Heroine

Do you ever wonder how your skills and experience could lead you to your higher purpose? Amy Yeung’s soul journey from corporate fashion designer to social entrepreneur shows that inside each of us lies the ability to create positive change in the world. Owner of the Orenda Tribe lifestyle brand, Amy lives and works with artisans in the Navajo community to create upcycled clothing and share indigenous culture.Growing up in rural Indiana, with her Native American heritage and obsession with fashion, Amy felt like an outsider. When she moved to New York to pursue her career in fashion, she knew she’d found her path and never looked back. As a mother, Amy desired to leave a legacy focused on sustainable design and solving the social problems plaguing her native community. She left her corporate job behind and retraced her family history back to the Navajo reservation of her birth, where her studio is now based. In this episode, Amy models reconnecting with ourselves by connecting with the land, sky, and water. She shows us that, while we can step into our true calling at any point in life, the best time to align with your greater purpose is right now.Show Notes- Learn about Amy’s Diné heritage and growing up in a small rural town in Indiana. - The historical context that played into her mother’s decision to have her adopted. - The difficulty of trying to translate your passion into a career in a community that is unlike you. - Feeling like an outsider as a Native American artsy kid who made her own clothes. - Starting with studies in pharmacy before convincing her parents to let her apply for fashion. - The sink-or-swim experience of moving to New York and creating a life there. - Ascribing her success to a deep understanding of being loved by her parents.- How motherhood made her more community-oriented and invested in sustainable design.- Responding to the call to consciousness by turning her back on the corporate measures of success. - Rethink, revive, rebirth, and other re-words that form the foundation of Orenda Tribe.- Learning about environment genocide, fracking, and other problems on her journey of reintegrating with her tribe.- Advice for crafting the life you want: simplify, eliminate the noise, and connect to the earth. - How the meditative processes in indigenous cultures brings us closer to ourselves.- Reclaiming her ancestry, learning about the native community, and educating others.- Find out which Navajo community service projects Amy is currently working on. ReferencesAmy Yeung on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyyeung/Amy Yeung on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lilacreative/Orenda Tribe - https://www.orendatribe.com/Inc. - https://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan/orenda-tribe-amy-yeung-navajo-reservation-albuquerque-new-mexico-main-street.htmlMajo Molfino - https://majomolfino.com/HEROINE (Podcast) - https://majomolfino.com/podcast

Do you ever wonder how your skills and experience could lead you to your higher purpose? Amy Yeung’s soul journey from corporate fashion designer to social entrepreneur shows that inside each of us lies the ability to create positive change in the world. Owner of the Orenda Tribe lifestyle brand, Amy lives and works with artisans in the Navajo community to create upcycled clothing and share indigenous culture.Growing up in rural Indiana, with her Native American heritage and obsession with fashion, Amy felt like an outsider. When she moved to New York to pursue her career in fashion, she knew she’d found her path and never looked back. As a mother, Amy desired to leave a legacy focused on sustainable design and solving the social problems plaguing her native community. She left her corporate job behind and retraced her family history back to the Navajo reservation of her birth, where her studio is now based. In this episode, Amy models reconnecting with ourselves by connecting with the land, sky, and water. She shows us that, while we can step into our true calling at any point in life, the best time to align with your greater purpose is right now.Show Notes- Learn about Amy’s Diné heritage and growing up in a small rural town in Indiana. - The historical context that played into her mother’s decision to have her adopted. - The difficulty of trying to translate your passion into a career in a community that is unlike you. - Feeling like an outsider as a Native American artsy kid who made her own clothes. - Starting with studies in pharmacy before convincing her parents to let her apply for fashion. - The sink-or-swim experience of moving to New York and creating a life there. - Ascribing her success to a deep understanding of being loved by her parents.- How motherhood made her more community-oriented and invested in sustainable design.- Responding to the call to consciousness by turning her back on the corporate measures of success. - Rethink, revive, rebirth, and other re-words that form the foundation of Orenda Tribe.- Learning about environment genocide, fracking, and other problems on her journey of reintegrating with her tribe.- Advice for crafting the life you want: simplify, eliminate the noise, and connect to the earth. - How the meditative processes in indigenous cultures brings us closer to ourselves.- Reclaiming her ancestry, learning about the native community, and educating others.- Find out which Navajo community service projects Amy is currently working on. ReferencesAmy Yeung on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyyeung/Amy Yeung on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lilacreative/Orenda Tribe - https://www.orendatribe.com/Inc. - https://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan/orenda-tribe-amy-yeung-navajo-reservation-albuquerque-new-mexico-main-street.htmlMajo Molfino - https://majomolfino.com/HEROINE (Podcast) - https://majomolfino.com/podcast

Today, I want to talk about where HEROINE stands with Black Lives Matter and my commitments to being anti-racist. ~ Majo References: Me & White Supremacy by Layla Saad – https://bookshop.org/books/me-and-white-supremacy-combat-racism-change-the-world-and-become-a-good-ancestor/9781728209807Guide for How to help your Black friends and your non-Black friends today by Kat Vellos at https://weshouldgettogether.com/blog/how-to-help-your-black-and-nonblack-friends-right-now

Today, I want to talk about where HEROINE stands with Black Lives Matter and my commitments to being anti-racist. ~ Majo References: Me & White Supremacy by Layla Saad – https://bookshop.org/books/me-and-white-supremacy-combat-racism-change-the-world-and-become-a-good-ancestor/9781728209807Guide for How to help your Black friends and your non-Black friends today by Kat Vellos at https://weshouldgettogether.com/blog/how-to-help-your-black-and-nonblack-friends-right-now

The new season will begin on Thursday, June 18th. It’s going to be a good one! Here’s who we’ll have on the show: Amy Yeung | Navajo Fashion Designer & ActivistRana el Kaliouby, PhD | Egyptian-American Computer ScientistElise Loehnen | Chief Content Officer at GOOPCoco & Breezy | Twin Designers & Founders of Coco and Breezy EyewearBrit Morin | Founder & CEO of Brit+CoRandi Zuckerberg | Founder & CEO of Zuckerberg MediaKrista & Lindsay | Hosts of the Almost 30 PodcastSophia Amoruso | Founder & CEO of GirlbossMonica Padman | Actress & Co-host of the Armchair Expert PodcastShan Boodram | Sex Educator & Dating ExpertGretchen Rubin | Bestselling Author & Happiness ExpertByron Katie | Spiritual TeacherMartha Beck, PhD | Bestselling Author & Life Coach

The new season will begin on Thursday, June 18th. It’s going to be a good one! Here’s who we’ll have on the show: Amy Yeung | Navajo Fashion Designer & ActivistRana el Kaliouby, PhD | Egyptian-American Computer ScientistElise Loehnen | Chief Content Officer at GOOPCoco & Breezy | Twin Designers & Founders of Coco and Breezy EyewearBrit Morin | Founder & CEO of Brit+CoRandi Zuckerberg | Founder & CEO of Zuckerberg MediaKrista & Lindsay | Hosts of the Almost 30 PodcastSophia Amoruso | Founder & CEO of GirlbossMonica Padman | Actress & Co-host of the Armchair Expert PodcastShan Boodram | Sex Educator & Dating ExpertGretchen Rubin | Bestselling Author & Happiness ExpertByron Katie | Spiritual TeacherMartha Beck, PhD | Bestselling Author & Life Coach

How do you design a book cover and icons that encapsulate the message of women breaking their good girl myths to unleash their power? Go behind the scenes as Majo, her editor from HarperOne and design collaborator Vanessa Koch from paladarstudio.com to create the book cover and special icons to her new book Break the Good Girl Myth available NOW for pre-order at goodgirlmyth.com –!

How do you design a book cover and icons that encapsulate the message of women breaking their good girl myths to unleash their power? Go behind the scenes as Majo, her editor from HarperOne and design collaborator Vanessa Koch from paladarstudio.com to create the book cover and special icons to her new book Break the Good Girl Myth available NOW for pre-order at goodgirlmyth.com –!

I’ve asked many of you a simple question: Have you thought about striking out on your own and starting your own business (freelance, studio, consulting, coaching, company, startup, etc.) in the future? About 98% of you say yes. So, then comes the follow-up question: Well, how come you haven’t started today?What do you think is the most common response? While there are many excuses around readiness, and enjoying the stability, prestige, and recognition of your current job, the most common reason you haven’t started: you’re waiting for clarity. Some “I don’t know’s” that are stalling you: I don’t know where to focus, I don’t know which interests to pursue first, I don’t know where or how to begin, I don’t know where my strengths lie, and I don’t know if this can make money. What are the strategies you’ve used to gain clarity? Here are some I’ve heard:JournalingMore trainingsMeditationVision boardingConversationsRetreatsNothing, just waiting!Now, these are all lovely and needed strategies, but they’re far, far too passive. Sorry. You need a little fire under your butt. A little pep in your step. A little sprinkle on your latte (too much?).The good news is there is a method to this ambiguous madness. Designers (inventors, creatives, scientists!) have been using a method for a very long time. Designers know that clarity doesn’t come from waiting, it comes from making. What if you could define a project for yourself, and break it into prototypes you can test, in order to get clarity about whether it’s the direction you want, and in order to course-correct from there? Clarity comes from taking action first. You start with action. And the most powerful action you can take is to make something, throw it at someone, and see how they react. Now, even prototyping and testing has its fair share of vulnerability involved, doesn’t it? What if people judge you? What if you are the laughing stock of the whole class as you run around naked in that nightmare which has now become real life? That’s why in order to move into this approach, we also need to strengthen our creative confidence muscle (by learning how to manage fear and resistance). It’s the combination of understanding our resistance (e.g., doing the inner work) with the actual, making and testing of our ideas (e.g., doing the outer work) that will get us results.I’m really excited to personally invite you to my second pilot of IGNITE – a 12-week program that supports female leaders in defining, testing, and ultimately sharing their creative ideas and gifts with the world while working full-time. You don’t need to quit your day job, take on a huge financial risk, or make a crazy career pivot to design your purpose. By sharing your gifts, you design your unique creative purpose and translate that into actionable steps in your career. IGNITE IS FOR...A female, creative professionalA leader such as a manager, lead, director, or executiveBetween the ages of 28 - 40 Someone who wants to make a difference and have an impactAn empathic woman who cares deeply for others and the world Someone who is willing to invest time and money into up-leveling themselvesIT’S NOT FOR...A founder or entrepreneur already engaged in your creative purposeA coachA college or graduate studentSomeone who is not working (e.g., unemployed)Someone who thinks personal growth is too “woo woo”Someone who isn’t willing to put in the work and take action to design a better life WHAT WILL WE DO?Stage 1: Lose Good Girl & Fear Mentality (CLEAR)In this stage, we clear good girl mentality, fears, and excuses and replace them with new,...

I’ve asked many of you a simple question: Have you thought about striking out on your own and starting your own business (freelance, studio, consulting, coaching, company, startup, etc.) in the future? About 98% of you say yes. So, then comes the follow-up question: Well, how come you haven’t started today?What do you think is the most common response? While there are many excuses around readiness, and enjoying the stability, prestige, and recognition of your current job, the most common reason you haven’t started: you’re waiting for clarity. Some “I don’t know’s” that are stalling you: I don’t know where to focus, I don’t know which interests to pursue first, I don’t know where or how to begin, I don’t know where my strengths lie, and I don’t know if this can make money. What are the strategies you’ve used to gain clarity? Here are some I’ve heard:JournalingMore trainingsMeditationVision boardingConversationsRetreatsNothing, just waiting!Now, these are all lovely and needed strategies, but they’re far, far too passive. Sorry. You need a little fire under your butt. A little pep in your step. A little sprinkle on your latte (too much?).The good news is there is a method to this ambiguous madness. Designers (inventors, creatives, scientists!) have been using a method for a very long time. Designers know that clarity doesn’t come from waiting, it comes from making. What if you could define a project for yourself, and break it into prototypes you can test, in order to get clarity about whether it’s the direction you want, and in order to course-correct from there? Clarity comes from taking action first. You start with action. And the most powerful action you can take is to make something, throw it at someone, and see how they react. Now, even prototyping and testing has its fair share of vulnerability involved, doesn’t it? What if people judge you? What if you are the laughing stock of the whole class as you run around naked in that nightmare which has now become real life? That’s why in order to move into this approach, we also need to strengthen our creative confidence muscle (by learning how to manage fear and resistance). It’s the combination of understanding our resistance (e.g., doing the inner work) with the actual, making and testing of our ideas (e.g., doing the outer work) that will get us results.I’m really excited to personally invite you to my second pilot of IGNITE – a 12-week program that supports female leaders in defining, testing, and ultimately sharing their creative ideas and gifts with the world while working full-time. You don’t need to quit your day job, take on a huge financial risk, or make a crazy career pivot to design your purpose. By sharing your gifts, you design your unique creative purpose and translate that into actionable steps in your career. IGNITE IS FOR...A female, creative professionalA leader such as a manager, lead, director, or executiveBetween the ages of 28 - 40 Someone who wants to make a difference and have an impactAn empathic woman who cares deeply for others and the world Someone who is willing to invest time and money into up-leveling themselvesIT’S NOT FOR...A founder or entrepreneur already engaged in your creative purposeA coachA college or graduate studentSomeone who is not working (e.g., unemployed)Someone who thinks personal growth is too “woo woo”Someone who isn’t willing to put in the work and take action to design a better life WHAT WILL WE DO?Stage 1: Lose Good Girl & Fear Mentality (CLEAR)In this stage, we clear good girl mentality, fears, and excuses and replace them with new,...

Hi Heroine,Imagine you worked so hard building a startup you really believed in and then it crashed. Would you keep going until you succeeded or give up?My guest today is Vanessa Larco who decided to keep going. When regulatory changes killed her startup she fled to Greece for two weeks, to swear off Silicon Valley forever. That’s when people there assumed, in her sad state, that she was a bride who had been left by a man at the altar – a wake-up call that lead her to stop mopping around and return the world of product and startups, which eventually lead her to receive an unexpected offer to become partner at a top venture capital firm, NEA. In fact, Vanessa is now one of the few female, Latina investors in Silicon Valley, which is a big deal. Women of color are the fastest-growing sector of the entrepreneurial market but they receive less than 2% of the capital because 99% of venture capitalists are men, particularly white men. There are so many products and services that never have a chance to get off of the ground because of the lack of diversity in this sector, which is why we need smart women like Vanessa on the inside. HIGHLIGHTED EXCERPT:Vanessa: I never thought I would be here.Majo: It sounds like it. Now, Vanessa, I know there are some listeners who might be thinking like “I could’ve never taken that role and would’ve felt like such an impostor”. Did you feel that or like you could learn it?Vanessa: Every job I’ve had, I’ve had major impostor syndrome and tons of anxiety, to be honest. I look back and realize I figured out a lot of things and there’s a lot of things I didn’t figure it out but I learned a ton in a very short amount of time. I’ve kinda just made peace with the impostor syndrome. I don’t think it ever goes away. I just think that now I’m aware of it and have the confidence in myself to be able to embrace it.

Hi Heroine,Imagine you worked so hard building a startup you really believed in and then it crashed. Would you keep going until you succeeded or give up?My guest today is Vanessa Larco who decided to keep going. When regulatory changes killed her startup she fled to Greece for two weeks, to swear off Silicon Valley forever. That’s when people there assumed, in her sad state, that she was a bride who had been left by a man at the altar – a wake-up call that lead her to stop mopping around and return the world of product and startups, which eventually lead her to receive an unexpected offer to become partner at a top venture capital firm, NEA. In fact, Vanessa is now one of the few female, Latina investors in Silicon Valley, which is a big deal. Women of color are the fastest-growing sector of the entrepreneurial market but they receive less than 2% of the capital because 99% of venture capitalists are men, particularly white men. There are so many products and services that never have a chance to get off of the ground because of the lack of diversity in this sector, which is why we need smart women like Vanessa on the inside. HIGHLIGHTED EXCERPT:Vanessa: I never thought I would be here.Majo: It sounds like it. Now, Vanessa, I know there are some listeners who might be thinking like “I could’ve never taken that role and would’ve felt like such an impostor”. Did you feel that or like you could learn it?Vanessa: Every job I’ve had, I’ve had major impostor syndrome and tons of anxiety, to be honest. I look back and realize I figured out a lot of things and there’s a lot of things I didn’t figure it out but I learned a ton in a very short amount of time. I’ve kinda just made peace with the impostor syndrome. I don’t think it ever goes away. I just think that now I’m aware of it and have the confidence in myself to be able to embrace it.

Have you ever felt like the deck was totally stacked against you and it just made you more determined to succeed? This is one of the main themes for my guest Cathy Heller. She gets really real and vulnerable so grab your favorite tea and settle in.Her story so clearly shows the heroine’s journey from the dark hopelessness of being told she couldn’t succeed, that her sister was the talented one. The only time her parents paid attention to her was to complain about each other. Even after having been dropped by two record labels she refused to give up. Instead, she was scrappy and figured out how to create contacts with the people choosing music for television, movies, and advertisements. In her twenties, she managed to build a business making multi-six-figures a year and ended up running an online school to help other creatives do the same. She wrote an incredible book that comes out November 12th so make sure to snag a copy of Don’t Keep Your Day Job which talks about designing a way to contribute to the world that is personal and relevant to YOU. Her perspective of purpose being the opposite of depression has helped thousands understand that as humans, we are happiest when we are contributing to other people. HIGHLIGHTED EXCERPTCathy: What I did have was a cautionary tale. I had two parents who were miserable and a mom who didn't want to be here anymore with 911 calls and suicide hotline calls from her. So that was the driving force of “Oh I will not put my dreams on the back burner because it doesn't work. And I will not be invisible anymore or else I will be broken forever. So I have to do this. My life depends on it”.Majo: So, you decide to move to Las Angeles to pursue a career in music. And at this point are you writing your own songs?Cathy: Not really, maybe a couple, like I started right around then. I came out here and started to ask questions like “How do you get a record deal?” and I thought that was the only way to make a living was to get a record deal. I just started trying to figure out how to do it. My husband says I have the will of a small country like if I'm going to do something I commit. I ended up getting a record deal at Interscope and it was amazing. I remember being like “OMG! I’m here.” I was actually sitting with Lady Gaga at Sunset Sounds, which is a recording studio. She was recording Paparazzi and I had just gotten signed. I couldn't believe it; they were asking me like what kind of coffee I wanted and I was like “Wow, I'm the next person to record a record.” And then I got dropped from the label about three months later.

Have you ever felt like the deck was totally stacked against you and it just made you more determined to succeed? This is one of the main themes for my guest Cathy Heller. She gets really real and vulnerable so grab your favorite tea and settle in.Her story so clearly shows the heroine’s journey from the dark hopelessness of being told she couldn’t succeed, that her sister was the talented one. The only time her parents paid attention to her was to complain about each other. Even after having been dropped by two record labels she refused to give up. Instead, she was scrappy and figured out how to create contacts with the people choosing music for television, movies, and advertisements. In her twenties, she managed to build a business making multi-six-figures a year and ended up running an online school to help other creatives do the same. She wrote an incredible book that comes out November 12th so make sure to snag a copy of Don’t Keep Your Day Job which talks about designing a way to contribute to the world that is personal and relevant to YOU. Her perspective of purpose being the opposite of depression has helped thousands understand that as humans, we are happiest when we are contributing to other people. HIGHLIGHTED EXCERPTCathy: What I did have was a cautionary tale. I had two parents who were miserable and a mom who didn't want to be here anymore with 911 calls and suicide hotline calls from her. So that was the driving force of “Oh I will not put my dreams on the back burner because it doesn't work. And I will not be invisible anymore or else I will be broken forever. So I have to do this. My life depends on it”.Majo: So, you decide to move to Las Angeles to pursue a career in music. And at this point are you writing your own songs?Cathy: Not really, maybe a couple, like I started right around then. I came out here and started to ask questions like “How do you get a record deal?” and I thought that was the only way to make a living was to get a record deal. I just started trying to figure out how to do it. My husband says I have the will of a small country like if I'm going to do something I commit. I ended up getting a record deal at Interscope and it was amazing. I remember being like “OMG! I’m here.” I was actually sitting with Lady Gaga at Sunset Sounds, which is a recording studio. She was recording Paparazzi and I had just gotten signed. I couldn't believe it; they were asking me like what kind of coffee I wanted and I was like “Wow, I'm the next person to record a record.” And then I got dropped from the label about three months later.

Happy Halloween witches! We’re continuing with female archetypes (and stereotypes!) in old fairy and folk tales. We started with this series last season with the Queen and Princess Archetypes (make sure to check them out if you haven't already for context) and this is the last part of that series. Today, on the witch’s new year – Samhain, we are going to look at the witch and the hermit archetypes. They’re more connected than you might think.The witch needs very little introduction. She is in practically every fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers. She’s cruel, conniving, solitary and sometimes, connected to the evilest forces in the world. And in 1692, life imitated art in a big way. An entire community of settlers in Salem, Massachusetts decided that witches were real, and needed to be killed. But where did this idea come from? I caught up with my friend Becca Piastrelli to learn a bit more about how witches got the reputation they have today. Becca is the host of the Belonging Podcast and she and I have been circling on the new moon for years now."It’s a campaign that’s happened for centuries, many generations from basically the rise of Christianity and capitalism in Europe that specifically targeted women who were healers, and midwives and really powerful beings in the community. Ones that people respected and looked up to, maybe they even owned land. And it wasn’t just women, sometimes it was queer men or two-spirit or genderfluid folk. Anyone who didn’t fit the patriarchal paradigm. There was a very calculated campaign to turn the people against them in their earth ways. This is known as the burning time which in many ways is still happening today. Where you hear the term witch hunt in media or popular culture or even see how it’s displayed in media. It’s really something that has been embedded in our ancestral memory for many many generations. "As Christianity grew across Europe, the Church demonized these women and connected them to dangerous, evil forces. It was classic scapegoating. Talking to Becca got me thinking about scapegoating, and I realized, there’s a good reason for men to fear us. Women are connected to the Goddess...and to childbirth...and men are not.So how must it have felt - to be a respected, practicing healer and midwife one day - and called an evil witch - the next? That is why I believe when we meet witches in fairy tales, they are often alone. They live in solitude, in the forest - remember, that’s where the medicines were - scheming, angry and isolated. Basically, the happy midwife becomes a resentful hermit. Have you ever felt like a hermit, Heroine, all alone? The Hermit isn’t all bad - not at all. The bright side of the hermit is that she’s also a mystic. She goes into the forest for some much needed alone time - to reconnect with her spiritual side. She goes there to tend to the parts of herself that are precious, and need protection.But the dark side of the Hermit is avoidance and fear. Keeping people out because they might hurt you. It starts as a punishment for those who have wronged you, but ends up mostly, hurting you. I believe this split - between connected, centered, community-surrounded healer, and betrayed, mystical, and isolated witch - must be healed in each of us. Just think - have you ever been passive-aggressive? Have you said something underhanded, but in a nice way, and not understood why you did it? That has to do with the complicated origins of the witch. She wants to fully express herself - thorns and all - but she knows that patriarchy will cast her out and make her quiet if she does. Well, I want to reclaim the witch archetype within each of us, as so many others have been doing and continue to do today. A witch is creative, she’s complicated, and she’s been to the depths. So whether you’re cooking a large meal...