Opportunity Knocks by EmpowHer Purpose

Today's episode of the Opportunity Knocks podcast is mystical. 💫 Because my guest is truly a spiritual mystic. Ele Keats is the founder of Ele Keats Jewelry - a company and a brand born of a spiritual assignment and the mother of invention.

Guided by a dear mentor and friend to wear an emerald close to her heart every day, Ele set out on the treasure hunt of a lifetime. When she couldn't find exactly what resonated with her, she designed it herself. It became her signature "Divinity". And that's how Ele Keats Jewelry came to be. It has now grown into a global brand known for shepherding the finest gemstones and crystals from all over the world. And while the brand is incredible the person behind it is even more so.

A Crystal Shepherd, Ele is a natural treasure hunter of the earth. 🌍 She follows her inner guidance when choosing crystals and is always grateful to unite the crystals with their human companions. 

Ele focuses on the healing and supportive aspects of each gem. After many years of working with crystals and gems, she is attuned to the stones. She considers her pieces gem medicine. ⚕️

With a deep understanding of the intimacy of jewelry, her intention is twofold: to make each piece beautiful, bearing in mind the healing properties of the stone.

During our conversation, she teaches us about this and so much more (she's filled with knowledge 🤯) including:

💎 the power of / following your intuition
💎 why she considers her brand a community service business
💎 what is an erotic creature
💎 how she created all of this with a high school degree and no other formal education
💎 running an intuition-based business
💎 crystals, reiki, mediums, channeling, pendulums, ghost encounters, and so much more!

AND don't miss our very first full-on dance session on Opportunity Knocks! 💃🥰

A huge thank you to Ele for such a raw, intense, fun, loving, and educational chat. And go check out Ele Keats Jewelry. The perfect holiday gift awaits and these gifts are literal life changers in such a positive way!

I love you and I'm so grateful for the start of this incredible friendship. 🤗

OK, this story is wild! 😲 My guest on this week's episode of the Opportunity Knocks podcast is Natasha Sizlo, the author of All Signs Point to Paris - A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Destiny. Quick summary: A surprising astrology reading sends Natasha Sizlo—divorced, broke, freshly heartbroken, and reeling from her father’s death—on an unexpected but magical journey to France, in pursuit of a man born on a particular date in a particular place: November 2, 1968, in Paris. 🗼

Sound wild? Sound fascinating? It is! Beyond fascinating. And it's all based on the real events that Natasha lived during an unexpected, rollercoaster time in her life. 🎢

This is one of the most riveting episodes of this podcast to date 🤯 and that's saying a lot given the guests I've had on here. 💯 You will find yourself laughing, on the verge of tears, feeling hopeful, feeling inspired, and believing you can do anything (maybe even talk to an astrologer 🔮). 

Natasha is an INCREDIBLE storyteller. 📖 Her life's story is simply, wow!! 👀 And needless to say, her book is an absolute must-read! In fact, this is the perfect gift for yourself and all your friends this holiday season! 🎁👉https://amzn.to/3Uix6dz

This episode is going to open your mind and your world up in ways you never thought possible. It's that powerful. 🙌 I don't want to give any more away than that. You'll be on the edge of your seat wanting more the whole time.

Natasha, you're amazing. Your story is amazing. Thank you for sharing it and so much of you with me and my audience. We are grateful and look forward to following you as your story continues.

Go get her book!! I endorse it without hesitation.

Happy Thursday everyone. 🤗 Enjoy!

Black Friday is coming earlier this year! 🙀 And I'm giving my biggest discount of the year! 😍 Intrigued? 👀

Well, this week on the Opportunity Knocks podcast I'm sitting down with my amazing friend, Scott Chalk to give everyone some FREE coaching advice, just as I would my paying clients. If that's not a Black Friday deal, what is?!?! 🥳

Seriously though, this interview is a favorite of mine. 🤗 As I do from time to time, I had Scott flip the mic and ask me some questions. 🎙️

He did so from the perspective of a good friend but also by putting himself in the shoes of a client. And Scott is uniquely qualified to do so. He's an Emmy award-winning Creative Director with in-depth industry knowledge in:
🎬 directing complex 360-degree content programs
🎬 developing engaging content
🎬 leading high-performance teams to drive initiatives through produced content...
...and he used this experience to ask me about topics I constantly see in my comments and DMs.

You'll hear him ask me questions like, how you coach someone through:
🎙️ getting what they want out of life or their career
🎙️ listening to receive as opposed to responding
🎙️ fostering a healthy relationship with their boss or employees
🎙️ addressing negative people in their life
🎙️ attracting (the right) people into their life
🎙️ listening to and leveraging their intuition
🎙️ and so much more!

So sit back, pretend you're my client for the next 50 minutes, 🥰 and allow me to coach you on some of the hottest and most relevant topics my clients are bringing to me these days. I promise you'll get immense value out of this but you get it all for FREE! Don't be surprised if you're messaging me afterward for your next session. 😉😉

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Scott and me as much as I did. I'm so blessed to have someone like Scott in my life, who has never stopped championing me and supporting me through every endeavor I've taken on. As we enter the Thanksgiving holiday I am definitely thankful for the people like Scott in my life. 🙏

Enjoy everyone and happy Tuesday!

Wow wow wow. Are you in for a treat. 😍 This week on the Opportunity Knocks podcast I'm chatting with Sheila Darcey, the Founder of SketchPoetic and author of Sketch by Sketch. Sheila's story is everything we celebrate on the Opportunity Knocks podcast.

This story begins with a personal commitment to sketch daily, which soon became a catalyst for transformation. It also led to a greater purpose of elevating art as a tool for self-reflection, self-care, and healing.

Art helped Sheila sketch and paint her way through complex emotions and process conscious and unconscious thoughts. The benefits of this practice became evident in her mental and emotional well-being and a therapeutic tool in helping her process anxiety and trauma. As a result, she made it her mission to share this practice with the world and to help others find their own way.

During our AMAZING conversation, Sheila touches on

🔹 How art can actually heal, mentally and physically
🔹 What it means to listen to your body
🔹 Growing up with trauma and overcoming it
🔹 Sketching vs. drawing 😲
🔹 Personal growth and emotional healing
🔹 The theme of presence and being in the moment
🔹 Perception based on output vs how someone feels 🤯
🔹 Doing vs. being
🔹 Balancing and celebrating body, spirit, emotion, and intellect EQUALLY
🔹 and so much more!

Sheila's passion for what she does and more importantly, helping others heal through art, is palpable, even through a podcast! And that's why her work is so powerful. She lives to help and serve others through her endeavors. It's really really amazing.

So,
1️⃣ give this podcast a listen (you will fall in love with Sheila and her story).
2️⃣ Go get her book, Sketch by Sketch. It will change your life in positive, unimaginable ways. AND with the holidays right around the corner, it is THE PERFECT GIFT for your favorite people.
3️⃣ Follow her @sketchpoetic and check out sheiladarcey.com to stay up-to-date with everything she's doing and support her journey!

Two male guests in a row! 🥰 This week's episode of the Opportunity Knocks podcast features a very special guest and a very special cause - Movember! 

Did you know that: 
🔹 In the US, men die 6 years earlier than women.
🔹 4 out of 5 suicides in the US are men.
🔹 1 in 8 men in the US will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.

The numbers are pretty staggering and most people, men and women alike, aren't as aware of these things as they should be. So my guest this week, Jason O'Mara has teamed up with the organization to help increase awareness and raise money to fund men's health projects all over the world. And he did it for very personal reasons. During our time together, Jason speaks to the fact that he is so passionate about this work because he likes supporting the idea that men should talk to each other more. Men need to communicate more and be ok with saying they are not ok and need help. If this doesn't align with everything I am and work towards, what does?!?! 🙌🙌🙌

During our discussion, he'll dig into this but also tap into:
🔹 highlights of his career and how acting became his life's journey
🔹 the importance of the arts and creativity 
🔹 why it's important to be the first one to make a move
🔹 why play needs to be a centerpiece of life if you want to stay young
🔹 how to make ideas real (get them out of your head!)
🔹 how to stay disciplined
🔹 the importance of showing up!

Jason's story about how he broke into Hollywood and became a sought-after actor is incredible and you'll absolutely find it fascinating, but his insights into life, his core values, and the things we should be prioritizing in our lives are what you'll really find astounding about him. Jason is an incredible human and his story is one that will change you and inspire you. This is definitely an episode you won't want to miss. I had so much fun during this one, which you will see via my numerous laughing breaks. 😂😂

And for those that want to get involved with Movember, it's not too late! You can learn more at Movember.com and/or start with a shave (just your face 🤣) and start on your mustache-growing journey!

Ladies and gentlemen, you are in for a treat! I could not be more excited to bring you this week's episode of the Opportunity Knocks podcast featuring someone I now consider my friend, Kurtis Lee Thomas. And the start of adding more male entrepreneurs to the podcast who have had major influences on my life. Kurtis has definitely done that!

I was blessed to meet Kurtis via his Breathwork Detox program and I use the word blessed intentionally because he and his program have changed my life. So when he agreed to chat with me for the podcast and give me the opportunity to share him with all of you, I knew the stars were aligning in a big way.

Kurtis is a renowned keynote speaker and one of the world’s leading Corporate Mindfulness Trainers. He’s spoken at the largest consciousness expositions in the world and has shared the stage with speakers such as Deepak Chopra and top Tony Robbins trainers.

Kurtis has worked with Ivy League colleges and top fortune 500 companies such as Nike, as well as the world’s most prestigious casinos including Foxwoods Resort and MGM Grand Casino.

Kurtis has dedicated his career to awakening the best in people by quantifiably enhancing creativity, productivity, and connection within the workplace. And he's a well-studied and practiced expert boasting titles that include:

🔹Certified Life Coach
🔹Certified Master Breathwork Teacher
🔹Certified in NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) practitioner
🔹Certified Hypnotherapist
🔹Certified Energy Healer / Reiki Master
🔹Certified International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) fitness professional

So if you want to learn more about...

🤒 why 60-90% of all doctors visits are stress related
⏩ the dangers of living in a microwave society 
😳 ayahuasca
🌬️ how he discovered breathwork and why it's so impactful 
🤔 and why breathwork vs. meditation
📆 his 30-day breathwork challenge

...don't miss this episode! Kurtis likes to describe the Breathwork Detox as 20 years of therapy in one session, and this episode will be a small taste of that, without a doubt! Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and follow Kurtis 👉 @manfromthestars (he's most active on Instagram).

Happy National Coaches Day! I think it is a sign that it falls 1 day prior to my birthday each year. 😉 That can't be a coincidence, right?! We have a very special celebration in store for you. A brand new episode of Opportunity Knocks, in which I'm interviewed by my good friend, Neidda Marshall. Neidda and I have had so many incredible life experiences together and she knows me better than most so she's the perfect person to pull everything out of me that you've been dying to know. In this episode, we focus on all of the changes I've made over the last year, the growth I've achieved across all aspects of my life, and most importantly how you can leverage all of it in your own.

I believe that we should seek advice from those who have achieved success in the things we want to be successful in. And I intend on living that. So as a transformational coach, I always out new ways to help my clients, and then fully immerse myself in them to test them and become an expert in them so I can serve my clients better. 

So I get asked a lot about the things I am doing to achieve transformation, better myself, deepen my self-love, and grow professionally. This episode will give you a glimpse of what that looks like for a transformational coach ranked in the top 1% of United States coaches. 🤗

We cover A  LOT but for those who know me and Neidda, you know we kept it fun and informative. 🎈 Topics I know you'll enjoy include:

🥰 Ensuring the goal is to always come from love 
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Friendship leading to community 
 Why I believe the word kind is undervalued 
💝 How I came to realize it's not about fixing myself, it's about loving myself 
😊 The fact that happiness is a presence 
⚓ Why you need to be anchored in order for your branches to grow 
☯️ Balancing the feminine with the masculine 

So join us for this amazing episode and get to know more about me but more importantly about YOU and some things you can incorporate into your life to transform.

Another year down and they just keep getting better. And that's because of a conscious effort to create the life I want to live.

Cheers to a big week of celebrating 🥳🎂 and a year of continued transformation ahead! 🥂

Have you ever been in a seemingly great situation but felt unfulfilled and contemplated leaving to find something more aligned with your purpose? If you answered "yes" or even "maybe" then that's a sign that you NEED to tune in to this week's episode of the Opportunity Knocks podcast.

My guest this week is Pamela Salzman, a certified holistic health counselor, full-time cooking instructor and chef, and best-selling author of ✌️ cookbooks. 👩‍🍳

Early on in Pamela's life, she thought she had arrived. She had graduated with a degree from an Ivy League university, she got her MBA, and she had experience in the beauty and film industry with a promising career ahead. Then she had her first child and left it all. After some reflection, she decided not to jump back into it because she just didn't feel any love for it and felt it was lacking the meaning she was after in her life.

Pamela always had a passion for food and nutrition and wanted to help people grasp the importance of proper nutrition and eating real food. She was participating in cooking groups and ended up being asked to teach a “healthful cooking class” for a group of young mothers. Her passion and opportunity collided! A business grew organically from that first group and she knew she had a message and a new mission in life.

Pamela is now widely known in the food, cooking, and nutrition world and has two best-selling cookbooks focused on healthy meals that don't require a degree from a culinary school. She's also sought after for her cooking classes that teach fairly easy methods using ingredients that can be found in a local supermarket to create dishes that can be served to a whole family.

During our conversation she touches on:
🔹 her journey to becoming an entrepreneur
🔹 why perfection is the enemy of progress (especially when it comes to nutrition)
🔹 real-world examples of how to improve your own diet and relationship with food
🔹 the difference between weight management and wellness
🔹 and of course, the values that drive her

Pamela will give you hope if you're searching for your purpose and a more fulfilling life, and you'll definitely be checking out her website, classes, and social media pages to up your cooking and nutrition game! Enjoy! 💖

This week's episode of the Opportunity Knocks podcast calls for a shot of tequila! My guest this week is Mara Smith, the Founder of Inspiro Tequila - an ultra-premium tequila brand created, run, and made by women, for women (but really everyone will enjoy it 😋).

Mara is a former attorney, corporate strategist, and stay-at-home mom. She began her legal career at Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago before joining the corporate strategy team at McDonald’s Corporation. After her twins were born prematurely, she decided to leave the corporate world to focus on her family. However, she never stopped thinking about what was next. She always envisioned running her own company and in 2020 set out on her journey to create a tequila brand.
 
Mara started drinking tequila when she was looking for a clean, gluten-free spirit that fit her active lifestyle. She searched for a brand that was additive-free with a look, taste, and aroma that appealed to her. That perfect tequila did not exist so she decided to create it. The goal was not just to create a one-of-a-kind tequila, but to bring another female voice to the spirits industry. Women are involved in every part of Inspiro Tequila’s process - from creating the taste profiles to getting bottles on the shelves.

Additionally, Mara’s mission is to inspire and support other women on their entrepreneurial journeys through financial support and mentoring.

During our discussion, we touched on topics like:

🍹 honing skills as a parent that translate into success in the business world
🍹 why she has women running every part of her business
🍹 the difference between an additive-free brand like Inspiro and other tequilas
🍹 the importance of an advisory board that features diverse areas of expertise
🍹 why she hasn't raised outside capital
🍹 and how her mother and grandmother inspired her entrepreneurial journey

What an inspiration. It was a pleasure to chat with someone doing so much for women in a male-dominated industry. You're going to get a lot out of this episode and be itching to try Mara's tequila! I've tried it since our conversation and it is remarkably smooth.

¡Salud! and enjoy your week everyone!

DID YOU KNOW: Women who leave the workforce for more than 2 years have less than a 50% chance of ever getting a full-time position again...for the rest of their life! My conversation with Samantha Ettus on this week's episode of the Opportunity Knocks podcast was very inspiring and uplifting because she's focused on ensuring that this stat is a thing of the past!

We're heading into the long with an episode that will have you totally rethinking the way you see the world and implementing change to achieve the financial independence you deserve.

My guest this week is Samantha Ettus, award-winning author, mother of 3, serial entrepreneur, and founder of Park Place Payments, a women-owned company fundamentally changing the experience businesses have with their payment processor. She's an advocate for women and all underrepresented communities (that's putting it lightly) in the payments and financial industry.

Our conversation covered topics you definitely want to learn more about including:

💳 Reframing the conversation about raising money for your business, especially for women
💳 How she founded Park Place Payments and turned it into a company that gives opportunities to people who traditionally don't get them
💳 Why women need to start talking more about investing
💳 How to achieve financial freedom
💳 How Park Place Payments is winning with industry-leading customer service
💳 Why women need to prioritize their own dreams and why it's important to model that for your children
💳 And so much more!

Samantha is well down the path of creating a billion-dollar company that is changing the financial industry for the better - on top of the thousands of women's lives she impacted through her books and career. She's the advocate we need and it's a pleasure to share her story with you and help spread the word about everything she's doing. So make sure you give this episode a listen today, tomorrow, or over the long weekend and you're enjoying some much-needed R&R or time with friends and family. This one's a life changer!

Happy Thursday!