Today we have an amazing guest, a real star Denise Duffield-Thomas! She is the money mindset mentor within the new wave of online female entrepreneurs. Her bestselling books “Lucky Bitch” and “Get Reach like a Bitch” give a fresh and funny road map to create an outrageously successful life and business, Denise helps women release their fear of money, set premium prices for their services and take back control over their finances. Denise is an award winning speaker, author, and entrepreneur who helps women transform their economy class money mindset into a first class life. You can find her at denisedt.com. I am so glad to have her on the show!
From a really young age, Denise just wanted to help people. She wanted to motivate them and help them transform their lives, even from being a really little girl. She also wanted to be in a business even though she did not have any women role model in her family. Entrepreneurship seems like men vocation to her. However, that did not stop her from pursuing entrepreneurial path from a really young age. From the first business that she created at the age of 8, till her current multi million dollars coaching business created when she was 31 it took her many trials and errors. The game changed for Denise when she finally discovered that she needs to work on her money blocks, she deep dived into that area and reborn as a successful business woman who gracefully shares her knowledge and helps others to live their full life expression.
“In my twenties as well, I would start businesses, not be able to make money out of them, get bored and quit, probably until I was about in my early thirties. I was thinking – Maybe I can make money out of this - and you know what I did, I went – I think I have got some money blocks! – It finally hit me!”
Denise finally found the courage to do want she wanted to do. She finally started doing something that was her true passion and decided to just help women transform their lives, just to see where it will take her. Even though the fear was immediate and in her opinion that is what stops people right at the start of their journeys. She was terrified about other people opinions, about asking for money, setting boundaries with her clients, people thinking that she was a fraud or people thinking she was ripping people off…
She perused her dream and found a community of like-minded entrepreneurs as they are the people who saw her for what she really was doing! They understood her and they were in the game with her. Denise quoted Brene Brown:
“You cannot fear judgment from people who are not in the arena with you.”
When she reached for this type of communities she finally started to see behind the curtains of this world where women were creating their own reality, creating their own incomes and they were doing it by being authentic and helping people.
We agreed that our relationship with money is such overlooked area of spiritual development for women. Our relationship with money is such a huge area of power reclamation, just becoming whole as a human being.
“I see sometimes in this spiritual community that we contribute to this collective shame around money. We judge other women for charging for their gifts, we judge what they charge, what they offer, how they are doing it and we perpetuated. It has to come from us and our communities, it is not going to come from the world of men giving us permission to earn more.”
Some of the top money blocks that people deal with are:
“I have to work really, really hard for the money.”
“I have to sacrifice.”
“If I am not working, I am not deserving.”
“I am not worthy.”
“It is not fear for me to make money.”
“You have to choose between helping people and making money.”
Despite all beliefs above Denise encourages us to work on our money blocks, as there is the light on the end of that tunnel. Even though it is scary at the beginning and you are not ever finished with your money work it becomes easier with the time and you open a space for yourself to approach this challenge from the place of curiosity and not from the place of fear and lack.
We are really the first generation of women doing this, as compared with generations and generation past, who were not aware that they could create their own reality and with this knowledge, we need to be aware that our daughters are watching us right now and that they are learning and picking up their future money blocks. It is a big responsibility on us. However, it is something that we can overcome mindfully. The main focus for Denise is to make sure that her children see her as a woman that has a really passionate relationship with her goals and dreams.
It is not strange that Denise seeks to be an inspiration for her children as her result in Your Truth Selfie quiz (www.yourtrueselfie.com) is Inspiration! She is someone who has a big reach and big impact in the world, however at the moment she is finding her voice to speak up about what is happening in the world. She is still in a process of stepping into her truth and Your Truth Selfie quiz reminded her that she is getting to mastery in some areas in her life and she is definitely novas in other areas. Denise is demonstrating again how she is able to hold the high and the low and not ride the roller coaster but maintaining this humbled state of beginners mind, always beginning, always staying fresh and this is such a core spiritual principle that we need to implement in our lives.
This interview was such a great experience. Denise shows us that entrepreneurial path is not always easy. From her first online course that had only one participant, till nowadays when she has over 4000 people on her program. She also teaches us about the power of optimistic attitude, desire and unwavering faith in your true life mission.
Lessons to learn from this episode:
If you enjoyed this interview please give us a five-star rating and a review, and tell your friends about us! Check out bonus materials on hersuccessradio.com Make sure to subscribe on iTunes so you do not miss their answers on new episodes.
Here's to your success without sacrifice!
xx
Valerie
Fearless and loving path of a peaceful warrior with Dr. Avis Jones-Deweever
Glorious alignment with once vision and mission. Stunning approach to race and justice and, race and gender issues. In the service of healing and restoring unity.
In this episode, we have a remarkable guest, whose mission I admire and love. Dr. Avis Jones-Deweever is a career reinvention strategist, diversity and inclusion solutionist, and race and gender empowerment expert. She is the author of the award winning book “How Exceptional Black Women Lead” as well as the founder and CEO of Exceptional Leadership Institute for Women. A global personal and professional development firm that helps established and aspiring entrepreneurs and executives experience accelerating success while building a holistic life they love.
In this interview, we cover her personal journey. From open-minded and curious little girl that provoked change in her church. Through years of watching and learning about racism as a person with a dark skin tone. Going through divorce and finding herself whiten unfriendly working environment, which on the end pushed her into her entrepreneurial path.
On my question about her own healing path, she answers that it is an evolutionary thing for her. She also emphasizes the importance of healing on the national level and points out that the United States never undergo through any kind of reconciliation process.
“We do not really teach a full and round, and brought the reality of our history in school systems and all of that creates sort of toxic environment where people fail to acknowledge realities that other people face who are not like them. That creates a very difficult barrier for people to push tough. Until that cultural predisposition is ended I do not understand how we will ever reach a place of healing in this nation, not only personally but nationally.”
She also questions America’s grand idea of individualism. Aldo, it brings a sense of personal power and responsibility, on the other hand with so many individually focused people we have lost a feeling of brother compassion for people that experience world differently than us.
“Honestly, it is a big cultural revolution that we have to undergo as a nation in order to think beyond individual and to make it a little bit more communal, and think a little bit more sort of sympathetically and empathetically, and include all of us. Focusing on commonalities as a human race without erasing the fact that we have different experiences and different histories, those need to be acknowledged and accepted as well.”
We also talked about the pressure that black women face while climbing corporate ladder. Intense fear of failing as it potentially can shut down opportunity window for next colored woman due to common generalization. This is the topic which Shonda Rhimes covers in her book “Year of Yes”. Faced with this obstacle black women fortunately nowadays embrace the entrepreneurial journey. Dr. Davis mission is to convince them to trust that they have within them all that they need to even excel where they are today and to bring confidence in their lives. As one of the women from her book stated:
Confidence is not knowing that you have all the answers, it is not believing that you know everything. Confidence is trusting that you have the ability to figure it out!
Dr. Avis’s superpower is Inspiration.
” I was inspirational. It is just wonderful to be able to live a life where you know that you are living on your purpose on this Earth and you are able to create the life and lifestyle that you deserve and want for your family and for your legacy. I just think it is a beautiful experience and it starts with trusting in you.”
The Your Truth Selfie quiz indicated that perhaps she was undervaluing some of the things that she did by which Avid was amazed as she recently recognized success blocks in this area of her life. Reclamation of the value of our work is so tied into our reclamation of self-worth. And refusing it to be dictated by the outside opinions or forces of any kind and undoing that internalized conditioning.
Lastly, we had an amazing discussion about realistic thinking. Recognizing it as a huge success block. Her take on this topic blows me away!
“The word realistic gives you an excuse to operate under your capabilities. It just gives you an easy out. You are the architect of your boundaries, and if you want to set it small by convincing yourself that something is not realistic, than you just created an invisible barrier that was not there until you put it there. ”
I just love all pearls of wisdom that she sprinkled all over this interview. Thank you Dr. Avid!
Dr. Jones-Deweever has a giveaway for you too! She has created Carrier Vision and Action Guide that you can download. It is a tool to help you to really write out what their career goals are and plot a path to help them get there. For more information about Avid and her work you can visit her site ExceptionalLeadershipInstitute.com
If you enjoyed this interview please give us a five-star rating and a review, and tell your friends about us! Check out bonus materials on hersuccessradio.com Find out what amazing guest will be appearing on the show soon and post your questions for them in a comment section. Make sure to subscribe on iTunes so you do not miss their answers on new episodes.
Lessons to learn from this episode:
I look forward to connecting with you soon!
Until then,
Stay in your heart.
xx
Valerie
An inspiring tale of success, mission, and trust. Emphasizing the importance of curiosity and vulnerability. Stepping into our own greatness and fulfilling one's life purpose.
Melinda beautifully describes a process of freeing oneself from employ mentality and embracing leadership. She shares with us step by step system for following our passion, tuning into our mission and creating a successful business. I was stunned by her evolved spiritual outlook on an entrepreneurial journey, embracing it all as research and guidance, as she said: “It is all research moving us toward a greater version of ourselves and our dreams.”
We share a wonderful moment in which she recalls the event when she was guided to take her entrepreneurial path.
“I could feel with all my body that this was a calling that was emerging and I better pay attention. I heard in that moment - Now you will do the same for others. You will help them eliminate burdens and distractions so they can live their God given potential. -”
In 2004 she created thriving profitable coaching business, but she saw most start up coaches struggling to enjoy their passion for coaching and not making money at it, because they were distracted and overwhelmed by the behind the scenes burdens of their business. That was when she created The Coaches Console, the all in one business management technology for coaches. She makes opportunity for them to do the work they love and help them with all the business stuff that they do not like as much and she just happened to love it. Melinda has worked with thousands of coaches around the world and is here to share her wisdom with us.
She shares with us her story of how she created thriving profitable coaching business with zero experience. We cover everything, from villains of vulnerability, hectic states of mess and, fears and anxieties that appear with rising success.
I am so grateful that Melinda openly shared the truth that lies behind the scenes of the successful business. We also talk about the importance of community and connection, as entrepreneurial path often can be lonely and isolated. She encourages us to build our network, so we have someone to remind us of our truth in challenging moments.
“Stay connected! Be connected with mentors, be connected with like-minded communities, we cannot do this on our own. It is way bigger than us and we can lean into our sisters, we can lean into our community, we can lean into our mentors and borrow their courage when we cannot locate ours on a one day. They will help us and remind us of what we know, or tools that we have at our fingertips to navigate through those doubts and fears.”
I was so happy to hear that Melinda enjoyed Your truth selfie quiz. The quiz shows you your super powers and areas where you are reclaiming your true gifts. It shows you your success blocks and also your success gateway. For Melinda, as you will hear in this episode, it is an inspiration, that is where she dances, that is where she dwells, this is hers super power and the challenges come up in that same territory. You will find some tools, right there in your quiz results on how to navigate through strengths and challenges of your super power. So I hope Your truth selfie will serve you too. Feel free to check it out and share your results with me!
Melinda was so generous and shared with us Ultimate coaching business blueprint. It is a free resource for getting organized behind the scenes and it is made to equip you so that you are an amazing business owner and you can do more of what you love! In it you have everything you need to have behind the scenes of your business organized, it contains all the parts and pieces grouped into seven best practices for what it takes to run your business. It is like well-oiled machine that will position you to really get consistent, grow your list, get clients, and generate the revenue that you want to generate on regular basis!
Thank you so much, Melinda!
What a deep conversation, I am sure I will be listening to it again and processing it. If you liked this episode as much as I do, please share it with another woman entrepreneur or somebody who is stuck in her job and you know that she is bigger than that and you want to share it with her to give her curate to take the entrepreneurial leap.
Lessons from this episode:
I look forward to connecting with you soon!
Until then,
Stay in your heart.
xx
Valerie
Key words: Inspiration, success, mission, trust, curiosity, vulnerability, greatness, life purpose, passion, entrepreneurial journey, business, guidance.