We tend to let each day pass by like yesterday. Mundane activities keep us clocked up and exhausted. Before long, we realize that we don’t even remember why we do what we do. We compromise on things while the hands of time crept to zero hour. We lost coherence and eventually, we lost our joy. We all want a way out of the hassles and live a free life but having a neat transition can be daunting and knotty. Consequently, many people choose to forgo their chance to live their dreams.
Anouk Corolleur is a young woman who used her power of choice to make her dreams come true. At 17, her journey began by jumping into her decision to change the course of her life. She’s travelled to places and learned many things. Of course, her journey was full of adversities but Anouk faced them all with courage and humor. At a budding age, she was able to step in as a Life Coach and a Yoga teacher. Included in her avocation is, of course, surfing. She also do inspirational events, transformational retreats and workshops.
Anouk’s adventure is all about self-discovery and she gets to share her fascinating experiences today. She tells about her travels and the mindset that helped her get through hard knocks. Anouk also endeavors to empower others to live their best life through life-changing activities and through her podcast, the Anouk Corolleur Podcast. Her strength as a coach is evident in her humanness where she stresses that life is not perfect. It’s human nature to fail and learn from those failures. We can embark on that journey while we’re young and vigorous or wait till we’re old and gray. The choice is already laid out before us. To dream is our liberty; to build that dream is our responsibility.
03:44 Switching the Travel Gene On
11:10 Live the Dream
16:00 When Dream Starts
19:44 Inner Peace and Self-love
25:27 Bring Out the Humanness
27:53 The Choice Is Yours
32:42 The Anouk Corolleur Podcast
39:40 Travelling and Thriving
Now, about my guest today, her name is Anouk Corolleur. Anouk is French but she’s a world citizen. She’s traveled all over the place. She’s creative, she’s vibrant and extremely wise for her young age. She’s a life coach, a yoga teacher and a surf instructor. But today with Anouk, we’re going to do a bit of soul-surfing.
“Very far from the ocean for me, was too difficult and it didn't feel aligned anymore.”
In fact, it was quite uncanny when we met on Skype. Our conversation took place just after a massive rainstorm and the sky was clearing in and for some bizarre reason, a ray of sunshine was enlightening Anouk’s face. It was very beautiful and almost spiritual. And this set the pace for a fascinating exchange. We talked about finding your true calling, building your dreams, dealing with setbacks, and also self-love. And thanks to her experience and talent, Anouk is building a flourishing online consulting business so we get to know what events lead to building her business and what it takes to build a dream job.
I hope you enjoy this episode.
Take care, have fun, and enjoy the waves.
Ciao,
Imi
Books
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Podcast
Anouk Corolleur Podcast
Mark Groves Podcast
Magazine
Immersion Surf Magazine
This week, we get to hear Elizabeth’s incredible Nicaragua and Morocco adventures, her business model, and her cool surf and yoga retreats, which you definitely should include in your bucket list.
n this episode, she shares her story of joining Sea Shepherd, campaigning in Antarctica, embarking on a life-changing voyage from Plymouth to the Azores islands, collecting microplastics and analyzing data, and how her passion for surfing and nature and the oceans has led her to refocus her studies on sustainability from a scientific point of view.
Richard serves as the Founder of AVirtual, the leading virtual assistant company in the UK and Chairman of the fastest-growing EO accelerator program globally. His social enterprise, GVI has received multiple awards and is creating a sustainable difference while combining travel and education.
“When you don't grow up at the ocean, I think when you have a little bit of space in your agenda, the only thing that you want to do is go to the ocean.”
“Very far from the ocean for me, was too difficult and it didn't feel aligned anymore.”
Whenever we take those actions within the unknown, it's important to know our limits as well.”
“Our emotions are the language of our soul. And your soul is like a compass… which guides you in life to where is it that you're going to be the happiest.”
“Once the inner journey started, then the outer life aligns.”
“As soon as you can make a decision that is in alignment with your true calling, it's amazing how the universe responds.”
“The only thing that we really yearn for is to feel we're understood.”
“Whatever the situation you still have a choice.”
“I think that's important to look at the truth of where we are… and just to keep failing and falling and stumbling about and that's the best journey ever.”
The Oceanriders Podcast is a passion project and, if you like it, you can support it in a number of ways:
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Imi Barneaud: Hi everybody and welcome to the Oceanriders Podcast, conversations with creatives, entrepreneurs, thinkers and dreamers who also happen to be surfers. My name is Imi, and I am your host. I’m really thrilled to be back and we’d like to thank you for listening to the pod even though it’s now out every two weeks. As I mentioned in the last episode, I’ve decided to take things a little bit slower. In fact, in September, I was a bit too ambitious and recorded far too many episodes in too much of a short time. Long story short, instead of being weekly episodes, I’ve decided to drop them to every two weeks, so thank you all for your patience. If you’d like to support this podcast, you can in a number of ways. The first thing to do would be to subscribe by clicking on the subscribe button in your app, but also be telling you about other ways to support me at the end of this podcast. In any way, just skip over to my website, the oceanriderspodcast.com, and you’ll find all the details there. I also wanted to let you know that if you do head over to my website, you’ll find info on my guests in the show notes of each episode with the help of my awesome assistant whose name is Leng. We are turning the show notes into something really comprehensive with notes, quotes, photos, online shopping outlets, and even the episode transcripts. I also wanted to mention that if you do click on the books or DVDs mentioned in the show notes, you will be led to amazon.com and it’s also a way to support me because if you click on the item from my website and do your shopping on Amazon, whether you buy the said book or not, I will get a tiny commission on your shopping cart at no extra cost for you but it also gives me a tiny commission. So I guess that’s a bit of food for thought. Now, about my guest today, her name is Anouk Corolleur. Anouk is French, but she’s a world citizen. She’s traveled all over the place, she’s creative, she’s vibrant and extremely wise for her young age. She’s a life coach, a yoga teacher, and a surf instructor. But today with Anouk, we’re going to do a bit of soul surfing. In fact, it was quite uncanny when we met on Skype. Our conversation took place just after a massive rainstorm, and the sky was clearing, and it was some bizarre reason, a ray of sunshine was enlightening Anouk’s face. It was very beautiful and almost spiritual. And this kind of set the pace for fascinating exchange, we talk about finding your true calling, building your dreams, dealing with setbacks and also self-love. And thanks to her experience and talent, Anouk is building a flourishing online consulting business. So we get to know what events led to building her business, and what it takes to build a dream job. So without further ado, please welcome Anouk Corolleur. Hello Anouk and welcome to the Oceanriders Podcast. How are you today?
Anouk Corolleur: I’m good, thank you so much. How are you?
Imi Barneaud: I’m fine, Im fine. It’s so lovely to see your smile. I just explain to the listeners that earlier on there was this beautiful ray of light lighting your face and it was just a perfect picture. And I’ll have to describe it in the show notes. Anyway, I was just wondering if you could introduce yourself to the listeners.
Anouk Corolleur: Yes, so my name is Anouk, I am originally from France, but I’ve traveled for a long time, so my English has many accents and cultures. And I’m currently in France. I teach yoga there and I help women live their best lives. I’m also a surfer, and I’m passionate about nature and living a healthy life, and yeah, that’s about it for the presentation of me.
Imi Barneaud: That’s great. That’s great. Whereabouts did you grow up?
Anouk Corolleur: I grew up in Chamonix in the French Alps, and I stayed there until, when I was 17.
Imi Barneaud: Okay, okay.
Anouk Corolleur: My parents are still there, the rest of my family, so there was not so much surfing there, but my dad taught me surfing when I was quite young because he’s always been passionate about that, and I think that’s where the passion for surfing came out from me.
Imi Barneaud: Right, right. So he introduced you to surfing in the first place?
Anouk Corolleur: Yup.
Imi Barneaud: Yeah. Yeah. Your story is really interesting because at the age of 17, you just packed up and left for Australia. I am just really, really impressed by your bravery and your courage to actually go off on your own. So what actually inspired you to move to the other side of the world?
Anouk Corolleur: Already, when I was young, my parents, me and my sister traveling at a young age, so I think we were used to having that travel gene and being adventurous in that way. And for me, I, when I was living in Chamonix and the French Alps, when you don’t grow up at the ocean, I think when you have a little bit of space in your agenda, the only thing that you want to do is go to the ocean. And for me, after my high school diploma finished, I saw this space that could be created, which some people didn’t take. I know in France it’s not so much of a common thing to take a gap year off, but for me it felt like the opportunity to do that. So that’s why I decided to go and travel in Australia, I mean, when you’re, you know, on the other side of the world, like you dream of Australia. Australia is perfect, perfect waves, cute Australian surfer boys, you know, the flora, the fauna, all of that, really that picture of that dream. And so I dreamt of going to Australia for the whole year before I graduated, and when I had my diploma, I was just so, like living the dream, the dream that in caring for this year. It was courageous, but at the same time, I was so aligned with that desire that for me it didn’t fell to as painful to get out of that comfort zone. I was very, I had a lot of faith in that journey.
“When you don't grow up at the ocean, I think when you have a little bit of space in your agenda, the only thing that you want to do is go to the ocean.”
Imi Barneaud: That’s amazing. And how long were you supposed to go? Was it supposed to be, just to get there, or had you just intended to emigrate to Australia?
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah. At first, it was just six months that I was supposed to go just to re-learn English, which really was just an excuse to say, I’m just going to go and surf for six months, but it really reassured my mom so it was just for six months. Then I quickly came back to France and started a business school in France. But having lived in Australia for six months, having so much fun coming back to France and that business school very far from the ocean for me was too difficult and it didn’t feel aligned anymore. So I begged my parents to go back to Australia, and then I headed back there, and did a whole Bachelor in Communication and Marketing at University called Griffith on the gold coast. And yeah, and that’s where the big journey started. And there for me, it was very out of my comfort zone, very, very out of my comfort zone because I was only 18 and I was, this time really LEAVING FRANCE for AT LEAST three years on my own. And I remember being at the airport with my mom and I started to get an eye infection in one of my eyes because I was so stressed, but I didn’t really want to verbalize it or mention it because you just want to act brave. But so, I was getting infection in my eye, and then in the flight in this 24 hours flight to get to Australia, the infection leaked into the other eyes. So arrived in Australia with both my eyes infected 40°C of fever, feeling super dizzy. It was like a hectic start to the journey, and for me, I really now understand how that was for me, really the EDGE of my comfort zone. After that would have been emotional danger, insecurity, and for me that was really the edge. So I think, whenever we take those actions within the unknown, it’s important to know our limits as well. And for me there, it was really that limit.
“Very far from the ocean for me, was too difficult and it didn't feel aligned anymore.”
“Whenever we take those actions within the unknown, it's important to know our limits as well.”
Imi Barneaud: That’s really interesting. And so, you’re a believer that the body has sort of gives you cues into whether you’re in a good state or a bad state. Emotionally that see that connection between the body in the, like, you had the eye infection, there was also times when you were working, you got ill every time you go to work, and it was like there’s definitely a great dialogue between your body and your soul.
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah, exactly, so much. And I think, oftentimes we don’t pay enough attention to those signals, or those little incentives that are body are sending us all these pieces of information. We just tend to fix them, to put a bandaid on that information and to not listen to it when really it’s, when the body communicate, it’s very important to listen to it because I believe our emotions are the language of our soul. And so your soul is, it’s like a compass, it’s like a GPS which guides you in life to where is it that you’re going to be the happiest. And it communicates those emotions, they communicate through the body, and emotion is a physical experience, it’s not in the head, it can be in the head, but it’s not just the thought, it’s really a physical experience. So paying attention to what we feel is so much more important than what most of us, me included, we tend to do that.
“Our emotions are the language of our soul. And your soul is like a compass… which guides you in life to where is it that you're going to be the happiest.”
Imi Barneaud: Maybe we’ll come back to that in a few minutes. So you’re in Australia, you’re there to study. What happens after all your studies there? Do you decide to go and find a job there too?
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah, so I finished my bachelor degree and in my mind, I’m going to be a little bit like my dad, which is working in marketing for a cool surfing brand. And so, that’s what I started doing, I started getting into an internship that is along those lines. But the thing is every time I have to go to that internship, I don’t feel good about myself, I feel actually cramps in my stomach. So again, that’s like the body just giving you signals. And so, the thing is that this internship, it is promising me a visa to stay in Australia because if you want to stay in Australia, you have to have a company that is sponsoring you to have your visa. And so for me, my plan was I’m just gonna work my butt off and I’m going to get that internship to turn into like a real job and to pay for my visa. So, I’m really just putting my heart into it, but I don’t feel good in that job. So that’s where it all started to steer direction for me because one day I realized that I either had the choice to keep that direction in my life and I could see myself, I remember being in my shower and thinking, if I continue on this path, who would I be in five years? And then I could see myself in 10 years. And if I were to take that direction, I could see myself unhappy, and I was 21, and I’m like, I don’t want that life. And I realized also that I didn’t know who I were. Like I was 21, I just finished, I just graduated, I had done some little works here and there, but I didn’t know what I was good at, I didn’t know where I could really thrive in my life. So with so little knowledge about myself, at that moment I decided that I was gonna stop working in that internship. So I was going to say goodbye to my visa, and then I was going to leave the dream that I want, I wanted to leave right now, which was travel the world, surf, and find out about who I am, which is what I did. And we’re a whole journey started for me of expansion, love, and friendships, and happiness, and emotions that we all look for.
Imi Barneaud: That’s an incredible story, really. You are so lucky to actually get that epiphany at the age of 21 because some people still wait until 45 or whatever to actually see, get that realization. And so, what did you do next?
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah. First, just as you said, I’m so grateful that I got this epiphany, but the truth is, on the moment when I took the decision to quit my job, I thought that I was a failure. At that moment, you think you know that you’re regressing, when really, you’re taking a step forward into the right direction for you. But I felt that, you know, I was regressing, so yeah, but super grateful.
Imi Barneaud: That must have been really hard actually coming to terms with your emotions and to also think, ah, you know, my parents think that I’m going to do that sort of a job, and I’m going to disappoint everybody.
Anouk Corolleur: Exactly, exactly. And I think it happens for so many people in so many situations where they’ve invested some time and energy into a project, be it a job or a relationship, and then they come to a point when they realize I’m not aligned here, I’m not happy here. And so, to go through that deep honesty with herself to say: “I’m going to choose to speak my truth.” Is so courageous and sometimes seen as a failure on the moment, which really it isn’t, but it is difficult.
Imi Barneaud: Yes, you gave yourself room for growth there. That’s really, really important.
Anouk Corolleur: Exactly.
Imi Barneaud: So you decided to travel? Did you leave Australia and go around to other places?
Anouk Corolleur: I did? So, I decided that I would make a $10,000 for the last six months that remained on my visa. I worked a lot and did surf coaching, which I had done previously, but just a little bit less when I decided to get onto that project of making the $10,000, and I did cleaning jobs, I did babysitting, a little bit of everything that I could find to make this money. And for me, I think what is important to mention as well when someone goes, “all right, I’m going to leave my dream of, you know, traveling the world, or creating that business, or whatever that is”. For me, the dream didn’t start when I took my plane ticket and I left for the trip. For me, the dream started when I took the decision and when I started working, it started as soon as I took the decision. And the journey to the actual dream was incredible. I was already living the dream, and that’s where that space was filled with so much extension. So truth is, I didn’t make the $10,000 because I broke my arm, I broke my arm when I was surfing, and so, I couldn’t work anymore and all of that. But here again, while at some stages, so as a cursed, very quickly, I managed to turn it into a blessing, and to have that mindset of, “okay, what can I do even with my right arm, that is broken, how can I find out more things about myself?” And so, still that self discovery. And the next trip from me was Bali where I did my first yoga teacher training there once that my arm was off the cast, and that trip was saved, life changing, and learn a lot about myself, and yeah.
Imi Barneaud: And so, what was the project off to Bali? What was the project going to be?
Anouk Corolleur: So after Bali, where I did my yoga teacher training, I moved back to France for three to four months where I started teaching yoga there.
Imi Barneaud: Excellent.
Anouk Corolleur: And great experience, totally fell in love with teaching yoga. And so, after that, I moved back to Bali because I thought that I wanted to learn more. Bali is such a beautiful place for anything spiritual, or health and wellness related. So, I trained myself to be the yoga teacher that I, yeah, the best yoga teacher that I could be really teaching, and taking classes with teachers that I had a lot of respect for. And I stayed there for almost a year and a half, a little bit more.
Imi Barneaud: Fantastic. And so, actually, what did you learn in the whole process? Was it just in the teacher training, or did you dabble in a bit of spirituality, and discover some principles that actually have led you on your path today? Because it’s a really interesting job that, can I say life coach? Is that what you do say?
Anouk Corolleur: Yes, of course.
Imi Barneaud: On all these experiences through Bali, through yoga, through surfing, through everything, how did that actually lead you to the life as a life coach today?
Anouk Corolleur: So, I think for me the piece of nugget that really made the whole change was to take the decision to love myself. And so, to go into a direction that felt more natural for me with less resistance, from that moment on, everything aligned. So even the yoga teacher training that I did, which truly I didn’t have a lot of money for that training, it wasn’t the best training. Actually, don’t think it was a really good training to be honest, but I still, the mindset that I had was so different from the previous one where I felt like I needed to control everything that was outside of me to be perfect in order to feel good. That whole shift from me was, I feel so good inside. Whatever’s on the outside is going to work out in one way or another. And so, to see how I had changed, made me want to help people on a deeper way. And yoga and meditation are BEAUTIFUL TOOLS to get in touch with our intuition or feelings to get out of our minds and our busy head that produced, you know, 60,000 thoughts a day, and to really feel inwardly, and to go on inner journeys because once the inner journey started, then the outer life aligns with that. So yeah, for me, I help people, and I support people in that process of loving themselves. And it’s been beautiful. I’ve been opening my life coaching practice for a year and a half. Working with clients from different countries through Skype, which is so, so, so nice to be able to use the internet in that way. And I’m very, very grateful for what I do and know where I’m taking my business and my life.
“Once the inner journey started, then the outer life aligns.”
Imi Barneaud: That’s wonderful. Actually, I love what you said, and it really does strike a chord with me as well because I had the same experience when we decided to move to Bali, unlike, the minute that we decided to move, all the planets aligned and we needed to sell a house to get there. And then just, it wasn’t a fluke, we found somebody to buy the house to actually pay for our trip to Bali and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then we needed somebody to run the business while we were away. And just by magic, somebody came up said: “Oh, we’d like to be a partner with you, run the business with you.” So all these things were actually really, really, yeah, as soon as you make a decision that is in alignment with your true calling, it’s amazing how the universe responds.
“As soon as you can make a decision that is in alignment with your true calling, it's amazing how the universe responds.”
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah, totally, totally. I love that.
Imi Barneaud: I guess I’m moving on. Could you walk us through a day in your life to tell the listeners how you apprehend things?
Anouk Corolleur: Yes. So, I wake up around six, 6:00 AM, sometimes 6:30, but I like to wake up early. I love to enjoy this moment before the sun has raised. So, I wake up early and then I do yoga and meditation, and I always sit in meditation for minimum of 10 minutes, for me, that’s my non-negotiable. I think it’s great to have something that is non-negotiable as part of our health and emotional wellness routine. And after that, I drink water, and I start to have my breakfast, have a nice breakfast, and then I start working. Usually in the morning, I create content. I love to write and communicate my inspiration. So, I write on social media, on blogs, newsletters, depends on what time of the day. And then I usually have clients call, and I finish around five, around that, and then I take some time off, and I can go down to the beach, or I can go for a walk in nature, things like that. And I try to go to bed super early and love going to bed early. So a healthy one, I think it’s so nice to have those good health routines really takes us in a good mindset, a good state.
Imi Barneaud: Yeah, absolutely. And how do you actually fit surfing into the whole equation? Is surfing still a big part of your life even though you live in Bordeaux? It’s about an hour’s drive away.
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah. So, I don’t surf in the morning as I used to in Australia when I was surfing the whole day pretty much. So here, I try to go surfing weekends, and my weekend starts on Thursday afternoon, so, and they finish on Monday afternoon. So, I have a long weekend where I can surf and enjoy nature. I tend to go down to the Southwest around the rift’s to surf. But definitely living in a city, if any of your listeners live in the cities, it’s sometimes more challenging to go surfing early in the morning and then to go to work. You know, there’s always that little bit of pressure with a traffic jam or things like that. So, I tried to space up as much as possible, my weekends and my holidays for it, that activity and still a big part of my life. I love it, and think it’s so, such a beautiful practice.
Imi Barneaud: Absolutely. And I just wondered if we could focus on how you’re helping your clients, and what tips you actually give them. I guess it’s, there’s no one single answer, but if there’s anything to take from this conversation and for, to sort of help empower your clients, and to find a way of actually feeling better with their emotions and more in tune with their emotions, what kind of advice would you give?
Anouk Corolleur: Ooh, furrowed questions. So as you said, people are all on a different part of their journeys, so I can’t really give one standard question, but I would say, you know, sometimes it’s just really understanding, like, maybe the biggest thing is really understanding the other person. Really making them feel like they’re seen, that they, someone understand them, that there’s nothing wrong with them because often people think there must be something wrong with me for feeling or being that way, and that is so much of the healing process already. So, I don’t heal people. I have compassion for people, I have a love for people I have understanding for people. And from that place, anybody heals because the only thing that we really yearn for is that is to feel like we’re understood. So, I would say that’s the biggest piece. And then of course, it takes them, as a coach, I’m here to support, to motivate, to help someone move from one place to another. So it’s going to be inspiration, it’s going to be stories, it’s going to be authenticity in our communication because for me, I love having clients with whom I can laugh, I can share my own, you know, shame stories, or times where I was scared and I did it anyway, time where I, you know, I screwed up and I learned a lesson. So, I really show my humanness and not my perfect, look who I am, like this awesome coach is get it all figured out. I show all the pieces of me and say: “Hey, you know, it’s okay. We’re in this together and if I’ve done it or if I’ve gone through this, you can do it. And if I’ve been going through that and you go through that, it’s normal. It’s part of it.”
“The only thing that we really yearn for is to feel we're understood.”
Imi Barneaud: That’s a really good answer. And have you had some really inspirational stories of clients that have had a radical change in their lives or in their and their wellbeing.
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah. Incredible stories from people who, whether they’re my clients or not my clients does not really matter because I see transformation stories everywhere. But definitely working alongside with someone that, you know, there’s people who have been in crazy situation at work, and who ended up quitting that job, and to find a job that is more aligned, and the universe just sort of brings those synchronicities that helps the person get onto that new path and finding work that really inspire them. There’s some people who started their own businesses, so many good stories. And for me, I love seeing people who come with, you know, maybe have a story, a life story that is a little bit difficult or that is just truthfully difficult of, you know, just childhood and things that are pretty dark. But through their journey, they make their choice of being someone else in their lives of showing up, of being the best version of themselves. And for me, those people inspiring me so much, they give me hope. They remind me of the choice that we all have to choose something different for ourselves and that we are always free. Even though sometimes we feel like we’re stuck somewhere because of our childhood and everything that we have lived, we never are. It’s always a choice that we make to repeat that pattern, or to break it into something that is more empowering.
Imi Barneaud: It is so inspiring. Because yeah, it’s definitely a question of the attitude facing adversity, and we all have the choice and that’s so important for people to realize that whatever the situation, you still have a choice.
“Whatever the situation you still have a choice.”
Anouk Corolleur: Yes, yes. So important to remember.
Imi Barneaud: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so, would you recommend any specific books, or podcasts, or maybe we’ll talk about your podcast in a few minutes, but any books that could help people sort of get out of a tricky situation, emotionally, or career wise, or things like that, anything that’s helped you along the way to overcome obstacles?
Anouk Corolleur: Yes. So first, I have so many books. So for me, like to make a choice — is going to be, I’m going to try my best to pick the one that are coming intuitively. But what I found fascinating is that, usually when we read a book, we can read a book one year and really didn’t think this is crap, like, what is this about? Like really? And then two years later, we come back to the book and you would think, why I haven’t read that before. And it was like, wait a minute, I have read this book. But so again, it really shows about who we are inside, and what we see, and what we perceive, and what we’re ready or not to hear. But one book, of course that I totally transcended me was The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. So, so incredible. And so, that is a book that was really changed my whole conception of life. And then another one that I found SUPER INSPIRING that I often come back to is The Daily Love by Mastin Kipp.
Imi Barneaud: Okay.
Anouk Corolleur: Mastin Kipp, he’s a life coach from the US, he is so funny. I really appreciate his humor and the story of his own journey, he’s own hero’s journey, and there’s some beautiful pieces of wisdom, it’s well written, and yeah, for me it’s a books that have inspired me. So on books, I would say, those two have really changed my life. And then the podcasts that I love listening to, BESIDES YOURS, which I really appreciate is a podcast that is called Mark Groves. It’s on a relationship, but the dude Sam is super funny, and talks about relationships, and relationship to self in [inaudible], and it’s a beautiful podcast. So yeah, those three I think I would recommend.
Imi Barneaud: Okay, well we’ll put them in the show notes of the episode so everybody can check them out once they finish listening to the conversation. So that’s really cool. So let’s talk about your podcast, tell us a little about it.
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah, so, I started a podcast about a month ago that it’s called Anouk Corolleur Podcast, very basic. And I talk about reflection on our inner journeys, and how can we improve our lives to live a happier life. So, it’s a weekly podcast, and for now, it’s mainly me who has been presenting things, but from the next weeks on, I’m going to be interviewing people who have changed their lives, or who have had epiphanes, and who are super inspiring, and who have inspired me in so many ways. So yeah, I’m super excited. It’s very intimidating to do a podcast. I mean, you look very confident like you’d been doing that your whole life. But yeah, it’s really interesting and it’s a good journey for me.
Imi Barneaud: Yeah, it’s very fun, if you go to the first episodes I put out, you’ll see there’s definitely been a progress, which is the least we can say, it was terrible. The first episode was terrible, but anyway, you have to own it once, sometimes. So it’s all part of a learning process too.
Anouk Corolleur: Exactly. And for me, it’s such a good exercise as well because coming from that place of being, you know, you’re not on the bottom of the ladder, but for me, I know that there is some space for improvement. Such a good journey, a good goal takes me out of my comfort zone, makes me want to be curious about how can I improve myself. And I think sometimes a lot of people get stuck in their life, and don’t put things into action because they think it’s not going to be good. And I always tried to remind people, not gonna lie to that say: “Yes, it’s going to be amazing. No, it’s probably not going to be so great.” But that’s the point. And you will get better, and you’ll get better. And saving my yoga classes, sometimes we try postures that are difficult, you know, and I do demonstration, I show them the posture on the mat, and of course they have a lot of practice. You know, I’ve failed maybe times, I’ve FAILED many times. So now, I’m able to put up this beautiful, graceful posture and people like, you know, have their draw dropping. They’re like, Oh my God, it’s beautiful. And I go, right, now try it out. And to be honest, sometimes I’m like, Ooh, all right guys, that didn’t look so great, you know, I don’t want to lie to people either, but I write, I go, okay, we’re able to see that, now what? We’re going to work with this. And I think that’s important to look at the truth of where we are, and say: “What can I do now to improve a little bit?” And just to keep failing, and falling, and stumbling about. And that’s the best journey ever.
“I think that's important to look at the truth of where we are… and just to keep failing and falling and stumbling about and that's the best journey ever.”
Imi Barneaud: Absolutely. Yeah. That’s so true. That’s so true. So I guess, moving onto the interview, I’d just love to know a bit more about your relationship with surfing, what your favorite board is right now.
Anouk Corolleur: Oh, my God. There’s this board that I’ve tried. It’s not my board, but I’ve tried it. It’s a, I think it’s 7’6”, and it’s, do you know the surfer Ellie Erickson? He’s a surfer from Australia, and it’s one of his board, it’s a single fin, I think it’s a diamond tail, it goes so well on any types of waves. And yeah, just gives you really, really good feelings and sensation. I’m truly in love with this board.
Imi Barneaud: Brilliant. And what about your favorite surfing destination so far? Cause you’ve been to lots of places in the world. Is there something that comes up as a favorite?
Anouk Corolleur : So many, just coming back from Sri Lanka. And Sri Lanka was amazing, absolutely incredible, beautiful point breaks, a little bit crowded, but I stayed in the cutest little spot called Hilltop Cubana in Sri Lanka around the Oregon Bay. It’s really beautiful destination with the elephants, loads of wildlife, yeah, it’s beautiful destination. But also, I say, I’ve been to the Maldives on a boat trip, and that was incredible. Probably not the best environmental thing to do at the moment. So sorry if any of your listeners like, WHAT? But it was pretty incredible waves.
Imi Barneaud: Excellent. So, before I guess, we sort of park the bus here, I just wondered if you could recap how to get a hold of you and where to find you on social media so that our listeners can actually connect with you.
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah. So you can find me on Instagram, on Facebook. So my Instagram is Anouk Corolleur, and I’m sure it’s going to be–
Imi Barneaud: It’s gonna be in shownotes.
Anouk Corolleur: Shownotes, yeah. Or on my website, which is the same, my first name and surname. And if you want to connect with me or work with me, I do private coaching, I also lead retreats and workshops. And yeah, we’d love to hear from any of you, if anyone who’s interested in working with me, and yeah.
Imi Barneaud: That’s lovely. And so, just before we finish this lovely interview, this has been an amazing conversation, and I feel that we’ve had maybe sort of with 20 years difference, we’ve had the kind of similar paths, but like you did them really young where I’m doing them a bit older. It’s funny, there’s this 20 year gap, but this is fantastic to hear about your story and how you’re discovering yourself, and how you’re actually empowering others, it’s beautiful. And actually, what I usually do at the end of my interview is ask my guests to finish four sentences, which are very simple but sometimes there’s some beautiful answers. So the first sentence is, I LOVE.
Anouk Corolleur: My life.
Imi Barneaud: I MISS.
Anouk Corolleur: I miss some people that I’ve lost, of course.
Imi Barneaud: I WISH.
Anouk Corolleur: I wish. Oh, my God, this is going to sound like Michael Jackson. But I wish the world to be a better place.
Imi Barneaud: And the last one is I WANT.
Anouk Corolleur: I want everyone to live the best life that they possibly can’t.
Imi Barneaud: That’s beautiful. So what are the next steps for Anouk Corolleur? Cause I guess the podcasts is quite time consuming, but are you planning on other developments of your business?
Anouk Corolleur: Yeah, so, podcasts of course, but also I have several retreats that are coming up. So I have one in Chamonix, I have one in Bali, one in Portugal, so there’s going to be a lot of that, a lot of traveling around. And other than that, to be honest, at that time, I’m trying not to spread myself out too much. And sometimes I feel like we’re so into doing more, and more, and more, and more, and more, and get our life so busy. And I really want to focus on my private coaching, and the retreat that I’m leading, and just to take the time off, completely off for myself, and for my friends, and for my family whenever I have time to do that.
Imi Barneaud: Yeah, I love that. I love your long weekend plan, that is such a good idea.
Anouk Corolleur: Yes. Get them girl.
Imi Barneaud: That’s fantastic. This has been a wonderful conversation. Thank you ever so much for dropping in on the show and also off the top of the hat, and I’m really, really appreciate meeting you and your soul, and it’s just a lovely discussion. Thank you very much.
Anouk Corolleur: I’m super happy, take care.
Imi Barneaud: Take care. See you. Ciao.
That was a wonderful episode. Thank you all for listening. I love the way Anouk has created a business that fits with her long weekends. Wouldn’t it be awesome to create a job that requires only three days of work a week? I mean, what would you do in your spare time? Anyway, on that note, you might want to check out Tim Ferriss: The 4-Hour Workweek book for more info, it’s an excellent place to start. In fact, all the books and links to the podcasts can be found in your show notes, on your podcast app, and on the oceanriderspodcast.com. So to get hold of Anouk, head over to Instagram account at a Anouk Corolleur. Her website, anoukcorolleur.com. And her podcast, the Anouk Corolleur Podcast, links to it are in your show notes. Anouk is also an ambassador at Immersion surf magazine, surf magazine who are also my buddies, so you can check out that awesome instant account at Immersion surf mag. The Oceanriders Podcast started out as a passion project and is slowly turning into a tiny mini, mini, mini business. If you like it, you can support it in a number of ways. Number one, share your love this podcast on iTunes by giving it a few stars or a review, and better still subscribe. Anything in this direction increases my ranking, and it’s more people hear about my fascinating guests, and how they are creating a dream job. Tell your friends, your family, and everybody by sharing the awesome content provided by my guests. Number two, comment and join the conversation on social media. You’ll find links to my social media accounts on theoceanriderspodcast.com. And alternatively, you can connect with me on Instagram, at The Oceanriders Podcast. On Facebook, at The Oceanriders Podcast. And on Twitter at Imi Podcast. Number three, come and join me for an episode, or you could even sponsor my podcast. Just send an email to hello@theoceanriderspodcast.com, and I’ll take care of the rest. I’m also creating a tiny bit of planet friendly merch, like organic t-shirts, posters, and greeting cards. So stay tuned to see what’s coming up and how you can support my work in a creative way. Thank you Anouk for being such an inspiring guests, and thank you ever so much for tuning in this week. Until the next episode, take care, have fun, and enjoy the waves. Ciao.
Donations will be used to pay for equipment, podcast editor and promotion of the podcast on social networks. The Oceanriders Podcast is a member of One Percent for The Planet, 1% of your proceeds will be donated to Surfrider Europe.
