THE CITY CONFESSIONS

This week's guest is David Lesser, the Founder & CEO of Numina, whose main mission is to empower people to discover their unique gifts, strengths and talents and create the most conducive setting to express them. They also launched The Numina Transformation Retreat at the beginning of the pandemic, which is a half-day experience of deep reflection and vision to fuel the next chapter of your life. 

In this episode, David Lesser and I sit down and talk about his coaching background and what led him to finding Numina. As an executive coach, David Lesser thought it would be helpful to create a program where people can experience a do it yourself, at home transformation retreat, using the following 5 key processes:

We also talk about the most common emotions driving change, and why it's so important for people to discover their true passions and gifts in order to live a purposeful, fulfilling life. Other topics include how to handle emotions, which involves observing them, rather than associating your identity with them, how to handle intensity or certain flaws/ traits that disturb others, embracing who you are and the power of self awareness, change and transformation. 

Feel free to leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode and be sure to share this with a friend! You can also email any questions or feedback to [email protected].

SPECIAL OFFER: Get 20% off the Numina At-Home Transformation Retreat from March 29th- April 28 by using this link here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/mpc/A1BAOGBKKKQBNK

About David Lesser:

David is a social entrepreneur who believes the best way to change the world is to empower people to be more fully themselves. He has guided people and organizations through crucial transitions for over 35 years, acting as coach and confidant to CEOs and senior executives aspiring to the highest levels of personal growth in a variety of fields.

David is passionate about helping executives, teams and individuals to discover their unique gifts, strengths and talents and to find the most conducive setting to express them. He believes strongly in the power of creating personal networks of support for people to encourage and inspire each other to realize their full potential.

David has an MBA from London Business School. Formerly CEO of a $100m London-based real estate and construction group and executive director of a $40m worldwide not-for-profit operation, he combines a strong management pedigree with perceptive facilitation skills and clear insight in working with people. David has held senior corporate positions in marketing, real estate and corporate finance. He has taught as visiting professor at Redlands University and spoken at a number of conferences in the US, Europe and Africa. David is trained in emotional process work with Shadow Work training, facilitation with Interaction Associates and in coaching with New Ventures West, and is a certified transformational forum facilitator for Young President’s Organization. He has learned Golden Shield Qigong under Paul Holden and Attunement Energy Work under Roger de Winton.

David was born in London, England. He moved to Colorado, USA, in 1994. Since 2004, he has been living with his wife, Chellsa, near San Francisco, California.

https://numina.team/

Today's guest is Kate Kerner, the founder and owner of Kate Communications Group. In this episode, Kate Kerner talks about her background and how she started her business during the pandemic, when she decided working in an office wasn't for her. As a Type A perfectionist, Kate has learned how to use those traits to her advantage when running here business, but does acknowledge that balancing clients and tasks is a struggle. We also talk about finding balance in life, the power of our breaths and our favorite NYC favorite spots.  Feel free to leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode and be sure to share this with a friend! You can also email any questions or feedback to [email protected].

Today's guest is Jen Smiley, the founder of Wake Up and Read the Labels and The Clean Eating Academy an innovative and sustainable program that is designed to simplify your approach on how to eat clean. In this episode, Jen Smiley talks about the importance of knowing ingredients in your food and the truth about the food industry. She saw that clean eating was an issue for a lot of people and realized educating people on reading ingredients was a necessity. She also talks about the moment that jumpstarted her business from a client wanting her to take her grocery shopping and her special relationship with NYC and her clients. Jen Smiley also offers restaurant tips when dining out and reiterates that balance is key. If you are interested in finding more about Jen Smiley's programs and offerings, go to https://jensmiley.com/ and connect with her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wakeupandreadthelabels/

About Jen Smiley:

Jen Smiley is the Founder of Wake Up & Read the Labels, a multi-platform brand that encompasses online courses, a new membership community called The Wake Up Jumpstart, and an engaging, informative Instagram account with 100k+ followers. Jen’s special sauce? Teaching people to feel amazing while still eating the foods they love. Often, that’s as simple as swapping-out “normal” (but often nutritionally unsound) ingredients for clean options. She’s all about seeking out REAL food with real ingredients - none of this artificial nonsense marketed to simply sound healthy.

Since its inception, Wake Up & Read the Labels has helped thousands of individuals conquer everyday issues such as fatigue, skin breakouts, weight gain and more simply by helping them to become more mindful about what they’re eating. By avoiding the traps laid for them in the grocery store, Jen’s clients have become empowered to take charge of their health and making lasting changes to their well-being and sense of vitality. 

Carving a new path in food coaching, Jen and her team encourage clients to avoid calorie-counting and imposing limits on food intake. Instead, they learn to trust their new label-reading skills and instantly make better choices.

Feel free to leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode and be sure to share this with a friend! You can also email any questions or feedback to [email protected].

Today's episode is a special one as it's the official launch date of my book, UN-HINGED What I Learned from Saying, "It's You, It's Not Me" in the NYC Dating Scene. I am using this episode as a solo and celebratory one to honor this big moment in my life. I read my preface of my book to give viewers and listeners a snippet of what to expect from my book, what my writing style is, what my author's voice is and understand why I decided to write this book. I also reveal a confession relating to being proud of myself and learning to embrace that feeling and changing it from discomfort to comfort. I close out the episode with a section from my conclusion in the hopes to get you thinking about what's on your bucket list and fear list and how to overcome self doubt and go after your dreams. I would love any and all support in this journey that I am on. You can purchase my book using this specific link https://amzn.to/3Ko7XdL or go to www.un-hinged.com. You can also find my book on Barnes & Noble and Mascot Books. Feel free to leave reviews and share this episode or my book with a friend :)

Today’s guest is PR specialist and entrepreneur, Jordana Guimarães. She is the Co-Founder of Fashinnovation: bridging the gap between the fashion & technology industries, bringing innovations to the forefront based on the latest tendencies. In this episode, we talk about her background in fashion and PR, how she started Fashinnovation and why she values inclusivity and sustainability. Jordana also talks about the surprising method of cold calling as that was how she landed her 600 speakers to date for her company. She also covers the challenges along the way. We also talk about her definitions of success and happiness, her reframing narrative on money, and the importance of embracing all stages in life. At the end, Jordana reveals a confession regarding her kids and husband, so you’ll have to listen to the full episode for that!

You can connect with Jordana on her personal Instagram and Fashinnovation: https://fashinnovation.nyc/

JORDANA GUIMARÃES

PR specialist and entrepreneur, Jordana Guimarães is the Co-Founder of Fashinnovation: bridging the gap between the fashion & technology industries, bringing innovations to the forefront based on the latest tendencies. She's participated as curator, producer and host in major fashion/technology events, and hosts her now online weekly show "Fashion & Wine Talks with Jordana". Philanthropically, Jordana has recently published her first book in the aims of “humanizing homelessness” titled: It Can Be You. She is married to Marcelo Guimaraes, Fashinnovation's Co-founder, and has two baby girls.

Feel free to leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode and be sure to share this with a friend! You can also email any questions or feedback to [email protected].

This week's guest is Jeff Lee, the CEO and Co-Founder of Dibs Beauty, which is all about mistake-proof products you reach for again and again. As someone who has received his Law degree from Yale and has even been a coach on Miss Universe, Jeff Lee talks about his career pivots. He also explains what the similarity is between law and beauty and how he met Courtney Shields (his partner in Dibs Beauty) and why they started this beauty business during Covid. Other topics in this podcast include why Jeff Lee advocates for women leadership, how he lives his life ethically, how to look at things positively and approach life humbly and reminds us all to not live in the moments of the lows, but also to not live in the moments of the high. We close out this episode bringing it back to NYC as Jeff explains his love and hate relationship with NYC and confession regarding Times Square that is definitely one not to be missed!

ABOUT JEFF LEE:

You can connect with Jeff:

Feel free to leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoyed this episode and be sure to share this with a friend! You can also email any questions or feedback to [email protected].