Brave Yes CEO

Sign up for the Rise Stronger Challenge now ... https://shawnfink.com/challenge/

My guest today is Victoria Kageni-Woodard, a fashion designer and multi-passionate entrepreneur, who immigrated to the United States and ended up working in the white male dominated construction industry where she spent her days downplaying her beauty and radiance.

Her Brave Yes was leaving that industry to start her own business.

But really it was returning home to herself.

Victoria grew up in Kenya and is a wife, mother of 4 and fashion designer. When she moved to the US she began working in the construction business where she was able to cultivate a spirit of unity and maintain her integrity in a white male dominated industry. She is now the creative force behind Gusa by Victoria, a women’s clothing line that infuses her African heritage into working women clothing. She is also the mother of a child on the autism spectrum which has propelled her in all that she does in her life.

It’s not easy to be yourself when it seems like everyone — even your mother — wants you to be someone else.

And, it’s not easy to communicate your needs. So … When we make the Brave Yes™ decision to do just that, we are stepping more fully into being our authentic selves — and living our truth — AND we are creating an energy of courage.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s not scary, or that it is easy to do — or that it’s done lightly without thought or effort. Not at all.

Today, my Brave Yes Show guest did just that — with her mother.

This episode is the first in a series called Brave Yes Voices. Over the next 10 weeks or so, I’ll be sharing different Brave Yes stories with you to highlight just SOME of the ways you can make a Brave Yes Leap yourself in order to be more fully you and to live in pure soul alignment.

My first guest is sharing her Brave Yes story about how she has learned to walk the brave middle path with her mother … both accepting herself (and not running away) and as a result being able to experience her mother differently so they can stay in relationship.

Karen C.L. Anderson is a master-certified life coach and author who has helped hundreds of smart, creative women use the difficult relationships they have with their mothers as a catalyst for growth.

Sign up for the Rise Stronger in 2021 Challenge here: https://shawnfink.com/challenge/

Your strengths are your superpowers.

Your strengths are what will carry you through these hard times.

Your strengths are what have already carried you through.

So why do you focus so much on your weaknesses?

In today's episode, I'm sharing a bit more of the first lesson in the Rise Stronger Challenge that many of you have gone through already this year.

Today, I'm focusing on the power of getting to know yourself — and the secret of being YOU.

Get on my email list and start the Rise Stronger in 2021 Challenge -- the free version closes on Feb. 1.

Sign up for the Rise Stronger in 2021 7-Day Challenge Now: https://shawnfink.com/challenge/

You get one life.

You get this one precious life to do something amazing. To live in pure soul alignment. To lead with joy.

Or to make an impact.

And yet ... perhaps you are just dialing it all in right now and laying low. Hiding in your comfort zone. Hiding from all the hard things of the world.

If you're going to change this world you are going to have to be on the frontlines. You have to roll up your sleeves and get to it.

One of my favorite RAVES that I get from my clients is how I helped them get back to themselves again. This is often done through journaling.

But it can be through any medium, honestly.

How You Return to yourself isn't the point ... so long as you do.

So many women feel lost, as if they are just going through the motions of their life.

If this is you, this latest Brave Yes episode is for you.

Far too many women are walking around in this world not knowing themselves having spent too many years focused on tending to others and making sure other people shine and thrive. Like your kids. Like your co-workers and boss. Like your partner. Like your friends or family members.

Well, when is it your time to shine?

And that's what this show is about today. Giving you the permission to dive into your own "innerhood" to figure out what lights you up, what sets you on fire and what gives you purpose and meaning.

This is the BEST time to Connect with YOURSELF.

This is the time to learn how to become your own BFF.

This is your chance to focus on mothering yourself in the most rich, nourishing possible way.

As a coach who often helps women re-create their careers and find their bold, authentic life path, I find this inner work to be the most powerful work women can for for themselves.

And yet I do realize many are afraid to look under the surface of themselves too much.

But it can be fun! I promise.

So I thought it would be fun to share with you some 5 ways you can Unearth Your Passion in a Quiet Pandemic Winter.

I think this time of the year is always perfect for this kind of inner work.

But especially so right now during this crisis where thriving in place is the goal.

If you are interested in learning more about yourself and your strengths, I invite you to join my Rise Stronger in 2021 Challenge. It's designed to give you 6 science-backed tools to bring you greater well-being and resilience. Each day for 7 days, you will receive an email from me with a new element to explore and sink into in your real life. I hope each element will inspire you to do things a little differently so you can be stronger for whatever you choose to do in 2021 or whatever comes your way. Sign up now. https://shawnfink.com/challenge/

Are you ready for the New Year?

What is the New Year calling from you?

Resolutions. Intentions. Wishes. Promises. That all sounds good this time of the year when we are desperate for a fresh start, especially a fresh start after the most ridiculous, challenging year any of us can remember.

But here's the thing. Unless you address the underlying foundation of your own wellness, any goals you set are going to feel like just one more thing to do.

So, this episode is dedicated to the permission slip to focus on rising stronger so you have the energy and the stamina to handle anything.

Sign up for the Rise Stronger 7-Day Challenge here: https://shawnfink.com/challenge/

Sign up now for my Rise Stronger in 2021 Free 7-Day Challenge https://shawnfink.com/challenge

I spend a lot of time talking to my clients — and my teenage daughters — about how to avoid making mistakes. But the truth is that we learn so much better from our mistakes than we do from our successes.

In this imperfect year of 2020 I thought it would be fun to lead you through a few questions and my share my own stories of MY mistakes in 2020 and the celebrations behind each and every one of them.

Oh, and a, bonus ... I'll throw in a prompt at the end to help you celebrate your wins as well. Because we're all about honoring it ALL around here.

Sign up for my Rise Stronger in 2021 7-Day Challenge now. In this challenge, I will walk you through the 6 Well-Being Strategies for Being Stronger and Calmer in your life so you can handle all the hard things to come. Let's face it, the hard stuff doesn't go away. It just changes. Being human is hard. Period.

The Rise Stronger in 2021 is ideal if you're feeling a bit like you are spiraling into a negative, downward spiral of resentment and anger and frustration with those you love and work with. https://shawnfink.com/challenge

For the longest time I was operating compartmentalized. All the parts of me were scattered about. There was the me as a working mom. There was the me as a thriving business owner. There was the me as a dreamer. There was the me as a social justice activist and anti-racist. There then there is this: the highly open-minded spiritual me.

Then one day this year, I decided I needed to bring all the parts of me together into one whole.

The best place to start the journey to your own wholeness is to tend to ALL the parts of you. My whole wellness inventory toolkit is the perfect way to do this. You can text the word stronger to 55444 to sign up for that to be delivered to your inbox right now. Or, use this link: https://shawnfink.com/toolkit/

When we give ourselves permission to start the journey to wholeness an exciting new world opens up for us. We are given the gift of adventure into who we are and what brings us joy — so that we can make a bigger impact in the world. My well-being inventory is just one way to start this journey. You can find lots of self-discovery tools all over the Internet and in many books. But I prefer to just start taking action. Baby steps into finding your wholeness begins with you choosing to say a brave yes. Again, if you want to assess all the parts of your well-being, text the word stronger to 55444 and you'll get the well-being inventory sent to your inbox just like magic. Kind of. Have a beautiful week.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results.

So why then ... are we such creatures of habit?

In this episode, I'm exploring a struggle that many of my clients have around starting new habits and breaking old ones.

I'm also sharing my own story of shaking things up and why I felt I needed to do something pretty crazy in 2020 like changing my coaching business name.

This story is personal AND explains the concept behind The Brave Yes name as well.

In my upcoming Soulfully Aligned Virtual Retreat coming up this week you will have the opportunity to learn powerful new ways to shake things up in your life for the winter — and 2021.

Your retreat registration begins with a 20+ page workbook to use before, during and after our time together — encouraging you with the reminders you need to breathe and to push through your beautiful life.

During the retreat I will give you an excuse to put your life on pause to breathe and I will give you the inspiration and wisdom to dig deep for the push you need to keep going and keep showing up for yourself.

A link for the retreat is in the show notes or find it at [ShawnFink.com/soul-aligned](http://shawnfink.com/soul-aligned)

There seem to be two schools of thought right now.

The camp that says that right now during this pandemic is when you should be PUSHING yourself to be amazing and doing amazing things.

Or, there's the camp that says this time is hard, give yourself a break and sit on the couch and forgive yourself for doing absolutely nothing with yourself.

Well, I am in the third camp ... Camp Middle Ground.

In this episode of The Brave Yes, I'm sharing a bit about finding balance between being an over-achiever and a total slacker.

This is about finding that place between over-performing and under-performing.

Contact me to set up a FREE Rise Stronger Workshop for your frontline or essential worker team. https://shawnfink.com/rise-strong/

Learn more about my upcoming Soulfully Aligned Virtual Retreat on Dec. 13 here: https://shawnfink.com/soul-aligned/

Read the blog post for this show here: https://shawnfink.com/thrive-in-place/