Latest / Authentic Living / Being in badass in Business and Life is a good Thing
Transcript
- 0:01Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have conscious conversations
- 0:08about things that really matter in our lives.
- 0:12And now here's your host, Roxanne Durgesh.
- 0:14Derhodge, it's, Roxanne.
- 0:40How are you this week?
- 0:41I'm I'm sure you're hanging in there like we all are.
- 0:44So today, I have a colleague.
- 0:47I met Dana about a year ago.
- 0:49Dale is a a professional speaker like myself, I actually just got accepted in.
- 0:54She was the membership person that got me involved with, caps, which is the professional
- 0:59association for speakers in Canada.
- 1:02Dana actually knew someone in common, and we got connected that way.
- 1:05And we we've been attending meetings for quite a while.
- 1:08Data's, done a lot of things and have a bit of a bio.
- 1:12So, Dana, thanks so much for being here with us today.
- 1:15Oh, it's my pleasure.
- 1:16Thank you, Roxanne.
- 1:17So Dana is, I've gotta literally be it's it's it says becoming a badass.
- 1:21She's a bit of a badass in life and business.
- 1:25You know, being a badass in a life and business requires you to stand in your power and be
- 1:29super fee with being unique.
- 1:32Dana knows all about standing out and being unique.
- 1:34Her personal brand of the inner dominatrix, which is everybody's thinking, oh, I can't wait
- 1:39to hear about that, pushes people out of their comfort zone, challenges their perceived
- 1:44notions that has them stepping into a fierce termination to rock their bowels.
- 1:51And that seems like it should go with red shoes, Dana.
- 1:54Sexy unfilled lives Dana is a 2 time international number 1 best selling author, a 2
- 2:01time awards, winning speaker and This commitment is to living life in command of her,
- 2:07I was gonna say divine feminine, but feminine power helping others connect with her in a
- 2:12dominatrix has made her a sought after speaker and coach.
- 2:16Wow.
- 2:17I like it.
- 2:18Thank you.
- 2:20So I know recently, Dana just, I just bought a copy of her book, and I have not read it.
- 2:26So I will say that upfront.
- 2:28So I can get to that.
- 2:29Absolutely.
- 2:30So Dana just recently, launched your box.
- 2:33So maybe we should start their data.
- 2:35Sure.
- 2:35What's that?
- 2:37I know it's been a whirlwind.
- 2:39Yeah.
- 2:39It has been a whirlwind.
- 2:40Oh my goodness.
- 2:41Yeah.
- 2:41All of these things are like an epic undertaking, but so this is the first of a
- 2:45series.
- 2:46And the series is called the inner dominatrix Guide.
- 2:49And of course, this one is called become a badass.
- 2:52In business.
- 2:53So the book has been, a journey for me personally because in this book, I've brought
- 2:59in a lot of my personal story, a lot of the, you know, stories from the dungeon.
- 3:04So, you know, really kind of pulling back the kimono wide open and sharing all my
- 3:10vulnerability in this story and, you know, bringing the lessons of that world and how they
- 3:17relate to business and how people can step into the mindset that they need to really show up
- 3:23and grow the business that they're looking for.
- 3:26Now until 50 Shades of gray, none of us were talking about this kind of stuff.
- 3:31Right?
- 3:31And then it became kinda I'm gonna use the word vanilla because everybody was talking about it.
- 3:36Yes.
- 3:36I want you to I I heard your story and was a year ago in, to be able to represent our
- 3:44chapter in, Ottawa so it was a pleasure.
- 3:47I saw you and some other fantastic, other speakers.
- 3:51So I I have the pleasure of of knowing your story or what was it 5 minutes?
- 3:56That's all I got.
- 3:57Anyway I know.
- 3:57You just get a small little segment.
- 3:59So And
- 4:00I'm like, okay.
- 4:00Tell me more.
- 4:01So I have to get out and see your keynote sometime.
- 4:04So, you know, Dana, I often say that, you know, we all have a path.
- 4:09We have a story, and obviously you're saying that in your book, you're sharing that.
- 4:14Tell me up kind of what, I mean, obviously, you're speaking, you're coaching, you're doing
- 4:18lots of things out there.
- 4:20Where did where did your story begin?
- 4:23I you know, it's been this evolution.
- 4:25You know, people say, oh, where did it begin?
- 4:27I don't know too many people that have a really clear cut beginning, but you know, to kind of
- 4:32walk people through quickly the journey.
- 4:35So when I graduated school, I was a massage therapist, and so that was back in 92.
- 4:40And Over the years, my work evolved.
- 4:44And gradually well, actually, very quickly, I started to having to bring in energy work and
- 4:49cycle therapy because I found that was really what was going on for people.
- 4:53What was keeping them stocked physically was more what was in their head.
- 4:58And so my work progressed and involved into more of a coaching model.
- 5:02And eventually, I just realized, you know what?
- 5:05Really, I'm doing coaching and I'm being underpaid for it.
- 5:07So I decided to retire my license and and go full time into coaching.
- 5:12Now that's that's one street.
- 5:14Now along simultaneous with that, In 1999, I opened up a massage supply store and went
- 5:21through the journey of, you know, having staff and inventory and then eventually going through
- 5:27a bankruptcy and having to lay everybody off.
- 5:30And it's in that journey where I started to realize that the skills that I had in my
- 5:36personal life of being a dominatrix, which was, you know, again, concurrent with all of these
- 5:40things, like, it was lined up.
- 5:41Right?
- 5:42So I was a dominatrix in my personal life and had a real strength going on there, but I
- 5:47wasn't bringing that into my business.
- 5:50And when I took a really hard look at why the business failed, you know, beyond the, oh, we
- 5:55had too much inventory or we had staff making mistakes and, you know, shipping the wrong
- 6:00product out, the way to ship it out, ship it back, and ship it out again.
- 6:04The underlying piece was that I could see that I wasn't being the leader that was required.
- 6:10And the leadership skills that I was leaving kind of segregated into my personal life and
- 6:15not bringing them into the business.
- 6:16And then in with that, I started to look around to other women in business, particularly women,
- 6:22And I noticed that, you know, what?
- 6:24There's a lot of women who do not stand in that power.
- 6:28They do not stand in that leadership in a way that's unapologetic.
- 6:31And yet still quiet, soft, and feminine.
- 6:36And so I I really wanted to bring this inner dominatrix as an archetype for women in
- 6:42business.
- 6:43Amazing.
- 6:44So, I mean, most of us, you know, females, you know, you and I, I think, around the same kinda
- 6:51age category.
- 6:53Be Roxanne we, you know, we I mean, at least I know in in my family was like, yeah, achieve,
- 6:58but when you get out in the world, You get those implicit messages that say, oh, it's all
- 7:03well and good.
- 7:04You know, however, There's that that, you know, what they say, the glass ceiling.
- 7:09It's really there, and it keeps bumping up against it.
- 7:11So a lot of times, what ends up happening, I remember when in corporates, I was always
- 7:16bumping up against it.
- 7:17And you're like, is it because I'm female?
- 7:19Is it if I say too much, you know, I'm quote unquote, you know, the aggressive one of the
- 7:25the one of the bad word, the bitch.
- 7:28But I'd be do doing no difference at the corporate, you know, table than my other male
- 7:34counterparts.
- 7:35So it kinda, you know, a lot of after a while, you kinda you found your groove
- 7:40Mhmm.
- 7:40To be able to get done.
- 7:41And sometimes you would back off.
- 7:42I know I would at times.
- 7:44And because I'm the only one generally, maybe, or some women would, but when it came to, like,
- 7:52kinda formalizing things they'd back off.
- 7:55Right.
- 7:56Yeah.
- 7:56There's there's a it's a fine balance in that, you know, women haven't been seen as you know,
- 8:03the leaders are assertive.
- 8:05And so when they do step up, they're afraid of being called the bitch.
- 8:09And it for good reason because, you know, we have been when we stand up.
- 8:13And yet, there are ways that we can lean into our feminine strength.
- 8:19That calls people to task without being masculine aggressive.
- 8:23And I think it's when women get into the masculine aggressive energy is is when they
- 8:28more likely get called a bitch because it doesn't feel the same.
- 8:32But, you know, it's it's I think it's more of, I know, for me, one of the analogies is when
- 8:37you think about the stereotypical black woman, you know, mama.
- 8:41Right?
- 8:42Don't nobody mess with mama.
- 8:44And it's that kind of energy.
- 8:46She is strong.
- 8:47She is feminine.
- 8:48And yet the like, you just know you do not pull anything with her, right, because You're gonna
- 8:53get a cuff upside the head.
- 8:55And I think if women, you know, in business and in the boardroom were to actually pull a little
- 9:01bit more from that feminine strength, lean into it, people would show them more respect
- 9:08naturally because it's not using you're not trying to copy what the men are doing.
- 9:13You're you're bringing your own authentic strength into the scenario.
- 9:18Absolutely.
- 9:18I I I completely agree.
- 9:20But sometimes what ends up is it's difficult.
- 9:23You're trying Oh, yeah.
- 9:25Angles.
- 9:25Right?
- 9:25And I think that, you know, I I and I saw it, you know, in the in the 15 years kind of in
- 9:30consulting.
- 9:31And sometimes it would be blatant.
- 9:33And then sometimes, you know, you would see females above you, and I can think of, you
- 9:37know, one particular female that was, you know, 2 ranks above myself at that time.
- 9:42And she was brutal.
- 9:45Yeah.
- 9:46Yeah.
- 9:46And then you think, well, you're female like me.
- 9:50You're you're getting the same tide except you're too up from me, you know, kinda wanting
- 9:55to kinda, I guess, be able to relate to be able to think that, you know, you would kind of
- 10:01understand what it's like to be, you know, female in the ranks.
- 10:04And sometimes, you know, it was easier to deal with the males at that rank than it was that,
- 10:11you know, and I'm not seeing that of all, you know, SVPs they're a female, but in the in my
- 10:16opinion, the one that I was exposed to did it quite poorly.
- 10:20Yeah.
- 10:20And it's it's challenging because realistically, women have only been in the
- 10:24workforce for, a 100 years and, you know, moving up the ranks for probably the last 50 or
- 10:3160 years.
- 10:32So we don't have a lot of history to draw on.
- 10:36And and whereas men have had a very long history of working with other men, and they
- 10:40have developed this camaraderie and, you know, here, I'm gonna mentor you.
- 10:44I'm gonna pull you along.
- 10:46You know, the the women who were leading the way, You know, I give them kudos.
- 10:50They had to fight and claw.
- 10:53And and so, you know, they probably were burnt out and didn't have anything left to give.
- 10:59To the women who were coming behind them.
- 11:01Now it was short sighted, but I do I, you know, I completely forgive them that it's like, how
- 11:05could you?
- 11:06Like, you just You have spent so much fighting and clawing.
- 11:10And I think the next generation that's kinda coming behind you and I They're seeing where
- 11:16they need more collaboration.
- 11:18They need more mentoring.
- 11:19And and and our generation, I see more women reaching down to lift up.
- 11:24So I think I think that's gonna change in the next 50 years.
- 11:27I think we're gonna see a a lot more collaborative, a lot more mentoring, and and we
- 11:33need it.
- 11:33We absolutely need it.
- 11:35So the
- 11:36the burning question I have Mhmm.
- 11:38Which I'll go deep.
- 11:39I'm sure you've heard this a million times.
- 11:41As a dominatrix, right?
- 11:46What are the translatable skills that you bring to the boardroom?
- 11:51And when you women, how do you kind of, introduce those con steps.
- 12:01Yeah.
- 12:02So
- 12:03here's here's what I see is, you know, if we look at the dominatrix and turn her into an
- 12:07archetype, she is authentically confident because when you step into the dungeon, the
- 12:13moment that you step in, you have to show up fully.
- 12:16You have to be holding this space, holding the energy, and holding that, you know, presence.
- 12:23Otherwise, the submissive will not believe you.
- 12:25You know, they can smell fear a mile away.
- 12:27That it's like you have to be on.
- 12:30There is no faking it.
- 12:31And I think that's a really big piece for business is that, you know, we've been taught
- 12:35for a long time saying, you know, fake it till you make it.
- 12:37Faking it doesn't work anymore, especially when you wanna lean into a feminine power, that's
- 12:42not faking it.
- 12:43That is that quiet confidence in which you have to, like, own it in your body.
- 12:47So that's probably the first one.
- 12:50Next one is in negotiations.
- 12:52So, obviously, you know, for people who know a little bit or have watched 50 Shades or read 50
- 12:57Shades, there's a negotiation that happens prior to any scene.
- 13:02And we talk about What's what are you willing to do?
- 13:06What do you wanna do?
- 13:06What do you never wanna do?
- 13:08And then, you know, and what do I wanna do and what I never wanna And you play within the zone
- 13:13of what overlaps.
- 13:15So you're you're negotiating.
- 13:16You're never compromising.
- 13:18And I think, again, that's another piece, you know, for corporate or for business that women
- 13:23can really lean into, not compromising anymore.
- 13:28Win win or no deal.
- 13:31Mhmm.
- 13:31And both of those skills and, of course, You know, there's a bit more, but both of those
- 13:35skills require us to get to this place where we're letting go of the judgments of who we
- 13:41think we are, who we should be, how we think we were gonna show up.
- 13:47And, you know, the more that we untangle from those all that burden of who, you know, how we
- 13:55think we should be showing up.
- 13:57When we start to untangle from that, then we're free.
- 13:59We're free to move.
- 14:01And we're free to just, you know, show up authentically show up as us.
- 14:05And naturally, we're gonna come from this place of negotiating with these because when we're
- 14:11not confined with what we think we should be doing or what we think we're gonna lose and all
- 14:16all those should.
- 14:18Then it's like, oh, let's just show up and play the game.
- 14:22It becomes easy.
- 14:24Wow.
- 14:24That that sounds like a nice place to be.
- 14:26Right?
- 14:27Kinda like when you go into the first time to corporate customer or something like that, it's
- 14:31it's what I hear you're really, you know, I hadn't thought about it from that perspective,
- 14:36but it's a bit of poised.
- 14:37Right?
- 14:38Mhmm.
- 14:39Right?
- 14:39Because if you're going in with that perspective, you're kinda, you know, you got
- 14:42your dress on, you got a presence, but really bigger than that, it's about the space that
- 14:48you're embodying when you're entering that situation to say I bring value, I bring
- 14:54expertise.
- 14:55I'm here, you know, what I know I can help with, and I'm here to really understand you.
- 15:02And not go right into, you know, you know, what I could bring to you because you're it's it's
- 15:07like a win win.
- 15:08If you're talking about that subset, which I love that that that, word you used of the do
- 15:15between the do's and the don'ts and finding that part of the circle that says, really, on a
- 15:21corporate level, what are your needs?
- 15:24These are my offerings.
- 15:25You know, what is your mission?
- 15:27Yeah.
- 15:28Yeah.
- 15:28And what's your vision?
- 15:30And if it's corporate culture, you're really kind of it's helping you zone in.
- 15:35Yeah.
- 15:36It it really is.
- 15:37And it you very quickly get to, you know, are we a good fit?
- 15:41And and if it's not a good fit, then you just say no.
- 15:45Because trying to fit, you know, that square peg in a round hole is trying to fit the client
- 15:49that's not the the right connection into your services.
- 15:58So sitting down and just, you know, objectively being able to go Am I able to serve you?
- 16:03What do you actually need?
- 16:05Mhmm.
- 16:05And what what do I have that can that can work for you?
- 16:09And if not, Who else can I send you to?
- 16:13I like that because, you know, especially with, you know, if you're, let's say, you're
- 16:16shifting, arenas, then, you know, if you're going, let's say you're starting to speak
- 16:21professionally, right, and you're going out there.
- 16:25You know, you're kinda thinking, oh my god.
- 16:26Can I do this?
- 16:27You know, can I, you know, presence am I bringing all those things?
- 16:29But if you've kind of worked when I when I hear just clearly and you tell me, didn't it?
- 16:33It sounds like a mindset.
- 16:35Very much so.
- 16:36So it's a mindset from that starts back away.
- 16:41So a lot of people talk about mindset and you'll think about You know, even with, you
- 16:45know, the classic Napoleon Hill, thinking grow rich.
- 16:48Right?
- 16:48That is in essence, a mindset book, but For most people, it doesn't actually address what
- 16:54is getting in the way of you having that mindset.
- 16:57It's one thing to say, I'm going to think positive.
- 17:00I'm gonna, you know, see a good outcome.
- 17:03And, you know, I'm gonna muscle my way through this.
- 17:06Okay.
- 17:06So here's my thing about willpower.
- 17:08Will power is useless.
- 17:10And, if you think back to, like, grade 6 science and you take magnets and you know, hey,
- 17:15you have magnets and you take try to push the 2 south poles together.
- 17:18Mhmm.
- 17:19And no matter how hard you push, they just repel at the same strength that you are
- 17:24pushing.
- 17:25That to me is willpower.
- 17:26So you can get close but you'll never click.
- 17:31And you burn yourself out, and especially for women, we burn ourselves out pushing, pushing,
- 17:36pushing, pushing, pushing, for willpower instead of taking a step back and say, okay.
- 17:41Well, why don't I get, you know, get rid of what it is that preventing me from showing up
- 17:47authentically, which is all of our internal judgments and the program is and all the, you
- 17:51know, all the interesting fun things of our monkey mind.
- 17:55If we eliminate those, then it's easy to show up.
- 18:00And you start to move into the place of feeling passionate about what you're doing, And then
- 18:05it's easy to engage the client or whatever it is that you're doing.
- 18:08Or it's easy for you to go in and ask for a raise or any of those things.
- 18:13Because you're not pushing.
- 18:15And for women is vital because the minute that you get into push energy, you repel everyone in
- 18:22the room.
- 18:23Mhmm.
- 18:23That magnet pushing them away, and they just, you know, they flee.
- 18:28But when you flip the magnet around, you have the north and the south poles trying to click
- 18:32together.
- 18:32They just pull each other together, and it becomes easy.
- 18:35And that's what we wanna move people towards is, you know, ditch the whole push hustle and
- 18:40grind Sorry, Gary V.
- 18:42I think you're totally wrong.
- 18:44And, you know, being able to dig into our passion so that it propels us forward.
- 18:49I like I like that example.
- 18:50That's a very nice example.
- 18:52And how many of us have done that?
- 18:54I know I've done that through occurred several times.
- 18:57Right?
- 18:57Absolutely.
- 18:58And then if you just kinda slow down and flip around a bit, all of a sudden, then things
- 19:01start to slow.
- 19:04Now with women,
- 19:06Mhmm.
- 19:07What are some of the biggest stumbling blocks that you find get in their way at achieving
- 19:15this kind of mindset?
- 19:17I think, 2 major things.
- 19:201, I'm not good enough.
- 19:23Comes up in any number of variations.
- 19:27So I'm not good enough for this job.
- 19:29I'm not ready.
- 19:30And, you know, Cheryl Sanderson spoke about that and lean in because the women will wait
- 19:35until they are 110% ready before they go for and apply for the job.
- 19:40You know, so the I'm not good enough.
- 19:42It it shows up.
- 19:43And then, you know, 2 is this worry about being judged.
- 19:50And, you know, for again, this is like centuries of us as women being judged for our
- 19:56appearance.
- 19:57Our stature?
- 19:58Are we good mothers?
- 19:59Are we bad mothers?
- 20:00Are we, you know, should we even be in a job?
- 20:03And, you know, again, this is fairly new world for us to be in the corporate world.
- 20:07And all of those, you know, judgments, we are constantly being labeled and, you know, put in
- 20:13little boxes and we take that on.
- 20:16So we need to unplug from that conditioning so that we can show up you know, just as ourselves
- 20:24without fear of how are we gonna be seen?
- 20:28That needs to go, and it can go.
- 20:31And that's another area where I love pulling from the Dominatrix world because let me tell
- 20:36you, as a Dominatrix, the first thing you have to get comfortable.
- 20:39When you start talking about the fact that you are or have been, you are gonna be judged big
- 20:44time.
- 20:45And You might end up in a massive way.
- 20:49So it's it's not just being okay with the judgment, but I take it a step further, and
- 20:54it's like, I want people to use that judgment as fuel, to use it to your advantage and
- 21:01actually be So comfortable with your your, like, bringing on.
- 21:05I love it.
- 21:06Bringing on.
- 21:06Yeah.
- 21:07To be honest with you, that is the one of the most courageous brands I've heard since I've
- 21:11been involved.
- 21:12In speaking, honestly, because I I kinda sit there and go, oh, okay.
- 21:18And I'm sure you get that, but when I hear what you're thought is about it.
- 21:24Now I am just I understand it more because I don't know that I've ever really sat down and
- 21:28talked to you about it.
- 21:30Because if I'm okay with who I am Mhmm.
- 21:34The what then who cares about the label?
- 21:37Right.
- 21:38Right?
- 21:39And, I mean, obviously, with our society and not that there's aren't bigger problems in the
- 21:43world that we, you know, people judge
- 21:47We're we're naturally inclined to judge.
- 21:49And the thing is is that it's not we're not trying to change anybody from judging because
- 21:53we can't.
- 21:54Mhmm.
- 21:54But we can change how we respond to it.
- 21:58So our conditioned response right now is to put up a big wall and trying to deflect it, which
- 22:04is as effective as trying to block somebody who is running at you.
- 22:09Mhmm.
- 22:09No
- 22:10matter how strong you are, you're not gonna do that.
- 22:12You're you're both gonna be bold over.
- 22:14But if you instead were to, you know, let yourself receive that judgment and just let it
- 22:20go on through and say, okay.
- 22:22Thanks.
- 22:22That's great.
- 22:23And and there's a long conditioning that goes with that, like, in training.
- 22:26So I can say this, but please understand that there is some process to get there.
- 22:31But it's like the difference is, like, you have that person running at you, and instead of
- 22:36trying to block them, you move out of the way.
- 22:40And they just they fall without you.
- 22:43Mhmm.
- 22:44And so that's the difference.
- 22:45We have to let ourselves you know, just be okay with it to be able to receive it in a way that
- 22:52it's, like, it's all good.
- 22:53It's just gonna go right on past.
- 22:56So how do you with female executives or people that you work with?
- 23:01Mhmm.
- 23:02How how
- 23:02do you kinda help them And then I know you said they're steps.
- 23:05So I I I know you covered it all.
- 23:08Yeah.
- 23:09How do you kind of start to harden them up in that way.
- 23:13Right?
- 23:14Because, like, you know, sometimes, you know, you see super confident women and then you you
- 23:19get to know them better and you're like, oh my god.
- 23:21That it's a facade.
- 23:23Mhmm.
- 23:24Right?
- 23:25Yeah.
- 23:25So what kind of things do you do?
- 23:27You know, to harden.
- 23:29I don't know if to I don't know if harden up is right.
- 23:31Well, not quite.
- 23:32I wouldn't call it hardening up.
- 23:33I would actually call it softening because we're we're taking the layers off.
- 23:37Okay.
- 23:38So so the process that I do with people is is very interesting in that we look at You know,
- 23:45the judgments and, what I call the energetic charge that we have on two sides of the
- 23:50equation.
- 23:50So we have in ourselves, we have this, you know, judgment say of I'm not good enough.
- 23:56And and you have, you know, bugaboos about the fact that you think you're not good enough And
- 24:01then you have bugaboo's about what it would mean to actually let that go.
- 24:04And so it's like this polarity creating this internal conflict, and it it creates a
- 24:10disruption.
- 24:11So there's this constant disruption.
- 24:13And the process that I take people through, which we don't have time to get into in-depth,
- 24:17but, basically, it clears off the energetic charge on both sides, and then you're left with
- 24:23a choice.
- 24:24You're left in the choice.
- 24:25And this case would be whether or not you wanna continue to judge yourself as not worthy.
- 24:30And if you clear off the charge that that's been created around why you need to hold on to
- 24:36it, why that's, you know, important, why you took it on.
- 24:40We clear all of those off.
- 24:43You're not going to naturally want to jet see yourself as broken or, you know, unworthy
- 24:50because your natural state, and this is this gets a little bit into the higher level
- 24:55consciousness, which I love playing with, but your natural state is to see yourself as a
- 25:01divine being.
- 25:02Mhmm.
- 25:03And in that space, there's never anything wrong with you.
- 25:05You're not broken.
- 25:06You're not scared.
- 25:08You're not any of those things.
- 25:09And so it's it's bringing people back around to connect with who they are authentically, and
- 25:15it's a lot of it's this process of Untangling them.
- 25:19And once you untangle, then it's just a choice whether they move forward or not, which is what
- 25:24makes it easy.
- 25:26It's not forced.
- 25:27It's not I have to do 50,000 affirmations.
- 25:30I don't have to, you know, do any kind of repetition.
- 25:32I'm not having to, like, you know, lift a £100 at the gym before I'm ready, it becomes easy.
- 25:38We just remove the baggage that's there.
- 25:41And then they show up.
- 25:43They're brilliant.
- 25:44They're natural brilliant.
- 25:45So I I see a lot of people who are absolutely brilliant, but it's like they've got this
- 25:49crusted cocoon around them.
- 25:51And I come along and I pull off all the layers of the cocoon.
- 25:54And then they're like, oh, hey.
- 25:56Fabulous.
- 25:56I feel fabulous.
- 25:57And I'm like, well, been there that all along.
- 26:00You just were carrying some baggage.
- 26:02So that's kind of in a nutshell what you know, what the process is.
- 26:06And as we go along, then I can start to connect them a little bit more to the idea of, you
- 26:13know, it's like if you are this divine being, in being willing to receive any energy because
- 26:19what if energy is neither positive nor negative?
- 26:23Right?
- 26:23We start to go into some of those bigger concepts, which, again, the the down the road.
- 26:31So that that's that's fascinating.
- 26:33So once you kind of get them, you know, outside of the cocoon, then and they can really start
- 26:39to list naturally to who they need to be.
- 26:42Absolutely.
- 26:42Yeah.
- 26:43Do you find do you find because in our roles, we take on so much that sometimes I'm gonna say
- 26:51systems.
- 26:52That's probably not the right word, but, all the responsibilities that women have actually
- 26:59impacts that space to get to that space.
- 27:03Doesn't make it more difficult.
- 27:07Yes and no.
- 27:08I mean, it
- 27:12that was me.
- 27:13I'm sorry.
- 27:16Okay.
- 27:17Okay.
- 27:18So, you know, it's interesting for a lot of the times when I work with men, even though I
- 27:23don't, you know, specifically market to men, but sometimes men gravitate towards me.
- 27:27I do find that they untangle a little faster.
- 27:31And I think sometimes with women, it's it is that feeling responsible, feeling like, you
- 27:37know, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
- 27:39I'm the one who's the nurturer or the caretaker.
- 27:42And so Sometimes it's it's kind of, you know, prying their fingers off of that responsibility
- 27:48to be everybody's nurturer and caretaker.
- 27:52Once that is loosened off, it's a lot easier for them to start to be what they call selfish,
- 27:58which is the hair taking and, you know, getting letting go of the baggage and stepping into
- 28:05being powerful, stepping into asking for what you want.
- 28:08You and really claiming what it is that that you're good at.
- 28:11Those are the things that, yeah, sometimes it can take a little longer, but it doesn't have
- 28:16to.
- 28:16It's actually It still can be fairly fast to untangle from it.
- 28:20Well, I'm sure because once you kinda I I always go back to you.
- 28:23You can't unknow.
- 28:25That's right.
- 28:26Work.
- 28:27Right?
- 28:27Because now you're like, oh my goodness.
- 28:29I may maybe I have some things to push and pull at me.
- 28:32Maybe I'm at a certain stage, maybe I can't do, you know, I think of what I can do now with a
- 28:38seventeen year old where where I when I was in consulting, he was 4.
- 28:42Like, I mean and there was so much I wanted to keep going, but then again, I couldn't to some
- 28:49degree because then I would miss him.
- 28:52So I had
- 28:52to hide
- 28:53that balance and get that Yeah.
- 28:55Because I put it up, but then I would have miss really, really significant things with him in
- 28:59the stage.
- 29:00So it's sometimes it's kinda being able to have those conversations with yourself like what is
- 29:04the goal
- 29:06You know?
- 29:06And, you know, I can achieve any goal, but then is it the goal that I want?
- 29:12Right.
- 29:13Time.
- 29:13Right?
- 29:13So I'm sure you could probably talk a lot about that with women.
- 29:17Now in reference to, other than mindset, what other things do you kind of pull from the
- 29:25Dominage?
- 29:25I'm gonna say model.
- 29:26I don't know if that's the right word, but the Arch
- 29:28archetype is what I think.
- 29:29Archetype.
- 29:30Yeah.
- 29:30What other things do you pull into your coaching from?
- 29:33So I'd I'd say this is a a really strong, energy component you know, the the woo,
- 29:38spiritual side of things.
- 29:40So, intuition, your gut instinct is a really big factor and You know, women have this
- 29:46naturally, but we just fine tune that so that you're willing to actually follow it because,
- 29:53you know, the example I always give to people is that you know, your intuition has never been
- 29:58wrong.
- 29:59Never.
- 30:00When you think about it, like, there is nothing in the world that is a 100% accurate other than
- 30:04your intuition.
- 30:05Now where we get in the ways that our monkey mind, you know, steps in there and, you know,
- 30:10wants a certain outcome.
- 30:12And so then question the intuition.
- 30:14I'm thinking, oh, no.
- 30:15That can't possibly be right or, you know, it's it muddles with it.
- 30:19So I do an intuition boot camp training with people.
- 30:22And get them really connected so that they're listening, you know, the way that they need to
- 30:28listen so that they can hear the messages.
- 30:30And also really willing to follow it.
- 30:32And then what that does, of course, is that it always moves you towards where you wanna go.
- 30:38It may not always look cognitively the right decision, but it's always leading you exactly
- 30:45where you need to go in and kind of, like, rest on that That also speeds up your kind of your
- 30:50decision making process.
- 30:51Like, you know, you can do your decisions in 5 seconds or less.
- 30:55And I and you don't need to be, you know, scattered and running all over the place.
- 30:59So you can be more efficient with time.
- 31:03The other thing is being really present, being really mindful.
- 31:06And when you are present, you're in a state of relaxation, which Of course, we know all the
- 31:11health benefits.
- 31:12Right?
- 31:13When we lower our stress level, when we lower that stress response, get into the relaxation
- 31:19response.
- 31:20The body goes into healing.
- 31:22You have deeper breathing, which gives you more oxygen, which You know, all the amazing
- 31:27benefits of being in a relaxed state, you also have more cognitive processing ability when
- 31:33you're in a relaxed state.
- 31:34So you're gonna come up with more creative ideas and solutions and be able to, you know,
- 31:38be there with the client, negotiate from what they want as well as what you want and and drop
- 31:44into that.
- 31:45So it's a lot of energy and attunement
- 31:50Yes.
- 31:51With the core, like, the core real self then.
- 31:54I hear
- 31:54it.
- 31:55Yeah.
- 31:55And that from there, then they can kind of project forward where they want to go based on
- 32:01the goals that they've come to you with.
- 32:03Yeah.
- 32:04Wow.
- 32:05That's that sounds amazing.
- 32:07So the book so tell us about the book.
- 32:09Tell I mean, I know I've seen it all over, and, tell me what's what's been going on, and I know
- 32:16it's done quite well since it's been released.
- 32:19We yeah.
- 32:20So we hit we hit number 1, which is great.
- 32:22Number 1 in 3 different categories.
- 32:25And, more so than that, I you know, people are reading the book really connecting with the
- 32:32story seeing themselves in it.
- 32:34This is these are the things that I'm hearing.
- 32:36It's giving them a completely different perspective on on business, a way to access
- 32:42their mindset.
- 32:44And, you know, it's it's just so amazing.
- 32:47Have people say, I loved your book and it really changed my life.
- 32:53Like, that for me is like, okay.
- 32:55Great.
- 32:56It was worth the 18 months of agony that it took to write this thing than, you know.
- 33:01Wow.
- 33:02Wow.
- 33:03Yeah.
- 33:04So people are looking at, and they're really gaining stuff from it.
- 33:07They are because it it's very packed with tools.
- 33:09It's not just my story.
- 33:12But it's I've packed in practical tools of, you know, that people can apply using their life,
- 33:18get these, you know, processes going to get started on really claiming your inner
- 33:23dominatrix.
- 33:25What was that experience like for you writing the book?
- 33:28Because it's so much of it was personal.
- 33:31I'm sure.
- 33:32And and, I mean, obviously, you're blending today.
- 33:37Prepared to write the book.
- 33:38Like, how did you did you do a did you have a certain ritual?
- 33:41You said it took 18 months.
- 33:44Yeah.
- 33:44It was It was a bit haphazard.
- 33:46You know, I would do it differently looking back because it's always easy to see hindsight.
- 33:51But, for me, I had a general plan of, what I wanted to cover in the book, and I always kept
- 33:57in mind, you know, the the reader.
- 34:00That was who I was writing this for.
- 34:01It was it was the person who was gonna be reading the book.
- 34:04And so when I was figuring out what stories I wanted to include and, you know, what aspects I
- 34:10wanted to share, it was always like, you know, why do I wanna tell this person the story.
- 34:15How do I tie that in?
- 34:16And, you know, why it took me so long because, you know, the actual writing process I probably
- 34:22could have done it a month.
- 34:25But I would write a chapter and then, you know, have to take some time to actually process for
- 34:31with with me, you know, and go and get some sessions and work through, am I willing to
- 34:36share this?
- 34:37You know, is this a story that is really valuable Is it going to be too much?
- 34:42And and it went through a lot of edits because I wanted to make sure that the stories were
- 34:48there that created impact, but not so much that they were traumatizing because it's not the
- 34:53point.
- 34:54It's not to be sensational.
- 34:55It's just to give people a flavor of it without being shocking and, you know, jarring.
- 35:02So I I, you know, wanted to report things.
- 35:04She was like, oh my god.
- 35:05You you have to change this.
- 35:08This is a little extreme.
- 35:10You might hear your people.
- 35:11You know?
- 35:12So I'm like, okay.
- 35:13So I went through a lot of rewrite on the book to to take it deeper to, you know, make it more
- 35:19succinct, to make it more concrete, and bring the language in.
- 35:23So it was a a really good learning process, for me all the way through that.
- 35:29And and I'm very proud of it.
- 35:31It's it's a very good
- 35:33It's like it's like your baby.
- 35:34Right?
- 35:35Like, I mean, I remember when I wrote mine, it's like, you know, you're like, oh my god.
- 35:39I mean, you're, you know, you
- 35:40get your book Roxanne you're, like, opening it up and you're like, oh my goodness.
- 35:44This has actually happened.
- 35:45It's it's it's such a process and such an achievement.
- 35:48Right?
- 35:48Like, obviously and then like you said, you know, if someone were to kind of hear the
- 35:53brand, they would think that sensationalism, but it's not.
- 35:56Right?
- 35:56And I think to do it well, to your points, you had to and then you had to take care of
- 36:02yourself too, right, because
- 36:03how
- 36:03much of this, really, do you wanna share with the world?
- 36:07Right?
- 36:07And I'm sure there's parts of it that it's nobody's business.
- 36:10Right?
- 36:11And then if it if it marries into, some of the great things that you shared, that you share
- 36:16with your coaching clients.
- 36:17And when you speak, that's a whole other thing because that now you're giving back a gift of a
- 36:23concept that most people won't you know, obviously, they'll probably read about it like
- 36:28we said, but they may not experience it, but to a lesser degree having, someone be so open
- 36:35about the strengths of it because oftentimes, we may not look at it as from a strength based.
- 36:42Yeah.
- 36:43Yeah.
- 36:43It's it takes it takes courage to to share your story.
- 36:47You know, it's it's pretty easy to write.
- 36:48Actually, this is my second book.
- 36:49The first book was very easy.
- 36:51I It's a book of tools.
- 36:53Right?
- 36:53It's a pay today book of tools.
- 36:55Really easy.
- 36:56I I wasn't risking anything.
- 36:58This one, I have risked so much.
- 37:01You know, in some of the stories, as I, like you said, associating them, I'm like, wow.
- 37:04Okay.
- 37:04People are actually going to read this.
- 37:06Aren't you?
- 37:06Like, want them to know this.
- 37:08Right.
- 37:09Right.
- 37:09But there was a there's a point to all of the stories.
- 37:13I don't share them just to be, you know, hitting that.
- 37:17Oh, look.
- 37:18That's sensational.
- 37:19Right.
- 37:19For sure.
- 37:20Yeah.
- 37:20And I'm I'm sure you've been asked, lots of different interesting questions about the book.
- 37:26What's one of the most interesting questions that you've I've been asked about the book that
- 37:30you can think of?
- 37:31I think we've kind of touched on a lot of it because you know, people are fascinated with
- 37:35the story.
- 37:36And and it's always it amazes me how many people say to me, were you actually a
- 37:41Dominoatrix?
- 37:42Right?
- 37:43They're like, were you actually, I'm like, people would fake this.
- 37:46Like, I'm gonna put this out here just because, like, I, like,
- 37:51I'm not sure and I'm not sure you can fake that because I can't take it.
- 37:55Like, really and you asset of me, like, I don't know.
- 37:57So that that's kind of funny.
- 37:59Plus, why would you go for a topic.
- 38:01I mean, I I can't even boost a post on Facebook because it's got the word dominatrix.
- 38:06Right?
- 38:06So there are a lot of challenges with this.
- 38:08I don't think Oh,
- 38:08is it?
- 38:09Wow.
- 38:10Yeah.
- 38:10I I hadn't thought about that until recently, but I was like, oh, great.
- 38:15But, yeah, that that that's that's one that always surprises me.
- 38:19Were you actually is like, yes.
- 38:20I was actually because apparently, who was it?
- 38:24Gloria Steinnam.
- 38:26She was a a stripper very, very briefly.
- 38:29And apparently, she wrote a book about being a stripper.
- 38:32And so somebody referenced that and she said, you know, were you actually a Dominatrix, or
- 38:37was it, like, with Gloria Steinham?
- 38:38She was a stripper for 5 minutes and then wrote a book about it.
- 38:40And I'm like, no.
- 38:42I've integrated this.
- 38:43Don't worry.
- 38:47You know, what I what I find fascinating and even away from the business perspective, more
- 38:52on the story perspective, you know, that so many people have stories, right, and they're so
- 38:57afraid to tell to tell them.
- 39:01Right?
- 39:03If someone's listening and they have a story, Dana, and you know, they're thinking, oh my
- 39:10god.
- 39:10I don't know.
- 39:11It's, you know, I may tip what would people think all that.
- 39:15I'm sure you went to all those iterations of
- 39:18that.
- 39:18Absolutely.
- 39:19Yeah.
- 39:19I know.
- 39:20What would
- 39:20you what would you tell them?
- 39:23Is there a process you went through before you decided, or what kind of advice would you give
- 39:27to someone to say if you're gonna make it a difference you know, I'm sure that was the
- 39:32biggest thing to make a difference in the world.
- 39:34Absolutely.
- 39:35And and I'd say if you're if you're planning on sharing your story, so either through a book or
- 39:39on the stage or, you know, even in a group setting and and you're wanting the story to
- 39:45make an impact.
- 39:47A, you need to be done with your story.
- 39:49You you need to be over it and so that you can tell the story without reliving it and becoming
- 39:56highly emotional.
- 39:57So you need to be through it and you need to be through it in a way that you see the gifts that
- 40:02have come from it.
- 40:03So, you know, in my in my story, you know, I have had sexual abuse in my past.
- 40:09And I have gotten to the point where I see the gift I would not be the coach and the healer
- 40:16that I am today.
- 40:17If it wasn't for that, I would have loved to have gotten the gift a different way.
- 40:22But I see the gifts of it.
- 40:24So you have to be that far along that you can look back and go, wow.
- 40:29What a gift?
- 40:31When you're at that point, it'll be easier for you to tell your story because you have to take
- 40:35people through the whole journey to the healing, to the outcome.
- 40:40And, you know, and then and then I would really encourage people if you're gonna go
- 40:43professional with it, speaking, or writing, work with somebody.
- 40:47Get somebody to help you craft that message and pull out what is it about your story?
- 40:53I mean, I've had, I think 4 different Speaker trainers at this point helped me with the
- 40:58messaging, helped me with, you know, my performance.
- 41:00And I've worked with book coaches and writing coaches to help me craft all of this.
- 41:06And because when you're really up close and personal with it, especially when it's a a
- 41:10painful story, you need that objective perspective.
- 41:15And you need the objective perspective that can say, what if you tell it this way?
- 41:20Well, you know, I I don't know if you know this about me, but I work with complex PS PTSD.
- 41:24It's one of my specialties.
- 41:26And I could truly tell you that you saying that it's a gift.
- 41:33Will touch a lot of people's lives because of so many people that I have worked with or, It
- 41:41it impacts things at such a profound level.
- 41:45Right?
- 41:45Yeah.
- 41:46So to be able to get to how you can look back as a gift.
- 41:49It shows, like, how much you have, put it into perspective because that's not who you were.
- 41:55It's something that happened to you, and it takes a lot.
- 41:57And so many, women in the world have experiences, of course, with everything that
- 42:02has come out, So I think that, you know, itself, saying that it's a gift shows me the
- 42:07the extent of your healing and where you have worked through it.
- 42:10And then you're writing through it again.
- 42:13Yes.
- 42:14So being able to care for yourself is gonna trigger things.
- 42:18But to be honest, so, you know, concurrently, you're you're obviously, you come first if you
- 42:23I mean, what's the book or the brand or all those things if there's no Dana, So Right.
- 42:27Doing that in a in a I would say a kind caring way for yourself first, really is the part that
- 42:34I see as being, so important, which, obviously, you've done that.
- 42:38Thank you so much.
- 42:39I really appreciate you honoring that.
- 42:41Yeah.
- 42:42I know.
- 42:42Because I, you know, like I said, being one of my specialties and seeing, the impact of it on
- 42:48people just even people listening to this that have been touched, and we know Absolutely.
- 42:53So how many people that, you know, itself, I think if you when you talk more about it and
- 43:00people recognize it, that gift that you give people to recognize that anything is you are
- 43:06not defined from what happened.
- 43:08You can you can rise out of it and create something like this.
- 43:12So I think that's, thank you for thank you for sharing that.
- 43:15Yeah.
- 43:16And I just wanna, you know, for the listener that it's like if you're not at the point where
- 43:20this could possibly be a gift, whatever your story is, Don't rush it.
- 43:25Mhmm.
- 43:26Keep doing healing work, and it comes naturally.
- 43:30It's not something you force It's not something you have to impose on yourself.
- 43:34It comes from that deeper level healing, and and it just bubbles up where it's like, wow.
- 43:41If I didn't have that happen, I wouldn't have been able to do X Y Z.
- 43:45And and it's, you know, it's there whenever it comes.
- 43:52You have control to decide how it's how it's gonna go.
- 43:55Yeah.
- 43:55And you decide when when and if it comes out in the world.
- 43:59Mhmm.
- 43:59Now, Dana, I'm sure everybody has a lot of questions, and people will probably wanna
- 44:04connect with you and, you know, where to get the book, all those things, or even, if
- 44:10there's, where people can reach you for speaking events.
- 44:13So why don't you tell everybody where they can, find the book and if they need to reach out to
- 44:19you for either coaching or speaking where they can do that.
- 44:21Thank you.
- 44:22I think the best resource is innerdominatrix.com.
- 44:26That'll get you the book.
- 44:27It'll get you links to, you know, a bunch of resources, free resources, tons of freebies.
- 44:34And then anything you need as far as contacting me for speaking or coaching is available there
- 44:38as well.
- 44:39Awesome.
- 44:40It's been a pleasure.
- 44:41Now I, you know, I know I know more, right, other than our flashes that we see in our
- 44:46meetings that I know I know we'll be in a meeting again next week.
- 44:49So, you know, again, time, I I do a podcast.
- 44:54I gain.
- 44:55And and today, I can honestly say that, Mindset is everything.
- 45:02And I think in the business world, we hear it all the time, but this takes it to a different
- 45:06profound level in my opinion.
- 45:08Because it really takes something that scares a living but Jesus all of a lot of people and
- 45:13looks at the strength that it it creates when you take control over where you see things in
- 45:18your life, especially as women.
- 45:21And then, you know, deferring that I'm not good enough, I can't do it.
- 45:25That's not for me.
- 45:27To really get into that whole mindset or that model that Dan is talking about, you know, I'm
- 45:32impressed, you know, to be able to walk in with that confidence which takes so many of us so
- 45:37long to be able to achieve, really, as we go.
- 45:41So, Dana, thank you again for being with us.
- 45:45And, for anyone, wanting to get a hold of Dana, please go ahead, like she said, with her
- 45:51contact information.
- 45:53Myself, if you're wanting more, information on authenticity, and getting connected to yourself
- 46:00and in relationship, you can go to roxanderhodge.comforward/blueprint where you
- 46:05could download a free course.
- 46:07So take care, everyone, and we'll chat with you soon.
- 46:10Take care, Dana.
- 46:11Thanks Roxanne.
- 46:12Okay.
- 46:13Thank you.
- 46:15Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive
- 46:21healthy change.
- 46:22Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit Roxanne
- 46:30com slash blueprint.
- 46:32We'll see you next time on authentic living with Roxanne.