33. Leaping Back *IN* After Kids - With Jade Navega

Motherhood rocked Jade's world - career included - and she's in the throes of leaping back in to her business and her 'pre-mom' self. Join us for a candid conversation in Ep. 33 as we cover how Jade first leapt to a new city and formed her business "The Mindful Step" in the first place; was forced her to put her plans on ice; and - most importantly - reignited her adventurous and ambitious self to form a new (and less conventional) family plan, starting now.   

Follow Jade's journey and her extraordinary business - The Mindful Step - which connects people around the world with sustainable fashion and other Portuguese brands from her home base of Porto, Portugal, on Instagram now. 

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Transcript

33 - Jade Navega 

[00:00:00] 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Welcome to Life Leaps Podcast, here inspiring stories of ordinary people who made extraordinary life changes. What drove them, what almost held them back, insights for the rest of us considering life leaps, big or small, because hearing someone else do it reminds us that we can too.

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Just a reminder that we're bi-weekly now. And so last Wednesday, when you were missing us dearly. You should have received our very first newsletter in your inbox so that every Wednesday there's something either an episode or now. And email with episode recaps and takeaways and helpful life leap related tips, resources. And the occasional update on my own leap in progress and more. Plus you can still get your daily dose of inspiration on our IgG or Facebook accounts. Info for all that. 

Plus how to sign up for our newsletter and more on this week's guest [00:01:00] in the show notes for this episode. Okay. Here we are. Today we're with Jaydna Vega, who is at the heart of it, an adventurer. She left from the UK to Portugal pivoted again, to become an entrepreneur and was growing her brand and her work. The mindful step, which among other things, she does connects visitors in Porto, Portugal to sustainable fashion and other local brands in spaces. And then, well, Jade had a kid. And she realized it was going to be a whole new kind of adventure. Pregnancy and motherhood really shook Jade's world and she shares today how she's leaping back in to her career self and a whole new family plan. Jade's leap is live fresh and exciting. But her journey is also about reconnecting with ourselves, our goals, our journeys into motherhood, parenthood, or just life taking us in a new and unexpected direction. And dancing that dance. [00:02:00] Today we cover failure, ADHD, imposter syndrome, and getting up and trying again. Some days better than others. That always trying. 

And. by the way, I was having mic issues on this episode at I'm pretty sure my voice got recorded by my crummy laptop speakers instead of my microphone. But that's okay. 

Because it just makes Jade sound all the more amazing. Without further ado.

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: I grew up in the UK and I lived, let's say, 25 years in the United Kingdom until I started traveling and I discovered Porto, Portugal, which is where I'm currently based. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Now, small town, big town in the UK, 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: small family, big one.

Big family, small town, which. I was quite excited to escape, to be honest, like I love my family and my friends there, but yeah, I just not somebody [00:03:00] who enjoys living in a small town. So I live in Porto now, which is a small city. So that's something I'm comfortable with. I still got the small element, but I'm now in a city that I love.

We've got beautiful tiles, amazing architecture, history, wine, food, beach, and you can be super close to the vineyards as well. So it's. idyllic. Like I, I love living here. It's all the things. and so yeah, I can't really say the same for where I grew up. I feel really bad. I should be an advocate for where I grew up, but it's just a tiny little town.

There's really not much there. We're close to London, so you can get the train to London. That's a good thing. But otherwise it's just not really much happening where I grew up. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Except for the birth of you, which is exciting event. And then, no, I'm just kidding. I'm not kidding, but, okay. So at some point you said that you discovered Porto.

How did you end up in Porto? Which is of course where our leap currently take, the stuff we're [00:04:00] about to talk about takes place. How did you land 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: there? Yeah. So I worked in tourism and I landed. A dream job, which was working as a tour guide all across Europe. And I did this for two years, had the most amazing time.

I was always on the move. and Porto was one of the destinations that we would stop at and. I also, inside of this company, met my current husband, who is also Portuguese. we were linked, I always say that I fell in love with Porto before I fell in love with him. which is true, it is true, but they collided as well,Yeah, that's why we're also in Porto too, because his family lives one hour away, but I always had this feeling that I would end up in this city because I would come and I would bring 50 tourists,every other week or so I would bring them to Porto and I never had much time because I was working and then I had to move on to the next destination with the guests.

And I never really had the chance [00:05:00] to explore what I was feeling pulled to, So then when I quit that job, I did two years of this job, I knew I wanted to explore Portugal. It just had such a charisma to it that people are really open hearted, really welcoming. And obviously the food and the wine helped too.

so yeah, I was like, I feel like I belong here. It was just something I had an itch and I just knew that it was my place. And I feel like I had traveled a lot. not just working, but also for enjoyment too, before the job and during the job. And I always felt I was searching for this sense of belonging and I really felt like I found it in Porto.

So yeah, to answer your question, I found Porto through my previous job working as a tour guide. And why did you 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: quit? 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: I feel like this kind of job has a timeline on it because you're living out of a [00:06:00] rucksack, staying in hostels every night, it's something I think you just have to do whilst you're young.

Like now in my thirties, I don't have the same energy levels or my needs have changed. I feel like now I couldn't stay in a hostel. If I did, it would have to be a private room. Sorry. I feel that. You're moving on up. Yeah. My priorities changed. I knew I wanted to find my roots somewhere and somewhere that I knew I wanted to start a family, which was, yeah, what happened.

So that was why I quit. I quit the job and I wanted to find something for myself. I wanted to work for myself, which leads into how I created my business, The Mindful Step. Which, yeah, I don't know if you want me to get into that now or wait. I 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: do. I want to hear all about that, but Jade, we're not there yet.

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: I know. I thought so. No, 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: I'm kidding. Put on the brakes. We,no. I, but I do have one more question actually. So I knew you'd met Tony, your current husband, through your job. [00:07:00] Y'all just, were y'all both like doing tours there and then you fell in love with Porto. You were like, Oh, this guy's Portuguese.

This is going to work. And then he'll move together to Porto or 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: good question. So we actually met, so to become, he was training as a driver and I was training as a tour guide. So we both were on the same training trip, but for different roles within the company.

and the training trip was two months, all around Europe. You had to learn all the different countries and the cities. the culture, the language, the food, so that you could be the best guide when you're going into these places. So it was intense. It was like a military operation. You were having barely any sleep, you're exploring a city by day, you're researching it by night, you're drinking espressos like by the gallon.

It's just, it was the best and worst time of my life. And I met him the day before the training begun in Paris. I met him on the stairs in a hostel [00:08:00] and I asked him what floor we were on and he told me and corrected me and I was on the wrong floor and later we admitted that we both thought each other were cute.

I was like, Oh, he's that cute guy, in the hostel. And then the next day I saw him at the training and I was like, Oh, okay, I'm going to spend the next two months. This guy is a part of, what I'm doing as well. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: And so you didn't know he was part of the training. You just started. Yeah. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: And then he was a part of the training and I was so not looking for a boyfriend.

Like I was just like, I'm about to travel Europe. I'm going to have a lot of fun. And I didn't want any ties to anybody. I wanted to, yeah, just spread my wings and focus on myself. 

but yeah, I learned that he was a really great guy and actually, okay, I want to give this a shot. But we, so during that training trip, we did visit Portugal, but we weren't [00:09:00] official. We were still just friends or friendly. So I fell in love with Portugal when we arrived on the training trip, and I did not imagine I would end up with him, even though, he was Portuguese, but I just didn't imagine we would end up together, because we were about to be separated, for the whole summer, 

but we made it work. We really made it work. The first year he would fly to me on his days off, and then I would try to fly to him on his days off. We rarely ever ended up in the same city. 

And Portugal was very separate from that in my feelings. but then when we were official, like I left the company, but he stayed. So I said, I want to move to Porto. So I moved with him, but separate as well, because he was never there. It was always traveling, but he had a base to come back to.

In Porto, so we, yes, we lived together, but. Yeah, I very much started my journey in Porto alone,

Got it. [00:10:00] So 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: at some point, I know initially you did not envision him being your life partner, but at some point.

You guys certainly did saddle up together and you had a baby, your 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: daughter, Alma. We got married first and then. The baby came very quickly afterwards during the honeymoon. 

it happens quicker than what we thought it would, I'm very grateful for that. yeah, we've got a beautiful baby girl called Alma and Alma translates to soul and Portuguese.

And our surnames are Navega, so Navega translates to navigator, so her name is Sol, the Sol Navigator. yeah, and so it's been, quite a crazy five years, so this is five years now in Portugal. and 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Jade, along the way, obviously you left an old career and working in tourism and you moved to Porto. where you end up at some point along the [00:11:00] way you have to obviously keep making money and What did you do?

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Did you start like a I think you did a consulting business You did and did you start the mindful step right away? ? Yeah. Yes, so I arrived in Porto. I had A mission that I wanted to work for myself, because, unfortunately the wages here in Portugal are not very good.

So in a way it forced me also to work for myself because I didn't see it worthwhile getting a normal job in Portugal. and I was very lost when I first got here. I felt very lonely at times, lots of moments like what the hell am I doing? cause I didn't know anybody in the city. yeah, and I explored loads of different things.

One of the things I did explore was a tile tour. I wanted to use my experience as a tour guide, but to create an experience that gave purpose to the city and supported the locals, 

I always saw that there was a missed opportunity to support the locals, bringing 50 people into a city and taking [00:12:00] them to commercial places to eat or commercial places to shop because that's where the money was, that's where they earn a commission. But I just saw that there's an opportunity to really educate this traveler.

On really the true authentic side, support the locals, learn about their culture. and for me, that's an experience that I would seek when I go to a certain destination. so yeah, I tried creating a tile tour. It was successful. and it would support local artists. So we would go to local studios and they would paint their own tiles.

And I was doing that up until the pandemic. but before that, I also wanted to create another tour and I discovered the sustainable fashion scene here in Porto.  I had no idea that the north of Portugal was home to such a large textile industry.

some of the biggest brands we know produce here. and so I was really excited to learn that and to discover the innovation that was happening in regards to [00:13:00] sustainability, certain materials that were being used, making use of certain textile waste and upcycling, and, I just was super excited by it.

And I thought if I'm excited by this, maybe other people will be as well. yeah. So then I created the sustainable fashion tour. wait a 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: second. You go from this background in tourism, you come to this new town where you know nobody, you say like you're lonely, you're poking around, obviously you know you have to start earning a living.

did you have a background in being an entrepreneur? Did you have? No. Like what? What? You know what I'm saying? Like it's impressive. Like you crossed over. A lot of people talk about this crossover from employee to entrepreneur. And you say look, salaries weren't high in Portugal in this space in this time.

I didn't want to be. beholden to somebody and making a much lower salary. I knew I needed to go in business for myself. Was that just your starting point? Like where did you get the tile idea? Where did you get, I don't know, gosh, gumption [00:14:00] to be like, I'm just going to make this work now. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: I don't know. I've always been that way. I've always. Just take an action like I, if I have an idea, I run with it and I try it immediately. Like I have no patience at all, which is amazing, but also it's a huge burden at times because yeah, I should sit for a minute and think about it first, but I don't like to do that.

I just like to get straight to it. and I think I've always had a very entrepreneurial spirit. I used to be an actress when I was in the UK. That's my degree. I studied theater and drama. So I'm very used to putting myself out there in auditions and selling myself and being creative and thinking outside of the box.

so yeah, I'd say I'm a creative at heart. I love to be creative and improvise and. Find things and solutions. and I'm a people person. I love networking. So I don't know. I just followed my heart and [00:15:00] Yeah, it led me down the right path. Okay. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: And Jade, again, I just have to say, I think sometimes it's these narratives we draw for ourselves.

Cause I hear your story and it makes sense to me that you're like, I had this background in theater so I was used to putting myself out there. So I worked in tourism, so I knew there was this gap, but like at the same time. No, I don't think your average theater major, I don't think of your average theater major as like turning around and becoming a businesswoman.

I don't think of your average person who's really good in tourism as turning around and being like, now I'm going to go into sustainable fashion. And I'm so glad you did. And obviously those things set you up, but I want to point it out not to say Oh, you weren't qualified to do what you did. Heck no.

But to point out that like for other people hearing this story. It ties together now, but it's not such an obvious natural progression, and that's what I think makes it cool. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Thank you. Yeah, I know I had no background in [00:16:00] fashion and I always talk about this on the fashion tour that my background isn't fashion.

I accidentally fell into it through tourism, which I'm not connected in any way, shape or form, but somehow I made them connected. yeah, I just, I just go for what I want because I just think life is too short and I give myself a lot of stress. if I was to advise someone, should you do that as well?

I think it is a very stressful way to do it because you've got to have a lot of faith that you have the capability to make it work. because I think at the time when I started the sustainable fashion tour, there was not a market for it. There is now, but when I first started, I had never. Heard of anything like I was doing.

 So the Sustainable Fashion Tour, allows tourists to get closer to Portuguese sustainable fashion brands. There is a lot happening here beneath the scenes. We've got an incredible creative district here in Porto, where independent [00:17:00] designers are.

Are really really paving the way towards a better future of fashion and that's through innovative design using new materials that people haven't even heard of, or. Utilizing leftover textiles from the big fashion brands that produce here and creating unique collections or upcycling old materials into something new, creating social impact schemes.

there's an incredible brand called vintage for a cause, and they work with, elderly women from Portugal, who are seamstresses and they create all the collections and they're just Much happening for such a small city and it's all underground. so the fashion tour really just brings a platform for these designers and shows the world like, Hey, look, this is what we're doing.

we might have all these big brands producing here, but we are the creatives here that are. they [00:18:00] literally are like when I first started the tour, these brands were using like cork in a super stylish way. And then three years later, Nike is using cork in their trainers. So it's I feel like I see what happens here.

And then later on the big brands copy. So I feel like the tour shows you the future of fashion. now we're looking at plant based, levers,whether that be with coconut water or pineapple leaves or mushrooms. And these small brands are using these materials, When the bigger brands aren't, but they will be at some point, it's so basically, yeah, the experience is two and a half hours.

It takes you around, around Porto sort of main sites, but then we go to some more unheard of streets, unheard of studios and concept stores that you probably wouldn't find on your own. And I really introduce you to the brand. Sometimes the founders of the brands, they come and you get to meet them.

And yeah, it's a really. [00:19:00] An experience I'm very proud of, and it supports, really, truly supports the locals. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast:  it's really hard To look back and really unpeel and unravel that, but it was just a case of me exploring, I love exploring new cities. I just, it lights me up to find. the hidden gems. and that's what it was. It was me just exploring, getting excited about brands and stores and then talking to the brand, the store managers or the brand founders and hearing their stories, like I love to hear, like, why did they start the brand?

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Why did they use this material? and. I'm very good at creating itineraries. Anyway, that's what I was doing previously. I would create my own walking tours to take customers or I would.

find that cool restaurant to take people to. And it's just something, that comes really natural to me. And then I start to piece up the puzzles. I'm like, okay, so there's this store here and then there's that store there. could [00:20:00] I take 10 minutes to walk from there to here? If I do, what's the story along the way, it has to build.

It's you've got to have that middle beginning, middle, and end that would create a really solid itinerary. And when it just clicked. And it worked and I was like, this is really cool. it was just me creating an experience that I would want if I went to a different city and I knew it didn't exist.

So that's how it started was just following my intuition and just trusting that at some point there'll be a market for it. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: And Jade. So somewhere along the way in your moving to Porto and having these great ideas and starting these businesses, especially the one you're doing now, obviously sustainable fashion tour, you had a baby.

And I think you and I have discussed how throws anyone, but certainly you feel like through you for a tailspin [00:21:00] and Tony is traveling because we haven't mentioned that he is still working the travel job. And the same. So what's going on? big detour, big bump, big whatever it is, along with all the joys.

Big challenges in the road. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Yeah, so I'm a very ambitious person and I thought at the point when we were, we got married and, shortly afterwards I got pregnant. I was running my own consulting business as well. so that came during the pandemic because I could no longer do the tours. So I pivoted and studied design, science and fashion, as well as.

Studied to be a B lab leader for B corporation, which is a holistic certification. That's some fashion brands use, And yeah, I started consulting for brands cause I knew I would end up doing that eventually, but this just accelerated it cause I had no other choice. so at the time, my, [00:22:00] my business and mindful step was super successful.

I was in that place where, okay, finally I've broken down the boundaries, that Kind of stopped me from being successful in the past. And I was having regular clients. I was running fashion tours again, regularly, like after the pandemic, and then I felt pregnant and I assumed I would be that power mama who is that mom entrepreneur and is absolutely hustling.

I had. I laugh at myself at the time because I had no idea what I was in for. at the time I was planning to grow the fashion tour to Lisbon and I had a guide ready, I had the partnerships ready and this immense sickness. Pregnancy sickness kicked in like it was hardcore and I was [00:23:00] not expecting it.

Like I've got a lot of women in my family who have had hundreds of babies between them all and I just thought they always all made it look so easy. and I was sick for about 20 weeks and I just had no energy to do anything. I would just want to lay on the sofa. It just, it really shook me because I just one wasn't expecting it and two, I had to put things on hold, to the point where, because I was so sick, I lost a lot of weight and then the doctors were concerned that the baby.

Would be underweight and they wanted to do a early C section and have Alma in the, what do they call it? the NICU premature. Yeah. Yeah. The premature ward. And that was just something I was like, Nope, that is not happening. That is absolutely not happening. I had in my head what I wanted, [00:24:00] which was a holistic birth.

I certainly did not want a C section. I wanted to do everything natural. And I stood by that, but the doctor said, okay, you need to stop working. And so I did, I stopped working. I had to cut off all my work, which is really hard to do because I had clients where we were literally mid launch. Like they were launching their fashion brands.

Some of them doing Kickstarter campaigns where they relied on me and I had to stop. And that was really difficult and focus on having a healthy baby, which I did. I had a natural birth, everything went super smoothly. It was just what I imagined. but I also think I wasn't prepared for what it takes to be a mom.

So I still had this really ambitious attitude that after two months I would be back at work. I would, be back at it. and I tried and I failed [00:25:00] because I just didn't have the same energy levels I did. I recently discovered I actually have ADHD, which was really heightened when I had the baby because I'm trying to concentrate on work, which is impossible with a child around.

and it was a really hard time because also when Alma was. about 10 months old, Tony went to work away again. So I'm in Porto with no family, not really any kind of friends I can rely on and no partner, and all of a sudden I'm a single mom. Learning everything, trying to navigate how to keep my business alive.

I had another project that I started as well called the mindful map of Porto, which is a free map that tourists can download that brings them closer to sustainable businesses, whether that be fashion, food experiences, [00:26:00] hotels. so it was an extremely difficult time for me to navigate first. Being a mom and learning what kind of mom I am, but at the same time, completely losing who I was as well, and I hate to sound so negative about it because of course, me and my daughter have had so many beautiful moments, just the 2 of us, but it was really tough, really tough.

people don't see. The inside of what's happening the sleepless nights the teething and when you have like it even makes the emotion Emotional thinking about it. Like of course when you have this like you're not alone in that

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Breathe and or let it out like you're not alone in that And you're far from the first mom on this [00:27:00] podcast, not to mention the larger planet and communities we're part of, to express this and feel this. Like I feel you, I am tearing up talking to you right now because I'm like, Oh my, yes. And Jade, you're doing it alone.

Tony, as wonderful as he is, he's gone because he's got to earn money too. And he can't physically be there while he's doing that, which I know we'll get to our later conversation about some changes, but hello? 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Yeah, this is heavy. Yeah, it's only until now, because when you're in it, you're just surviving.

No, I didn't have time to, to sit back and think, Oh my God, I'm really struggling here. Because at the end of the day, I collapsed in bed. By the time I'd managed to get her to sleep, I was asleep in seconds as well. And then you get up and you start again, it's yeah, so it was. A really difficult time and it really [00:28:00] gave me a big slap around the face.

It's okay, this is motherhood. This is what everyone's been talking about. It is really difficult. yeah. And I hate to say this, but I think being a mom, it has come natural to me, but. I love the other part of me so much. Like I love the entrepreneurial Jade. I love the Jade that can go out and network with other businesses who creates these projects that have purpose and meaning.

Like it lights me up so much. And obviously having Alma lights me up so much, like I was missing that part of me last summer. No, I couldn't even go to a yoga studio. I didn't have anyone to look after Alma in the evening, so I could go and decompress and have some self care. there was no time for self care.

Alma was a priority and [00:29:00] then my business partners were then the next priority. Like I came way down the list because if I didn't try to keep up with the mindful step, I would lose everything that I worked so hard to achieve. yeah, so it was extremely difficult to navigate that.

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: So first, thank you for sharing that. And I feel like. It's funny because hearing you talk about that, it resonates so much with me in terms of yeah, being a parent, being a mom specifically, yeah, that lights you up, but there are so many other things that also let you up in so many different ways.

And those are so important too. And I feel like that's the constant struggle of which parts of ourselves do we. Sacrifice in the name of the other. How do we even saying have it all is the dumbest phrase in the world. How do we even [00:30:00] begin to, I like the way you're saying it, which is like, how do I activate and plug into the parts of me that make me, me also dealing with these really important and navigating these really important obligations and other things I care about and love and yeah, Jake, you were in the thick of it.

I think a 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: lot of moms feel that way, but, yeah, 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: yeah, we can just breathe and be like, 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: yeah, that can be hard.

Yeah. Which is, yeah, I guess in a way leads us to 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: the next part. I was going to say, which actually. Does lead to this next space, because I think that at one point, and I think it was very recently you and Tony did have a conversation about look, this is too much. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Yeah. There's been a lot of discussions, on what we were going to do and what our family needs. Life would be like, [00:31:00] and I knew in my heart, I can't do another summer alone. I can't do it. We're not ready to put Alma in a crush just yet. Maybe. This September, yes, but that would still mean that he would have to work away the whole summer.

and the earliest he could be home would be October. And yeah, I just knew in my heart I can't do this alone again. 

And we were like, okay, if you are not gonna go back this summer, then what the hell are we gonna do? Because at this point, yes, I have the mindful step, but it's running at a very minimal basis. I have the sustainable Fashion tour, but obviously I didn't have many bookings throughout the summer.

I guess I did in some ways, because. Yeah, I did. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: You had what you could manage to do while being full time childcare as a single mom, I 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: think. Exactly. Yeah. That's what, thank you for summing that up perfectly. Exactly. and then I had, yeah, the mindful map, which, brings in a really small amount each month.

so I was like, what are we going to do? [00:32:00] I, like you can't work in Portugal, so the wages are so terrible here. It wouldn't even pay our rent. Chaos around the holidays because we were trying to, we knew that the new year was approaching and we had to figure out what we were going to do.

And. Obviously, one of our options was Tony would go back and work away again, and I would be another summer alone with Alma and I didn't know if I had it in me to do it again. And then a second option was to move to Amsterdam. So to really have a big game changer, I was offered a job in Amsterdam, working in regards to sustainable fashion.

, to completely get up and leave and try something completely new. , and then the 3rd option was that we stay where we are. Tony doesn't go back and I really make the mindful step grow and work. 

, [00:33:00] And I knew in my heart.

What it was, I wanted, , but I didn't know if it was the best decision. Cause then when you have a family, you have so many different things you have to think of, it's not just me and Tony anymore, where , if it all goes to shit, then, okay, he'll go back and work away and he'll earn good money and we'll be able to salvage ourselves.

But now we have this little person and it's not that simple anymore. And a big decision, like moving to Amsterdam, would completely change our lives much differently if it was just the two of us, you know, we could just go, , for a couple of years, but with her, we need to figure out neighborhoods and schools and community of moms and parents and all that jazz.

And I thought all of this would excite me because me and Tony are travelers at heart, we love exploring, , but it didn't. I had to really sit with it over the holidays and think, how does this feel on my body? , and I actually fooled [00:34:00] myself to believing that that's the right decision we should make. , to the point where I was like, okay, let's really look into this 

So we're looking at housing and school options for Alma and then all of a sudden it was just taken away from me. And it was the job was pulled. Yeah, the job was pulled and I no longer had the opportunity and I was like, Oh, thank God. And so that reaction, I was like, Oh my God, I can't believe I would have, I blinded myself by thinking this is what I should do because it could be potentially the best option for my family.

Although it'd be a huge, yeah, stability, having a regular income. , but yeah, then when it was pulled from underneath me, I was like, Okay, now I get to do what I really want to do and that was the biggest sign yeah I was like, okay. I know what I have to do now.[00:35:00] 

 , And then it was like the universe actually said, it's time for you to. make the mindful step grow The developer I was working with was like, Hey, I'll do this for you for free because it will get to show off my portfolio.

And I was like, damn, that's a really good deal. You are the most expensive part of my budget. 

 And I always have in the back of my head that, certain businesses don't reach past five years.

And I'm like, I'm going to I'm going to make it, I will. And I just said to Tony, look, people are interested in what I'm doing. People are now understand the concepts of sustainable fashion. They want to learn about it. They want to have a more purposeful experience when they're traveling. And then the mindful map of Porto, like the businesses are jumping on board and I've got businesses messaging me and asking if they can join.

I think I have something here, but we're like, how the hell are we going to make enough money to [00:36:00] survive, to pay the rent, to pay the bills? Pay for, Alma and the baby things and this is uncertain. I don't have the answer for that yet, but I made the decision that I'm going to go fill in to the mindful step and whatever money we have left in our savings.

I'll invest some of it. I'm also going to be applying for governmental or private funding. To help grow and scale this business. 

Then this year also launch it in Lisbon too, to have the fashion tour and the map in Lisbon as well. So it's starting to become like, a real startup. And we took that leap. So basically the decision was that he has to call his boss to say he's not going back.

And we put that on hold for months, like four months, because it was like, once you do it, it's official. And so you guys. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Yes.[00:37:00] no. I was gonna say, so you guys, no, you guys decided, like you've been talking about for months. It sounds like you're like, I cannot spend another summer alone. This is not sustainable.

Tony has been doing this travel job for a very long time. He's if I quit, it sounds like we've skipped over the part where he sounds like he's willing to quit or you convinced him it was a good, 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: he loves his job, but he does miss Alma and he's missed out a lot. So he's, he would be happy to go back and work cause he loves what he does, but he's also equally so happy to be at home.

so yeah, he would be a stay at home dad until Alma would go to preschool or daycare in September. if we can afford it at that point, that's a big if, yeah, yeah, he's more than happy to be a stay at home dad. So this was part of the solution was okay. We called his boss up. He said, I'm not coming back.

I'm going to be a stay at home dad and Jade is going to try and make her business. Work, which was the [00:38:00] scariest thing ever. Cause now I'm like, am I allowed to swear? 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Yes. This is not a children's 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: podcast. Cause I was like, shit, now I've got to make this work because I have a family to support and now I'm like.

Oh my God. What have we done? But you've done 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: it. You've done it. Yeah. He's made the call. Wait, Jade, when did he make the phone call? When 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: did this happen? This was in the new year, like really early in the new year. So around like the first week of January, we got back to Porto after spending some time in the UK.

And, yeah. Yeah. He called his boss within that first week. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: This is three weeks ago. This is earlier this month. This is fresh. Yeah. it's still burns a little bit when I say it. No. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: or excites you. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: What, how long between when you all decided and when he actually made the phone call and was like, this is it to the boss.[00:39:00] 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: I think from the moment he came back in October, so we had a nice holiday together just to reconnect as a family. And I think that's when we started discussing because he was on the road all time. I was exhausted by the time our Alma had gone to bed. So we really hadn't had a chance to talk about this during the summer.

Like he knew I was struggling at points, but I don't think he really knew the depth of what I was going through until he experienced what it's like to be. a stay at home dad. Now he understands how he understands just a little bit because I think I did the toughest part, which is, the baby part.

although we have terrible twos coming up, I'm very much aware of that, but let's see. we'll cross that bridge when it gets set. Yeah. I'll just call me when you, 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: I'm in the thick of it. Hopefully I'll have, hopefully I'll have some perspective by the time you get there. Right now I have none.

just additional tears. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: yeah, but I think he now really gets it when he came home, he understood and he saw my perspective of, okay, this is not sustainable for Jade to do this [00:40:00] alone again. So it was just gradual conversations. It wasn't like, this is what we're going to do. It was just gradual conversations from October till he called his boss.

So a few months where we were like, Oh, what should we do? but I always knew in my heart, what I wanted. To go into my business, And I wanted that freedom to explore my potential. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: And Jade, how do you feel? Amazing! You're several weeks in. 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: I'm just a few weeks in.

but honestly, I feel amazing. I've got to be very careful I don't burn myself out because I can very much easily do that. I get tunnel visioned and like I have to have an alarm to say, okay, I've got to go have lunch now because I just go full in. And that's also linked to ADHD too, which I've learned recently.

but I feel good. It's such a great dynamic for our family and it works like Tony, my husband, he's such a natural homebody. He loves being at home. [00:41:00] He makes. It's a great stay at home dad, like he's super patient where I'm not, obviously I'm patient with my child. I have to be, it doesn't come naturally, but in general I'm quite impatient with a lot of things.

and I'm the one who has this ambitious spirit. I'm the one who doesn't want to work for somebody else who has the creative ideas and it just works for us. And I really hope that I can. Re, I don't know, you can reinterview me in eight months time and I'll be like, yes, it's working. Or I'm going to be crying and saying, Oh my God, but at least I try, this is a journey, isn't it?

It doesn't mean, your route to success, you're always going to be there. It's a, it's not a linear path,

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: I'm absolutely going to check back in with you.

We're going to re interview you. I want to know sitting here now, snapshot, what are you looking forward to? What are you afraid of? And is there anything you're putting in [00:42:00] place you're scaffolding like support or thing to help 

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: you along the way? Yeah, super scaffolding right now. So I'm working with a developer who's creating an app for our map,

I'm working with a designer to redesign The look and aesthetics of the mindful map, redesigning the website 

 there'll be, articles about what's happening in the city. all the, all the partners that we work with. so I need a copywriter for that. So there's a lot of things that are adding in, but 

 I'm aware that I might not get funding, So I'm working with a consultant that's going to help us, with some funding applications.

so it's all happening as a lot, it's a lot happening and I'm scared every day. I'm very scared. I'm constantly running into myself doubts. I'm constantly questioning myself. Can I do this? Because I'm getting very uncomfortable on a daily basis because [00:43:00] now I'm like, there are so many people involved in this that I don't want to let down.

I feel like I'm making certain promises and I want to make sure that. I commit to those promises, not just commit, but I actually succeed in what I'm saying I'm going to do, because if my business thrives, then all the businesses involved also thrive. So if I fail, I almost feel like I have faint, I'm failing them and that is a heavy weight and that's the first time I'm actually hearing it out loud.

So this is where the fear comes from is. I don't want to let people down and I don't want to let myself down and I don't want this to fail because I'm too afraid to step out of my comfort zone and break down certain barriers, but I know that I won't do that. It's just imposture syndrome. Everyone has it.

It's just that little devil. You've got to [00:44:00] kick every day. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: What are you telling yourself to push through? Do you have, or what do you do? What are you doing? Telling yourself? How do you push through that?

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Great question. I used to be so good at, having a toolkit to help me with these things, but I think just time and energy, I don't at the moment.

And I think the one thing I just have to check into is. Being grateful for where I am. Oh, no, actually, I do. I do have a saying. I have a saying at the moment, an affirmation, is, I am right where I need to be. And that sort of grounds me into, Okay, I'm not there yet, but I am right where I need to be. If today, all I managed was to speak with a developer, to see What he's up to or where he's at, then I'm still right where I need to be.

And I think we can put so much pressure on ourselves to think we, we need to [00:45:00] be successful now. But I have to remind myself that the journey is it's so cheesy, isn't it? It's so wanky, but it's so true. It's the journey that is the fun part. And if I get myself stressed in this, horrible stress tornado, then I'm going to miss.

All of this juiciness and I'm going to miss the teachings I'm going to so that one saying I am right where I need to be just brings me back to earth and reminds me that this is a process and it will always be a process because, once we have a well rounded. Projects in Porto, then we're going to head to Lisbon, which is going to be a whole nother journey.

And, my, my aim is to internationalize this and have it outside of Portugal, not just inside of Portugal, which is the long term goal. So yeah, it's a process, 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: yes, the saying, the even acknowledging that what you're feeling is imposter syndrome.

That's a huge [00:46:00] thing because everybody feels it and we don't always recognize it for what it is. even being able to put it in that perspective, as opposed to being like, I think that therefore it's true, separate yourself from that thought and identifying it.

I think it's huge. I think it's a life skill. I think we're all still working on it and probably combined with your bias for action. Good for you. I cannot wait. to keep checking in on your process, as you said, on and off the scenes and to eventually update our listeners as well. So thank you so much.

Jade Navega - The Mindful Step: Thank you so much. I really enjoyed doing this. 

Karen Tanenbaum - Life Leaps Podcast: Thank you all for being here. We're a brand new podcast, so if you enjoyed it, go ahead and follow, rate, and review us in your podcast app so that we can know what you liked and others can find us. It would mean a lot. Last, but not least, we'll keep you posted on brand new episodes each [00:47:00] week when you follow us on Facebook or Instagram at, you guessed it, Life Leaps Podcast.

Till next time.