a life that is rooted in self-love, self-connection, and self-confidence. Today, I continue healing, cultivating my authenticity and consequently cultivating an authentic narrative of life. This is how I got here today, living and healing. This is why I do what I do; to help others struggling like I was to find their way back to themselves, reclaim their power, and cultivate an authentic narrative of life.

Why coaching, art, and traveling? I have always been a creative soul full of burning passions, but for a long time I was not fueling those. I thought I had to follow the university and full time job route. I tried and I was miserable. Through the journey of healing and entrepreneurship I have been able to create avenues to help others while also combining the passions that fill me with joy. Art allows me to express myself in visual ways, create in a safe space, and empower others through cultivating physical environments of color, positivity, and growth. Traveling is the best teacher I have found out there helping us expand our minds, get outside of our comfort zone, and connect with us as we navigate a whole new world. And holistic coaching just joins it all together providing a big picture point of view of our humanity. It helps us connect the dots of our life and our health. Coaching is a lifestyle that I get to share with others as I walk with them in their growth journey. Coaching helps us connect to our inner wisdom to find the answers we need. It’s been a blessing being able to combine purpose and passions and serve the world through those.

I am most proud of the person I am becoming and the trust and love I have built within myself. Next to that I am proud of you who have chosen to heal, to love, to grow, and to let your light shine. To everyone reading this, the answers are within yourself. Listen to your most authentic self and your body; they are wise. At Authentic Narratives my goal is to walk with you and share tools and resources that lead you back to you so you can find the answers you need within yourself. Cultivating an authentic narrative of life can be one of the biggest risks you ever take, but I believe it is worth every step of the way. Let’s cultivate together!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

“Wow” is my first thought as there have been so many lessons I needed to unlearn in this journey of entrepreneurship. It has been a process of unlearning a lot of things that no longer serve me and then learning things that will serve me now and where I want to go. One of the most pivotal things I had to unlearn has been that everything is controlled by the mind. This is definitely a controversial one, but in my experience I have learned that it is not all in the mind. When I began entrepreneurship, the leaders and mentors I had constantly spoke about the power of the mind, controlling our thoughts, and using them to create our reality. We even studied these topics on calls and read books about it. It was all about affirmations, creating goal cards, speaking into life the things we wanted, and working ourselves until we were exhausted. Ultimately, discipline conquered it all so emotions were basically ignored and the goal was to change them with our thoughts. I really leaned into this and for a while this is what I believed and preached. However, as I continued my journey, I started to feel that there had to be more to this because my emotions were there no matter what I did and they did not always change even when I changed my thoughts. Something did not make sense to me and I did not want to feel the way I was feeling. What I have learned is the power of connecting with our bodies, our emotions, and our nervous system. No matter how much mind power we have, it will not overpower our body’s power. Our bodies are the greatest machine created and it communicates with us all the time mainly through emotional responses. We have emotions and they are a key component in our human experience. Our emotions are messages and alert us of what is going on at the root of ourselves. Now, this does not mean that your mind and thoughts do not matter at all. To me, it means that we need to find rhythm and balance between our thoughts and our emotions. There are occasions in which mind power is helpful and needed. Our thoughts still hold power and things such as affirmations, speaking life to ourselves and others, seeing things that empower us, and more, do matter. But if we do not connect with our emotions and listen to our bodies we can’t bring through real and lasting change. We need to heal our nervous systems to create a state of safety within us and be ready for life. Through healing ourselves from the root and aiding with the power of the mind we can bring real lasting change and create the life we do desire.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

YES!!! I would say the four books that have impacted me the most in this journey of creative-preneurship have been The Gifts of Imperfection, Braving the Wilderness, and I Thought it Was Just Me (But it isn’t) by Brené Brown and The Garden Within by Dr. Anita Phillips. Ultimately, managing a business is a direct reflection of how you manage yourself and who you are. Because of this, not only we need to learn skills of managing the business and that journey of leadership, but we also need to address any limiting beliefs, mindsets, and habits that are not helping us in the entrepreneurial journey. From this list, Brené Brown books have helped me in healing perfectionistic habits and ways of thinking, embracing the imperfections of being human, understanding my shame and working through it, and walking as my full authentic self in this world. These have been key as an entrepreneur. In this world of creating from your heart and soul and launching a business it is us versus us. We are in charge of the ideas, the creation, the management, and every step of the way and if we are too caught up on perfectionism we stay stuck like a hamster in a hamster wheel. Her books have helped me heal so I can get out of that hamster wheel and run towards business creation believing in the magic of my authenticity and imperfection. Now, The Garden Within has actually been a guiding light in my business mission and vision. When I first read it, I knew the book was changing my life. Now, the second time around, I have seen how the principles of the garden and understanding humans as gardens is actually something that I have been practicing since I began personal growth and healing. My personal growth and healing journey is the roots of my business so this book has helped me get clear in how I have gotten here and how I want to help others cultivate their own authentic narrative of life. To anyone out there, I truly recommend these books especially if you are someone that is battling shame, perfectionism, and your own emotions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.authenticnarratives.life/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authentic.narratives/profilecard/?igsh=ZWQ0YTkyMGd0a2h1
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabiola-padilla-r%C3%ADos-1a9290140?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@authenticnarratives.?si=9lA_5Y1L-ghAWCTl
• Other: Art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authenticnarrativesart/

Image Credits

Natalia Baquero – Instagram @beautythroughanikon
Hacienda Guachipelin Photographers in Costa Rica
Tracey Kaufman
Gar Watlington