ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR TRUE NATURE // IN BLOOM INTERVIEW 14 WITH VERANA BARTHEL
Verena is an incredibly wise, intuitive & transformative woman who I have been lucky to cross paths with & work with. When I first moved to the Coffs Coast, she was one of my first Social Media Content Management clients. What started as a beautiful, flowing working relationship quickly bloomed into a deep connection of shared joy, pain & stories. Every time I go into her beautiful Organic Children’s Clothing store, Elves in the Wardrobe, to shoot new images I always plan on staying far longer than shoot time because there is just so much to talk about.
Below we talk about the gift & struggle of being highly sensitive & intuitive in this world, slow living, what her now-season looks like & so much more.
I feel so honoured to have interviewed her here for my In Bloom Sessions. Don’t forget to scroll below to see the beautiful images taken for her this interview & her business with her husband & two sons.
Mummas, you can find her beautiful shop at www.elves-in-the-wardrobe.com.au & follow her over on instagram by clicking HERE.
Hi, my name is Verena and I am a person who doesn’t really know what to say about myself. I always found it hard to pinpoint or summarise myself just in a few short sentences as it always felt like that is just half the truth and there is always more. I am very complex and deep, yet totally light and fun, super sensitive and wildly passionate and angry at times, especially in the car behind a slow driver. Very rational and straight, yet completely spontaneous, psychic and wild. I need safety but also unpredictability. …. And so much more.
INTERVIEW:
Bloompress: What did you want to be when you grew up?
Verena: It’s strange looking back now and hearing so many stories of people’s childhood dreams or even listening to my own children, as I never had any thoughts, ideas or dreams about what I wanted to be when I grow up.
B: 3 words to describe your now-season?
V: Stuck, Confused, Exhausted
B: What is it that inspired you to open an organic children’s shop?
V: Having been a psychic reader for the last 15 years and seeing how much this ‘line of work’ was depending on my energy levels (meaning if I had a lot of energy I would be super busy but if I felt tired or was busy with my boys people would cancel their sessions.) , I was yearning for a ‘side-business’ that wasn’t dependent on my energy levels. After moving back from Germany to Australia in 2014, people would always comment on how beautifully dressed my boys were and asked me where I got the clothes from. After listening to all the beautiful feedbacks and enquiries for about a year, I decided to start my own retail business for organic baby and children’s clothes.
I love beautiful, ethical organic clothes.
So it was an easy decision to start Elves in the Wardrobe with loads of passion and love. And then the little ‘Side-Business’ idea turned into a full time business with my psychic reading on the back burner.
B: What inspires you within the everyday?
V: Little moments, little sparks of flow, connectedness, stillness and beauty, that happen when I am able to let go.
B: 5 words to describe YOU?
V: Highly Sensitive, Deep, Rebel, Beauty, Passionate
B: Biggest turning points within Elves?
V: When I changed my ecommerce webshop to the shopify platform and when I opened the local shop in Bellingen, which almost happened at the same time.
B: What most people wouldn’t really know about you?
V: I am an aggressive driver. I don’t like slow drivers.
B: What lights you up?
V: Little moments, little sparks of flow, connectedness and beauty, that happen when I am able to let go.
B: Do you manage a day-job-hustle? How do you find that balance?
V: It has always been a struggle for me being doing the day to day hustle, ever since I was a child. Looking back at my life from where I am standing now, I can see and understand why. Being highly sensitive has always been a challenge for me. In order for me to cope and enjoy day to day life, I do need breaks in between, more sleep and down time. Being by myself, in nature and meditating are essentials to cope with life.
B: Where are you being called towards in future? (personally & business)
V: My husband asked me a similar question the other day and the thing that keeps coming up is helping and supporting people in need and our amazing planet. Right from the start of Elves in the Wardrobe, it was my intention that my business would make enough money to set up a foundation (or supporting an existing foundation) that supports sustainability for smaller villages, families and children who are greatly struggling and in poverty by collecting plastic and recycling it into something essential. That dream and passion is still there. And a few months ago, I actually even found a local business that is already doing that. https://www.plasticcollective.co/
B: Anything you are working on within yourself right now?
V: Due to my highly sensitive nature I always struggled with life, as my parents and grandparents were very hard working middle class people from East Germany. So I always tried to be like them and always failed. Leading me to become depleted, sick, exhausted, depressed and feeling like a failure.
Acknowledging my true nature instead of pushing it down and listen more carefully to my own needs helps me to ground myself a little bit more in my day to day life.
B: What is most coming forward / blooming within you & your business currently?
V: To growing inwardly, slowing down, having a little more time for myself and my family and refining Elves in the Wardrobe to the essentials. A little bit less Elves in the Wardrobe, a little bit more me. Less working days, less open shop days, smaller range.
B: What would you say to all the mumma’s out there who want to buy ethical clothing for their bubs but still find themselves ‘going for the cheaper option’ - in more ways than one, for the convenience of that moment? (I am sure many can relate!)
V: Every little thing we are doing can have such a big effect on everything. Making little changes, one step at a time is such an amazing thing to do and feels absolutely fantastic. It feels amazing when we slowly changing our habits that don’t really support and nurture us, our families and the planet. Less is more and quality will always pay for itself as it really does last for generations to come and will be even good enough to resale again.
Sometimes it is worth to make a little effort and see the positive changes that will come out of that. One piece of clothing at the time.
B: Thank you so much for being here with me & for sharing your wisdom. I’m so grateful.
V: Thank you!
