sarita (00:07.91)
Okay, three, two, one.
sarita (00:15.814)
Okay, no worries, three, two, one. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Back to Here with Sarita. I'm super happy that you're here with me today. And if you can see, actually, if you're listening to this on a podcast platform like Spotify or Apple, you probably are not gonna be able to see, but if you're watching this on YouTube, and I invite you to head over to YouTube, you can see that the set up for today's podcast is just a little bit different. I'm actually doing an in -person.
interview today with a guest and let me introduce you to her. I'm very excited that she's here with me today to share as we go through our abundance chat series. As you would know, this year is all about abundance chats and 2024 if you add that up is number eight. So that is why we have these abundance chats this year. So my amazing wonderful guest is Camille Grace Kelly.
She is a licensed psychotherapist, priestess, and first born Gen in the US. Camille earned her master's in counseling psychology from National University. One of Camille's biggest rites of passage was becoming a mother, and she survived postpartum depression after having her first child three days before the pandemic. And then after having her second daughter, Camille knew that she needed to dig deep into her femininity and heal.
and heal, thus leading to the path of becoming a priestess and sacred feminine. So Camille has completed her first year of priestess training through the 13 Moon Mystery School. She's also a certified feminine rites of passage facilitator. And Camille loves creating rituals and ceremonies to set intentions and honor milestones in women's lives. And for over a decade, Camille has been a part of hundreds of women's journeys of transformation.
Meil, thank you so much for being here today. I'm super excited. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. Yes. I'm really happy. good, good. And I'm so happy that you were agreeable to doing a podcast episode in person. Yes. I love, I love, I'm a visual person. So as much as I love hearing to be able to have a visual part too, it's great. Yes. So this is fun because like I said, this is the first podcast episode that I'm doing actually in person most of the time. If you are,
sarita (02:38.406)
and avid listener and have seen some of the podcast episodes, they're usually done virtually. And I'll have my person that I'm talking to on the other side, wherever they are located. So this is just very unique and special. So we get to be within each other's energy here in person. So yes, Camille, you have an amazing, amazing background. And I'm sure hearing that, you're just like, wow, I did all that. Short amount. I mean, I've been here.
gone by so fast. Yeah, I bet. I bet. So let's kind of back up a little bit and we'll intertwine all the abundance in there because that's part of, I'm sure, part of your story and part of the experience that you've had, especially when it comes to being a mother, doing therapy and all the other things that you're a part of. Camille wears a lot of hats, just to let you know.
she does and she'll go into that. She's just, she's such a superwoman. I'm very impressed. And she has two little girls. So let's back up a little bit and kind of where, I mean, this is a very like large question, but like kind of how did you come to where you are right now? Where I am right now. So.
Let's see, starting with childhood, you know, I am the first, I'm the oldest daughter, first of all, and both of my parents are from the Philippines. And then my parents, they ended up divorcing when I was super young. And so I was basically raised by my mother, me and my siblings. And so it was the four of us most of my life. And, you know, going, we struggled here and there, grew up throughout, moved around a lot through Southern California.
and then I think because I was the oldest child and I was like the go -to person for my mother, I feel like after I finished, finished my bachelor's, I was like, well, you know, what's next. And then somehow I met this woman who ended up being my mentor and she had just finished grad school and she's like, yeah, I'm becoming a therapist. And I was like a therapist and I had been through therapy most of my life. It definitely helped me. I started as a teenager.
sarita (04:57.574)
Diagnosed with depression as a teen and it helped me all through my teen years It helped me all through college and then and then it just kind of hit me like how can I I knew that there was a greater purpose for me I knew that I was brought here to help people heal and grow and learn and I just didn't know that for a while and so it took me I mean, I was still pretty young mid 20s when I went back to school and got my masters and it just kind of I made it just made sense and then I
after becoming a therapist, there were other parts that just, that didn't necessarily feel right all the time because, you know, psychology is basically, you know, like white old men created it. Correct. So I do, they didn't always feel right. And then I was like, okay, like I, I need to be able to do things like my way and not necessarily, and like what feels natural. And so, you know, slowly,
But surely I've been like decolonizing the way that I do therapy. And then after I had both of my girls, I was like, how am I going to raise two women in this crazy ass world? And what do I need to do to heal parts of me? Because I know as a therapist, that if I don't heal certain parts of me, it's going to show up in my parenting. It's going to show up in my marriage with my husband. And so it's, it.
I was like, what am I going to do? And like, I don't want to just do therapy either. And so I came across, you know, and then I kept hearing the word priestess come up on social media. It just got like, you know, pretty popular. And so I was fortunate enough to have a couple mentors that I met through Instagram that were able to kind of mentor me and show me their path of what they did to become a priestess. And it really,
helped me not only heal parts of myself, but I've been able to help so many women. I have my own temple here in San Diego that I've been running now for almost two years. And I've had this amazing group of women that we just come together in circle and we help each other and we've been able to heal together and learn and grow. And that's the part too that like, I feel like I was able to heal that like sister woman.
sarita (07:16.422)
that a lot of us have because our culture, right, or here in the US, they constantly put us against each other. And when I started to realize that there's enough space in this world for all of us to be who we are, even if we do similar things, like there's enough, it's an abundance, right? There's so much out there. And so I started building my community here in San Diego. I finally started to meet like,
minded women and then yeah, being able to raise my daughters, being strong and like her, her herstory, right? And not necessarily like feed into all the things that were, that was given to me like as a child, like, you know, I was raised Catholic and I was like, this just doesn't feel right either. There was just so many parts of my life that did not feel right. And I'm like, why am I going to bring my daughters into this? Cause everyone's like, you're gonna baptize them. And I'm like,
no, like yes, culturally, like that's what most of us did, especially the Filipino culture, a lot of Latin American cultures, you know? And I was just, I have to do things differently. I just have to do things differently because that's what feels right. I love that renegade. I love that. And, you know, just going back, it's interesting how that happens where...
you have a, we have this calling, right? Like we don't understand it. And it's not until we really dive deeper into our journey and start moving forward and doing the healing and things when the light bulb kind of turns on and be like, okay, these are parts of me that I realized that we're missing that I wasn't experiencing or wasn't exposed to as a child or as growing up and stuff. And so,
It just makes sense so often when we have this calling, this little whisper in our ear that's calling us to do the work and then also for some people to go on and full on share, share the work. I did wanna ask you because there are some people that are listening to this podcast that are not familiar with the word decolonization. And I think that's very imperative to know, especially, and I've had guests of all different backgrounds.
sarita (09:30.022)
And I primarily have talked on this podcast about being adopted and also being a transracial adoptee, so being raised by a white parent and growing up in the Midwest with a very different experience and then coming here to Southern California. So this whole experience of decolonization, I want to know a little bit more about that. And then also like how you were tying in with like your daughter, your daughters and like raising women.
And then also like your experience as like a therapist when it comes to decolonization and like all that. Because it has been such a history of looking a certain way when it comes to mental health spaces. Right. So for decolonizing, I mean, it's such a process. It's just the way that I look at systems, like especially when I'm looking at my clients or we call, I'm starting to shift and call them participants.
right? Because it's like a collaborative. I like that. It's a collaborative effort. It's not me telling people and just giving them advice. It's like, you know, this role, especially like even in the Filipino culture, like Asian culture, like women, it was very matrical. It was women were the shamans, right? And so they were the ones that the community would go to like, what do I do for this or this and that? And I know that I've been read by so many psychics before and they're like, you have that sham.
I love it. And when I had someone find me this really is like my calling and so therapists back in the day were like shamans, right? And so but thinking about like my clients and like the system that they're in like it's it's just it's bigger picture because like this US culture is so like macro, right? It's so individualized. It's like everyone's out for their own.
And I feel like part of the decolonizing is like, like bringing it back to the village, right? Like that's how things were back then and worked for so long before the colonization happened. And so really I have to look at things like all different parts of my life. And my husband and I, like, like I said, it's an ongoing process. Like we think about all the things that we were saying and doing. Sometimes it seems a little tiresome, but then it just becomes second nature about like.
sarita (11:51.11)
where we're investing our money and like, how are we viewing things? And is it coming from that small lens? And is it more from like the colonizing things? Like, I'm trying to think for example, even for myself personally, like, I've always been pretty much in every space, one of the few like...
like, and I'm a dark skinned Filipino woman, but then just being a brown skinned woman in a lot of these spaces, it's been, it's been hard. And it's like, you know, the things that are going on in this world and like being a lot of women just being really passive about things. I just couldn't do that anymore. I just couldn't do that anymore. And so I've had to like leave organizations. I've had to step down in roles. I've had to do things that just didn't, didn't feel good because it was just.
It just felt like it was just going with that mainstream role without even thinking critically about things. So that's really what it is to me is looking at different parts of my life. What is the impact? Why are we even thinking this? Why do I think that I need to be a size two? Why do I need to worry about the color? All these different things because society has told us, this is what beauty is, or this is how you should be, or.
especially as a therapist, like you need to be professional and it's professionals to me is connected to white. Correct. Yeah. Yep. That's my experience too. Yeah. And even from the way that I talk, I've been told that I'm ghetto or that I'm a certain way and no, like this is just how I talk. And when I talk to my clients like this, like they know that I'm real. Right. And they've, and I've had clients for years that have been with me and there, and I asked them like, you know, what is it that you get? And they're like, well, I know that you're,
authentic and you're genuine. Right. And then most of the time, the majority of people that I see are women of color and they want someone, especially Filipino women that come to me, they want someone that understands the culture. They want someone that understands the pressure of being, you know, a brown woman in this, like, you know, I get a lot of women that are like, you know, CEOs or like leadership roles. And they're just like, how do I navigate, you know, being a woman of color and leadership? And then also, you know,
sarita (14:15.814)
decolonizing and then how I work with a lot of women on how to make leadership more feminine. I love that. I love that. Because that's a lot of my roles is a leadership position. I'm also a director at a nonprofit and I oversee like a staff of 30. So when staff comes in, like I don't, to me that's decolonizing the way that I work. Yes. Is to lead from a more feminine role. I love that. And you know. Yeah.
I love that response. That is a beautiful, well -put response in what decolonization is because you could have given the textbook terminology, right? But you're going by your own personal experience, which is basically uprooting everything that we've ever been taught to be true, in other words, or become our own truths when in reality, like as we're discussing this, is that they weren't our truths because they were so...
They didn't feel aligned as a child or as growing up. We didn't understand that word as a young person and then even growing up. We didn't understand what alignment really was, but we understood the energy of that and realizing and then questioning later on, being like, why is this the way that it is? Why is it that you're telling me that I need to act like a lady? That was something my mom used to tell me all the time, act like a lady. Ladies don't do that.
you know, ladies don't act like that or you need to make good grades because you have to work harder because the color of your skin. Why? Why is that? You know, so certain things that we've been taught and I really love your response in that respect because it allows you to see that the mainstream like look is we're basically an upending, you know, uprooting and upending like everything and reconfirming and reclaiming. And I love what you said about how
in ancient cultures, and this is like all around the world, is that women were very matriarchal. And a lot of these ancient cultures had wise people. There was like an emperor or somebody in charge, right? A higher person in charge who wasn't necessarily like a priest or a priestess, but they had somebody, an astrologer had a wise person. They had those people that they would look to for direction.
sarita (16:35.718)
all the time in these ancient cultures, yet now I feel like we're finally kind of starting to get back to that, but like it was so frowned upon for so long. Like, it's just a bunch of hogwash. People are just kind of delusional, like, you know, soostsayers, like things like that. People are astrologers. like that doesn't matter. When in reality, that's how ancient cultures actually navigated life, like every single day. And I find that...
how you were saying how your people you've had psychics read you before and saying that that's like part of your identity. That's something that you've carried with you through time. And I think that's so beautiful that we are finally starting to get back to that again. Totally. I like what you said because it's interesting since I turned 40, like, you know, everyone's like, what is this era going to be for you? And everyone thought it was a lot of people thought it was weird. I was like, this is my wise woman era. I love it. Yeah. Like I like 40 years here, like I'm, I'm not going to take that name.
I am going to take all these life lessons and things I've learned and I'm going to transmute it, put it out there in all ways that I can because yeah, I'm not taking this life for granted. And there's so many lessons that have been learned these last 40 years. And so I know I was channeling owl energy and I think of like the other wise woman. And so when you said that, but definitely I was like, yes, yes. Wise woman energy, I love that.
So going to some of the people that you've worked with, both in the more, I would say, professional settings, as in office settings, and then with your temple, with women, especially, and you were saying you work with women of color because that's how it ends up being with a lot of us, is that we attract what we are because people relate to who we are. That's...
part of the reason I'm sure me and you connected in the first place is we have this commonality, this thread of knowing the similar experience. So for some of the women that have come to you, what's a big theme that you keep seeing over and over again with women and like you were saying women in leadership and trying to learn how to navigate these certain roles and things like that, or maybe a woman that's come to your temple who's...
sarita (18:49.99)
also a mother and you know, having what is, what are some of the common threads or themes that you've seen throughout? As soon as you said that. The first thing is trusting their intuition. That's so huge. Because society has told us over and over again, like, no, like you, you don't know what you're talking about. Like that feeling inside or that it must be that time of the month. Right. And I tell women, I was like,
Yes, you might be PMSing, you might be on your period, but that is a gift. And that is a time when you are not a bitch, you are discerning. You know what you want and what you don't want and you don't take shit. So don't let anyone else tell you anything else about that. And so, you know, the majority of the women, like no matter what phase they are in their life or if they're in a leadership role, even if they're a stay at home mom, it's really like, you know what's best for you and yours ultimately. And like,
how to trust that because a lot of people were just like, I knew I shouldn't have done that or I know I shouldn't have stayed in that relationship, but I still did it. And so it's just like listening to that, listening to your body. I think, you know, like your womb is like an indicator of your health too. And so that's a lot of things too, is getting women back in touch with that part of them and loving themselves and their bodies just for who we are. Cause we're all.
We're all unique and we're all here for a reason. I love that. That's so beautiful. Yeah, the intuition. I mean, just for people that are watching and listening, how many times have you stayed in a situation or not made a decision because you've second guessed your intuitive sense? Even if it's something as simple as like, don't go into that store right now. And you just you end up going in. It's something that, you know, we have been conditioned to think that that is.
it's not of us that it's like, it's not valuable. That's the word I was looking for. It's not a valuable asset in a modern day society that because we've been learning from day one, we're very structured and going to school and like raising our hand and having permission to talk and like, you know, all these like things, and we go into like corporate, you know, lifestyle or whatever type of work lifestyle. Like there's just, it's all.
sarita (21:16.678)
you know, logic, logic, logic, even like with money and finances and so much nowadays, I'm glad we are kind of getting more creative when it comes to like our money and finances, how we look at things and in our lives. But we've just been conditioned because it hasn't been a value to us in these modern day, you know, modern day, because we have answers that we can go to on Google and like, you know, find things.
so that's beautiful. So those are the two things that you're saying that is, are the most common. Yes. Like usually the first session I meet with them, I'm like, okay, I already know where it's at. I know where to start. And it's just so common. Like I said, we've just been conditioned kind of what you're saying to just like follow this path, right? You're going to be this and this is all you are, but we're not. Like, you know, we, there's, and we talked about this, but there's so many parts of us. And in order to be a whole person, in order to feel.
That's the other part of the things that I work on with women is finding their purpose and feeling fulfilled. Some people can do a nine to five and that provides money so that they can live the type of life that they want and that's fine. I'm not knocking that either, but then there's other people that I can relate to where I can't just do a nine to five without it fulfilling me. It has to fulfill me. And so, a lot of women are just like, I'm like...
dying at my 95, I'm dreading it. You can't live your life that way. So what does that mean to me? That's an initiation. That's an activation from inside telling you. Yes. Yes. I agree. Fulfillment is an interesting word. Now I think about it and I want to venture and even say this, that as women, maybe you can talk a little bit more about this because this is something that just came up for me recently and discussing this with somebody.
because I didn't really think about it this way, is that part of the feminine energy is to, it's constantly changing, right? Like we're in the ebbing and flowing. I'm kind of thinking out loud here as I'm like trying to articulate what it is I'm trying to say, but the fulfillment, as though we've been conditioned, right, as women is like we should be happy with the lot in life that's given to us. Like, you know, if it's marrying a man, if it's like getting the job, it's like all the things, but.
sarita (23:38.726)
Because we're innately women and we're in this feminine energy, there's this sense in us that is constantly looking and searching, I feel like. And I don't know if that's part of the feminine energy of wanting to search for an answer or search for something. And I've felt that and I've had people, men usually, tell me like,
that's wrong, as in like, can't you just be happy with like, you know, where you are in life or what's happening? And so it's like this longing or desire. And we've been told, you know, that like, it's good to go after, you know, things that we want. But it's like, if we don't know what it is that we want, because we haven't done the internal, you know, full on work yet, like it's hard to decipher what that is. And so this like longing and desire.
is like something that is a constant. So like, there's, I feel like it's difficult for some of us to feel fulfilled because there's that in us. Did I say that right? No, you're right. The feminine energy is that, right? Like we are free flowing and that's, you know, and also like what you're saying, like in the feminine too, because I'm, what I've learned in my training to be a sacred feminine rights passage facilitator is that us as feminine, like our cycle, the way we cycle.
is like life, death, rebirth. Life, death, rebirth. And I... And talk about that cycle because some people don't know about the cycle. Like this is very interesting how men have a certain cycle and women have a certain cycle. You might have seen this on TikTok or YouTube, but I'll let you explain. Well, I mean, we just cycle. Like we cycle just like the moon, right? We cycle and our womb is very similar to the moon. And then I think our life too, because the feminine, if you're truly in your feminine,
you are going to be that ebb and flow. And you're right. It's always been like, no, you're one thing and you're just that. Constant. Yeah. And that just doesn't make sense. To fill a fulfilled life, you should be going for whatever you really want. And people stay at places, because I have a pension or I have health insurance. And those things are important, yes. But if it's not fulfilling you, then that's not enough reason to stay anywhere or do anything.
sarita (26:01.35)
And so that life death of rebirth like, you know, there's periods where you're you're living life like you're doing it and things like feel good And then at one point things might not feel good, you know shit blows up things have to die There's a right now. I feel like as a collective everyone shedding everyone's 24 has been shedding and releasing and there's there's nothing wrong with that. Mm -hmm Right because we have carried so much these last couple years. Yeah, COVID what's going on?
world, everything is, it falls on us. It's a lot energetically. We take it all on. Yes. Yes. Even astrology has been nuts. Like the planets have been nuts. Like everything is... Retrograde again. Yes. It's pretty intense. And so it's like, you know, we, and women too, like we follow the same cycles as the earth, right? Yes. Like there's times when it's winter, that's typically the feeling of like death and like hibernation. And...
And that's the time where I'm just like in it, right? It's in it, I'm cold, I'm under blankets, I'm just like thinking. And then it's like spring comes and it's like things start to bloom. You start to, you know, the energy just starts to feel different. And then summer, you know, you're, you're doing it and you're starting to harvest and then fall comes and it's like, this is how we cycle as a feminine. And there's nothing wrong with it. And so I feel like, you know, I, there's so many times I feel like I've been lucky, like even as my, in my career as a therapist,
The populations that I have worked with has changed because of where I'm at in my life. When I first became a mother, I was like, all about postpartum. I was like only seeing mothers or like families helping with parenting. And then after I had my last daughter and I started going down the priestess path, I was like, no, like I need to go back to helping all women. Right. But there were times where I was only working with couples or, you know, or I was only working with like trauma, but like it was just whatever. Like I was just.
That's where I was in my life. And so, but then I'm able to move through that and like have that, you know, and then even like, I was getting burnt out with therapy. And so most of last year I was just doing like my priestess training. I had started my temple, was doing retreats. And that was like the only thing that I felt like I had the capacity to do. Right. Right. And that's, and that's a privilege. Like I get that. It's definitely a privilege that I was able to do that, but that's what felt good in that moment. And then now I was like, okay, like,
sarita (28:26.086)
I miss mentoring. I miss like helping new therapists grow. And so I took on this role as a director to like train new therapists. And so I can do that. Right. And there's, you know, there's nothing wrong with it, but I, but I get what you're saying. There's always like, at some point, me too, I'm just like, well, Camille, like, why would you do this? Or why would you like, I question myself often too. Why can't you just do this or like just make your private practice work so you could do that. And it's like, no.
My calling right now is here and in a couple of years, it probably won't be that anymore. Right, right. And I'm okay with that. Right. Yeah. And it goes back to trusting the intuition. We've been told over and over again not to trust like what our body is telling us or what feels good. And that's the thing about intuition, to be honest with you, has been my experience is it doesn't make fucking sense. Like it never makes sense. It's like it talks to you and it tells you to do something. And intuition talks.
It speaks differently to different people, but my personal experience has been strengthening my intuitive sense. And through that, I've come to understand that my intuitive voice is like very calm and it's commanding in the way where it's just like, okay, do this. And it's not like a freaking out type of voice or anything. It's just a very calm, like subtle.
Sometimes it's really, and it's the first thought usually that comes in my head. And, you know, oftentimes I have like completely dismissed it and then I'm like, darn it. Even as simple as like when I'm driving, it'll be like, go left. I'll be like, nope, going right. And then I'm like, shoot, there's like a big old traffic jam, right? So I find that interesting. So going back to what you were saying, and I love how you were explaining the whole...
kind of season or I should say the cycles that women are in, right? We have us women have a 28 day cycle or anybody that is bleeding, we have a 28 day cycle. Men have like a 24 hour cycle. And so even within that 28 days, like that cycle, there's a lot that's happening in those 28 days, right? Like we've got different stages, luteal phase, we've got all these different things. And so what I'm hearing from you is that it's important to have a 24 hour cycle. have a 24 hour cycle.
sarita (30:46.406)
for us to honor the season that we're in at that time because it's meant for us. And so I'm reflecting back on a season that I just had that was very challenging for me because I may, I've been, you know, could be part of my personality, could be part of my astrological, but I am kind of a go -getter. I like doing, like I'm a doer. And it's so, it's been challenging for me, even though I like resting, I've learned to rest and recover.
But I went through a very intense winter stage not that long ago. And it was very challenging for me to really embrace all that. I actually did a podcast episode on it saying like, I became this person that was like really bitter and frustrated. And I just, I got to sit with those emotions of like skepticism and like all these irritations and things. And I was like, this doesn't feel good. Like it doesn't feel good at all to be in this.
in this stage, but it was a winter stage because I wasn't creating. I wasn't, you know, really being active on social media. I wasn't going out a lot and connecting with friends. Like there was just a lot of different things that were not happening. So it was interesting, like allowing myself to just really try to embrace that. And that was the first time that I, it actually really integrated in my, like in my life where I was like, okay, like this is what it means to honor the season that I'm in. You can't bypass. Right.
to get through anything you have to.
And so I'm glad that you came to that awareness where it's just like, I just have to sit with it and I have to feel it because you're not a robot, you're a human. Right. Right. And as humans, we just, you know, and that's a lot of what I teach in therapy too. They're just like, I don't want to feel this way. And it's like, well, no, like, why is this feeling coming up? Right. And like winter, that winter season, it's like, it's just inward and every winter, like, yeah, I feel that I feel that. And I learned to embrace it. I'm just like, yeah.
sarita (32:44.678)
It's cold. I don't want to go outside. I just want to be in my blankets. I have a lot on my mind with the new year coming up and that's my cycle. Yeah. Very true. Yeah. So I want to transition into a little bit because I'm like, I want to pick your brain in this because I love this is this the the ebbing and flowing but like the connection between.
feminine energy and abundance. Like I really want to know a lot more about that. That's part of the reason why I'm having you as a guest because I like want to learn more about this because it's such a, it's just an important part of the energy. Like that's what I think is so important is, and now as a woman who is very, just a little side note for me, like as somebody who is very like, I had to, I was raised by a single mom, so I had to be like,
very strong, very independent, very in my masculine, went to school, was like learning, you know, all the things, gotten to a corporate job, like had to like put on the mask, the whole thing. And even, and I felt like I wasn't allowed to fully be woman. I wasn't allowed to fully be in my feminine. Like even when I went to interviews at like wearing black and like not being able to wear something like this, like this is kind of stuff that I like wearing now.
because I like to be more in my feminine. So I felt like I was almost in this sense of scarcity because I wasn't allowed to feel abundantly feminine. And so as I've been doing my healing and slowing down and just being, allowing myself to be, I've discovered that there's more abundance for me available.
So I wanna know like, you know, from your personal experience and also, you know, in your teachings, like how are those two interconnected? Cause it makes a lot of sense to me from my personal experience. It does because when I, well, I guess I have to start with like what I think abundance is. Yes. Cause I feel like it's very different for everyone. And the way I think about abundance, it does come from like a feminine perspective. So for me, it is...
sarita (35:06.854)
Let's see. To me, abundance is like agency. Having literally a lot of what you're saying, having that ability to like move freely. Yeah. As, as me, to me that's abundance because I've had lived my life so concerned about other things and people all the time. And so now that I have like built this life where I can fully be me in all the different ways, like,
I'm so fulfilled and I'm so, you know, and so, and so it is a balance though, right? So it is like my feminine, it is out there, it is unapologetic. And then also I, that masculine side, I know when to bring it in, right? So it is like that business mindset, like, cause I run a bunch of businesses and so I have to have certain things like that. But as far as like, yeah, femininity, I feel like,
Yeah, they do go hand in hand because I feel like that is the energy of the feminine. I'm trying to think of like a better way to explain it. But to me, it just makes sense because that's like, yeah, we're free flowing. We are in touch with our intuition. We are unapologetic. We are like living, fulfilling, in touch with our body nature. Like to me, that's all the feminine stuff. And to me, that's what abundance truly really is.
Yeah, I the word agency was like that really hit the nail on the head for me because agency is empowerment like it's it is Allowing you to be like who you desire to be so for you I know and I want you to share this with the audience as well because you like I said at the beginning you wear a lot of hats so she's part of like different organizations you're what you're like a year this year the
main person for this therapy office, the one we're recording in right now. You run everything, you have different nonprofits that you're on board with and things like that. And so what I think is amazing is that wearing the different hats, but being like that all is interconnected because of you. It is, and I go into all those spaces now like me. Even like this job that I'm at now, I went in and -
sarita (37:28.454)
I said, I have two little kids. They are sick all the time. I need to be able to just like pick up my stuff and go pick them up. I need to be able to like not be restricted in the office all the time. I'm really barely in this office. I like, I need to be able to have freedom and I need to be remote if I need to. If I do need an office, I need that available to me too. And I thought they were gonna tell me to kick rocks. But because the founder of this organization is a woman too, it's very different.
She was like, no, I'm a mother. Like I get it. Families first. If you need to go, you take care of your kids, like it's fine. Just communicate, we're good. And I was like, because I was getting recruited all the time. Like I had just put my resume out there and I was like getting interviews and I kept interviewing and I was like, no, no, no, no, because it didn't feel like I could be in my feminine. Like giving me 10, six days a year, like that just doesn't make sense. Like not with two toddlers in daycare, there's...
They're literally sick like half of the year. And then I end up getting sick too. Like just things like that. Who made that up? That 10 days a year? That's just things like that don't make sense. And I'm not going to subscribe to it anymore. So when I came into this mission, I was just like, no, this is what I need. And they're, okay. And I was like, sometimes you just have to ask. And I felt like because I was also very confident and I have built myself up, I know my value and my worth.
And I feel like when people come in to interviews and they come in, they're just like, well, you know, okay. And I'm just like, no, like you know, and I, and when I, even in my therapy clients, I go, you know, I did this interview, they want to give me this amount. And I was like, no, you better ask for more. And they're just like, really? I could do it. Yes, you can do that. You can do that. Yeah. You know? And so I think.
Did I answer your question? Yes, you did. I was like, I could go on and on. No, no, I love that. And this goes back to what you were saying about how women are realizing that they can reconstruct things. I mean, this goes back to the decolonization, right? Because it's not just about color of skin. It has to do with like...
sarita (39:41.67)
male and female and patriarchy and things like that. And like things need to be a certain way and this is how businesses run. And as you and you and me both have been in the entrepreneurial spaces for a while, we have been subjected to this idea of what like a business should look like, right? And as even like a brick and people that have brick and mortar businesses and they're starting to change like the way things are run. And now that online spaces are a lot more popular and there's so many more.
influencers and people online and things like that. It's interesting to see how this is changing, like how women are saying like, you know, that like, I had my last guest that I had on the podcast even was saying like, yeah, I like to bring my like feminine essence to my business. And my male counterparts who because she has a spa, the medical spa, is like my male counterparts run it this way. And I don't want it run that way. I desire it to.
be an experience for people to come in instead of like a number. We come in, you go through the flow of things, you're just like, la da da, out the door. She's like, I want it to embody an experience of somebody coming in. And that's what I like when there are more women in places of, I would say, power, because it allows us to understand that there's, you know, it doesn't need to.
look so rigid and structured. Yeah. And so every part of my life, I try to bring in that femininity. I try to decolonize. And so it's a lot of work, but it's good. And I feel like it's little by little making an impact. And it's like the ripple into the community. I'm training new therapists and they're going to go on in their career and they're going to know how to not...
to approach situations? Like if you have a mother that's a single mother, low income, coming in, like it's probably, you know, how do you look at like the big picture and not just like be judgmental or like think you already know this person and like, you know, how do you, can you really help this person? Yeah, yeah. So one more final question that I have, apart from the question I always ask at the end, is for
sarita (42:06.278)
you know, someone that may be listening to this, especially because I have a lot of women listening to this podcast. There are a lot of women out there that are wearing a lot of different hats. They're a mother, they're a significant, you know, they're a wife or significant other. They may run a business or they may, you know, be a corporate employee and they may be a pet parent. They may, you know, be taking care of their elder parents, right? So they're a child. So they may be a lot of different.
requirements that or I should say spaces that require their energy and attention for you personally what has been like so helpful in you feeling filling up your cup I guess in essence for you to show up in all these different spaces that you have that you're a part of yes so it really is I mentioned it a little bit earlier it is finding a balance it's hard it's hard
But I know that if I'm not fulfilled, then I won't be a good mother. I won't be a good partner. I won't be a good director, supervisor, therapist, friend, and all these different parts of me. Like I, when I'm unbalanced and I don't take care of myself, like I feel those other things slipping away. And so even though it's like, it's hard and I know I come from a more privileged perspective, but it's still tough. It's really tough. I don't have a lot of support here in San Diego. I wasn't.
None of my family is here in San Diego. I've had to build my own community. So that's the other thing too, is like having a village. Yes. Yeah. So, you know, for the first, I've lived in San Diego for a while and for the first time I've actually had like other women of color in the spiritual community. Like I was like, my gosh, finally. Like that. I love that. That is what I was like looking for for so long. So I feel like I had everything else, but I was like, this part of me is still missing. And so having that awareness and acknowledging it.
Because I could just go through life, but I was like, no, I need my girls. We all need our girls. It's so important. And so I think it is finding that balance. And even if it's not a lot, I don't see my friends a lot, but I know if I need them, they're there. And then, yeah, I'm a mother, but it can't be. It's not all of me. It's not all of me. And I know it's hard. So mama's like,
sarita (44:29.318)
Like we love so deeply our children. Like we grew them, they came from us. Like I get that. But it's also, it's too much, especially like the way everything's portrayed on social media, like how you're supposed to be as a mom. And I know that that's just not me. I have to, you know, I have to still have weekly date nights with my husband. Like we have to, we prioritize our marriage, like probably over everything because if...
because we're the king and queen of that household. And it's like, if we're not good, then that trickles down. So it's prioritizing things, balancing things. It's taken a while. It took us a little while, but I feel like we're finally there. And I didn't give up either. I'm still doing my own healing. I'm still in my own therapy. Me and my husband go to coaching. I still have my own spiritual practice. And every time that I lead a spiritual practice, I get...
fulfills me too, like being in circles with women. So I have to have certain things that I know. I wake up at 5 .30 to work out at 6 a I have to work out. I gotta take care of my body too. So all those different things and it's like I have an understanding partner that understands that. It's amazing. I have built up my village.
sarita (45:49.638)
I still have my mentors too, or I feel like most of my career and just life, I'm like, okay, who's doing what I want to do? And I reach out to them and I make them my mentors. And I feel like that's how I've been able to get this far too. That's amazing. That's amazing. It really starts with you as a person. Yeah, I see that what you're saying essentially is like your source.
You're the source of everything. And if you're not feeding the source, if you're not giving to the source, if you're not replenishing the source, the source will fall apart. Totally. And that's what I see over and over with women and mothers too. It's like, because we are givers, we're naturally very nurturing, you know? And so we give and we give and we give. And it's like, no, we can, there's reprossity in the universe, right? Exactly. Exactly. Which is like the abundance of the universe, right?
So you did already answer my question in essence, which is the one I usually ask is what is abundance to you, Camille?
So abundance for me is really, like I said, agency earlier, but digging deeper into that is really that free will and choice to be able to live the life that I want to live, to navigate life as Camille and not pretending to be anything else. And to me, that's the life of abundance and finding calm and peace in this crazy world. So to me, that's...
for me to have the privilege to do all those things. That is a fun thing for me. Yeah, great. Beautifully said. I love that. I love that. Well, thank you so much for being here. I know we could go on all day and night. Like, that's the beauty of like these conversations is that they can go on forever. But this has been such a treat for me to do this in person with you and also to hear your insight on things.
sarita (47:50.726)
especially being a woman of color, like a very much respect and honor that because that experience is so similar to mine as well. Even though we have different backgrounds, like I relate so heavily to the things that you are sharing. So I really appreciate all of that. Thank you for having me. Such privilege to be here. Thank you. Awesome. And we will see you next time. And as always keep being the amazing you that you are. Take care. Bye. Awesome.
