Latest / Daily Influence / 659. Building Emotionally Intelligent Leaders from the Inside Out

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659. Building Emotionally Intelligent Leaders from the Inside Out · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IE Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share Daily Influence with someone who could use a little extra positivity today.
• 0:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And make us part of your Daily routine, whether it's during your commute, on a walk, or an quiet moment just for you, because you're influenced matters.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, I'm Greg Fleno.
• 0:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Today, I'm thrilled to welcome two powerhouse leaders who are changing the way we think about personal development, emotional intelligence and leadership for all ages.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ariana Rose and Soela Laron are the founders of the Equality Education.
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: a groundbreaking organization partnering with schools, non-profits and major brands to build emotionally intelligent leaders from the inside out.
• 1:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: With partnerships across more than 100 New York City schools, collaborations with Puma, Mehta and BC and Bellevue Hospital and over 100,000 personal development workbooks sold, they are redefining what it means to learn, lead, and live with
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Their mission aligns beautifully with our responsible influence philosophy, helping people understand themselves, strengthen relationships, and intentionally create positive impact.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ariana, soly, welcome to daily influence.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: Hi.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: Thanks for having us.
• 1:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: To get us started, could you share a bit about your background and what led you to founding the equality education?
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so, Solana, I met very seriously, wow, we were both living in Brooklyn, New York.
• 2:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: We knew people, we knew people, and became really fast-bred and actually work out buddies in the beginning, and quickly kind of discovered that we had the same passion for this type of work, and had been pursuing it in our own lives independently.
• 2:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: and kind of had the crazy idea to start a community together.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, pretty good idea.
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: And we created our first product was our affirmation coloring book, which will chat all more about.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: But, um, we made it during the pandemic and nobody was anywhere.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: For us to go tell them about this amazing book, and we started telling them in the parks around the city, where they're only gathering the people we're happening.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: and everything kind of all took off from there into the amazing company and all the impact that we're doing around the world today.
• 3:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: That foundation sets the stage beautifully.
• 3:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Your journey into this work is powerful and it leads perfectly into this next question.
• 3:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: What was the moment or realization that made you both decide emotional intelligence needed to be at the center of how we teach leading grow?
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: That is a great question, actually.
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: Ariana and I love to learn about emotional intelligence goes like we read so many books, so many courses and we were like, why does no one teaches this member younger?
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: We need to teach it so we can utilize it in all of our phases of life, because if you know how to,
• 3:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: communicate better.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you have a healthy self-esteem, if you understand the dynamics of healthy relationships, you choose better choices, right?
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: And if we instill that information earlier, maybe we could prevent some unhealthy dynamics from creating in the future.
• 4:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: So when we have that realization, we say we're going to make emotional intelligence skills learning about it fun.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to create affirmation, coloring books that are colorful.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to have engaging in interacting workshops that resonate and really really get into the mind and body of an individual of our participants.
• 4:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we knew it needed to be in the forefront because it's
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: emotions are everywhere.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're experiencing them all the time they dictate our choices, they create our life experiences and we need this goes to really get all that we want out of this life.
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: And really honestly, I think that we started realizing all of that after we individually had our own personal experiences too.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, so we chatted, you know, we would talk for four
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: Why is nobody having this conversation in a serious way, in a family way, in a community way, in their school, this part of the traditional education?
• 5:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, so it was mentioning, and we just knew that something needed to be followed.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was like a burning fire in us that we just had to make something happen and really get this message out to people.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: you know, I agree.
• 5:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: It sounds like a no-brainer for this to be a standard part of all education systems.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: I agree.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, definitely.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: I feel like every school set up emotional intelligence skills for not just the students for the students, this staff and the parent, and that's what we've created in a quality education.
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's amazing.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: You both have touched countless lives through this mission, and that brings me to something I love asking all leaders committed to responsible influence.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can you share a moment when you witnessed a direct positive impact from your work?
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Something that reminded you why this mission matters.
• 6:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: Wow, that is such a great question as well.
• 6:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: I we can.
• 6:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: answer separately, but quickly for myself, I was a young kid that really struggled with having a healthy self-esteem.
• 6:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't understand.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't really understand how owning yourself in a powerful way can impact your life, right?
• 6:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: There was one time where a therapist reached out to us and let us know that their client, there were a child therapist.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: Their client was having very dangerous thoughts.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to get into information too much because I don't want to trigger anybody on the episode.
• 6:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: But they were having very dangerous thoughts about themselves and about life and et cetera.
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: And they pulled out the affirmation coloring book and they were able to really calm down and repeat the affirmation to themselves.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: and get themselves sent here so that they can get through the rest of the session.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: That really tells my heart because
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think when you're younger, life feels so triggering.
• 7:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: I feel so like intense that prefrontal cortex is about develop.
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Your limbic system is over-developed.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I feel like there's such the interaction with the world is so intense and it's important to create a healthy sense of self.
• 7:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: So just to even know that that child.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: had the opportunity to center themselves and had that self-belief risen really touched me and touched the soft spot in my heart.
• 7:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that you got me, I have goosebumps.
• 7:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: So grateful that that tool was there for that therapist to help that child at that time.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: And those stories really bring your influence to life and speaking of life changing work in the 19 framework, we talk about knowing your personal influence and using it responsibly.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: How do you teach students and leaders to understand the impact they have on others?
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, a quality education has some really strong defense of, you know, the pillars of what we stand by and the concepts that we always bring to our books, our workshops, our talks, whatever we're doing.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: such a pervasive way is felt agency.
• 8:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: Nothing happens in life outside of you doing you.
• 8:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so there's a lot of ways that we interact with other people.
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's conversations and relationships and instances and accidents and mistakes and
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: beautiful serendipitous things that happen.
• 9:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: It all comes down to me.
• 9:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm responsible for everything.
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  [SPEAKER_03]: I determine the thoughts and the feelings and the actions that I want to hold and follow up on and repeat and create a pattern and a personality out of.
• 9:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: People don't realize that.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: They start with, oh, I'm going to meet you here and we're going to have a conversation.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: Start with you.
• 9:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: wake up in the morning and love her or him in the best way that you can.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: Take care of your body, your vessel in a way that allows you to show up for that conversation with that other individual in the most powerful way.
• 9:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so people I think look outside of themselves first and we tell people hold on, take a beat, turn that energy inward and see what results you can create simply by
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: We teach self-love is the most selfish and beautifully selfish thing if that you can give to yourself and other people in your life.
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: So we definitely start there.
• 10:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: A quality education also needs the learner where they are and that's a whole other conversation because people learn.
• 10:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: by things that interest them and excite them and capture their attention, that's different for everyone.
• 10:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's a lot of programs that don't meet the learner where they are, but first and foremost, for our own impact, show it for yourself and your life and it will create a ripple effect that is beyond anything that you could have dreamed of.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is great advice, you know, I love how intentional that approach is and, you know, intentionality is evolving right now because of technology, especially AI.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Are you using AI within the organization?
• 10:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: And if you are, how is it helping you support emotional intelligence, leadership, or learning?
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, AI is such a powerful tool, right?
• 11:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: You have knowledge and information access by just entering a question, right?
• 11:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: And we, and I'll call you education, believe the quality of your life, lead to the quality of the question, so you ask, right?
• 11:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: And the information that you seek.
• 11:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: And so at times we are looking for always for more information so that we get serve our community better, right?
• 11:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: So there are times where we have random questions and we want to research up the internet, we search up AI, we look into the books because books still have so much value, right?
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're very, we try to push that like books have a lot of value as well.
• 11:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we always search for more information and how we can better ourselves
• 11:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: and all of
• 11:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: learn human behavior more, learn so that we can provide better resources.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: And the way that we're seeing the rise in AI is that it's such a powerful tool that it has really powerful positives and also powerful negatives.
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: And again, the power lies within ourselves to determine how we utilize it.
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: So we actually, we have a program that we have been offering
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: This is also something that's available for people in a community aspect as well, but we are teaching people the responsible use of AI.
• 12:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: What is it?
• 12:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: How powerful can it be?
• 12:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: What ways can you use it for empowerment?
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: And where is that kind of fine line where it's like, you know, pay attention to how your kids are using it.
• 12:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: You still need to read.
• 12:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: You still need to pursue learning.
• 12:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: You still need to activate your brain in a way where you're not always given answers without having to seek them.
• 12:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: That doesn't strengthen those muscles, those intellectual muscles, in the way that we really need to thrive and live.
• 12:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: So make sure that you're not leaning on it too much.
• 12:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: And we're actually teaching people awareness about that as it becomes more of a,
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: very consuming topic.
• 13:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 13:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a great way to put it in that blended technology and humanity is really powerful.
• 13:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now I want to explore your leadership philosophy a little bit deeper.
• 13:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: You work with schools, nonprofits and major brand partners.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: What have you learned about building collaborative teams in fostering accountability across so many different environments?
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: Really learn that everyone has, emotional intelligence goes it's very useful for many different environments, right?
• 13:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: And at the same time, we all think that those are different places and we're all different humans and we're all having different experiences and et cetera, but actually, these skills are applicable to all of those environments, all of those different areas.
• 13:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it makes me realize we're so taught
• 13:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: the differences of each other, the differences of the organizations and everything, but we are all in this human experience and there's so much more common ground.
• 14:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: Oftentimes, we're going to, you know, we've been in,
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: huge team workshops for large companies and we've also done parent small parent workshops in the schools and they're also talking about the same topic.
• 14:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's just like we're just creating different exercises or resonates.
• 14:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: better, but we're all utilizing need the skills and the information and we're just utilizing it in different ways to serve many purposes.
• 14:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I realize how we are all human and we're all in this life experience together.
• 14:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a really good point and I think that is gold for anyone trying to make a meaningful difference.
• 14:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are all humans.
• 14:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Whether we're working in schools, we're working in nonprofits, we're working for a small or a large company.
• 15:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: At the end of the day, each individual human
• 15:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: While humans, we all have emotions, we all have ideas, we all have thoughts, and we come together, we're greater together.
• 15:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that leads me to my final question.
• 15:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: For our listeners who want to create positive change, whether in their school, workplace or community, what message or words of encouragement would you like to share?
• 15:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: I feel like we're in a time right now, one of the conversations we see when we speak with people who are our generation above is that we kind of hold this responsibility for unlearning a lot of things that weren't really talked about in prior decades.
• 16:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: emotional intelligence is the responsibility of yourself.
• 16:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: You learn the skills for yourself and then you practice them with someone else.
• 16:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, start where you are.
• 16:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: We tell people these aren't the theme and intellectual skills where you have to have a propensity for math or you have to be really good at saxophone or whatever you can start with what you have right now today.
• 16:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: and a willing partner who wants to have some emotional banter with you, feel back some layers of the onion.
• 16:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: And you can do it.
• 16:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: There is nothing in your way.
• 16:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Anything that you have believed before about your state self is changeable and you're able to upgrade anything in your life that you want to.
• 16:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: We have brains that are malleable that are made for that for your survival.
• 16:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: So if you have something out in the world that you want to change, find a way for you to explore more of that.
• 17:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like we say at a quality education discover your greatness.
• 17:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's no age limit to it.
• 17:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's no amount of money that you need.
• 17:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's no amount of time that you need.
• 17:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: Do a little bit every day and you'll start to see changes in your life.
• 17:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so that's really important to us because those little tiny steps that you take contributes to this really impactful major.
• 17:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: what can be a very global movement behind people operating through emotional intelligence through all life situations.
• 17:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that is how you change the world.
• 17:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's this very, it starts on a very small scale, and it has the power to impact generations and groups of people all across the planet, um, and it all starts with us, and it all starts with
• 17:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: Right where you are right now.
• 17:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's what we like to leave people with which is that you don't need anything to do this You don't need anything to like wake up in the morning and be like I really love myself today and to give someone else a compliment in the same way So that's what we do every day, and you have the capability to do the same And you love it And also I also want to encourage individuals to always leave with love and leave with integrity and you'll be
• 18:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: you arrive at the right destination.
• 18:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you'll take those two things and be a big on that and it'll call the education love for yourself.
• 18:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: Again, as Ariana said, love for others.
• 18:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: Leave with love and leave with integrity.
• 18:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: Leave with integrity.
• 18:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love that.
• 18:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is great advice.
• 18:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ariana and Soleil, thank you for the work that you're doing and for the heart you bring to every student educator and leader that you touch your commitment to emotional intelligence and responsible influence aligns deeply with our mission here at daily influence reminding all us all.
• 18:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: that when we understand ourselves, we can better understand others and that's how the real change happens.
• 19:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: If our listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about your organization, what's the best way to do so?
• 19:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: Our website is kind of the go to it's www.theequalityeducation.com.
• 19:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can reach out to us there.
• 19:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can find our products.
• 19:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can book our services.
• 19:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can find us on socials at the equality edu.
• 19:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: So later I have a really fun page about a thing like that's Brendan Mums, which is called friends who want you to win, which is just a look into our lives and everything that we do so that one's fun and so shows you all.
• 19:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that's exactly what it is, yeah.
• 19:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Great.
• 19:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, we'll put that information in this show notes.
• 19:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you both so much for joining us and for everything that you do.
• 19:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Perfect.
• 19:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
• 19:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much.
• 19:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in to daily influence.
• 19:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I hope today's conversation brought you insight and inspiration.
• 20:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: If it's spoke to you, please share with someone who could use a little positivity today.
• 20:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's continue to lead with purpose awareness and influence that less others and our cells high.
• 20:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Remember small actions create big impact.
• 20:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Keep showing up, leading and growing one day to time.
• 20:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Until next time, stay inspired and keep having a positive, responsible influence.
• 20:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bye-bye.