Ali Cranmer

About the episode

Hey outlaws, welcome to episode 23! Today I am joined by the incredible Ali Cranmer and we are having a conversation around body and business alignment. Ali is a body and business integrator who is anti hustle and pro slow living. Her business revolves around helping entrepreneurs grow self loving business using their energy via menstrual cycle alignment. We’re going to peel back this topic because there is so much to learn.

Before I started working with Ali, I didn’t even know there were different phases of the menstrual cycle or how much each phase affected my business. Now, in the last couple of months, I have learned to lean into my own cycle to work in alignment and from a place of intuition. This episode is for you if you feel yourself teetering on the edge of burnout or just want to learn how to listen to your body on a deeper level.

Topics discussed in episode #23

Ali Cranmer

Topics Discussed:

  • Why exactly cycle alignment is and how Ali helps her clients find their natural rhythms in their life and business
  • Common symptoms of misalignment and how to correct this
  • How to balance your productivity as an entrepreneur if you’re focusing on energy management rather than time management
  • When to focus on certain tasks in your business based on where you’re at in your cycle
  • The one thing you can start doing today (according to Ali) that will help you feel more connected to your body
  • What being an outlaw means to Ali

About Ali:

It’s Ali’s mission to help women in biz break free from burnout and reclaim their intuitive powers by giving them the tools and guidance they need to align with the rhythm of their cyclical energy. She believes all women feel an undeniable pressure form society to be able to do it all and that they do their businesses and bodies a disservice by glorifying the hustle.

She has built her business and Body + Biz Integration Framework on the belief that if we awaken our intuitive powers to listen to our body’s rhythm, we’ll be able to align our businesses with our bodies and experience working in-flow and more self-compassion, all while amplifying our impact.

Episode Resources:

Connect with Melanie here:

Ali Cranmer

Transcription:

Speaker 1 (00:00):

Welcome Ali to Entrepreneurial Outlaws. I am so excited to have this conversation with you today to talk about cycle alignment and building a sustainable and self-love business. So would you mind just taking a moment to introduce yourself to everyone? Let everybody know what you do and how you do it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:31):

Hi, thank you for having me, Melanie. So my name is Ali and I help, you know, essentially entrepreneurs build these sustainable and self-loving business. And we do that using cycle I'm at, which is menstrual cycle alignment though. I do love all cycles. There's so many different cycles to align with. And yeah, I just want entrepreneurs to not feel so much burnout and pressure around hustling and growing their businesses quickly. I'm very much pro slow living

Speaker 1 (01:08):

A men, like just when you said slow living and entrepreneurs growing their businesses and alignment just, yeah. All of those things. I am so here for this, because which as you know, but yeah, I think anti hustle is just so important nowadays. So I know that you focus on menstrual alignment or menstrual cycle alignment. The, for anyone listening, who is unfamiliar with cycle alignment, can you just share a little bit about what it is and where we can find these cycles in our lives? Yeah. So 

Speaker 2 (01:53):

If you don't know a lot about menstrual cycle alignment and you know, your menstrual cycle, which if not, that's totally understandable because I did not realize our menstrual cycles consists of four phases probably in my late twenties, which is kind of sad, but that's just the way the world is. We're not taught about all the phases of our cycle and just what we experienced on our cycle. So you might be aware that you have these ebbs and flows in your cycle, but you're not really sure like what it is or why you have them. And it is essentially a hormonal cycle which is our menstrual cycle and there's four phases. And throughout those four phases, you'll experience different levels of energy physically and, you know, internally mood all those things. And that all plays a role into how you're feeling in your body and what you want to put your energy towards or what you should be putting your energy towards.

Speaker 2 (02:53):

So that's what I help these entrepreneurs do is figure out what their body's natural rhythm is, and then align those actions with that rhythm. But there is a ton of cycles, like I'm just big into cyclical living in general. There's also the moon cycles. There's four phases of the moon. There are seasons, we can tend to have like a, a daily cycle as well, and a weekly cycle, you know, points in our day where we're feeling more energetic and points where we're ready to slow down. And yeah, just paying attention to how we feel throughout all of those cycles and recognizing that you know, how we might be feeling right now and the middle of winter versus how we're going to be feeling, and June is going to be different and aligning our businesses and our lives with those cycles.

Speaker 1 (03:49):

Yes, I went to, I'm curious, I wanted to ask you something around kind of cycle alignment in particular. Cause so for everyone listening, Ali and I have kind of worked together on my own business and body alignment because yeah, you'll 2020. It burned me out. And I just had a lot of moments of realizing that I was not treating myself very kindly. So all of the cycles, Ali just mentioned late, I've been so fascinating, but in particularly in relation to a business, like what are some symptoms like what are common symptoms that you have found that someone's body and business are not aligned?

Speaker 2 (04:37):

Yeah, that's a good question. So I think before we're really recognizing and paying attention to our bodies and this cycle we have we're very focused on like time and time management versus like energy management. So you may be feeling like you're racing against the clock and that there's just really never enough time to get the things done that you want to get done. You might often feel frustrated when you can't seem to get motivated or you're spending a really long time pushing through a specific task and then you feel completely burned out afterwards. Also just like boundaries and having a really hard time being fully present and whatever you're focused on. And having a hard time really getting like in that flow state or setting boundaries between work and home life or your personal life and also just like a distrust and like disconnect between what your actions are and how you're, how you feel in your body. Yeah, we're just very focused on time management versus energy management and not doing things that align with how we're feeling. Time

Speaker 1 (05:58):

Management fast is energy management. That is really, it's a really interesting way of hearing it because I was thinking that entrepreneurship. And I think especially when we fast starts in, in online entrepreneurship, there is so much of this narrative of kind of hustle and working hard and doing, doing more. And I feel like it's really perpetuated through online business through what we see in marketing and through coaching and programs. And so this idea of energy management over time management is, is really, it feels like it's like flipping the script. No, because I'm always fascinated by the fact that time is like this man-made thing. Right. We measure it with a and time doesn't really exist other than with Luna cycle. Right. You know, cause you know, that I'm very much into my, you know lunar cycles and astrology. And what's fascinating. I was reading about this just recently how the, the Luna cycle was basically how we used to navigate times how we knew what season we were in. It was how we navigated, you know, night other than the gang doc, obviously, but like night and day, like we knew where we were at in the month because of that, but the Gregorian calendar and measuring time and kind of putting up businesses into these to do lists and schedules, it seems to really feed into the myth that time management is more important. And I'm curious to know, you know, how, how do you manage your time and your productivity and your schedule as an entrepreneur, if you're not focused on time management?

Speaker 2 (07:56):

That's a really good question. So I think, you know, obviously we have to think about time management to some extent we can't just forget it. But that's where I think like our daily and weekly cycles really come in handy and focusing on what our energy rhythm is on like that scale. And just, okay. So when it comes to cycle alignment, I'm a big believer that it really essentially will allow you to work less, but get a lot more done. So you're leveraging your higher energy moments in your cycle, whatever cycle that may be your daily, weekly, or menstrual cycle, et cetera. And you're getting more done during those higher energy moments and then choosing to rest or focus on lower energy tasks during your lower moments. So I think that's when we're like time management kind of comes into play. Like if you're focusing just on time management, then you're just gonna think like, okay, this task should probably take me roughly three hours or whatever. And that may be true during, you know, if you had this level of energy, but if you are in a point in your cycle where you have lower energy, that task might take you 10 hours, you just don't know. So focusing more on your energy, what type of energy you have to put in certain tasks and planning them in a way that really helps you spend less time working and get more done and do the work better and feel less burned out afterwards.

Speaker 1 (09:45):

Yes, yes. Working less and getting more done or get, you know, and getting the right things done in the amount of time. That just self-awareness like, that was really why had, because that was what I was thinking, like cycle alignment. And I, and I also know this from experience my own personal experience, that cycle alignment really requires us to listen and pay attention. And I think it's so interesting because I think of myself as being pretty self-aware, but until you and I connected, I w I wasn't a hundred percent, I didn't know the full cycles. Like I had a period and that was it. And that was like, what was happening? And I knew I wasn't happy during my period, but nothing, I hadn't really thought about anything else. And it definitely feels like it's an ongoing progress process, but I'm curious when we look at the different cycles.

Speaker 1 (10:46):

So, I mean, I'm particular, let's talk about menstrual cycle over the, over the series of a month or you know, how it may days, but also, you know, our daily and weekly cycles, possibly without energy levels, it seems like there are some things that we maybe know to be true. And then there are other areas that are going to be individual and someone's energy is going to be different to the person next to them, besides obviously when this cycle falls. But could you share a little bit about which areas of these cycles tend to be higher energy for people and which ones tend to drop in energy where we can maybe be focusing on these lower energy tasks?

Speaker 2 (11:36):

Yeah, definitely. So in the menstrual cycle, it's four phases. It begins with the menstrual phase and that's your period. I call this like a great time to prep your soil and you're going to probably be feeling lower and just overall more into slow moving and easing in. So it's a good time to ease in and set those intentions. It's, you know, a fresh slate and feel free to like brain dump some ideas and get things off your brain and onto paper during this time. And then we move into our follicular phase. And I consider this like a time for planting your seeds, and this is when your energy's going to start to increase. So I'm leaning more into your creative energy and taking some action on those ideas, you brain down in that first phase. And then we move into ovulation, which is when you're going to probably reach a peak in energy.

Speaker 2 (12:41):

And it's a great time for nurturing. So whatever you've been working on those ideas you had at the beginning and what you've been taking action on, you're going to start to put those out to the world. So selling, teaching, serving it's just a good time to leverage your confidence and ability to connect with others. And then our final phase is the luteal phase. And I call it like the time for harvesting. So really starting to slow down as our energy is going to be decreasing during this time and evaluating the past month. What went well, what didn't go well also maybe letting go of what you didn't get to, or what's no longer serving you. Overall just like a really great time for surrendering because you are going to have lower energy and you just kind of need to put your hands up and be like, okay, like not going to be pushing through anymore.

Speaker 2 (13:36):

I'm done. It's time to rest. It's time to slow down and replenish and get ready for this next cycle. And those phases can really align with your weekly and daily cycles as well. We tend to kind of want to ease into our week on Mondays. And midweek is kind of when we have higher energy, I think I tend to feel, and then towards the end of the week, you want to slow down and kind of wrap up. And same with daily. Like a lot of people are not going to wake up up first thing in the morning and get right to work. Obviously, like you said, it depends on the person everyone's different and maybe you're a morning person and you like to hop right out of bed and get on into work. And that's okay too, but just paying attention to what your rhythms are and aligning there.

Speaker 1 (14:25):

Yeah. Okay. You answered my question, which was going to be, because I'm a morning person and I know you and I have discussed this and I know you're a night owl and I guess I mean, I don't necessarily jump out of bed and walk, but I know that for me the morning time is like my most productive time. So I was, I think it's really interesting because it feels like there's, you know, there's like guidance and support, but there's also a level of being able to personalize this based on your own life and your own lifestyle. And I think that's so, that's so great because so much of what we see is like rigid and rule-based okay. So we've talked a bit about cycles and what this looks like. We talked about the four menstrual four phases of the menstrual cycle. What, for anyone listening, who maybe hasn't, isn't aware or wasn't aware until today of cycle alignment and especially in body of business, what is one thing that someone who has hand is raised right now going, yep. I'm, I'm struggling with this. Like I'm exhausted and I don't get stuff done and everything takes me longer than it should. What is one thing that somebody can do or implement today or this week to kind of stop this cycle of alignment?

Speaker 2 (15:53):

[Inaudible] So the theme of everything is, listen, listen to your body. That's definitely what you can start doing today is just paying attention. And even if you don't know where you're at in your menstrual cycle, right now, you can still pay attention to how you feel in your body, right? In this moment. Are you feeling sluggish or energized or creative or inspired or grounded? Just figure it out, listen and journal about it too, if that helps or meditate, whatever you need to do to really connect with your body and also consider how you feel physically. But I think possibly even more importantly, pay attention to how you feel internally energy-wise and your mood as well. And you can start doing this daily. You can even do it throughout the day, too, so you can pick up on those daily cycles, whatever feels good for you.

Speaker 2 (16:51):

I don't want you to like overwhelm yourself with paying attention to all the cycles there are to pay attention to. You can focus on just one at first, if that's your daily cycle, then that's great. Or your weekly, or you want to go in for the full like menstrual cycle. But just start paying attention and track, track it regularly. So you can start to pick up on what that rhythm is. And then, you know, you're going to want to align, so, okay. If you're feeling like sluggish today but you do, you know, have to work today. You can't take the entire day off possibly focus on those slower moving tasks that take less brain power versus a task. That's going to take you more energy because it's probably just going to take you longer to do, and that's just not a good use of your time or your energy. And you know, if you're looking for something to help with this, and you don't know where to start there is, I do have a flow tracker, if you want that, or which is a free resource, it's just an energy tracking journal. Or you can use your, your period app that you currently probably have. You could use that as well, or just a plain old journal that you have laying around.

Speaker 1 (18:09):

Yeah. I, I definitely recommend getting the flow tracker. That was how I started. I think I was one of like, I don't want to say I was one of the first people to sign up for it, but I know that I remember you creating it and I'm like, I need help. And that was how I started. And I think what was so important there, and I want to reiterate this just because I know what we're like as, as humans and as entrepreneurs and perfectionist, you don't need to do it all. Like you don't need to start tracking every single cycle. Yeah. I know when I started, it was like, just noticing my menstrual cycle because I didn't even know the names of the four cycles for four, no, hang on. Yeah. Four phases of four cycles. And I, now I think for a year, it's like looking at the moon and what's that describe how I feel today on this particular day of my cycle. And I, you know, w w where, how long has, you know, w w where am I navigating? Like right now, I know I'm coming out of ovulation into luteal and I'm like, yep, that's happening right now. But it definitely takes time to

Speaker 1 (19:37):

Get to the point where I think you can, it's like just building up, right. It's building up the practice, I guess with different cycles and choosing which cycle feels right for you. Cause I know when you and I spoke in January and I came into our cool, like, Ali, I don't need a daily, a weekly, so I just need this. It was like, it reminded me of Britney Brown. When she talks about going to her therapist with a spreadsheet, I was like, this is what we need to fix. And then you were like, so this is what we're going to do. And when you sent me, so Ali and I had a one-to-one mentoring session, and it's like blown at my mind since gang my pack and like learning all these things about my, and I'm just like, Oh my God, I really didn't realize I was doing these many things. And I needed so much of this just alignment within my daily and weekly tasks. So yeah, it was really, has been really, really powerful just to see that progression. And I feel so much more confident in what I'm doing each day, which has been really, really great.

Speaker 3 (20:44):

Oh, I love yeah, it's, it's good.

Speaker 1 (20:49):

Okay. So as everyone listening, we are entrepreneurial Outlaws and I feel like psycho alignment and just going from time management to energy management is very out little thing. Like I feel, you know, we're very much about bucking trends and, you know, challenging the status quo and finding what works for us and this, this conversation, this process of alignment with our body and our business is definitely supporting Outlaws as they like stretch and grow that Outlaws wings and get curious and creative within that business. And it's very much about creating your own rules. So we have the question that I ask every guest, and that is what does being an entrepreneurial outlook mean to you?

Speaker 2 (21:39):

So good. So yes, everything that you just said but also just ignoring the cookie cutter strategies and realizing that we are all very different even in this world of cycle alignment not everyone's cycle and rhythm is going to look the same and just shining a light on those differences and realizing that we have different strengths and, you know, even different weaknesses that can be turned into strengths are that we, you know, view as weaknesses. But also breaking old rules such as having to hustle in order to grow a successful business and seeing the importance and slow growth and how impactful that can be. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:33):

Yeah. Slow growth, I think. Yeah, just, yes. So I go through still growth, right. It's still gross. It's slow and it's steady, but it's way more sustainable. Yeah. And also, you know, kind of more realistic. And I talk a lot about that, you know, the, we don't need to have these big audiences or these big growth spurts in order to grow our businesses. So yes, I am a hundred percent in agreement with you. Okay. So this has been a great conversation. I have loved having you on here to talk about psycho Lyman and how to build this sustainable business before you go, could you let everybody know where they can find a more of you where they can find the flow tracker and how they can kind of connect and stay in touch with you?

Speaker 2 (23:32):

Yeah, definitely. So you can probably find me on Instagram. That's where I hang out most often. My handle is Leb Cranmer, and my website's same thing only be cram your.com and that's where you can find a place to sign up for the flow tracker and that's free. You also will get like an introduction masterclass, which is really a lot of what we talked about here, but going just a bit further into each cycle phase. So you can really understand, you know, what menstrual cycle Lima is and implement it yourself. Yeah. And you can find the ways to work with me there. I, like Melanie said, I do offer these one-on-one 60 minute sessions. I'll be having a group mentorship launching soon. So and the DMS on Instagram are always open. So if you have questions I'm there and I would love to chat. Yes.

Speaker 1 (24:34):

And we will make sure that the flow track and everything, how to follow Ali, where to find her, everything will be linked in the show notes. So you can easily go and find it more of Ali and her content and your content on Instagram is always so amazing. And she really does lead by example because I'm still always so impressed by your Instagram routine and how you navigate that platform. So, yeah, just definitely everyone should pay attention to that because that's still something I'm working on. It is hard. I think it's hard, you know, it's hard between wanting to be on the platform, but then knowing when it's too much and like eating tobacco off. But yeah, so definitely pay attention to her content and make sure you go sign up for the flow tracker because I, I can advocate for the fact that it's going to make a huge difference. Oh, Ali, this was great. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your expertise with all of the Outlaws. 

Speaker 2 (25:40):

Having me you're so welcome.

Speaker 1 (25:42):

Bye bye.