Sophie Jaffe, On Following Your Intuition in Motherhood and Beyond
Sophie Jaffe is the woman who does it all. CEO of a thriving superfoods business, wellness expert, yoga teacher, couples therapy coach and mother of three, Sophie shares how thriving in all areas of your life simply cannot be done alone. She drives home the importance of surrounding yourself with a strong community, loving yourself first and foremost, and above all, trusting your intuition in motherhood and in life.
Sophie, tell us about you:
Hi, I’m Sophie! I’m a Los-Angeles based health and wellness expert, superfood entrepreneur, couples coach, yoga teacher and mother to 3 beautiful children. I’m a Gottman Institute trained couples coach and 500 hour certified yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance. I founded my superfood company and wellness brand, Philosophie, with the goal of making it easier, more inspiring, and more delicious to attain optimal health and radiant wellness. I preach intuition with everything I do: intuitive eating, intuitive movement, intuitive living.
I’m always looking for a way to give back to my community and frequently lead international women's empowerment workshops, moon circles, yoga and HIIT classes, and host retreats around the world.
I love sharing my raw & real experiences on how to live a life full of unbounded energy, bliss, and freedom everywhere I can, and savoring every moment with my three beautiful children and loving husband.
What was the most unexpected part of your own motherhood journey?
The most unexpected part of motherhood is truly how much your children teach you and show you. The healing and growth I’ve done with each of my children is something so unbelievably powerful and completely unexpected, but so necessary. With every pregnancy I tapped more and more into who I am, and who I wanted to be - not only as a mother, but as a human. The complexities of motherhood are vast & deep. Layered. These small humans are an extension of your entire being. Carrying each of them for almost 10 months inside my body, breastfeeding them, being their entire world. Being the one to comfort them when they are sick or sad or mad. At every stage & phase, feeling this intensity. To simultaneously desire them to stay the sweet, delicious version of themselves while wanting them to grow and expand into the next best version, and to feel the innate primal desire and craving to create another life while also knowing we are complete in our family, are all incredibly challenging emotions to hold. I wouldn’t change a thing.
How does Matrescence’s Mission to “mother the mother” resonate with you as a mom?
Motherhood is a wild ride and the most important thing is that you have to tune out what others are doing and go inward to connect to what you truly feel. We have to MOTHER OURSELVES, above all. We can not give from an empty cup. I’ve “mothered” myself for a very long time because I don’t actually feel I was mothered in the ways many were. I’ve been mothering myself since I was a little girl. The most important thing for me is being proud of myself, telling myself positive things, supporting nurturing energy and being my own biggest fan. Get centered. Have time alone. More than what you think you need. Use nap time to regroup for the next marathon of an afternoon. Do whatever it takes - get creative - to show up as the best version of you as possible. Leave judgment at the door and be gracious with yourself.
How do you “mother the mother” in your own career?
Ask for help! You can’t do it all alone. Give yourself enough grace to know that you are only human. In order to be the best I can be, I share the work and constantly check my boundaries. Just because I have the capacity as founder and CEO does NOT mean it’s all on my shoulders. I cultivated a dream team for my business and I let them OWN their fields. If something doesn’t align then I don’t let it in my life.
It’s important to know what else is happening in your market and to stay on top of trends, but more importantly, it’s key to know when to shut out what everyone else is doing and stay aligned with what you value.
What does wellness look like for you as a mama?
My own mental health and sanity is THE most important priority. I love me more than anything else. I took most of Friday morning off to go get a massage and practice some self-care. It is THE reason I was able to give so fully to my superfood company this weekend and be so present and attentive to my children. There are SO MANY ways to check in with your body and reset your nervous system. ANYTHING that brings you into the present moment & brings you JOY activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
Being the perfect mother doesn’t exist and NEVER HAS. And if there’s one experience that teaches you to expect things NOT to go as planned, it’s motherhood. You are following your heart, your intuitive voice to guide you. Even when you screw up, even when life gets messy, even when you forget. Even when you need/WANT a break. Let go of that guilt. When it comes to motherhood, you can look up how to do this or how to do that and read tons of articles and parenting books that will all tell you some version of the same thing, but ultimately, it comes down to YOU and how you choose to be a parent and whether or not you’ll lean in, let go and trust your intuition.
Trust that you KNOW, your primal intuitive body KNOWS.
What does it look like for you in your business?
Entrepreneurship is rewarding and so empowering but it’s WORK, and it’s trusting through every bump and hiccup along the way people LOVE what you are creating and offering. I drove around to stores all over Los Angeles finding the exact organic raw ingredients, made tons of packaging mockups (ahem, mistakes), and poured so much love, sweat and tears into this company knowing (and praying) one day it would be this beautiful brand it is today.
I have a beautiful life that I WORKED to create. Zero days off. Anxiety and panic attacks. Empty bank accounts and debts galore. It wasn’t glamorous for a VERY long time but I held onto hope. I believed in something bigger for my little love of superfoods. Where you put your energy, is where you get all the love & energy back times ten. Philosophie is an extension of me. It’s truly grown alongside me, it’s matured and evolved as I have. When I work on myself, it’s only natural that Philosophie has changed along with me.
What’s one thing you wish you’d known before becoming a mom?
I wish I knew to trust my mama intuition and above all, honor myself and my needs. It’s definitely what I’ve had to learn along the way. You absolutely must give yourself as much self-love as you need without a grain of guilt. Until you are filled up, you can not give fully to your little loves, friends, partners, and others in your life. Take long baths when the kids are asleep, drink that glass of wine, book that massage, go out with your best friend. This is okay and necessary in order to truly be present with your babes.
What’s a great piece of advice you’d give to a new mama?
A lot of the good is coupled by a lot of heartache, pain, and struggle. Multiple times a day I’m asked, “How do you do it all?!” and as a mama of 3, an entrepreneur, wife, sister, friend, yoga teacher, intuitive and wellness advocate—the truth is, I don’t. At least not alone.
In order to succeed in life you have to delegate and let others step in and pick up the reins when you can’t. From mother’s helpers in the neighborhood to au pairs to your PARTNER to close friends and sitters, you don’t know if someone can help unless you ASK. Ask for help! People want to support you but when you seem to “carry it so well”, it appears you don’t need help at all. And we all do.
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