Episode 95: From Concert Pianist to Visionary Entrepreneur | Melanie Wells | Founder of Lifeologie, LISPY, and YogaZama
Melanie Wells is the definition of a visionary entrepreneur. A concert pianist turned therapist, founder, and educator, she’s the creative force behind Lifeologie Institute, the LISPY School, and YogaZama, a groundbreaking psychotherapeutic yoga teacher training program that merges yoga traditions with brain science. Her journey spans music scholarships, seminary school, multiple advanced degrees in counseling, and building a multi-specialty mental health practice. Along the way, she’s launched nonprofits, trained hundreds of yoga teachers, and developed a unique approach to mental health and human optimization. Melanie shares the pivotal moments that shaped her career, why collaboration is her superpower, and how integrating neuroscience with yoga is transforming the way we think about healing. From “you only get one life” to “make mistakes loud,” her philosophy is about living boldly, pursuing curiosity, and building the future you want.
“You only get one life. Why live it on just one square of land, or doing one thing or in your back up career?”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Meet Melanie Wells
03:10 Growing Up in a Family of Musicians
06:30 From Concert Pianist to Seminary School
10:20 Discovering Counseling and Mental Health Work
14:50 Founding Lifeologie Institute
18:25 The Birth of LISPY and YogaZama
22:40 Merging Yoga, Brain Science, and Mental Health
27:15 Why Collaboration Fuels Innovation
31:00 Lessons from Building Multiple Businesses
35:25 The Power of “You Only Get One Life”
39:50 Helping Clients and Communities Thrive
43:20 Advice for Entrepreneurs and Creatives
47:10 What’s Next for LISPY and YogaZama
It's a traditional yoga training that is steeped in neuroscience and brain science. Mm-hmm. And all of the things that you need to know about the way the brain functions and the nervous system functions and how that interacts with yoga and yoga tradition. Mm-hmm. It's stunning how closely linked those two things are and how powerful your body is to manage your mind.
That's Melanie Wells and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something. And the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved to take action towards living your most powerful life.
People talk about the ideal entrepreneur, and usually I correct them by speaking to how many different types of entrepreneurs that are in the world. And then you meet entrepreneurs like Melanie Wells, who are the embodiment of a visionary entrepreneur. She sees new opportunities and fearlessly, dares to believe they're possible, and even braver finds fellow collaborators to make her visions come to life.
In this episode, we talk about her crazy journey to being an entrepreneur, how each step of the way makes sense only in hindsight, and how her latest new business, the Lispy School, is transforming yoga teacher training. By being the first to combine Eastern Yoga foundations with brain science to create next level yoga, psychotherapeutic yoga teacher training.
There's a path to true mental health, Cuban optimization and a whole new human experience. All that, and so much more coming up. But first yoga on a 200 hour teacher training is the introductory program offered by the Lispy School. It's a psychotherapeutic yoga teacher program that takes traditional yoga and seeps it in scientific tea.
Yoga plus brain science equals a whole new level of access to mental health and human optimization. While you're learning the yoga poses, breathing techniques, Ayurveda meditation and mantras of a traditional yoga teacher training, you'll also be learning the brain science, neurobiology and psychology.
Behind why it works and how you can bio-engineer a practice or protocol to transform stress, anxiety, sadness, and more In the same way you would use an essential oil or go for a run or take a hot bath to change your emotional state. In this course you'll learn scientifically proven mind body techniques to level up yourself or your clients.
I just completed my Yoga ZMA 200 certification, and I thought this class would be for my own personal development. And yet as a business coach, I've used something I've learned every week with my clients. Imagine what you could do with this training. I cannot recommend this program enough. Sign up now to save your space in the 2021 programs and to qualify for 20% off early bird discount pricing.
Special bonus, I'll be teaching the business lesson so you'll know how to create either a new business or level up your existing business with your new skills. Visit the lispy school.com, L-I-S-P-Y and sign up today. Spots are limited. I'll also include a link in the show notes within this episode.
Well, I am so glad that you are a yes to being on the Power Plays podcast. Thank you for coming on. Oh, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. Of course. Uh, let's begin. Please introduce yourself, the audience, and what you're up to in the world. Okay. My
name is Melanie Wells and I live in Dallas, Texas, and I'm up to so many things.
I'm not even sure what to start with, which is probably a thing you have with entrepreneurs on this show, right?
Mm-hmm.
So I am the founder and owner of Ology Institute, uh, which is a counseling mental health and wellness practice. We're a franchise mental health and wellness practice. We're the only one in the, in the nation currently.
Um, we have 10 locations and we are a multi-specialty collaborative, um, clinical group, which is very groundbreaking. I can go into detail about that if you'd like. Mm-hmm. I'm also the founder and director of the Lispy School, which is an acronym for Ology Institute School for Psychotherapeutic Yoga.
Which is such a mouthful that we made it lispy, but then people say Lipsy, so you really, you really can't win with that acronym. But, um, it is a yoga school, a a yoga training school for psychotherapeutic yoga. So it's brain science informed yoga, totally groundbreaking, major game changer. Like all the other things that I like to do.
And I also have a nonprofit. I save dogs. So those are the things I'm up to and I'm really busy.
Yes. And you have so, um, many things in your life beyond what you just shared. So I would love to start back at, if we looked at 8-year-old, you, what was 8-year-old you up to and what did you think your life would be like today?
Well, 8-year-old me was, um, skinny and kind of a sickly girl. I was born with kidney disease and so that's been a struggle that I've had my whole life, which I think has been a positive thing for me. It's, I've been pushing against something literally since birth, you know, trying to overcome an obstacle and I view that as a huge, um, positive part of my life.
Education. So I was already a musician at that point. I was raised by a family musician, so I played the piano sort of grudgingly, and I had just started playing the violin and I thought I was gonna be a concert violinist. That was my plan when I was eight years old.
And
how did that plan shift to what you're doing today?
Well, that plan really probably got me to where I am today in a number of mm-hmm ways, but it obviously didn't, didn't pan out, pan out like I thought it would. So, um, like I mentioned, I was brought up in a musical family and so even though I was from, I was from a small town, Amarillo, Texas, we only knew creative people in my family.
So I was surrounded by musicians and artists and actors and writers and people that did really groovy creative things for a living. And I didn't find out I was from a conservative town until about five years ago. Quite a shock because we just knew all these, uh, really creative thinkers and these really interesting mm-hmm.
Humans who did all these interesting things. And so since I grew up in that family and I was raised by sort of these hippie musicians, I didn't grow up with a straight line to anything. Mm-hmm. My parents encouraged us to think, they encouraged us to rebel, they encouraged us to go for our dreams. And my dad, uh, who's a jazz musician, has a saying that I really live by.
And his, uh mm-hmm. He's not an advice kind of dad. He's not that kind of dad. He's the kind of dad who makes great martinis and he is really fun to hang with. And every once in a while this like pearl of wisdom will drop. But his thing is, if you're gonna make a mistake, make it a loud one. No digging around like you're gonna get there.
Play don't, don't pretend like you're playing in the back of the section. Just play, play loud and own your mistakes. Mm-hmm. So I learned that in that family and I learned to think creatively. So I think that start in with my 8-year-old self of the world is your oyster. You don't need a backup career. You can do whatever you want.
Go out and be smart and do interesting things that I think that set my course for life.
Mm-hmm. And one of the things I think is fascinating about you is that you went to seminary school at one point. So
I did. So I went to SMU on a music scholarship. Mm-hmm. In violin performance. I'll back up a little bit bit from your question.
Yeah, please. Uh, because my parents had no intention of paying for college for my brother and me. We were supposed to go, but they gave us this wonderful music education. You know, we had every, the sky was the limit. We had everything we needed musically. And so go out and get yourself a scholarship was the plan.
So other people got cars for graduation. I got a violin that was made in France in 1731. So Cool. It was, it's beautiful. So I went and played all my additions on that. So I went to SMU on a music scholarship and realized about five minutes after I got there that I'd made a horrible mistake. And I did not wanna be a musician for the rest of my life.
That sitting in a alone, in a practice room
mm-hmm.
Trying to play Mozart the same way that other people had played it for hundreds of beers, was not gonna be my gig. It just didn't feel like I was gonna make an impact in the world. So I, I was dis dissatisfied immediately and I was a double major English as my other major equally by the way.
Completely, um, non commercially viable. Right. So, here I am at this really expensive school and I'm studying English and violent performance. So I graduated early and then, um, during that time I had been in a bible study and learning things about my faith, which I take very seriously. Mm-hmm. And moved to Vail shortly after graduation to work with this little ministry there.
I got there and about five minutes later realized I didn't really know what I was talking about. And so I went to seminary really for my own education. I just wanted to learn more about what I actually believed and what I discovered was kind of mind blowing, like I found out more about my faith because you, it, the school that I went to, you literally study the Bible in the original languages.
Mm-hmm. So
I read the New Testament in Greek. I read the Old Testament in Hebrew, can't remember any of the Hebrew. And I was one of seven women in a program with 700 men. They had just opened up the school to women.
Mm-hmm. So
I learned that I was a fighter. I learned don't go down without a fight. I learned I was a trailblazer and then I learned all these wonderful things about my faith.
But I al I also learned that there was a difference between my faith and Christian culture. Mm-hmm. Which I had had no experience with before that time. So it was kind of, it was kind of a mindblower to me, um, and a life changer. And that was where I took my first counseling class as well, was at seminary.
Mm-hmm. Of all places.
What, um, why did the seminary have counseling classes? I wouldn't expect that either. Yeah. So they didn't, they
had one course in pastoral counseling, which frankly was lame. And it was, it was taught by, you know, a, a man who. I had not had much experience in life, which was my experience with quite a few people there.
Mm-hmm. And but the last three classes, literally the last three sections of the class were taught by a psychologist. Mm-hmm. And I remember thinking, I cannot believe this guy gets paid to do this all day. What a, he just listens to people's stories and to about it's so great. So I decided at that point I was gonna become a therapist, and I went and got my, my second master's in Marriage and family Therapy.
Then you went to grad school and was, was therapy and that whole world something that you knew existed? Was it brand new? Like, what was your experience of, of going from. Music and English to seminary, to getting your master's as a therapist. I
know random, right?
So not necessarily, but I imagine it must have been like how, how did the shifts occur as big or did this just make sense in the moment?
Well,
nothing I do actually make sense in a linear way, but it does. Right. I think actually, I think that, I think my brain works not unlike a symphony does. So there's, mm-hmm. I don't know if you've ever played an instrument, but if you're sitting mm-hmm. In the orchestra playing, the sound is all around you.
You're not sitting in the audience listening to something happen. You're actually part of creating something and you're doing this one small thing, but you're a part of this big four dimensional thing that includes, you know, depth, breadth, width, and time. So that's the way my brain works. And I thank God for my parents that they raised me listening to the Mueller first and to, you know, um, Thelonious Monk and all these amazing musicians.
But so none of it really made sense in a linear fashion. I just sort of did the next thing that my heart led me to do, which mm-hmm. It turns out as the way my, um, soul works as well. But, uh, when I was in, uh, let's see, where was I going? What did you ask
me? Sorry, this is have, if it made That's okay. If it made sense going from seminary to, to guiding your masters and, and did anything surprise you?
Or like what shocked you when you made that transition? Besides that that guy got paid to do what seemed like such an easy gig.
What a great gig. Yeah. I have to say seminary shocked me quite a bit more than anything any other part of my education has. Mm-hmm. It was a very conservative school and I was really stunned by how.
Many obstacles there were for women. Mm-hmm. And how, how much opposition there was to women having power. I was, I, I couldn't believe it. I'd never experienced anything like that because I was raised by a feminist. So that was quite a shock. Mm-hmm. And when I got to graduate school, for me it was like putting on an old shoe to go get this master's in, uh, marriage and family.
I had gone to career day, like my junior year of high school or senior year and came home and told my mom, Hey, I think I wanna be a psychologist. And she goes, oh, you don't wanna listen to people's problems all day. And that was the end of that. It's the only time I listened to you need advice from my parents.
So, uh, when I went to this graduate school, I went to a school called Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio. And that's a whole story by itself. But the program was really innovative. It turned out, so they had, we worked in teams as a student. They had a clinic on the west side of town, and we all had to do clinical work like all therapists do in order to graduate and to work in the clinic on that.
The, that the school had, you had to be a member of a team. And on that team were six to eight students and a supervisor.
Mm-hmm.
And you did your clinical work in a room with the rest of your team, watching you from behind the mirror, including your supervisor, and they'd just be back there, pop and popcorn and eating one of those malted milk ball things called and just waiting for you to crash.
What were those called?
I can see the box. The box is like a, a like a carton kind of thing? Mm-hmm.
Yeah. It'll come to me. Anyway, there a lot of those were consumed and a lot of popcorn and um, I was the first person to raise my hand and said, I'll go in. Yes. Just might as well get this, get this done. So I found that it came so naturally to me, not just to talk to people and listen to them, but I found that the arc of a session and the arc of a case is exactly the same as an arc of a song or a symphony or a story.
There's a beginning and a middle and an end. And there are voices and counter voices and major characters. And minor characters. And the whole thing to me is just all, they're all exactly the same thing. They're just different mediums in doing the same thing. It's all the hero's journey. Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah. So I loved it. And then I, uh, later taught at that same school and then I helped create the counseling program, the master's degree in biblical counseling at the same seminary where I graduated. So when I was one of seven women on the student in the students, I later became the first woman faculty member.
So I blazed that trail and then helped them put the counseling program together, and now it's the biggest program that they have. So, can imagine, I imagine. Yeah. And I taught on the faculty there for a few years as well. During that time. I got married when I was 21. Mm-hmm. Right out of college. And we moved 14 times in 15 years.
So Wow. There was a lot of, you know, hopping around and moving around and not really because of anything in particular. He just, I think that he just had some issues to work out, but during that time, I got really good at starting practices. Mm-hmm. So everything we moved, I would end up having to start a new practice.
And that's one of the things that eventually led to my ability to create the business that I have now.
Mm-hmm. So it
all sticks together in a way.
It does. It, I, I love the, um, the layering element, right. Like how it's all coming together, right. Like, there's such a, when you look back in hindsight, there's such a pretty bow on it and Yeah.
I, I think for everyone listening, like, what a great example of, you know, there's you, you can't really go wrong following what you know is the right thing to do, whether it attracts you because it seems fun or it feels like the right thing. Um, I don't know anyone that's ever had a bad experience going down that path.
Um, if you are really honest about how it feels and, and what's calling you, uh, in fact, I wish more people would listen to that voice that's going like, do it, do it. That would be fun. Go try it. Go fix it. Whatever that, that voice is, you just get the one life, right?
So,
mm-hmm.
Why live a small life? Why live your whole life on one little square of land or your whole life doing one thing?
Why live your life in your backup career? That makes no sense to me. Yeah. It's never made any sense to me, so I agree with you.
Yeah. And, and I, I mean, when I was in college, the rule was like most people had seven careers in their lifetime. And I think now it's even more because besides people living longer, like people are taking more risks who have had more than one career already.
And so, you know, there's been people on the podcast like, well, maybe that won't happen. I'm like, not yet. Like, who knows what could happen. Um, there's so many statistics of businesses that have been started after somebody's 70 or 80.
Mm-hmm.
And you really never know. It's like, you know, what game do you wanna play this year or this month?
Mm-hmm.
Oh, exactly. And I also think that, that the years of, or the decades of working at one company for 25 years, that's, I don't know anybody who does that. I'm sure there are people who do that, but it doesn't happen very often now. And I remember applying for a mortgage not too long ago, and still, again, after 20 years of being self-employed.
Having to prove that I had a legit, you know, gig and I kept thinking to the bank guy, like, I'm the last person that's getting fired from my company. Right? My job is way more secure than yours. Like, you can get fired tomorrow. Mm-hmm. Why is that considered a better situation in terms of getting a loan? It didn't make any sense.
So I think, um, yes, determining your own destiny if you can make that happen. I'm a big fan of that. I, I, mm-hmm. I think we should blaze our own trail.
Yeah. Why, why live the life that you, uh, should when there's the whole life that you could have. Exactly. Um, there's, there's so many layers of, I'm sure, things that you cover with clients in the therapy room all the time about people who are stuck in there, this is what I should do, or this is how I should behave, or what I should say versus what they really want to be doing at all.
That's,
yeah, that's a hundred percent true. And, and kind of a. A little bit of a therapy twist to that. I noticed that the, the clients I have who are o what I would call over parented mm-hmm. Or giving way too much guidance and just too much, um, structure, have very little tolerance for risk and not a bunch of self-confidence.
And I'm an under parented kid, you know, I was raised by these hippies in the seventies and, you know, it was kind of a free range way of growing up. And under parented kids are the ones that kick open the doors and have a ton of self-confidence and are willing to go out there and just blaze their own trail.
'cause we really didn't have much choice. You know, nobody's gonna do it for us. So I really do think if we over parent our kids, we're robbing of the them of the opportunity to rise to the occasion. Right.
Yes. Yes. Um, when I worked in, in kids products, I was always reading, um, all these great parent magazines because that's where we would find consumer research and information.
And some of them were just great. 'cause the, especially one space outta Europe, they were much more comprehensive in what they talked about.
Mm-hmm.
And, uh, I, all the books that are about like the Europe, the European model versus the American model of parenting, I find so fascinating because, and having seen it myself when I lived there, of, there's just not as much pressure on parents in other parts of the world.
And I mean, I feel like we have to chill on a lot of things in life. So like, you know, I feel bad, I feel really bad. I'm not a parent yet. And, um. I, I might look like more of a hippie than most of my peers based on what I've seen. I honestly,
I
think
that's, I think that's positive. I think that the, um, self-esteem movement and sort of the over parenting, you know, helicopter parent thing, I understand it.
I'm not a parent myself, but I understand it. I think it's based on anxiety and a perception. The world is a more dangerous place than it used to be, and it probably is to some degree because of the internet. But the, mm-hmm. The predators that are out there, there's the still the same number that there was before.
You know, the world is not more dangerous for me, for, for kids now than it was for me in 1975 or whatever it was when I was riding my bike around my neighborhood by myself. It's just that we know more. Mm-hmm. And so people are more afraid, so they're unwilling to let their kids make the mistakes that will teach them the most.
Mm-hmm. And of course, an entrepreneur, we all know you're gonna be out there taking risks. You're gonna learn way more from your mistakes than you are your successes. Right.
Yeah. I mean there's um, so many clients I work with who are petrified to start or to take the risk, and I literally will say to them like, I dare you to fuck it up.
And they're like, what? I'm like, I dare you. Like, go try. If you're trying to, to, you know, win this bet I have with you or this dare I guarantee that you'll be very surprised what happens.
Totally. Yes. And this goes back to my dad's advice, right. If you're gonna make a mistake, make it a loud one. Mm-hmm. But if you think about it, what have you ever learned in your life that you didn't have to be willing to be bad out loud in order to learn it?
Yes. Literally nothing.
Mm-hmm. And, and I would, and my philosophy is also, you don't, you can't be self-confident until you go and take, take the risk. 'cause you can't, um, you can't choose self-confidence. You have to earn it. You have to it.
Yes. In fact, it, it's a. It's something that confuses people a lot. And I talk about this a lot in therapy, is I'm not a big fan of the concept of self-esteem 'cause it's mm-hmm.
Fuzzy. And what does it mean? I also think we'd have to light ourselves a lot to esteem ourselves. But I divide self into three categories. Self worth, self-confidence and self respect. Self worth being your inherent value as a human being. Mm-hmm. Which is what it is. You can't change it, but it's really hard to accept it sometimes.
Um, self-confidence does have to be earned. And you do that by going out and taking risks and blowing it and getting up to try again and all the things. And then self-respect has to do with how you allow yourself to be treated. And that's something that has to be cultivated over time. And as women, I think that's the one that we tend to be the weakest on.
Yeah,
we
tend allow ourselves to be mistreated way too often and for too long wait, we were, you know, it takes us too long, thirties or forties to finally kind of get it back on and start going, no, no, no, I'm sorry. That's not gonna happen to me.
Mm-hmm. Right. And do you think that's based on culture it too?
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's really, that's why powerful ladies started. Like it was heartbreaking hearing women say, I can't, and I was like, what? Like. Well, I don't, I, I think I'm, last time I checked, we're on the same planet. So what, like, I can't, it is only something I say when it's, I really measured, like the laws of physics, something like, it's either I can't because of time or I can't because I literally can't lift that or run that fast or something else.
Right. Otherwise, it really is a, I don't want to, or I'm afraid. Mm-hmm. Or maybe I can't by
myself or maybe I can't do it comfortably. I, I think those things, those silent phrases, I can't do it by myself. You're right. Yeah. Probably can't, you can't do it comfortably. You're right. You probably can't. So all of that risk is based on the willingness to be uncomfortable.
Mm-hmm.
And find comfort in being uncomfortable.
Yes. And there are moments when I wonder my d my level of, I guess is it, um. Being ma masochistic, is that the right word? Mm-hmm. Where being uncomfortable is something I crave. Not in a dangerous, uncomfortable way, but like if it's, it's also tied to mental stimulation, right?
If I'm too comfortable and too bored, I'm like, next it's, and I realize, um, having done the Aveda test, like I'm 70% pta,
pta,
uh, and it was really funny to see some of these things where I'm like, this is better than a horoscope. Yeah.
Yeah. It's so true that in the Enneagram, you put those two things together and you're really screwed.
Right? So, so true. So true. Um, so as you developed your, your career and you're creating these educational programs, and suddenly you get to a point where you go, huh, there's something here between this therapy stuff I'm doing and this yoga stuff, I've started practicing. How did, how did Lis B come together?
How did you start realizing this gap in the marketplace and you know what, yeah. What started lis B and and how does it come together?
Okay. That's a great question and, and it's actually a great story. So I was about, I don't know, 10 years into owning, uh, what was then called LifeWorks and is now called ology.
Had to change the name when I franchised it. 'cause there's 9 million Life LifeWorks is in the world and there's only one ology. Um, and I had a, I had a case that was really a tough case. It was a family of five. Um, and mom had died of a neurological disease and had taken her several years to die. She died at home, very traumatizing for the family.
Mm-hmm.
I saw the family and, uh, it was from just dad and the kids. And there was one girl that no one ever worried about, which is always the kid I worry about. Mm-hmm. I think she was about 13 at the time. She was doing okay. And her mother had died probably four or five years before she'd adjusted. She was, she was doing fine.
And then I heard from her when she was 18, she called me herself and she was about ready to go to art school at Berkeley. Which she got into Berkeley, which is in incredible. And so she had developed an eating disorder by then and she was cutting and doing lots of self-destructive things, which are not my area of expertise.
Uh, I mentioned that ology is a multi-specialty practice. Mm-hmm. Normally that case would go to somebody who actually has expertise in that case or that type of case. Um, she wanted to see me, so I got some consultation and, you know, worked through those things. But she was also having these really violent nightmares and her, um, trauma was showing up in her art.
She was drawing these really violent images of broken hearts and bleeding things, and it was. Really, um, just heart wrenching and I couldn't
mm-hmm.
Get to that part of her psyche for some reason. So I had started yoga about five years before practicing, um, at Equinox at my mm-hmm. Local Equinox. And I only started practicing yoga 'cause there were no Pilates classes that would fit my schedule.
So I was a really reluctant yogi. And, uh, I finally asked my yoga teacher, who it turned out had been trade by Rod Stryker, Hey, can you come and work with this client of mine and see if you can maybe help her out a little bit? Because I had noticed as a practicing yogi, I had less anxiety, I was sleeping better, I was healthier.
My psyche was just so much more whole and thought, well maybe we'll just give this a shot. So we literally moved the coffee table outta the way in my office and he saw her maybe three or four or five times and boom, that was it. Like he was able to get to a part of her brain that I wasn't able to reach with talk therapy and the other things we had done.
And, um, she went off to art school and I haven't heard from her since then. So that's always a good sign when you don't hear from your clients, right? Mm-hmm. So I thought, well, holy cow. I, I built myself a yoga studio and hired myself in yogis, and we just started going. Mm-hmm. And then about, I don't know, a few years into it, we realized we really didn't know systematically what we were doing.
Mm-hmm. We knew it was doing instinctively, but there was no training for it. And so I started looking around for training and there actually wasn't one. And so mm-hmm. Just, I thought, well, hell, I'll just start a yoga school, which seemed like a really great idea at the time. And it, it, in hindsight, it was, but kind of like for me, it was like building the plane while you're flying it.
I didn't know anything about the yoga industry. There was literally nothing to base this whole curriculum on. Mm-hmm. So we pieced it together. We wrote the curriculum a few times, but it's, and it's really exceptional. I'm so proud of it. So it's a, it's a traditional yoga training that is steeped like a teabag in neuroscience and brain science mm-hmm.
And neurobiology and all of the things that you need to know about the way the brain functions and the nervous system functions and how that interacts with yoga and yoga tradition. Mm-hmm. Breath work. It's, um, it's stunning how closely linked those two things are and how powerful your, your body is to manage your mind and it doesn't work the other way around.
Mm-hmm. He think it does, but it actually doesn't. So for me, this turned out to be a real missing piece in terms of what kind of treatment programs we were offering and mind blown again, it's amazing. Yeah.
And being someone who's currently taking it, we have two more weekends to go. Um, I always, I always thought I had the back of my mind, like, oh, I'll get yoga teacher trained someday, but not for the sake of wanting to teach yoga myself, but wanting to further develop my practice. And I really like knowing the origin of things and why.
So for me it was more like, all right, how do I apply that? But then when you talked to me about this, uh, yoga ZMA program where it did bring in the neurobiology and it did bring in the brain science, I suddenly got way more interested than I've ever been before because I had never signed up to take a class before.
Um, and I cannot get over how every weekend. I'm literally applying it with clients the following week. You know what?
I'm the same thing. It's so interesting and I've owned the school all this time, but I've never taken the curriculum before and I'm actually taking the class right now. And you mentioned yoga zma.
I should go back and fill that in. So, yoga zma, excuse me, is one track that's offered in the Lispy school. Originally our training was only open to clinicians because it was so clinically based. And, uh, we realized that yoga students, yoga teachers and yoga students really wanted to learn this, you know, basic and important information about the neuro, um, excuse me, about the brain and the nervous system.
Mm-hmm.
And it, the more I studied yoga programs, the more I realized that traditional yoga programs study the whole body. But leave out the brain. It's the one organ you literally hear nothing about, which was kind of stunning to me. So it occurred to me that we needed to make the programming available to yogis and yoga students as well, and coaches and anybody who, who is not already clinically trained.
So we developed Yoga Zama and SAMA means, uh, balance in Sanskrit. So Yoga Zama is strong body, strong mind, and it's a balance of your nervous system. It means a lot of things. But so Yoga Zama is the, um, sort of the doorway to neurobiology and yoga for everybody else who's not already clinically trained.
Mm-hmm. It's a wonderful program.
It, it really is. Like, I feel like it's all I'm talking about to people lately and, um, it's great to see it, it sparked interesting people because I think people are just really how hungry for more understanding of how their brain works and knowing how to. To manipulate and manage their own mind body connection more because there's, this year in particular, there's so much, um, in real time feedback that we're getting about what is or isn't working for ourselves.
So whether it's mental health or physical health or seeing the impact on nutrition, like there's so, it's so clear to me and a lot of people in my circle that, um, 2020 has of course revealed a lot of things, but part of that is really what are we doing to take individual responsibility for our mind and our body and kind of optimizing ourselves that we can handle stress, but also handle, um, you know, pandemics and handle, uh, change and really just be able to be more resilient than I think we had to focus on before.
Oh, I agree a hundred percent. We're, we're as a really, as an. World and certainly as a nation suffering this collective trauma that's made up of this worldwide pandemic, this global economic meltdown and a really polarized political climate and racial climate mm-hmm. In our country, which is just stressful for everybody, but just horrifying generally to even, um, witness and be a part of this struggle as we're trying to come together as a nation.
Mm-hmm.
So there's literally no one has escaped. A high stress level. Literally no one in 2020. Mm-hmm. Which was one of those years that sounded really groovy. 2020, it sounds like it's got all this, like, you know, energy to it and everything, but it turned out to be a real goat rodeo, didn't it? So, yeah. Yeah.
Well, I, I almost wonder if, if we, when we look back at it, if we'll actually see the full yin and yang of what this year offers because there's been so sometimes the most important and powerful things come from us getting like kicked out. Right. Kicked out of the norm. And so I feel as much trauma as there's been, especially in my world, of seeing what people are creating now instead, or in response to, um, I felt really lucky to be in, uh, the bubble of powerful ladies, in the bubble of my clients and seeing much more success than other places.
Much more growth, much more choosing. Choosing to do something with this time than not. Um, so I, I'm hope more people can start to see that happening and know that it's there. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm curious if when we look back we're like, oh yeah, that totally sucked and now I have this.
Mm-hmm. I agree with you.
It's what, it's kind of what talking about earlier that, um, opposition and difficulty failure are what really, uh, push you forward and push the human race forward, if you think about it. Mm-hmm. So I think the collective stress for some people has been catastrophic. And I don't wanna, I don't wanna minimize that.
I, myself had a client that committed suicide this year. It's the first time it's happened on my watch in 25 years. And I know that the current world circumstances weren't the. Stressor, but they were an enormous stressor. They were sort of the last straw on the back of the struggle for a long time. So not everybody has the luxury of being resilient and the luxury of being able to reinvent themselves, but, um, without the ne the necessity to reinvent yourself, we don't go there, right?
Mm-hmm. And so I think we will find as we look back on 2020, that this has been a transformative year for many of us. And that it's, it's our responsibility to squeeze the juice out of it and get everything out it that we can. So getting back to your question about the, you know, what we're learning about the brain and how we're using this in our lives, we've learned more about the brain in the last 10 years than we knew in the previous hundred.
Mm-hmm. So even in ology, we're now morphing toward much more brain science and much more use of brain health concepts. And I You mentioned that you're using it with your clients. I'm now mm-hmm. Have found myself with my clients, literally putting them in a brain management program. Like, let's how much sleep you're getting and what you're eating, and here's your mindfulness coach, and here's some yoga that I want you to do, you know, daily.
And here's this, you know, little device that can help you with your stress and your insomnia. And without all that, what is the point? You know, I can do all kinds of talk therapy. Bless you. Thank you. Um, and talk therapy is really important. I mean, I'm a marriage counselor, right? So mm-hmm. There's no substitute for learning to communicate and for working out some of those really complicated, tough issues.
Mm-hmm. But if you add on the brain science and the real brain management, uh, we do it for all of our other organs, why wouldn't we do it for the organ that literally drives us, forward us back. Right. It's the thing that, yeah. Um, it's the invisible force that pushes us all one way or another, and we mm-hmm.
Forget about it most of the time.
Well, and especially for, you know, listeners of this podcast who so many are committed to being of service and paying it forward and making an impact of whatever size, um, it's, you know, if we think about self-care, brain self-care has to be included in that because, you know, a bubble bath will only get you so far.
So what's, what are we doing to really look at how we can, um, take care of ourselves so that we can, we can make the impacts that we want to.
I agree a hundred percent. And for the listeners of PO of the podcast, the powerful ladies that are listening, you know, we're all out there trying to use our power well, right?
And in order to use your power well, you actually have to have fuel and you have to be able to, um, push yourself forward. And you can only do that if you're. If you have some basic level of physical and mental health, right? Mm-hmm. And so mental health, I think we take for granted in the sense that we're all pretty resilient and we'll, you know, like I said, we'll kick open the doors and we can overcome challenges.
But are we in really, are we really in the shape to do that? Are we really, um mm-hmm. Looking after our brains and our minds and our lives in such a way that we can do our jobs optimally? Because I've got, I don't know, almost 40 people on my payroll. Mm-hmm. I'm helping them, sending their kids to college, you know?
Mm-hmm. If I'm not doing my job well, how can they function well? And if I'm not taking care of myself, how can I do my job well? Yeah. So it circles around, doesn't it?
It does. And, and there's, um, you know, tying into the, the yamas and the namas right. Of, of yoga and of the principles of it. There's a difference of, there's a difference of who you're being if you're at your optimum than who you're being if you're not.
And whether that's just the space to be more patient or the space to think more creatively. Um, but just to remove any of the junk out of the messaging that you're trying to pass on to other people. Right. It always is this exchange. And there's so many people that I've interacted with in this past year who have the best of intentions, and they don't see that blind spot of that like dark smudge that they're there is between them and where they wanna go.
Mm-hmm. And there's something, there's something about like, just taking that moment to be like, hold on, what do I have to clean up? What, what, what might be showing up in this message that isn't the. The real heart led peer message that I wanna, I wanna get across. And you know, I'm sure there's elements of what they have to process, you know, from a therapeutic sense, but also what they just need to handle from a regular old to-do list decision fatigue space as well.
For sure. And if you understand the way the brain works, you know, the limbic system, which is the deepest part of your brain and the most primitive part of your brain, it's the part of the brain that a cockroach has, and that's where your fight or flight response, flight, flight or freeze, that's where that mm-hmm.
Uh, response is lodge and neurologically, if you will. So if you turn on a, your kitchen light and there's a cockroach on your kitchen floor, what's gonna happen? It's gonna run, right? Mm-hmm. Even a, even a bug understands fear. Has a basic fear, yeah. And has a response to fear. When we have, uh, some basic anxiety, like, I don't know how to take care of this personnel problem, or, I'm not sure what the next step is on my creative journey, or I'm not, I'm afraid that I might fail, whatever it is, then our fight, flight, or freeze response kicks in and we do whichever of those things we're most prone to do.
I myself, I'm a freezer, right? I, I can't tell by looking at my life, but I have these moments where I just sort of freeze and I don't know what to do. And so, mm-hmm. How do I manage my brain in such a way that I can get past that sort of primal instinct to stay put and not do anything, and instead sort of face down my own emotions mm-hmm.
And, uh, manage them so that I can move forward. Does that make sense? It makes total sense.
Yeah. I mean, I think this is also why I love the class so much. Like anything that we can do to optimize ourselves so that we can create more awesome things like that, that's my jam. So, um, you know, from a anthropological perspective, from a coaching perspective, from just what efficiencies look like, like to me, it's all in the same space, right?
You were talking before about the symphony that you see. Like, I've also, I've often referenced that I see like those see-through boards and like the sci-fi movie where like you can move everything around and like connect it. Like that's how my brain functions. And like, to me these all make sense. Like I can see the lines that are connecting them all.
And whenever there's a connection like that, that's an I get, that's stimulation for me. It's like, ooh, this works and this works and this equals this. And suddenly you see the next series of questions to go after. So I could talk about this stuff forever and I think that's why I love that there's so many people in the class right now that are nerding out over this and really bringing their own, all their own education and experience and what they, how they're working with their clients and their people every day into, into the live sessions.
Um. Because it, it's very cool to see how everyone's processing it individually at the same time,
isn't it? It's so interesting. And I, I think you just made a, a fascinating point. You're talking about how your brain works. You can see the clear boards that all the things are written on. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I can't see that.
'cause I'm not, I'm not a line, I'm not as linear as you are. And I love that your brain works that way. And I have shamed myself my whole life that my brain doesn't work that way.
Mm-hmm. And
now that I'm learning more about the brain, my brain's just not the same as yours. Yeah. So my, my, uh, rear cortex is very active.
That's where your visual parts of your brain are. So I'm visualizing things and I can see forward. Mm-hmm. And then I'm very right brained, so I'm conceptual. Visual about how I see things and see big picture and all sort, you know, very, very vision driven. Mm-hmm. My left brain, I don't know what's going on over there, but I've got some sort of pissed off German general that's just mad at me all the time.
I can't together.
And so I kind of made peace with that guy and thought, you know, I just doing the best I am I can do over here. And that's just gonna, you know, it's just gonna have to be what it is. But you know, what I've realized is that I can hire somebody who's got that side of the brain.
Mm-hmm.
Right. And I, I don't have to be able to think that way.
In fact, my brain works just optimally well, just like it is. Mm-hmm. I can stop being mean to myself about that, and I can piece together a team that will make it possible for me to move forward in the way that I want to.
Yeah. And it's so much more fun that way. Mm-hmm. Not education. It's a real gift, right?
Mm-hmm. No, it really is. And you know, um, some of the clarity work that I'll do with clients is, is getting down to like, what is their business love language. And I know for me, like creating together is one of my love languages. So if you get to, you know, people talk about how do I align my passions and how I earn a living?
I'm like, it's not really your passion, it's whatever your love language is. Like, if you get to spend your whole day loving on people, that's where all the synergies start happening. So whatever, whatever that is that you can't help yourself from doing anyway. And for me it's, it's that collaboration piece.
So, you know, for me it's not if I wanna be romantic, it's not like, oh, you know, flowers and candles. It's like, ooh, what are we gonna make? But just like all the other, the in that book, the the Five Love languages mm-hmm. If you, the person you love doesn't receive that way can be very confusing. But, uh, it's definitely great dialogue to, to start thinking about.
But you know, I find that, um, my life feels more full when it's, has more people in it who also love collaboration. 'cause there's that balance of like, let's dream about it and then let's make it. And then let's look at like, look back, like, holy shit, we did that. That was fun. Look at the impact.
I know, it's crazy.
Yeah. Actually I had that turning point. I've had that turning point a few times in my life. If you think about just two degrees plus time and two degrees plus time and eventually mm-hmm. You know, you end up on a completely path, different path than the one you started off on. But in, when I started, uh, originally LifeWorks, now ology in 2000, I just had this dream of this, um, multi-specialty collaborative training facility.
And it was, like I said, it was very diffused the way my brain works. Like, Hey, this will be great. Right? And I really had no idea how to run a business. I didn't even think of it as a business. I, I had a at the time. And he said, well, you own your own business. I was like, I don't own a business, I no practice.
He goes, well, somebody that comes in and money that goes out and there's people working there, right? I was like, yeah, that was, that was a rude awakening. But I didn't know what I was doing. So I ran off the cliff a couple times. And then in 2006 I hired a business coach. And she asked me one of those questions that ruins your life.
And uh, the question was, what do you want out of your business that you're not getting now and what are you willing to give up in order to get it?
Mm-hmm.
And I thought, well, shit, man. So I, what I wanted was for it to be all that I envisioned for it to be, I wanted to be it to be successful additionally financially.
Mm-hmm. And I wanted my life back. Mm-hmm. And if I wanted those things, I was gonna have to give up control. And so that was the turning point in my career where I looked around me and I realized, okay, well that guy who works here has four teenage children who speak still, still speak to him. Mm-hmm. So he is good at confronting people without alienating them.
So I put in charge personnel. Right. Makes perfect sense. And then I've got, uh, one person who works there is total OCD Ms. Hospital corner. So I put her in charge of procedures. She's mm-hmm. She loves that stuff. She's great.
Mm-hmm.
So that was a big turning point in my business is in 2006, it sort of became a thing where I let go of the things that are really had no business doing.
And of course, if you're gonna let go of the responsibility, you also have to let go of power, which is what I did. Mm-hmm. And the business really took off then. Yeah. And I keep learning that lesson over and over again. Um, but I hope I'm done shaming, shaming myself about the way my brain works and I'm, uh, I hope I'm have gotten better about creating a collaborative team about around me intentionally.
Mm-hmm. So that I can move forward and do all the amazing things that I wanna do.
Well, yeah, and just the fact that you have so many things to give yourself acknowledgement for, right? The, the, the unique and, you know, fantastical path that you've created for yourself, maybe accidentally, um, really speaks to so much, right, of what you're capable of and what you've already achieved and how that has still yet to connect to something else going forward, right?
Because of your symphony keeps growing and the music keeps changing a little bit, but it keeps all layering together. So, um. I think it's really fascinating. Um, but I love that you brought up the idea of like, it was a practice, not a business. Mm-hmm. Like you kind of created like a therapy commune and you're like, this will be cool.
This is all we need. Um, 'cause I, I see that scenario all the time of people who, you know, I started coaching for businesses in the nonprofit space that was, we had a nonprofit before that just coached nonprofits and it was so great to like, help these people that were so inspired and so committed and all about making it happen.
And then when it came time to like making it actually function, that's where the breakdown was, which is, you know, what we were providing for people. Um, but there's definitely that the decision that you made to make it a real business is literally the sig, the main factor of will it survive or not? Oh, I couldn't anymore.
And
that's why I franchise the business frankly, is. By 2000, you know, we're actually 2015, I was 15 years into it. And now we've got this wonderfully fleshed out concept and it's unique. There's nothing out there that's like this. And so we think, well, I don't have the capacity to run any more of 'em. I had four of 'em at that time because the
business
model, um, ensures that it grows organically.
But I'm thinking like, what am I gonna do now? Because I feel like there need, this needs to be how it's done, right? Mm-hmm. And I, looking around my industry, and it's very underdeveloped industry. Mm-hmm. Um, it's where the fitness industry was, you know, 40 years ago when the local gym was some guy who used to be a boxer.
You know, you just had like these one-off businesses everywhere and when the boxer, you know, retired, the gym closed.
Mm-hmm.
And that's the way our industry works. And so, um, when I franchise in 2015, my goal was to make therapy, uh, as an industry an a. Financially and, um, financially intelligent industry so that we can create a successful business model that everybody can access.
And then you're not just building a practice that dies when you retire. Doesn't just evaporate, but you now have a business that you can sell or that can support you. Mm-hmm. And that's just unheard of in our industry. So it was, it still very groundbreaking. People really don't even know what to think about, you know, a counseling franchise, it sounds like, well, am I gonna turn into McDonald's?
No. What a franchise is just a kind of a business model in a box so that we've got all the procedures and all the things that you need to know how to do, and we can provide that for you so that you don't have to figure all that out by yourself. And we've got all this marketing magic that we know, that we've, you know, learned over the years.
Why do that yourself? Like everybody wants to go to my field because they wanna sit and listen to people and talk to them and help them. We don't wanna do spreadsheets. Nope. Right. We certainly don't wanna know how to create one.
Don't make me create it. So, you know, I really am hoping that our industry can grow up as an industry and develop to where it really serves the, not just the clients, but the clinicians at an optimal mm-hmm. Which it's not doing right now.
Yeah. Well, as you go into 2021, what are you excited about professionally and personally?
Well, professionally, I'm really excited about lispy and about yoga's. Hmm. Um, as COVID started, let me think about when this happened. Um, trying to think about my timeline. So let's be finished up its last class of, um, graduates, I wanna say in the middle of COVID, like probably May or June, not long after COVID started.
Then one of my clinicians, or one of my teachers had a baby and another one moved away to join the Peace Corps. And another one, um, went off to do something else. So now I have got no faculty, I've got no students. I've got this incredible, um, program and I don't really know what it's gonna be. I'm thinking, should I sell it?
Mm-hmm What should I do? And um, then I hired this amazing business coach and that was my first session. I was like, well, I dunno, I've got this thing. And you know, you're like, well, tell me more about that. And the more I started thinking about it, I thought, you know, this is really an incredible opportunity.
This is one of those things where the adversity really. It really becomes an opportunity.
Mm-hmm.
So why not just recreate the school and make it all that it could be? And so that's when I really started thinking about, um, how to deliver the Lispy training, not just to clinicians, but also to everyone else.
That's where Yoga Obama came from. And COVID has been, you know, obviously a terrible curse on the world, but it's also opened up all these weird doors, like online training is now. Mm-hmm. Through 2021, at the very least, um, through Yoga Alliance, will now approve that. So to be able to take that concept and now not be limited by geography and be mm-hmm.
Be able to offer it. We've got a student our, in our class that's living in Barcelona, so it's wonderful. So all of the limitations are gone and I'm really excited about developing lispy and yoga za and really changing the world for how, um, yoga and mm-hmm. Psychotherapy are merging together, but specifically how yoga training is taught.
It should always include the brain.
Yeah. Like, yeah. Yeah. I think it's fascinating. I am so excited that we got connected and so excited. I had the opportunity not just to, um, provide coaching for it, but also to take it because, um. It's, it's important for even to be able to give great feedback and advice about what's next to, to actually be doing it.
But, uh, it's made such a personal impact in addition to professionally. So I think it's great and I can't wait to tell more people about it. Um, and then what about personally for you next year? Well, I'm so excited
about this next year because it's, I can already feel what's happening. It's the first year since I started out, I, in 20, in 2000 that I'm gonna have a life.
Yeah. The reason for that is because I've hired people, I'm now far enough along, far along enough in my business life to be able to hire people to do the things that I really can't and don't wanna do. Mm-hmm. So I've re retitled myself. I'm now the chief vision officer of all my companies, and that's what I intend to do.
I tend to be freed up to intend, to be freed up to, you know, make my visions happen. And if I can do that, then I can spend more time with myself and I can spend more time. Saving dogs and I can spend more time with the love of my life, the man, my dream, who I happen to be married to and hang out with people that I like.
And, um, practicing yoga. And I, I have a goal, uh, for 2021 to learn all of the Lyle Levit fiddle solos for all the, yeah. So just watch me
for everyone listening who, um, you know, is, is, is trying to figure out what, what's next in their path or if they should be an entrepreneur versus do something else. Um, what advice would you give people about, you know, being true to themselves and, you know, figuring out what is the next step?
Well, I think it's important to be, uh, driven by whatever it is that gets out, gets you out of bed every day.
Mm-hmm. Right. I had a boyfriend in high school whose dad sold. Acoustic ceiling tiles. And I'd never known anybody in business before. Like I said, I was raised by all these hippies. And I, I remember asking, well, does he like that? And he said, well, it doesn't matter. He, it's a business. And I thought, well, okay.
It was kind of a shock to me. Mm-hmm. And there's nothing wrong with selling acoustic ceiling tiles. We definitely need them. Uh, and maybe his dad had created that business and he was an entrepreneur. Maybe he, you know, loved selling. Who knows what it was that motivated him. Maybe he just wanted to beat his family, which he did very well.
Mm-hmm. I dunno.
But, um, something got him out of bed every morning. Uh, it wouldn't be for me, the acoustic ceiling tiles. It would be the making the vision happen. And I'm a very heart led entrepreneur. I really, really deeply believe that if you don't leave the world better. You found it, you've, you've lost your opportunity for moving the human race forward.
Mm-hmm. So I would tell people, you know, there, it's always a slow journey. It always, it's like a mountain path where you can, you can only see it to the next turn. So you just walk those steps and you try to walk them reasonably slowly and bring your water and maybe a snack, right? And then you get to that thing and you take the next path and you may take the wrong one and get lost and you have to go back or whatever.
But it's not about knowing how it's gonna end up. It's the going, not getting there.
Yeah. I couldn't agree more. Yeah, no, it's one of my favorite words is A is adventure. And this, another favorite word is to believe. And like, to me, those two words mean so much because. Like, if you know where you're going, one, I'm already bored as a who I am, but it's like, what's, that's the point.
'cause like when you make the wrong turn, you see the thing you wouldn't have seen other way, or you meet the people or find that small restaurant or, um, get to help someone that you never would've interacted with otherwise. So I'm also an internal optimist, but you know, there's, there's beauty and magic in, in leaning into the adventure that's in front of you.
Oh, I agree. And if you're really lucky, then the universe will, uh, knock you on the back of the head a couple times too, and read your books in a way that you wouldn't have gone. Right. I mean, maybe yes. Took the wrong way, but maybe that just the universe is going, no, girl, that's not what I want you to do.
Mm-hmm. Or get that guy outta your life right now. And you're like, no, I need him. I need him really bad. And the universe is going, no way, girl. Like, get rid of that guy. And so then once he's gone, all these possibilities open up and you don't realize mm-hmm. You know, what was out there. And I'm not just talking about boyfriends, I'm talking about like, personnel people are in your life who you think you need.
And turns out, once they're gone, all this new space opens up for all these possibilities. So is it Hanh that says, uh, attachment is the
root of all pain? I don't know. But I've heard the, I don't know who said it, but I know the quote. Mm-hmm. I think that, well,
maybe he quoted it. I don't know where it came from, but, um, that is definitely true.
And I'm a, I'm an attachment person. Like I clean, right? I don't wanna let go of people that I love and people that I love working there. And, but when I, uh, when the universe makes me, uh, I learn the hard lesson and, and I, it's amazing to see all the space that opens up. I would not be. Anywhere near where I'm right now, if I had, you know, if it, if I'd ended up where I thought it was gonna end up.
Mm-hmm.
So lucky me that the universe teaches me the hard lessons.
Well, and and how much of your, of your faith have you had to lean in on in those moments? Oh, so much. I'm so glad
you asked that. So I had the spiritual mom for. Couple of decades. Her name was Vicky Kraft and she was this, um, sort of matriarchal person in the Dallas Christian community.
She was one of the first women at students at the seminary that I went to. She went before I went mm-hmm. In a different, uh, degree program. And she was a pastor at a local church, which doesn't, she was the women's pastor, of course she wasn't.
Mm-hmm.
She, this older woman, and she was really imposing and she had this really large, sort of scary, um, presence about her.
Of course, I just took to her immediately one look at me and decided I needed to gain weight and I needed mothering. And so she had me over for lunch and, you know, teach me all the things. But, um, she used to say, um, when God says no, he's protecting you from something.
Mm-hmm.
And I have, I still hear it in my head with her voice when God says, no, he is protecting you from something.
And I really rely on that. I really rely on that because Okay, that is a hard no, you know, trust. Yeah. And move to the next thing and that can, and just trust, you know, take the step. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. And that it's sometimes that's the scariest part, right? It's not even trusting yourself, it's trusting that there is, uh, something, someone that is gonna be there to either reach out that hand or catch you or like give you the little push you need just to get across.
Exactly.
And for me it, it, it was quite a shock to realize that, that I'm being taken care of by what I believe is a power much larger than myself and mm-hmm. Which is not to say that we don't have responsibility, we do. Yeah. That, that there is, um, actually guidance available if you, if you just, you know, bother to, to look for it and to see it when it's offered.
Mm-hmm. So for me, that's, it's wonderful. I rely on my faith greatly. It's what gives my life meaning and pushes me forward. And without, uh, you know, me kind of having to sit in the closet and suck my thumb all.
Yeah, and I've been surprised, you know, having so many, so many different people on this podcast who are curators of their own path, um, the recurring theme that people have is that they are trusting in something bigger than themselves, whether they would call themselves religious or not.
Um, they know that too many things happen randomly, like randomly sitting next to the person in the airplane who connects you to the next client, or, um, being about to give up and then you like see something, you're like, oh, wait, hold on. What is that? Or, you know, getting a sign, whatever people have, have referred to it as.
And there's a great, uh, story and I think episode three, three or four with, um, I'll, I'll correct it in the show notes, but with, um, Ryan Gaspar, a good friend of mine who. Gets really creative with her spirit guides in regards to what she's gonna accept as a sign and kind of challenges them about like, okay, it needs to be a red herring with a blue bow tie.
And you're like, what? And then she's like, yeah, but then it shows up. Like, and so whenever that happens, like it's, she surprises herself and then she's like, oh my gosh, okay. I am definitely doing the right thing full steam ahead.
Well, exactly. And you know, the other shocking thing is sometimes you're, the thing that people are looking for, that's another thing.
Yes. Really hard to get your head around is that we're always struggling and trying to grasp whatever is coming our way and what do we do? And because there's no like, straight path to being an entrepreneur, but sometimes you're the answer to somebody else's question and that's mm-hmm. The synergy is right.
Yes. Yes. It, it's, um, I have a, a free ebook. It's on, um, both buying website and Powerful Ladies, but it's called Stop Selling Start Sharing because. It's exactly that. Like if, if, if you are a heart led business, you're giving something out that you know is gonna change someone's life in some capacity. So, you know, it's not about selling it, it's about how do you tell everyone on the planet, because that's the only, this great thing is happening, right?
Yes, yes. Like, it's, it's an invitation of like, here's what I'm doing. Could this help you? Who do you know? Like, let's talk about it and it changes things because, you know, if you made something to change the world, like, don't you wanna tell people like, isn't, or isn't that the responsibility once you have No, exactly.
And,
and you're exactly right. Like, you don't keep a treasure, uh, hidden. You wanna share it, and that's
mm-hmm.
Uh, it's a stewardship, right? Yes. If we've created something really magnificent that we really do think can change the world, even just a little corner of the world, even just a little bit. Yep. Um, we have a responsibility to put it out there.
Yes. Yeah. Whether that's, you know, this amazing dish at your restaurant or you know, yoga zma or whatever it is, like there's so many ways to delight and impact people. Mm-hmm. And I don't know, obviously I'm a nerd for it. That's all I do in my whole, my whole life now. So,
yeah. Me too. Guilty of charge.
Well, we ask everyone on the podcast where you rank yourself on the powerful lady scale, zero being average, everyday human, and 10 being the most powerful lady possible.
Where would you rank yourself today, and where do you think you rank yourself on an average day?
I, that's a great question. I don't think a lot about power, I think more about responsibility because mm-hmm. For me, power and responsibility always have to go together. So I think Superman loss, I think how I'm using my personal power in my life, I, I think I'm a solid eight and a half.
Give myself I like it. Plus 85. Mm-hmm. Um, and where I am today, say, I'll say the same. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I, it took me a while to get comfortable with having the power that I do, and I probably still don't use all of it as I should. Mm-hmm. But I remember the day that I, somebody told me they thought I was intimidating.
I was like, what whatcha talking about? I couldn't even believe it. But I, when they explained it to me, I was like, well, you're right. I'm the boss and I'm the owner and I don't really think about that as being a thing I wear around. Mm-hmm. But it is a thing I wear around, so therefore it's something I better use and I better use for the be for the greater good.
Right. So, um, yeah, for me, power and responsibility closely, um, intertwined and so got a ton of responsibility. I better use my power. Right.
Yes, we were definitely raised on Superman's laws or, uh, with great power comes great responsibility. Um, my dad's a total comic book nerd, so that was probably the first lesson we were taught as soon as we could listen.
Good. Um, no. Yeah, and it's, it's, uh, it has, it does lead to me to judging people who aren't using their power. So I'm trying to give that up personally and give people their space to step into their power, even though I will gently nudge people as much as they'll let me.
Well, exactly. And, you know, for 15 years I was married to somebody who I, I gave all my power to.
Mm-hmm. So that was a, that's a long time. That was from 21 to 36. I was completely disempowered and it was absolutely my own fault. Mm-hmm. And so when we split, I, uh, made it my mission in life to get my power back and to use that power responsibly. And I had just happened to start LifeWorks about three months before we split up.
So now I'm divorced, I have no clients, I have no income. I lost all of my money. Mm-hmm. And I've got no gig. All I've got is this office space. So that's how I started. So, man, if you're not gonna use your power, then get used to being really poor mm-hmm. And have no, no opportunities out there. So it's that, that's, you gotta start the dilemma, mow and get going.
Yeah. That's where you get all the, the abundance, all the fun, all the things come from just being like, okay.
Yeah.
You don't, you don't even need to be a yes. Just like, just a I'll try just an all try. Okay. We'll, we'll start the, the momentum going. Mm-hmm. Right. Well, it has been such a pleasure to have you on The Powerful Ladies podcast.
Thank you so much for your time and sharing your story and for creating all that you have. Um, and I can't wait to see what gets created in 2021.
Well, thank you. I'm, I'm looking forward to telling you all about 2021. Maybe we'll do this again at the end of the year. Yes. Yeah. Alright. Thanks so much for having me.
I could hang out talking to Melanie for days. She's an infinite source of knowledge, stories, experience, and wise insight. She's a leader not only in how she runs her businesses, but also in how she lives her life. Heart led brave, curious, and always seeking collaborators to make the world a better place.
I'm a huge fan and imagine we'll have her back on soon to connect, support, follow Melanie and sign up for the next Yoga zma and Lispy training. You can go to at Yoga Zma on Instagram and at the Lispy School on Instagram as well. You can visit their websites, the lispy school.com. And again, lispy is L-I-S-P-Y, and I'll have all the other links, Instagram, Facebook, 50 different website pages, LinkedIn, even her email where you can find out more about all of her amazing businesses and programs from her dog project to Yoga Zama, to We Fix Brains and The Lispy School.
Thank you so much for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this episode of The Powerful Ladies Podcast. There are so many ways you can get involved and get supported with fellow powerful Ladies. First, subscribe to this podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts. Give us a five star rating and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies. Join the Powerful Ladies Thrive Collective. This is the place where powerful ladies connect, level up, and learn how to thrive in business and life. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube page, and of course, visit our website, the powerful ladies.com. I'd like to thank our producer, composer, and audio engineer Jordan Duffy.
Without her, this wouldn't be possible. You can follow her on Instagram at Jordan K. Duffy. We'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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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
