In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Muna Mohammed, the founder of Eight50Coffee.
In addition to being an entrepreneur who created multiple successful startups, Muna is a high impact leader with a diverse range of experience in leading Marketing & Branding strategies. 

For Muna, Coffee growing is a trade that has been woven into her DNA.  She comes from a long line of coffee farmers and roasters. As a child, her father would recount stories from his childhood in Ethiopia with infectious enthusiasm. 

Growing up in Canada, Muna develop ed a fascination with coffee and realized that it was a tradition that she wanted to continue.  The name Eight50Coffee was inspired by The year 850AD signifying not only the origins of coffee but to its history, heritage and a date stamp of the beginning.

 Through her brand, Eight50Coffee, Muna redefines the meaning of coffee.  She invites her customers to experience the everyday joys through celebrating daily coffee moments, because each day is a new day to connect with the things that matter the most! Through Coffee, we find our moments.

Here's how you can connect with Muna:

• Website : www.eight50coffee.com
• Instagram: @eight50coffee

Love to hear your takeaways from Muna's story and her mission.  Can't wait to read your reviews! :)

In this episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Kawtar El Alaoui.
Kawtar is an international expert in the field of transformational education. She has more than 10 years of experience with multiple modalities and connected hundreds of people across the world with their core values, purpose, and larger positive impact in the world. 

Kawtar is a faculty with Leadership That Works India and Mighty Heart facilitator with The Business Plan for Peace.  Her programs focus on conscious communication, conflict transformation, cross-cultural understanding, diversity and inclusion, and soul purpose. 

Kawtar bridges eastern wisdom with western methodologies and has a deep understanding of human patterns and soul journeys. Kawtar’s programs enable you to create a life where who you are, what you believe in, your work and your leadership are in perfect balance and flow, in harmony within yourself, with your environment, and in service to a better world.

Here's how you can connect with Kawtar:

• Website: https://www.conscioustogetherness.com/
• Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/conscioustogetherness
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/conscioustogetherness
• Instagram: conscious_togetherness

Love to hear from you! What are you taking away from this episode?

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Priscilla Jabouin!

As “The Dream Career Expert”, Priscilla’s passion is to help creative professional single women feel more fulfilled and happy in their life and career.

After her own need for a career change, in 2010, Priscilla returned to school to complete her Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology. From that moment on, she embraced her new path as a Career Development Professional and Counsellor.

In 2015, she developed The My Map to Happiness™ Method, a 5 part self-discovery process to help her clients get deep inner clarity so they can identify what their heart truly desires (i.e., Dream Career/ Life Purpose) and gain the confidence to make it a reality (i.e., Take Action).

As a Holistic Counsellor and Career Coach, International Workshop Presenter, and Advanced Yoga Teacher, Priscilla integrates her advanced degrees in psychology and education, and in-depth knowledge of yogic philosophy, to create holistic coaching programs and workshops for her diverse female clientele.

Her mission, to inspire as many people as possible to wake up to a life and career they LOVE!

Connect with Priscilla:

• LinkedIn - Priscilla Jabouin 
• Website: www.mymaptohappiness.com
• IG: @mymaptohappiness

I'd love to hear from you! What are your takeaways from Priscilla's journey?!

More on how to start your own successful online business;
Download your FREE 4 Step Guide to Starting a Lucrative Online Business You'll Love!

Thank you for being here :)

We’ve experienced incredible changes and shifts due to Covid 19 in the past year and half. With the lockdowns, the travel restrictions, working from home, dealing with personal and collective loss, the pandemic has been a lot to deal with!

As the world and businesses adopt to these changes and implement ways to stay viable and sustainable in the post Covid 19 era, It’s important that we take this time as individuals and reflect on  what we learned from this experience

Are we using this experience to  benefit us, to pivot and reinvent ourselves?

OR are we just waiting  and hoping things will go back to normal?

The reality is that some of these changes will be more permanent than temporary.  Our perspective has changed in so much  that makes going back to pre Covid norms impossible.                         

·Some of these changes will include:

• Working remotely
• Digitization of businesses
• Accelerated innovation

As these changes take place, are you reflecting on how they can benefit you?

Are you recognizing opportunities to pivot and reinvent yourself and your business?

It's important to take this time to slow down and engage in reflection, evaluation and introspection.  

If you could design a new path for yourself, a path that's more inline with your goals, values and dreams, what would it look like?

Take this opportunity to question the pre-Covid norms and create a better norm for yourself moving forward.

Let's get selfish and choose a path that will serve us better this time.

More on how to start your own successful online business;

Download your FREE 4 Step Guide to Starting a Lucrative Online Business You'll Love!

Thank you for being here :)

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Yasmen Abd Al-Ahad. 

Yasmen is serial entrepreneur specializing in sales and customer service, in addition she’s hosts a weekly radio show, has a youtube channel and facilitates online events.  In addition, Yasmen holds a law degree, she’s a mother of three and a wife.  How does she do it all? What keeps her going? 

It turns out that Yasmen loves working in a fast passed, ever-changing, environments.  She gets excited about being involved in multiple projects.

 Yasmen is a Muslim, Hijabi , black woman living in Jamaica.  She’s involved in the media and lifestyle world sharing her prospective as a Muslim woman living in Jamiaca.  Naturally I was drawn to her and I wanted to know more.  So I reached out, introduced myself and invited her to join me on the podcast, and here we are! 

Connect with Yasmen:

•  YouTube: The Jamaican Experience with Yaz
• Instagram: Yasmen Abd Al-Ahad @yaz_zle
• Facebook: Yasmen Abd Al-Ahad
• LinkedIn- Yasmen Abd Al-Ahad

 I'd love to hear from you! What are you taking-away from Yasmen's journey?

More on how to start your own successful online business;

Download your FREE 4 Step Guide to Starting a Lucrative Online Business You'll Love!

What is entrepreneurial burnout?

Burnout was first coined by psychologist Herbert Freudenberger in 1974. He described it as “a depletion or exhaustion of a person’s physical or mental resources attributed to his or her prolonged, yet unsuccessful striving toward unrealistic expectations, internally or externally derived.”

How burnout manifests in entrepreneurs

A study reported by the Harvard Business Review  found a link between passion and burnout. They defined passion, concerning work, in two distinct forms: harmonious passion and obsessive passion.

Harmonious passion was measured as “someone who is motivated by the job because it brings them satisfaction and is an important part of who they are.” On the other hand, obsessive passion was indicated as “a job that is important to someone because of the status, money, or other rewards that it brings.”

The results of this study showed that entrepreneurs who adopted harmonious passion for their work expressed high levels of concentration, attention, and absorption. They were more flexible and found work-life balance without feeling guilty.

Obsessively passionate entrepreneurs were more driven by pressures and outcomes. Concerned with social acceptance, status, and financial gain. They often felt frustrated and broken down by their work. Despite their qualifications, they reported a lack of focus and difficulty in balancing other roles and responsibilities.

The study concluded that those who were harmoniously passionate had significantly smaller chances of suffering from burnout.

Signs of Burnout

Irritability: If you’re feeling more on edge than usual, or are easily annoyed with certain situations, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with burnout. 

Weakened immune system: When you’re dealing with stress and burnout, your immune system is weakened, and you’re more prone to illness. 

Exhaustion: Entrepreneurs who are burned out are often tired all the time, even after getting a full night of sleep. Your performance will start to suffer significantly when your brain isn’t functioning at its best.

Increased forgetfulness:  When you’re burned out, your brain is in a fog, and it impacts your ability to remember things that would normally be top of mind.

Ways to  Avoid  Burnout

1.     Make Time off a Priority

When you recognize the power of stepping away, you're able to tap into even more creativity and energy to plug back into the businesses upon your return. 

2.     Go Before You’re Ready

Plan  a vacation each quarter even if  you feel like you're not ready.  The benefits that you get will fuel your drive, creativity and overall-wellness. 

3.     Plan Something to Look Forward To

Reserve time in your schedule away from your business to recharge and regroup, such as daily exercise, a weekly outings and short retreats...etc. You will not only have something to look forward to, but by reserving personal time you will have extra motivation to manage your time well.  

4.     Take 10 Minutes Every Day

Take 10 minutes everyday to meditate and be still.  The benefits are cumulative and you will start to notice the difference it makes in your life.

I'd love to hear from you! How likely are you to suffer from burnout? How are you prioritizing your time off?

More on how to start your own successful online business;

Download your FREE 4 Step Guide to Starting a Lucrative Online Business You'll Love!

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Vanessa Meless!

 Vanessa  is a wife and mother of three beautiful girls. She is also the co-founder of Yae Family of companies that includes :

• Yae property management ( real estate)
• Yae organic teas ( functional teas to achieve health and wellness) 
• Yae baby products ( silicone made and BPA free baby toys and utensils) 

 Vanessa is passionate about bringing her ancestral healing methods to modern women.  Growing-up in Cameroon, Vanessa would see how her grandmother used natural tea blends to nurture women in the family during pregnancy and postpartum.

After moving to Canada, when Vanessa was pregnant with her daughters, her mom would make the journey to help her during the pregnancies and postpartum with special tea blends to aid the body prepare and recover for child birth.

Vanessa's inspiration for her business came from seeing the need that so many women had for  natural healing methods. She believes that being a woman should not be difficult.  Vanessa explains "I don't want my girls to grow up thinking that being a woman is hard and that they don't like being a woman.  I want them to love being women"

Here's how you can connect with Vanessa:

www.yaeorganicteas.com

www.yaeshop.ca 

https://www.instagram.com/yae_organic_teas/

https://www.instagram.com/yae_baby_products/

Love to hear from you! What are you taking away from Vanessa's entrepreneurial journey?

More on how to start your own successful online business;

Download your FREE 4 Step Guide to Starting a Lucrative Online Business You'll Love!

Brené Brown's shares the findings of her research on vulnerability in her Talk Talk: The Power of Vulnerability which is the most listened Ted talk over 15 million downloads. She explains that many people don’t want to discuss shame or vulnerability. In fact, today, people are lonelier, more obese, and more addicted than ever before because they opt to distract or numb themselves rather than address their insecurities or shame.

When people numb their shame and insecurities, they also numb their joy, happiness, love and fulfilment – Living in numbness

 Brené down the various aspects of shame, addresses the importance of vulnerability, and the characteristics of those that she calls the wholehearted people.  

• They have a sense of worthiness of love, 
• They have the courage to be imperfect and vulnerable
• They show compassion to themselves first and then to others, 
• They are authentic in their connections – willing to let go of who they think they should be to be who they truly are.  
• They believe what makes them vulnerable also makes them beautiful.  
• They are willing to be vulnerable, not because it’s easy but because it’s necessary for their own personal growth and to benefit others.

 I personally struggle with certain aspects of vulnerability.  I would probably try everything I possibly can before asking for help.  I’m not sure where that stems from.  It could be from societal glorification  of independence for those that do everything on their own.  

Also being a black woman, not feeling safe enough to be vulnerable, I’ve learned to keep my guard up.   Always appearing that I have it all-together as a survival mechanism . 

But in business, and life this’s not a good thing.  Asking for help and saying I don’t know how to do this will save you so much time and frustrations.

In business Vulnerability is a word that has been heavily misunderstood.

I find that lack of vulnerability is what stops so many people from pursuing entrepreneurship.  I often hear people say, I don’t want to put myself out there!  What will people think of me? What if I get rejected!

For so many of us, this becomes the thing that stops us from venturing out and trying new things at the risk of looking like a failure.

People seem to associate being vulnerable with being weak, fragile, powerless, or exposed.

What we’re not taught about vulnerability is that it can be used in business as a source of strength to connect with your clients, employees and partners on a deeper level.

When you recognize how to strategically apply vulnerability in your business, you will actually strengthen your connections and engagement

I observe people who use vulnerability the right way in business and I see how it makes them magnetic. When you use it the right way, you become more attractive and you look stronger; people want to be around you and engage with you.

Think of your own experiences with the people you know.  Your family, friends, co-workers, or boss, do you like those people that always seem like they have all the answers, never showing any vulnerability or their human side?

Do you enjoy being around them? Same is true for your business and as an entrepreneur.

In essence, using vulnerability as a strength is when you can share a story of sensitive nature while empowering the person on the receiving end of the story.

Think of a tough situation you’ve had to deal with in your life that you were able to overcome. There're many ways you can hare this story. The key element  is to highlight the challenge and  how you overcame. That’s your story!  

I'd love to hear from you! How are you choosing to be vulnerable tod

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Suzan Richards, also known as  Teachēr Suzan, the Artistic Director of the  Cultural Arts Studio in Ottawa. A school of afro-Caribbean dance and wellness community space.  

 Suzan’s dance journey started early!  At the age of 4, her parents enrolled her at the local community center where she trained in classical ballet and ballet-jazz. She continued her formal dance training at The Montreal Jazz Dance Academy, which led her to tour Canada with top performers. 

This experience and her strong cultural roots from the island of Dominica motivated her to create The Cultural Arts Studio running now for over 26 years.  Teacher Suzanne is a stable in the community! 

 In addition, Suzanne is a loving mother of two.  She’s an arts Educator with MASC - Multicultural Arts In Schools and Communities (MASC) -  a local not profit organization that offers schools and communities arts experiences. She is the co-cost of Caribbean Calendar on Rogers-22 and recently she’s partnered with ZYIA Active Wear which you can learn more about by joining her Facebook group.

Suzan is committed to preserving and sharing Afro-Caribbean culture through dance. She believes that everyone should have the opportunity to tell their story through dance and movement regardless of age, size, fitness level or disability.

"Dance is your story to write and interpreted through the language of your soul"

Connect with Suzan here:

• Facebook - @Teachēr Suzan Richards
• Instagram - @theculturalartsstudio
• ZYIA Tr3be on Facebook

Thank you so much for joining!  Excited to hear your feedback and takeaways on this episode.

More on how to start your own successful online business;
Download your FREE 4 Step Guide to Starting a Lucrative Online Business You'll Love!

I remember the first time someone paid me for coaching. I took a picture of the payment and had a moment of celebration.  Even-though the amount was not that big, I just felt like a professional – I’m finally getting paid doing what I love to do – it’s happening!

 Getting paid doing what you love to do can on the one hand feel like too good to be true! And on the other hand, you may feel that you shouldn’t be charging money for something that you love so much that you don’t mind doing for free.

When I bring up the idea of pursuing your passion as a way to also make money, I sometimes get some push back.

I hear things like "But you’re not supposed to love your job! It's there to pay the bills"

What do you think about this statement?

How do you feel about living your entire life doing a job you don’t care about just so that you can pay the bills?  Is that worth it for you?

 When you reflect on this and you’re honest with yourself, you’ll recognize that you want your life to be more meaningful.  You probably want to have life that you can look back on and feel like you lived your life freely and unrestricted following your calling.

 But how do you do this? How do you find your passion and make a living doing?

 Finding your passion can be intimidating task.  So instead, I would encourage you to think about what brings you joy instead. 

 For example, If dancing is the thing that brings you joy, then you want to explore further.

• Do you enjoy the social interaction side about dancing?
• Do you love choreography, the design of dance sequences?
• Do you love the cultural/historical aspects about dance?
• Is there particular type of dance that you gravitate to?

 Now imagine if you could do dance all day.

• If you had the freedom to spend your days dancing and you didn’t’ have to worry about money, what would your days look like? 
• How would you structure your days?
• Would being a full-time dancer be a source of joy and happiness for you?

If the answer is YES! Then you want to continue exploring how you would like to exist as a professional dancer?  How would you be able to offer value while staying true to what you love about dancing

You see, sometimes people avoid pursuing what they love to do as a way to make money because they have a limiting belief around that.  They may feel that it’s wrong to charge fees for their gifts.  But that’s their fixed mindset talking.  

 You're not doing this to make money, NO! 

 It’s bigger than that. You're  seeking to live a fulfilled and meaningful life – spending your time and energy doing what you love to do and making an impact.  Yes, you will get paid well for your work – but that’s not your motivating factor.

You owe it to yourself to take time and create space to think about what kind of life you want to live.  At the end of it all , what do you want your life to mean.  Is there a legacy that you want to leave behind?  Is there an impact you want to make in your community and the world?

This can be frustrating at first because you have more questions than answers, but if you are patient and curious about where this journey of self-discovery will lead, it’s well worth the effort! 

I will leave you with this:

Starting today, open the window of possibilities and give yourself the permission to seek joy.  You will start to experience the transformation of demanding more and stepping into your true and authentic power.

I'd love to hear from you! What are your thoughts on this? Are you ready to invite more joy into your life? 

 Get your FREE 4 Step Guide to Starting a Lucrative Business