Rejuvenation With Tessia Watson Blossom Your Awesome Podcast

Rejuvenation With Tessia Watson Blossom Your Awesome Podcast

Tessia Watson is a spiritual teacher, devoted single mother and advocate for the rejuvenation of mothers as the cornerstone of effective parenting.

She founded Les Petits Bellots a bilingual nursery in London that offers short term and long term care for children ages 6 months to 4 years.

She is also an author and we are talking about here debut book "Rejuvenated Mums Make Happy Kids."

To learn more about Tessia or get her book click here.

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Transcript

Sue (00:01.392)
Hi there, today on the show, we have got Tasia Watson here with us all the way from London. I am so honored and delighted to have you here. Welcome to the show.

Tessia (00:12.222)
Thank you Sue for your time here. I'm very honoured and happy to be with you today.

Sue (00:20.26)
Oh, I am so happy to have you here and get into your story, the work you do. Um, Tasia, you are your debut book just came out, Rejuvenated Mums Make Happy Kids. I love that title. You are an entrepreneur. You are a single mother of two young boys. And, um, this is so cool. You established Le Petit Velo. It's a bilingual childcare program that provides flexible and short-term.

child care solutions in French and English for kids aged six months to four years. I love that. And then I think you also have like a support system for moms there, right? Where they can kind of hang out and socialize and things. Is that correct? Or?

Tessia (01:05.71)
So no, the idea is for them to be able to drop their children with us and to have that precious, you know, me time for themselves. So obviously where we are based, you have lots of cafes, you have the gym nearby, whatever you feel that you need to do or want to do, it's just available pretty close to the nursery.

Sue (01:31.78)
Oh, I love that. Okay, so give us the backstory here. Like how and why, how did you come up with this idea to create a nursery? And I love that it's a bilingual program. That's so cool. So where did that idea come from? How did it form? How did you get it all together?

Tessia (01:50.434)
So basically what happened is, I'm French. So when you grew up in France and you are a mom in France, you know all about the childcare services there. And we have two types. You have the nursery, what we call the nursery here in London. And we have what we call, in French, we call that, la garderie.

And in English, it's called the crèche. So basically when you decide, you take that decision that you want to be a stay at home mom, you have the opportunity to register your child into la garderie, so la crèche. And you can just register your child for a couple of hours and have that precious time for yourself. So that is in France.

So I was really aware about that. So I gave birth here in London. So after, I would say, a year with my firstborn, I wanted to have some me time, and I wanted him to be able to start learning independence, to be socializing with his peers, to enjoy his time while I'm still enjoying my time.

So I started my researches here in London and I was shocked. I was shocked that there was nothing comparable to what we have in France. So I was completely desperate and I called my mom and I say, mom, there's something wrong here. We don't have this type of, you know, little, you know, childcare service where you can drop the kid for a couple of hours. They mainly want you to drop for a few hours and for...

at least three days per week at the time anyways. And I still want to raise my children myself. That's a decision that I've made, but I still want to have some time as well for myself because it's a 24-7 job. And she said, oh, don't worry, don't worry. Just create one. Well, uh. I was like, thank you. Thank you for that beautiful advice.

Tessia (04:13.778)
It doesn't really resolve the problem right now because I really want to have some time for myself right now. I said, don't worry, just create it for yourself. So anyway, I mean, I love the idea and I decided to move forward with that idea and that's why I decided to create Lepetibulo, I will say probably two years after that call. Obviously not just for me because...

My child was already old enough to join school, but for the second one, he did benefit from it a little bit. But it's for all the moms, all the moms in my situation, that they decided that they want to stay a bit at home, raise their children, and they still deserve to have hobbies here and there, to just do the things they would love to do, to care for themselves.

So that's why I decided to create Lipati below.

Sue (05:18.804)
Oh, I love that story. That's such a great story. Now, tell me, you know, this idea I love. So first of all, being a single mom so often, I mean, it's so hard. It's so challenging. You never imagine yourself in that situation until it happens. And quite often, you know, people are overwhelmed. They're not thinking about, oh, well, let me open a business. Let me become a business woman. Let me be an entrepreneur. I think that's so cool.

Talk to us about that, Tasia. Was that part of your nature? Have you always been kind of like, oh, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, I can do it? How did you muster up that, right? To say, hey, okay, I'm managing all this, but I'm gonna do this also.

Tessia (06:07.19)
I have always been someone who loved being stimulated. I graduated from law school, so I wanted to become a lawyer, and I just changed my mind. And that's why I ended up being in London. But I've always loved learning and trying different things. So I never thought, to be honest, to be an entrepreneur in the future.

But once the idea came to my mind, it felt like, hmm, this is a beautiful one. And if people out there can do it, then I can as well. This have always been the way I think. If people can do it, then I can. That's why I was, you know, but I was passionate as well about the idea of helping others. I really wanted, you know,

Sue (06:56.815)
Mm-hmm.

Tessia (07:05.586)
other moms in my situation to have that, you know, break for themselves. And I was so passionate about it that that's why I decided to write a book about it. I decided to, you know, share my story and explain to mothers how important it is to, you know, care for yourself. Because in my situation, being a mother and, you know,

work as an entrepreneur. I was still a stay at home mom in a sense that I was still having so much time with the kids because that was a choice. I wanted that. You just sometimes lose yourself in the process. You kind of forget, you know, your ambitions or your dreams sometimes because they are your priority.

which is something that we definitely understand. I mean, what I believe is to be the best parent you can be, it's when you are your best you. And if you're lacking energy, or if you're not mentally...

well balanced and or you're always exhausted, whatever it could be, you just present yourself as that type of mother, as a tired mother, as you know, not, you know, balanced mother and you will you will definitely see and feel and experience, you know, the impact of being not at your top. So,

We have to prioritize our mental health, our physical health as well. We have to for our own sake and for our children's sake.

Sue (09:13.828)
Mm-hmm. And now, what advice, I mean, so what is it like for you? This is a really personal question, but being a single mom, you're thriving. So like, what guidance do you have? Because I'm, I know in the beginning, it was probably, it's so much, right? You're figuring it out. You don't expect yourself to be in that situation. You feel overwhelmed. You feel like, I'm, how am I going to get through this? But now you're thriving. And

You have this successful business, you've created a niche, carved out something really cool, you're providing value, you're helping other single moms. What advice and guidance do you have for that new single mother, like who's just like, whoa, how am I gonna do this?

Tessia (10:02.894)
I think for me two things were really important. In terms of dealing with the kids, definitely self-education was really important for me to not be too much stressed out by the kids because the more you know, obviously, the more scenarios you know in terms of what can happen with them

you know, when you do know there are stages as well of development, it just helps you to be more in control of any situations that can, you know, arise. And I think that's really important. I have really behaved children because I wanted that and I wanted that. And I just, you know, I did a bit of reflection, obviously, about, you know, my own childhood, but I decided to learn so much, you know.

in books and I trained as well to have that sorted out for me. And my intuition as well was so powerful. Sometimes when you just don't know, if you connect to your higher self, you receive guidance, you know which direction you should go.

And I think sometimes we just don't trust it too much. We don't trust it that much. So you need to be confident. And if you're confident, you will decide that once that inner voice is talking, you will feel like, right, I'm going to do that. Even if you can be fearful or doubtful, if you trust your gut, you will decide to go for it.

And I think those two were really, really powerful for me in terms of, you know, moving forward, staying, you know, that happy mother all the time. That was really powerful for me.

Sue (12:00.166)
Mm-hmm.

Sue (12:20.964)
I love that response. And it sounds like so much of that comes from some of the kind of deeper, like you say, self-reflection, spiritual work, really tapping in to feel grounded, right?

Tessia (12:31.959)
Thank you.

Yes, definitely. It's inside of us. But I don't know, sometimes we just, we miss it. We miss it that it's there, that the answer is just inside of us. We just need to connect. We just take a bit of a step back. It's quiet around and you just talk to yourself if you want inside of you.

Sue (12:36.692)
Yes. And now

Tessia (13:03.77)
Or you just stay calm and ideas will come.

Sue (13:10.72)
I love that. That's such a beautiful answer and great guidance there. Now, let me ask you, as far as the bilingual, I know you're bilingual, your kids are bilingual. Why was, you know, and so many people who are bilingual or who have bilingual children, but they don't, they might start a business, but has doesn't include that component. Why was it important? Why did you think that was?

Should it be part of the equation with your business to make it bilingual?

Tessia (13:43.182)
I think when I learned English, when I lived in the States for a year, I lived in California for a year, and that year was very transformative for me. Yes, of course, I was learning, but after I would say five or six months, I was able to have, you know, proper conversation with English, with American people.

Sue (13:47.014)
Thank you.

Tessia (14:13.078)
And I just felt that being able to speak another language just connects you with the people that obviously speak that same languages and you kind of have an openness and you can discover a new culture as well. And I thought that was really valuable. So when you expose children

at that age from six months to three and a half, they tend to get an interest into the country that they're speaking the language from. So I felt that parents naturally want to know more about it.

and they want to know more about the culture, if they can go visit, it's very convenient. We are in London so they can go. It just opens your mind and you just create more opportunities. So I thought that was something very valuable for the children to be exposed to another language. And research as well mentioned it many times that in terms of

cognitive skills, it develops so much, you know, your brain in that sense that you just have more opportunities in life. And they say as well that you can more easier, you know, learn other languages because your brain is so used to switch to one language to another, you know, to do that kind of gymnastic. So when you introduce another one,

straight away the brand knows how to deal with that. So you just learn even quicker than people that just have one language. So that's why I decided to create a bilingual setting.

Sue (16:25.492)
I love that. And you know what? I think it's cool. I mean, your program has to be one of very few bilingual, like French, bilingual schools or daycares in London, right? I'm sure there are not very many.

Tessia (16:41.808)
For this age range, for sure. Because London is so close to Paris, we obviously have French schools or bilingual schools as well, but not from that age range, not when they're so small.

Sue (16:59.552)
Mm-hmm. I love that. I really do. I think that's so wonderful. Now, talk to us about, you know, being a single mom and then this idea of, like, self-nurturing, self-love, because you're already overwhelmed as it is as a single parent. And like you were saying, you know, you kind of forget to take care of yourself, but it's so needed.

Tessia (17:23.474)
It's so important. And so I was not single straight away when the children were here. I think, yeah, we got separated maybe when they were five and three and a half. So now they are 11 and nine years old. My god, time flies. And yes.

Sue (17:42.124)
Thank you.

Tessia (17:52.338)
I think this message is for all moms, either you're single or you're not. It's all about thinking that you need to have time for yourself. So when I was pregnant, I never thought about what kind of motherhood...

I wanted to have. If I, because at the time I was going to the gym, okay, before being pregnant and then while I was pregnant a little bit, but never it came to my mind once. Okay, when the baby is here, should I continue? When I will go back?

Tessia (18:44.082)
I don't know why, it just never came to my mind. So when the baby was out, was here, I never went back, I never thought about it. It's something that I used to love, right? But suddenly I become mother and I'm just that. And it took me a few years to realize that, wait a minute, you're not just maman, you are tessia. So you can, you know.

do the things that you like to do. And so the message behind rejuvenated months, MECAPiKIT, is to think about that ahead of time or even when you already have the children, what would you love to do? Apart for being a great mom or an amazing mom, what would you like to do? So some mothers, they go back to work, okay, fine. Maybe even at work they have, you know,

possibilities to exercise. It's just, if you feel that there's something not going in the right direction for you, you just need to kind of figure out what it is. What is my need now? You have to acknowledge your needs and once you know what you need is, you can you know, obviously adjust or...

make sure that you meet your own needs. But sometimes when you become a mother, you just forget about all of this. It's only the babies, it's only a work, work in the babies, or if you're not back to work, just the babies and what you can do for them and when you can, yeah, but we love them, but we have to love ourselves as well.

Sue (20:33.428)
And I know a part of your thing is like really in this goes with all relationships, right? If you're any kind of caretaker or you're showing up for other people, the more you take care of yourself, the better you show up for other people.

Tessia (20:46.138)
Exactly, exactly. The better you show up for yourself, for yourself, for your children, if you have a partner for your partner, for your friends. It just makes such a big difference.

Sue (20:52.706)
Yeah.

Sue (21:02.636)
And now tell us what is your so you're running this business. You're busy. You've got two kids. You're a single mom. What does your rejuvenation routine like? What do you do for yourself? What does that look like when you step away? How does that work out for you?

Tessia (21:20.866)
So yeah, I had the time, obviously, I created that time to think about what I would love to practice as a rejuvenation technique. And for me, I've decided that I decided to incorporate into my routine, few things that I think that are really important to me. So I love to exercise.

I want to keep my body in shape, so I do that every day. It's not long, it takes me roughly 20 minutes, but it's important that I do it. And it's funny because when I don't do it, I feel I'm different. I feel that for whatever reasons, I feel that I have less energy, funny enough. So I do that, I love to meditate, I meditate every day.

Sue (22:05.733)
Mm-hmm.

Tessia (22:19.562)
the same, I decided to incorporate that into my own routine. It's just, it just helped you to be so much present, you know, to...

it really helps you calm as well your mind and to be more focused and when you when you meditate I don't know for just five minutes and you breathe as well you just transform at that moment. For me it's exactly what it does and when I'm backed whatever work or being with the children I'm just more

attentive, more present. So it helps me tremendously when I do meditate. I'm a dancer, so music and dancing is just such a beautiful tool as well. I don't know, it just makes me feel straight away happier.

Tessia (23:28.986)
I just love to use that tool as well, to just kind of have my own vibration a bit more higher. So I do that as well. Quite often I do dancing, it's almost every day I would say, because it's something that I love. And reading, reading as well, it's really beautiful because you

you kind of know, you don't have any more distractions, right? You have to focus on what, you know, on the pages in front of you and, you know, what is the storyline. So it helps in terms of, you know, clearing your mind a bit more and to just think about one thing. So I find it as well, very valuable. So that's the thing that I do.

Yeah, on a regular basis. So it's, you know, it could be rejuvenation for your body, for your mind, for your spirit. But I believe that once you work on one part, it just, you know, impact the other parts as well. So whatever you feel that, you know, whatever, you know, helps you feel new and whole again, it's the right rejuvenation practice to do.

Sue (24:55.172)
That's powerful. And you know, I will say I can tell that you do this and that you're in a really good place. Like you seem very at peace. You embody all of that. So I commend you for that. I think that's so awesome because not everyone can do that or get there. Now, if you had so I know in the beginning, like a separation there, it's hard and it can be scary and all of that. What is your advice? Like what would be?

you know, let's say this single mom who's like, Oh my God, I don't know how I'm going to do this. I don't know how I'm going to live without him. But we all know that you're going to live without him just fine. It seems worse in the beginning that we get over it, right? So what is your like, if you had some hardcore advice to that, let's say young single moms, like, I just don't know how I'm going to do this. I'm going to live without him, how I'm going to go on. What is your advice?

Tessia (25:53.918)
I think it's the thinking pattern. You have to stop straight away this thinking, this negative thinking. You don't know what's gonna come next, okay? But all the, oh, I can't do this, or what's gonna happen, or I can't live without him, all these kind of thoughts are not serving you. They're not serving you. You don't know what's gonna happen.

Sue (25:54.652)
Thank you.

Tessia (26:22.91)
in terms of, yes, you're not going to survive without the person. You don't know that. You just project yourself thinking that it's what's going to happen. And you have to stop that straight away. No negative thinking. You just entertain your mind with positive thinking. This is the right thing for me to do at the moment. I trust that. And you let it go.

Everyone has to trust what's happening in our life. Everything happens for a reason. And when you believe that it's happening for good reason, even if obviously your senses are telling you the opposite or the reason, your reason is telling you the opposite, you will see later in life that.

Oh, if that didn't happen, I would not have met that person, etc. We all know this. We've all gone through this kind of things when something apparently straight away is bad, that happens to us. And a few years later, when we look back, we realize, oh my god, thanks god that happened.

Sue (27:47.043)
Mm-hmm.

Tessia (27:49.006)
So you just need to remember at that time that it's exactly the same thing happening again. We've all experienced that before.

Sue (28:03.356)
That is great advice. Now, let me ask you, so how is the business going? Is it growing? What are your plans? Are you going to expand? What's coming up for you? What's next?

Tessia (28:15.342)
So that's exactly what we want to do. We want to obviously open more nurseries. I don't, you see, that's funny. I don't know which way to go, but that's fine, not knowing it's absolutely fine. The door will open wherever it has to open, but that's the idea is obviously to grow and even to go internationally.

not remaining just in the UK. So it's always been the vision and I keep the vision.

Sue (28:54.158)
Mm-hmm. And it's

Tessia (28:54.242)
how to fight to the vision.

Sue (28:57.92)
I love that. That's beautiful. And you know, and I think it's so cool that because so often I think people when they have this bigger vision or they want to expand, they put so much pressure on themselves that I got to do this, I have to do this. And it has to happen by this time. And this has to happen by this time. And it's just holding on to the vision, like you say, without all of that pressure and kind of letting it unfold organically.

Tessia (29:21.734)
Oh, yes. Oh, the more you want it, the more you push it away. So you need to. It's difficult because we just have been, you know, programmed, trained in that way, you know, but we have to relax more in the knowing that everything will work out for good. So that's the way I decided to live my life. And I think it's

It's the best way.

Sue (29:53.708)
Mm-hmm. And again, Tessia, I commend you because I can see that you're very kind of at peace. You know, you're embodying everything you share with us. And I sense that you're in a really good place and you seem happy, right? And you've kind of got it down where you get, you know, okay, things come up, things are going to happen. But as we age and we learn and evolve, we start finding peace and...

Tessia (30:21.694)
Yes, it's all part of the growth. It's all part of the growth.

Sue (30:27.19)
Yes. And now any other books coming up for you? What else in terms of how is that going? I know you're getting the book out there in the words. What kind of feedback are you getting? Any more books? Talk to us about that.

Tessia (30:40.834)
So yes, for now there's no plan of another book because this one already is taking a lot of my time to get the message out there. Many, many more mothers still don't know about it and I'm sure it will be a very good companion or guide in their mother or journey. So this is my mission for now.

It's to make sure that all mothers, you know, that feel that the need that kind of, you know, guide or advices can have that.

Sue (31:21.354)
Oh, that's so beautiful. So a couple of things. First and foremost, I just want to say you've been so awesome. You've had so many great insights. I'm going to be sure to have a link to your stuff, to your website and all of that for people. And I just thank you so much for your time today. You've been so wonderful.

Tessia (31:40.642)
Thank you so much too, I really appreciate it. It was wonderful to be with you and to share my experience. And I appreciate what you do. I appreciate what you do, thank you.

Sue (31:52.784)
That means so much to me now. You've already said so many wonderful things in closing if there were just one message What is your closing message your hope for everybody? What message would you like to leave us with?

Tessia (32:09.466)
I think my message before we end the session is...

Tessia (32:17.214)
We can be who we truly want to be. We just have to remember who we truly are.

Sue (32:26.721)
That is a powerful message. You've been so

Tessia (32:31.466)
Thank you. Thank you so, so much. Thank you.

Sue (32:34.704)
Thank you.