Creating a good life, messy bits and all with Jackie Kai Ellis

The Allsorts Podcast

What is it to live a good life? Because it’s definitely not the glossy perfection that is sold to us in movies and Instagram.

How do we navigate the cards we’ve been dealt - and find that balance between consciously creating our world and allowing ourselves the grace to just be?

I don’t know that I am very good at this myself. My anxious mind tends to flicker between worrying about things to worrying that I am worrying about things and not just enjoying the moment…but I am slowly getting better. I think that time and hindsight are gifts that allow us to heal the parts of ourselves that need embracing and then of course sometimes, you need need to pack it all up and go to Paris.

It is this and many, many other ideas that I explore on this episode of The Allsorts Podcast with Jackie Kai Ellis, pastry chef, designer, author and host of the new advice podcast, You & I.

I’ve followed Jackie’s work for a long time now and from afar, always appreciated her ability to create beauty and romance in the everyday, whether it was taking a moment to eat a perfectly flaky croissant or arrange your space just so.

And yet Jackie is not one of those highlight-reel only people.

In her memoir, The Measure of My Powers, she dives deep into some of her most vulnerable and harrowing moments, from her battles with depression to the stark realities of a perfectionist trying to open a business.

If you are new to the loveliness that is Jackie Kai Ellis, I am sure that after this episode you will be as smitten as I am.

About Jackie Kai Ellis:

Jackie Kai Ellis is a designer, author, entrepreneur, pastry chef, advice columnist, lifestyle & travel writer, award-winning host of the TV series, House Special, and the advice podcast, You & I.

She is best known as the founder of Vancouver’s Beaucoup Bakery, for her design of APT La Fayette in Paris, and her bestselling memoir, “The Measure Of My Powers.” She lives in Vancouver and Paris.

On this episode we chat about:

• Embracing your scars and struggles as part of your path
• How Jackie’s upbringing shaped her desire to succeed
• Parenting and your own inner child
• The question you need to ask yourself before starting any new project
• How Jackie found herself living in Paris
• The moment when Jackie’s greatest fear opened her up to a deeper connection with others
• The role that chocolate chip cookies played in changing Jackie’s life path
• Why Jackie was worried she wouldn’t be a good parent
• How Jackie became an advice columnist, the second time around

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