Meet Jackie Norfolk | Body, Mind & Soul Coaching

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jackie Norfolk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jackie, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Balance has had an ever evolving place in my life. I have a very addictive personality and so I’ve been addicted to alcohol, caffeine, working out and well work itself. My career focuses on Mushroom and Cacao based health supplements and integrating Body, Mind & Soul training. This kind of work has naturally made me take a really hard look at the balance of these things in my life.

Balance started with my body: weight distribution on my two feet, riding my skateboard, yoga poses and so on and so forth. At this point of my life my sense of balance was mainly physical since I was only coaching people on physical fitness. The natural progression of my new found “balanced awareness” turned to focus on nutrition for me and my clients. I tried different diets like: Paleo, Vegetarianism, Veganism, Anti-inflammatory, Carnivore, Keto and well you name it. I began to realize that I had been addicted to: sugar, processed foods, alcohol and caffeine. I started to count my macronutrients (caloric intake, fats, carbs and proteins) and realized that I was lacking in my carbohydrate intake. When I started to nourish my body with healthy carbohydrates such as potatoes or grains, I literally lost 8lbs effortlessly. Ironically by eating more carbs my diet became more “balanced”. And that’s when it hit me. What if all of these “diets” were out of balance? Going from one extreme to another was by no means good for my body or giving it what it needed. Not only that, diets made me more addictive and quickly bounce back to unhealthy eating habits. I always felt lethargic and hungry on any diet I tried. A balanced diet was the new way to go.

With my increased awareness of my body and its relationship with food, I began to realize that the quality of food was crucial for healthy living. I also realized that poor quality foods were filled with injected hormones and unknown ingredients that were taking a hit on my mental health and attitude. If I had poor quality food I could almost instantly tell my emotions were all over the place and I had no motivation to do anything productive. If the ingredients weren’t all natural I didn’t want it in my body. That’s when I started to create my medicinal mushroom supplements, I had a passion for the first time in a while to create something to better my life and my clients life. Learning how mushrooms helped with anxiety as well as addiction made me instantly start supplementing/growing them. On the way to this journey I also found the power of mixing medicinal mushrooms with cacao and how it essentially makes them a magical combination. These supplements have helped me quit drinking alcohol & heavily caffeinated drinks, eased my anxiety and healed my relationship with work life balance.

Practicing moderation with my body made me realize that I needed to assess the balance of my mind. I thought for the longest time that if I worked harder, slept less hours and continued grinding, that someday I would achieve everything I wanted in my business and be able to relax. Man was I wrong about that. A little back story on where workaholism started: I grew up in a very poor and unstable home. I started babysitting at 12 years old and then got my first real job at 16. I suffered from extreme anxiety worrying that what I made wouldn’t be enough to survive. I worked all through college to support myself and so the workaholism began to perpetuate itself. After quitting many dead end jobs and starting my own business I began to pour all my time and energy into coaching and creating the best quality products. My business partner began to notice I had difficulty enjoying my time and relaxing after our business was done. After lots of resistance I took his advice and began to relax, and let work rest for the day. It also defeated the purpose of being in the healthy living industry if I couldn’t find time to be present and enjoy the moment. I took some of my own advice and started supplementing Lion’s Mane & Cordyceps on a daily basis. After a few weeks my anxiety began to gradually diminish and it seemed like I could take time to enjoy the present moment. Once I began to relax and find time to enjoy the little things, something interesting started to happen. More sales came pouring in for the business. Work was easier and my productivity increased 5 fold. It’s safe to say that work life balance is on my top priority to manifest a better business and quality of life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Merlin’s Magic is a mushroom/cacao based supplement business. Our mission is to provide 100% natural and sustainable ingredients in all our products. What sets Merlin’s Magic apart is that we strive to educate people on WHY we use all natural and sustainable ingredients. Most people are told to take a supplement but then not educated on WHY. A huge challenge in the supplement industry is that people do not use 100% of the natural ingredients and at that point you’re not receiving the full nutritional benefits from the supplement especially in the medicinal mushrooms/cacao industry. Chocolate is actually a superfood and most people don’t know that in order to receive the full superfood benefits you have to source raw cacao. Another huge issue with the medicinal mushroom industry is that people do not use the fruiting bodies of the mushroom and instead use the dirt it grew from to make the product (mycelium biomass). At this point you’re receiving slim to none health benefits from these medicinal mushroom supplements. Merlin’s magic strives to provide 100% fruiting mushroom bodies and raw cacao.

Another huge challenge with providing all natural ingredients is that processing time takes 3 times longer and essentially is alot more work. We’ve stayed very true to our mission and this has also allowed my own personal healing. My business is heavily interconnected with healthy living so it can be difficult making the harder longer way to do things but at the end of the day we say 100% more results with our clients and customers as well as in our healthy living.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My week-long itinerary would begin with a hike to Mt. Falcon Park. This hike is about 6 minutes from Red Rocks so you get a killer view of Red Rocks and Dinosaur Ridge. The hike is extra rewarding if you take Castle Trail to some actual Castle ruins about 3 miles in. After this beautifully scenic hike I would take my bestie to eat at Rhein Haus Denver for some brats and baked pretzels with cheese fondue. Later we could explore more of the 16th street mall area. The next day we would hit Lakeside Amusement for some old school roller coaster rides (one of Denver’s hidden gems). Following this nostalgic experience we would hit Little Man Ice Cream Factory on Colfax (my all time favorite ice cream shop). The evening itinerary would involve an immersive art experience at Meow Wolf followed by some live music in their afterhours. The next day we would spend exploring downtown Larimer Square dining at the best Italian restaurant Lo Stella Ristorante. Depending on what season it is I would take my bestie to an Avalanche or Rockies game for the evening. I would end the last couple of days by going to Estes Park. We would hike at Gem lake trail and spend another day to explore and dine at Stanley Hotel.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout goes to my boyfriend and business partner. He has pushed me to become an entreperneur and go after my dreams throughout many years. Without his help I would not have been able to build my businesses.

Website: https://merlinsmagick.wixsite.com/late

Instagram: @merlinsmycofairy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacqueline.norfolk.5