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Ashley Armstrong The Hidden Rules Expert

@ashleyarmstrong.hiddenrules

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Success has a dark side.
I help ambitious people survive it
TEDx, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX | Author | Speaker | Biz @successmnstr

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We sat down with @ashleyarmstrong.hiddenrules who told us the thing she enjoyed most about Horses, Healing and Harmony wasn’t the horses or the sound…

But simply the chance to leave the city for a few hours.

Then came everything else: the incense, reiki and horses moving through the space alongside the group. Feeling calm, cool and collected. By the end, in her words, everything just melted. ✨

Discover what happens to your nervous system when reiki, sound, and horses convene in a healing space.

🗓️ Sunday, September 20th.

Tickets linked in bio.

#equinetherapy #soundhealing #wellnesseventsvancouver #soundbathvancouver #reikivancouver

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🚨 Let the Bidding Begin!

🦞 The Conman’s 5th Annual Lobsterfest Silent Auction is now open, and we have so many fantastic items up for grabs thanks to our incredibly generous donors.

So please, head over to the auction site, have a look around, and place your bids — because every single bid counts!

💚 100% of the proceeds from the Silent Auction will go directly to Oceans Initiative’s Dolphin Project, supporting important research and helping us honour Connor’s memory and his love of the ocean.

Ready to bid?
👉🏼 app.galabid.com/lobsterfest

🐬 Learn more about @oceansinitiative and the mission you’re supporting by visiting the About tab on the auction site.

Thank you so much for your support, and see you all at Conman’s 5th Annual Lobsterfest, presented by @highburyjewellery

With Gratitude,
The Brown Family

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This weekend at @thepinkskirtproject wasn't about motivation
It was about recalibration🌪

I didn't leave feeling fired up
I left feeling updated
Like my operating system got an upgrade

For years, I've been asking myself why I felt stuck

It wasn't confidence
It wasn't competence

I know I'm good at what I do
I know I can build
I know I can lead

So what was it?

I realized I'd been collecting evidence for a world that was much smaller than the one I actually want to live in.

Not intentionally

Just through proximity

The people around us don't just influence our habits
They influence what we believe is normal.

This weekend, I met women who quietly challenged my definition of 'normal'

Not because they stood on stage and inspired me.
Because they were simply living lives that expanded my view of what was possible.

AND.. The biggest breakthroughs didn't happen during the sessions

They happened over coffee
Around dinner tables

In the conversations between the conversations
Hanging out in the hallway.

That's where my brain started recalibrating

At one point I remembered something I used to say all the time

When I first moved to Vancouver, people told me:
➡️ "You'll never make friends here., Vancouver is so unfriendly."
➡️ "There are no good men in this city."
➡️ "You'll never buy a place, real estate is out of control."

I remember thinking,

"That's your reality. Not mine"
And I went on to create the exact opposite

Somewhere along the way though I forgot this conviction that 34 year-old me had..
And I started borrowing other people's realities

This weekend reminded me that I get to choose whose reality I adopt

It also reminded me that I'm energized by connection more than almost anything else⚡️

Not networking
Connection

The kind of conversations that make you leave the table seeing the world differently than when you sat down

Maybe that's why I feel so alive after this weekend

Not because I have more answers
Because I have a bigger frame

I've been thinking about the difference between motivation and recalibration

Motivation says:
"Go do more"

Recalibration says:
"This is who I am now"

That's a much deeper shift

@renee_warren @anitaguerini

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Women supporting women. 💗

Some rooms just hit differently… and this was a room I didn’t know I needed.

In the middle of the busyness and chaos of life, there’s something incredibly powerful about being surrounded by women who genuinely want to fill each other’s cups, lift one another up, share tears and laughter, celebrate each other’s wins, and remind each other that we’re not doing life alone.

This is just a glimpse of what I experienced last week at the @thepinkskirtproject Summit in Kelowna.

Thank you, @renee_warren @anitaguerini , for creating such a beautiful and uplifting space. Thank you to all of the speakers for your powerful messages, and thank you to every attendee I had the opportunity to meet. I loved reconnecting with familiar faces, meeting so many new women, and walking away with new friendships and meaningful connections.

Here’s to more rooms filled with women supporting women. 💕✨

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Photo dump from @thepinkskirtproject Summit in Kelowna, BC. 💗

A few days filled with inspiring conversations, new ideas, and amazing women.

I got to reconnect with old friends, make incredible new ones, and discover something I never expected… I actually love the color pink. 😂 I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much time surrounded by pink outfits, pink décor, and all things pink. It honestly felt like stepping into a real life Barbie world.

But this event was about so much more than being pretty in pink.

There was laughter, tears, powerful speakers, dancing, meaningful conversations, and an incredible exchange of ideas. It was a room filled with women uplifting, encouraging, and supporting one another. The energy was positive, inspiring, and genuinely special.

More videos and behind the scenes moments coming soon! 🎀✨

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@vanstartupweek was such a vibe, so we did something a little spontaneous. ✨

I hosted pop-up “Magic Minute” interviews with female founders on the spot, capturing the real-time lessons, honest takes, and behind-the-scenes realities of building a business.

Featuring fantastic interviews from women building in tech👇

Kristin Zerbin from @hoochybooch
Priya Tronsgard from @edifylearningspaces
Kim Jacob from @arvorei.communications
@chaankhan from Return To Life @ashleyarmstrong.hiddenrules Armstrong from Success Monster
Lorraine Wong from Cue North and @wakecollectiveca
Stephanie Chan from @mycarebase
@lauramariefortey from @flowstatefounder and @reitium
@radicallinds from The Radical Connector
Mikayla Stewart from @athenacollective_
@itsdanielleryan, Video Content Creator and Creative Strategist

The full compilation episode is now live on The Magic Hour Podcast. 🎧

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you find podcasts!

If you’re a founder, creative, or builder in your growth era, this one’s for you!✨ Compilation graphic for a Magic Hour Podcast episode live from Vancouver Startup Week featuring women founders, women in tech, entrepreneurship, startup stories, and business growth.

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"Where do I meet business besties?"

It's one of the questions I get asked most often.

And honestly?
Sometimes the answer isn't just another networking event.

It's finding the right room of curated women.

A woman who attended my April Flow State Founder event came up to me recently and shared something that made me smile.

She told me she'd met one of her now closest business friends at the event.

Since then, the two of them have been attending other events together, supporting each other's businesses, making introductions, and navigating entrepreneurship side by side.

That's the magic of getting the right women in a room together. ✨️

When I started these events, my goal wasn't just to create another networking event where people exchanged business cards and never spoke again.

I wanted to create a space where genuine relationships could form.

Because building a business can feel lonely.

Having someone who understands the highs, the lows, the pivots, the wins, and the "what am I even doing?" moments is invaluable. 💯

Business opportunities are great.

New clients are great.

But watching women leave with friendships that continue long after the event ends?

That's my favourite part.

So if you've been wondering where to meet your next collaborator, referral partner, mastermind buddy, or business bestie..

You might just find her in this room.

❤️

See you there June 24th

🔗 Link in bio

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What Vancouver Startup Week Revealed About the Builders You’ll Meet at Web Summit 🍁🌎

👉 A closer look at how Vancouver is building — just as global attention turns its way.

After speaking with attendees, founders, and speakers across the community, a few themes stood out:

→ A growing focus on sustainable growth over “growth at all costs”
→ More conversations about humanity, participation, and long-term thinking in the age of AI
→ An ecosystem that feels increasingly confident doing things its own way

Featured insights by Vancouver entrepreneurs, founders, and builders who attended @vanstartupweek including @lauramariefortey & @ashleyarmstrong.hiddenrules 🤝

Link to full article in story
and in bio @canadanowmedia 🍁

Who else will be at @websummit?

#WebSummit #WebSummitVancouver #VancouverTech #StartupCanada #VancouverStartupWeek

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Women are done pretending.

Pretending they love “networking.”
Pretending they’re not exhausted.
Pretending they’re inspired by rooms that feel transactional, performative, and completely disconnected.

Because honestly?
Most business events lately feel like everyone is pitching, posturing, and secretly wishing they stayed home.

This event didn’t feel like that.

This felt like women craving something real again.

Women staying long after the event ended because the conversations were THAT good.

Women opening up to complete strangers.
Women talking about business, money, burnout, growth, relationships, leadership, identity shifts, and what success actually means to them now.

No weird competition.
No fake energy.
No trying to look important.

Just smart, ambitious women being honest.

And maybe that’s why this night hit so deeply for people.

**Because something is shifting in women’s business culture right now.**
It's palpable.

Women still want success, money, expansion, impact, all of it.
But I they’re deeply craving spaces that actually feel human again.

Rooms with depth.
Rooms with honesty.
Rooms where ambitious women can fully exhale instead of perform.

That’s the kind of room I want Flow State Founder to become known for.

And honestly you could feel it in this room.

I’m still thinking about it.

Next one: coming up June 16 👀

#WomenInBusiness #VancouverEvents #FemaleFounders #Entrepreneurship #FounderCommunity #Leadership #WomenEntrepreneurs

📸 @landoimages

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Vancouver Startup Week is proof that proximity changes things.

This past week reminded me how important it is to be at events that challenge your thinking.

Rooms full of people building ambitious things.
Taking risks.
Figuring it out in real time.

And every year, I leave reminded of the same thing:
Opportunities rarely happen in isolation.

They happen through proximity - BY BEING IN THE ROOM.💫

Through repeated conversations.
Shared energy.
People connecting dots for each other.

The best parts of Vancouver Startup Week aren’t curated,
They’re serendipitous.

The best convos happen:
In the hallway (hello lobby-con!)
At dinners.
At after parties.
In the moments where people stop performing and talk honestly about what they’re building.

And a full-circle moment I kept thinking about this week:

I started my tech company @reitium at VSW in 2017 and this year I’ve come back with my new venture, Flow State Founder.

And the best part?

I invited the ladies in my 1st cohort to take the stage.

For a few of them it was their first time speaking.

They were nervous, they were excited and they were honest.

We tapped into the toxicity of hustle culture and what female founders are doing to create a more balanced (boundaried!) work life.

We were swarmed after, with folks thanking us for days later, saying how "refreshing" and "important" our take was and how they finally felt SEEN.

And that’s why events like this matter.

Bold conversations.
New connections.
Eyes being opened. 👀
Ah-ha moments everywhere.

Not because you attended.
But because of what becomes possible when you’re actually in the room and paying attention.

Every year, VSW brings together the people who are actually building in this city
And this year felt especially strong.

Between hosting my own panel, moderating Steve Lowry’s legal panel, and everything in between it was one of those weeks where you leave with more than you expected.

It reminded me how much can happen in a single week
when you’re surrounded by the right people.

Because it’s proof that these rooms aren’t just “events.”

They’re where things start.

@vanstartupweek

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