SHE. Inspired

If you are an artist, or someone who loves diving into the intricacies and connection points of the creative process, then this episode is for you. Honestly, it’s challenging for me to create a neat and tidy summary for this episode because our conversation covers so much ground! I experienced it as an odyssey of exploration of our inner and outer worlds and the connection between art and mindfulness.

Nicole Kagan is a visual artist, born in South Africa who emigrated to Canada with her family at the age of 7. Her work is strongly influenced by nature, in large thanks to her mother who may or may not have named the trees in her backyard growing up.

A super expressive kid, Nicole recounts how she has always looked for “other ways in” and a more expansive view on connecting with our inner being and resources. As part of this journey, she has come to see art as a powerful point of connection which can force presence and thus her workshop was born. In The Moment, creates an opening for you to enrich your senses, calm your mind and appreciate the beauty around you by exploring the naturally existing intersection between mindfulness and creative expression.

Nicole’s latest series, Meditative Muses, is also intended to calm and inspire through a series of limited-edition prints, artist prints, the seeds of which, were sown in a beautiful week on Toronto Island immersed in her creative process. Meditative Muses is a collection of 6 symbols which act as powerful visual cues to remind us of our inner resources. Perfect for these challenging times, you can learn more about this series and about Nicole herself by visiting her website https://www.nicolekagan.com/ and following her on Instagram @: nicolekagan_art.

I reached Nicole at her home in Toronto.

Claire Lamont is a goal machine! Her commitment to a system of practices to support setting, monitoring and celebrating her goals is inspiring and illustrates her ability to use action to bring her core values to life, something she also does for her lucky clients through her impact agency called smak.

We talk about her sacred morning routine, the practical strategies she swears by and her ability to find the opportunity in any situation. Born in South Africa, Claire emigrated to Canada at the age of 20 right when she was on track to launch an exciting career in advertising in Johannesburg. Coming to Canada wasn’t her first choice (she fully admits!) and initially, she found herself caught in that (sadly) familiar immigrant experience loop of being unable to find employment without ‘Canadian work experience’. But instead of lamenting, she decided to use this opportunity to start her own company and bring the grassroots marketing strategies she learned in South Africa to the Canadian marketplace to benefit Canadian companies. And thus Smak was born.

Definitely driven, Claire also appreciates the ebbs and flows inevitable in life and that we can’t be going 100 mph all the time. She says we need to release the guilt we often feel when we allow ourselves down time (Amen, sister!) and stop subscribing to the notion, “if we aren’t always chipping away at the ice block we aren’t carving the perfect statue”. So powerful!

Claire shares the twists and turns of her personal and professional journey with generosity, clarity and humour. To learn more about Claire and her impact agency smak, visit her @ https://www.smak.ca/ and on Linked In @ Claire Lamont.

Linda explains so beautifully the value of contrast: how knowing what we don’t want brings into focus what we do want. She gave herself the opportunity to really explore her first career choice from several different angles before arriving at the understanding she was in fact meant to take all she learned from her roles as a designer, sales woman and business developer and apply it to creating and growing her own business as a Ayurvedic Wellness Counsellor at Breathe Baba.

In the Arabic language, Baba means father and Linda explains beautifully how her father and their relationship shaped and inspired the name of her company and her approach to service delivery. Born in Kuwait as the youngest of 7 children in a Palestinian family, Linda travelled to more countries in her childhood than I have so far in my entire life, before settling in Canada at the age of 6. Her mother was a natural healer who cared for their large family with homemade meals and natural remedies (something which Linda clearly remembers and is in awe of to this day) and whose influence on Linda and her chosen path is clear to me.

At Breath Babe, Linda provides her clients with a range of services aimed at reconnecting us to our ‘inner flame’ by leveraging natural processes and remedies. Her Emotion Code program allows her to tap into the body without the verbal conversation. By speaking directly to our bodies, she can tap into our subconscious minds and get at the root of illness more quickly. She describes it in detail … mind blowing!

To learn more about Linda and her work, visit her @ https://www.breathebaba.com and follow her on Instagram @breathebaba.

I reached Linda at her home in Toronto.

Anne Ryan has a consistent track record of betting on herself. Driven and ambitious from a young age, she started her career in the male-dominated construction industry in the 90’s ... not an easy place to work! As an employee, she noticed consultants were making more money and working half the time ... so she quit; began marketing herself as a contractor and doubled her income literally overnight.

Thus began her entrepreneurial journey which has been exciting and lucrative and certainly not without its challenges.

Anne shares how she worked herself almost to the point of breakdown when her kids were young and she knew something had to change. She also recounts how she and her husband took out a $300k loan to start a business at a time when neither of them had a income. This decision wasn’t even difficult because she has always known that backing herself 100% is the right move. When it comes to investing in her own potential, Anne Ryan is All In.

Having built a thriving business with her husband, Anne once again felt the pull to move in another direction. And once again, she never questioned her worthiness to receive or her ability to execute on her desires. As a Business and Money Coach for female entrepreneurs, she coaches women to move from The Predictable: you go to a job, you get paid; fly past The Possible: the pay raise you might get; and get comfortable in The Potential: the kind of work where you make money while you sleep. She does this by teaching everyday women how to create and sell high ticket offers with ease by claiming their worth and ditching their money blocks.

To learn more about Anne and explore what it’s like to work with her, visit www.anneryanstrategist.com or find her on Facebook at Anne Ryan.

Urszula Popiolek-Goldfinger has always had a strong sense of intuition; she’s always felt and seen things others don’t. These vision and sensations began in her childhood and they scared her. She describes how she wanted nothing to do with this special ability until a few years ago, when a series of traumatic events, including the sudden death of her beloved cousin, made her curious about what happens after physical death.

As she navigated the months following her cousin’s death, I was really moved by Urszula’s description of the process she used for calling in guidance from the Universe on how to move forward. Powerful!

Urszula has embraced her gift and is using it to heal herself and serve others through her business as an Energy and Empowerment Leader. To learn more about Urszula and her work, connect when her on Instagram @apopofgold or email her: [email protected]

I reached Urszula at her home in Toronto.

Catherine Farquharson gets to experience the best moments of people’s lives. First as a professional photographer, where she had the privilege of documenting people’s wedding days and the birth of their children, and now as a coach for a growing community of impact-driven women who gets to facilitate, witness and celebrate goal-achieving on almost a daily basis. It is, as Catherine says, the best!

As a client of Catherine’s for the last 18 months, I can personally attest to the power of her program Thinking Into Results. The material, coupled with Catherine’s unique style, has helped me blow the lid off what I formerly believed was possible for me, resulting in creations like She. INSPIRED, something I never thought I would be doing and which brings me such joy. My life has changed dramatically for the better.

Catherine knows the pain of wanting something so bad and not knowing how to get it. She deeply desired to be a professional photographer but with no formal training or family support, she thought it was impossible to have what she wanted. But over the course of a decade she found a way, and after building a thriving photography business, she felt called to coach other women around how to meet their worthy goals faster and with less pain.

We go deep on the importance of goals, what it means to change your self-image and the powerful act of creating space for the next version of you.

Want to experience what it’s like to work with Catherine? She has a free Masterclass coming up on December 7, where she will lead us through the complete process of what it feels like to go for our goals. Here’s a link to signup:

https://catherinefarquharson.lpages.co/goalschooldec/

You can also follow her on Instagram @catherine_farquharson

I reached Catherine at her new home in the country in Mono, Ontario.

Helene Rennervik is a woman who lives her life with no set agenda. She follows her intuition where it leads, across continents and careers. She has redesigned her own life several times, always asking herself: Who are you? And being willing to receive the answer.

Her commitment to facilitating her own unfolding process makes her the perfect person to assist others in revealing their own hidden desires and talents through her Leadership Design Program at Helene Rennervik Consulting .

Helene takes my breath away when recounting her experience facing a devastating diagnosis of Osteosarcoma, an aggressive cancer of the bone, for her then 9 year old son Yousef. She describes how her ability to remain present and focus on only on “right now” was her most effective tool during that time.

She also explains how she was able to harvest the good from this experience which inspired her to do things which spoke to her heart, like writing a book about her experience to help other parents and launching her coaching practice.

Helene is bold, she is eloquent and above all, she is wise. To learn more about Helene and her process for revealing the buried treasure within each of us, go to https://helenerennervik.com. I reached Helene at her home in Stockholm, Sweden.

I remember the first time I caught sight of Reena Ruparelia, on our weekly coaching calls with Catherine Farquharson and her program Thinking Into Results. I paused and thought … who is this woman? She was such a light there, in the box of faces on our group Zoom call. Instantly, I knew I wanted to get to know her. So it’s a real treat to have her on She. INSPIRED. I believe you’ll understand what I mean as you listen to our conversation.

Reena shares her story of overcoming a debilitating skin condition called psoriasis (a condition with which she continues to live but which no longer controls her life, her choices and what she believes is possible for herself) with such vulnerability, authenticity and power; it’s truly inspiring.

We also talk about the limiting beliefs she’s managed to flip through her journey toward self-love and acceptance and the role her inner guidance has played through it all; nudging her forward each time things get hard and teaching her to let go of needing to see the whole picture and just take the next step.

As a Dove model, psoriasis warrior and mindfulness speaker, Reena shares her gifts with the world through multiple channels, always with two clear goals in mind: to heal and serve herself in order to be of service to the healing journey of others.

To learn more about Reena and to join her movement of self-love and acceptance, follow her on Instagram @psorasis_thoughts.

Mandisa Khanna is a woman with a heart to serve and the courage to follow her heart. From an early age, she had the wherewithal to observe the ‘successful’ people around and ask herself: is this what I want? And if not, what am I willing to do about it?

Each time she has reinvented herself professionally, she’s done so with an open mind and in the spirit of genuine curiosity about how she can give more. She exemplifies what artist, activist and social entrepreneur Rha Goddess means when she says “when you are fully realized, all you want to do is figure out how you can make things better.”

Mandisa talks about her journey from investment banking to retail executive to leadership coach and sprinkles in all sorts of wisdom along the way on how to tune in to your inner being and the power of our emotions to provide us with critical information to light the way forward.

Visit her website to learn more about Mandisa and to book a complimentary discovery call @ https://mindfulexcellence.com and follow her on Instagram @mindful_excellence

I reached Mandisa at her home in New York City.

If Kim-Adele Platts were to write her memoirs, the title would be: 3 Divorces And A Stalker: The Journey From Hairdresser To CEO Can Be Bumpy. When she says she’s had “a colourful life apprenticeship” she isn’t kidding. Her life experiences have been nothing short of incredible.

Through her journey transitioning from the hair salon to the boardroom, she’s become an expert at unearthing, examining and flipping limiting beliefs. For example, she’s had a MENSA certificate sitting in a box for most of her adult life because, as she puts it, “it didn’t align with her story” of who she believed herself to be … (fortunately that certificate is now framed and on her wall!)

Kim-Adele knows imposter syndrome like the back of her hand. She also knows how to use kindness, compassion and visualization to release it and thrive. It’s no surprise then, she’s found her calling as a Legacy Leadership Coach working with C-Suite and Board leaders to lead with kindness, courage, humanity.

Kim-Adele talks openly and gracefully about her colourful life, including both the experiences which brought her to her knees and those which lifted her back to her feet. I love how she describes life as a jig-saw puzzle without the box: you don’t get to see the whole picture, she says, you just have to keep looking at the pieces and surrender to the knowing that your journey is perfect, you have everything you need and you are worthy just as you are.

To learn more about Kim-Adele’s work, visit her at: https://kimadele.org/

Follow her on Instagram @kimadele10

And Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimadele-boardlevelcoach/?originalSubdomain=uk