Episode 258: The Power of Ritual for Creativity and Career | Leia Vita Marasovich | Artist & Designer
What happens when you stop forcing your path and start listening instead? For Leia Vita Marasovich, that choice led her across continents and disciplines, from farming in Guatemala to shooting cookbooks in California to documenting surf culture and regenerative agriculture around the world. In this conversation with Kara, Leia shares how she’s built a career by trusting herself and following what calls to her. They discuss Buddhist practices, working with Rich Roll and Julie Piatt, navigating two very different households growing up, and how rest and creativity go hand in hand. Leia’s story is a reminder that you can live in alignment, work across your passions, and define success on your own terms.
“The more we can nurture the fact that as women we are beings of constant creation, growth and shape shifting, we can find so much power in that.”
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Chapters:
(00:00:00) Combining Farming and Photography as a Creative Career
(00:04:00) Building a Life From Creative Intuition, Not Pressure
(00:06:30) Empowering Women Through Storytelling and Visuals
(00:09:30) A Food-First Mindset and the Power of Nourishment
(00:11:00) How Documenting the Amazon Changed Her Creative Path
(00:15:00) Breaking Into Cookbook Photography and Lifestyle Branding
(00:17:00) Surf Culture, Morocco, and Discovering Farmer’s Footprint
(00:20:00) Buddhism, Mindfulness, and Manifesting Through Action
(00:23:00) Growing Up Between Two Worlds and Trusting Your Identity
(00:28:00) Letting Go of Fear and Leading With Creative Trust
(00:32:00) Choosing Language That Heals and Connects
(00:35:00) Soil Health, Human Health, and Regenerative Living
(00:38:00) Redefining Power and Embracing Feminine Leadership
(00:41:00) Why She Sees Power as a Circle, Not a Ladder
(00:44:00) Slowing Down and Designing a Regenerative Business
(00:47:00) What She Needs Now and How to Support Her Work
Follow along using the Transcript
Through all this, I was still missing the farming aspect. I was like, man, shooting's so fun, but like farming was my bread and butter and what I studied and that whole past life. My time in Morocco came to an end naturally, and I'm working at Rich and Julie's retreat in Italy that I work at every year.
That's Leia Vita Marasovic, I'm Kara Duffy, and this is the Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Welcome to the powerful ladies podcast.
Thanks so much for having me happy to be here.
As I said, when you first jumped on, I'm so excited to be talking to you because Kendra on my team and my friend has been. Just talking about this incredible friend she has and all these cool things she's up to and you got to know her.
And the more she was telling me like what you're up to in so many, I think important different spaces and industries. I was like, yes, like I cannot wait for our conversation. So before I go any further, let's tell everyone. Your name, where you are in the world and what you're up to.
Sure. So my name is Leia, like star Wars, princess Leia, you won't forget it.
I'm based in Encinitas, California, San Diego County, which is Kumeyaay and Puyampucham land. And I would say in short, I'm a storyteller, but really, I feel like I am constantly exercising new ways of creativity and thinking, and that expresses itself in many ways. Yes, but through storytelling really through the medium of videography and photography.
And could you say your whole name so that no one on my team messes it up, including me? Yes.
Leia Vita Morozovich.
Thank you. Okay, perfect. Yes. So you work with some people that I have been following, like Rich Roll with somebody who inspired the form of my podcast and values that I'm sharing and what I hope powerful ladies brings.
So you work in, with podcasters, you work with celebrities, you work with brands, you work in the farming space. Is there an industry I haven't listed that you do work in?
food, chefing, photographing that and surfing. Yeah. Oh, and indigenous communities. Okay.
Perfect. So what I love about you as an example is that you are thinking about every area that you care about and you're working in it.
So many people will say, Oh no, I need to focus. I am. A food and farming photographer at the end, but you've just gone really broad with I'm going to bring my gifts to everything I care about and then keep discovering new ones. Was that intentional? Was that how your business has rolled out?
What was your logic in? Checking off so many areas that matter to you in your work. Yeah.
I think always my passion and interests and how to create value has been my core decision making factor and what I do rather than how am I going to make money or. What should be my career and like hone in on that.
It's really been, what am I interested in passion in? Cause I know that if I do something I'm passionate about and deeply care about, I will do it really well. And since I graduated college 10 years ago, my. My kind of mantra and prayer has been in regards to my career is that I want my passion my skills and my creativity to be fully utilized and appreciated.
It was not appreciated. It's what's the point, and holding that prayer took so much pressure off of Instead of what is it? Who am I going to be? What career do I want to do? Where do I want to be in 10 years? That was like, how can I know? The universe often has other plans we can't even perceive And so really getting clear on what is it I want to utilize of the skills I have How do I want to express my creativity and letting that guide?
My career has led me to a place where I feel so fulfilled and satisfied in what I'm doing, holding to that prayer rather than the logistical, how am I going to do that? And so that has led me through so many unique and interesting places. And now I'm at like a full circle where my origin, which, my undergrad, I studied sustainability and farming.
And that focus and then but when I graduated, I got that's a whole story how I got into photography and storytelling and they were so separate worlds and then after eight years of still holding on to that prayer, it led where those two worlds became one and I was able to document farmer stories for a living and be.
Really appreciated in that work. So I work with farmers footprint, which is a nonprofit focus on really accelerating regenerative agriculture and those narratives through the lens of farmer story. Connecting back to the human story of the people and hands growing our food and how, building those relationships.
Anyways, there's a lot there, but really that passion to what I love about storytelling and video and photography is I feel like I just get to hold up a mirror and remind people of their beauty and their power and their essence, which when you're in the weeds, when you're farming or. Doing whatever you're doing, you can lose that, forget that.
And so I feel like I'm just walking around with a mirror and reflecting back and building people's own will and capacity to continue what they're doing once they're reminded of how powerful and beautiful they are when they're doing that. So that expresses itself in every which way through a surfer, on.
An amazing wave or even a small wave or a farmer growing food. So yeah, it's really been my interest in and deep reverence for humanity and the different roles people play and how to just reflect that back and shine a light on that beauty to touch so many different places and fields. If
we go back to eight year old you, would she have imagined that this is your life today?
Gosh, no way. But she would be stoked. Yeah, I think, but at the same time, I think it would be like, wow, that's cool, I could have never put that together, and that completely makes sense. It was like something I maybe couldn't imagine at that time, but then once I knew I'd be like, Oh yeah, I can see me totally doing that.
Yeah. What did you think you're going to be when you were eight or what were you interested in then?
Oh, I did. So my family's from Croatia and Slovenia, but I was born and raised in LA. So I grew up at the airports a lot, going back, visiting family in the summers. And so my first job ever, I wanted to work at an airport because I thought it was, I Coolest thing.
And so exciting, very different feelings around that now today after the airport walkthroughs. And then I wanted to be an interior designer. I would always sketch designs. So yeah, always I guess airport wouldn't be the most creative thing, but it was after that phase was definitely just more creative outlets of yeah, design, but I never really.
New or had that advertised,
you have such a passion for food and feeding people and honoring that space Where did that come from? Was that part of your household? Did you learn it through and appreciate it through school? Like where did that part of you? Come from and grow
from yeah, I think it's definitely a combination.
I'm so grateful to have Such an amazing mother and stepmother who really instilled that reverence for food. And so I grew up in a very healthy, organic, all those things, yogi mother, all that. And it was just, there was always just a deep pause when we were eating and appreciation and just the flavors and the awareness around that, so it was just.
It's always within me. And then in college, I had a lot of opportunities to do research abroad. I went to Guatemala and study the impacts of mining and deforestation on local communities with farmers and how it's impacting them and that really like being on the ground. On in the experience and seeing the impact of livelihoods was really like forever.
Then I was like, I need to work in food systems because this is the very life source that feeds us these farmers and they're so underappreciated and so after a lot of these research trips abroad, I. Started the farm at the university, and so I was actively then growing food and hosting workshops and composting, and from that moment, I was just, I had such a high life condition, just being in the soil every day and creating a space for community and art.
It became so much more than just food. And I think that's what I love about food. It's this intersection where community exists, where Conversations exist where, so many things live in that space and bring us together through food. And so to honor the origin of where that food comes from and the people who grow it is, it's just so obvious to me.
And like, how can we, how can I not dedicate my life to this? And yeah, so that kind of led me on a path where I've explored with food. I worked with a plant based chef, Rich's wife photographed her two cookbooks which was incredible and a delicious two years. I ate a lot of yummy plant based food through that.
Perfect. And then you said that it was an interesting pivot or add on to go into photography. So how did photography become part of you? Yeah,
Okay, so I graduated from this amazing college called Soka University, and it's all around really being a global citizen and living a contributive life is the ethos of the school.
So I came, I graduated with so much energy, I'm gonna change the world, I'm ready. And then reality hit when I moved back to LA and just worked like, odd jobs and at a yoga studio. And I'm like, okay, I'm not fulfilling my purpose, and so that eagerness led me. To a full body knowing and feeling that I need to move back to Ecuador.
So I studied abroad in Ecuador and fell in love with that place and its people. And my best friend from the same school who also studied abroad there was making a documentary in the Amazon, how globalization and oil companies are impacting local indigenous communities. And when I heard that and heard her whole pitch, it was like.
This is the most important thing I can dedicate my life to. I have no idea what I'm going to do there or how I'm going to help. But it was like, like I said, a full body knowing that I need to be there. So I quit all the odd jobs. I was working in LA. I taught a yoga class, raised 700 for this project. I call her up.
I said, okay, I'm ready to come down. What can I do with this money to support the community? And she said, Leah, the way you can create the most value would be to come down here and buy a camera. And shoot photos while I'm filming. It's what? I don't know anything about photography. That's crazy. I'm not spending the money on me.
Anyways, ten minutes later, she convinced me. So I bought just a Canon Rebel, whatever I could afford. Go down there, and I'm literally figuring out how to turn on the camera in the jungle. And she's hosting these cross cultural exchanges between tribes that the oil companies purposely You know, kept separate divide and conquer.
And, here we are in the middle of this with the camera and, one tribe is showing the other their traditional, dance dances and the other one shows them their sacred waterfall and their water ceremonies. And so I'm in the middle. Of this just like beautiful moment of these peoples and communities that have been separated, yet they're realizing how similar and connected they are and chills.
Yeah, it was so powerful. So live that kind of documentary lifestyle for 4 months down there with her. And the camera became my tool to a connect with those people because I didn't speak Kichwa. And so just through the camera, there was laughter, there was, so much interaction beyond language. And then the second thing I really had this epiphany of wow, where I live in LA, which is very car centric and very oil based.
We are directly impacting these communities without knowing it. And so if these photos can come back and educate people and bring awareness to the place that's causing a lot of the consumption, like there's so much potential from that. Yeah, I basically did that and went back and did it. Gallery, showed all the photos and we showed her trailer to the film that is actually launching soon this year.
10 years later. Wow. So that sparked my deeply falling in love with storytelling. And so I say that storytelling really found me. Like it was something I never expected or even in the time thought it would be a career. It was just like, wow, this is, and it became, it was just so natural the way I learned how to edit and work the camera.
It was just very intuitive almost. It was like a remembering, I would say. I came back from that trip and, I had all these photos and. Rich's wife, Julie Srimati. So I was a nanny for them in high school. And so you never know up
you never know where that's going to end
. But she was following my journey and seeing the photos I was posting.
She's wow, you really have an eye. I want to hire you to photograph my cookbooks. I was like, Whoa, I am completely unqualified. I just picked this up four months ago. I'm still figuring it out. And food photography is very specific, So sorry, long story. I'm getting to the right. This is
great.
Okay. And even rich was like, yeah, we should hire a professional photographer. But she just had this deep faith and belief in me. And she's I want to mentor you. You have something. And I was like, wow, she has so much faith in me. I better cultivate some interfaith that I can do this.
So okay Yeah, I'll figure it out. And so did that. And two years later we had two beautifully published cookbooks and one of them was like a bestseller cookbook. So that was, and she was so supportive of me and my, slow learning and that of how to work with lighting and white cheese on a white background and all this stuff.
And she would even hire a photographer to come mentor me for a day. And so I am so grateful for people who have seen me. It was first Kumiko, who's buy a camera. You have something with, photography. And then Julie, who's you still have something with me. And that really kept going. And then I we had finished those books and I decided to move to Morocco and shoot surfing.
And so then I got into, as I myself was learning surfing and getting into that world. So then I. I did surf photography for about a year and there was, it was the longest wave in Africa, this place I lived and such a sweet, amazing place. And a lot of, famous European, Australian surfers would come there.
So I had amazing opportunities and I got to shoot the first female Moroccan surfer who was really liked, I did all the water cinematography and that got featured on one of the most popular Moroccan television stations, which is huge for Arab country to portray a female in that way. And yeah, it's just really mystic.
But at the same time, having that. That faith of, again, knowing that prayer that I mentioned at the beginning. I want my skills, my passion, my creativity to be utilized. The universe was like, okay, cool. I'd love that clarity. Let me just throw some stuff in there to help that happen. But through all this, I was still missing the farming aspect.
I was like, man, shooting's so fun, but like farming was my bread and butter and what I studied and that whole past life. And my time in Morocco came to an end naturally and I'm working at Rich and Julie's retreat in Italy that I work at every year. And next to me is a gentleman named Zach, Dr. Zach Bush, and no idea who this guy is.
And it's just crazy how the stars aligned, but basically I got offered the job on the spot pretty much to work at Farmer's Footprint. He's I'm looking for someone to document farmer stories. And I was like, What? You're telling me I can get paid to document farmers? This is like the missing piece.
My two worlds have finally become one. And so that's now where I've been the past four years. I moved straight to Encinitas for that, and it has just been the most beautiful journey to really travel the country and now starting to go more global to share the legacy of farmer stories. So that's the full long version of how I ended up here.
I'm reading the book right now. The Untethered Soul.
And there is an ease at which you have allowed your life to unfold. That I do not think most people have access to. And so I'd love to talk a little bit about where. Your skill of listening to yourself, of trusting what you know, of trusting forces bigger than yourself.
Were you born that way? Was this cultivated? I know it's a practice that we have to keep maintaining all the time, like other muscles, but there's. I know that so many people listening are envious of how you seem to be open and that openness allows things to come. And I mentioned the book because I was just reading the chapter about energy and how we can choose to be open and receive, or we can shut things off and not receive and be disappointed and be frustrated.
And I just hear this openness that you. Seem to be approaching life with so am I accurate and where does that come from?
Yes, definitely You know, it's so easy in moments of tension or a breakup or when something happens To go straight into that frequency of fear and oh my gosh and freak out and I feel like I'm really good.
And I don't, I guess this has just been my natural how I was born and with some parental positive influences to which I'll go into of really thriving in those situations to pause and get really excited and all the possibilities that can emerge from this chaos or blankness, And yeah, like that journey was fluid, but at the same time, like the Morocco thing was like, I had no money.
I was like, what am I going to do with my life? Where am I going to go? I can't go back. So all these things and I just, I didn't even freak out. Just don't freak out. Because then you'll attract that energy too, and so I just really surrendered into deep trust of just you know I think the universe has a plan for me and I do have a Buddhist practice I do it mantra Nam myoho renge kyo and that really helps me think from an abundant okay from my highest life condition What are my dreams?
What do I want? and then what are the causes I can make to get there to get the effects I want because Yeah. Faith and prayer and all that is amazing. It's one thing, but if you're not making causes toward that, there's a disconnect. And so I think I've been just really deep. Yeah. In that that Buddhist practice has helped me in those moments where I would freak out to just be like, there's faith and get really excited in all the different doors that could open from this and then sit back and be like, okay, I'm making causes.
And I've trust something will happen and crazy stuff has happened.
And I want to pause you there for a second because you said something I think is so important. I have so many clients that are like, I've made my goals list, I'm manifesting, I'm praying about it. And I, and they're like, but nothing's happening.
I go, cool. What are your on planet actions? Yeah, what actions are you taking to move towards the things you want versus just waiting for them to show up? And sometimes that can be. Going to a networking event or something you wouldn't normally go to, it can just be being more open. It can be paying attention, looking around, or it can be much more dramatic and like the actions you're taking.
But you said that you're, and I, you said causing, right? What was the phrase
you use? Yeah. The causes you're making. Yeah. Yeah.
Which I think people skip over when we're talking about creating the life we want and manifesting it. It's yes, do that. And then phase two is. Go do something about it, right?
Yeah. So that's a fundamental aspect to this buddhism. Philosophy is the relationship of cause and effect and that it's actually simultaneous. So every time we're making a cause, it will have an effect whether it's registered. Today, tomorrow, 10 years, another lifetime. And so it's taking responsibility for those causes and the effects they're having.
So you can never really blame anything outside yourself if you haven't made the causes to get there. So I love that because it is so like in the world, and like action oriented.
And what is this part of Buddhism called or this practice? You said earlier, but I don't know if I caught
it. Yeah, Soka, S O K A, which means value creation or to create value, Soka Gakkai, to value creation society or Nietzschean Buddhism is another way, and yeah, I went to the university, Sophie University, that Is it's not religious, but it's founded on these principles of Buddhism.
So that's where I was introduced to it and was like, just saw so many benefits from taking time daily to sit and reflect on my goals, the causes and the effects they're having. And there's so much more there, but yeah, so I would say that's been fundamental. And also honestly, just like. Great parenting. I have to applaud my parents and I want to bring in the topic of divorce because I've had a very positive experience as a child of divorced parents, and I think there's such a negative energy and connotation.
And of course, it's heartbreaking and there's. grief there and at the same time from the child's perspective. And I think age and so many factors have to do with this. But I do want to give people hope if they are in that place that I had such I am the person I am today because I've been raised by four incredible humans.
And so I was six when my parents divorced and I was blessed to then receive a wonderful stepmother and stepfather and two step siblings. And although they're completely different households and families and values, like my mom and stepdad are the spiritual yogis vegetarian, that whole thing.
And my dad and stepmom very intellectual European artists, news or in, all that stuff and living between two completely worlds brought so much so much just beauty in my life of recognizing, wow, everyone like that works for them and that works for them. And, yeah, I think it's just grounded me in a deep respect for every human and where they're coming from and what they want to believe and, all that.
And so I grew up very much yoga on, quite often I'd like a yoga birthday parties, but then also very much in a different space that challenged that and grounded that in, in different ways through more intellectual or artistic conversations. And and then I got quadruple the love, from and that's a unique situation too.
I'm sure there's gnarlier, not everyone is blessed to have four amazing beings be a parent role, but it is possible. And that's what I want to say. And it was, it's been so amazing. And my parents, we all get together for the holidays, the ex wife, the current wife, and we just put differences aside and come together as a family and have joy.
So I think that upbringing really instilled a sense of, Yeah, just groundedness and how I react and respond to the world because I was always put in very different situations.
I just think that there's so much power in having those different environments. And this usually for most people, the only way to get that is to.
Go to a friend's house or to travel or to when they get married. There's like a culture shock. I'm like, wait, it's different But there's when you see People creating the life they want in all these different Versions, I think it gives peace of mind and freedom that you can 100 design the path that's for you And I also hear in your what you've shared so far is how You've paid attention and thought about it and took a beat.
And even if you were having, the freak outs that everyone has in some capacity about where am I going to stay and what's my house going to look like and how am I going to have money? There's core Maslow's hierarchy of needs that no one can escape until you've dedicated a life of being a monk of some capacity, but like taking those in stride, cause there's a workshop that I'm going to be doing soon all about self trust.
And bringing in some other people to have this conversation with you might be a great panelist for this and. Like it's, there's such a, it peaked at the end of last year and it's been carrying over a little bit into January of so many clients or people that I'm serving coming and asking me questions that I was surprised they were asking because I would have thought they knew based on previous success experience confidence.
And I don't know what energetically shook everybody up in that window. But it was, I was caught off guard of how much people just weren't trusting themselves, even though they knew the answer. I know that you're, I'm sure your practice is helping you to trust yourself. When you look at the work you're doing with indigenous peoples, when you look at the work you're doing with farmers, how do you see other examples of self trust and knowing?
That you can pull from
great question. Yeah, that's a good one. I think I turn to nature and looking at nature because we all know and can see the beauty and power of nature and it's like, of course, it's going to keep growing or changing and shifting, that's part of its innate ability. And so it's just a good reminder.
We are nature. We are an extension, the earth and the organism. Yeah. Just always turning to that mirror of nature and how it's in a constant state of flux and flow. Yet it never doubts itself. A tree never doubts. Am I a tree? And just that. It's so simple in a way, I think we can overcomplicate or just get so clouded with all these I love that this terminology for fear, F E A R fear stands for false evidence appearing real.
Love that. Totally. So yeah, I don't know. It is definitely a practice of just catching it once you get in that state. And I don't know what is really the answer. I think it's different for each person. And they're going to find out if that's through breath work or meditation or journaling.
There's so many avenues to just. Yeah, lean into that place of trust that really, I feel like it's always there. It's just how I'm never practicing that and then it gets stronger and stronger. And the more you lean into it, the more magical life gets. And then you're just like, I feel like I've been comfortable four years in this job.
So I haven't been in that place of challenge where I've been having to lean into trust until a recent thing that happened. And I forgot how exciting that place is where I get to practice trusting, it's not this Oh, I really need to cultivate this trust. It's Oh, this is an opportunity to practice trust.
And I'm excited because I have no idea what's about to happen. And that unknown is actually a really exciting place to be if you choose it to be.
That's how I feel when someone comes to me with anger, frustrated communication. Like what we would call normally a negative communication stance. I'm like, Ooh okay.
Tell me about it. Like you're like it's I get excited when there's that pushback because when it tells me people are being real or honest or some combination of that, but it also tells me we're about to unpack some things on your side, my side, maybe between us. But it does it lights me up to be like, okay, this is going to be a real conversation versus how are you?
How's the weather? Great. Thanks. Bye And none of that's and all those conversations all they do I think is mute our knowing And be able to read other people because no one's fine. No one's like all those boring words. They're like mush. And it's that's not who we are. So, I'm such a big proponent when I'm, we're talking about communication or doing workshops on it, we don't realize how much we lie to ourselves and to the people around us with our.
Word choice that is usually just lazy. And it's hold on. Is that really even when people disappoint us, we say, it's okay. That's not not, we're not like, this isn't a world ending thing, but it's also not okay.
Yeah. Totally. Yeah. I think I've been, what is that part of the four agreements, right?
Impeccable with your word. And it's something that's really interesting to you being on a podcast and having. My thoughts recorded and preserved in a way where I'm constantly working on evolving my thinking totally probably tomorrow. I could read think of some of these questions and have a totally different answer, but there's also beauty and capturing that moment of time and to see the progress.
And yeah, but yeah, impeccability with the word is. Something I'm definitely being sensitive to and it really takes mindfulness practice of because yeah, even all those words have frequency and I think I will never I something I've realized to in the past few years with friendships, especially is I can never really understand someone else's shoes like we can try or I maybe assume that I would react this way if someone told me that.
So I don't agree with their, no, it's like they have a reason for how they're reacting that way. And that's okay. And you shouldn't compare yours. So yeah, that's brought me really into a place of how am I communicating with this person that will land for them, not for me, to really meet each other.
It's hard because all of these shortcuts that our brain gives us. Are for survival reason and to have efficiencies, but those efficiencies step over all the intricacies of every person. To me, it's always this balancing act of using that skill to probably guess where somebody is, but how do we leave the door open for them to tell us exactly it really is this dance with people.
And I think it's also why I see more and more people narrowing their scope of their community. Because we've been in such a mode of more is better, more followers, more people, more contacts. And it's yeah, but there's no way you can have the level of communication that's really honoring each other when you're trying to have conversations individually with 5, 000 people.
So where are those deeper conversations coming from? Where are those connections that are true community versus the acquaintance, the colleague, like the, there's a room, I think, to Properly classify the relationships we have and then decide which ones. Do we want to nourish and develop and which ones are okay?
Exactly where they
are, right? And yeah, you know because I work in the space of regeneration and the core essence I feel of regeneration is relationships and when you look at all the relationships There are in the farming analogy. There's composting which is a death And sometimes that's an appropriate relationship for something and then there's and through that death and compost you plant a seed and something new blossoms, and so many beautiful metaphors in nature and always farming metaphors.
I'm thinking, but yeah, I think relationships and nurturing those ones that are really special is something that's just through my work. I've seen So That's everything, so
yeah, for people who aren't as connected to their food sources and the food cycle, what do you want them to know?
Oh my gosh, how much time do we
can always do episode part two.
Love it. Yeah. Okay. You know what I would say just the reminder of. The connection between our own human health and the soil health, and I don't want to just narrow on the soil, but for simplicity's sake, I'll say human health and soils health and that intersection, the rise in chronic disease all these things that are happening on the human health scale, there is a correlation to the way our food is being farmed.
And so what we can do as consumers, as eaters to combat that is really. Get intentional with where we're sourcing our food from and trying to understand that process and have a deep curiosity around it, too. And, that transition to, for farmers from the conventional system to a more regenerative mindset and approach, you never arrive.
It's a continuing, evolving spectrum. And so I think that's why I emphasize that curiosity. So can you maybe go to a farmer's market and just ask the farm, what are your challenges? What, start asking them questions and getting a one step closer to your food source would be an amazing place to start to also work on your own healing.
There's, I have eczema and autoimmune and a lot in my family and. Just around me. I see it so much that I didn't see as a kid. And I just there's so many parallels. And if you're interested in that topic, Dr. Zach Bush goes deep into it from a doctor perspective. And that's really the origin story.
Farmers footprint was that human health and soil health intersection. And yeah, there's again back to the causes we can make to reclaim our health by connecting to farmers and getting it. Steps closer to the source of our food, because so much of our food has been grown months ago and shipped from all over and fossil fuels and such a just not healthy system.
And yeah, just reminding people and hopefully some info to just. Farmer's Market, find a local farmer, ask questions, and just really savor the difference in taste and flavors from that locally, seasonally grown food. And, of course, there's the questions of accessibility, and you can go deep down rabbit holes of all these topics that, I understand there's barriers to entry for a lot of people and communities.
So yeah, it's like We always ask this question at farmers footprint is really there's so many ways our lives can intersect with regeneration and how we're moving through our daily lives and how that's starts in our own home and family doesn't have to be like, oh, I need to change my career and get, it's no, By every day of the choices you're making, you are contributing to the future.
We want or don't want, so power is in our hands and mouth.
And that's a good segue to how do you define powerful and ladies and when they're next to each other, do those definitions change?
Okay, I'm, can I start with ladies first, so I'm going to parallel that term with the aspect of the feminine and I actually through Julie Rich's wife as really a dear friend and mentor and all the things she is to me, she's really showed me that this true aspect of the divine feminine, which I think of Shiva, which is the goddess with eight arms.
The feminine is in constant creation. We're birthing constant. It's our, we birth things literally. But I think it's very much innate and not to say men or the masculine isn't in that. I just think it's more natural for us and we are in that fluid state That which is why I defy the labels like I'm a photographer.
I'm a things. I'm just like, I'm constantly creating things and tomorrow I might decide to be a painter. I don't know. And so I think that when I think of the feminine or ladies, I really think of just this innate ability to be in constant creation. And birthing and that expresses itself so many ways.
So the more we can nurture that as women, I think so much beauty and expression and magic can happen through that instead of trying to just, define ourselves in one role or one thing. Like we are multifaceted as mothers, as all the thing, career women and whatever you do, and really embracing that.
Yeah. That constant, just. Shift like shape shifting of who we are. That's just our innate innate wiring, maybe our nature and then in terms of powerful I just I don't know the visual fires coming up of just something that can provide warmth and provide sustenance, you know cooking on fire yet at the same time has this crazy power to also like Destroy and I have a positive connotation with that of burning what we don't need to have, or like the kind of that fierce mama lioness of just like protection and so I think it's this juxtaposition of powerful that is both soft and subtle and nourishing.
And at the same time, could birth or kill life, has that potential. So it's this beautiful kind of power has this beautiful energy of softness and intensity that I think is gorgeous when we honor, all sides of that and not just lean too much into one or the other side of that.
We ask everyone on the podcast where you put yourself on the powerful lady scale. If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, where would you put yourself today and on an average day? Oh, man,
interesting question, um, what's a creative answer to this? I see the scale as a circle where what zero goes back to 10.
And so I see just leaving in a day. Sometimes I might circle experience the whole circle of all the range, but I really feel. In this moment in time, I am the most stepping into that essence of being a powerful lady. And it's exciting when I really, yeah, drop into that essence. I still feel like I'm 18 a lot of the days and a lot of the times.
And so bringing in. Keeping that youthfulness with also that kind of maturity at the same time is a fun thing I'm exploring, but yeah, I would say in this moment I'm like circling it. I'm all around it.
Love that. One of my favorite quotes is let your mind be focused and you're spirit free.
And so I really resonated with, how to. Step into your power and still allow whatever that flow is. And you're the first person in over 250 episodes. That's described that scale as a circle. And I can't unhear that now because it is a rollercoaster and it's so interesting to see how everyone answers that question, but as an entrepreneur or a small business owner, or just someone who.
Is being intentional as best they can with their life. It really is in one hour. You could be all levels what's happening. And I love that idea of the zero goes to 10 next because. Sometimes we are never more powerful than when we have surrendered to the point of I am a zero. And it's rocket ship at that level.
It's not one, two, three. It really is like, all right, we're going for 10. Now let's go.
Yeah, and I think when we are in those spaces of zero, and I think of what's needed in that is deep rest and nourishment. We need to regenerate ourselves constantly and yeah, being open to receive that rest. I know we all probably struggle with that.
And so I think it's that acceptance of I'm a zero. And I'm actually going to really sit in that and embrace it and be okay with it and slow down. Definitely a practice and living in Morocco, reprogram my brain to really slow down and be okay with sitting and staring at the wall for an hour and not needing to fill that time or do something.
And I didn't realize how hectic I was always like, I need to do. And even going to yoga or something healthy, I was still stressing over getting there or doing it. And yeah, I'm really constantly working on that balancing act and listening to my body when I need to rest and feeling supportive.
One funny thing I'll mention, a ritual we have here at the house is something called moon burgers. And once a month, when I'm in flow, my partner will make me Homemade burgers and, from a regenerative ranch, build a fire and cook it on the fire and women are not allowed in the kitchen to cook or clean or anything.
And we are completely taken care of and fed and nourished and just that ritual once a month feels so supportive and. For girlfriends that they're always like, can I get invited to moon burgers? And just for the men to honor that and ritualize something of being like, this is your time of rest has been so incredible.
And one of my favorite times a month now to just be held in that way and feel seen of cool, I can just rest and chill. Yeah.
I love that. I think everyone's now going to be creating moon burgers. Yes. And I think it speaks to, I know I feel this regularly, like I feel, and my word for the year is nourish to preface, but I've, the past two ish years, I've really been looking at how am I feeding Myself, I was using a phrase that I didn't like cause it was too, it wasn't powerful enough, but who I need to be taken care of.
I'm like, that's not the right word. Like I don't need to be taken care of. I need to be supported and loved and nourished. And it's not a, it's not coming from a place of weakness. It's coming from a place of like honor and who, what am I letting into my, all my senses that's actually supportive and nourishing.
And almost mothering for what's coming next and because it's so easy to fall into the masculine and in the productivity and in the, Oh look, I got a hundred things done today. And for some people that comes easy and that's just how they're, they are operating. But I think for most of us, there is that flow back and forth where.
It's not healthy to be in that on button or on one mask inside versus the feminists. Like, how are we allowing it to be more open? And after, what, six years of being a full time entrepreneur, I'm like, you know what I'm, we've proven it it's working it's happening. So what does? Slowing down to be nourished look like without compromising on the growth of the company and the impact that we want to make.
Yes. It's just been really interesting and seeing like what's just showing up by sitting in it and what's just moving out of the way. I'm like, this is okay. I like all the signs and I'm also like fascinated watching it happen in real time in front of me being like, no shit. Okay. I'm just sit back, just keep sitting back.
Yeah.
Yeah, totally. We're working on that right now at farmer's footprint where I think 5 females and 2 males. Predominantly women run, which is awesome. And all we do and speak about is regeneration and regenerative agriculture and all these things. And those even are terms that I have other terms for agroecology.
There's so much anyway, it's a whole nother topic. We're preaching these things and yet we're like, how are we actually embodying that and how we work? Yes, and especially in the non profit realm. It's like the classic overworked underpaid all those things, right? And so we're like, wow We really need to pause and embody living systems into how we're working because we know if we do we will be so much more effective and all that if it's paired with the deep rest and all these things but We haven't seen a model for that really anywhere yet.
And so it's, we've been like why haven't we been embodying this yet? And it's oh first we need to figure out, and you have to try on things and see what that works for each specific person and the team culture and all that. But, yeah, we're really on that journey of what that would look like, and to just start talking about an image it for each individual is.
I think the 1st steps, you can't imagine it, then you're going to just stay stuck in the talking about it. Yeah, we're in that fun kind of dreaming imagination phase of what does, yeah, bringing in these living systems principles and working in a more developmental way. And. It will be exciting to see how our work then translates if we are bringing that because we talk about that with soil.
It's you can't change the soil until you change yourself and everything we do, we're like the conduit through the work. And so if this conduit isn't being taken care of and nourish, then what comes through, it's just going to not be as strong or to its fullest potential. So it's just so essential.
And I've had to really take that. Make that step of knowing. Oh, I've reached my limit. I reached my bandwidth. I don't have to like, keep pushing. I'm not going to be productive. And then I rest and then I show up so much better and do the work so much better. So in the long run, I think we all know it really just benefits everything.
If we take that approach and find those moments of deep rest and yeah, but it's hard.
When we look at anthropologically, so my undergrad was, my minor was cultural anthropology and just looking at women led systems and how often the idea of cross training people in a business is what women have historically had to do because one might be pregnant, one might be nursing, one might be having to take care of someone who is sick or elderly and I think it's important for us to look at that.
As a group, a collective, the 10 women could still make all the tasks happen. And even like the idea of coworking, like co CEOing and cause there's like part of my coaching with clients is that 80 percent of what we're doing, we don't need to do. So how do we get rid of that first and get to the 20 percent that actually matters.
But then like in that space, to your point of deprogramming. That this 20 percent is enough. This 20 percent will add up to your beyond your wildest expectations. But how do we stay there? Because we tend to abandon the partnership and the collaboration and the flow whenever we get scared. I think it's interesting to see how we can pull from some of those components.
If you go to Ecuador and you go to the indigenous people there no one's saying Ooh, I need more rest. And they're all fine. It's it's working when they're left to their own devices. It's working. So yeah, I think it's really interesting where work and partnership and collaborations going to evolve too, because.
COVID opened that whole can of worms up of like everyone saying this does not work and it doesn't support any of the values we have allegedly as humans in society either.
Yeah, and you look at the history of where the 9 to 5 originated from when they were building the car and that's like the most amount of hours you can work without being injured.
And that was such physical work too. How come we've all these years later, like so much has evolved and changed, but yet we still have perceptions of working hours and all this stuff that I'm like, man, we really need to refresh this because we know what works and what doesn't. And so I'm always challenging just what we're used to and like, why are we used to that?
Where did that come from? What actually works for this? Ecosystem that we've created because each ecosystem has different requirements and needs and coming from that place although challenging. So you're really going against the system or the status quo of things. I think it could just breathe so much more life into what we're doing.
And, yeah, it's we're like, stumbling through the transition, but it's exciting that we're moving in the right direction that feels honoring to us and our work.
We've also been asking everyone on the podcast how can we help? What do you need? This is a powerful group and I'm a big believer that you never know who has the next key for you.
So what do you want, what do you need?
What do I need? In this moment, I feel so nourished and full just through this conversation and this opportunity. So thank you. And yeah, I guess I'll just lean into the trust and just here I am. My, yeah, Farmer's Footprint is the work that we're really working to help people build their own individual capacity.
To contribute to this beautifully regenerative, healthy future. We all want. And so that's a calling. We have an Instagram with all the storytelling and websites with activations in an online communities. That's at farmers footprint. And then, yeah, I'm personally lay a vita on Instagram and share my storytelling journeys and personal life journeys there.
But, yeah, in the moment, I'm just so in it. I can't even think of what I need, but, yeah, I don't know when you there's something you think
when you think of something, just send me a text or email. We'll add it to the manifestation list.
Love it. Thank you. I think, you know what I need, I think we can all need just like prayers for the world.
I think, how can we not feel the impacts of what's happening in the world right now? And if we can all just, everyone can commit to taking three breaths today, just. Feeling and sensing everyone in peace and those nourishing relationships we talk about, that's the biggest gift I think someone could give me right now is that collective prayer.
Okay. I commit to giving that to you after this episode, we're done. And continuing to do that practice and also pass it along. Cause people think that, sitting in prayer by yourself in your house, isn't going to impact someone far away, but. It so does. It so does. And it's important that we remember that's all we need to do sometimes to create the world that we want.
So thank you for that reminder.
Yeah. The, when you were saying that, the analogy of turning on a light. So that like moment of the action of switching a flip from how the light bulb like still blows my mind I'm like, how is this what happens in between and I feel like prayer is the same way like we make a cause And we can't explain fully the effect that has but yeah, it's there and it ripples cuz Yeah, it's beautiful and fascinating.
And I think just taking the time to give yourself space to really sit in deep hope and imagination. And there's so much and media and that we're exposed to. That's a negative. And so just Filling your cup with things that are deeply inspiring, I feel is so important and giving yourself that space and time to just dream and imagine is essential in this very dynamic time we're living.
I think so too. It has been such a pleasure to spend this time with you. Thank you for giving us your time, your wisdom, and just, yeah, thank you for the work you're doing and the space you're holding for everything that matters to you. I just want to acknowledge you for listening to yourself at that way that I'm hopeful that more people will start to have access to and just being the light in the openness that is allowing you to take it all in.
No. Oh, thank you so much. Appreciate that. And thank you for doing this podcast and yeah, I've been listening to a lot of the previous episodes and it's just so inspiring to see all these amazing, powerful women in one place and all their stories really. Stories is such an essential part of who we are as humans and helps us orient our place in this world and our connection to people and things.
And yeah, this form of podcast is so powerful to. Support people in their journey of reconnecting to themselves and their purpose here. So thank you
All the links to connect with Leah for photography and farmers footprint earn our show notes at the powerful ladies calm Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening and leave us a rating and review. Join us on Instagram at powerful ladies and at Kara underscore Duffy. And if you're looking to connect directly with me, visit Kara Duffy.com. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then. I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Website: www.leiavita.com / www.farmersfootprint.us
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Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
