CEO Of Unbreakable Woman: Maura Barclay AKA The Soulful Boss – S3E11 (#107)

S3E11 Maura Barclay.mp3 – powered by Happy Scribe

Boss Uncaged is a weekly podcast that releases the origin stories of business owners and entrepreneurs as they become uncaged trailblazers. In each episode, our hosts, S.A Grant And guests, construct narrative accounts of their collective business journeys and growth strategies, learn key success habits, and how to stay motivated through failure, all while developing a Boss Uncaged mindset. Break out of your cage and welcome our host, S.A Grant.

Welcome back to Boss and Cage Podcast. On today’s show, I always deem whoever I’m interviewing with with a special name. So today’s episode, I’m going to deem her the soulful boss, and she’ll be able to fill in those blanks while I’m calling her that very shortly. So why don’t you tell audience a little bit more about yourself, Maura?

Absolutely. So I’m a transformational leadership consultant. I primarily work with transformational coaches to help them unburden themselves from money blocks and personal value issues. I help them see the value in their story, and I help them attract the perfect clients effortlessly. We’re all in the intuitive healing business, and so sometimes there’s a lot of guilt. Like, I don’t want to charge to heal people. It’s their birthright. I’m like, settle down. They won’t value it. They’ll say, hey, so these are my people. You pay to pay attention. You know this. So those are my primary clients, and I do work with the occasional individual clients, and I’m very picky, though. They have to be in positions of leadership. They have to be culture makers, influencers. I’m here to help awaken as many people as are ready to be. And those are the people primarily who can actually do some significant good with that experience. So I kind of reserve my one on one for those types of people.

Nice. It obviously shows you could hear the soul in her voice, right? I mean, she dropped it very quickly. She was very precise. So let’s talk a little bit more, like a little bit more about you. Like, if you could define yourself in three to five words, what would those three to five words be?

Coaches. Coach. Leaders. Leader. Practical. Mystic.

Nice. Since we’re on this time traveling binge, right, let’s think about you as an adolescent. Did you wake up as a teenager? Maybe you were on a sports team, and then one day you just said, okay, I’m all into the soul, and I’m all into coaching. How did your journey really begin?

It’s funny you should ask that. That is such an awesome question, by the way. I’ve never been asked that question. And I mean, as far as going back to my adolescent years, I’m like, how much time do we have to discuss my awkwardness? Because I would need more than an hour. All right. No, there’s something very unique that I recognize in myself, actually. From the time I was a little girl, this was reported to me by my parents. So I don’t remember any of this I would walk into rooms and the kids would gift me with the role of leader. This was something that was very common, and it persisted until about the time I started to doubt my value. You know, when I got to that middle school age, and I became very insecure as I was never beautiful and all the pretty girls got all the attention. So that was really frustrating to me. There isn’t a lot of space for the funny girl next door types, you know what I mean? I felt very relegated. And I was an athlete, I was a competitive gymnast. I was a two time junior Olympian. So at the time, I was very much involved in that. And so I wasn’t really into the social stuff. And once I got into the social stuff, it was really interesting that I definitely carried myself with a sense of authority until middle school, and then that all just went to hell because I doubted my value. Because back in there, if you’re not pretty, you’re not valuable. That was a lesson I learned as a girl, and that haunted me for quite a while. And I became very externally focused for validation. But even then, there was something about me that people would just they would believe me no matter what I said. I had this authority that I don’t know where it came from, and that definitely followed me and informed what I’m doing now. It does have its downsides, though. I’d say, for example, I’ll be in the Gap shopping, and someone will come up to me. This happens all the time. It’s like clockwork. They’ll come up to me with an item of clothing and say, do you have this in another size? And I look over my shoulders, I’m like, do you think I work here? I don’t know what it is, but whatever that thing is, it has served me and helped me create a six figure business, helping people make peace with their path and awaken to their soulful purpose. No complaints for me.

That’s definitely interesting. I mean, you’re in the spaces where you’re helping coaches kind of find themselves, and obviously you were on that journey from a young kid growing up to be who you are in that process in today’s world. Like instagram, right? Instagram, vixens. Instagram is like a big social media platform that personifies beauty or the eye of the beholder and beauty. So with your clients, how do you kind of, like, make that connection and make that disconnection at the same time?

I get exactly what you’re asking. So the connection is being spectacular has a variety of definitions. We’ve got a kardashian, but that is spectacular in its own right. Could probably run a small country, you know? I mean, it’s really something. And then we have spectacular in other ways. Like, visually arresting is what Instagram is about. So I’m like, vixens is one category of spectacular or visually arresting. It is a visual medium. So if you would like to have people stop scrolling and you don’t have a kardashian butt or the vixen situation, you’re going to tap into your other areas of prowess. So for me, it’s like paradigm shifting posts with super cool imagery. And also I’m not trying to attract the people who would be interested in the vixens, right? So that’s not my market. So I encourage them to find their unique voice on every platform from TikTok to Instagram to LinkedIn Clubhouse. It’s all about magnetizing. The people who need you right now and you showing up for them in that way that they’re people are going to look at them and be like, that’s the one, that’s the one. He or she can help me. I can tell. Just check out this Instagram post. Boom. So that’s how I help them pivot their own unique value, so to speak.

So it sounds like you’re really big into a formulation of not necessarily the laws, but the rules of attraction, right? It’s kind of that you think it and if you take action on it, then it becomes a reality. So in that you’re talking to someone who is your ideal customer that you can help on that journey?

The ideal customer is a transformational coach who has hit a ceiling of some kind. Generally I work with coaches who have already started and their price points are around $500 to $1,000. That’s way too low for the work that they do and they don’t understand the legacy of their work. So any coach it’s got really transformational coaches, I help them because we work in the quantum, so to speak. We use the law of attraction and I help them, depending on where they are, whether they’re elite coaches who are looking to make the jump from 15,000 to 30,000 for their services to the person who is starting out at 10 and wants to get to 30, I can tell you it’s exactly the same. Upper limits are upper limits. False beliefs are false beliefs. And I’m a neuroscientist and practitioner, so I help people build new neural pathways. I help them pivot their thoughts and beliefs into the ones they need that unravel and prune the stuff that’s not helping them. That process is all the same. It doesn’t matter whether you’re charging a million dollars or $5. The process is the same. We just go back into your past, we find out where that false belief came from that is fueling the engine of that upper limit, and we unwind them. So we don’t change the experience, we change their attitude around it.

Nice. So you’re talking about essentially rewiring someone’s brain, right? And you’re also talking about some of these people may be really a-type personalities. They may think they have all their shit together and they’re making money, but you’re giving them opportunity to scale and to grow and to become a magnet for the attraction of what they really want, which is essentially more clients. So my question is, in that space you’re dealing with A type personality. You’re dealing with somewhat, I would say some people maybe know it all. Like, what is the worst experience you’ve had trying to help someone, knowing that they’re going down the wrong path and you’re trying to help them go down the right path?

Well, most of the people that I help, I wouldn’t say anyone is ever going down the wrong path because I believe that we are all in divine time and we have brought ourselves the experiences that we have right now, always on purpose, and it is leading us where we want to go. So I’m always about zero resistance. I’m just about flow and harmony. And I’m a cancer survivor. And I can tell you I flowed in harmony my way through that experience with gratitude. So I know what I’m talking about. And for me, did I just step into the know it all big pile of shit? Like, sorry about that. So for me, I know that for me, so when people come to me and I see them on a track that doesn’t appear to be so, they say they want this result and they see where they are. And then I give them the perspective of I think if you want to go there, you’re going to need to pivot and do this also. I don’t argue with anybody and I will educate. I have one client, one client who was one of my first clients, and this person was not an appropriate client for me, but I was a little inexperienced in being able to discern the appropriate client for me. And I can tell you I’m boutique. I am bespoke. I don’t serve the millions, not yet. I’ve got some evergreens coming. That will be the million. That’s going to be the mass marketing. But right now, when I do one on one, it is intense. We go deep, we go fast. And I only do this experience with people who are ready and able to receive the coaching. Now, I made a mistake and I recognize now the biggest red flag I ever hear is the following. I want to heal the world. I want to heal the world. I want to save the oceans. I want to do these huge global things. Now, this is a lovely thought. This is a fantastic idea and it really does speak to this what’s the word? Benevolence. We have this beautiful benevolence within us. Here’s what the trouble is with that phrase. I want to only heal outside myself. I am not willing to look within and tackle my own shit because they don’t understand that they are the world. You want to heal the world, heal yourself. You want to change our society, make peace with your parents, go to a Thanksgiving and try not to judge someone. That’s how we’re going to get peace in the middle east. We’re all connected. It’s all the same. People don’t see that their individual moment by moment choices to be kind or not affect the entire whole we are one organism. And the more I can help people see, the only work you need to do is you just do you, be kind to you, accept you, love you, everything will change around you. That’s what be the change means. And that’s what I help people do. So when I have people who are really outwardly focused, it’s because they’re avoiding. And I’m not trying to convince anybody to heal. They’re not ready. They’re not ready. That’s not my job. I can’t walk through the door for you. You know what I’m saying?

I say, yeah, I feel like I’m at church and my feet is like this, and I’m like, testify. I think one thing that you said was really cool. I think part of your ball of energy, right? I think you’ve probably always been a ball of energy, but just like you, I faced like a life debt experience when I had a stroke back in 2018. And once you have these experiences that your life could have ended in that moment, and you got a second chance with third opportunity, there’s no whole bar. Like you don’t hold anything back. And so kind of talk to that little bit like you’re a cancer survivor. Is that kind of the reason why you’re on the path that you’re on to that have a shift in the direction for you to create the legacy that you’re creating now?

Absolutely. Spoken like only someone who had a CBA can speak it. Speak it, brother. Yeah. So here’s what happened. I gave myself cancer by suppressing anger. 100%. I opened the door. That’s what cancer is, man. When our bodies fall apart, it’s because we’re falling apart. 98%. Don’t quote me on this, but there’s plenty of studies that indicate that around a high 90% of all illnesses, all disease, with rare exception due to stress, this is mind over matter. This is mind making matter. Right. And I recognize very quickly after I went through the chemo, holy crap, this is all me. And when I opened the door for this cancer to thrive in me. And I think you can appreciate this, we kind of bring ourselves the catastrophic experiences that are unique to us. So maybe you can appreciate this. I had a huge tumor on my heart, inoperable blood tumor, non hodgkin’s lymphoma, because I wasn’t listening. My heart kept trying to tell me and I refused to listen. So it yelled at me. Right. So I’d be curious to know what your stroke experience, how it was unique to you, because people like us I’m going to just go ahead and make a presumption here. You and I are hardcore. We don’t fuck around. We get shit done. And people around us benefit from they basically draft, right?

Yeah. They ride the wave.

They ride the wave. So we’re in the front making the wave, and that’s what we’re here to do. That’s what we’re born to do. That’s why we love it. We eat it up. Now, people like us, we got to get knocked to our knees to slow down and listen to the truth Right?

Preach.

Right, reach. I know it. So what? This cancer teacher showed me one. It taught me to surrender. And that is the heart of everything I teach now. And I know that word is scary in our society, and it’s not surrender like give up. It’s surrender like give in to something greater than yourself. It’s recognizing that there is something so much more powerful, so much more loving, so much more wise than we are. That’s what I surrendered to. And after that experience with my beautiful bald head, which I was told was quite lovely, I think they were just feeling sorry for me because, you know, what are you going to say to a woman? No eyebrows. Anyway, I said, I am never going to do anything with my breath, with my energy, with my time, with my focus, unless it serves my soul and the collective soul. That’s it. I’m here for soul work. I’m here to serve my purpose. And if anything isn’t serving it, the decision is move on, move into something that does. So cancer really helped me not be afraid anymore. Did you find that too? Did your fear level, like, you just change what you’re afraid of? i was just very little.

If you come into it being fearless, like, more so, like an adrenaline junkie, it’s a kind of a different fear from the approach of accepting that you are here to help other people versus just helping yourself and joining the two together, then you become completely fair because you have nothing to lose. Absolutely nothing to lose.

That’s right. Yeah, that’s exactly right. So I got fired from a job, which I’ve never been fired before. There was a change of leadership. It was a whole corporate politics thing that I don’t understand because I don’t operate that way, so it’s very easy for them to just go, get rid of me. I’m like, I don’t know how to do politics. But so that happened. And then I just got divorced a couple of years ago, a couple of years prior. And then my very first sort of potential boyfriend just totally ghosted me. Like, went to Costa Rica, didn’t come home. Didn’t sound like, what is going on? I know. It was just like anything else, which never asked that, by the way. And I was just like, okay, this is it. Everything is gone. I’m 49 years old. I’m single. I don’t have a job. I shut down my consultancy to take this sweet job. So I didn’t have anything in the pipeline. I’m like, I’m living off the savings. I got nothing. Like all the things that you think you should have. And I’m just like, you know what? It’s soul time. That’s what I’m being called to do. I’m going to pursue it. And if I wind up bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s, it will be the right thing because I’ve tried what I’m being called to do. So it really gave me the strength to own my emotions. And I’ve been in the mind body space for a long time. S.A, like, I’m a master, a yoga instructor, a yoga teacher, trainer, embodied anatomy instructor, all these things. And so in the yoga community, it’s like Namaste. I had the Namaste Syndrome. It is a syndrome. It’s like everybody’s like, all yummy after class, and they come out of Srivasana, they go to Starbucks, and they’re like, you got the order wrong. I’m like, okay, just settle. Settle down. So I was struggling with that. I was struggling with my truth. I didn’t know how to make space for my anger, my judgment, all the human things. I didn’t know how to make space for that and still want to pursue soul stuff. And that is part of the work I do with people, is helping them manage their humanness while they’re working in soul and emotion and consciousness building. It’s a strange dichotomy, right? Like God and all the human stuff, pretty much how do we deal with the ego? So that is a lot of the work that I do, because I’ve done so much work on me because I didn’t set out to heal the world. I want to awaken myself and then anyone else who’s ready, if they vibe with me, that’s it. So it always starts with you, as, you know, cool.

So that leads me to a very interesting question, and I’m just processing what you said, right? So essentially, you’re anticorporate America to a certain extent, the system of corporate America and politics, but you have a system in place that’s not that system. So what system are you currently running? Like, how are you I mean, it’s more so like a heartbeat. You’re on a rhythm, you’re rolling, and this sequential thing that you do repeatedly with every client. So what is that system that you have in place when you’re on boarding your class?

So I want to just clarify. I’m definitely not anti politics and anticorporation. I do have a thing. I do have a thing about it. If you’re going to make a corporation, a human being, a person, you got to take that person to church and teach them some damn manners. That’s all I’m saying. If you want to make corporations people, then you need to give them culture, and it needs to start at the top. I have no problem with corporations. I love the fact that we have people who are innovating and creating jobs and the whole thing. I love it. However, there needs to be a kind and just and equitable culture in that company. That’s the only thing I have an issue with right because worthy people don’t steal. Worthy people don’t abuse other people. So if we can start at the soul level and realize these are all human beings with a soul coming to work here. We’re not trying to get spiritual with you. However, you need to acknowledge that we are all humans sharing space and we all want the same things in life. All right? So that’s my little speech about that and politics again, it’s just missing soul. It’s just missing full. It’s missing soul and worthiness. And once you put those two things in, it really does create harmony. I don’t know how to solve these problems. I just know the systems aren’t broken. It’s the people who are coming to the systems that are keeping them from being effective. So that’s my little two cent about that. Now, as far as processing systems, I am just like you, man. I’m a tactician. That’s why I call myself a practical mystic. Don’t tell me how to get present unless you can tell me how. That used to be one of my chief complaints in yoga. Maybe it’s because I’m Jewish and my people are just like, explain, right? Explain. So I learned all of the physiology behind getting present. I learned the physiology behind habit change. That’s why I’m a neuro facilitation practitioner. I come to my clients with a very evidence based foundation. So when I’m onboarding my clients, depending on how they paid, because I do have some bonuses where I will give them I will gift them a 75 minutes onboarding session, which it’s just kind of a jumpstart. It’s not necessary. But for those who pay in full with me, these people are paying five figures. I’m going to give them an extra 75 minutes because I appreciate their business, right? So in this onboarding, I want to know where they are. I just let them talk because languaging is a very powerful tool and people reveal their limiting beliefs, their upper limits and their opinions of themselves and others by the way they talk, the phrases they use. These they’re all unconscious things. So I just listen to them and I ask them I ask them to identify three areas where they would like to do work, three things that they are struggling with, and then one result. And then I just have them talk and I’ll ask them questions. So that’s the first piece. And as far as and I also have content that I’ve created that is step by step. I have worksheets for everything. I’m a curriculum creator. I’m a teacher’s teacher. So this comes second nature to me because I have a duplicatable very high efficacy program. Once I get them into the flow with their onboarding, with the questions, then it’s just a matter of adapting the general content to their I’ll put unique in air quotes because there’s really nothing unique under the sun. Everybody’s got the same problem. So then I adapted to their unique circumstances. I’ll just put it that way. They’re unique. Actually, I take it back. I say no circumstances are unique. Only the people in them.

Makes sense. Yeah, definitely makes sense. So you kind of alluded to your age, and I’m not going to ask your age, but just think about it from a standpoint. Somebody’s listening to this podcast, and they’re hearing your energy level. You’re saying all these different things and all the different parts of your life and different parts of your business and how you got to where you are and you’re successful. And to them, you may be a perception of an overnight success, but in reality, how long did it take you to get to where you are currently?

Oh, my gosh. Well, I love talking about my age, because I’ve actually had people say, you should start with your age because you don’t look it, and it’s hard. Like, your credibility has increased phenomenally when you say So I’m 52, and I’ve had many, many lives. I was a firefighter. That was my first job, my first real job out of college. I had a degree in journalism and went straight in firefighting, as you do, and I did that for about seven years. And then I went to La. Because I thought, this is my thinking. Holy crap, I just did something I’m not supposed to be able to do. I’m five foot two. I am tiny now. I was a bodybuilder. I had won a couple bodybuilding contests, so I was able to carry my weight. And boy, did they love me. When there was a confined space. Like, they were kind of like, dad, she’s too little. But the second there was a confined space rescue, when someone had to crawl through a damn tube, they’re like, Go get Laura. I’m like, okay, I see how this works. PS. They were very, very good to me. So I worked as a firefighter, and I thought, at the age of 25, I’ve basically done this thing that is really hard, super competitive. And I thought, well, what else can I do? What else can I do I’m not supposed to be able to do? So I went to Hollywood and started acting, and I actually got some roles. I got on the West Wing. The listeners. Now. Be like west. What? Google it, kids. So I got on television a couple of times. I did a bunch of plays, I did a bunch of independent films, but it wasn’t my people. I did the thing. I went union. I got on television, I worked with these incredible people. I kicked open the door, and I was like, I don’t really like it. It just wasn’t my jam. So I stopped doing and as I was working as an actor, I did need to support myself in other ways. And that’s when I started working as a personal trainer and doing martial arts and becoming a yoga instructor and then a martial arts instructor and then a yoga teacher, trainer, and then on and on it went. So I started to specialize and become very expert in the mind body world. So the cool thing is, the acting is actually one of the most powerful skills I learned, because in my work, it is all about energy. It’s all about vibration. And energy in motion is emotion. And learning how to leverage emotion when you’re doing the Law of Attraction work, and I consider this is just me, I consider the Law of Attraction law, because it is actually the third law of motion, newton’s third law of motion. So within so without you throw a boomerang, it’s coming back. Whatever’s going on inside you is going to have a feedback loop. Outside of you, it’s going to come back to you. So whatever thoughts you’re thinking, whatever feelings you’re feeling, the universe is going to be like, all right, they want more than that. Here it comes. So helping myself first learn how to use my emotions, which I had ten years of training in, to manifest. Boy, was that powerful. And now that’s part of what I teach others how to do, is navigate and craft your emotions. What? Okay, they call it mantra craft. It’s so much fun. So after I did all that stuff, I wound up in martial arts. I found that there was this big disconnect as a woman. I went to the street fighting class taught by someone who was from Israel and Karl McGowan. KRAB. McGah. He was from Israel. I’m like, this is really hardcore. I don’t think any women are actually going to do this. I feel like there’s something in martial arts and selfdefense that doesn’t really acknowledge and harness the power and skills that women have just naturally. So I created a program called Unbreakable Woman Selfdefense. Compassionate Selfdefense. So this was all about women using their intuition and their situational awareness skills, which we are gifted with. I mean, all humans are, but women are particularly a student, this particularly connected to them. And I basically taught women how to use the science of intuition to understand when they were getting an intuitive impulse and how to trust it so that they never needed their bodies to defend themselves. My tagline was, you don’t have to learn to fight like a man to be safe. That’s how men get down. It’s not how women get down. And the reason a man would want to start a fight with a man or attack a man very different than why they want to do that with women. So I created a consultancy around this, and I started doing women’s empowerment gigs at Fortune 500 companies. And on the strength of my book, I was hired to do some military contracting for US. Military, and they accepted my curriculum. So, like, my stuff’s been codified by the federal government, which is super cool, nice. And I did that for a few years, and. I still felt like it’s not quite there for me. I felt like I was shouting into the Grand Canyon. There’s just so much women’s empowerment stuff going on. Even though it was very worthy work, I just couldn’t really it wasn’t really doing it for me. And every time I had to do research, I would just get so triggered. I was just furious because I have this justice situation in me. I’m just like, that’s not fair. I get very upset. I’m like, I can’t work in a business where every time I do research to stay current, I get really upset and like, no, this doesn’t feel right. And I recognized, so this is part of the thing. This leads me to cancer. So this was all happening, and then I got the cancer. I created the opportunity for cancer, and it showed me I am trying to solve a problem at the same level of consciousness that created it. I’m not working at the root of the problem. And that’s where Soulful Leader was born, which is one of my signature programs. Now, the purpose of Soulful Leader is to help people reconnect with their worthiness, to make peace with their past, to find worthiness within and without, you know, with source, God, whatever you want to call it, universal consciousness. Get tapped into that thing that is not your ego, because that’s all an illusion. And Soulful Leader endeavors to help people reconnect with their worthiness so that they can be kind to themselves, to feel their value in themselves. So, once again, that gets reflected outwardly. And as I mentioned before, I recognize worthy men. They don’t abuse people. They don’t steal. And the majority of men are worthy. The majority of men are amazing. It is this very small minority that’s making the news. Nobody’s talking about the good guys who are awesome fathers. Like, well, I mean, they do like The Good Man Project, which I love to read, but nobody is talking about the good men. I’m like, Let us support the good men because they are the answer. It is these good men who are going to help the men who are struggling. Because of the way that I’m preaching the choir here. I don’t know what it’s like to walk as this world as a man, and certainly not a man of color. You could write a whole freaking novel about this. I just see that there are certain things I can provide as a woman. Not everything, because there’s certain conversations only men can have with men. However, I can help women stand up in their own authority to help model for men what respect looks like and help encourage them to feel, let them know they’re safe, never humiliate them when they’re vulnerable. Like, this is stuff women need to learn. And also for men how to feel worthy. Out. Some of the men that are in my programs, they’re totally kickass men, but they don’t know it because they’re not like athletes. They’re not the typical thing. And these men are so powerful, so I help guide them into their power. We do a lot of shadow work. I don’t know if your listeners know what shadow work is, but it’s like they got some anger that they’re afraid of. They don’t know what to do with it. I’m like, I know all about that. Don’t get cancer. Work with me. Work with somebody. Don’t make yourself sick. So I’m very fortunate that I’m actually doing the work that I was put here to do. And I love helping men and women connect with their worthiness. And I believe this is what the route is. And why I primarily want to work with transformational coaches is because I can only help so many people in a year S.A, right? If I can help 1000 people in here, that’s great. But if I can help 1000 coaches, help 1000 people, now I have 1000 X my ability to do good with however long my life is because I don’t know and I need these force multipliers, I can’t do it. All right.

Yeah.

So that’s how I got here. Long winding road.

Definitely interesting. So the one thing that I want to kind of dive into and I would just listen to see if you’re going to bring it up. I mean, obviously you’ve been on entrepreneur path for a long period of time and you jumped in to multiple different aspects and you kind of step in and you conquer it. You step in and you conquer it and you’re forming them into what you want. You’re channeling it. So in your path, like your entrepreneurial hustle, entrepreneurial mindset, did that come from somebody? Did it come from a parent, an uncle, an aunt? Like, where did that hustle mentality come from?

I was raised by employees. It was so hard to break free of that employee mindset. And my mother was like an Olympic gold medalist and learned helplessness. She was not a good model for me. She was a model of what I didn’t want to be. So if anything, out of my desire to not live her life, repeat her life, it definitely spurned me. The thing that created it for me. And I don’t know, I suspect other people may be like this. I did a bunch of jobs. Like I was a firefighter. You don’t get like, service, like so structured. And I always felt like I am not able to fire on all cylinders in this job. I can’t use all of my gifts and I feel a little bit squished. And every single job I had, I was not able to use all my skills. And it wasn’t until I worked for myself that I could leverage all of it. The process mastery, I don’t call it the sales. I call it the conscious holistic influence, which is the enrollment piece. Being able to tell a story because I’m a journalism major. So I write, I blogs, I have acting training.

So I really enjoy being able to interact with people on video, like I am with you right now. I love that exchange of energy. It doesn’t matter if it’s digital. It’s real, and it’s now and it’s happening and all of it. And I love being able to make my own schedule. I love being able to create my own structure. And just recently, I’m like, I’m working too much. I don’t like it. I want to make more money and work less. How am I going to do that? And it doesn’t even occur to me, like, oh, you don’t get to do that. I’m like, yes, of course I do. So how can I do it? It doesn’t even occur to me that I can’t do it. And that came from constantly doing it, just doing it. And I think the thing that holds people back from the entrepreneurial experiences, they’re so afraid they’re going to fail. What happens if I fail? I’m like, well, you can forecast your own failure all day long, but until you actually take action and get the feedback to determine start just building some metrics and take a look at things, start getting some feedback, and then see whether or not this floats your boat, some people just and I’m really grateful for this.

Some people are built to be CEOs. Some people are built to be coaches. Some people are built this is why I think corporations are important. People are built to get in there and do a job, to be part of a team. We have it perfect. Everybody’s getting their yayas, as I like to call it. But some people are in the wrong position because they’re in the wrong position because they’re afraid, and they’re getting their needs met, but they’re not getting their sole needs met. And you do the same thing. You work with coaches. You know the deal.

I do, definitely. So, I mean, I think something that you said was kind of a predecessor to the next question is, well, you’re looking for more time, but obviously you want to get more value and to get a higher premium paid out, but kind of like, why do you want more time? So how are you currently juggling, like, your work life with your family life?

Yeah, that’s such a good question. I love these questions because, okay, all right. I’m a mom. I have a nine year old adopted daughter, adopted her from foster care. And the reason I say that is because when you adopt from foster care, there are some things that are pretty consistent that you got to manage. There’s stuff you got to manage that you don’t necessarily have to do with the bio kit, although you can’t with the biokit. Okay, so when people are like, so what are your hobbies? I’m like, I’m an entrepreneur making payroll. Next question. I am so in service of being in service. My business, even though it’s quote unquote, work, it is so satisfying to me. I do find that I start to when I’m outward facing, like right now, very outward facing. You would never know this. I am an introvert 100%. If I didn’t do this, I would just be on my couch looking at my plants for hours. I love it. It’s so nourishing to me now. This is my work. It’s my passion. You can hear the passion. I am so turned on and so inspired by witnessing people’s growth that this is I wouldn’t say it’s a sacrifice by any stretch of the imagination, but this is not necessarily how I occur naturally.

It’s part of me and there’s some energy involved, there’s some effort. So I need to recoup. I don’t know if I can do this all day long. I could, but then at the end of the week, suddenly I’d just be a little fried. No. So the way I balance it is through schedule. So I have my VA. I’m very strategic about when I have outward facing days and when I have days that I get to sit on the couch and look at my plants. And with my daughter, I share custody with her. So when her dad has her, I work kind of like a maniac. Probably three or four days a week, 1214 hours days. Just because there’s always so much to do. There’s just never not something that needs to get done in a timely fashion. And I’m managing a VA, a tech person. I’ve got some creative people that I work with. So I think the way that I handle it is through time blocking, making sure my VA is respecting or aware of my time blocks and building time in to just recharge. And that’s going to mean something different. But some people need to go lift weights to recharge.

I need to sit still, meditate probably to recharge because a lot of I channel myself and I need to be connected with source all the time. And if that connection gets interfered with, I feel like I’m not as able to help as I could be. So it really comes down to some it’s kind of the mechanics of working your calendar. That’s how I manage it.

Got it. Just going right off of that last comment about managing your calendar. What is your morning ritual of your morning routine look like?

So I have the great good fortune of having a soulmate who teaches a very rare martial art called Murpati puti. It’s actually an energy art and it’s from Indonesia. It’s a whole thing. They teach people how to, through meditation and breathwork, how to build electricity in the body so that you can sense your environment with your body. You don’t need your eyes. They actually teach people to see without their eyes called vibravision. And there is an energy maintenance practice that they have that I do in the morning. So I get up when my alarm goes off. I take ten to 15 minutes to stay in this state because it’s auto suggestible, which means my subconscious is wide open first thing in the morning. And I have a litany of affirmations that I say every morning when I first wake up. So I hit those and then I get up before my daughter so I have some time to do this stuff. Then I do the energy maintenance work, which takes about 15 minutes. I listen to usually Abraham Hicks has this awesome morning rampage. It’s about nine minutes. That is very centring. And most times I have a practice called giza.

It’s gratitude, intention, service, and affirmation. It’s one of my tools. It’s a calibration toolibration. So I get ahead of whatever is happening in the day through gratitude, setting an intention for who I’m being, because what I do doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is who you be in my world, because we’re human beings and not human beings. So I’m all about that intention statement. And then how am I going to interact with people this how am I going to be in service to people today? Authentically, without bouncing energetic checks. And then finally the affirmation, which I will do, kind of more conscious. And then I get my daughter, get her to school, and then work really begins, usually around 08:00, so I start around 530. By eight, I’m ready to work. And if I don’t have her, I will work until 738 o’clock at night because I don’t want to stop. I’m creating content, I’m helping, and I’m like, I love it. When I need to get my daughter, I will admit, I will absolutely confess, when 05:00 rolls around, I have to take my hands off the keyboard. I’m like, God damn it.

Because I always have more I want to do. And it’s not that I don’t want to see my daughter, but, you know, you get on a roll, then I pivot. So here’s the thing, though. Wherever I am, it’s where I am when I’m with her. I’m a with her that she’s the only thing that matters in the world. I’m just so present with her. When I’m working, I’m not thinking of anything else. And I want to give this little piece to men and women out there who have children who may have some guilt around this when I’m doing something, like going to a conference, like, oh, don’t you miss your daughter? Like no, no. I love my daughter. I’m right here with you right now. I’m not thinking about my daughter. I’m thinking about what’s happening right now in front of me and when I get home. I love being with her. She’s just a gift. She’s taught me everything I know about patience and kindness and tolerance, all of it, she’s taught me. So she’s my little professor of love. And I just don’t feel guilty at all about that, because I am where I want to be 100% of the time.

And if I’m not where I want to be, then I’m not going to be where I am. I’m going to change my mind. That was the agreement I made myself when I had cancer. I’m where I want to be always. Yeah.

Nice. So next question is a three part question, and I’m just like listening to your speaking patterns, and I could hear obviously, you’ve been influenced by life and I would think by literature as well. So this next question is, what books have you read to help you get to where you are? Second part is, what books are you reading right now? And the third part is, have you had opportunity to author any books?

Yes. So part one, it’s kind of funny you should ask about that. Books are so important to me and so important on the journey of transformation that when I paid in full, like my private clients, my high dollar clients, I curate a book selection for them based on where they are in their process. I’m like, don’t read this. Don’t read this yet. It’s going to bounce off. You need to do more work before you tackle this book. And that’s the thing. How many times have you read a book and you’re like, Eh. And then you go back and read it ten years later, and you’re like, Damn. Have you ever had that experience?

It’s called the Napoleon Hill Book series.

Yes, exactly. You’re like, oh, I heard this is a good book. Yeah, I don’t get it. And then you would share a little bit. You’re like, oh, my God, this book has changed my life in five pages, right? This is the experience I share with you. So the books that gosh there have been so many. I would say the primary books that really I mean Warp Speed, Massive Transformation for me were anything by Dr. David Hawkins. ‘Power versus Force” is his seminal work and probably as far as emotional growth and transformation and alchemy true alchemy. ‘Letting Go’ by Dr. David Hawkins. His books are well, let’s just say there’s magic in them, so to speak. I’m using that word, kind of. I mean, what he went through, he basically transcended. He was able to manifest instantly. He was outside his body, watching his body walk around. That’s called transcendence. It’s very rare. And usually people who do that don’t stick around. He decided to come back and be in this world to teach us that’s in that book. So if you’re open to it, if you’re open to receiving that level of transformation, you will get it. And I just want to alert you, it’s just an alert. If you’re a very self aware person and you read it, be prepared to have a big emotional catharsis and love and hate the book at the same time, because this was recommended to me by my soulmate. And I remember doing a Marco Polo to him because we have a long distance thing. He lives in Utah right now. And I’m like, I hate this book. It’s awful, and I love it. It’s so important that I just want to kill myself and love myself. The whole thing. Like, it’s crazy town. Just be prepared because it is the death of the ego, and you might need it. This is why I recommend it to my people while I’m coaching them, because it is a very powerful book if you’re ready for it. So Dr. David Hawkins, I would say, would probably be one of my top three authors. Gary Zukov, Seed of the Soul, once again, very deep, very powerful soul work. And of course, anything by Dr. Joe Dispenza that started me on my journey about quantum mechanics and how to use this as a neurofacilitation piece, how to use quantum mechanics and meditation to shift your body, miraculous healings, things of that nature. So these are, I would say, top three influential books. What I’m reading now. Gay Hendrix, the big leap. I just read it and reread it and reread it. I’m also listening to a course in miracles. It’s just on loop. Sorry. Course in miracles made easy. That’s really important. It’s kind of like course for miracles for dummies. Course for miracles made easy. These are the two the books I’m kind of going back and forth with. And I’m also reading a book called oh, gosh, it’s Hermeticism. It’s a little bit crazy. Hermetic. Okay. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Tolh. Tolk was the god of education and basically in Egyptian times. And Tolh created the Hermetic way of as like alchemy. And it’s very ancient transformational teaching. And he’s also considered the god of death. But to me, death is education. It’s just another way. It’s a big education. It’s like graduation from this world onto the next, whatever it means. Because I don’t know. But this is some ancient stuff. It’s pretty heavy and it’s super interesting. So these are the books that I’m in contact with now. And what was the third part?

Have you authored any books?

Yes, I have. Unbreakable woman compassionate, selfdefense and empowerment. And half the people have reviewed it are men. And it says about two pages in. Ladies, if you’re here to man bash, throw the book out the window. It’s not going to happen. So it is a book about acknowledging the assistance of men to help empower women and also give women very clear practical skills as far as without quint, laying hands on anybody, how to identify and avoid people who mean harm, who are dangerous. So that’s my current book. Yes.

Nice. So, I mean, going spinning off of books, I mean, obviously you have a lot of systems in place, and you’re saying that you have a PA and you have a technical person, you have a design person. What software do you use that you would not be able to do what you do without?

Well, I work on a lot of platforms, so Once Hub I really like Once Hub. Once Hub is my scheduling platform, and I’m able to and this is a big piece of what I teach my coaches. There’s an assessment form you cannot get on my schedule unless you apply, period. So I was able to go in and make these custom questions that are designed to really get you thinking and really like, am I ready for this? Five questions all through a schedule. One. So when people get on my schedule, I go through and I look at their application. It’s right there in my email, and I can email them back immediately. And I’ve done this on numerous occasions. They’ll answer a deal breaker question for me, like, do you think you can change? No. I’m like, I can’t work with you. And I’m like, Is that what you meant? Do you mean you can’t change? Or do you mean like, you’ve tried and it’s been hard for you? So it allows me to interact with them and make sure that they are ready to work with me. So I love Schedule once for that. It’s my assessment tool, and it’s a very robust platform. I think it’s fantastic. Also, my CRM is ConvertKit right now. It’s cool for me. I like ConvertKit because they kind of upgraded their system a little bit, and it’s where I do all my newsletters. And what are some other platforms that I really love? Well, obviously Zapier, but I’m not sure that really counts. That’s just oh, it does.

Zapier definitely counts.

Okay. Zapier. Got to have the Zaps. I’m the Zap Queen, man. I just dream zaps and teachable. I host all of my content on Teachable, and I absolutely love it. It’s just I mean, it’s everything. And so Teachable and is Zapped with my CRM, and that works out really well. What other platforms do I have? Oh, I love panda dock. All of my agreements go through Panda Doc. It’s just so slick. I use Square to take payments on enrollment calls. I’m trying to think of anything else that’s like, I definitely pay for a lot of stuff. Like, what else do I pay for? G Suite, these types of things. Obviously, I’m using the Zoom Professional, the pro level of that, and I think that’s about it. Those are, like, my big go to right now. I’m trying to keep it low tech. That’s my funnel, and eventually I’ll probably go to Active Campaign, but right now, this low tech funnel works for me.

Nice. So this is going into a final word of wisdom, right? So you’re saying that essentially your ideal client is a client that’s going to be able to take what you’re teaching them, utilize it, and help more people. So it magnifies your delivery. Right? So let’s say I’m a 35 year old male right. And I’m kind of in transition in corporate America. I’m dibbling a little bit in entrepreneurism. And you have an opportunity to talk directly to me and you’re talking directly into my soul. What words of insight would you give to me to help me on my journey?

If you are looking to do a Pivot, I would ask you to take a moment and feel through, not think through, feel through. Six months from now, if you were to launch a coaching business or consulting business, what would you offer? What teaching or learning or perspective would you be giving that lights you up? What is that thing where you wake up every day and think, I get to talk to XYZ about this thing that I’m so passionate about. I would invite them into the conversation of finding that passion first and foremost, find your why. What is it that you are no longer willing to wait to do? Because it’s why you’re here. You’ve always known it. But it took you until about the age of 35 to finally realize I’m not doing what I’m able to do, I’m not doing what I could be doing. What is that and why do you want to do it and then call me immediately? Because I will get you on that path and get all the interference help you get all that interference out of the way, the doubt, the limits, all that crap, and give you a process strategy to help pursue that why and invite people into it, make it super juicy and just wake up and be in deliciousness every day.

Why not deliciousness every day. I like that. That’s a great segue. Do you have any promotions? How can people find you wish, your social media profiles?

Oh my gosh, it’s all the things. Yes. So my website is mytransformationalcoach.com and I have a free gift. There mytransformationalcoach.com/effortless. This is the cause and effect business model. I help people see how the law of attraction can actually create effortless business. I made six figures my first year doing this and I had a $40,000 week my first year right out of the gate with nothing. This stuff works and it kind of turns the traditional conventional business model on its head. So if you are a transformational coach and conventional business models and sales processes just don’t resonate with you get this gift. You can also find me on Instagram at Soul for Leader and you’ll see hopefully in the show notes, I’ll show you how to spell that because it spells a little bit different. There’s only one L in the middle. So the end of Soulful starts. The beginning of Leader at Soulful. Leader on Instagram. Every Wednesday at 12:30, I do the free lunch live. I host a free show. The first person to drop a question in the chat gets transformational coaching from me. So if you think you might want to do become a coach or if you have any questions around my process. How do you use intuition, which is a completely unknowable, uncontainable thing, to actually help people? I can help you tap into it, make it reliable, make it a knowable thing. So come follow me on Instagram, come to my site, get that free gift, and if you have any questions around anything, I’m mora@soulfuleader.com. Just look me up. I’m easy to find. I’m on LinkedIn. I’m everywhere.

Nice.

Yeah.

So I got a couple of bonus questions for you.

Yeah.

So I’m just listening to all your achievements. I mean, you list off from martial arts, being a firefighter, being gymnast, who you are today, surviving cancer, and the list goes on. So out of all of these and probably more that I haven’t even heard from you yet, what is your most significant achievement to date?

What a beautiful question. By far, my most significant achievement and contribution to humanity is learning to love myself and accept myself for who I am in all my flaws and show up as I am, completely courageously, like, all right, haters, have at it. I can’t help it. I am who I am and make room for everybody. Make room for everybody, no matter where you are on your path. And I’ve had some people do some pretty shitty things. That’s okay, because we’re all on our path. There’s room for everybody no matter where they are. Making space for myself has allowed me to make space for everyone. No judgment.

Very interesting. I got one more for you, right? If you could spend 24 hours with anyone, dead or alive, uninterrupted for those 24 hours, who would it be and why?

Wow. Gosh, that’s such a great question. Can it be a 50 way tie? No. Okay, let’s see. You know what? I would love to spend 24 hours with Gary Vee. Oh, my God. I love that man. And I’ll tell you one of the reasons I love him because he has the courage to love. He is this, like, megacapitalist. He has the perfect immigrant kids story, right? And he is bringing the love to that conversation for millennials, which is so important. This is a future. Millennials are the future of business because they’re just about in charge. They’re just about to be, like, the majority of employees, the majority of business owners, the majority of people in the workforce. I love Gary Vee’s approach. I think he is a true pioneer, and I think if anybody could make a business case for soulful leadership in the business place, it’s that guy, because people listen to him. I adore him. I admire him, and I would love to be in his presence for 24 hours. I would. Give me a sunburn. I’m pretty sure.

Yeah, it’s Gary Vee. He’s 100% energy, man. 100% energy.

Love that guy.

Got it. So going to closing, I mean, every episode, I have an opportunity to give the microphone to my guests. And so you. Could ask me any question that may have arrived during this interview.

Are you sure?

100%.

Okay. What are your hands doing right now? Are they folded in your lap? Okay, put them down. Now, when I started talking about women’s self defense, it happened twice. You reached your arms up and you crossed them. I’m really curious what that was about.

Because I’ve been in this chair since this morning, and this is, like, my fourth interview, and I’m just sitting in the wrong chair.

Okay. Yeah.

It was just me correcting my posture because I was slouching down a little bit. But anytime I do this usually is I’m intrigued. I know it’s the perception is you have to have open arms. But for me, I’m kind of like I lean in, and I’m like listening. When I do that, it’s like I’m 100% engaged.

So that is why I asked, because I made no presumptions about your body language. I just noticed that it changed. So I’m like, oh, that’s feedback. I want to know what that feedback’s about. Just pure curiosity, brother. I’m just like, Why is it crossing the river? I’m so curious. So you were intrigued. Okay. Yeah. And I was I’m curious why you would be intrigued about that subject.

Because I think, to your point, I think it’s not necessarily, like, the violence aspect of it, but you’re such a woman empowerment movement in yourself, and I’ve dealt with so many everybody deals with women and deal with men in their life. And I always hear about, like, the negative side of things, like they’re being faced with the reality that maybe they’re not good enough or their boss would not give them enough pay or pay raise, but it’s more so coming to that situation and demanding it. And I think if we are, at that time, a place to where you could be a black male or you can be an Asian female, and you should be able to step into that opportunity and get the equality that you deserve, and you could demand it without having to be fearful of the side effects. If you do ask for that upgrade.

And I would love to ask you one more question, if I may.

Of course.

Because I’m in an incredible mastermind right now with Daniel Leslie. I don’t know if you ever heard of her, but she is absolutely phenomenal. She had a million dollar launch. I was a part of it.

Nice.

Million bucks. One launch, baby. She is amazing. She’s a woman of color. She attracts women of color. The mastermind is extremely diverse, male and female color, not color. And I’m very curious. And one of my clients was a lovely gentleman by the name of William Brown, and he’s a man of color. And we talked, and he mentioned to me while we were he was interviewing me for one of his podcasts, he said he didn’t have any role models in his life of AfricanAmerican men who were powerful and good. And he had a self loathing thing for a really, really long time. And that opened my eyes and say I was heartbroken for him because I never knew that. I never imagined that. And people only know unless they open up their aperture and ask questions to people who are different than them. They only know the world they’re in, their little bubble. And I was so grateful that he burst my little white woman Jewish bubble so that I could know a tiny fraction of what he has to live in every day and the challenges he’s had. And I’m really curious for you because you seem so woke, you seem so selfaware and in the business of really helping people become woken, aware in their own way.

And I wonder if you could speak to some of the challenges you’ve had as a man of color and what you would say to men of color. Like, how can we stop trying to solve the problem at the level of consciousness that created it? What’s the quantum leap for men of.

Color, according to you, to paint the picture right, I would say to break the shackles of the golden handcuffs. And I think that is the route, because growing up, you see your parents working or parent working, and that parent then instills in you to get an education so then you can go work. And I’m not knocking that. But my name on my podcast is Boss Uncaged, right? It’s all about becoming an entrepreneur or being on that journey and understanding that’s where the freedom really lies. Working for someone is not essentially the opportunity for you to really find yourself. And I’m talking from experience. I’ve worked for dozens of people, and a lot of times they may have a train of thought that’s different than mine. And if you raise your hand and you say, hey, I don’t think that’s going to work, for this reason, you may be ridiculed or shunned upon, which by default, if that keeps happening, then you stop wanting to raise your hand. You stop wanting to communicate. You stop wanting to, you know, let your genius shine. And by default, that becomes kind of like you said before, cancer is to you as a person.

And then you stop talking. You start looking down. You stop making eye contact. Your shoulders start to slouch down. And by breaking out of that and then going on your own and really figuring out hitting the ground and really running and hustling and talking to people and communicating and delivering your passion like you asked before, then you become this person. So I’ve went through all these transitions that I’ve talked about, but now I am who I am. And part of that was being going through a stroke. Part of that is being an entrepreneurial journey. But now it’s like, I don’t really give a shit what anybody thinks about me. My goal is my goal and my vision is my vision. And the way that people are going to ride with me to the promised land, some of them will ride, some of them will sit on the shores and watch. But I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about helping whoever I can help on that journey.

That’s beautiful. Thank you.

I appreciate you asking that question.

Absolutely. I just want to know more. How can I know? How can I know more? How can I be in support as a woman? I mean, we have a similar different reason, similar journey. Right. So I’m always curious about how I can do more. And the only way I will know is if I ask. Yeah, right. Yeah.

And you act without the pretension of whether it’s going to be negative or positive. You’re asking for a learning experience, and I think a lot of people don’t. They ask and then before somebody responds to your point, that body language may shift and that body language shift may be like the person may be like, okay, I was going to say this, and maybe they thought I was going to say this now maybe I need to change my answer. And the reality is just ask the question and let them respond 100% before you internally retaliate without thinking about it.

Yeah, well, and if curiosity is your aim, there is no retaliation. It’s just learning. It’s just learning. And curiosity is a universal lubricant. I will leave people with that.

On that note, this episode is over. On that note S.A Grant Over and out. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Boss on Cage. I hope you got some helpful insight and clarity to the diverse approach on your journey to becoming an uncage trailblazer. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review and share the podcast. If this podcast has helped you or you have any additional questions, reach out and let me know. Email me at ask SA Grant.com or drop me your thoughts via call or text at 762233boss. That’s 762-233-2677. I would love to hear from you. Remember, to become a Boss Uncaged, you have to release your inner beast. SA Grant signing off.

Listeners of Boss Uncaged are invited to download a free copy of our host SA Grant insightful ebook, become an Uncaged Trailblazer. Learn how to release your primal success in 15 minutes a day. Download now at www.bossuncaged.com/freebook.