This is Women Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

From the corporate office to the cab of a truck, they're here to inspire and empower women in all professions.

So gear down, sit back and enjoy.

Welcome.

We're an award winning show dinner dedicated to empowering women in every profession through inspiring stories and expert insights.

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On our show, we power women on the road to success with expert and celebrity interviews and information you need.

I'm Shelley.

And I'm Kathy.

Are you tired of navigating the murky waters of everyday life and feeling like you're constantly stepping into piles of metaphorical crap?

That's the question that Dr. Jodi Blinko asks people as a transformation coach and leadership strategist.

She's the author of Inner Transforming Everyday Bull into Sunshine.

The book takes readers on a journey of self reflection and growth with a healthy dose of humor.

Dr. Blinko is the founder of the U School, a Zen leader and yoga cowgirl.

She blends academic expertise with real world wisdom to inspire and empower others to reach their fullest potential.

She's a holistic health specialist.

She also holds a doctorate in education, a master's in business, who brings a fresh and powerful perspective to leadership, confidence and personal transformation for women.

Dr. Balinko likes to discuss things that hold women back, like the good girl trap and how confidence isn't the problem, action is.

That's exactly what our listeners want to know.

So we invited her on our show.

Welcome, Dr. Blinko.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

It's a pleasure to be here.

You're very welcome.

We're honored to have you.

If you wouldn't mind, before we delve into all of this good stuff that you're talking about, could you tell our listeners a little bit about you and how you got started?

Yeah, I.

Well, I won't take you too far back, but just giving you a little bit of my story.

When I graduated college, I really struggled transitioning into the real world, if you will, and just couldn't find my way, couldn't find my path and, and that impacted my confidence.

And so I think, as most people do when they're trying to find what is that, what is my forever job, what's my career, what's my purpose going to be.

I struggled with that transition until I found a higher education.

And for the last 20 or so years, I've really spent quite a bit of time in the higher education space.

In addition to skill development, helping individuals find that Sense of confidence, find that sense of purpose, and helping them to figure out what's in the way that's holding them back, keeping them from being really able to tap into their voice, really discover that purpose.

And that's what the youth school is about.

That's what Zen leader is about for women.

And Yoga cowgirl takes us into a whole other platform through yoga and wellness, but had a little bit of a brief moment where I owned a yoga studio for a couple years, and I'm a yoga teacher, and so I really want to bring all of that work together to empower as many people and women as I can again to letting go of what holds them back and finding that path forward.

That's a powerful combination.

Wow.

The U School Zen leader and yoga cowgirl.

Yeah, I know, right?

A little bit of a mixed bag there.

You know, I think people get caught up in the overwhelm.

I know I do.

I feel like sometimes I'm like, you know, the ever ready rabbit, and I keep banging into walls, and it's like, no, wrong direction.

Try this corner.

Whoops.

Back, back.

Yeah, yeah.

And once that overwhelm sits in, you know, or sets in, there are a whole host and as human beings, of emotions that come along with that, right?

The anxiety, the fear, the voice in our head, the thoughts that tell us we can't, we shouldn't, and then that overwhelm just snowballs.

And I think we can all relate to that.

You know, that I often say the one common thread that we have, no matter where we come from in life, no matter what we do, is that we're all human beings, and those emotions and those feelings, and we can all relate to that.

Well, you know, I think sometimes when.

We have the overwhelm, it's like our brain short circuits, and we start going in one direction and then another direction, and it's so inconsistent.

We don't reach our goal the way we want to.

It's almost like, is our brain betraying us?

What's happening?

Right, right.

Sometimes I think that short circuit analogy is a great one.

You know, the pathways that we've developed or, you know, those habits, those reoccurring thoughts that some of them serve us, some of them don't.

And I do think it's super common for your brain to take you on a journey.

Sometimes that's an empowering and inspirational journey, and other times it can be a really an uphill battle, so to speak, if you.

If you haven't got the.

The brain set on the right frequency for the day.

Or something happens that creates that emotion.

And as you said, Shelly, maybe short circuits or, you know, the brain trips itself up and it can really, if you're.

I have found for me that if I'm not aware of when that's happening or the patterns of when, I notice that I can end up down a, a negative thought spiral quickly.

And it takes so much work and effort to get back from that.

But that, that awareness, and that's part of what inner alchemy, as you mentioned in the beginning, is, is all about.

How do you, how do you become aware of those moments in the day to day where there is plenty to take in and plenty to learn in this world and everyone that you come into contact with is, is.

It's a real life experiential classroom and it's in its own way.

And how can you learn from that?

And also how can you learn more about yourself and how you respond and react and think through those situations in the process?

Sometimes that's real hard to do.

And if your emotions get in the way, it's like you can't think, you lose the focus, you lose what you're trying to accomplish.

How do we overcome those emotions?

Because especially if we're going through some real stress in our lives and our personal lives, maybe a tragedy or something, people all have that.

I mean, life throws us some terrible curveballs sometimes.

How do we work around that and still be able to keep our focus?

Like you're driving down the road, you don't want to go off the curve, you know.

Right, right.

You know, I, it's such a relevant and real question, and I think one that is different for everyone.

But I, I do think that starting with that sense of self awareness, just to know what, what makes you tick, what works for you, what doesn't work for you, what's triggering for you, what are your.

That's a starting point.

So when you do get a curveball, when things happen, when life comes at you, you have a starting point to know about yourself.

I really struggle when I feel a sense of being overlooked or when I feel like my work doesn't matter, that's triggering for, for me or that creates a sense of frustration which then causes me to do X, Y and Z.

So having a sense of self awareness, I would say would be one very big component of that.

And, and that takes engagement in your own life, you know, not to be a passenger or passive in, in your own existence, in your own being and in your own journey, which I think many things that are automated nowadays it's so easy just to live your own life on autopilot, but being able to be present in the moment, in the day to day.

And I know that may sound a little cliche, but just having that sense of self awareness.

So when, as you said, Shelly, that when, when not a matter of if, but when life throws craziness at you or unexpected or unexpected tragedy or unexpected scenario, that self awareness is your grounding point and it's something to anchor onto or hold onto and then navigate from there because nobody knows you better than you and nobody knows those intense triggering moments better than you.

And I think as we evolve, and this is really interesting, but as we grow up and evolve both chronologically and just through experiences in, in life, I think we are hopefully always learning more about ourselves.

And I had a mentor one time, she, I looked up to her and she was c. She's CEO, only woman in, in the boardroom of a very giant board table of all men.

And she said to me when I was there, I was shadowing her and she said to me, me, just when you think you have it all figured out, you better be prepared because you're going to crash and burn pretty quickly because your ego has told you you've got it all figured out.

There's nothing more for you to take in.

There's nothing more for you to learn.

And that's the moment when you need to be most open to learning and receptive.

So I feel like I took you on a wild goose chase with your question there.

But I think that self awareness is anchoring.

And if, if we aren't engaged and present and plugged into who we are and what we need, those curveballs can, can really shake us.

And, and that looks the the result of that shaking feeling or that triggering feeling can be different for everyone.

Oh, absolutely.

Stay tuned for more of women road warriors coming up.

Foreign.

Michael, the tax doctor here.

I have one question for you.

Do you want to stop worrying about the irs?

If the answer is yes, then look no further.

I've been around for years.

I've helped countless people across the country and my success rate speaks for itself.

So now you know where to find good, honest help with your tax problems.

What are you waiting for?

If you owe more than $10,000 to the IRS or haven't filed in years, call me now at 888-555-7-4020 or go to mytaxhelpmd.com for a free consultation and get your life back.

Industry movement Trucking moves America Forward is telling the story of the industry, our safety champions, the women of trucking, independent contractors, the next generation of truckers, and more.

Help us promote the best of our industry.

Share your story and what you love about trucking, share images of of a moment you're proud of and join us on social media.

Learn more@truckingmovesamerica.com.

Welcome back to Women Road.

Warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

If you're enjoying this informative episode of Women Road Warriors, I wanted to mention Kathy and I explore all kinds of topics that will power you on the road to success.

We feature a lot of expert interviews, plus we feature celebrities and women who've been trailblazers.

Please check out our podcast@womenroadwarriors.com and click on our Episodes page.

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Check us out and bookmark our podcast.

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We want to help as many women as possible.

If you're tired of trudging through the mud of everyday life and feeling like you keep stepping in the same messy patterns, our guest knows exactly how to help you clean it up.

Dr. Jodi Blinko is a transformation coach, leadership strategist, and author of Inner Alchemy Transforming Everyday Bull into Sunshine.

She blends academic expertise with real world wisdom as the founder of the youth school, empowering women to ditch the good girl trap, take bold action, and lead with grit and grace.

You know, Dr. Blinko, capturing this transformation really is a matter of being grounded in who we are.

And today it seems to be more difficult to get grounded.

There's so many changes, there's so much chaos.

It's like people just they feel like unplugging, but they don't.

A lot of times they're just totally gravitated to their devices and I think that creates more stress and I think it takes you out of the moment.

People don't live in the moment and I do think they go into autopilot.

Years ago.

I wonder if people were as prone to being in autopilot.

Certainly you get a routine, but if you're on autopilot, you're not thinking and reacting like you need to because you have to anticipate things.

Yeah, the you bring up the point about people being on their devices and I mean, gosh, it's I forgot my phone the other day at home and I went to run an errand and I.

And I had this moment of, oh, my gosh, what am I going to do?

You know, it's, it's become just an extension of our being, which is.

And I think while we think that we're using the device as a way to disconnect or just mindlessly recharge, I, I think it ultimately ends up creating more of what you were just sharing of that sense of autopilot that, that disconnect or going into the device.

You're not going into you as a being.

You're going into this digital world, this whole other universe that whether we realize it or not in the moment, scroll Instagram for five or six seconds.

And I think any female would probably tell you they've compared themselves to somebody else 10 different times.

Oh, sure.

You know.

Yeah.

And so, so thinking about what your.

The, the.

What you do in the day to day, like you said, the.

Not only the routine of the work, but what are your routines that you do after you get off work?

What are, what do you do after that?

And are you going more inward into yourself, understanding you are, or are you going outward into the device, into the digital world as a form of disconnection, which then just feeds that sense of that autopilot that, you know, that.

I think the more that we're connected to the device, the more that we disconnect from ourselves.

I do think there's some real danger in that.

Oh, absolutely.

Well, when you look at wildlife, they're not on autopilot.

They are.

They have to be aware of things all the time because they got predators and we have maybe made ourselves too comfortable so we aren't sinking on our feet.

And that might hinder us in many ways.

And of course, women have other hindrances, if you will.

You talk about the good girl trap.

Certainly we hear that growing up, you be a good girl, be a good girl.

You know, that's a limiting thing.

And when you're in the boardroom or you're at work dealing with different people, you're less likely maybe to speak up because you want to be that good girl, right?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That sense of approval, that seeking of approval.

I think that good girl trap of, well, I want to be good, I want to be liked, I want to be well received.

I want people to speak well of me.

And I think the trap in that, especially if it starts at a, at a young age, which for many, I hate, I don't want to Say all.

But you know, for many of us, I think we can relate to that starting really, really young.

And so that starts to get in ingrained and in becoming or being the quote unquote, good girl or doing what you're supposed to do.

You can't see my air quotes, but I'm putting supposed to do in air quotes.

Doing what you're supposed to do.

The more that that happens over time, the more disconnected you become from you and what you want and your voice and, and what I have noticed through my own journey, and that's a big part of, of what Zen Leader is all about, is helping women to tap into their grit, their grace, their authentic confidence.

Part of my own journey was I was in that, that seeking approval good girl trap for a really, really, really long time.

And I don't want to say that I'm, I'm out of it and healed and it moved on.

I think we always have, you know, layers that were undoing through throughout our existence.

But that, that seeking of others approval, again, strictly my opinion, I think it causes you to.

The more that you go down that path, the more you lose you, the more that you are living and living for someone else.

Having a career that you're supposed to have, checking all of these boxes, going to, going to college, I know that was one of your other episodes.

You talked about just different options for women in the workforce because college has been.

It's what you're supposed to do for, for so long and is that really the best path for people?

And, and I think things you look at very common societal norms or expectations in that way.

And if you're always living in that good girl trap, seeking approval, living for other people, other things, there's this sense of restlessness that grows within you.

And whether you can put your finger on it or not, it's there and it gnaws at you.

And so we look for other things to fill that restlessness or that hole or that emptiness because we're, we're not in our own body, our own spirit, our own path, our own voice, because we've fallen into that trap and we either get restless enough.

I, I can't remember exactly how the saying goes, but it's something like, you know, we don't change until the pain of staying the same becomes more uncomfortable than the change itself.

And that good girl trap and that seeking approval I think fits right into that.

If it doesn't become uncomfortable enough for us, living someone else's vision, dream, or constantly seeking approval, we continue down that path.

And it's, it's endless.

It's, you can't ever fill that hole.

You can't ever again.

Just speaking strictly from, from my perspective, I think it, it's a struggle.

There's always this, it's never enough.

It's that, it's that never enough and breaking out of that trap.

Or I have a workshop where I call it breaking out of the box.

It's being willing to break down those walls that everyone else has told you in their own way, maybe not directly, but indirectly told you this is how you should be, live your life, believe, think, speak, all those things.

So hopefully there was some gold in there.

I feel like I rambled a little bit, but yeah, that's my think that the good girl trap and the seeking approval go hand in hand.

I think it happens early on and we just keep playing it out in every scenario of our lives.

Advertising continues it, I mean, you look and you have to be perfectly quaffed and beautiful and flawless and this and that.

And we're always being compared.

We're comparing ourselves with some fabulous looking models who have lots of help looking a certain way and we don't ever feel like we measure up.

So yeah, there's always this constant competition instead of finding ourselves within the strength within.

I think guys do that.

They find the strength within.

But women aren't necessarily conditioned to do that.

So, I mean, your points are well taken.

Some definite golden nuggets there.

Stay tuned for more of Women Road warriors coming up.

Dean Michael, the tax doctor here.

I have one question for you.

Do you want to stop worrying about the irs?

If the answer is yes, then look no further.

I've been around for years.

I've helped countless people across the country and my success rate speaks for itself.

So now you know where to find good, honest help with your tax problems.

What are you waiting for?

If you owe more than $10,000 to the IRS or haven't filed in years, call me now at 888-557-4020 or go to mytaxhelpmd.com for a free consultation and get your life back.

Industry movement Trucking moves America Forward is telling the story of the industry.

Our safety champions, the women of trucking, independent contractors, the next generation of truckers and more.

Help us promote the best of our industry.

Share your story and what you love about trucking.

Share images of a moment you're proud of and join us on social media.

Learn more@truckingmovesamerica.com.

Welcome back to Women Road.

Warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

We're continuing our journey into turning life's bull into transformation.

And if anyone knows how to turn life's messes into momentum.

Dr.

It's Dr. Jodi Blinko.

She's a transformation coach, leadership strategist, and the author of Inner Transforming Everyday Bull into Sunshine, a book that helps women step out of the mud with humor, insight, and real, actionable change.

It's about breaking out of the good girl trap and stepping into our own grit and grace and authentic confidence.

As the founder of the U School, a Zen leader, and yoga cowgirl, she blends academic rigor with lived wisdom to help women break free and step into bold, decisive action.

Dr. Blinko, you also say confidence isn't the problem, action is.

Now, that makes total sense.

It really does.

Yeah.

And I think the caveat to that is, and I'll speak to this from a female perspective versus male and female, just to say that I think females more.

And you touched on this just briefly, the.

The confidence part of who we are.

I think if we are struggling with confidence, whether it be in a job, in a skill, who we are, our own voice and all that kind of overlaps together.

I think we'd like to think it's compartmentalized, but there is.

There is quite a bit of.

Of overlap there.

But if we struggle with confidence, then the action and the confidence kind of go hand in hand.

And I think oftentimes too, in.

In life, if.

If you don't just move forward and put yourself out there, then you never know what you're capable of.

But I also know in saying those words, that's way easier said than.

Than done.

You know, it's.

It's easy to say, well, just take action.

Well, you know, there's.

There's a skill part there that also comes into play where you have to look at and say, well, what am I taking action for?

What am I wanting to accomplish?

What's my vision?

What's my.

What's my.

What are the steps that I have to do to take action?

And then you have the.

The.

The confidence element to that.

And while confidence is not the.

The.

The root driver, I do think it.

It plays a role.

It's like the whole chicken and the egg conversation.

Which one comes first?

Um, but there is so much to just taking the step, taking the first step, whatever it is you're trying to do, whether it's improve your health for us as women, you know, the.

I've recently been on the hormone balancing journey.

Balancing your hormones.

Just taking that first step, that's where that, you know, the action is, the problem statement comes from.

If you're not doing that, then there won't be anything else to follow.

And I, I think a lot of times we just get stuck in that place of not knowing what to do or should we, or we second guess ourselves, or we're in that comparison, or we're in the good girl trap of, well, you know, I, I don't want to make somebody mad, so I, I'm not going to do that.

So it's, it's a really interesting relationship, the action and confidence statement.

But identifying whatever change it is you're looking to make in your life from the most minute, day to day to large, significant transformation, you won't always have the confidence to take that first step.

So it does become about, what can I do today?

What is the one thing I can do today?

And identifying that for yourself and moving one small step at a time, putting.

One foot in front of the other, basically.

Yes.

Well said.

Well, we learn to do that.

We don't get discouraged.

When we're trying to learn to walk as children, we keep trying.

We may fall down and fall down, but we keep doing it until we do it.

And it takes practice.

So I think that maybe society and the way we're conditioned stops us from doing that, putting the one foot in front of the other and building that confidence.

Because obviously when you learn to walk, you've got the confidence because you've fallen a few times, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

In society, I think nowadays it's not okay to.

I mean, you see quotes and things like that, it is okay to fail, and, and in.

It's okay just get back up.

But I, I think in our head, in our.

We've convinced ourselves as adults that that's falling is not okay.

But in reality, that's where you learn those.

Those are the toughest times, too.

When I look back at the moments in my life that I were just excruciating where, you know, I had, quote, unquote, fallen, um, those were some of the most powerful, pivotal, pivotal points where I learned so much from that experience.

In that process, there's so many wonderful.

Things you cover that I think are really empowering women.

I want to talk about your book, but I wanted to touch first on why traditional leadership advice fails women and the silent biases that still shape female leadership.

It's interesting that we still have these biases.

It's a stereotype or something, isn't it?

Mm, yeah.

And I do think that the, that Good girl trap that we were talking about earlier, that seeking of approval, seeking to, in any career industry, I think any human being wants to progress, they want to grow, they want to feel like they are contributing, like they, they are offering a part of them that is making an impact.

No matter who you're working for, what you're doing.

I, and maybe I'm wrong in thinking that, but that's.

So I'll, I'll make that generalized statement, but I, I think within that, and going back to this statement and your question of the silent biases and, and specifically women struggling, still struggling with that, when we want to progress or do well, I think it can be common to.

If, if you haven't found that sense of confidence or stillness or maybe you just, even you haven't had enough practice with your skill sets to be confident.

In.

Completely confident in speaking up or what you're bringing to the table.

I, I think that can often cause us to shrink down or shrink back or not offer the opinion in the meeting or not speak up in the meeting.

Even if we know we have something to offer or say or get quieted.

I, that's happened to me, still happens to me and in my career where you get talked over or your opinion is really only wanted for a, a certain part of the discussion or the conversation and then let the other folks handle the rest of it.

So I just think this bias that doesn't get openly spoken about, that there's a question of whether women have the capability or the skill to bring to the table the same thing that a man does in the professional workplace.

And even now I'm hesitating to put that out there.

But that's how it goes down in, in real life.

You know, if you're sitting in those meetings or those conversations, I, I think women still are looked at as.

Well.

If, if you've sought enough approval and you've proven yourself enough, we will get, you know, we'll, we'll let you come in and sit at the table.

But we, we may still question or not fully buy into everything that you're offering or sharing or may discount it.

And I think that just that is a little bit of the nature of the world that we are in and not from a defeatist mentality.

But I think it goes back to that self awareness to know what table are you sitting at, what room are you in, who's in the room and using your emotional intelligence to navigate that audience.

And I do think women have so much emotional intelligence to offer and use to their advantages.

To their advantage in any situation, but definitely in those situations as well.

Yeah.

Emotional intelligence to not be intimidated and to be able to take a seat at the table and be heard and not allow the misogyny.

Let's face it, it's still the old stuff where, what, back in the 1800s, the turn of the last century.

We don't want to worry her pretty little head with that.

Women can't cognitively function with complicated things, you know, I mean, I'm sure it's not the way it was then, but the fact that it's still present, that's intimidating.

And the fact that you have to work harder and you have to prove yourself to gain that credibility.

Yeah, it's frustrating.

It really is.

Yeah, it is.

And it's real and it's there.

And I think, you know, it makes you stronger to be able to navigate it and move through it, you know?

Stay tuned for more of women rotation warriors coming up.

Dean Michael, the tax doctor here.

I have one question for you.

Do you want to stop worrying about the irs?

If the answer is yes, then look no further.

I've been around for years.

I've helped countless people across the country, and my success rate speaks for itself.

So now you know where to find good, honest help with your tax problems.

What are you waiting for?

If you owe more than $10,000 to the IRS or haven't filed in years, call me now at 888-557-4020 or go to mytaxhelpmd.com for a free consultation and get your life back.

Welcome back to Women Road warriors with.

Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

We're back and deep into our exploration of how to turn life's boulders and bull into real transformation.

Few people understand that conversion better than Dr. Jodi Blinko.

She's a transformation coach, leadership strategist, and the author of Inner Transforming Everyday Bull into Sunshine, a guide that shows women how to rise from the muck with humor, clarity, and the courage to act.

As the founder of the youth school, she brings together academic depth and lived experience to help women break out of the good girl trap and make bold, empowered moves forward.

We can all learn from that, Dr. Blinko.

So your book Inner Transforming Everyday Bull into Sunshine has a lot of really good information here.

You touch on a lot of different things, like breaking out of the box, what is the box and what's in your box, looking at your triggers, finding your calm, and the chaos.

I know that there are a lot of points that I'm missing here.

I Was wondering if maybe you could summarize the high points of your book and what your readers can learn, what, what the takeaways are.

Yeah, I, I wanted this book to be something that, A resource, a tool of inspiration that you could just pick up.

And if you wanted to flip to page 86 and read a quick story, you could do that.

It's.

You can sit and read it front to back, but it is designed for you to be able, in those moments where again, you either you just want something to read or you need to pick me up, or you need a level set or an anchor point or a story from another human being to be able to read it and go, oh, that person's been there too.

Okay, I'm not alone.

That's what inner alchemy is.

The essence of, of inner alchemy.

And in the, the transforming everyday bull into sunshine.

That bull, that part of it is.

You know, in the beginning I talk about the, the walls of, of the box, as I just mentioned before, very similar to that, seeking approval.

You know, living in this box that you look up one day and you don't even know what the walls of the box are.

You don't even know how they got there.

But you're in this box and it doesn't feel good anymore and you're ready to break out of that box.

So identifying what, that's what that is for you, where you are on your own path.

And then the second half of the book are my own stories of, of my journey that as I was going through all things from my weight loss journey, my leadership journey, moving for the first time across country, and all the fear that that went with that and the, the challenges of that I experienced of, of navigating what we were just talking about, the, the leadership, some of the male presence in leadership.

How, how did I work through that?

But coming from a very real, honest, authentic place.

And, and so the, the inner alchemy is the inner part of you that's able to take these everyday experiences, the everyday bull, if you will, and really transform that into something that's magical and special and powerful for you along your journey.

And so in the, in the first half of the book you get a little bit of just thought provoking content around.

What is alchemy?

What does it even mean?

Why are we even talking about it?

Why should I care Kind of stuff.

The breaking out of the box and then the second half are all really little short pieces about my journey.

And that is offered from a place of, hey, I know what I was feeling at these places.

I know that I was looking for somebody to connect to, to say, hey, I've been there.

Keep going.

Hey, I know this is tough.

I know this is hard.

But for somebody to be able to pick it up, read it and, and walk away with, okay, I got this.

Okay, I can do this.

That, you know, I've, I've really had a tough day today, but I'm going to keep going.

I'm going to put, as you said, Shelly, one foot in front of the other.

I'm going to, I'm going to keep walking and, and, and eventually the mindset shifts, hopefully.

But that's what Inner Alchemy is all about.

A little piece that you can keep by your bedside on your desk whenever you need that, that extra dose of inspiration and authenticity.

And I, I will share this too.

It really took a while for me to bring Inner Alchemy out into the world.

It was really a six or seven year project and not from the sense of.

It took me six or seven years to write it.

It was six or seven years of overcoming the voice in the head that said, no one's going to read this.

Nobody wants to read this.

This isn't good enough.

Nobody cares about these stories or you or.

And I think that voice and that fear and that self doubt is very real.

So the book is as much an offering of my journey to help humanize the journey, help someone feel a sense of inspiration.

And it's also that what we're talking about here on what your podcast is all about is empowering women.

That sense of empowerment, empowerment, that action, that statement that we were talking about earlier, it's not about necessarily the confidence, it's the action.

It was absolutely a step in action to say, okay, you've waited long enough, it's time, let's go.

And not, not having the, the validation, if you will, or what if there's not that sense of approval or reception.

I mean, I think that's all part of that breaking out of that trap, breaking out of.

You know what?

This is a piece of me that I am offering with this intention, with this hope that it will have an impact.

And I've just got to let it go and let it be and.

Let.

It do its thing and not hold on or connect too much attachment or approval to that work and that project.

But that's in a very long winded way.

That is what Inner Alchemy is all about.

I love the title, Inner Alchemy.

Alchemy, according to Wikipedia, is the ancient tradition of Natural philosophy and proto scientific experimentation that aims to transform and perfect materials.

Also, American Heritage Dictionary says it's a seemingly magical power or process of transmuting.

So essentially that's what you're kind of doing.

If you're bringing in your inner alchemy, you're bringing in what your power.

You're, you're, you're transforming yourself.

Yes, yes, the, you are.

And, and that's the, the spirit of it too is helping people remember and, and helping them believe and understand that the, that power to transform and transmute whatever is happening to you in life that day, that moment.

You have the power to transform that feeling, that thought, that energy into something that's going to serve you versus not serve you, transform it into something that will be empowering or a learning experience.

And, and as I was saying earlier, I mean that's what we have the opportunity to do every day in, in life.

There's always an opportunity to take in something, learn from it, transform it, and have it, have it serve you for the, the greater good.

And that is that inner alchemy.

You have the youth school, Zen leader and yoga cowgirl.

There's so many different things that people can choose from.

What do these three provide?

If you could kind of give a summary because people can find you at all three places, right?

Yes, yes, I would say, you know, the, they all have a common thread of without a doubt transformation, but transformation through the lens of coaching and development and speaking and self paced courses.

I, I knew years ago when I shared with you and I was going through that transition of, you know, graduating college, but not really sure how to package my passion and, and have it be channeled in a, in a direction that was going to be a career.

I knew that I wanted to create content in a way that would help people, help people develop their skills, which is what the you School is all about.

That is focused specifically for higher education employees.

So individuals who work for colleges and universities in any capacity, whether it be their admissions, their financial aid, their operations.

I myself, when I started in higher education, started as an enrollment counselor.

And I struggled to have really a conversation with people that felt authentic to me, but also a conversation to help me learn more about them.

And so the you school is all about creating transformation in higher education through skill development and support.

Zen Leader is more global, more broad.

Zen Leader is all about transformation, holistic transformation for women in any career, any industry, but helping them develop as that whole woman through health and wellness, through leadership, and also helping them stay calm and just the chaos of Life, but in a way that gives back to the organization.

So we're teaching skills that impact the organization's bottom line and ultimately impact your bottom line as a woman, because we are helping you through workshops, through coaching, through our courses, through the, the podcast that we recently just started, you know, connecting you with other women who have been along their own journey, that probably you could find similarities there, but helping you identify those, those skills, that self awareness, that personal reflection, the health and wellness piece so that you can transform that confidence, grit and grace are the three components of Zen Leader.

And again, that is a women specific platform.

And Yoga Cowgirl is all about bringing a little bit of that wild spirit of the cowgirl.

I'm in Texas, so the cowgirl fits.

I was born and raised with horses and pigs and future farmers of America, so it's woven into my DNA.

But it's all about that rowdy spirit of the cowgirl coming together with that sense of peace and wellness through yoga.

And it's really a lifestyle brand.

And the reason that Yoga Cowgirl came to be is, as I mentioned earlier, I owned a yoga studio when I lived in Massachusetts.

And my passion there was to introduce yoga to as many people as possible because I knew what the practice and moving my body and breathing in that way had done for me.

And I wanted to offer it to as many people as I could, but make it accessible in a way where they weren't fearful, they didn't shy away, they didn't feel like they had to stand on their head and hold one arm up and, you know, do crazy yoga poses.

I wanted to make yoga accessible.

And so that's what Yoga Cowgirl came to be and what it's all about.

I love this.

Oh my goodness.

You've got all kinds of things.

The U School Zen Leader, Yoga Cowgirl.

I love the fact that you have an appreciation for cowgirls.

We actually interviewed.

She's a female cowboy and she does competitions and she has, you know, done all of that for years and years.

It was really fascinating.

Wow.

Yeah.

That's a whole other level of grit.

The real cowgirls.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, she said that.

And it's definitely.

You keep learning every single day.

So.

Yes.

Where does everybody find your book?

Inner Alchemy, Transforming Everyday Bull into Sunshine.

The U School Zen Leader and Yoga Cowgirl.

Yes.

So Inner Alchemy can be found on Amazon, which is, you know, so easily accessible nowadays.

It's also at Barnes and Noble.

Zen Leader is ZenLeader.org you can find the Zen Leader Masterclass that we have there which is Finding Calm in the Chaos, our Zen Leader Foundations Masterclass.

It's a self paced online course.

There's also links to our podcast there and just other information about the work that we do with organizations.

The you school is the usechool edu.org and again that is for our folks who are in higher education in any capacity.

And yoga cowgirl is yoga cowgirltx.com so would love it if you would reach out.

Connect with me there.

Connect with me on social media at Dr. Jody Blinko.

And yeah, would love to hear from you all.

This is so cool.

I love your message.

It's very empowering and I think it's a different perspective.

Most people haven't heard and I think you inspire women on many different levels.

Thank you Shelley.

Thank you so much.

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