WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:11.320 Welcome to Inclusion Bites, your sanctuary 2 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:15.200 for bold conversations that spark change. I'm Joanne Lockwood, 3 00:00:15.200 --> 00:00:18.720 your guide on this journey of exploration into the heart of 4 00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:22.640 inclusion, belonging and societal transformation. 5 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.040 Ever wondered what it truly takes to create a world without? Remember, everyone 6 00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:30.760 not only belongs, but thrives. You're not alone. 7 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:35.200 Join me as we uncover the unseen, challenge 8 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:38.760 the status quo and share storeys that resonate 9 00:00:38.760 --> 00:00:42.480 deep within. Ready to dive in? Whether you're 10 00:00:42.480 --> 00:00:46.400 sipping your morning coffee or winding down after a long day, let's 11 00:00:46.400 --> 00:00:50.360 connect, reflect and inspire action together. 12 00:00:51.080 --> 00:00:54.870 Don't forget, you can be part of the conversation too. Reach out 13 00:00:54.870 --> 00:00:58.670 to jo.lockwood@seechangehappen.co.uk 14 00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:02.590 to share your insights or to join me on the show. 15 00:01:03.470 --> 00:01:07.230 So adjust your earbuds and settle in. It's time to 16 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:10.830 ignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites. 17 00:01:14.670 --> 00:01:18.240 And today is episode 202 with the 18 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:22.040 title Dreams into Action. I have the 19 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.480 absolute honour and privilege to welcome Janet Tanguay. 20 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.800 Janet is a powerhouse business strategist and creative 21 00:01:29.800 --> 00:01:33.560 catalyst who helps people turn sparks of inspiration to 22 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.360 tangible success through visioning, connection 23 00:01:37.320 --> 00:01:41.200 and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. When 24 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:45.050 I asked Janet to describe her superpower, she said that it is being a 25 00:01:45.050 --> 00:01:49.050 super connector and joy filled cheerleader who helps others 26 00:01:49.130 --> 00:01:53.050 manifest their dreams. Hello, Janet. Welcome to the show. 27 00:01:53.610 --> 00:01:57.610 I'm delighted to be here, Jo. Thanks for having me. Pleasure. I 28 00:01:57.850 --> 00:02:01.130 guessing from the accent you're not in the uk. Whereabouts in the world are you? 29 00:02:01.370 --> 00:02:04.930 I'm in upstate New York, which is about two and a half hours north of 30 00:02:04.930 --> 00:02:08.850 New York City in a town called Schenectady. Well, I think, as we 31 00:02:08.850 --> 00:02:12.790 discussed in the Green Room, my knowledge of the US is it's largely north, south, 32 00:02:12.790 --> 00:02:15.910 east and west. There's not a lot of granular in there. So 33 00:02:16.550 --> 00:02:20.310 is that rural city, is it? Yeah, it's sort of, I would say 34 00:02:20.310 --> 00:02:24.270 suburban. So we are about three hours from Montreal and three 35 00:02:24.270 --> 00:02:28.230 hours from Boston and so it's, it's not as busy as those cities, but it's 36 00:02:28.230 --> 00:02:31.350 nice to be able to travel to all of them. Yeah. 37 00:02:31.990 --> 00:02:35.190 Nip across the Canadian border for a bit of. Absolutely, 38 00:02:35.750 --> 00:02:39.270 yeah. I have some Canadian roots, actually. I'm part Abenaki Indian 39 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:42.790 and so I have a tribal card and so I visit the reservation 40 00:02:43.480 --> 00:02:47.360 and. Wow. Okay, now we didn't talk about that. In 41 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:51.160 agreement. Sure. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. So you are a. 42 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:55.480 A descendant of First Nation, are you? Yes, 43 00:02:55.480 --> 00:02:59.479 Abnaki. The Abnaki tribe. And they're presumably east coast based. 44 00:02:59.480 --> 00:03:03.280 They're not all over the. Yeah, mostly Canada based, 45 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.200 but A few are in New York and Vermont, so. And that's where I 46 00:03:07.200 --> 00:03:09.800 grew up, in Vermont, which is a state over from New York. 47 00:03:10.940 --> 00:03:14.380 Wow. So you have a lot of tribal heritage and 48 00:03:15.420 --> 00:03:19.180 culture that you have there, is it? I do. My great grandmother 49 00:03:19.260 --> 00:03:22.860 was 100% Abnaki, and so, yeah, and 50 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:27.340 it's a lovely heritage. So I've been, like you said, to the reservation, 51 00:03:27.340 --> 00:03:31.220 to the sweat lodges, and apparently I have 52 00:03:31.220 --> 00:03:34.740 access to an acre of land in Canada should I ever decide to move to 53 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:38.550 the reservation. Wow, that's fascinating. That's fast. 54 00:03:38.550 --> 00:03:42.430 Wow, that's beautiful. Beautiful. I don't think I've ever met anybody 55 00:03:42.430 --> 00:03:45.870 with First Nation heritage before. That's great. Okay, cool. 56 00:03:46.430 --> 00:03:48.990 So we're chatting away in the green room about 57 00:03:50.910 --> 00:03:54.710 the fact you're a super connector and the fact you help others 58 00:03:54.710 --> 00:03:58.430 manifest their dreams. What first drew you to that? 59 00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:02.710 Where does this spark of inspiration came from? What drew you into 60 00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:06.510 that? This world? Yeah. So for about 13 years, I 61 00:04:06.510 --> 00:04:10.310 helped people start new businesses. We had a chamber of commerce, and 62 00:04:10.310 --> 00:04:14.190 so there were lots of different people in the room, from GEDs 63 00:04:14.190 --> 00:04:17.709 to PhDs. And so I learned about all different kinds of cultures and 64 00:04:17.709 --> 00:04:21.590 ethnicities and really brought together people all have the same dream of starting a 65 00:04:21.590 --> 00:04:25.350 business. And so we really all worked together and it was about the 66 00:04:25.350 --> 00:04:29.230 business and people had similar dreams. I realised that people. People's 67 00:04:29.230 --> 00:04:31.710 dreams are mostly around the same things, you know, and 68 00:04:32.990 --> 00:04:36.830 so I just became intrigued by it all. And I really wanted to create an 69 00:04:36.830 --> 00:04:40.670 inclusive, safe place where my job was just to hold 70 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:44.630 space for people to be their authentic selves. And so that's where my 71 00:04:44.630 --> 00:04:47.870 love of this started. And then being in that classroom, 72 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:50.950 every once in a while, we'd have a speaker come in and I would be 73 00:04:50.950 --> 00:04:54.270 sitting at the table and they would say, what's your dream? Where do you want 74 00:04:54.270 --> 00:04:57.460 to be in five years and in your business? And I've always had a side 75 00:04:57.460 --> 00:05:00.940 hustle. For a while I had an art business and. And I helped people get 76 00:05:00.940 --> 00:05:04.860 into galleries and private collections and things like that. But the more 77 00:05:04.860 --> 00:05:07.580 I was in the class, the more I thought I really should leap off full 78 00:05:07.580 --> 00:05:10.820 time into something full time. And what would my dream be? And so I started 79 00:05:10.820 --> 00:05:14.580 saying, well, my dream is to be in a hammock more often. And 80 00:05:14.900 --> 00:05:18.340 so it became a running joke. And so when I decided to start my business, 81 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:22.250 the class said, you should call it the Hammock Way of Life. And so that's 82 00:05:22.250 --> 00:05:24.690 what I did. My business is called the Hammock Way of life because I Want 83 00:05:24.690 --> 00:05:28.690 to be in a hammock more often. And whatever people's dreams are, I 84 00:05:28.690 --> 00:05:32.290 try to help them live theirs as well. Beautiful, beautiful. I'm a great 85 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:36.170 believer in the icky guy, which is the Japanese secret of 86 00:05:36.170 --> 00:05:40.170 a happy life, isn't it? And most people don't ever fill 87 00:05:40.170 --> 00:05:43.970 the fourth quadrant in which is do something you enjoy. You get 88 00:05:43.970 --> 00:05:47.890 stuck into this earning a living and you never actually step out 89 00:05:47.890 --> 00:05:51.150 of that, do you? I know the patterns and I was sort of in that 90 00:05:51.150 --> 00:05:54.830 space, right. I'm tied into. I have to have health insurance. Health insurance is 91 00:05:54.830 --> 00:05:58.750 expensive here. And so, and so I kept getting locked into. I 92 00:05:58.750 --> 00:06:01.470 have to have a job. Leaving my job was the best thing that I ever 93 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:05.350 did. I control my own destiny now and help others live their dreams. And 94 00:06:05.350 --> 00:06:09.230 so it really was, it's, you know, set that fear aside and get out of 95 00:06:09.230 --> 00:06:12.550 patterns and routines and all that was important. 96 00:06:13.270 --> 00:06:17.040 And now I can help. I other people do that as well. I don't think 97 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:20.200 I've worked for anybody else properly and since the late 90s 98 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:24.280 and I'm self confessed unemployable now, you know, 99 00:06:25.320 --> 00:06:29.280 I have run business, my own businesses. But that's different. When you 100 00:06:29.280 --> 00:06:33.120 are running your own business with people working for you, you're still working for yourself. 101 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.960 And even though you are slave to a slave to your company, you 102 00:06:36.960 --> 00:06:40.200 are, you still have that ultimate power to decide whether I'm going to get up 103 00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:42.640 today or whether I'm going to stay at home today. You can, you can decide 104 00:06:42.640 --> 00:06:45.730 that no one's going to come and knock on your door other than your customers. 105 00:06:45.810 --> 00:06:49.330 Right? Yeah. An important piece of that 106 00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:53.450 puzzle and the other sort of lesson that I 107 00:06:53.450 --> 00:06:57.410 learned is that when you're a business owner to work on your business, 108 00:06:57.410 --> 00:07:01.210 not in it. When I first started working, I was really 109 00:07:01.210 --> 00:07:05.050 working in my business as an employee to the customer, right. And so now it's 110 00:07:05.050 --> 00:07:09.010 more working on the business than in it. So trying to help, 111 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:13.400 you know, make good connections and help other people. 112 00:07:14.440 --> 00:07:17.680 You know, I have some VAs that help me out. I have all independent contractors 113 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.640 working with me who are so talented designers and things like that. So I'm not 114 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:25.720 as in the business as on it now. It takes, it 115 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:28.680 can take a while though to break the relationship between 116 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:33.080 the harder I work, the more I make. Sometimes you have to, 117 00:07:33.320 --> 00:07:37.000 as you say, have to invest your time into 118 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:40.800 thinking, you invest your time into development, invest your time into marketing or 119 00:07:40.880 --> 00:07:44.840 networking, whatever. Then when you're building your break even, 120 00:07:44.840 --> 00:07:48.760 you're building your cost model, you can't build a hundred 121 00:07:48.760 --> 00:07:52.160 percent cost model into working all the time. You can only really work 122 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:56.520 30, 40% if you're lucky. Yes, absolutely. Two 123 00:07:56.520 --> 00:08:00.360 of my favourite books are the Four Hour Workweek. Tim Ferriss, I think wrote that 124 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:04.210 book. And then Orbiting the Giant Hairball and that's a. 125 00:08:04.210 --> 00:08:07.770 Do you know that book? No. It's a great title though. It's very. 126 00:08:08.250 --> 00:08:12.210 I love it so much. So it's about this gentleman who was at a 127 00:08:12.210 --> 00:08:16.210 job and he realised that a lot of people were unhappy in 128 00:08:16.210 --> 00:08:20.130 their jobs and people kept coming into his office and talking about their problems and 129 00:08:20.130 --> 00:08:23.850 the work that they were doing and all that. And so he kind of 130 00:08:23.850 --> 00:08:27.370 self titled, he created a title for himself around 131 00:08:27.690 --> 00:08:31.530 creativity. I'm forgetting the title right now but so they would. He put up 132 00:08:31.530 --> 00:08:35.160 a little plaque on his door and people would come in and. And he created 133 00:08:35.160 --> 00:08:38.960 this beautifully creative space for them to come and talk about their problems. He created 134 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:42.800 his own kind of job for himself around creativity. He'd give them creative solutions 135 00:08:42.800 --> 00:08:46.800 and all of that. And so the giant hairball is the corporation and he made 136 00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:50.800 his own path in that corporation. So. But, but you're 137 00:08:50.800 --> 00:08:54.400 right, once you sort of embrace entrepreneurship, it is hard to go back to work 138 00:08:54.400 --> 00:08:58.360 for anyone else. It's also quite scary that leap out though, isn't it? 139 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:02.120 As you say, you are kind of handcuffed by your organisation for 140 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:06.120 health care, bonuses and mortgage payments, all these 141 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:09.960 sort of things. And family commitments. You think, can I risk everything on 142 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:13.600 black and spin the wheel and see what happens? It takes, 143 00:09:13.760 --> 00:09:17.720 right? It takes self belief. And I think the other thing that people forget 144 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:21.640 about is that you can, you know, the first few years anyway, treat 145 00:09:21.640 --> 00:09:25.440 it like a job. You wake up in the morning and you 146 00:09:26.190 --> 00:09:28.550 sort of, you know, go to work. It's not like you have your own business. 147 00:09:28.550 --> 00:09:31.270 You can just sit back and do nothing. You still have to network, you still 148 00:09:31.270 --> 00:09:34.950 have to do the accounting work or hire someone to do that. So I think 149 00:09:34.950 --> 00:09:38.430 it's just, you know, you have to figure things out initially and if you believe 150 00:09:38.430 --> 00:09:42.310 in yourself and whatever it is your dream is and they're passionate about it and 151 00:09:42.310 --> 00:09:45.750 you're not doing it for someone else. Right. I've seen people do it for someone 152 00:09:45.750 --> 00:09:49.710 else and not themselves and that's when it usually fails. Yeah, 153 00:09:50.830 --> 00:09:54.430 that's the key thing, isn't it? You've got to find that spark. If it feels 154 00:09:54.430 --> 00:09:58.110 like work, it's not going to succeed, is it? It's got to, it's really got 155 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:01.750 to feel vocational, it's got You've got a passion for it. It's got to. 156 00:10:02.310 --> 00:10:05.550 Because one of the things I've got is being self employed or working for yourself 157 00:10:05.550 --> 00:10:09.470 is you can work when you want, but the flip 158 00:10:09.470 --> 00:10:13.430 side of that is you have to work when you don't want. So you 159 00:10:13.430 --> 00:10:17.390 have to take those opportunities when you can. And sometimes you go, 160 00:10:17.390 --> 00:10:20.860 actually, I've got to do this, I don't want to, I gotta do this. 161 00:10:21.180 --> 00:10:25.180 Right. But, and I, I'm at a point where my work feels like play. So 162 00:10:25.180 --> 00:10:29.140 I would do this even if I weren't getting paid for it. So I love 163 00:10:29.140 --> 00:10:32.740 what I do. I help other people live their dreams and so that to me 164 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:36.460 is really fulfilling. I love being a cheerleader and watching other 165 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:40.460 people, you know, attain their dreams and it always comes full circle. Somehow 166 00:10:40.780 --> 00:10:43.820 my dreams come true by helping other people. Right. 167 00:10:44.870 --> 00:10:47.030 It's really kind of cool. I'm with you on that. I would do a lot 168 00:10:47.030 --> 00:10:50.910 of what I do even if I didn't need the money, but 169 00:10:50.910 --> 00:10:54.750 I would do it differently. I'd be sitting here, I'd be in Malibu or something 170 00:10:54.750 --> 00:10:58.630 recording this podcast. Not, not in, not in the south of England, you know, I'd 171 00:10:58.630 --> 00:11:01.910 be in the south of France. I'd have a villa somewhere. So yeah, if I 172 00:11:01.910 --> 00:11:05.110 had unlimited money, I might still do the podcast, but it would be on my 173 00:11:05.110 --> 00:11:09.070 different terms. Different terms. Right, right, right, sure, yeah, I hear you 174 00:11:09.070 --> 00:11:12.350 on that one. So, yeah, and, and the way I've had, I've worked with clients 175 00:11:12.350 --> 00:11:15.830 who, who make those things happen. Right. So I, I have a, one of the 176 00:11:16.850 --> 00:11:20.050 coaches and my network. So, so that's what I, I do, I, I, 177 00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:25.090 I do vision, I use vision boarding as a tool to help people's dreams 178 00:11:25.090 --> 00:11:28.050 come true. And so I get so busy with it that I, I have 50 179 00:11:28.290 --> 00:11:32.170 right now trained and certified vision board coaches throughout the world. And so 180 00:11:32.170 --> 00:11:36.170 one of them decided that she wanted to travel. And so she is 181 00:11:36.170 --> 00:11:39.850 a photographer and she approaches resorts and says, can I do some vision 182 00:11:39.850 --> 00:11:43.810 boarding and I will photograph the grounds of your property for free. And 183 00:11:43.810 --> 00:11:46.650 I think she has a family member who works for an airline and so she 184 00:11:46.650 --> 00:11:50.430 gets some free tickets and so she travels all around the world. She was in 185 00:11:50.430 --> 00:11:54.270 Costa Rica recently and I think she's in Tulum now. So yeah, it's really kind 186 00:11:54.270 --> 00:11:57.830 of cool. I know some people who do this. Some of the 187 00:11:57.830 --> 00:12:00.630 influencers out there, they, they do a similar thing. They go to hotels and say, 188 00:12:00.630 --> 00:12:04.510 look, I'm an, I'm an influencer. I've got all these instagram followers. I'd like to 189 00:12:04.510 --> 00:12:08.110 come and spend some time at your resort, film it, do a little mini documentary. 190 00:12:08.430 --> 00:12:11.510 Would you give me free, free accommodation for a week? And they get, most times 191 00:12:11.510 --> 00:12:15.120 they go, yeah. And then you, they just travel around the world being an 192 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:18.840 influencer. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And a lot of the hotels need to 193 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:22.840 fill, you know, they need to fill rooms. Right. So they, yeah, so they're, 194 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.600 they're open to it for the most part. It's kind of that symbiotic relationship and 195 00:12:26.760 --> 00:12:30.760 the influencer gets a great venue somewhere to live and 196 00:12:30.760 --> 00:12:34.400 stay and have fun with and the venue gets some great 197 00:12:34.400 --> 00:12:38.240 marketing material and some authority to, I don't know, fifty 198 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:42.240 hundred thousand followers or something that's going to absolutely showcase their product. And 199 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:46.120 that's the whole point of visioning, right, that it doesn't have to be expensive. 200 00:12:46.520 --> 00:12:50.200 You know, if you want a, a new car, go test drive the car. It 201 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:53.600 costs nothing to test drive a car. Or if you want a new home, go 202 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:57.080 to some open houses and start really dreaming of what it would be like for 203 00:12:57.080 --> 00:13:00.840 you to, to be there and, and feel into it and journal about it and, 204 00:13:01.160 --> 00:13:04.560 and all of that. So. But there can be low cost things that you can 205 00:13:04.560 --> 00:13:08.450 do that, you know, towards your dreams. So it's a bit like 206 00:13:08.530 --> 00:13:10.930 if you want to win the lottery, you have to buy a ticket, don't you? 207 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:14.370 Absolutely. Right, yes. Yeah. In other words, you've got all the hopes and dreams, but 208 00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:18.330 they're any of the potential. Exactly. Right, yeah, yeah, that's true. 209 00:13:18.330 --> 00:13:21.330 So what is vision boarding? You've mentioned it a couple of times and 210 00:13:22.450 --> 00:13:25.170 I've got a mental picture, but I'm not 100% sure 211 00:13:26.530 --> 00:13:30.330 what is it exactly. Sure, sure. Well, it's sort of the way we do vision 212 00:13:30.330 --> 00:13:33.930 boarding is a little bit different because we bring in so many different tools around 213 00:13:33.930 --> 00:13:37.330 it now. So basically it's taking either if you do it 214 00:13:37.330 --> 00:13:41.190 tangibly with a poster, you have poster boards and magazines and 215 00:13:41.190 --> 00:13:44.910 glue sticks and you sort of sort through them and see what 216 00:13:44.910 --> 00:13:48.190 images appeal to you and around the things that you 217 00:13:48.510 --> 00:13:52.470 desire in life. And, and if you do it digitally, you 218 00:13:52.470 --> 00:13:56.350 can use things like Canva or Pinterest or Mural or things like that. 219 00:13:56.510 --> 00:14:00.150 And so we're taking vision boards boarding now and using 220 00:14:00.150 --> 00:14:04.110 AI tools in them. We also bring in sound healers 221 00:14:04.110 --> 00:14:07.750 and improv actors and business, business 222 00:14:07.750 --> 00:14:11.510 model canvas. And it just depends on what the client wants. And they're really great 223 00:14:11.510 --> 00:14:15.510 for team building, for staff appreciation, volunteer appreciation. People 224 00:14:15.510 --> 00:14:19.390 really want to focus people in jobs and People that maybe 225 00:14:19.390 --> 00:14:23.310 desire to be in their own business and have certain dreams don't 226 00:14:23.310 --> 00:14:26.190 take the time to really focus on them. And I think that's part of. The 227 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:30.030 important part of what we do is that we. We allow people to take the 228 00:14:30.030 --> 00:14:33.310 time to really focus on what they want instead of just going through the grind 229 00:14:33.310 --> 00:14:36.910 every day. So it's creating a visual 230 00:14:36.910 --> 00:14:40.550 metaphor for an aspiration, a dream, 231 00:14:40.710 --> 00:14:44.430 a milestone or whatever you want to achieve. Bit like the 232 00:14:44.430 --> 00:14:47.670 coaching model. Where are we now? We're at 5. How do we get to 10? 233 00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:51.510 This is actually putting a picture against 10 or against 5, 234 00:14:51.990 --> 00:14:55.990 so we can say, ah, when I have 5, my house looks like 235 00:14:55.990 --> 00:14:59.350 this. When I have 10, my house looks like this. Right. That's what I'm aiming 236 00:14:59.350 --> 00:15:02.970 for. So it's helping people crystallise their vision. Yeah, yeah. And 237 00:15:03.290 --> 00:15:07.090 there's a lot of neuroscience that backs it now, too. So when we have sceptics, 238 00:15:07.090 --> 00:15:10.650 and sometimes not everyone, but, you know, we've been in large 239 00:15:10.650 --> 00:15:14.450 engineering groups and insurance companies and things like that, they come in sceptically. Bankers, 240 00:15:14.450 --> 00:15:18.370 right. They maybe have seen people's dreams fall apart or something, but they come 241 00:15:18.370 --> 00:15:22.050 in a little bit sceptical. And so what happens is we show 242 00:15:22.050 --> 00:15:25.690 them that by looking at these pictures and 243 00:15:25.930 --> 00:15:29.450 words on a daily basis, it somehow wires your brain 244 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:33.260 to be able to say, oh, this is coming to me. It's like, when. When 245 00:15:33.900 --> 00:15:37.660 have you ever, you know, purchased a new car and then you see it on 246 00:15:37.660 --> 00:15:41.580 the road everywhere. You never saw it before you wanted it, Right? So it's 247 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:45.380 similar to that. So if you see it every day, somehow it manifests in your 248 00:15:45.380 --> 00:15:49.300 world. So. So keeping it at the forefront. And sometimes 249 00:15:49.300 --> 00:15:53.300 I forget I've had some things manifest in very different ways. One 250 00:15:53.300 --> 00:15:57.180 year I put a picture of a Buddha in the middle of my board. To 251 00:15:57.180 --> 00:16:00.980 me, that meant slow down, do some yoga, relax more. And 252 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:04.580 I was sent to China on a trip and was at the. Found myself at 253 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:08.180 the biggest Buddha temple in China. Be careful what you wish for on these boards. 254 00:16:08.180 --> 00:16:10.580 Another time, I put a picture of a car. I couldn't find the car that 255 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:13.380 I wanted, so I put a picture of a different car. And I'm driving that 256 00:16:13.380 --> 00:16:17.220 car now. So it's funny how. How things manifest in. In very 257 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:20.740 different ways. So it's not just social media 258 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:24.780 listening to your conversations on your phone when you're chatting in 259 00:16:24.780 --> 00:16:27.660 the living room, and then suddenly you go onto Facebook and everything's got an advert 260 00:16:27.740 --> 00:16:31.140 for everything you've just talked about. That's a whole other. Yeah. That's a whole other 261 00:16:31.140 --> 00:16:35.020 thing. That's a whole other spooky thing. Yeah, yeah. It's funny, though. And 262 00:16:35.180 --> 00:16:38.820 it does happen, though, doesn't it? Seems to, yeah, it does, yeah. I mean, it 263 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:42.300 could just be this. A similar sort of brain phenomenon where you've. Cause you just 264 00:16:42.300 --> 00:16:46.020 talked about it, suddenly you notice it everywhere, as you said, right? Yeah, yeah. And 265 00:16:46.020 --> 00:16:48.620 maybe you didn't notice it, Right. Maybe you just were saying it a lot and 266 00:16:48.620 --> 00:16:51.460 you didn't notice that. Right. It was going to. And then showing up in your 267 00:16:51.460 --> 00:16:55.390 feed. Yeah. Makes it. Makes it a reality. Right. A few years ago I 268 00:16:55.390 --> 00:16:59.230 noticed that we. I was going. I was driving around and I was driving 269 00:16:59.230 --> 00:17:03.110 down this road and then I saw this street name that it was. I. I 270 00:17:03.110 --> 00:17:06.350 don't know, I can't remember what it was. It was like David Close or something 271 00:17:06.910 --> 00:17:10.190 and I'd just been talking about a David and then suddenly I'm driving somewhere else 272 00:17:10.190 --> 00:17:13.630 and suddenly David there and then there's David there and then there's David there and 273 00:17:13.710 --> 00:17:17.630 I'm thinking, is there a glitch in the matrix or something? Is something sort of. 274 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:21.480 Have I. Have I hit this deja vu moment where the 275 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:25.440 matrix is glitched and suddenly now I'm seeing everything and. Yeah, yeah. So I would 276 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:29.440 say that's fine. That's a. That definitely follow the. You know, follow the 277 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:33.440 signs. I always say, you know, that there's. There's some. I follow the 278 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:36.960 signs all the. All the time and I actually get literal signs. So. So some 279 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.760 people get them on licence plates or they might see a penny or a feather 280 00:17:39.760 --> 00:17:43.600 or something like that and I actually get literal signs that. That appear 281 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:48.700 so. When I was. When I was younger, I was in the middle of 282 00:17:49.340 --> 00:17:52.740 transitioning from one job to another and I wasn't sure whether to take this job. 283 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:56.620 And every day on the way to the gym, there was this fish fry place 284 00:17:56.620 --> 00:18:00.500 and it said, new sign coming soon. And it was up for two years, so 285 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:04.420 the anticipation was really killing me. Right. So I finally. 286 00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:07.140 On the day that I kind of put out the request, you know, send me 287 00:18:07.140 --> 00:18:10.780 a sign if I'm supposed to take this job, the new sign came up 288 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:13.900 and it was a big sign of a. It was a picture of a fish 289 00:18:14.330 --> 00:18:18.330 and. And the head of the. The new organisation that I was anticipating 290 00:18:18.330 --> 00:18:21.530 going to was named Fish. And so I thought that was my sign to leave. 291 00:18:21.770 --> 00:18:25.210 Leave the job. It was actually a. You'll laugh at this one. It was a 292 00:18:25.290 --> 00:18:29.010 job in banking and I lasted four days in 293 00:18:29.010 --> 00:18:32.970 banking after I Took that job because. So the first day on the 294 00:18:32.970 --> 00:18:36.810 job, the trainer was out, so some out sick or something, and they had a 295 00:18:36.810 --> 00:18:39.690 different trainer come in and told us all the ways that a bank could be 296 00:18:39.690 --> 00:18:43.320 robbed. And so that was my first day, so. And then my second 297 00:18:43.320 --> 00:18:47.320 day was training with somebody who'd been in banking their whole life. And so 298 00:18:47.320 --> 00:18:51.160 I was supposed to be the manager and she came in and was outshining me 299 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:54.560 and. But really what put me over the edge was they were going to make 300 00:18:54.560 --> 00:18:57.480 me wear a sweater vest with a white shirt for the rest of my life. 301 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:01.360 And I was in the parking lot crying, saying, I can't 302 00:19:01.360 --> 00:19:04.120 wear. I don't look good in sweater vests. I can't wear a sweater vest for 303 00:19:04.120 --> 00:19:06.600 the rest of my life. And so that's why I ended up leaving the job, 304 00:19:06.950 --> 00:19:10.550 because of the sweater vest. Well, that was a sign, wasn't it? It was. It 305 00:19:10.550 --> 00:19:13.590 was a sign. Yeah. You look in the mirror, you're in a sweater vest going, 306 00:19:13.910 --> 00:19:17.790 that's not my vision. Exactly. And it led me to 307 00:19:17.790 --> 00:19:21.750 this wonderful career as a, you know, a business strategist and dream 308 00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:25.470 maker and creative catalyst. So. Yeah, yeah. 309 00:19:25.470 --> 00:19:29.350 So in the show notes, and we're talking about in the green room, you've worked 310 00:19:29.350 --> 00:19:33.190 with people from all demographics and backgrounds, 311 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.680 some people from marginalised communities. I guess, given your. 312 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:42.360 Your heritage of your family heritage, you work with 313 00:19:42.360 --> 00:19:46.360 communities that aren't in the majority. Often people's 314 00:19:46.360 --> 00:19:50.120 visions must be different. You know, not everybody wants to be a millionaire, do 315 00:19:50.120 --> 00:19:53.760 they? Some people want health or happiness. What do they look like? 316 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.960 Yeah, that's such an important point. So, you know, I've learned lots of 317 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:01.040 lessons over the years and I think the one that for me was the most 318 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.800 just telling and that I really became sensitive to 319 00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:09.600 was we were working in an organisation with the staff 320 00:20:09.600 --> 00:20:13.480 of an organisation that helped the unhoused. And so we went 321 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:17.120 into it and I always bring lots of travel magazines into 322 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:21.200 these workshops and glorious houses and, you know, all sorts of things. 323 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:24.920 Architectural Digest and, you know, Conde Nast travel 324 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:28.560 magazines. And so what happened at the end of it was that when they shared 325 00:20:28.560 --> 00:20:32.190 their vision boards, they were showing pictures of food 326 00:20:32.670 --> 00:20:36.270 and pictures of chairs and couches and 327 00:20:36.430 --> 00:20:40.430 things from the furniture magazines, but there was no travel anywhere on any of 328 00:20:40.430 --> 00:20:44.030 the boards. The travel magazine sat untouched. And so 329 00:20:44.750 --> 00:20:48.590 from that point forward, I really made an effort to know my 330 00:20:48.590 --> 00:20:52.590 audience and dive deeper into who are these people and 331 00:20:52.910 --> 00:20:56.230 what are their dreams and goals before I enter the room, just like we did. 332 00:20:56.230 --> 00:20:59.710 You talked to me before. I Came on the podcast. Right. Sort of take a 333 00:20:59.710 --> 00:21:03.610 deeper dive and always know who am I audience is. So we've worked 334 00:21:03.610 --> 00:21:06.890 with neurodiverse communities, we've worked with LGBTQ 335 00:21:07.610 --> 00:21:11.370 communities, we've worked. One of the things that I bring into 336 00:21:11.530 --> 00:21:14.810 some of the places that I work with, instead of post award, I bring in 337 00:21:14.810 --> 00:21:18.770 cake boxes because not everyone wants to share their dreams with people so that 338 00:21:18.770 --> 00:21:21.690 people can show what they want to show through the clear top of the cake 339 00:21:21.690 --> 00:21:25.690 box and then not show whatever else. It's also three dimensional, so they 340 00:21:25.690 --> 00:21:29.130 can put different, different things in there. And we've worked with, 341 00:21:29.690 --> 00:21:33.610 you know, the formerly incarcerated, currently incarcerated and then high, high 342 00:21:33.610 --> 00:21:37.370 net worth women. So it's really across the board. Again, everyone has 343 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:40.610 some sort of genes but their dream. You're absolutely right. The dreams are, are different 344 00:21:40.610 --> 00:21:44.610 for different, different. The messages that came through 345 00:21:44.610 --> 00:21:48.170 on one of the boards, we worked with a group of teens during the pandemic 346 00:21:48.810 --> 00:21:52.730 and they were in the foster care system and they put 347 00:21:52.730 --> 00:21:56.490 lots of pictures of fashion and fast cars and, 348 00:21:56.730 --> 00:22:00.630 you know, it was, it was mostly boys. And when it came time for them 349 00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:04.590 to share their boards in very, very, very tiny print, it said, 350 00:22:04.590 --> 00:22:08.590 I survived my childhood. And I don't think 351 00:22:08.830 --> 00:22:12.670 his peers saw it, but certainly the leaders in the group. And 352 00:22:12.670 --> 00:22:16.670 I saw it again, it was virtual, so it was. I had a chance 353 00:22:16.670 --> 00:22:20.590 to see it up close where maybe other people didn't. And so again, really impactful 354 00:22:20.590 --> 00:22:24.150 work. When you see messaging coming through like. That as you're speaking now and thinking 355 00:22:24.150 --> 00:22:28.090 this is like a very visual representation of Basso's 356 00:22:28.090 --> 00:22:31.610 hierarchy of needs, isn't it? This is when you're, when you're actually doing 357 00:22:31.610 --> 00:22:35.530 holidays and aspirational type dreams, you're right at the top of 358 00:22:35.530 --> 00:22:38.490 that self actualisation, whereas if you're, you've got pictures of food 359 00:22:39.210 --> 00:22:43.170 safety, you're right there. And that's a real indication of where these people are in 360 00:22:43.170 --> 00:22:46.890 their lives. Absolutely. Really gives you an insight as to 361 00:22:47.610 --> 00:22:51.460 how you can motivate them, how you can talk to, how to communicate. Because 362 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:54.580 you're right, you've got to read the room. And this vision board allows you to 363 00:22:54.580 --> 00:22:57.620 really see where people are at and then you can meet them there. That's really 364 00:22:57.620 --> 00:23:01.580 powerful. Yeah, yeah, it really, yeah. Like I said, we've got 365 00:23:01.580 --> 00:23:05.460 all sorts of, you know, opportunity to work with people and people 366 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:09.460 with an ability difference. Right. You have to make sure that they 367 00:23:09.460 --> 00:23:13.180 can access whatever it is you're bringing, poster board that they can reach if it, 368 00:23:13.180 --> 00:23:16.220 you know, and all of that so we, like I said, we've learned lots of 369 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:20.130 lessons and also to bring in. I really want people to see 370 00:23:20.130 --> 00:23:23.850 themselves in. In the magazines that I bring. So to 371 00:23:23.850 --> 00:23:27.530 find magazines so that people can see themselves in all 372 00:23:27.530 --> 00:23:31.130 ways is. Is. Can be challenging. Right. So sometimes I have them bring their own 373 00:23:31.130 --> 00:23:35.090 photos but I. I chase magazines far and wide to try to make 374 00:23:35.090 --> 00:23:38.290 sure that I get them from. From all places. And now I'm seeing a little 375 00:23:38.290 --> 00:23:42.250 bit on, you know, Amazon has. Has books to. Specifically for, 376 00:23:42.330 --> 00:23:45.930 you know, people of colour and certain, you know, demographics. You can find 377 00:23:45.930 --> 00:23:49.810 specific vision boarding books just for. For other people. So yeah, 378 00:23:50.450 --> 00:23:53.690 of course you've got tools like Canva and other platforms where you could probably generate 379 00:23:53.690 --> 00:23:57.530 imagery. Absolutely. And virtually. It's easy. Yeah, it 380 00:23:57.530 --> 00:24:00.930 is. AI can generate some stuff as well for you now. Yes, yeah, 381 00:24:01.250 --> 00:24:04.930 yeah. So sometimes I bring loose. Sometimes I create those in advance and I'll 382 00:24:04.930 --> 00:24:08.130 print them out just from, you know, so. So that I bring loose images. It 383 00:24:08.130 --> 00:24:10.730 doesn't always have to come from a magazine. Magazines are hard to find these days. 384 00:24:10.730 --> 00:24:14.530 They're expensive on the newsstand. I got lucky because my nephew works for a magazine 385 00:24:14.530 --> 00:24:17.420 company, so sometimes I get them from him. But yeah, 386 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:22.300 yeah, I suppose things like dentists and doctors, they create 387 00:24:22.300 --> 00:24:25.540 all the coffee tables away during COVID and never put them back. They did. It's 388 00:24:25.540 --> 00:24:29.500 really true. Yeah. Libraries sometimes give them away at the end and there's 389 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:33.180 a few places out there. And again, we make an effort to go into certain 390 00:24:33.260 --> 00:24:37.180 groups, associations sometimes have magazines for their members 391 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:41.070 and so we make a wide effort to reach out. Yeah, 392 00:24:41.070 --> 00:24:43.590 we went digital quite quickly, didn't we? We did. 393 00:24:44.950 --> 00:24:48.230 As soon as we couldn't give a magazine out, we stopped doing them. Yeah. So 394 00:24:49.110 --> 00:24:52.630 again, going back to the way you're engaging with some of the, I hate the 395 00:24:52.630 --> 00:24:56.550 word marginalised communities, that sounds so. So crass, doesn't it? It's 396 00:24:56.550 --> 00:25:00.470 not, it's not what I'm trying to say. You know, people who are voiceless, 397 00:25:00.550 --> 00:25:04.510 unheard, people who maybe don't have the same opportunities as 398 00:25:04.510 --> 00:25:08.380 others. What is it, what is it about. I was going to say 399 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:11.500 them. I mean that again is stereotyping, is creating a group. 400 00:25:12.220 --> 00:25:15.900 What are common paths that come out? You talked about that. Their needs and their 401 00:25:15.900 --> 00:25:19.340