Maggie
Hello everyone. Welcome. I am so delighted to welcome you back to another really powerful episode of the podcast. Today I have a very special guest. I am so excited to introduce you to her name is Jules Clancey.
She’s a former food scientist and winemaker turned author and Health Coach (and we’re totally gonna ask her about food science in just a minute). She tamed her diabetes and PCOS using simple, low carb, whole foods. She has turned her own healing into her work on earth and she helps food lovers simplify eating healthier using six ingredient recipes. And I’m sure lots of food science which is amazing.
She creates simple meal plans and also provides personalized Coaching to help people eat well and automatically feel good in their clothes as well as with their plates and what they’re putting in their bodies.
And Jules is a member of the very first round of The Marriage MBA. And she’s going to share a little bit about food science and a little bit about her favorite takeaways and her experiences from Marriage Coaching.
So as you listen to us chat today, I really want to invite you to pick your favorite thing that Jules shares today. Take it in, sit with it and then see what you’re gonna apply tomorrow. So welcome, Jules. I’m so happy to have you.
Jules Clancey
Oh, thank you, Maggie. It’s so good to be here.
Maggie
Okay, so first, we need to know what does a food scientists do? So this is what you did before because now you Coach people, but tell us about what you did when you worked in food science because I think it’s fascinating.
Jules Clancey
Right? So I started my career working for Kellogg’s, like the Kellogg Company, in product development. So like developing new cereals and snack products, basically. Yeah, that was it. Like that was my job was to create new food products.
Maggie
That is so fun. Did you work on something that we would recognize whether it’s in the US or in Australia (because I know that’s where you’re at)? Did you work on something that you would say, “Oh, yes, whenever you see this..”
Jules Clancey
Well, actually so, my biggest client that…. after Kellogg, I ended up working for Arnott’s, which is like, really the biggest cookie company in Australia. They’re owned by Campbell’s Soup company. And so there’s these biscuits that we have in Australia or the cookies we have in Australia — chocolate coated cookies called Tim Tams.
And like yeah, like if you have ever know any Australian ask them about Tim Tams. Like everyone loves them. They’re like, you know, two layers of biscuits with this cream in the middle. Have you ever had them?
Maggie
I have heard Hugh Jackman, who I love, talk about Tim Tams. So you worked on Tim Tams?
Jules Clancey
Yes, I worked on Tim Tams and my last job at Arnott’s — my last project I worked on at Arnott’s was to develop the white chocolate Tim Tams.
Maggie
This is so exciting. So for everyone listening like on my bucket list now is A) go to Australia. B) Go directly to the grocery store. Buy some Tim Tams. That’s the plan.
Jules Clancey
Actually the dark chocolate ones I worked on them as well. But we didn’t actually finish that project before I left but they’re actually better than the white ones.
Maggie
Okay, good to know. I’ll have to do a taste test. Do the dark chocolate. So if anyone is listening to us in Australia, when you see Tim Tams, Jules was in the Tim Tams creation. One of the greats. Okay, so tell us now a little bit about what you do now. So you make these amazing meal plans. And I just want people to understand a little bit — that food science that you brought to the Tim Tams how you bring that now to healthy eating.
Jules Clancey
Oh, right. Well, so part of food science is like, of course nutrition. So having studied that, I bring that with me. But also just because I really understand the older, like what goes into flavor and how to make things taste good.
I’m able to use that to really simplify cooking so that we’re like — it’s just, it still tastes amazing, but it’s got the you know, the bare minimum number of steps and the bare minimum number of ingredients basically. So…
Maggie
I love that. What’s one of your favorite staples like one of your favorite six ingredient recipes? What’s one that you just go to?
Jules Clancey
All the time? Like if it was me cooking for myself, it’s either like some sort of omelet or scrambled eggs. Actually, I’ve just been working on a new recipe. It’s just, it’s like, scrambled eggs. Like with frozen spinach. Defrost it. And then you just scrambled eggs in the pan with the frozen spinach and then season with salt or you can add cheese or whatever to it.
But that’s like — you get this like, creamy like eggy cheese, but it’s spinach as well. So that’s one of my favorites. Oh and I also really love veggie bowls. So I love just chopping up broccoli, just quickly steaming it, and then serving that with some protein and a really delicious sauce.
Maggie
So good. So we’re gonna definitely link to Jules’ Instagram, so you can all check out what she talks about with her recipes and her meal plan. So we’ll link to that in the show notes. And the name of your company is called Stone Soup.
Jules Clancey
Yes, yeah it is.
Maggie
Okay, so Stone Soup. So everyone. Remember in the show notes we will link to Stone Soup, which is Jules’ company of simple meal plans, six ingredient recipes. If you’ve listened to the podcast for a while, you know I don’t cook, but I think even I could make that. Which is very exciting. Awesome. So tell us a little bit about why you decided to join The Marriage MBA. Walk us through that a little bit.
Jules Clancey
Well, I think I’ve been listening to the podcast, Maggie, for a while. So I met you when I was doing the $200k Mastermind with Stacey. And so huge fan of your work. And I just had this moment where I just realized, because I was thinking about investing in Business Coaching again.
And then I just realized that actually the business is doing okay, but the thing that was causing me the most grief in my life, or the most was my marriage, and it just wasn’t where I wanted it to be. It wasn’t like we were headed for divorce or anything. But it just — I wasn’t showing up in my marriage the way that I knew I could be and I just listening to your podcast was like, I know Maggie can help me get there.
Maggie
Yeah, I love that. So good. So a couple of things. So Jules mentioned my Business Coach. Her name is Stacey Boehman. I love her so much. I will link to her site in the show notes just in case. A lot of people listen to my podcast that are Coaches and a lot of people listen to the podcast that aren’t Coaches.
But if you are a Coach, you definitely want to check out Stacey’s work. She’s amazing. And one of the things that you said was that it wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great. And I want to really speak to that. Because a lot of people listen to the podcast. Obviously, if you’re listening to a marriage podcast, you want your relationship to be amazing.
But so many people, I think, hesitate to get help because they think, “Well, it’s kind of fine. It’s okay. It’s not that bad.” You know, whereas it’s this moment of realization that, “Oh, but what if it could be a little bit better? What’s the effect in my whole life if I don’t have this sort of low grade worry about my marriage? So do you have any thoughts to share about that?
Jules Clancey
Oh, absolutely. And that was exactly me, Maggie, and the thing is that investing in Coaching with you has helped all the areas in my life. So of course, my marriage is much better, but it’s helped my parenting. It’s helped how I’m showing up in my business.
Like, I’ve learned things from you that I’ve applied to, like, you grow — like, when you do something like this, you grow as a person. And so of course, it’s like, it affects everything so you really, yeah, like it’s such a powerful thing to do.
Maggie
I love that so much. What is one way that it has affected your parenting? I’m so curious, because I’m not a mom, but I know a lot of moms listen to us. What is one thing that you sort of approach differently now as a mom?
Jules Clancey
Oh, definitely just, you know, the way that we work together as a team. That’s one of your core teachings. And, but we’ve actually found that we’ve applied that to the whole family — work as a team. So when we have a problem, like, you know, for example, like, you know, it’s the bath time, and the boys aren’t wanting to go to the bath when they should be going to the bath kind of thing.
Rather than, you know, getting angry at them or whatever, we all like, we first calm everyone down and get them talking, but then we work together as team and go, “Hey, well, what’s going on here?” And then, you know, what can we do about this to make it better? Like how can we fix it and do it better next time?
So it’s like involving them in the process and my boys are five and almost eight. So they’re kind of at that age where we can have discussions, but also it’s helping them see things from something. So we’re kind of teaching them empathy. Like getting them to see okay, so Dada is just yelling at you because he’s being this crazy person.
He’s got — so you’re just helping them see from all the others — our perspective. And also like us seeing like, just having that discussion helps us see things from their perspective as well. So it just, yeah, everything’s so much better because of that. Like the dynamic is much better. And it’s gonna be interesting to see how that plays out, you know, when we get into the teenage years, I think.
Maggie
Yeah, imagine establishing a really strong team when they’re six and eight, and then 10 years from now, when they’re 16 and 18.
Jules Clancey
Yeah, or 14 and 15. Yeah.
Maggie
Yeah, like compound interest having that accrue over time, where they’ll still have the rebellious part of them, but there’ll be such a core unit as a team, right?
That even in that rebellious phase, there’s still like, they assume positive intent. They know that you care about them. They have more empathy for you as a human and not just as their parents, right, as well.
Jules Clancey
Yeah. And I think also, like, we’re opening up that lines of communication, where we’re already listening to them and seeing things from their perspective. So when they’re in those teenage years, my hope is that we’re able to continue that so that we can understand what’s going on. And I think a lot of that rebellion stuff just comes from not being understood.
Maggie
That’s so powerful. Yeah, it’s like, if you have that place where they can go, and they can say, “This is what’s happening,” and they feel safe enough to open up and share that… it’s like you eliminate half the problems. You’ll still have some other adventures, for sure. But you will eliminate half of them. Yeah that’s so beautiful.
So we will link in the show notes to a podcast episode called Team Versus Alliance. That’s one of the concepts that I teach in The Marriage MBA.
Jules Clancey
That’s one of my favorites, too.
Maggie
And if you want to hear like, what our approach to it is in the program, that podcast will give you the whole overview. And then you spend six months cultivating team. What does team look like? How if you were a team, and for so many questions that come up in the Coaching, it’s like, well, if you were approaching it as a team, how would you think about it, as opposed to just approaching it from our own personal concerns?
We want to add like the layer of looking at it through the lens of teams. I’m so glad that you mentioned that. So what were some of your favorite, either concepts or takeaways from the Coaching experience?
Jules Clancey
Well I think the thing that helped me change the most was acceptance like that — and that was the thing that we worked on first, Maggie. Like that was huge for me. And it’s really interesting, because, like before, I started the Coaching, like I used to, like I’m a really laid back, relaxed person, right?
But I used to get really angry with my husband a lot. Like, I’d feel a lot of like anger and resentment towards him over really stupid, little things. Like you know, he would screw his nose up if I put something in cauliflower and he would like screw his nose up at it and I would just get so angry.
I could be calm, and then all of a sudden really angry. And so I don’t know, kind of- sort of really understand why, but just working on acceptance and just accepting things like, “Okay, so just like accepting that you know, he’s not as excited about the cauliflower as I am, just helped me like, not escalate — not like, just help me stay calm. And see it for: this isn’t a big deal. It doesn’t matter.
Maggie
Yeah, I love that. So everybody listening, everyone has their own version of cauliflower, right? I always joke that I’ve Coached on like, how the dishwasher is loaded, how we do our laundry, you know, where the shoes go when you walk into the house. There’s always those little things.
And for me, it was the towels. It was how the towels were hung. We all have our little thing. That was such a seminal, like pivotal moment for me, because the towels were sort of like in disarray. And I looked at the towels and I thought, “Well, I can either be upset that they’re in disarray, or I can just straighten them because I’m the one who wants them straightened.”
And then who cares about the towels? Like I know, my husband would move heaven and earth for me, like how important do I want this to be, right? How big of a deal do I want to make for this? And one of the things I saw for myself, and that I always, you know, talk about on the podcast and talk about in the program, is we often treat everything as if it was urgent — with the same sense of urgency.
So the towels and the cauliflower and the dishes or whatever it is, we treat them as if it was a major issue in the relationship. And one of the things I invite everyone to think about instead of on/off switches is to think about a spectrum where if it’s a light in a room, imagine a dimmer — a dimmer that can be softer or stronger, versus an on off switch.
And so one of the things that Jules was saying: it’s like well, how upset do I want to get about that? How important is this? And just that moment of, “How important do I want to make this?” You can notice that you have the power to make it more important or less important, and then decide.
And some things are really important and we do want to make a big deal about that. I want to also convey that, too. Maybe one day the cauliflower will be very important. And there’s space for that. But we’re choosing it, right?
Jules Clancey
Yes. Yeah, exactly. Yes.
Maggie
So good. So acceptance. So powerful, it’s so important. Always like a go to thing. We have a podcast episode called Using Acceptance to Make Your Marriage Stronger, and we’ll link to that in the show notes as well, if you want to really have a deep dive in that. What else was one of your other favorite things, or fun moments, or just aha moment from the Coaching.
Jules Clancey
Not necessarily a fun thing, but another big concept that really helped me was just, like, just compassion and learning to like, just, you know, remember that we’re all doing the best that we can. And I found that like, having compassion for myself, as well as for my husband was really, really helpful.
And because like, so we — my husband, and I, like, I used to be a winemaker. I used to be a big drinker. And I’ve gone on a bit of a journey to like, where I hardly don’t drink very much at all, but he hasn’t been on that journey with me.
And so just having — like learning about compassion, so that he doesn’t have to be in the same place as me and I can like — I guess it’s the acceptance and compassion together just being together. Yeah, just being more understanding of his situation has really helped as well.
It’s taken away, like, you know — I still have a lot of judgment and stuff about his choices. And now I don’t. It’s like I’m really completely happy for him to live his life the way that he wants to. And you know, we’ve just, it’s so much more harmonious.
Maggie
That’s so powerful. So with compassion, one of the things you said is you have more compassion for yourself. And I think we forget that a little bit. We work on our relationships, and we think about how we want to approach the other person. And of course, it’s so important and such a big focus of what we do, but how we approach ourselves with compassion.
It’s like, if we have no patience for ourselves, it’s very unlikely we’ll have patience for others. Can you share a little bit about that journey with compassion with yourself? Like what became available to you? Or what did you discover when you just practiced having more compassion, more loving kindness, more forgiveness for yourself?
Jules Clancey
I think the biggest thing with that, Maggie, is it just makes the judgment melt away, because what would happen is like, I judge him and then I judge myself for judging him and like, it was just piling on this like negative emotion, negative kind of thought spiral.
Whereas when I would notice if I would judge him, then I would notice it and go, “Oh, hang on, like, I’m doing, like, hang on, I’m doing, it’s okay, I’m doing the best that I can. And he’s doing the best that he can.”
It just calmed it all down and kind of made it melt away and then it kind of didn’t matter that I’d had a judgmental flaw. I didn’t make it mean anything about — it was just like, okay, I’ve had that thought, and we’re all doing as best we can. Let’s just move on so we don’t get bogged down in it.
Maggie
I love that so much. It’s like, it sounds deceptively simple: just the thought we’re all doing the best we can. But when you really live into that day in and day out, and day in and day out, and come back to it over and over again and come back to it when you’re frustrated with yourself or when you’re frustrated with your partner.
Or when you’re frustrated with your kids, if you have kids. “Oh, we’re all just doing the best we can.” So much peace and so much love and so much power. Just from that simple thought. It’s amazing. What else? What else did you want to share about?
Jules Clancey
Yeah, so another thing that really, I found great was just because I did like, invested in my marriage and like, you know, six months of doing work on it. And that you really encouraged us to prioritize like — that taking that action helped me prioritize marriage in terms of like, the time that I was spending on it.
And also like, the idea of like, cultivating friendship. And actually prioritizing time for connection was really, really powerful. So you know, because it’s easy to be all caught up in our busyness and stuff. So we’ve now got a habit of you know, after the boys go to bed, like we sit on the couch and have a chat with you know tea or whatever.
And sometimes it might be five minutes, but sometimes it might be half an hour and we just and I think — like your question of like, “How was today?” Like we just kind of check in with how was your day? And it’s such a little thing, but then you really yeah, like I just feel like that’s helped us reconnect on a much deeper level. And it’s been really great.
And also, we’re making the time where we actually prioritize going out on dates, like we go out for lunch together, like when the boys are at school kind of thing, so that we have some adult time together. And that’s been really fun as well to like, have that reconnection. And, and remember that we are, we’re a couple. We’re not just parents kind of thing. And bring the fun into it.
Maggie
Yeah, that’s so good. Okay. You said so many juicy tidbits there. I want to pull them out. So first, is we’re a couple, we’re not just parents. Like everyone who’s a parent right now, take a moment. And remember, forever, we are a couple, we are not just parents. Because the kids will move away, the kids will have their own lives. And then we’re a couple, we’re not just parents. What is our unit together as a couple? That’s so huge.
And then one of the things that I see so often when people come to me and they want help in their relationships. And I ask them, you know, questions about what’s going on? And how are things going? And when people feel really disconnected emotionally, they’re often disconnected — what is the word — temporarily like in time, right? Like, they’re not actually spending time together.
And so one of the first places we look is like, wait, when do you actually see each other? How often do you actually share in just time, regardless of the activity that you’re doing together? And it sounds, again, it sounds deceptively simple.
And something that I love all the examples that Jules is sharing, because this program and Marriage Coaching, and any work on your marriage is really small, tiny tweaks. It’s not about sweeping gestures. It’s not about, you know, whisking your partner away to Bali or something like that. It’s about: let’s have lunch on Thursday, let’s talk for five minutes and have some tea and a Tim Tam — if you’re in Australia, right?
It’s about those little moments and those little moments compounded over time, is what creates much and much more connection in your relationship.
Jules Clancey
Yeah, yeah. Really, we’re really both feeling that.
Maggie
What was something that — you know, sometimes coaching can be confronting, or we discover something about ourselves that feels a little unsettling, or that feels — yeah, I think unsettling is a word that I would use. And I always want to normalize, when we talk about, “Oh, I had this amazing result. And it was so good. And it feels amazing.”
That the way you get there is “Oh, I had to realize I wasn’t being nice to myself. And I had to realize we weren’t spending any time together.” And that in the moment that you realize it, can feel a little unsettling or a little wobbly.
So what is something that you just want everyone listening to know that it was hard in that moment, but it was worth it in the end to have both the discovery and then the outcome of working through it?
Jules Clancey
Yeah. Okay. The thing that comes to mind for that, Maggie, is just the self judgment of like, how and like — I have been one of those people that’s like, hard on myself and have high standards. And I’ve also been applying that to my husband.
And so yeah, just realizing that, that is what I was doing was a bit hard, but it also felt really good to like, just name it and acknowledge it. And even just acknowledging that, that’s what I had been doing. Just helped it, like, melt away kind of thing. And… yeah.
Maggie
Yeah. So I love that — naming it and acknowledging it helped it melt away. I think that happens so often. Once we have awareness of it — just the awareness dissipates some of the energetic charge of it.
Jules Clancey
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, definitely.
Maggie
That’s so good. What else? Anything else that you want to add? If there’s anything that I haven’t — usually we talk a little bit before we start the recording and I just wanted to check: is there anything that I missed that you want to add? And then I want to definitely ask you a question from The Question for Couples Journal.
Jules Clancey
Okay. So I guess the other big thing that I learned from you, Maggie, which wasn’t necessarily like a marriage thing. It was just something that you posted in the Facebook group around having permission to be seen and how you had a bit of — you’ve recently given yourself permission to be seen.
And so that was — yeah, I just like, took on that idea. And I was like, wow, because I realized that in my life, like, you know, I’m a big introvert and I think that I’ve been showing up, you know, not having or giving myself permission to be seen.
So I’ve really taken that on and just in any interactions that like, even like, you know, I went to my Pilates class yesterday, and I just realized that in the past, I used to, like, kind of be the quiet one. And so I’ve just been like, engaging with everyone a lot more.
And it’s just a much more fun way to live in the world, Maggie. So it’s like — thank you. Like I really like, feeling lost with the other people that are doing the class. It’s just, it’s a nicer way to be like, I actually do want to be seen, but I don’t know why I’d been holding back. So it was, it was really fun.
Maggie
I love that. So one of the things I try to do in the group or whether we’re Coaching live or I’m sharing in the Facebook group is I share a little bit about whatever I’m working on at that moment. And I was working on really allowing myself to, you know, really promote the podcast powerfully and do a bunch of things to just promote my work in a different level.
And I was just sort of sharing a little bit about that. And I think it’s so important to normalize as a person who’s a Coach or leading a container — we’re doing our own work. Like I don’t live in a magic mountain where I have no problems. Like, I also have moments where I’m not as compassionate as I could be. And I have to work on that, whether it’s with myself or with a family member or something like that.
And I think normalizing that inside Coaching programs and Coaching containers is just so important that no one lives on a magic mountain. Like that’s a value that I hold very dear. And I’m so happy that just in that sharing, you then were able to take that and just run with it and make it your own.
Which is another thing that I think is so important, both on the podcast and in the program is: whatever I’m sharing, take it and make it your own. What’s your version of that for, like — I don’t do Pilates, but Jules took it to Pilates, right? And made her own there. It’s so beautiful. It’s so powerful. I love it.
Jules Clancey
Yeah, the other thing I really loved was like the group dynamic of working with other women on this thing like that was — I found it. So even though like I was in Australia, so timezone, I wasn’t able to attend the live calls. Just being part of the Facebook group, it was really beautiful, too.
And I like just, it’s really helpful, so helpful to be seeing other people and what they’re struggling on and how you would help them and like that whole thing of sometimes someone else being Coached, you actually get more from that than having yourself Coached because you’re not in that high emotional state around it like, but you’re able to take the lessons and the gems from it.
So yeah, I really loved the group dynamic. And I also just love the way that you are so caring, Maggie, and so like gentle with our hearts that like, you know, it’s a really safe space to work on some, you know, really deep stuff. So I think like…
Maggie
Thank you for mentioning that. It’s so important to me to really maintain that balance of like, sometimes Coaching can feel so confronting. But we can be gentle in how we approach this thing that feels hard, right? And that’s really important so I’m so glad you mentioned that.
And I think something that is so important also is when we have a struggle in a relationship, we often think we’re the only one who has that problem. We often think we’re the only one who thinks that way or is suffering in that way.
And one of the reasons that I love having this group container is you start seeing, “Oh, the circumstances or the details might be different. But they’re struggling through a similar thing. And this other person is struggling through a similar thing.” And just the feeling as a human on Earth of: I am not alone. To me, gives so much peace and so much permission and so much release like it’s okay, let’s figure it out together. So I love that you mentioned that.
So good. So good. So one of my favorite things to do is to pull out a question from The Questions for Couples Journal, and just have fun with it. So here is today’s question: what is a place you’ve been to without your partner (so your partner hasn’t been there with you) that you would love to take them to?
Jules Clancey
Alright, so that’s really easy, Maggie. So, my partner hasn’t been to Japan yet. So I would love to take him to Tokyo and to Kyoto and like, you know, catch the bullet train with him and go to all the amazing restaurants together.
Maggie
Oh, that’s so fun. And what is one of your favorite things in Japan? Like do you have any favorite spots or favorite places that you’ve been to that you would just love to see again?
Jules Clancey
Oh yeah, Kyoto and Tokyo are my favorites, for sure. For sure. Yeah. I just love like, yeah, there’ll be little restaurants. Yeah. Like, it’s only like, they only do like, chicken skewers. Like, that’s the only thing that you can get in the whole restaurant. It’s very specialized. Yeah. So their food culture is amazing.
Maggie
Right? They only do them, but they do them fabulously, right?
Jules Clancey
Like the best in the world. Yeah.
Maggie
That’s so good. I love that. So tell everyone how they can find you. What are the best places to follow you online? Like if people want to know more about your simple recipes and your food science — how can they find out more?
Jules Clancey
Yes, yes. So yeah, my blog is thestonesoup.com, so come over there. And I’ve got a free cookbook called Six Ingredients, 20 minutes, so people can go and get a copy of that. And I’ve also just started a podcast, Maggie, a few weeks ago, and it’s called Joyful Eating.
So if anyone’s interested in yeah, like, having a healthier relationship with food, definitely come and check that out (like without dieting, and all that sort of stuff). So I help food lovers find that balance between eating for health and eating for pleasure. So that’s really good. And I’m also on Instagram.
Maggie
Okay, so the podcast is called Joyful Eating. Definitely we’ll link to that in the show notes. Love it. So excited. I love everything about that. It’s just the balance of enjoying, right? The nutrition and the joy of the food. Right?
Jules Clancey
Yeah.
Maggie
Yeah, that’s so good. And then, there must be a story. So I have to ask: The Stone Soup. Why is it called The Stone Soup? What’s the story behind the scenes there?
Jules Clancey
Right. So when I was really little — so those kids tv show in Australia. This is when I would have been like, four or something. And we watched an episode. And on that they read this story, like this European folk story called Stone Soup.
It’s all about, you know, a traveler comes to town and he brings this stone and he gets the community to come together because they all — he’s like, got this stone to make soup out of and they literally make soup, but he gets — “Has anyone? It’d be better if we had some onions.” So he gets like, everyone in the town to like, you know, contribute to this soup, basically.
And so like, it’s just like, kind of a deeper metaphor for whatever. And, but I was like four and I was like, “Oh, I can make soup out of stone.” And So I said to my mom, “Hey, Mom, can we make soup?” And she was like, “Yeah, okay.” And so we went and got a stone from the river and we made soup.
Anyway, that’s my first thing I ever remembered cooking. So when it came time to what was I gonna call it. Yeah, that’s why it’s called it Stone Soup.
Maggie
That is so beautiful. Okay, so Stone Soup. You start with where you are, with what you have. If all you have is a stone, you start with that. And then you recruit the community, right? It’s like, “Oh, it would be great if we had an onion. It would be great if we had a pepper or a cucumber or broth, right?”
Jules Clancey
Yes. Does anyone have any bacon?
Maggie
Yeah. Exactly, right? And like, let’s think about that in our marriages. Right? It’s like, let’s just pick up a stone and start adding, you know, “Hey, it would be great if we had a date. It would be great if we could laugh about this. It would be great if we just made a stone soup.”
To me, it’s like a symbol. I love this so much. It starts where you are with what you have. And if all you have is a stone then start with that.
Jules Clancey
Yes, yeah. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, so there’s stone soup for marriages as well. I love it.
Maggie
I love it so much. Thank you so much for being here. For saying yes to sharing a little bit about your experience. It’s just a pleasure and an honor. And I’m just so delighted. Thank you so much, Jules.
Jules Clancey
Oh, my pleasure. And if anyone’s listening that has been listening to the podcast a lot — that was me like every Monday I’m like listening to Maggie. And you’ve been thinking about, like working with Maggie — I can’t recommend it enough. Like it’s so, so worth it. And she’s such a beautiful person.
So definitely. And it’s such a different experience to just listen to the podcast. Like it really takes the work so much deeper. And I’ve just got so many more results from actually doing the work rather than just consuming the podcast.
Maggie
Thank you so much. Thank you for saying that. I receive that with such a grateful heart. Bye, everyone. We’ll be back next week with more ways to make your marriage stronger.