women's voices

Want to Be Featured on Rising Women Leaders? Join our New Directory

 
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We are excited to announce the launch of our online 'Rising Women Leaders' Directory! This Directory features conscious women's work across many categories as an additional resource for our audience. We are reaching out to you because we value you as part of our community and would like to extend the invitation for YOU (and/or those you love) to be featured.

The intention behind this platform is to elevate women's voices and create a place for more women-identifying leaders to be highlighted for their work. It is our hope to create connection amongst this beautiful community of empowered and loving beings.

Additionally, because of the large volume of guest pitches we receive for potential guests on the podcast, this directory will be a place we look to first when looking for new guests to interview.

Please submit your information via the link below to be placed on the Women's Leaderboard inside the category of your work. You can also submit free resources, trainings, and scholarship opportunities.

https://risingwomenleaders.org/contribute/

Note: We appreciate submissions with a professional photo, and a bio written in the third person. Feel free to include links to your website and offerings.

We will be reviewing submissions in the coming weeks and you will receive an email from us if your submission is accepted.

We look forward to seeing you up on the directory for other people who may be interested to find you and your work!

Warmly,
Meredith

 

Reclaim Your Voice

 
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My deepest wound has become my greatest empowerment. 

When I was 13 years old I shut down my voice. In a moment of deep self-consciousness presenting in front of my class, I couldn’t find my breath, my chest began to constrict and I struggled my way through the rest of my presentation. I made a decision in that moment to stop speaking up, being seen or sharing my voice in a public way. It was just too dangerous. And for 10 years, that is exactly what I did. Being seen, heard or sharing my voice in public became my deepest fear, one that I would go to great lengths to avoid. Even just introducing myself in a small group or class would have my heart pounding and my chest constricting at the thought of it.

Luckily when I was 22, my deep love for yoga and how it transformed my relationship to my body was enough for me to want to overcome this fear. Through pranayama, voice exercises, and allowing my body to become a vessel for the teachings I knew I was here to share, I overcame my fear one step at a time.

I believe the obstacles we are presented with are here to lead us into our greatest empowerment. It’s like our soul chose to know what it is like to feel disempowered because we have a great soul mission to know and reclaim the opposite.

Tantra embraces life as a paradox. There is no shaming the dark. In tantra, “life is not a problem to be fixed, but rather a gift to be embraced.” ~ (Sianna Sherman) All of it.

I now see the difficulties and obstacles we face in our life as a divine opportunity to grow. To transform. To expand. To know what it feels like to be healed, loved and empowered.

If there is anywhere in your life where you are feeling disempowered right now - in your finances… in your relationship… with your voice… Know that your soul came here to experience the exact opposite, and you are on the right path.

The obstacle is here for you to grow. Your soul is creating the grounds for you to deeply know in every cell of your being what it is to be empowered in this.

Last night after teaching yoga and singing with the harmonium, I had a student come up to me to let me know she had always dreamed of finding a class like mine. That something in my teaching, in my presence, and in my voice deeply touched her.

I now know today what it is like to feel this empowerment, and using my voice as a teacher and leader is of the greatest service to the people I am here to serve and has also been the journey of my soul’s highest growth.

In April I will be gathering with a group of women over 5 weeks to reclaim their voice, to know this deep empowerment, and to use their story and message to uplift and awaken others. I will be sharing all the teachings and practices that helped me stand in the role as the teacher and leader I am today. We will create a safe and nurturing environment for each woman to explore her fears and turn them into her own greatest empowerment.

So where are you feeling disempowered? And what soul growth could your soul be leading you to?

If you feel called to learn more about my series, join me for a voice activation women’s circle on April 5th. We’ll uncover unresolved memories, open the voice through song, and create a ritual (with the help of Mary Magdalene) for you to more fully step into your voice as a healer, teacher and leader. 

 

057 | Unleashing the Brilliance of Women's Voices with KC Baker

 

A couple years ago I had the honor of participating in one of KC Baker’s courses, Speak Up for Your Business. At the time I had been an active member in my local Toastmasters group to overcome my fears of public speaking and was interested in learning KC's methods for speechwriting. 

I was preparing to launch a Kickstarter fundraiser to publish my book, Just Be and although I had been practicing public speaking, I was still pretty terrified at the thought of taking the stage. 

KC's training not only gave me a step by step process for writing the architecture, or, "bones" of my speech, but was also full with wisdom and unconventional practices that made me feel so much more confident at being seen and heard. 

KC's work has been hugely transformational in my life and I am so honored to be sharing her wisdom with you today.

In this conversation you'll learn how to transform fear and self-doubt around sharing your voice into total freedom, fun and confidence. KC also shares the powerful story of her son's birth as well as a few tips on how you can gain clarity on your message and what you stand for. 

I hope you enjoy!

"Most people think that the intensity you feel in your body before public speaking is fear, and it's something terrible that 'I have to make go away in order to feel free to speak up'. When the reality is - it's the feeling of your power, and the secret is saying YES to it, lean into it.  You will find so much freedom in that intensity."

In this episode we discussed:

  • KC's personal story related to public speaking, spoken word and performance 
  • How we can reframe the intense body sensations we feel before we are about to speak in public
  • Bringing the feminine and unconventional practices to prepare for a speech
  • How to move beyond the fear and self-doubt that holds so many of us back from speaking up
  • Saying "Yes!" to our power and my story of giving a speech at my grandmother's memorial
  • How we can get clear on our message
  • KC's story of the birth of her son
  • The best way to start your career as a speaker and start landing speaking engagements

Stay in Touch with KC:

 

Free Gift from KC!

Watch KC's 4-part video series: Speak Your Truth, Change the World  


A Talk I Wrote after Participating in KC's Course:

 

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WomanSpeak’s founder, KC Baker, has helped thousands of women from all over the world in becoming authentic, powerful public speakers. The practices you’ll learn are unorthodox, fun, and highly effective, and you’ll explore them in an environment filled with celebration and a supportive community. 

Previously an investment banking analyst and assistant for two US Senators, KC Baker is an international women’s thought leadership & public speaking trainer, speechwriter, and two-time TEDx speaker and is renowned for her unorthodox and highly effective methodologies. She believes that the key to positive transformation in our world lies in supporting women in unleashing the brilliance of their voices. 

Featured in the Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily Love, and Women 2.0, KC has been hailed as “One of the Top Planetary Change-makers” by Origin Magazine. 

She was also an Advisor on the Creative Counsel for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign. 

She has supported thousands of women around the world in finding the freedom, confidence, and clarity to speak up and create change. Her clients are women entrepreneurs and corporate leaders, authors, founders of foundations, Olympians, TED/TEDx speakers, politicians and non-profit social change-makers. Women who have worked with KC have gone on to speak on stages such as The American Heart Association, TED/TEDx, Wisdom 2.0, Bioneers, Emerging Women, Lamaze International, Princeton, Hass Business School at UC Berkeley, conferences and symposiums around the world, and local community gatherings. 

She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and is a lover of dance, singing, and nature. She splits her time between Sedona and San Francisco and is the mother of a precious three-year-old boy.