In this episode, I speak with Christine Davies: a Masters-qualified holistic psychotherapist who supports women to be well in their body, mind and soul, and who is based in the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

We discuss the evolution of her business – Woven Holistic Counselling, which Christine started inspired by her own mental health journey and subsequent personal growth through the use of holistic modalities.

Christine and I explore the marketing strategies that have supported her, specifically bringing herself into her marketing through video, even when it felt like an incredibly scary and uncomfortable thing to do at the start (which perhaps you can relate to), along with the power of building real-life connections to attract clients.

We also discuss how Christine continues to intentionally structure her business to support her own well-being.

I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Christine through my membership The Modern Marketing Collective and a couple of my Elevate business retreats and it has been so rewarding for me personally to see someone who has such drive and commitment to their work, as is as gifted as Christine, to continue to expand her marketing skills and confidence and evolve her business.

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Emily Osmond (00:05.098)
Well, Christine, thank you so much for joining me today.

Christine (00:08.013)
Thanks for having me.

Emily Osmond (00:10.294)
and this is your first ever podcast interview, which I’m honored to host you for it.

Christine (00:15.91)
It is, I feel like I’m in very good hands. If there was any, ever, ever anyone who should be the person to look after me on the first one, it’s you.

Emily Osmond (00:17.762)
Hehehehe

Emily Osmond (00:24.006)
I’ll be nice, I’ll be nice. So Christine, I thought we could start off with a little introduction to yourself and what you offer in your business. What does it look like exactly that you do and you help your clients with?

Christine (00:25.218)
Thank you.

Christine (00:35.934)
Yeah, so I’m a holistic psychotherapist. So I get to blend in a lot of different modalities to support my clients. And I think, you know, holistic looks at the mind, body, soul. So looking at your body.

from all different perspectives to be well. And, you know, soul can be a bit of a funny one for people, but really for me, that’s just looking at your values and your purpose. And, you know, what are you here for? What do you want to do with your life? So I do individual holistic counseling and wellbeing retreats for women, and also public speaking on mindset and wellbeing. And you know, just relocated up to Queensland, which has been pretty special too.

Emily Osmond (01:24.834)
Hmm. And what a move and what’s it been like for you, Christine, I guess, relocating with a business. How’s that transition gone?

Christine (01:34.818)
Yeah, it’s pretty daunting sometimes, I think in service-based businesses when you have something face-to-face. It can feel a little bit daunting to move, but I’ve been very, very lucky with my beautiful clients that I saw face-to-face in Victoria coming and working with me online, like other clients I see Australia-wide. And then I’ve been working from a beautiful space in Noosa with some other…

small business owners and other beautiful women who have their own businesses and so you know naturopaths and nutritionists working out the same building and it’s made a huge difference to be able to connect with other people as I’m building up my clientele here and yeah it’s been great.

Emily Osmond (02:26.318)
Yeah, I bet that makes a huge difference having that sense of community around you too, and almost colleagues as well. When we work for ourselves, it can be a little isolating because we don’t necessarily have that feeling of peers. And the people that we work with, it’s more on that. It’s a different relationship type of relationship. So it sounds really lovely to have a space that you have those, those colleagues in a sense that have those different modalities and that

probably attract like-minded people to that space too.

Christine (02:56.978)
Absolutely and just like you’re saying it’s really good for that sense of connection and you know the incidental chats that you have that can be really inspiring because everyone has their own little pockets of wisdom and yeah it’s beautiful to connect into that on a day-to-day basis even when I’m working for myself.

Emily Osmond (03:19.018)
So let’s take a look at the evolution of your business, Christine. How long have you been running it? You now have the retreats and some speaking, the online consultations, the in-person consultations. Where did it all start? Take us through the journey there. What did it look like at the start?

Christine (03:39.754)
Yeah, so I think we’re almost, yeah, coming into the third year of business now, which on reflection, it feels like it’s too long, too short. The business can be a bit of a funny one where time doesn’t feel linear. Sometimes you can achieve a lot in a small amount of time. Um, but at the start I was just doing, um, individual sessions. There were no retreats and I was working with children and couples as well. Because previously.

When working in clinics, I was working in pediatric clinics as well as working with the parents there. And so because of it was it was more of a mainstream clinic. When I started my business, I was more open to working with acute mental health presentations. And over time it really felt like I wanted to work in a space where

with people who have a bit more capacity to do some of the deeper work and more around personal development and moving into spaces where they could really shine. And I think the other thing is working on your own. It can be a little harder to provide that.

ecosystem of support around someone who is really struggling and needs a little bit more intensive support. So I really loved moving into the personal development performance management side of things because I felt like it was more fulfilling for the clients that I was seeing and I was able to take them a lot further and give them even greater results than some of the more

acute mental health areas. So that definitely transitioned over the first, probably six months actually, it was something that became fairly clear to me quickly, as well as shifting away from working with children because I really did feel like they needed a team.

Christine (05:37.154)
needed a team because you know children have so many areas around them, their little ecosystem and it can feel like they yeah I think they needed that extra support that a more multidisciplinary team can give them.

Emily Osmond (05:57.049)
Mm. Fantastic. And it sounds as though the area that you’re focusing in is really the area that you get so much enjoyment from and you’re really interested in yourself. Is that right?

Christine (06:06.154)
Yeah, absolutely. My business, Woven Holistic Counselling, it was inspired by my own journey of mental illness and through the mental health system. And so I saw the, you know, some amazing practitioners and some not so great sides to it. And I think one of the main things was it feeling like it didn’t empower the individual.

And I think, you know, if you, if you are suffering from, you know, overwhelmed burnout, anxiety, and you’re put into more of a disease model, into more of that clinical setting, you can walk away feeling quite broken. Like there’s something wrong with you. And so I feel like if you don’t need that really acute mental health support, it can be a bit damaging. And so I really wanted to offer something that was from someone who had a really

safety and ethics of holding someone, you know, safely and well, but also could offer some of these really effective alternative modalities that were really self-compassionate and helped bring the wellness back into your hands. So you weren’t always outsourcing to other people to make you well because there was something wrong with you. It’s more about coming home to yourself and being able to do that work for you. Yeah.

Emily Osmond (07:32.002)
And we’ve had discussions around, I guess, what it is that you offer and summarizing it in a way. And the fact that it is, there’s so much breadth to it and you can draw on those different disciplines and practices based on the individual. I’d love you to give maybe a few insights into the different ways that you work with people.

Christine (07:58.438)
Yeah, absolutely. Maybe a good way to do that is with an example. You know, if I had a client who came in and, you know, they’re really high performing and at work, they are the person who gets things done and they, they’re really high-paced, high energy. And so when they come into the office, sitting still for an hour and talking about their feelings, you know, they want to have change, they want to see things happen, but that is just not their fit. So that might be a client that I would take out to

Emily Osmond (08:04.322)
Mmm.

Christine (08:28.492)
one of the nature-based sessions and we might do a walking session and we might do some yoga poses that are specially designed to help the body start to relax, start to calm down and you know someone who is quite fast-paced at work will need a little bit of support to drop into that space. We might do some mindfulness activities and maybe some self-compassion as well because people who

Christine (08:59.152)
can sometimes push themselves a bit too hard. So also bringing in some of those beautiful activities as well. But then I might have someone come in who is really wanting to feel nestled and cocooned. And so they wanna be, you know, held in the space. They wanna be on the couch. We might do a really soothing relaxation. We might do some…

nervous system regulation via tapping. There’s so many things, there’s so many different things that I can bring in and this is where it’s wonderful is that we’re all so unique. And so we’ll have different things that our bodies and our minds click with. And I think when we stick to just talking, even though that’s really wonderful, we can miss out on an opportunity to look at some of the signals coming through the body and what it might be trying to tell us through that burnout.


Emily Osmond (13:32.09)
So Christine, let’s talk about your marketing and I would love to look at where you started with it and what’s working for you now, because I know that we’ve worked together for what probably a couple of years now throughout my retreats and the Modern Marketing Collective. And you are someone that I often use as an example of really drawing on their confidence and their courage to put themselves out there through their marketing, which I know and understand can be really, really intimidating. So I’d love you to share a little more about that.

Christine (14:24.597)
Yes, I was very terrified about putting myself out there at the start. As you know, I would film reels and just have them sitting on my phone. And yes, at one of Emily’s amazing retreats, she had a look and said, post it right now. And that was the start of it. It was really helpful, because I think it’s really hard to be vulnerable. It’s really hard to put yourself out there and…

I think as well for any other therapists, it’s also can be a little bit hard in our industry because we have to think through an extra couple of layers about how we’re presenting ourselves and what we’re saying. So yeah, it is challenging. And so it’s taken time to feel more comfortable showing up on social media and talking about myself. But.

I really find that it’s been so helpful and effective. And I’ve found so many wonderful clients, or they found me through social media, as well as other like-minded professionals. And besides that, I think one of the most effective marketing strategies for my business has been real life connection. And…

Emily Osmond (15:41.416)
Mm.

Christine (15:41.429)
Again, this is something that can feel really daunting and really scary. But just getting out there and talking to people, listening to their stories and sharing mine and just being out in your community. You know, I think, I think anyone can have a really amazing, flashy website and incredible graphics on their social media posts. But when, when you’ve come into your business, because it’s about something that you’re really passionate about and you really love.

You can’t really fake that. You can’t really make that look amazing in person. You can’t, yeah. So I think that really comes through. And when people want to buy something from you, when people want to step inside your door, they want to be able to trust you. They want to be able to feel like, you know, you’re going to deliver what you’re promising. And I think that in-person can be such a powerful way for people to really feel that.

Emily Osmond (16:14.129)
Mm-hmm.

Christine (16:40.709)
um yeah so just connection has been has been incredible.

Emily Osmond (16:46.879)
And what are some of the ways that you do that just for listeners to maybe get some ideas of what’s worked for you when it comes to meeting people in real life? How do you foster that?

Christine (16:58.349)
Yes, I think more formal settings can be great. So finding your local women’s business group or commerce group, something like that. And another way is through any other organizations that are for your particular area. So for me, there’s some amazing Facebook groups for local mental health professionals online and that’s been really wonderful. But…

also informally. So just getting out, going to the hairdresser, going to the gym, going to places, anything that actually you like doing and thinking about connecting first and your business second can be really helpful because it can come up naturally and it’s quite organic.

But you can also think about it a bit more consciously as well. So think about where your clients will be. Because my business has come from my own passion and my own lived experience, often my ideal clients are where I want to go anyway. They’re at my yoga studio. They’re at the local organic fair market. So it’s, yeah, it’s kind of very natural and can unfold really easily.

Emily Osmond (18:13.778)
Absolutely. And there’s such parallels between the in-person side of things and then showing a part of yourself online in terms of, for you it was sharing some videos of you talking a little bit about what you do, how you help your clients. Because by doing that, as you know, it allows your audience to really get a sense of you and your manner and the way that you, kind of your energy

because of the line of work that you do. For your clients, it’s really important that they can get a bit of a sense of what you’re like and if they think you’re gonna be a good match or not. And it’s hard to do that just from a static photo or a bio, and so you’re really helping your audience to get more of a sense of you and the way that you work and approach things before they even go ahead and inquire.

And I wonder Christine, if you’ve seen any changes there when it comes to the type of inquiries that come through or the way that people perhaps convert after inquiring that you’ve seen a change there at all.

Christine (19:28.113)
Yeah, you mean in terms of doing more videos versus static posts? Yeah, so 100%. You know, I was actually a bit skeptical. Maybe I was skeptical because I was a bit fearful about putting myself forward. But the difference has been…

Emily Osmond (19:32.922)
Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Emily Osmond (19:39.798)
Hehehehe

Emily Osmond (19:43.654)
Mm-hmm.

Christine (19:46.713)
really dramatic and the things that get the most engagement for me on social media are things that have my picture on it or where I’m speaking. It’s a video with my face, you know, not just a voice over and even though it gets good engagement on other things as well, that’s what really draws people in. If there’s a face to the message and then like you’re saying they can feel my tone, they can feel…

I hope my passion for what I do and it’s something that is a little bit tricky to communicate with just a static post so if anyone is like I was anyone’s listening to this like I was at the beginning I think you have to trust yourself and feel I think reassure yourself that you can cope with

Emily Osmond (20:15.707)
Yes.

Emily Osmond (20:23.574)
Hehehe

Christine (20:35.213)
all the potential outcomes that your brain’s telling you might happen, all the doom and gloom if you put your face out there because it has been fantastic for my business. And from that, I’ve had so many people on the intake form saying, I found you through social media.

Emily Osmond (20:38.271)
Mm-hmm.

Emily Osmond (20:52.458)
So fantastic. And I just want to recognize you for doing that because you’re so not alone, as I’m sure you know, and you’ve heard it in my community, that retreats of other people that have that fear because it’s so natural. And I had that fear too at the start of sharing my photo or my video online, but once you start doing that and…

whether it takes you a whole day to just get that first video recorded and shared because you keep thinking, oh, that’s not good enough or I tripped up. But once you start doing it, you should see the response from your audience and how that does impact your business. And it then gives you a little bit more, perhaps motivation and encouragement that you can keep on going.

Christine (21:44.817)
Absolutely, and I think that was one of the best parts of coming to the retreat because you know, you’re you have a beautiful Instagram page Where where you share all your wonderful tips, but it looks so professional so polished And so you think wow, she must have always looked like this right? It must have always been like this So I think it’s really great for me. It was so hard to hear someone else Who I aspire to with my business? To hear that it’s it is scary

Emily Osmond (21:50.614)
Okay.

Emily Osmond (21:56.914)
Oh gosh.

Christine (22:15.111)
And that’s, you don’t wait till that goes away. You just have to take the step forward despite feeling like that. And then over time it settles. And now I can’t believe that I can just pick up my phone, film a reel, not stress over it and post it and up it goes.

Emily Osmond (22:32.942)
Oh, what a, yeah, progress. That’s awesome, Christine. Okay, I would love to hear how you have intentionally structured and maybe changed over time your business to suit you and your life, your needs, your other priorities. I know perhaps part of that was your move, but I’m wondering if there’s anything else you have to share.

with listeners in terms of how you structure your business to support you.

Christine (23:07.117)
Yeah, because Woven came from my lived experience of mental health and navigating that system, I always wanted to set up a business that worked with my well-being and would protect my health and well-being. And so for me that really does look like having quite…

good boundaries around my work days and work hours. So, you know, whether that’s two to three client days a week and one to two days of admin, but this fluctuates both ways and I love that. So I have my minimum and my maximum, but as you know, my needs might change or my clients needs might change, I can actually move that around so that I can look after my health.

And that’s taken time as well. I think when I was working for other people and even early on in my business, it’s so easy to do more, to add on more admin, more tasks. There’s always more you can do in business. And I think in it, absolutely, no.

Emily Osmond (24:10.662)
Oh my gosh, isn’t there? Yes, never ends.

Christine (24:15.705)
So you have to decide that for yourself. You have to give yourself that, you know, any point in the day. And then in a helping profession, it’s really hard because you care so deeply for the people that you’re helping, but then you also need to make sure that you’re looking after yourself first. So it’s taken time to make sure that my business is set up in a way that both honours what my clients need, but me as well. So that’s been really helpful having a cap on those clients.

place.

Yeah, and the other thing is really having good support. So I’ve got an incredible VA team who help out and with some of the marketing side of things as well, helping me put together some of the posts. And that’s been fantastic because I really love the creative side of it. And I think that’s where I thrive. But when I’m doing the client side of things, it’s a very different mindset. So being able to boundary in

days and have my admin days where I’m working with other people, we can play to our strengths, all those sorts of things again took me a while to understand how I worked and how it would be structured best but yeah it’s been fantastic.

Emily Osmond (25:34.898)
And you’re so right. I found myself that it’s through, I guess, experiencing things that didn’t feel right to me or didn’t work for me, then I can figure out, okay, that’s not really what I want to be doing, or that’s not the way I want to structure things, or that’s not the type of thing I want to offer. So let me just pull that bit in or tweak it here. And it’s really a process, isn’t it, of trying things and then assessing and knowing, okay, does that…

Give us energy, take our energy. How does that feel? How can we make that work better for us?

Christine (26:04.273)
Absolutely.

Absolutely. And I think as well, not having shame if it doesn’t work out, I think it’s easy to go, oh, why did I do it like that? Yes. So I think that has changed. I’m more able to be a bit more compassionate and go, wow, look at this data I just mined from that experience. I now know, I now know so much better about how I work or what didn’t work. And I can use that moving forward to make things even better.

Emily Osmond (26:13.251)
Oh, that’s a big one. That’s a big one.

Emily Osmond (26:25.365)
Oh, yes.

Emily Osmond (26:36.738)
Such a positive way to approach it. I love that Christine. What have been one or two of the things that you’ve been most proud of or you feel have been your biggest achievements or wins or things that have brought you the most happiness when it comes to your business so far?

Christine (26:57.041)
Oh, I think there’s been lots of little wins that have been amazing. I think that the most recent one is this move into state because it can be, yeah, like I said before, a bit daunting to move a whole business, but it’s been really rewarding trusting that the clients that need what I can offer will find me and that’s happened. So…

Emily Osmond (27:01.76)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (27:24.244)
Ugh.

Christine (27:25.185)
Yeah, it’s, I think it’s easy to let your mind run away with stories about what won’t work and trusting that things will work out has been really helpful. But I think, I think, you know, what I do is for my clients. So it’s probably those client feedback moments, you know, whether they gain a new perspective, whether they finally move into a healthy relationship or a workplace or…

Emily Osmond (27:44.066)
Mmm.

Christine (27:50.849)
offer some self-compassion for the first time in a session. It’s, yeah, they’re the beautiful moments. That’s why I started my business in the first place.

Emily Osmond (28:02.45)
Yeah, it’s that fulfillment that comes from seeing the progress that comes in the way that you’re able to help and support people.

Christine (28:12.065)
Absolutely. And I think, you know, that’s when you’re really, when you’re in your business, your why is really strong, you know, the reason that you’re there is really aligned with you. That’s what carries you through those challenges, I think. It’s what holds you through those moments where it can feel really tumultuous or a bit isolated or like it’s not going how you thought it would. And well, for me, definitely, that’s what’s really kind of been the

the backbone to carry me through.

Emily Osmond (28:44.61)
Christine, thank you so much for joining me for this chat today and sharing really openly about some of the challenges and things that you’ve worked through and the type of marketing that has really helped your business along with the really unique way that you work with your clients as well. I’d love you to go ahead and share where everyone can find you online and follow you and watch your amazing videos and perhaps work with you one day.

Christine (29:14.221)
Yes, absolutely. So on Instagram you can find me at wove and if you want to follow along with my newsletter or I give some little extra tidbits for my woven email community you can sign up to that at the website at wove

Emily Osmond (29:33.794)
Fantastic. And go you getting your newsletter together. I’m sure that’s on a lot of listeners lists as well. Like I will get there one day. Fantastic.

Christine (29:39.678)
Oh, one thing at a time, right? Yeah, yeah. Thanks so much for having me, Emily.

Emily Osmond (29:48.706)
Oh, my absolute pleasure and I look forward to chatting with you soon.

Christine (29:53.038)
Thanks.