Reclaiming Your Courage with Leslie Lew

Business as UNusual Ep 3 - Season 3 Transcript

[00:00:00] Aicila: Welcome to Business is UNusual. This is Aicila and I am here today with Leslie Lewi and welcome to the show.

[00:00:09] Leslie: I am so fired up. Thank you for having me.

[00:00:11] Aicila: I am so excited. I, Leslie is a newer acquaintance. But it's been really neat just to learn a little bit about her journey and I'm really excited to have a chance for you all to hear about it. It, before we get into the business side of things, what is a hobby of yours that you think would surprise folks,

[00:00:32] Leslie: I don't think that there's a hobby that PE that would. Surprise people. 'cause I'm pretty much an open book for my friends. So when I flat out say karaoke as a hobby of not being a skilled singer at all, but just loving the unapologetic freedom of it

[00:00:47] Aicila: Mm-Hmm.

[00:00:48] Leslie: is, is, probably one of the things that sticks out most for me.

[00:00:54] Aicila: Karaoke. I feel like that tells us a lot about who you are in terms of joy, spontaneity, [00:01:00] not, you're not afraid to, not trying to look perfect and good all the time. Community, these are all

[00:01:07] Leslie: building and I even one of my proposals for 2024 I kid you not was healing our inner child through karaoke and play

[00:01:15] Leslie: and that sounds like an introvert's nightmare. But there that there is something powerful because I guarantee you that there is a song that. Takes you back to a moment in time or a memory or something. And there is something about helping people somatically release that through karaoke.

[00:01:35] Leslie: And I just tell people it's not about perfection. It really is just about freedom.

[00:01:41] Leslie: letting your heart out. So I love to facilitate that.

[00:01:45] Aicila: Yeah. And playfulness. Yeah, I can, yeah, I can imagine that. And well, I think that's a great way to segue into, tell folks just a little bit about your business, short description, type of work name, that kind of thing, that we'll get more and more into what it is.

[00:01:59] Leslie: [00:02:00] Yeah, so I'm the founder of Reclaiming Your Courage, and essentially what I do is I help people escape bad situations using their mind, body, and voice. And what that really means is that I developed a holistic approach to self-defense, because that's the unusual part of this, is that I'm not here to advocate for eye pokes and groin kicks. It's so much more than that. It's the It's about standing in your power self-advocacy, community, love and courage.

[00:02:33] Aicila: Wow that. I can't wait to dig more into that. That sounds incredibly powerful. It.

[00:02:44] Leslie: Success to me is philosophically. How I believe when I identify as a trailblazing entrepreneur, trailblazer, meaning is that you go on a path that nobody else wants to go on. When everyone's going left, you go right. [00:03:00] You forge a path by pouring gasoline over the pathway, lighting it on fire. And once you find that roadmap to success, I think it's so important to reach out your hand to someone else and. I believe that success is collaboration and collective healing. So I almost don't feel like success is mine, per se, as AEs like a possession. I believe that we build legacy by helping generations that come before us and to really just show our humanity to other people. And I think the best way to do that is to share and that we all could succeed together.

[00:03:46] Aicila: I'm here for it. There's a, was it, there was Thea Coca quote or something. It's not. I haven't won unless other people lose or something. And I long ago reframe that for myself as I [00:04:00] haven't won unless other people also win. That is because I don't think it has to be either or.

[00:04:07] Leslie: Right.

[00:04:08] Aicila: of the time, yeah,

[00:04:10] Leslie: doesn't feel real if you can't experience it with others and share stories with them.

[00:04:16] Aicila: right. And it, like you said, share that opportunity or awareness or connection. I love that. I'm here for it.

[00:04:26] Leslie: Yes.

[00:04:28] Aicila: So in terms of success, so you know that sharing, I feel like you answered this a little bit, but how would you see that affecting the industry that you're in type of work that you do?

[00:04:40] Aicila: Like, Would you see it as transforming something about how that that exists?

[00:04:45] Leslie: Absolutely. Like I, I. I would say that it's literally taken a bat and smashing the industry that I'm in. And what I mean by that is as someone who is a two-time black belt and who grew up in the martial arts world and [00:05:00] self-defense world, right? There were no women role models for me, most of my life. For one, most of it, to be honest, were military dudes or dudes that written books that looked like Chuck Norris and dudes that would be yelling at me. And what I started realizing really quickly was that Nobody really looked like me. And what I mean by that is as a woman of color,

[00:05:25] Leslie: as a woman of color, and me having trauma that I was working through, as someone who's been sexually assaulted at a young age, who has experienced microaggressions in the workplace, I had all this internal rage and I had All of this going on inside of me, and there was really no room in the self-defense world to really process that.

[00:05:48] Leslie: And so what really birthed my company is understanding that there was this piece around helping women those that identified not just with what everyone else [00:06:00] was identifying. So whether you identified as queer, neurodivergent disabled, no one was really holding space and asking these questions of how does the way that you identify intersect with the way that potential attackers perceive you?

[00:06:17] Leslie: Right, and so I'm gonna put it out there. I'm an Asian woman, so the perception is that I'm submissive and I'm not vocal, and that I carry a lot of cash and that I'm hypersexualized,

[00:06:28] Leslie: right? So those are stereotypes that exist, and so that makes me more prone to a physical altercation on the right. And me paving the way in my industry is really saying no, we should not just be focusing on technique,

[00:06:44] Leslie: right? Punching and kicking and just the physical stuff. We have to help people with their self-belief, their self-worth to give them a framework for speaking up and really taking ownership of their voice. And then [00:07:00] once we have those components, then the physical Manifests

[00:07:04] Leslie: like I don't do any physical work with my clients. I actually spend a lot of time asking the deeper questions. Who are you? Who do you fight for? Before I really teach them anything about physical protection.

[00:07:21] Aicila: I feel that I I feel like it's very, it's a wise approach in that if you don't have in yourself, it it is harder. I, I would say maybe, I wouldn't say impossible, but I I would say there are a lot of barriers you in action and, and that. Ability to on. Like I know I can, I can reflect on times in my life when I have felt that sense of insecurity or uncertainty and I'm, it's, I used to describe it as like I had the boot on my own neck and until I took it off, it didn't matter what anyone else [00:08:00] was

[00:08:00] Leslie: And so my question to you if we were in a class would be Well, whose voice are you hearing right now?

[00:08:09] Aicila: Yeah.

[00:08:09] Leslie: And so a big part of my work is creating safe spaces for communities and to build that trust and to have consent and co-creation around the workshops that I create so that people know that their voice matters and that they have a say in no, it's actually really important for me to process this trauma than get into anything physical and To prevent myself from being re-triggered.

[00:08:35] Leslie: So once I started holding space for that, that's the power in kind of reclaiming your courage and my business. And that's how I would say it's unusual because once I started doing it, I started pissing off a lot of men and people in the community who are like, Hey, this is the way that we've done it. This is the way we should always do it. I'm like says who? And first of [00:09:00] all, is there a reason why you're speaking over me? Like I have two black belts.

[00:09:03] Leslie: That's the equivalent of having two master's degrees,

[00:09:06] Leslie: right? But literally having the patriarch tell patriarchy tell me like no. You have to teach this way.

[00:09:14] Aicila: Mm-Hmm.

[00:09:15] Leslie: And so I'm like, Nope.

[00:09:16] Leslie: Screw that. I am. If you don't want me at your table, I'll just create another table.

[00:09:24] Aicila: Yeah. So we have to do so. This is a question that I, I'm trying to find a good way to ask, which is that there's something in you or in your life that set the stage for this, for you to see this need. And there's obviously lived experience and yet, and while I I could hear that your lived experience is definitely unique.

[00:09:46] Aicila: I, I feel like there's always a little bit more to it because other people might have had those experiences and yet for you. It created this motivation to action. And is there something you can point to or a story [00:10:00] that you can share that illustrates what sort of unveiled that for you?

[00:10:05] Leslie: it's a. Two parts of the story. Prior to the pandemic, I was teaching traditional self-defense at a MMA gym or a women's wellness center, right? So the stereotypical things that women expect, like, I'm gonna go take a women's empowerment, self-defense class for a weekend, right? And what I started noticing was that there were always a handful of women in the class. That froze and what I observed is that. People kind of did that tough love thing of yelling at these women of what's wrong with you? How come you can't do the thing? Or, lack of athleticism. And the reason why I have empathy for that is because when I was learning what they were learning, right?

[00:10:51] Leslie: Like what to do if a 200 pound man is mounted on you or whatnot. I remember being in the exact moment and I thought, [00:11:00] what would I need that those women need? Right now that I didn't have. Right. And this has comes from years of overcoming, being assaulted, being attacked on the street being verbally harassed, being having to deal with toxic family members and having physical altercations or whatever. Something in me was like, why aren't we taking more time and helping those women. Instead of just focusing on the women that had a high level of athleticism and rewarding them,

[00:11:32] Leslie: right? Oh Yeah.

[00:11:33] Leslie: like they're doing great, right? And so I had a soft spot for the abandoned, that's how I call it, is like I'm the leader of the misfits. So if you're someone who just was, you run awkwardly, you don't feel like the most fit or whatever, I want you on my team.

[00:11:49] Leslie: Because I believe that when you have the heart and I can help you with these pieces of mind, body, and voice, you are gonna be 10 times more powerful than anybody in the room. And it's just a [00:12:00] matter of me being patient and kind of giving you a structure to it. So that's the first part of the story. Fast forward to the start of the pandemic. Everyone's in quarantine. That president at that time made some remarks. About a community. And then we started seeing the spikes in anti-Asian hate crimes,

[00:12:22] Leslie: 300%.

[00:12:24] Leslie: And my breaking point was when the Atlanta spa shootings happened, and six of the women that were murdered looked like my mom. They could have been my mom.

[00:12:36] Leslie: Right. And then shortly after that you had INS incidences in New York City Christina Unli, who literally was my age, someone who worked in tech getting pushed into the train tracks.

[00:12:50] Leslie: This stuff was hap it was happening. And just the rage I felt with the media sympathizing, with the shooters [00:13:00] and the attackers and the silent suffering kept me up at night, pissed me off. And that is what propelled my business when I said, there is no one else. And there's no one else who's an Asian woman leading this effort.

[00:13:18] Leslie: Right.

[00:13:19] Leslie: So I had to go against the grain, and that wasn't always met with open arms, but I was like, there are the most vulnerable, the elderly pregnant women, right? Those who those that were just most vulnerable. And so that's why I was relentless in my pursuit of my business.

[00:13:47] Aicila: It gave um, yeah. And. Who, so you, you said this more in a general [00:14:00] sense that you know that who kind of thrives with your service or that might, or who maybe you typically work with. Are there other aspects that you set? The heart, and it sounds to me like also people who are willing to be vulnerable in that way, who understand that there is another aspect to learning about de def defense self-defense. Or at least if they don't understand it, they're open to understanding it. Is there anything else that you could say would be sort of that typical that could, and also I I know you are, you said you started in the pandemic, but you are located, I believe, in California.

[00:14:32] Aicila: So is it something people can learn remotely

[00:14:34] Leslie: Yeah, great question. Thank you for all of that. I support people in person and virtually I speak all over the globe. I have the opportunity to speak all over the world. I coach families virtually, especially families whose kids have been. Victimized and bullies bullied at school. sO I do that virtually.

[00:14:56] Leslie: And then my Woman Warrior Uprising program, which is getting [00:15:00] revamped. There's online curriculum so people can digest what I'm teaching, how to like really embody your boundaries and how to handle pushback and conversations. So I will say that the range of people that I serve are whether you are the working professional that, hits a ceiling in your, in your development that you don't, you're put on the spot all the time. You don't know how to handle that pushback or you don't know how to n negotiate or advocate for higher pay. yoU're definitely someone I work with. If you are a parent of a kid who's neurodivergent. Recently got diagnosed with A DHD who's getting bullied at school and doesn't wanna go to the traditional mc dojo. I wanna work with you because your kid doesn't wanna go to mc Dojo because the kids that are bullying them go to McDo. And a big part of my work too, with anti-bullying education is I work with schools to review their anti-bullying policies. [00:16:00] And this week actually I helped a private Catholic school rewrite theirs and really define what that is and, to really help on group and individual intervention. So I kind of come in there and yeah, if you are the entrepreneur that. Really just has no idea. Like if you really have limiting beliefs and fears around showing up as yourself

[00:16:23] Leslie: and to speak confidently I'm definitely that person that helps you hone in on your power. And the things that ring true with all those three types of people, or four types of people, is that you've gotta believe that you're worth fighting for. Right, like you have to understand what is the deeper fear. And what my work is really rooted in is understanding that empowerment comes when you realize that there's nobody coming to save you.

[00:16:56] Leslie: You are not

[00:16:57] Aicila: Hmm.

[00:16:58] Leslie: in need of a savior. [00:17:00] that you need and the resources you need is inside of you. So personal pain turning into power. And that is the best thing that I can offer to anyone, especially those who have been physically attacked, who try to, I work with victims all the time, domestic violence people who are trying to escape bad situations in their marriage or whatnot. And they don't feel like they have ownership. So they always seek help from outside, and then there's the disappointment and hurt associated with no one came to help me.

[00:17:39] Leslie: And I think that is what I'm here to do and what I've dedicated my life to is that you, I want you to remove the attachment to seeking something external to protect you.

[00:17:53] Aicila: Yeah.

[00:17:58] Aicila: Thank you.

[00:17:58] Leslie: Yeah, [00:18:00] I.

[00:18:02] Aicila: So how does that show up in, in a, can you have a specific way that, and obviously without, I don't wanna reveal but is there a, a, a, an example that comes to mind that might, you gave several, I think, great summaries of examples and if that's the place that feels the right place to land.

[00:18:22] Aicila: Uh, But if there's anything that you can, you know, maybe flush out or sketch out a little more so people can recognize something in it.

[00:18:28] Leslie: I'll give you an example. One of the women I worked with during the pandemic lived in New York City and she had gone, I. Early afternoon, like 12 noon downstairs from her high rise, super luxurious condo to up her food delivery order. As soon as she picks it up, she goes into the elevator, she gets attacked, [00:19:00] she reaches out to me and is clearly distraught. Not by the fact that she has gotten assaulted in an elevator, but more so of the fact that she felt powerless and that she was screaming for help, and that there were people present in the lobby that still didn't come to help her. It was more of the fixation of why didn't anybody do the right thing

[00:19:34] Leslie: rather than the actual like. Realization of oh my God, you know, your privacy has been invaded. You've been physically brutalized. So I did a lot of work with her, with my framework and my system, and when we started peeling back these layers, I said, okay voice are you hearing right now? And she's my mother's.

[00:19:58] Leslie: Because I was taught to be a southern [00:20:00] belle, I was taught to not be, not ladylike.

[00:20:05] Leslie: So to take that deeper, I was like, well, what did you really wanna do that in that moment she's I wanted to use my high heel. I wanted to scrape his face. I wanted to use my nails and scratch through his skin. And so I asked, why didn't you? And it's because of this narrative she had of her mother saying it's unladylike. So she much rather would have absorbed it and taken it all than appear to be not ladylike.

[00:20:38] Leslie: Powerful stuff for me, right? Like it's not, so when I say it's much more than just self-defense, sure. Could I teach anybody how to get out of a wrist release or a choke hold? Yes. But for her, that wouldn't have served her.

[00:20:51] Leslie: I spent, I've spent

[00:20:52] Aicila: no, it

[00:20:53] Leslie: two months with her doing deep somatic grounding and breathing exercises and visually and [00:21:00] writing as to. What to help her find her strength. And that really did just start on, let's start off with, what did you wanna say? She could not even tell the person to move away from her.

[00:21:14] Leslie: She just stayed quiet and let it happen. And I think that is something that rings true for a lot of people. And even though that's an example of a physical attack, those themes. Translate over. When I work with clients who Leslie I don't feel physically unsafe. I'm fine. And I'm like, okay, but you do have an issue with your toxic family member

[00:21:40] Leslie: who's attacking you and you're awake for the holidays. So different scenario, right? But the same framework I take them through

[00:21:49] Leslie: of what's going on for you right now?

[00:21:51] Leslie: How do you think this situation's gonna play out? And let's make a strategy. On how to build stronger boundaries around removing [00:22:00] yourself and disengaging from the situation.

[00:22:05] Aicila: Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. I I really really can't agree with that enough. I know that I remember a few years ago.

[00:22:13] Leslie: I.

[00:22:13] Aicila: Probably seven much closer than I would like it to be. When I sort of realized that there were behaviors I tolerated that were harmful to me because I didn't wanna hurt someone's feelings, , I was like, wow, I am prioritizing my perception of their feelings over my actual harm.

[00:22:36] Aicila: That is so interesting. No longer acceptable to me. However, it was such an unconscious conditioning. So I really what you're saying, like absolutely it was to be ladylike and there were a bunch of ways in which I figured out how not to be, and yet uncovering it to that deeper place, I think is a is a very effective and helpful strategy. 'cause just because I I uncovered it in the work world, [00:23:00] that was fine that I, for whatever reason I made that work, but in the personal world, I didn't have that. Same awareness, I guess. And so that what you're talking about really getting into it deeply so that it permeates to the whole of your being, I think that's ultimately gonna be the most effective and genuinely necessary.

[00:23:20] Aicila: Like we, in addition to our homes, we get conditioned every day

[00:23:24] Leslie: Well, thank you for sharing that because that theme of having guilt or shame around that and being more worried about how our boundaries might be . Receive, I've realized is something that transcends language and demographic, right? Like you're, you're experiencing that, but someone in India right now can probably listen to this and that resonates with them as well,

[00:23:47] Leslie: right? In terms of the conditioning and the societal expectations. And that is something that I'm realizing too, that the more that I travel and focus on women who've experienced gender-based violence. [00:24:00] They don't have that awareness. So just being able to role model and teach, right? Like you could teach a workshop alone on like just self-awareness. 'cause I think it's remarkable that you acknowledged it and that you take, you took steps towards getting away from it. And my role is to help women who experience it, but may not know symptomatically what they're experiencing.

[00:24:30] Aicila: It's really important. Like I said, I'm, I so love that you're doing this. I think it has a profound, it is a profound need for it and yeah, definitely. My, I mean, I, for me personally, I see so much of the white supremacy that 'cause of the, the ways in which, uh, colonizers went around everywhere. Uh, Thank you to my people.

[00:24:49] Aicila: guys. I, yeah. And that's, that's the legacy. That's the legacy of the, that colonization is. Is this conditioning? So it's it's everywhere. And I don't think we combat it by [00:25:00] being equally dominant. I think we combat it by a community culture and connection, and by not actually trying to combat it by showing that, like you said, building this other table because that, that one's pretty

[00:25:14] Leslie: And it takes a lot of courage for you here, being an ally with me and saying Hey, this is rooted in white supremacy

[00:25:19] Aicila: Well, well, It's,

[00:25:22] Leslie: Right? And you having the courage to say that, right? And. Here I am also saying, yeah, it's if you have the luxury of not being impacted by systems of oppression, just know that is a luxury

[00:25:38] Leslie: because you have a lot of communities that are underserved that feel pain and have mental health issues that experience violence in their communities.

[00:25:47] Leslie: And so that's also what I like to shed a light on is that Imagine having to deal with that and having to physically protect yourself. Right? And all of that is a factor. [00:26:00] Gender identity. As well, like helping same sex couples, I've counseled them on how to really. Protect their children, right?

[00:26:10] Leslie: Because I'm in San Francisco Bay area. A lot of fear around we're two moms, right? And we've had a lot of hate speech, thrown at us. What can we do? How can we help our son or daughter at school have these conversations

[00:26:26] Leslie: with kids about? And that's really where I come in, is helping people with the assertive communication.

[00:26:34] Aicila: Yeah. Yeah. it's um, Um, WoUld you be willing to share advice that you've received that's

[00:26:42] Leslie: I think that the advice I was given, I will attribute to my coach, right? The amazing Carissa Atkins not necessarily in the approach, right?

[00:26:53] Leslie: Because I'll say that distinctly, nobody approaches. Self-defense in the way that I, or the work that I'm [00:27:00] doing. So I haven't ever any advice I've been given about that aspect of my business and how I carry it out. I basically didn't listen to, 'cause if I listened to it, I would've given up a long time ago.

[00:27:12] Leslie: But

[00:27:12] Aicila: Yeah.

[00:27:14] Leslie: that Krisa gives me so many nuggets and she. She's always advocated for me to just do what lights me up and to be unapologetic about it. And even when, even before she was my coach I asked her what would make, how could I identify a great coach for me? And she's always been very clear that by investing in myself. That, that I was worth it and that but I didn't believe that at the time. So self investment is so important. And self putting yourself first. I. [00:28:00] Is basically she's always been an advocate of not me, not neglecting myself or me dimming my light because I do come from people pleasing tendencies and cultural tendencies of showing respect and putting everybody else first. But she has always been the advocate of you get to design your life. So I've always taken that and that's why 2023 had me in the most explosive growth I've had in my health and my business is because of that is like she, it almost gave me permission to just let go of all my inner critical voices and to just trust in my personal strength and passion.

[00:28:45] Leslie: Yeah,

[00:28:46] Leslie: and I get to meet people

[00:28:47] Leslie: like myself, right? Like you and I are, I feel like we're friends too, but there is something energetically about two souls coming together. Like you and I don't really know each other but [00:29:00] energetically, right? Like you are helping me feel seen in a way, or being curious about my work in a way that. I haven't felt in a lot of interviews. Right. And that's a testament to your personal work and to the space that you're creating here on your podcast. So I'm just really grateful.

[00:29:22] Aicila: Thanks. That's really what I want. I'm, I feel like we have so much in our world that tells us. That we're not enough, right? That we're doing the wrong thing because we're not trying to make every single cent off of every single person as our primary goal or that we're supposed to do it this other way, this, right.

[00:29:38] Aicila: That someone's gonna sell instead of really like like you were saying, leaning in fully into who we are and our passion. And I think a lot of us do have sort of a calling in life and sometimes we get to do it for our work and sometimes we do it you know, on the side, but there's something about being in that and being in that aliveness that brings, I think, so much more harmony and alignment [00:30:00] to life, and it can Indulgent. I I don't know. That's not really true. Like when I'm in it, it doesn't, but when I'm walking towards it sometimes I'm like, am I really gonna do the thing that I wanna do? Because not just eating candy all the It, it's not that kind of indulgent. It's it's this other thing that the words

[00:30:18] Leslie: I know it almost feels like a Philly cheese steak to me. It's very dense. It's like I'm living in my purpose. I get to, there's something indulgent about, it's yeah. Double meat and cheese on that today. Right. So I'm with you. I'm following that and that's what I learned too, in, in working and being part of the Alpha Queen collective community is really just like I get to,

[00:30:41] Leslie: right.

[00:30:42] Leslie: I don't have to do what I don't want to. I Get to live in my purpose. And that's the shift. And what I embrace this year is I get to do this, I get to do this podcast with you. I get to. Travel the world and speak to young girls and provide, words to them that [00:31:00] might move them to be more stronger than they were yesterday. So yeah I'm super excited about everything rather than I. Feeling so much pressure to be excellent at everything.

[00:31:11] Leslie: I Think that's the other thing that she always had encouraged me is yo, you don't have to be, you'll figure it out. She always tells me like you'll be okay. So something in that when someone else sees your heart and someone is I see you.

[00:31:28] Aicila: Mm-Hmm.

[00:31:29] Leslie: literally lifted a building off of my shoulders and I just ran with it ever, ever since.

[00:31:38] Aicila: Well, I mean, not carrying a building go a lot faster, right. , you're

[00:31:42] Leslie: Her energy's contagious,

[00:31:44] Leslie: right? Like she lights up any room that she walks into. And she's not everybody's coach, but she's the right coach for me

[00:31:50] Leslie: I.

[00:31:51] Aicila: Yeah, no, Exactly. You don't have to be everybody's, there's 8 billion people on the planet. That's what I tell my clients when I'm helping them, like with their business work. I'm like, look, you don't need [00:32:00] that many

[00:32:00] Leslie: Right. Not everyone's gonna some people legitimately get mad at me are you gonna hold pads for me today? Right? You've been watching way too much Cobra Kai.

[00:32:08] Leslie: Right? so if you're someone

[00:32:09] Leslie: who just wants to

[00:32:11] Aicila: Yes.

[00:32:11] Leslie: go at it and vent and hit some pads, I'm not your coach because what I am trying to teach you is something so much more sustainable

[00:32:19] Leslie: than just going to a class and feeling empowered for a weekend. And then what happens? You forget it all and

[00:32:25] Leslie: you go back to fear.

[00:32:27] Leslie: What I'm trying to do is put roots in the tree,

[00:32:30] Leslie: um, so that you can withstand the storm that comes and goes.

[00:32:40] Aicila: Yeah. It is very different. And something that is, you said, you, you pouring the gasoline on that that forge should fire away. My personal experience is there could be times when that can feel overwhelming or discouraging and you have to like [00:33:00] recenter or recharge or get re-inspired. Do you have a set of tactics or ways that you do that, that you go to?

[00:33:10] Leslie: Yeah it's really affirmations around failing forward,

[00:33:16] Leslie: And to just really.

[00:33:18] Aicila: Hmm.

[00:33:20] Leslie: Going back to the commitment I have for myself. And so developing the practices around meditation and spiritual guidance around what's my personal manifesto, right? Which is something that I worked on in the group, right? And that being my compass, right? And it's going back to spiritual practice and going back to my writing and speaking to my higher self. I know that sounds woo woo woo for some people, but I, for me that was such an important part when I was working with a somatic writing coach a few years when I was working on a memoir is that was my first introduction into speaking to Higher Self and having a vision of myself [00:34:00] in the future. I don't know. I talked to her, so that's kind of my guiding principle is like when I feel like it's overwhelming and it's not enough. Like I definitely know now to slow the F down,

[00:34:13] Leslie: whereas before I would try to just.

[00:34:15] Aicila: Hmm.

[00:34:16] Leslie: Go.

[00:34:17] Leslie: And the thing that always stuck out with, for me with Carissa is go get 10 nos. Hurry up and go get 10 nos.

[00:34:24] Leslie: And what she was really teaching me was just a level of resilience and built up my confidence so much. So now in my mind, I only need one. Yes, I don't need 10 yeses, I just need one

[00:34:40] Leslie: to be aligned with the right people and the right

[00:34:42] Aicila: Hmm. Yeah, it's facts. So folks that are listening and they wanna learn more, follow you, get in touch, hire you, what's the best way for them to

[00:34:57] Leslie: You can find me on the Insta and all my cool [00:35:00] videos and reels,

[00:35:01] Leslie: and helpful tips and tricks at reclaiming your courage. That's one word. And then on Facebook, Leslie Lewi last name's LEW. I'd love to hear if any of this resonated with you and also my website, reclaiming your courage.com. The best thing for people to do is really just subscribe to my community. And then you get the firsthand, like the things that I'm rolling out, which is very exciting, which is my new woman Warrior uprising program. So that's when you get access to the online curriculum, to things like international retreats that I host and other VIP experiences and kind of, you know, where I'm at in the city near you.

[00:35:44] Leslie: So yeah, that's how anybody can engage with my work.

[00:35:49] Aicila: Lovely. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you joining me

[00:35:52] Leslie: Thank you so much.

[00:35:55] Aicila: Bye everybody.