EP 128: Letting Go of Good for Great — Career Growth, Identity & Success with Amy Lenius

In this episode of Thriving in Intersectionality, Dr. Lola Adeyemo sits down with Amy Lenius for a conversation about identity, self-worth, personal growth, and the many layers that shape how we define success.

Amy shares how the different roles she has held throughout her life—from daughter, partner, entrepreneur, speaker, coach, and leader—have influenced how she sees herself and the work she does today. Together, Lola and Amy explore how our identities evolve across different seasons of life and how those experiences shape our leadership, career decisions, relationships, and personal fulfillment.

Throughout the conversation, Amy reflects on her journey through chronic illness, healing, personal development, and coaching. She shares how those experiences challenged her assumptions about achievement and ultimately led her to redefine success from the inside out.

A central theme in this episode is the courage to let go of what is merely "good" in order to create space for something more aligned.

Because sometimes the next level of growth is not about becoming someone new.

It's about reconnecting with who you already are.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• The many identities and roles we carry throughout life
• How lived experiences shape our definition of success
• Chronic illness, healing, and personal transformation
• Why self-worth and self-belief matter in personal growth
• Entrepreneurship, leadership, and building an aligned life
• Letting go of identities that no longer serve us
• The connection between habits, consistency, and fulfillment
• How personal growth evolves through different life seasons
• Defining success beyond external achievement
• Creating a life that reflects your values instead of expectations

About the Guest

Amy Lenius is the Director of Group Coaching at Next Level University, Professional Speaker, Event Coordinator, MC, and a Next Level Certified Personal Development & Success Coach.

She helps individuals define success from the inside out by focusing on self-worth, self-belief, consistency, and personal alignment. Through coaching, speaking, and leadership development, Amy helps people reconnect with themselves, build sustainable growth, and create lives that feel meaningful, fulfilling, and authentic.

About the Podcast

Thriving in Intersectionality explores how identity, lived experience, and leadership intersect in today's workplace and beyond. Through reflective conversations and personal storytelling, Dr. Lola Adeyemo highlights the journeys of professionals navigating layered identities while creating meaningful impact in their careers, communities, and lives.

If This Episode Resonated

• Share it with a colleague, friend, or leader navigating change or transition

• Leave a review to help others discover the show

• Continue the conversation through the Substack deep-dive reflection accompanying this episode

Reflection Question

What definition of success are you currently living by—and did you choose it yourself?

 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Thriving in Intersectionality Podcast. A podcast that explores the real experiences of professionals navigating the workplace with layered belief identities. I'm your host, Dr. Lola Ateemo, the CEO of EQI Mindset and founder of the nonprofit Immigrants Incorporate Inc. I'm also an author, speaker, and a workplace inclusion strategist. I work with organizations to build communities of belonging through strategy, storytelling, and systems change. This podcast amplifies the voices of professionals from intersectional backgrounds, immigrants, ethnic minorities, first-gen professionals, veterans, working parents, individuals with disabilities, and so many more. Through solo reflections and guest conversations, we'll uncover the eating challenges, celebrate the wins, and offer insights to help you thrive, not just survive in the corporate world. Because in today's global workforce, belonging isn't just a bonus, it's the catalyst for real growth and impact. Let's dive in. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Thriving in Intersectionality Podcast. Triving in intersectionality, intersectionality is a big word, and of course, as usual, I'm going to start right diving into that word. What does the word intersectionality mean? If you're new to the word, I hope this gets you curious enough to go learn more. But intersectionality itself is a framework that recognizes how multiple aspects of identity, such as gender, lived experience, health, relationships, expectations, personal history, and social conditioning, among so many others, how some of these identity categories overlap and interact, shaping how we experience the world and how we lead within it. And so I came into this work through the work of Kimberly Crenshaw and she explored race and gender. And those two things um she explored it through a social science research around the experiences of Black women. And over the last couple of decades, uh decades, other researchers have looked at that work through the through different intersections. I I center um personally in my work, uh, my immigrant intersection and my gendered intersection uh in the way I show up at work. But a lot of my guests bring so much more to the wealth of the conversation and to the way they lead. And that's the through line that we have here. It allows us to explore leadership and growth, not just through achievement, but through each of our own identities, self-worth, even patterns. And so I'm looking forward to diving into these contexts uh to know Amy a little more and then to learn a little bit about our work. Hi, Amy. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Hi, Lola. I'm so excited to be here. I'm really well, thank you. I think this is going to be such an exciting and aligned conversation. I love the through line of your podcast and that intersectionality coming in every time. I think that's really, really beautiful. And I get, I bet you get a lot of interesting conversations from that lens. So I'm really excited to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

I do. I feel like um I learn as well. I learn and I grow uh by hosting these conversations because a lot of my guests, I don't know them. They're not personal, you know, connections. And sometimes I allow myself to explore what the person might say before I come on. I give myself the freedom to think through, okay, if I look at this person's background, a bio, what do I what do I think they're going to bring? And a lot of times I am very wrong because they touch on so many things that there's no way I would have known without talking to them. And that's the point, you know, is that people are multi-layered. Um, and we just have to listen. So I'm excited to dive into your story, your journey today. So Amy Linneos is a personal development and success coach, and she's the director of group coaching at next level university. But I love that I over the past nine years, you've brought um such a debt to your work around health, healing, and personal um in the personal development space. And I will let you capture all of that journey and by you yourself because that is actually the first part of our conversation. Um, before we go into your professional and personal journey, Amy, uh, if you could um introduce yourself to me through that word intersectionality, when you think about our word, what layers uh you know stand out for you that have really shaped you and your work over the last um decades of your life?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Yeah, wow, good question. What a and what a complex question, if you really think about it. My first like superficial thought is almost all the different hats I wear, like all the different roles that I play in my life that I intentionally and very consciously take part in, versus younger Amy, who was reactive to everything without intention. But I think of being a mother, I think of being a spouse to my husband, I think of being a daughter in a beautiful family. I picture just all of the roles that I play, being a coach, being a member of this incredible team at next level university and partnering with these two incredible men. I think of again the speaker, the educator, and that's where my first layers come in. And then I feel like I could, if I kept going, it would be deeper, it would be more emotional, and where these these are the motions I love to live in. And I think it would just keep going deeper and deeper. But that's the first thing that came to my my head was just the the roles that I choose to play.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

I love it, and and those roles, you know, those are intentionally chosen roles as well. So I I think it also does um say a lot about her. I had a guest once, and the first thing they said was, Oh, absolutely, I'm a grandpa. If you think about that, I mean it's a seasonal label, it's a seasonal title, but that's what's top of mind for him right now. And he went on and on about it. Like, you know, I'm a grandpa, and there's just so many things um that I bring into these and and how it's inherited so many things within him. So I love it. Anything else you want to add to that? Want to go deep in any way, share a little more?

SPEAKER_01 6:58

I'm I mean, I'm sure we will for sure. I can see that this conversation is gonna be about that. I think I would layer it then with just the intentional, complex feelings, even of just being a woman. I think there would be my next layer, the the female experience in all the multi-passionate, multi-purpose, multi-emotional, very spectral being that females tend to be. And that's, I think, where that next layer would be. And then so I choose to do as much in the realm of like peace, passion, fulfillment, purpose, and intentionally put myself there, but also really allow space for when I do feel frustrated and allow that to come up and see you know what that's telling me and things. So I feel like that would be my next layer, just that very dimensional female perspective.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Yeah, and that's an important layer because I feel like that really locks into all of these roles you just described, right? And the way you approach and show up with it. Okay. So tell us a little bit about your professional career now, um, and who end up at what you are doing currently. But I'm a little curious about how did you get here? You know, how did you make the decisions and what are some of the career decisions um that have led you, led you in?

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Yeah, the journey that led me to what I'm doing now is is kind of wild. They all kind of go together when you look back and see the through line a little bit, but also not really. It's kind of a bit of a jump. And I think that that's really fun, actually, when we talk about the layers you bring to something. So I started out. I mean, my like conscious, intentional, I'm gonna make change journey actually was really being very sick, being very sick with a female-driven condition called endometriosis. So very hormonally driven, very chronic pain, lots of, again, those hormonal issues, inflammation, all sorts of not fun things. And I think with that journey, I loved the idea of going into anatomy and physiology. And I didn't want to be a doctor, I didn't want to be a nurse as soon as I saw what you had to deal with and the all the needles, genuinely. I was like, nope. So I went into an intensive for massage therapy and anatomy and physiology background, and I started to specialize in in female pelvic health and pre and postnatal. I got to do a lot of that. That was really beautiful. So I started treating a lot of women in my practice through school and things. And during that journey, I was also on my own health journey. So it was very much focused around female health, my own hormonal journey, learning about my body, how it was working, what I could do to support it, stepping away from a system that was not serving me as much as I would like, very good for reactive situations, but not a very good proactive whole body picture perspective. And so when I was learning about the body myself, I started understanding different kinds of modalities that I would like to partner with on my health journey and to just see where I could take that. And that's where I fell in love with the word holistic, which I love. I think that word really combines with what you're doing. Holistic, meaning everything affects everything else. And you're saying all the layers that you have come into what it is that you're doing and who you are now, and I think that's very, very similar. But when I was taught and told and was learning about how the body is just this very complex community and all works together, and it's about your internal environment working as a community. And once I learned that and started not just supporting, you know, my female health and then expanded into hormone health, it was okay, how's my liver functioning? How's my gut health? How's my stress? How's my sleep? How's how they're all connected? And I started to feel better and better and better, and then I got introduced to the external environment. What are you surrounding yourself with that isn't allowing you to take that next level to your healing? And so, oh, that's amazing. And so this next layer came in, and I fell into the natural wellness space of herbs, oils, toxin-free cleaning products, making your own things from home, using less and less and less endocrine disruptors to make sure that I'm keeping my hormones safe because I have such a hormonally driven condition. And that was where I first got to combine like my love of my practice. I already had an awesome massage therapy practice going with educating women on a deeper layer. Because every woman that was coming in on onto my table and telling me all of their stories, you won't believe what people tell you when they're on the table and they're getting a massage. It's amazing. What a privilege. It's so good. I can't believe it's because I'm one of those people. It's such and I don't even know how intentional it is when you're working through the tissue of the body, like our tissue holds so much for us, especially as women, especially in our emotions. So it feels like a more natural way to release certain things. And so what a privilege to be able to facilitate that kind of experience. But a lot of them were dealing with similar things to me, and none of them understood their hormones. None of them understood their their cyclical beings. None of them understood that painful periods are common, but not normal. And so I started talking to them. I started working in the natural wellness space, which led to me speaking into rooms of women, which led to me speaking on stages, doing keynote presentations called things like holistic healing for your hormones, and just teaching women that they are these complex beings, they are cyclical beings, and that it's not just about their uterus all the time, it's about so much more. And that led into, I had my own podcast for a little while. I started my own group coaching program for women called the Peaceful Period Project, which actually all of that is what connected me to next level university. The guys that I work with now, they were producing my podcast and coaching me in my business. And I fell in love with everything they were doing because they their initial slogan was holistic self-improvement for your individual version of success. And I was like, oh, I never thought about that holistic self-improvement. Like it's health, wealth, quality of life, and your love life. It's not just your financial success and thinking that your health doesn't affect that. It's not just your job and not your relationship and how separate those things are not. We like to think that they are, they really aren't. And so they were speaking from just this holistic space. They loved everything I was doing in the world. And I got the opportunity to be a part of their community, go to the things that they were providing and putting out into the world, listen to their podcast. And I send Alan, he's our our CEO, and he's uh he's a fellow coach and business coach. He's a computer engineer, business major, like just a freaking genius. This man, I'm so privileged to have access to him and his his brain and his mentorship. He I got to send him my keynote one day. I said, Hey, you're a fellow speaker. I would love some really genuine authentic feedback on this, because it's really hard to get feedback from just the average bear because everyone's just impressed that you're up there. So most people are not interested in public speaking whatsoever. And to be honest, I wasn't either until I had something to say. And I sent it to him, he loved it. He said, You know what? I would love for you, you're such an aligned part of our community. We love what you're doing in the world. Would you be interested in coming and MCing our event? This is down in the States. I myself am in Canada. And I was like, absolutely. I have no idea how to do that. I've never done that, but absolutely I'm gonna come and I'm gonna figure that out and hang out with you, and that's gonna be amazing. And so I did, and honestly, I fell in love with them, everything they're doing, their view on business, their view on value in the world and how to deliver it, and the through line of integrity that they bring to all of it. And so I just kept getting more enmeshed in everything they were doing, and they just kept bringing me in and celebrating everything I was already doing and and supporting me and bringing that into what they assumed was a very masculine space, and it is, but they had a lot of heart-driven women in their community, and so it was really fascinating to see the combination of the three of us come together and what that has brought. And now it's it's everything that I do. I still get to do all the things that I love and speak on the things that I originally spoke on, but it's from a more macro lens of this is a piece, but where are you holistically in your life and what does individual success look like to you? And how can we bring in your cyclical nature if I'm helping women with their their peace, their passion, their purpose, their fulfillment, their version of success, making sure that that piece isn't missing for them. But I've just expanded into, like you said, a success and personal development coach, but that's a huge part of it. So it jumps, but yet there's always this through line of I feel like education, empowering people with information and working with others.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Right, right. Because when it comes to I love, I love the way you had, you know, uh, I introduced you from what I had written about you. It's success, health, wellness, performance, right? Because it's all part of it. And a lot of times we only pick one ice aspect of it. And um, I was recently asked what what success means to you now. And I, you know, I was thinking about like that's a deeper question than I would have thought of a couple of decades ago, right? Success, right? You think of financial success, we think of family success. But success for me as a human has so many layers, as you said, and I think health is a huge part of it. The the work that we choose to do, and how you know how I love the work that I choose to do, is it aligned with who I am? Uh, am I really enjoying it? It's not what the world says you should do, is is what uh really fills me up. So um, thank you for that. You had and and I love the way you explained it too, because I think your path and your career path is really shaped and molded by what you care about around health and wellness and and the expansion of how you define it and how you do the work. Um, thank you for speaking about it and educating people about it. And for those listening, you definitely get um you get a list of Amy's uh uh bio and links and uh places to learn more about our work in the show notes. So maybe we need to talk a little bit more, um, tap into a little bit from your work uh directly, right? For those listening. Um so let's let's go there. One of the things that um you said was, you know, kind of the changes that have the transitions that have happened in your work. And so was there a moment, was there a specific moment where your definition of success started to change?

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Yeah, I think almost each time, each time I made the transition, it was like allowing something, it's like letting go of good for great, you know, letting go of something to become more. And I think we get really caught up in, oh, if I give this thing up, that means, you know, all the effort and time and and energy I put into this means nothing. But in reality, I still I was helping, I coach this wonderful woman, she's in her 60s, she lives in Singapore, and we were talking about how she sits a lot of her day, and she's starting to get more fit and starting to go to the gym now. I said, But if you're sitting all the time, then you're you're actually doubling down on already contracted muscles. So let's get the mobility program going for you because I don't want to see you not doing your most important work in the world because you've put your low back out. And so I got to bring that in just the other day. And so every time I've had to let go of something, I think the hardest, the two hardest ones were when I stopped paying into the system that allowed me to have those three little letters behind my name that made me feel really smart and made me feel really credible to speak on the things that I was speaking on. It's like I had this whole thing of who's gonna listen to me if I don't bring some sort of credibility to the table, if I don't have, you know, three little letters behind my name that says that I know something. And that was this weird little phase of, okay, do I keep paying in to have my license still valid, to feel valid, to feel smart, to feel relevant? And I was like, oh, that's so silly. I don't need to, I don't, I'm not practicing anymore. I'm doing all of these other things. And so letting that go was almost like this weird little ego death, and I had to be okay with not having that and allowing that to be uncomfortable and weird a little bit, but then seeing that everything was okay afterwards, everything was fine. I still held the knowledge, I still knew all the things. People were still asking me to come talk about these things and asking for my opinion and my help. And so that was a funny one. But I think the next biggest one was transitioning from I was building into being an entrepreneur myself with the Peaceful Period Project, with doing what I was doing with women's health, and letting that go again good for something great to be what's called an intrapreneur, an entrepreneur within next level university's entrepreneurial journey. So Kevin and Alan started next level university nine years ago, and so they're on their entrepreneurial journey, and I get to come in and be what's called an entrepreneur in that, and I have found so much more I don't know, joy here, which is wild because it's such a different, almost different space than what I was initially building into. But with the way my lifestyle is and the things that I value currently, I homeschool my children. I, you know, there's so much that I fill my life with that having that bit of actual guidance and structure externally versus just me running my own business has been amazing. It's exactly what I needed. And I don't believe that all of us are actually built to be entrepreneurs. And I think we're told that that is, if you want to be successful, that is the only level of success worthwhile nowadays. And I think that's a load of BS as well, because not all of us are built for it. Now, do I think I could have done it and done well in it? I do, but I actually deeply believe that I can do more here and have more impact here with what we are building at Next Level University. So there was just these layers of having to let go each time, and what does that mean about me? And who am I letting down and how does that feel? And if I even am letting that anyone down, or if it's just a projection, which it mostly is. There's so much that goes into that. So yeah, every time it was just this different version, and now, and I think every time I change it up, but I think I'll change within this environment now. I deeply believe and I'll use my forever home. And I don't know if I've ever felt that way, actually. So that's exciting. But I can see that we're gonna constantly expand and and do different things, and so my need for variety and stuff is always gonna be within. In that. But I think my yeah, my version of success has deeply changed. I always thought growing up, you know, success meant money, the house, the the I've never been interested in vehicles. Doesn't interest me very much. I drive my minivan. I'm happy with it. I'm actually deeply obsessed with it. It holds all my things and people, and it's the best. And that, but then it's like, oh no, when you can build success from the inside out, like you were talking about, from someone who you are, what you value. Oh my goodness, learning to build from a space of these are my core values. This is what I actually value in life and in the world, and how can I build a career around that? What a difference it can make. That's some of like the work that we do, and some of my favorite work that we do. And people struggle to define what success means to them. It's like, okay, well, let's let's dive into who you are, what you value, what you don't value. Amazing. Brings so much clarity.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Yeah, I love that. And I love the way you talked about the good letting go of good for great. Letting go for of good for better. Because I think sometimes, yes, we all struggle with that. The things we've accumulated, the things we've like, like at what point do I know when I am ready for something else? And it's okay to let go of that thing that was my definition of success, and now it doesn't fill me up or light me up anymore. And it's okay because it served me for a season and it served me well.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Then you're still gonna bring all of the lessons and the knowledge and the stuff that you learned in that to this next thing, even if it's not directly correlated.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Yeah, yeah. Thank you for giving words to that because I think I also, you know, kind of fall into that. It's you know, coming as a scientist and coming from corporate America, then getting into entrepreneurship, there's always these so many things that you drag along for longer than you should, because you are like, even for me, it was um communities, yeah, right? Like communities there have outgrown, and sometimes I like drag it along and force it for so long because maybe it was a goal at some point and it was you know fulfilling a purpose, but then you have to let go and make room for the next great thing. Um, and that's okay. So for anyone listening, hopefully that helps people work through decisions. I mean, you can already tell Amy is very good at what she does.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

And it's okay if it's hard, if it feels uncomfortable, it's hard. That's normal, that's human. I'm trying to think of the proper name of the bias. We have all of these unconscious biases that we have humans and just the brains we have. And one of them is the time and effort you've put into something. You now have a bias towards that thing to be able to not be able to let it go because you've put so much time into it. And it's to kind of heal that bias and and help that bias is to understand that you're not losing everything. You might be losing a title, you might be losing something kind of superficial, but everything that you've become in that space is still there, and you're going to be able to bring that to the next thing and to the next thing.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Yeah, that's so funny. Because the first thing that came to my mind also was when I was in corporate America, I took this um supply chain professional exam. It was like five giant model books, and I think I took it twice before I passed it, and I was super excited because it was a lot of hard work. And even when I got the certification, right, like there were people that had been working at my company for years and they had not gotten it, they were all so like, oh my gosh, Lola, you got the epic CSCPs, like the big one, it's not even the small one. Um, but it's interesting because until so I got the certification, and for the next year to like renew it every five years. I'm not even working with it. And so I I kept renewing it, and then um, when I got into entrepreneurship and I started working with companies, understanding their supply chain, and I was recognizing wait, the things I learned when I was working on this program helps me with my clients, like having that lens really helps me. But who has ever asked me if I have a certification in supply chain? Nobody has ever asked me, you know, it's like there's not a single sport that I've had to like show somebody that I have this certification except on my LinkedIn and my resume, right? Like um, but my lessons, my knowledge, as you said, it still serves me till this day, right? Um, so it wasn't it wasn't the the certification, it was the learnings I got in the process and stayed with me.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Lived experience. I hold so much more value for the lived experience now, I think, than I ever did. When I'm uh learning from someone, I want to be sure that they have like lived that experience, not just read it in a book, not just to their certain people. I want to hear that you've lived that experience, and I think that's why I was doing so well in the in the female health space and stuff, because I had been where they had been, I had gone through the pain, the surgeries, the all of the different things, and I could empathize and actually relate and had come out the other side and become pain-free from a condition that we're told is impossible to do so. And so that lived experience and same, just with I think people get that's where imposter syndrome almost comes from. It's like, who am I to speak on this thing? Well, if you're ahead of somebody and something that they desire, you already have those things. Maybe, yeah, you can update the skills, the the frameworks, the how you language. I think language and communication is so important, knowing who you're speaking to and learning the difference between what you would do in their situation and teaching them how to do what they need to do as them in their situation. I don't think a lot of coaches do that very well, and it's it does more harm than good. Another one I see is people talk the same language to everybody. Oh, my program is, you know, 10 this and it's the same for everybody. That's yes, I see the value in that, but as long as it's zoomed out enough, like it has to be such a macro thing. That's actually why it's really challenging, I find, to speak into crowds versus one-on-one, or even speak onto a podcast versus one-on-one, because you're trying to make it relatable to more of a mass of people. But in reality, everyone we're talking to has a different lived experience, has all those different layers, but also has a different core wound, has a different either fear of success or fear of failure. They have either low self-belief or high self-belief. That's a really big one. If you're talking to someone who has high self-belief, the same as you're talking to someone who has low self-belief, and vice versa, you are doing more harm than good. And so there's always skills that you can bring to something, but that lived experience actually helps you connect with people. And so there's so much value in yes, if you have to let go of the title, let go of the thing, you're still bringing all of your lived experience. And I think that's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Thank you. Um, so the final part, which I kind of feel like we've we've been touching on a bit, is when you think about those intersections of yourself, of um the layers of you, the experiences of you, and the work that you do now. Um, and this is for anyone listening that is maybe wearing all of those hats themselves and and kind of still struggling with professional, their their professional track and layer now, um, and their leadership style, right? What do you how do you think um how do you think your lived experience is showing up in in your life right now? Um, and then what advice will you give to people that are sort of navigating, pulling together all of them into their work?

SPEAKER_01 29:50

And especially through the lens of leadership. I love that. One, I think learning the different kinds of leadership is really, really important. Find which one you connect with and double down on those skills and make sure that that makes sense to you because we all have different styles of leadership. Mine is what's called a transformational leader, which I didn't even know. That was pointed out to me by Alan, who I mentioned earlier. I get to coach with him and be mentored by him. I'm so grateful for that. And I was like, oh, really? He's like, yeah, that's this, this, and this. He's like, it's basically you. It's like, ah, I love that. So understanding the different kinds of leadership is really valuable. Give yourself that kind of label of, oh, this is the one that I genuinely align with and value and feel like is me. I'm reading about myself here. And I love that so much. It gives just so much permission for different kinds of leadership. There is no one way to lead. Now I do believe there are some integrity through lines of leadership that we should all embody, but I think finding which one makes sense for you. I went on a leadership tangent there. What were we talking about?

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Well, it is part of it. It is part of it, uh, because uh when you talk about how people lead and how they show up in work and they want to look at it through, so maybe the leadership style is a way that your um intersections show. Um, any other area?

SPEAKER_01 31:07

Yeah, I think I think a through line. I love helping people look back at all of the things that I've done that have brought them joy, that have made them feel successful, made them feel the things that they're craving to feel now or in the future, and see what the through line is. Like a lot of mine is education, empowering people with information to make their lives better, because that's what helped me make my life better, learning about my body, learning about my health, taking an empowered stance and driving that journey rather than just being a passenger along the way. And so, what is the through line of your life of things that bring you joy? When we first did career day in high school, and they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my first answer was a mom. And they told me that that wasn't a good answer, which I think is BS. I think that's BS. Oh, but back in the day you couldn't really argue those things. You're like, oh, okay. So actually you can also imagine that when I was diagnosed with endometriosis, one of the biggest um unfortunate things can come with that is infertility, and so that was very sad for me for a little while. And uh I I do I have two beautiful children now, two boys. Like I said, I homeschool them and we have just this beautiful little life together. And um so what is the through line though? So when they said that I couldn't be a mom for career day, which again, anyways, I put teacher. I was like, oh, I want to be a teacher then. I love working with kids, I love the idea of educating, and then they had you go around and interview uh people in that field. Not one said, Oh, good idea, Amy, become a teacher. Not one, they all hated their jobs and hated their lives. So I was like, oh, mm-mm, nope. So I didn't go down that path, but I still have I think found ways to be in that path.

unknown 32:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

And even when you look at like the archetypes of speakers and the different speaker styles and modalities and things, there's um, there's the coach, the friend, the educator, the motivator. I fall under the educator every time. And so just those things. Know your natural tendencies and double down on those and add value to the world in a way that makes sense to you that way, even if it is motherhood. You are adding so much value to the world by being a conscious mother, a conscious parent. And I think we can bring that lens into anything that brings us joy, but especially anything that brings us what we feel is success. And I think at least nowadays as a society, we're understanding that success is not an objective term, it is a subjective term. It means something different to everybody else. So, what does that mean to you? And how can you bring in the layers of who you already are into that? Now, there's something, like I said, growing and bringing your skills in and personal development and all of that. That's amazing. There's two parts to this journey for sure. It is growing and expanding yourself, it is the fun, you know, that kind of outward momentous thing, but it is also just as much about uncovering who you are so that that journey makes sense along the way. And so you don't hit up with imposter syndrome or get, you know, everything you thought you wanted, and then you're not fulfilled, you're miserable along the way. And there's there's no age gap on this either. You can redo this, revamp this, rediscover who you are at any age. And I also think there's value in doing that at every age because things change so rapidly if you're a growth-oriented person and if you're on this journey of expansion. And so, like you said, all of the layers that you have, which ones are serving you? Because there's a lot of layers that we have that don't serve us as well, ones that hold us back, ones that are driven by fear, ones that have been instilled in us from an early age that maybe don't actually make sense to us and who we are. It was just how we were brought up and the people we were surrounded by. What are your layers? Which ones are serving you? Double down on those, which ones are hindering your growth and your goals and maybe your ability to connect with others or however that looks, and how can you identify those, heal those, have acceptance around those, whatever it is that that calls for, and just yeah, start building a life that you really desire based on who you are, what you want, and where you want to go.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Yeah, thank you. I I left the space and let you just hone that because I think we're getting the uh some deep coaching, help support work there. And I I think I always uh think coaching is one of the most underutilized spaces for especially mid-career professionals, people that are trying to navigate, you know, people talk about mentoring all the time, um, which is very different, completely different, very specific, very niched guidance on certain things. Uh, but I love when I have conversations with people that are in the coaching space that talk about holistic. Because again, you know, there's so many different coaches now, it's like an overwhelming space, and everybody claims expertise in everything. But really, what when the things you're talking about is really how we are all trying to navigate this world, right? We're all unique beings, we all bring different things, and I don't need somebody telling me to do 20 things because they did 20 things, you know. I am very different. So um we can learn, we can learn from other people, but nobody's no no two people's path is going to be exactly the same, and that's the whole point.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

Oh, I think so. And I think we have not only responsibility as coaches, but responsibility as the consumer as well as the as the client to be very discerning of who speaks into your life. That is so important. Make sure that they have not only the results that you want to have, but the life and the values that you also have, so you know that it was done in a way that's going to feel integrous to you, but also be discerning and make sure that that person has humility to always say, I don't know everything. There is so much about this that I don't know and understand. They're like that, it's so, so valuable. And I think to the right people, that is actually more cred building than the opposite when you say, you know what, I don't know enough about that, but here's my perspective. And if you want, we can dive into that more and we can go learn about it, or we can go right. There's so much along that. Most people just need someone along the journey with them who is going to understand them, support them, and not be like, This is how I did it, this is how you're gonna do it, and it's gonna be the same, especially when we have like a man come in and say, This is how I built all my muscle, this is how you're gonna do it the same woman. It's like, nope, nope, no, you're not right there. Nope. Unless they are saying, I am a man who has studied the female system and I know that you're cyclical beings, and here's what I bring to this, and here's women who have worked with me, and like don't do it, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:08

Not for you. Right. That's the first red flag. But thank you so much, Amy, for chatting with me today. I could I could keep talking to you. I can already tell I love chatting with you, so maybe we'll have a follow-up conversation um personally. Uh, but I I really enjoyed uh chatting with you. You're so easy to talk to and such a wealth of information. Thank you for sharing. Um, anything to add before I ask my final signature question?

SPEAKER_01 38:39

No, just like you said, thank you so much. This was a beautiful conversation. I would love to stay connected. And if you ever want to have another one, I'm happy to come back. And I don't offer that to everybody. So thank you. And yeah, great questions. I can already tell the show that you are putting out into the world is very, very valuable, very heart-driven, and it's actually going to help a lot of people with these kind of layered conversations. And to the listener, just self-awareness is a superpower. It really is. What can you know about yourself? How many layers can you identify and bring together in motivation, guidelines, through lines for your goals? How come people find you?

SPEAKER_00 39:18

What we do?

SPEAKER_01 39:19

I'm a simple being. I'm on Instagram and Facebook.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Okay, I'll make sure I put those links there.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

It's just at Amy Lennius, and we deeply believe at Next Level University, we deeply believe in human connection and community. And so when you reach out on Instagram or Facebook, it is me. It's not an assistant, it's not an AI, it's nothing like that. It's it's me. And I am happy to have conversations with anybody. And even if coaching is on your mind and you're looking for a coach and a guide in this space, even the first call is always free to be sure that we're a good fit, that I'm a good fit for you, that you're a good fit for me.

SPEAKER_00 39:53

I love it. Yeah, I I don't usually like have that much of a sharing from people that are in coaching, but I know also knew we were not coming into this conversation with the coaching lens. I wanted to know what's driving Amy. How did Amy get here? And I think I got a real strong sense of that that you are somebody that um is going to be easy to talk to and will provide great value to the people you work with. So thank you for what you do. Thank you. All right, so my signature question to close this out is a food question. So if you were to share a meal uh with your co-workers, what would you pick and why? Ah, that's funny.

SPEAKER_01 40:34

I would pick sushi because I'm selfish, but you love sushi. I love sushi so much. It's always a yes, sushi or like pokeball. Uh it's always my favorite. And if I were to pick my co-workers, I know some of them really don't like them. So am I thinking of them or myself? Well, it's exactly depends. It depends on what I'm in the mood for to be selfish. That's right. That's right. And it's actually something I have had to learn to be. I've had to grow my self-worth into being like, okay, what would everyone else like versus what would I like? And that's a very different lens, actually, to come from a space of high self-worth versus not. It sounded arrogant and that was funny, but um, it would be it would be sushi, and I would just find Kevin something that he liked. Alan and I would eat sushi and Kevin could figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Yeah, Kevin would be my person. I like my I like my my seafood cooked. That's but uh but I think it also I always like to look at this question and the way people answer it in in line with what we just talked about. You are this person that has explored these layers of unapologetically you in a very wholesome way. And I think, yeah, I love sushi. I'm gonna bring sushi and and you know, apology needed. I I I love it. Thank you so much, Amy, for joining me today. Thank you for chatting, thank you for sharing, and uh, I hope you have a good rest of your day. Thank you so much. Well, all those listening, um, thank you for listening, thank you for joining us. Don't forget to share and rate this episode wherever you get your podcast. Thank you. Thank you for being part of today's conversation on thriving in intersectionality. If you're an HR or DEI leader and you need employee resource group or business resource group resources, let's connect and LinkedIn and help organizations build inclusive cultures through inclusive workplace communities, strategy, and storytelling. Immigrants and first-gen professionals, join our free community at www.immigrantsincorporate.org for career support, networking, and resources in community with peers who understand your journey. Tag our podcast page on LinkedIn or connect with me directly to continue the conversation. Please don't forget to rate and review to help others discover these discussions. Keep thriving in your intersections. Your story matters. I'm Dr. Lola Adeyo, and this has been Thriving in Intersectionality Podcast.