How Alex Elle guides others to walk in their power

Alex Elle is a beacon of hope and courage who uses writing to facilitate healing for herself and others. Along her journey, writing has been therapeutic and liberating. She has used it to build self-belief and self-trust in the most challenging and dark moments of her life. Now she utilizes writing to guide individuals who desire to live authentic and more abundant lives. Excerpts of her written works can be found on Instagram and YouTube, which is an extension of her career as a writer and teacher. As an artist, author, and coach, Alex Elle employs restorative writing and breathwork meditation as tools to equip others to thrive in every season of life.

We talked with Alex Elle about her journey, new projects, and the tools that have made it all possible.

You’re an inspiration for so many people, and you’ve garnered a huge online following. How did that start, and what was the catalyst for posting online content?

The catalyst was not keeping my stories to myself but sharing them so that I'm leading by example and allowing people to be in their power, and in their voice, by way of telling their own stories. When I first started my social media platform it was really an extension of the work I had already been doing. I was already writing books and using the internet to build community in a way that felt good, and nurturing was what my platform eventually evolved into. I like being in an online space where people can come and take what they need as far as the gentle reminders for the week or the affirmations. It’s little snippets of what people can find in my books.

The way that you write takes a lot of courage — sharing so much of yourself with so many people. Why is authenticity and vulnerability important to you?

We’re so often told to hide from our vulnerability. What I think people enjoy about me and my work is that I'm humanizing us all and our feelings, just by way of writing and showing up in my truth. We all have this common thread of healing, joy, and celebration that I think needs to be looked at through a more human lens. I'm a big believer in leading by example, standing in my truth and my power, and sharing bits and pieces of my story and my life — I think it brings a sense of knowing and belonging and community through that.

You use restorative writing and breathwork to empower and equip others in your community. Tell us more about that.

I teach restorative writing, which I also call writing to heal. I have courses that people can join, retreats, and workshops. It's been amazing to use writing as this gift to invite people to look at themselves on the pages of their journals. The writing to heal aspect of it is allowing ourselves to be as human as we can on the page, not judging ourselves, and getting up close and personal with who we are and what we want, and so often we're not given that space to do so.

I’ve recently added breathwork to my workshops, retreats, and courses to help ground myself, the students, and the attendees. A lot of us have been holding our breath for so long, and we don't even know it, right? Breathwork is giving our bodies the gift of pause and slowing down and deep, intentional breathing. It's so important and I didn't know how important it was until I really needed to breathe. I had anxiety, and the only thing I could do was take some deep breaths. I recently completed certification in breathwork, and being certified in this gives me additional tools for myself and tools for my community, clients, and students.

You have a busy life as a businesswoman, wife, and mother of three girls. What tools do you use in your everyday life to streamline your work?

Well, I’ve been using Adobe Acrobat for years now to sign contracts. I sign a lot of documents virtually, and Acrobat makes that so easy. I'm such a believer in ease wherever I can get it — working smarter and not harder. Even if I get a paper contract, I can scan it and put it into Acrobat. It's just easy, and it saves time. We don't think about how the little things can save so much time when they add up.

What Adobe Acrobat tools do you think all writers should keep handy?

I think the Acrobat Reader App because you can go in and highlight, mark up, and ask for feedback and comments. It is a lifesaver to have something where we can both have access to it, use it with ease, see things in front of us and make real-time changes! I’ve used that feature with my editor. I've been a customer and a user of the products for years, and I like growing with the technology that I'm using.

What was a time in your life where you had to challenge yourself to grow and overcome?

I always joke and say that being a student of life requires multiple missteps and multiple starting-from-scratch moments. One of the key moments in my life I write about in my book After the Rain, in the first chapter called “Change,” I talk about my last 9 to 5 job, which was almost ten years ago now. I was in this position, and I was settling. I knew I wasn't supposed to be there. I knew I wasn't valued, but I decided to stay because I was too scared to grow forward. I was too scared to leave stability and nervous — all of these real feelings that people should consider before leaving a job, right? I put in my two-week notice, and then my boss begged me to stay, so I decided to stay. It's so wild how things work — two weeks to the day I submitted my two-week notice, my boss called me a low-budget employee in a fit of anger and rage. I was like, oh no, no, this is the sign that I needed to go, and I quit on the spot.

It's just interesting how fear will keep you stuck. Sometimes it takes hurtful or life-altering experiences to take that step toward what you initially have set out to do. So, beginning again was walking out of that door and deciding I was either going to fly, or I was going to fail, but I wasn't going to not try. I'm here ten years later, still flying.

Aside from your writing, what other projects are you working on?

So, my podcast, The Hey Girl Podcast, is where sisterhood and storytelling collide along with self-care. It started almost five years ago, and it's been a creative outlet for me to have conversations with women and men who inspire me. It just gives me a chance to talk to people — I love talking to people and learning about where people come from, and how they've healed, and how they take care of themselves and the businesses they operate.

Making Space Meditation is a new initiative where I'm teaching breathwork through YouTube videos — its mini-meditations for folks to listen to with beautiful visuals to watch. I’m stepping outside of my comfort zone, and I'm a big believer in sharing meditation and breathwork in a way that feels relatable and accessible to everyone. That's why I created Making Space Meditation because so many people see meditation, and they don't see folks who look like me, or they think that they have to be on a cushion and just trying their best not to think about anything else. I'm just here to encourage people to do what feels right and good for them in their practice.

You spend a lot of your time giving to others. How do you nourish yourself and practice self-care?

When I care for myself first, I'm able to show up intentionally and mindfully with my family, work, and friendships. The past 18-or-so months have taught me that self-care starts by getting back to basics. It’s the little things like getting back to basics. Not this luxurious massage, or treating yourself to these new jeans, or that cup of coffee from your favorite cafe. Those are beautiful things and bonuses, but the basics really need to be catered to so that we can be well and good when we show up in the world.

Working parents are very busy, and many don’t feel like they can fit self-care into their schedules. What’s your advice as a working mother who faces the same challenge?

We all have five minutes. The reason why I say that is because I was someone who had the mindest of. ‘Oh, I can't, I don't have time for that.’ So, I'm speaking from experience as a working mom with three children — we must make time for ourselves and what we want to cultivate in our lives because if we don't, our community won't be well. When I say community, I'm saying kids, households, husbands, wives, partners. Something that I tell my clients is to pencil yourself in. We schedule everything else, so have it on the calendar. Even if it's once a week, start small because self-nurturing does not have to be deep. You can start small. It's all about baby steps, so pencil yourself in!

Achieve your own autonomy

Elle explains that, “People are coming home to themselves in a very new way and they're trying to figure out what they really want, who they really are, and how they want to live their lives.” This looking inward is a process that requires transparency, transition, and transformation. As someone who has worked hard to overcome her own struggles, Elle encourages others to learn how to get well for themselves and to “show up and do their soul work”. She stresses the necessity of self-liberation and understanding the importance of achieving your own autonomy.

“You are free in that you can move through the world in a way that allows you to be your full and true self. It gets better. The dark days aren’t going to last forever. The sun always rises and just as it does in nature, it will do in your life as well.”