Hello and welcome to the Create Your Best Year Podcast. This is your host, Clara Angelina Diaz-Anderson and I am really excited to be talking to you today because I have noticed that since I launched my podcast that people have been listening a lot to that intro episode. And I've been getting requests that people want to learn more about me and what I'm doing in the world. And so today, I'm recording this podcast, with the intention of one share with you a little bit more of how I spend my days as a business woman as a mom, but also as a coach and a teacher. I teach two courses at Harvard School of Professional Development. These two courses, one of them is called Leadership Coaching Strategies. And the other one is called Executive Coaching Mastery Session. And I absolutely love teaching these courses for a couple of reasons. So one is that on average, we have people from six to seven countries come to take the course. I've taught the classes live, you know, with people in a classroom, which has been a really amazing honor. Since, you know, we've had COVID, and we've been doing everything online. But, you know, I found that people are just extremely hungry to come together to be in person with each other, there is such a hunger for that, you know, there's nothing like the human touch the human connection. And I got, I was asked by, by someone at the school that I'm going to, if I could record something, they asked for 60 seconds, but I figured I'd take this opportunity and talk about it here on the podcast. And they asked me about my consulting philosophy. So in addition to being a coach and executive leadership coach, where I focus on helping women of color, really uplevel and uncover their power, in both their personal life and in their professional life. I'm also a consultant. And mostly what I consult on is business development and also diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, liberation and anti racism, practices within organizations. And I infuse all of that right into my coaching. And essentially, you know, someone from Harvard reached out to me and said: "Clara, you know, can you do something? Can you create a 60 second video on your consulting philosophy, that you say that people matter greatly, and that leadership is grounded in love". And I thought that this was really interesting, because, you know, while I, that I mean, the request is both interesting, but then when I really stopped to think about everything that I do in the world, and everything that I am from a woman and Afro Caribbean woman from the Dominican Republic, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, cousin, teacher, consultant, all of it in you know, this idea people matter greatly to me has been something that I have been called. I've always been obsessed with people. I've always been obsessed with human behavior, human relationships, interpersonal relationships have just been here ever since I can remember I've always really looked at you know how, how people treat each other why they treat each other in the ways that they do. And there's a funny story that I like to tell and it's actually going to be in my upcoming book. where I keep being reminded by adults that when I was three years old, one of the things that people thought it was so funny about me was that every time an adult or really anyone would come into a room, and they wouldn't greet people, like they wouldn't say, Good afternoon, or good morning, I would literally stop them in their tracks. And I would say, "Hey, don't you know that when you enter a room, you greet people, and you say, Good morning, good afternoon". And while I still, you know, carry that very deeply in that people deserve to be acknowledged. I don't, I don't voice it that way. But in my work, I bring that to life. I bring that to life by helping people really understand why it is important that people are treated with love and respect. So why do people matter greatly, people matter greatly, because when you really think about a person's worth, there is literally no amount of money that one can put on what a person is worth. In companies themselves, I always tell the business owners that I'm working within the leaders that people literally are your greatest asset, because anything that we get in life, we get through people. People are our greatest asset, people are the greatest asset to this planet to companies. And so I think sometimes we forget that we I see that leaders forget that a lot. You know, a person's inherent value is just, like I said, something that I think there's there's no measure. But in an organization, I think on average, it is said that when you lose someone in your organization, it takes about three times their salary, for you to replace it on average. And so it really behooves us. Like we should really think about how do we keep people right within our organization, and neither been people in our lives that really present a great value to us, right? I'm talking about people that are adding to our well being people that are adding to our growth that are adding to our ability to be more fully human. Even those people in our families that I have, though, that sometimes I don't want to be around, I can, where I have been able to see their value for allowing me an opportunity to be more compassionate, an opportunity to really exercise empathy, and also an opportunity to exercise boundaries. And so when we can see people in that way, right for their inherent value, their dignity, but also what they're allowing us to awaken in ourselves and in an organization think this will would literally be a better place. If I say so myself. So why is love? You know, why should leadership be grounded in love? You know, when I say love, I don't mean about the romantic kind of love, I'm talking about the energy of love. The energy of love that stems from our heart center. In me understanding the heart as you know, this intelligent, one of the most intelligent organs in our body is the heart being able to be focused on doing things for the greater good, beyond profit, right and I think that there is a place where profit and doing good mean we know this and sometimes it takes a little bit more work to really think through to really feel in right to what is right for all what is good for all what is of the higher purpose. But I believe in an intelligence that goes beyond, an intelligence that calls us to really do what's best for the good of all. By that solution, that strategy is available. And so this be in February, the month of love. I invite you to allow the energy of your heart to guide you and your actions and your thoughts. And if you're a leader, how you lead inquiring of the people that work with you, your direct reports, ask them, you know, what would serve them? What are they interested in? I pay attention, right to how you can elevate them in how you can really honor their humanity. I think there's so much to be said, I think that, you know, this ties into the sense of belonging, right, when we're talking about doing diversity, equity work, you know, the, when a person, a leader is rooted in the spirit of love, right, they're able to get uncomfortable to really create cultures that are inclusive. Love is an all encompassing energy, it's a self organizing energy. We know when we are in a space that's full of love, children, know by who loves them, they can sense that they can feel it. And we are human beings, we are big kids, we are big children. I am so scientifically there is such a thing called mirror neurons. Right? And so this this ability that we have as human beings to sense what the other person is feeling and thinking about us. So the more that we are rooted on a spirit of love, a spirit of compassion, a spirit of dignity for others, in our work in our everyday being, but this specifically being about how we show up as leaders, we can help people feel a sense of belonging. And there is a study about that. When people feel like they belong, it literally shoots up their performance by something crazy like over 60% So this is not Whoa, this is based on science. This is based on research. When you embody a spirit of love, in your decisions to create a culture that is inclusive, it literally drives up performance in your household when you are the leader especially for the the women that are listening to everything you need to do in order to feel that love that sense of love. Right? You can start by appreciating what is good, what is right what's going well. For you around you. Sometimes I wake up and I literally look outside and I'm just thankful that I see trees I look for signs of life. And to me that is an expression of universe divine of God. Right to show me love, the sunrise, the sunset, the wind, everything that is given to us. In that spirit of love, it asks for nothing in return and allows us to be that's what you're being called to. So in this month of February, the month where we celebrate love, I invite you to think about love beyond the romantic but a love that is all encompassing and love that you can embody that you can influence others that you can see the love within you that you can see that you are love. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for joining me love I hope you have a lovely day!

Trauma Liberation Coach I am a positive and resilient trauma survivor and my journey of coping with trauma has been that of an overachiever and a healer. As a certified trauma life coach, addictions nurse, and transformational speaker I help individuals and organizations heal from within so that they can learn to work in unity. I achieve this through an evidence-based approach to healing that includes; Mindfulness, Movement, Surrender, and Communication with Empathy and Love. By infusing these principles into the DNA of individuals and organizations to sustain long-term healing. Through personal experience, I have learned that " Without tools, Trauma Rules." Eckhart Tolle said it best, "The fire of your suffering will become the light of your consciousness." With the help of a certified trauma liberation coach, we can embrace our light and transform our community. More info here: https://lnkd.in/gqNhdtbx

A highly passionate and experienced self-starter, currently residing to Los Angeles, CA to grow and further his professional career. After working for 10+ years as a creative entrepreneur in the fashion industry and 5+ years as a real estate agent & advisor (in Boston, MA), he has experience thriving in ever changing-complex environments. Playing critical roles on various teams, he has sharpened his marketing and sales skills. With a continuous drive to invest in personal and professional development, he is primed for an opportunity to contribute to a winning team environment.

Shana Auguste Empowerment Coach, Owner of Just LUV - Coaching & Consulting, supporting clients with behavioral changes & developing a positive self-image About Shana: I am a certified professional coach specializing in self-love & empowerment coaching.  I'm passionate about my personal development and building strong relationships.  I support mothers of color on their healing journey's by providing safe spaces for my ladies to nurture their authentic selves and visualize the next best version of themselves.  Together my clients & I explore self-love principles that support healing and positive self-image.  I challenge my clients to do in-depth self-reflection to understand the root of their behaviors, allowing them to see where the mindset shifts need to happen. From the self-reflective discovery process we can then create a customized action plan that is attainable for the client. Together we will make the NEW vision of you a REALITY! https://www.linkedin.com/in/shana-auguste-99a18314

TiElla Grimes The Inner Uplifter™ Transformational Coach Helping womxn of color and young professional womxn navigate the hand-me-downs of their reality by inspiring & inn-powering them to transform their mindset & perception of self through critical thinking & self-analysis. Working from the lens of communication and connection to provide individuals with the real-world tools they need to actualize themselves and others. https://www.tiellagrimes.com/

Leona Martin: Career and Life Coaching I am a motivated, dedicated, professional life and career coach working with clinical professionals. Working with people who aspire to do great things is what I love to do. I have been successful with these five major programs as part of the help that I provide to my clients: * Interviewing Skills That Get Results * Building Networking Skills That Get You in Front of Hiring Managers * How to Reinvent Yourself to Transition Into Your Next Job * Career Goal Setting * Salary Negotiation lcmcareercoaching.com

"I always want to feel that I am in a space where I'm contributing value. And that I am allowed to be, because many times we put ourselves in phases that, you know, we don't fully enjoy. But we think that it's all we're going to get.  So for example, you know, we could say that some people can think scraps is all that they can get. So if you get scraps, or you get crumbs, you stay hungry all the time. But, you know, if you kind of like, look for the full meal, or look for, for kind of like things that will align with where you are in your journey of learning. If you look at it from that perspective, you're like, you know, I want to gain these four key skill sets, I'm going to put myself in this environment, so I can learn them and you know, get really solid in this skill set. And then I can move on. And not necessarily label yourself as the role like, oh, you know, like, I'm only good enough to be here. But just know that, you know, there's a journey, and there's all these stepping stones to getting to where you want to go" What are like three things that you are centering in your life, to make sure that this is your best year?   Massiel P Eversley Nurse Leader I Founder at Nisus Life I Advancing Leadership linkedin.com/in/massieleversley

Hello, thank you for joining me and listening to the Create Your Best Year podcast. This is Clara Angelina Diaz-Anderson and I am so excited that you decided to join me on this journey. I wanted to create this introduction of why I decided to create this podcast. So I'll take you on a little journey back in 2016, I published my very first book, I call it my book- baby, Create Your Best Year One day at a time.  I wrote this book with the intention of having anyone who may want to experience coaching or, you know, giving themselves permission to set goals, have a vision for their life. This book would allow you to do that. Through the book, I talk about some sort of my story of coming from the Dominican Republic and experiencing cold winters and how I started to set intentions for a beautiful winter, and how that actually helped me get through seasonal depression that I was experiencing. And then I had the idea of what if I did this for the rest of the year. And here came my book, create your best year, one day at a time. And life really started to turn around for me, I had the help of a coach, I eventually became a coach myself, I am now a certified master level coach, where not only do I coach leaders, especially female leaders, but I teach others how to do that. And so this podcast is really a continuation of six years of this work of creating your best year to really help you look at how do I set goals? How do I set intentions? How do I create my vision? How do I really look at what do I want my life to be? And essentially how do i co create my reality. And that is the message that I want to get out there to people that especially women, especially women of color, where we have this intergenerational idea that we don't necessarily have power over what happens to us of, or power over what our life is like. And once I started to really take ownership of my life, and literally intentionally wanting to create my best year, one day at a time, my life has really improved. It's really, really wonderful. Not that there hasn't been any difficulties. The tools that you're going to learn through this podcast, are going to allow you to move through those obstacles or you know those challenges in life and turn those challenges into opportunities. So I welcome you and I thank you for joining me on this journey. One thing that you can do to start creating your best year right now is to start writing down what would your best year look like feel like? And what would you experience and who would you experience it with. A lot of this podcast is going to be almost like a coaching, a group coaching experience. There's going to be a lot of questions and I really invite you to take out a pen and paper and write down the answer to the questions and to allow yourself to live out the questions and most importantly to take action on the insights that you receive from listening to this podcast. So welcome to the Create Your Best Year podcast. Allow yourself to tell the universe what you want this year and always so that you can receive it. Thank you for joining me and welcome