May 5, 2025 • 44 mins
In this episode of the Happy Wealthy Show, host Neo Phalora interviews Heather Parady, a creative professional with a diverse background. Heather discusses her unconventional journey, which spans roles as a photographer, mental health professional, actress, comic, and podcast host. The conversation touches on her creative process, the importance of intuition, and the balance between discipline and creativity. Heather shares her philosophy on content creation, emphasizing conviction and authenticity over tactics and tools. She also talks about the significance of saying 'yes' to opportunities, trusting one's intuition, and the role of structure in creative work. Heather reveals her dreams of creating meaningful media, including producing feature films. The episode underscores the importance of living in the moment, embracing one's multifaceted nature, and continuously evolving as a creative. Heather offers consulting and coaching for individuals looking to articulate and share their messages effectively.
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Neal Neo Phalora (00:36):
Welcome to the Happy Wealthy Show.
I'm your host, Neo phalora andtoday we have Heather parody.
I've known Heather for a littleclip.
I knew her way back when shedecided that people need to get
together and have a Welcome tothe Happy Wealthy Show.
I'm your host, Neo Phalora andtoday we have Heather parody.
I've known Heather for a littleclip.
(00:58):
I knew her way back when shedecided that people need to get
together and have a coffee chat.
Now to say that Heather isunconventional would probably
typify her, but let's justreview a little bit of what
Heather's multifaceted journeyis.
Is she a photographer?
Is she a mental healthprofessional?
Is she an actress?
Is she a comic?
Is she somebody who is achampion for creative souls?
(01:22):
Well, the answer to all of thatwould be absolutely yes.
And in the story today thatwe're going to unravel, I've
been fan, is it fan boying orfan girling?
I'm not sure, but either one.
I'm okay with over her journey.
And could one email change yourlife?
Possibly.
If you have no experience inpodcasting, then you might lean
into that story of being on fromthat to being on the Glen Lundy
(01:46):
show and co-hosting.
That is a big leap.
So there's a lot to unpack hereand Heather's journey where
she's gotten.
Unbelievable guests on ourpodcast like Todd Herman, Seth
Godin and Brendan Kane.
So it's my absolute pleasure andyou should tune in and listen to
everything.
This person, this creative soul,has to say.
Heather parody, welcome to theshow.
Heather Parody (02:05):
I'm so happy to be here.
I always tell people that nomatter where I go, I feel like
you're always there.
You're like one of the most wellnetworked, in the workmen ever,
and I'm just so happy to get tospend some time with you.
Neal Neo Phalora (02:17):
Well, thank you.
I appreciate that.
I received that.
Heather, one of the things thatI.
When I see you out doing yourthings.
I think people know you assomebody who's gone viral and
had those viral videos, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I remember when you wentviral and you and I had a
conversation about this, and thefirst thing they asked you was,
(02:39):
what camera do you use?
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
And now why I'm leading intothis is that.
That is the point farthest fromyour approach to being a
creative and how you do yourprocess, and I think mm-hmm.
That's the thing that the juicethat you've laid in the hard
work that you've leaned into,that most people are ignoring.
Mm-hmm.
(02:59):
That's the least that what I'dlike to talk about first.
Right.
And so I know that was a reallykind of almost asinine comment.
What is your approach to being acreative person and the things
that you do when you put videosout there?
Heather Parody (03:14):
My intention, it doesn't always go this way
because I'm human and flawed andI have to check my ego a lot and
get distracted by another belland whistle and whatever, but.
When I get still and quiet andreset my intention every single
Sunday, which is what I do on mycouch, is to get really, really
honest with what is moving meright now.
(03:35):
And paying really, really closeattention to that.
And I know that's like the mostunsexy content marketing
strategy ever.
But my thesis as of late hasbeen that we need to see more
creators who are lit up.
That to your point, we get sofixated on these tactics and
strategies and tools, which areall cool.
(03:57):
I like them too, but we thinkthat's the meat and the potatoes
of it, when really it's spiritand heart and this level of lit
upness and I don't know anotherway to describe it.
Then you know it when you seeit.
The conviction that someone hasabout whatever their topic, and
we're just so drawn to that.
So, you know, yes, there's the.
Writing and the creativity andlearning structure and
(04:18):
storytelling and so forth.
But I've really been trying topay close, close attention to my
ideation process when I gothroughout my day, paying
attention to when Neil said thisand it moved me in some way.
Why did it?
And what was it about that?
And just documenting it andgetting more curious and
whatever.
I used to get so annoyed whenpeople would say stuff like
that.
I'm like, oh my God, that iswhat, you know, that that
(04:40):
doesn't make sense.
It can't be that simple.
But I've noticed over and overagain, like, and I've put out a
hell of a lot of content.
You know this?
Yes.
That the stuff that is quoteworked, and I don't mean
necessarily from like a viralitystandpoint, but just resonating
with my community and it wassomething I was proud of.
Always came from a place ofconviction.
Neal Neo Phalora (05:00):
That's a really good answer.
And.
I'd like to draw a distinctionor help us draw a distinction
between, I think most of us havean understanding that like when
we felt in flow or we feltaligned or we had a pure
intention and we put that outinto the universe where it's on
social media or poems orwhatever you're doing, or
(05:20):
filmmaking, it tends toresonate.
Mm-hmm.
But I think where people havetrouble is like.
Okay, well, I want to be in thatplace.
But then they have the otherexperience where they're like,
they worked really hard on apiece of content and it fell
flat.
They thought that they weredoing everything right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they're like, oh, this is sogood.
And I'm separating the lines andI'm curating the cuts in the
(05:42):
video and all that.
And then.
Nothing.
Heather Parody (05:45):
Yeah.
So I think it's helpful for meto not look at single pieces of
content or single episodes, butlook at your body of work that
you're creating and look at itas a whole book with a bunch of
chapters and pages in it.
And I think there is somethingto be said that if you're
looking at a body of work andyou're starting to see data and
signs that something is notworking.
(06:05):
There's a difference between thestructure and presentation of
something and the heartbeat ofsomething, right?
So you can have your message andyour intention of what you wanna
share.
And that's unshakeable, right?
Like that's the thing, butlearning and structure and
crafting a story and just kindof the delivery method, that's
something different.
And what I meant by earlier, notpaying attention to tactics and
(06:27):
all that, it's not that thosedon't come into play, those are
second.
And we make those first.
We do need the strategy andunderstanding of story and how
things are framed to be able tocommunicate with people.
But again, that's the secondarypiece.
So if you're working really hardon one thing, a lot of times
people stop at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Me and maybe I'm just, uh, youknow, it takes me a while to
(06:50):
learn stuff.
It's taken me hundreds,thousands of pieces, thousands
of pieces of content to kind offind my flow, and I'm still
refining it.
I mean, every morning I sit withmy cup of coffee and I write and
I look at scripts and what'sworked and what hasn't, and how
I can frame something a littlebit different and so forth.
Neal Neo Phalora (07:09):
I think.
It's discipline at the end ofthe day, even correct creatives
need discipline.
And I think that's a place whereI got hung up because I do like
drums and guitar and designingthe set behind my podcast studio
and writing scripts.
And I think that we're all hereto be multifaceted.
I hear the discipline and whatyou're doing.
(07:29):
I think the other thing thatwould be really helpful for
people to hear about you islike, I think a lot of why we're
here on earth is to bemultifaceted, but in the
marketplace, it's all aboutniche, niche now.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
What's your offer?
What's your thing?
The one thing, what do peopleknow you for, right?
Mm-hmm.
And here you are, you've been ina movie, right?
You get up on stage and it'slike, Hey, I'm gonna try my hand
at comedy with, and you're doingmultiple things.
(07:53):
One of the things that flooredme when we got to hang out at a
podcast venue together is likethe way that you make money is
even something that you don'teven talk about a lot.
This fractional position thatyou are in many businesses, it's
like not anything that youadvertise, but somehow it's also
a major part of who you are.
And so being a creative myself,I have poetry that comes through
(08:13):
me.
I've written children's stories,right?
I don't want to be known for onething.
I think most of us feel thatway.
I don't wanna be pigeonholed,but how do we create a brand
online but also be multifaceted,multipotential?
Heather Parody (08:26):
Yeah, that's a fantastic question.
Something I'm constantly tryingto figure out.
If you don't mind, let me put ahold there on that and go back
to something you said a minuteago, please.
You said even creatives needstructure.
This is one of our biggesthangups is this war between
feminine masculine energy of Idon't need structure, I'm a
creative, yada, yada.
(08:47):
And I had this, I don't wannasay vision because it wasn't
necessarily tangible like that,but there's this picture in my
mind the other day when I wasthinking about structure and I
saw like a performer on aphysical stage.
And I just heard structure isthe stage in which amplifies
your voice.
Neal Neo Phalora (09:06):
Say it again.
Heather Parody (09:07):
Structure is the stage that amplifies your voice.
It's the stage that we stand onthat brings our voice to the
masses.
And so it's not the voice, it'snot the talent, it's not the
heart.
We need all of that.
But the stage is the physicalstructure that amplifies what
I'm doing.
And so do creatives need that?
I think if you want your art andyour message to be out there, I
(09:30):
mean, not everybody does, right?
So no, they're just doing it forthemselves.
But if you wanna make it yourlife.
Hell yeah.
As far as the multifacetedpiece, this is really a
difficult one for me.
I don't have a pretty answer forit because it's something I
wrestle with.
It's something I question myselfa lot.
Like I could maybe run a lotfaster if it was in a straight
(09:50):
line and not all these zigzags,but man, I'm just having so much
fun.
And for me too, I've always beenasking, well, two things.
The fun piece is reallyimportant.
I wanna keep my spirit.
Light and happy and joyous forthe spiritual reasons we know.
And then two, there's so muchkind of inspiration that comes
(10:13):
from stepping outside of the boxa little bit and getting new
stimulus.
I get up at four 30, I read, Ijournal, I run, I lift, I get
Emerson ready for school.
You know, boom, boom.
My life is freaking routine andI'm very, very disciplined.
I have to be.
(10:34):
Driving to acting class twohours away, me going on Sunday
and going to a comedy club andhosting something, me going into
a movie, me.
Doing photography, it's hard asan achiever because I'm thinking
where is the direct correlationto what I'm trying to build?
And this is there an ROI here,and I can't give you a good
(10:56):
answer for it because on paperit makes no sense.
But I know I get some of mygreatest ideas when I'm not
doing my routine.
Neal Neo Phalora (11:03):
There you go.
You know, and there it is.
Yeah.
Heather Parody (11:06):
Yeah.
Neal Neo Phalora (11:06):
Yeah.
I like to think about that ascreative disruption.
Honestly, one of the best thingsI did for my business was take
drums and guitar on Friday, andevery Friday is an overachiever.
I get anxiety that I haven'tdone enough and I need to
practice more, and then when Ifucking go in there, I find a
point of flow and I'm like, itreleases something inside of me
that is so magical.
(11:26):
I'll just have to say in ourhigh achieving society, it's
always about revenue oraccolades or accomplishments.
But I love Esther Hicks.
I mean, I consume a lot ofdifferent things like you do.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Books and thoughts because itprovides fodder for my mind.
One of the things that she says,I love this piece where she's
talking she's having thedialogue for herself and she's
(11:47):
like, what are you doing thesedays?
Having fun.
For what purpose?
For enjoyment.
Right.
And, and to what end?
To have to experience pleasureon this earth.
And what does that do for you?
Create more happiness.
And she just.
And why the fuck not.
Who said that the only ROI isseven figures.
Right.
Come
Heather Parody (12:06):
on, preach, preach, preach, preach, preach.
Amen.
I love her too, man.
when I go down to Atlanta, Ilisten to a lot of Esther Hicks
content and it just gets meriled.
Neal Neo Phalora (12:15):
Yeah.
Yeah.
One of my friends went to herlive and the goal is that you
get called on, and she didn'tget called on, but she said that
the, that Esther spoke directlyto her, like what she had said
just landed for her.
All it was missing was her namein front of it.
Mm.
And she's like, that was a goodenough for me.
So, yeah, the woo wooexperiences.
One of the parts that I loveabout your story that I
(12:36):
personally identify with isleaning into things with, yes.
We either have this energy, Ithink in life we're either yes
or no.
And as we get older, because ofour nervous system and our
experiences, our brains need,our nervous system, need for
safety.
We're unconsciously saying no alot.
But talk to me about that momentwhen somebody emailed you about
(12:57):
podcast editing.
Mm-hmm.
And you just went.
Yes, I do.
And then you're like, I'm gonnafucking figure this out and like
move forward.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because there's something inyour story that's very
repeatable about this idea ofsaying yes to different things.
Yeah.
And people, like you said, itdoesn't fit together, but it
does.
It's building a framework of whoyou are.
(13:19):
It's branding yourself, right?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
As somebody, mm-hmm.
Who embraces these kinds ofunique challenges, they think
most people would go, I can't dothat.
Heather Parody (13:28):
Right.
Yeah.
Um, so, you know, rewind 10 plusyears ago, I had just finished
my master's in mental health andI had worked really hard on that
degree.
A lot of people know my story.
I didn't grow up with aneducation.
I was really behindacademically.
When I say I didn't grow up witheducation, I was homeschooled my
entire life.
(13:49):
And my mom dealt with a lot ofmental health stuff and really
just stopped teaching us after acertain point.
And so I didn't think collegewas an option for me, and I just
felt really stupid.
Oh, wow.
And going to school was, that'sa long story, but I was really
embarrassed and I had to go tocommunity college and take
developmental classes and I justworked my ass off really, really
(14:12):
hard.
So getting this degree, gettinga master's when you didn't even
have a high school diploma, um,it was huge for me.
It was something that said, Hey,you have worth, you have value.
You have a place here in societythat you can contribute.
And then when I knew in my gut,my gut that.
This was not my highest callingand I can't even explain it.
(14:33):
I just knew it and it was sofrustrating.
And I'm sure you've experiencedthis where there's nothing wrong
with the thing.
There's nothing wrong with it.
It's good, it makes sense andyou kind of want it, but there's
something about it that yousaid, this is not what's great,
you know, and that good to greatthing is what's really hard.
But, um, I got the job offers, Igot the license.
(14:58):
Through a series of events, justmade the decision to put it all
down and I didn't have anythingelse to fall back on.
And I swear that this happened.
It's the creepiest, weirdest,wildest thing.
But I remember having my laptopup here at the bar in the
kitchen.
And I remember emailing thepeople back and politely
declining the job, offerscrying, thinking I'm an idiot.
(15:23):
And then it wasn't 10, 15minutes, I'm still standing
there.
I had an email pop up in myinbox that said, Hey, Heather,
yada yada, yada.
Um, I know this is a far stretchthing, but for some reason you
popped into my head and Iwonder, do you edit podcasts?
And I'm like, hell yeah, I do.
(15:43):
You joking.
Which of course I didn't.
I was doing like a podcast outof my closet and not editing it
at all, and just throwing it upon iTunes.
But I took the job and Ifreaking figured it out, and I
started editing podcasts forpeople.
Got into a podcasting agency,started freelancing, and then,
you know how it goes from there.
Then you're doing social, thenyou're doing websites, then
(16:04):
you're doing funnels.
And after a while, you know,and, um.
So that's the kind of the sayingyes thing is, I feel like
sometimes God source, whatever,it's, you know, that Indiana
Jones thing where he steps outand then something appears.
I feel like anytime I'mbelieving for something in my
life, for me, it's required meto kind of step off the cliff
(16:28):
and trust something was gonnacome there before it actually
appeared.
It's like, if you want newclothes, give your clothes away.
If you need more food, feed yourneighbor, right?
Neal Neo Phalora (16:38):
No, that's awesome.
And.
I think the thing that we ashuman beings, you know,
spiritual beings in a meat suitreally crave is we are addicted
to what we can predict, right?
Mm-hmm.
And that comes from, I need aplan.
Tell me about the plan.
What is the plan?
But the plan is not aboutgetting you there.
The plan is about preparing youhere for the destination.
(16:58):
Yeah.
Yes.
And ultimately, the plan is onlyexecuted where you can just put
full faith into the plan.
Yes.
You don't know at the base ofthe mountain how, what's on the
other side.
Right.
And while that might sound likecliche, it's so true because
nobody leads from completetransparency.
They have to lead from faith.
Mm-hmm.
Amen.
They have to lead from faith.
(17:18):
The other thing that I reallyliked in what you said was, how
so often what I hear reflectedin what you said is we choose
fear thinly guise aspracticality.
I got this from Jim Carey in acommencement address.
Yeah.
You know, gave so good, so good.
I, I rewatch that every so often'cause it keeps teaching me over
(17:39):
and over again and I love thatchoice.
'cause Heather, when you chooseyou and the face of extreme
opportunity costs, youunderstand your value.
The thing that I'd like to askyou about is gut instinct, and
I'll just tell you somebody whoused to be in boardrooms all
across the US and all these.
(17:59):
We're gonna use our rubric andSWOT analysis, and then three
fourths of every meeting were,how's the customer gonna feel?
How's the marketing gonna feel?
And I'm like, can we just stoppretending that we make that we
are logical beings, right?
Yeah.
We're emotional beings.
And even Gary V said he usesgut.
I was at a dinner and there werefive women up there worth a
couple billion total, and theyall said gut was the most
(18:21):
important part of who they are.
I love that answer.
And there was very littlefeedback.
'cause people didn't want thatanswer.
They wanted the tackle.
So when you say gut, what doesthat mean to you?
Heather Parody (18:33):
Um, still small voice that knowing you, it's the
thing like kinda like theaftertaste of something.
You know that you can and can'tget rid of, and it's kind of
poking at you.
The interesting thing about itthough, is in my experience, it
does go away if you don't, I.
Hone it, you know?
(18:54):
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
And I, I love the way ElizabethGilbert explains it in Big
Magic.
And her, you know, analogy iskinda like ideas, inspiration,
muse of like, it wants to betaken care of and nurtured, and
if it isn't taken care of andnurtured, it will go find
another host.
And I know our intuition doesn'tnecessarily leave us, but if you
think about.
A dog that you never pay anyattention to, or a child or
(19:17):
something you're supposed to benurturing.
Eventually they'll stop cryingand asking for you.
And so sometimes people arelike, Hey, I don't have
intuition or whatever, and I'mlike, we all have it.
It's just something that needsto be nurtured.
Now granted, there are somepeople with spiritual gifts who
have highly attuned, and that'swhat they're put on this earth
to do.
We all have it, and it's just amatter of making space for it.
And that for me, I don't knowwhat your experience, it's come
(19:39):
through things that have beenvery illogical in the sense of
going to Atlanta and gettinginvolved in the community there
and driving, spending a lot oftime alone.
A lot of quiet time, a lot, alot of quiet time, and a lot of,
unproductivity.
Neal Neo Phalora (19:53):
So I have this thing that I'd love your
feedback on.
In the traditional sort of alphamale energy, it's all about like
how much you do.
How much you're hustling.
Mm-hmm.
How much you're grinding.
Mm-hmm.
I'm a very spiritual person, butI'm not one of these people that
think that you can just sit in acorner and go, mm.
Success.
And the success is gonna comedown from someplace.
I do think it's part of theequation.
(20:15):
For me I think that everythingin the biological world is a
spiritual mirror.
If we are supposed to come torest every day, if in our, even
in our breathing, we inspire andrespire to come to rest.
Mm-hmm.
Rest is something that's superimportant.
It should be done as fiercely aswe expand.
We should contract as fiercelyas expand.
(20:35):
I'm very much trying to disruptthe narrative of, of traditional
hustle by, by practicing actionand alignment, action alignment,
letting that.
Hmm.
Elevate your intuition, butacting from alignment.
So, how do you see thisparticular concept?
Or, how do you rejuvenate?
How do you rest because yououtput a lot of stuff.
You're doing a lot of things,but you've gotta rest.
Heather Parody (20:55):
I'm not the best at this.
I'm working on it.
If you look at my human design,I have really strong starter
vision, uh, visionary integratorenergy, and I put it on this
earth to connect visionaries,people with ideas to action.
So I have a very strong energytowards action, so I can hold a
lot without needing as much restas people.
(21:17):
That doesn't mean I don't needrest.
Okay.
So for me, with that in mind,again, my mornings are just
non-negotiable and I normallyhave a few hours on the weekend
that are unplugged, and thensometimes we'll take like full
days.
I recently started two weeks offat the end of every year.
Where it's just completelyunplugged, which is challenging
for me'cause I have a lot ofideas and I like working.
(21:39):
I enjoy working.
But again, I just have to Idon't wanna say force myself,
but very intentionally take thetime and realize that the work
is never going to be done.
I put out a lot.
I put a lot because I alwaysthink about the controllables
like if my goal is X, cool,what's the controllables to get
there and what actions is itgonna take for me to do it?
And so constantly getting databack and having to adjust, I'm
(22:00):
obsessed with it.
So I'm with you.
There's a balance and there's ayes.
And I'm like the most spiritualtalker with stuff, but I'll tell
you what, I'm a freaking doerand I have to go back to the,
everything that I say and makesure that I'm actually doing
what I say when it comes torest.
Neal Neo Phalora (22:16):
It's hard for all of us as high achievers or
people to find rest.
I preach this too, and I have tokeep coming back to it over and
over and over.
I often reflect on is like you10 years ago were at one place
and you couldn't see what's herein front of you now.
And that's part of being a humanbeing.
I think actually that's a partof magic, of being a human
being.
I don't fundamentally believethat if we were handed a book of
(22:39):
life and it had the 683,242pages and we read it, what would
we do after that?
Nothing.
Yeah.
Heather Parody (22:47):
Yeah,
Neal Neo Phalora (22:47):
nothing.
We'd just sit on the couch andgo, okay.
I don't know what comes next.
I don't mean this like in thetraditional, like where do you
see yourself in three to fiveyears?
I often really am fascinatedabout.
What people dream about.
And I love to dream, I love toenvision like Todd Herman's
stuff, I was doing that as akid.
Fantasizing about stuff andenvisioning it.
And Heather, it's worked so muchwhen I was chronically ill for
(23:11):
12 years and I rewired my healthand my body.
I had a vision where I'd finallyget to run and work out again
and be on a beach.
Mm-hmm.
And it happened.
With an alarming level ofdetail.
The real world version thathappened in real life.
Yes.
Yes.
Over and over again.
And Jim Carrey talks aboutsitting on the side of the
highway in front of theHollywood sign and so I know
(23:32):
this as an activator.
I think it would be reallyfascinating from somebody like
you who has done so many thingsfrom barely being educated to
where you are now.
Like what do you dream about
Heather Parody (23:43):
I love the entrepreneurial space, but I'm
not an entrepreneur.
I like making money and I wannamake money because it means
freedom.
And it means I can do whatever Iwant and that's the most
important thing to me.
I don't wake up thinking aboutnumbers and scalability and
selling something.
I'm a communicator.
I love media, I love stories.
(24:03):
But then I have my foot over inkind of the entertainment space
and I've been learning a lotabout that and have a lot of
friends who are full-time inthat space.
And there's a lot ofentrepreneurial stuff that's
missing over there.
So when you talk about my dream,I just kind of see myself with a
foot in both worlds, and I wannabe an entrepreneurial
storyteller in a sense.
I wanna make films and media andthings that make people think a
(24:26):
little bit deeper.
Ultimately I'd love to have myown feature film one day that I
write produce direct, let's go.
I'm working on shorts right now,that I'm gonna be filming this
year, just on my own dollar, andI wanna go more and more into
that space.
Media changed my life, listeningto podcasts, YouTube videos, all
that stuff.
And we're just getting startedin that space.
(24:46):
People are like, oh, you know,AI's taking over, and I'm like,
yo, you don't even know what'scoming.
And it's getting put in thehands more for creators and less
out of industries, and there'sless gatekeepers.
And I'm so excited to be aliveduring this time.
Neal Neo Phalora (24:59):
Yeah, I agree.
And I always lean into how manypeople have gotten their start
later in life.
And I think that's a bigmisnomer that happens on media
because we still are seeing mostof it's fake.
Actually, I recently intervieweda high fashion model who put out
a video that went pretty viraland she talked about wealth
faking.
Hmm.
(25:19):
And all these people thatverifiably managers are telling
them, go to this place and youcan use this mansion to film,
stand outside these shops andyou can pick up a Gucci bag to
pose, here's airplanes on therunway, and they're available to
rent.
We all know this is going on,but, but we still buy into the
narrative that Yeah.
(25:40):
That this is going on.
For me it's like, how do I leanin greater to my own authentic
message in a way that just, thatauthenticity just trumps
everything.
I think that people bastardizethat word.
Mm-hmm.
It's overused, but I think thething is that people don't
realize how to lean into it in away.
Mm-hmm.
Because it's so freakingartificial in our world.
Heather Parody (26:03):
Well, that, and also we're evolving and we're
changing, and so it's like thisweird pace and think about this.
There's never really been a timethroughout history where we have
had to figure ourselves out andexpress ourselves in mass
mediums at such a quick rate.
Think about it like when I wouldcommunicate hundreds of years
(26:25):
ago, it would be poured over andthought through and incent and
then consumed versus meinstantly thinking something,
creating something andimmediately being able to share
it.
There's no gap there.
And so I think we need to giveourselves a lot of grace too, as
creators when it comes to theauthenticity piece, because
we're evolving beings, we'retrying to figure things out, and
(26:46):
then there's an added pressureto constantly express it.
And there's not a lot of simmertime.
And so it's like I'm stilltrying to freaking figure out
who I am at 38.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
And.
We have a pressure and it'swrong that we need to present
ourselves.
Like we freaking know when it'sa part of the human experience
to not.
Neal Neo Phalora (27:08):
That's really good.
I got sidetracked on my ownpoint earlier, but really was
headed with that is we havethese 22 year olds that
supposedly are making it and Ihave a client right now that I'm
coaching and I just told'emlike, dude, the first 40 years
of research, man, I just gottatell you, they really are.
Everybody in their brother istelling you you're gonna be rich
in Lamborghinis and bottleservice by 27.
(27:30):
The average age, if your metricis this, which it doesn't need
to be, the average age of amillionaire is still 57 in this
country.
Heather Parody (27:36):
Yeah, totally.
Neal Neo Phalora (27:37):
Yeah.
And so don't have it that likeyou are lost because you haven't
gotten there.
If I had to place my finger bothon the creative space and the
entrepreneur space, which I amnot, is equally divided.
But I closet want to be, I mean,my acting trophy is still
sitting over here from highschool, college.
Because I see it every daybecause I'm like, Neil this is
(27:58):
what you've always wanted.
It's just my dad was, oh gosh,my dad was very physically and
emotionally abusive and he toldme no so much that got stuck in
my head.
But what the thing that peoplewould need to understand is it
takes time to get where you'regoing.
And I say this, Heather, is thatif your last breath were envied
around.
(28:20):
What you actually wanted inlife.
That moment would be enough.
Mm-hmm.
When you get to where you'regoing, everything that you've
been through, is worth it.
Amen.
Yeah.
Everything you've been throughis worth it.
It's being on these artificialtimetables all the time.
This idea that all theseentrepreneurs in the creative
space, all they say is, I'm notwhere I need to be.
Yeah, that's it.
I hear that the most commoncomplaint when I coach, when I'm
(28:42):
in masterminds, when I talk topeople like I should be farther
along and social media and thecomparison that we get to other
people's lives, artificiallyjust fuels the hell out of that.
Heather Parody (28:52):
I had a coach I was working with a few years
ago, it was actually ahypnotherapist and I was
complaining.
I was like, I'm not where Iwanna be.
What am I doing wrong?
I'm doing what Gary V says.
I'm posting all the time.
I'm very consistent, yada yada,yada.
And he was like, okay, explainto me where you wanna be in five
years.
And I was like, I wanna bespeaking.
I wanna have clients coming in.
(29:14):
I wanna be able to have like mydream guests on my podcast and
blah, blah, blah.
And he is like, all right,explain to me this past week.
And I was like.
Well, I got to go to this oneevent in my community with blah,
blah, blah, and I spoke to agroup of people in there.
There's about 10 people inthere.
And then I got to interview thisone person who was really,
really cool.
Oh, Anna just signed a newclient or whatever, and he was
(29:35):
like, you're living in anillusion.
Everything that you want isalready here and now, and you're
living this life, but you'reliving in an illusion and you
just don't see it.
And I was like.
Damn.
He's right.
Yeah.
Neal Neo Phalora (29:54):
It's one of those moments where they either
cry or you just sit down in achair and you just say nothing.
Because you're less like, damn,
Heather Parody (30:00):
I was thinking about that this morning.
I was out running and I'm justreally trying to tap back into
gratitude and just be like, God,thank you so much for all that I
do have.
I get to live this life and Iget to create and I get to make
my own schedule and I get toconnect with people I love, and
I love my clients and I love thecontent I make and does it
always perform great orwhatever.
But man, I would not do anythingelse and I'm so grateful.
(30:24):
I have to remind myself of thatconstantly.
'cause to your point, we'realways comparing, right?
But damn, what a good life.
Neal Neo Phalora (30:31):
Man, this is so important.
If nothing else, I'm hoping youguys are listening to this
podcast and hearing some ofthese nuggets from somebody
who's truly done it and comefrom a place that really as at a
serious disadvantage from noteven being educated enough to
move forward.
This is why I really hope thenext season of humanity, we get
back into tribe so that we canbe there for each other in a way
that we haven't.
(30:51):
But I'll just tell you, thismight sound boring as hell, but
we bought a couple of greenbookshelves.
We have the home, right?
We have the nice home in thenice neighborhood.
Yeah.
We put up a couple greenbookshelves and arranged, some
art, we got some things we want.
And the sunlight was shiningthrough and I walked out of my
studio into the living room andHeather as God is my witness, it
took my breath away.
(31:11):
I remember walking into otherpeople's homes that I thought
were affluent or doing betterthan me about 10 or so years
ago.
And I was like, man, if I couldjust live, if I could somehow
aim my life towards that, Iwould've made it right.
And I sat down in a chair andthere was a day that I would've
prayed for a day like this.
(31:32):
There were days, 10 years ago, Iwould've prayed for a day like
this just to have this thing ina feel thing.
This concept of more, is areally, really challenging
concept for human beings.
The best way that I have foundto actually embrace that is to
say, I have enough.
And I can create more.
Come on.
(31:52):
I say that all the time tomyself because I'm like, I need
the gratitude.
But somebody like me who camefrom an Indian household where
it was just all about achieving,getting a's, getting the
degrees, all this stuff, right?
You always do the best.
You always top notch.
I'm like, but I can't live mywhole life from behind and I'm
not enough.
So I do this, like I'll be atbreakfast and the pour the,
(32:13):
there'll be a coffee cup infront of me and I'll look inside
of it.
I'll be like, I have enough.
And I'll pour the coffee.
I'll say I create more.
I go into my closet, I have adirty shirt off, and I take it
off.
I say, I have enough.
And I put on a new shirt and Isay, I create more.
I'm, that's powerful.
I change my bias of everythingin the world, like pam Grout
from e-cubed.
She's running those experimentsout in the real world, and I'm
(32:34):
like, I'm getting goosebumpsright now because I'm
remembering what the fuck I'vecreated.
Right?
Yeah.
Heather Parody (32:42):
Damn, this is like a freaking church podcast.
This is,
Neal Neo Phalora (32:48):
Just like you, this is a thing that I love to
do day in and day out.
And while I'm so passionateabout putting my message out in
the world is'cause just likeyou, it's unconventional
thinking.
People aren't talking aboutbringing their neuroscience into
spirituality together.
People aren't talking aboutdoing grief work, but learning
how to sell better.
People aren't talking about if Ican only create net worth from
self-worth, but not in thereverse direction.
(33:09):
And then I have to have arelationship with myself.
'cause as Tom Bill says the mostimportant thing is how you feel
about yourself when you're byyourself.
And if you don't have that, youwon't implode.
Heather Parody (33:19):
Yeah.
What an interesting time to bealive.
Neal Neo Phalora (33:27):
Yeah.
Heather Parody (33:28):
Period.
Full stop.
We were talking before.
You know, people kind of arguewith me about this and I don't
have a logical reason to believethis.
I just do
Neal Neo Phalora (33:41):
okay.
Heather Parody (33:43):
But I believe in calling.
I just do, and I can't explainit.
It doesn't make sense.
And I don't know if I even agreewith it, you know what I mean?
Um, what does that word
Neal Neo Phalora (33:54):
mean?
Heather Parody (33:55):
Yeah.
So I think our tendencies, whenwe think of calling, we think of
it from like a hierarchy sense,you know what I mean?
Like, some people are called todo great things in this world,
or you're called to be, youknow, the leader when other
people are the followers and allthis stuff.
For me, it's just been thisacknowledgement of my bent
(34:18):
towards things like you sayingearlier your acting trophy or
whatever that's on your shelf.
I just don't believe that youhave that desire for kicks and
giggles.
It's like for why was it placedin you specifically, and why is
it still sitting there, and whyare you still thinking about it?
And why do I sit here and thinkabout the films I wanna make
(34:41):
when I have all the tools at myhand and clients and stuff?
I could build some agency and goa completely different
direction, but I keep gettingbent towards.
This little old lady in a coffeeshop and her grandson and this
narrative that I'm building withthem.
And so when I say calling, it'sless about like forever calling.
It's more like curiosity,seasonal calling of like, why is
(35:03):
this thing nudging me so much?
And this is a heavy word, I needa better word for it.
Not responsibility, but likewhere's the opportunity there
for me to grab a hold of it andtake it seriously?
Neal Neo Phalora (35:16):
Oh man, you get me all emotional now.
Wow.
If you guys will just listenback to what Heather said there.
That was that.
There were a couple moments.
There was one earlier, but thisis the one to let sink in this
podcast what she just said here.
'cause guys, if you don't havethat meat, the rest of the stuff
isn't gonna be worth it.
I have coach people that haveexploded at nine months and in
(35:37):
the 10th month, they were theedge on their balcony.
Yeah, they had all the thingsbecause it just, it didn't make
a difference.
Let me share a distinction withyou that was given to me by my
friend Lindsay, that I, itreverberate deeply for me.
She goes, you'll have manypurposes in this life, but
you'll only have one realcalling.
Heather Parody (35:54):
Interesting.
Um,
Neal Neo Phalora (35:54):
and the way that I teach this, it is that I
say to people your impact isalways vectored in the direction
of whatever you're healing.
Whatever you're healing foryourself.
I was just on a mastermind calltoday.
People were like, how do I finddirection?
I was just like, puts you acrossfrom you, you know, and whatever
you need to hear, that's whatyou speak out in your social
(36:16):
media, whatever you need tohear, that's what you speak out
to your clients or to youravatar, the people that you
want.
I think for me the purpose incalling is like.
I've done a lot of things.
I had a IV therapeutic spa, Ihad social media apps.
We had a six figure e-commercebusiness until covid happened.
'cause nobody was buyinghigh-end cappuccino, espresso
machines.
I've done a lot of differentthings.
(36:36):
I'm gonna list them all here.
I'll just tell you, those weremany purposes, but my calling
was still the same.
And every one of thosebusinesses, I was a spiritual
mentor.
Mm-hmm.
I was the people who was askingpeople like, alright guys, why
are we here?
and we can change the lens andwe can turn this into a
different narrative.
We're willing to lead.
I was the one who's disruptingculture in a sales organization
that was so narcissistic and gothis is torturous.
(36:59):
Why are we doing this?
Right?
Mm-hmm.
But that's always been me, butI've done multiple purposes.
My calling has been the same.
Heather Parody (37:07):
And I wonder with acting like how that's
expressed through acting too.
Yeah.
Because I think this is what Ilove about the whole kind of
creative space and thestorytelling space is it kinda
yields to our chronologic sideof the brain and just talks
about something completelydifferent, but spiritually gets
us back to the same place.
You know what I mean?
So it tells story and paintscolors and you don't even know
(37:30):
you're learning and you'regetting touched, and then it's
like, bam, there you are.
And so it's just like thisreally interesting backdoor, Rob
Bell mentioned that it's abackdoor into like healing.
And I think it's so cool whenhealers go into that place of
creativity because you're nottalking anymore to the logic
brain or you know, wrestlingwith something.
(37:54):
You're taking a back door thatanybody can take that spoonful
of sugar.
Neal Neo Phalora (37:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it leans into thefact that we're never just one
thing, that we're multitudes.
Mm-hmm.
And some people have experiencedme and said, wow, he's gifted.
And some people experienced meand probably went, what an
asshole.
And all of those things could betrue in any one moment.
And I think the thing that forme.
Like acting does, is it gives usone of the big things that we
all need is the need to be seen.
(38:18):
To be witnessed.
To have that self-expressionthat need to be expressed is
really qualified and need to beseen.
And the other thing I think Ilove about acting is that I look
at my whole life as methodacting.
I have a backstory.
I have an avatar.
I create a character.
And, you know, you interviewedTodd Herman.
One of his early mentees.
I used to speak in hismastermind, and he told me a lot
(38:41):
about Todd's teachings.
That's how I learned about it.
This is several years ago.
Acting is really that avatarprocess.
It's the Sasha Fierce and theBlack Mamba.
It's like, can I create a newexperience.
And for me, I think thewonderful thing is yes, you are
you.
You come to who you are throughexperience.
But what if you could, and Idon't like this word'cause it's
overused, but hack the systemand in your mind, start to
(39:03):
create that in advance of itsarrival, who you really are.
We already know this, LeonardoDiCaprio when he played Howard
Hughes.
He had months of rewiringtherapy because he started
taking on the symptoms.
He went so deep into character.
I didn't know that.
Heather Parody (39:16):
Really?
Wow.
He went
Neal Neo Phalora (39:17):
so deep into character that he started having
issues.
Heather Parody (39:21):
I didn't know that.
I'm gonna have to look that uplater, but that's what I'm
fascinated by, is just thatother self and stepping into
something that's just sospiritual and beautiful and man,
I've been reading a lot ofacting books over the past few
years and I tell people, I'mlike, this is some of the.
Most badass personal developmentI've ever done.
Oh, wow.
It's just learning, actingbecause it's literally this
(39:41):
separating factor of like selfand something else and getting
very tangible with theinteraction of those two worlds.
Damn.
It's deep.
Neal Neo Phalora (39:51):
Wow.
I'm gonna have to ask for a fewbook recommendations outside of
this.
Sure.
So Heather, like we've talkedabout a lot of things.
I knew that this conversationwas gonna be like that, and I
welcome it, right?
Because it just speaks to thediversity of who you are and
what you bring to the table, andthat you are very aligned and
you're very willing toexperience and show up in
(40:14):
multipurposes, multifaceted ofyourself.
Just like you said to me onetime, there's a difference
between message and delivery.
Mm-hmm.
I think your message is very thesame.
You just focus on multipledeliveries.
Right.
Amen.
And how Heather parody shows up.
I think one of the things thatwe'd be remiss in asking you, do
you work with people?
And, and if so, how do peoplefind you and what does that work
mean?
Because we've talked about a lotof things here.
(40:34):
So let's speak to a little bitabout that as we wrap up.
Heather Parody (40:37):
Yeah.
So for the past few years, we'vehad an agency where we've done
fractional COO work, whichessentially is just the
operational side, thebusinesses.
So I worked with a lot oftherapists and healers and
coaches and people who weredoing like one-on-one work, but
just didn't wanna handle thedigital side.
So we would go in and just.
Set up slash run the digitalside to their businesses and
(40:59):
it's doing really good.
And last year I had that gutcheck again, man.
It was strong of go heavy intothe creative space and start
working with creatives.
And so the people I was workingwith were really great.
But they just weren't in theindustry that I'm feeling really
called to.
So I re-listened to, I think Imessaged you my hours with our
(41:21):
human design coach and Ire-listened to it and it's so
wild when you go back and youre-listen to stuff and you're
like,
Neal Neo Phalora (41:27):
yes.
Heather Parody (41:28):
Damn, I missed it.
Yes, I missed it because therewas one connection that he made
that was fractional, COO work.
That made a lot of sense.
But the overall thing that hetold me over and over again was
messaging, translation, andmarketing.
And so that I'm put here to helpfolks who have a message be able
to articulate that and share it.
(41:48):
And so that's what I've beendoing over the past six, I guess
it's been not something sixmonths yet.
Or just do whiteboard sessions,strategy sessions, coaching,
consulting with folks who knowthat they have something to
share but need some supportsharing it.
Neal Neo Phalora (42:04):
Yeah, that's really good.
You have, along with otherpeople I've met this sort of
slum dog millionaire effect.
I very much identify with thatmovie.
I don't know if you've seen itor not.
Mm-hmm.
But it basically is a storyabout an Indian kid that grows
up and as he's on the show whowants to be a millionaire
everything that he's beenthrough becomes an answer to get
him to the million dollars.
Absolutely right.
So it all matriculates andthat's the thing that I see
(42:27):
reflected and I think a lot ofpeople's story I identify with,
and I think why I identify withyou as well is like.
All these things may seemunrelated.
But what I can get on the phonewith a semi-pro golfer and give
him a business called Readingthe Green and completely put him
into a world he's never beenbefore.
That's only because I've done somuch diverse shit.
(42:47):
Yes.
And I keep myself fed with stuffthat I can ideate and see
patterns and things that peopledon't see.
Yes.
And that's where.
I think it becomes hard forsomebody like a Heather parody
to go this is exactly what I do.
How do you quantify it and saywhat it is on a day by day
basis?
But if you were to start to dothat, I think that would take
away the magic that's you,Heather.
You don't wanna do that.
Heather Parody (43:07):
Well, at the end of the day, I know who I'm here
to help, and I know why I'mhelping them, and it's just the
avenues of how I'm helping themchange.
I started off helpingcommunicators, creatives,
visionaries edit their podcast'cause that's where my skillset
was at.
Mm.
And then it's evolved fromwebsite building to course
creation to COO stuff now intobranding and messaging and
content creation.
(43:28):
It's been the same person andit's been the same type of thing
of I want you to be lit up anddoing your thing and do it on a
high level.
How can I help you?
And of course, skillsets changeand all.
That's almost every entrepreneurstory.
You just don't hear about that.
Neal Neo Phalora (43:43):
So if people wanna reach out to you, how do
they find you?
Heather Parody (43:46):
Heather parody.
Google Me.
You can find me in whereveryou're at except Snapchat.
'cause.
I'm too old for that.
Neal Neo Phalora (43:51):
Yeah, you and me both.
Well thank you Heather, so muchfor being here.
So much fun.
Reach out.
Yeah, this is really good forme.
This is Nutritive.
I always judge a podcast by alsohow much I feel like I embodied
and moved forward during thepodcast.
If you want, please reach out toHeather it, go look at her
stuff.
It's a great template if you'retrying to figure out how to
express yourself in the world.
Trust me, I followed her workfor a long time.
(44:13):
She is the og.
She's done it, she's still init.
She's not a fronter.
Definitely look her up.
I just wanna remind thelisteners as always that the
best part of being wealthy isbeing happy.
Welcome to the Happy Wealthy Show.
I'm your host, Neo phalora andtoday we have Heather parody.
I've known Heather for a littleclip.
I knew her way back when shedecided that people need to get
together and have a Welcome tothe Happy Wealthy Show.
I'm your host, Neo Phalora andtoday we have Heather parody.
I've known Heather for a littleclip.
(00:58):
I knew her way back when shedecided that people need to get
together and have a coffee chat.
Now to say that Heather isunconventional would probably
typify her, but let's justreview a little bit of what
Heather's multifaceted journeyis.
Is she a photographer?
Is she a mental healthprofessional?
Is she an actress?
Is she a comic?
Is she somebody who is achampion for creative souls?
(01:22):
Well, the answer to all of thatwould be absolutely yes.
And in the story today thatwe're going to unravel, I've
been fan, is it fan boying orfan girling?
I'm not sure, but either one.
I'm okay with over her journey.
And could one email change yourlife?
Possibly.
If you have no experience inpodcasting, then you might lean
into that story of being on fromthat to being on the Glen Lundy
(01:46):
show and co-hosting.
That is a big leap.
So there's a lot to unpack hereand Heather's journey where
she's gotten.
Unbelievable guests on ourpodcast like Todd Herman, Seth
Godin and Brendan Kane.
So it's my absolute pleasure andyou should tune in and listen to
everything.
This person, this creative soul,has to say.
Heather parody, welcome to theshow.
Heather Parody (02:05):
I'm so happy to be here.
I always tell people that nomatter where I go, I feel like
you're always there.
You're like one of the most wellnetworked, in the workmen ever,
and I'm just so happy to get tospend some time with you.
Neal Neo Phalora (02:17):
Well, thank you.
I appreciate that.
I received that.
Heather, one of the things thatI.
When I see you out doing yourthings.
I think people know you assomebody who's gone viral and
had those viral videos, right?
Mm-hmm.
And I remember when you wentviral and you and I had a
conversation about this, and thefirst thing they asked you was,
(02:39):
what camera do you use?
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
And now why I'm leading intothis is that.
That is the point farthest fromyour approach to being a
creative and how you do yourprocess, and I think mm-hmm.
That's the thing that the juicethat you've laid in the hard
work that you've leaned into,that most people are ignoring.
Mm-hmm.
(02:59):
That's the least that what I'dlike to talk about first.
Right.
And so I know that was a reallykind of almost asinine comment.
What is your approach to being acreative person and the things
that you do when you put videosout there?
Heather Parody (03:14):
My intention, it doesn't always go this way
because I'm human and flawed andI have to check my ego a lot and
get distracted by another belland whistle and whatever, but.
When I get still and quiet andreset my intention every single
Sunday, which is what I do on mycouch, is to get really, really
honest with what is moving meright now.
(03:35):
And paying really, really closeattention to that.
And I know that's like the mostunsexy content marketing
strategy ever.
But my thesis as of late hasbeen that we need to see more
creators who are lit up.
That to your point, we get sofixated on these tactics and
strategies and tools, which areall cool.
(03:57):
I like them too, but we thinkthat's the meat and the potatoes
of it, when really it's spiritand heart and this level of lit
upness and I don't know anotherway to describe it.
Then you know it when you seeit.
The conviction that someone hasabout whatever their topic, and
we're just so drawn to that.
So, you know, yes, there's the.
Writing and the creativity andlearning structure and
(04:18):
storytelling and so forth.
But I've really been trying topay close, close attention to my
ideation process when I gothroughout my day, paying
attention to when Neil said thisand it moved me in some way.
Why did it?
And what was it about that?
And just documenting it andgetting more curious and
whatever.
I used to get so annoyed whenpeople would say stuff like
that.
I'm like, oh my God, that iswhat, you know, that that
(04:40):
doesn't make sense.
It can't be that simple.
But I've noticed over and overagain, like, and I've put out a
hell of a lot of content.
You know this?
Yes.
That the stuff that is quoteworked, and I don't mean
necessarily from like a viralitystandpoint, but just resonating
with my community and it wassomething I was proud of.
Always came from a place ofconviction.
Neal Neo Phalora (05:00):
That's a really good answer.
And.
I'd like to draw a distinctionor help us draw a distinction
between, I think most of us havean understanding that like when
we felt in flow or we feltaligned or we had a pure
intention and we put that outinto the universe where it's on
social media or poems orwhatever you're doing, or
(05:20):
filmmaking, it tends toresonate.
Mm-hmm.
But I think where people havetrouble is like.
Okay, well, I want to be in thatplace.
But then they have the otherexperience where they're like,
they worked really hard on apiece of content and it fell
flat.
They thought that they weredoing everything right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they're like, oh, this is sogood.
And I'm separating the lines andI'm curating the cuts in the
(05:42):
video and all that.
And then.
Nothing.
Heather Parody (05:45):
Yeah.
So I think it's helpful for meto not look at single pieces of
content or single episodes, butlook at your body of work that
you're creating and look at itas a whole book with a bunch of
chapters and pages in it.
And I think there is somethingto be said that if you're
looking at a body of work andyou're starting to see data and
signs that something is notworking.
(06:05):
There's a difference between thestructure and presentation of
something and the heartbeat ofsomething, right?
So you can have your message andyour intention of what you wanna
share.
And that's unshakeable, right?
Like that's the thing, butlearning and structure and
crafting a story and just kindof the delivery method, that's
something different.
And what I meant by earlier, notpaying attention to tactics and
(06:27):
all that, it's not that thosedon't come into play, those are
second.
And we make those first.
We do need the strategy andunderstanding of story and how
things are framed to be able tocommunicate with people.
But again, that's the secondarypiece.
So if you're working really hardon one thing, a lot of times
people stop at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Me and maybe I'm just, uh, youknow, it takes me a while to
(06:50):
learn stuff.
It's taken me hundreds,thousands of pieces, thousands
of pieces of content to kind offind my flow, and I'm still
refining it.
I mean, every morning I sit withmy cup of coffee and I write and
I look at scripts and what'sworked and what hasn't, and how
I can frame something a littlebit different and so forth.
Neal Neo Phalora (07:09):
I think.
It's discipline at the end ofthe day, even correct creatives
need discipline.
And I think that's a place whereI got hung up because I do like
drums and guitar and designingthe set behind my podcast studio
and writing scripts.
And I think that we're all hereto be multifaceted.
I hear the discipline and whatyou're doing.
(07:29):
I think the other thing thatwould be really helpful for
people to hear about you islike, I think a lot of why we're
here on earth is to bemultifaceted, but in the
marketplace, it's all aboutniche, niche now.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
What's your offer?
What's your thing?
The one thing, what do peopleknow you for, right?
Mm-hmm.
And here you are, you've been ina movie, right?
You get up on stage and it'slike, Hey, I'm gonna try my hand
at comedy with, and you're doingmultiple things.
(07:53):
One of the things that flooredme when we got to hang out at a
podcast venue together is likethe way that you make money is
even something that you don'teven talk about a lot.
This fractional position thatyou are in many businesses, it's
like not anything that youadvertise, but somehow it's also
a major part of who you are.
And so being a creative myself,I have poetry that comes through
(08:13):
me.
I've written children's stories,right?
I don't want to be known for onething.
I think most of us feel thatway.
I don't wanna be pigeonholed,but how do we create a brand
online but also be multifaceted,multipotential?
Heather Parody (08:26):
Yeah, that's a fantastic question.
Something I'm constantly tryingto figure out.
If you don't mind, let me put ahold there on that and go back
to something you said a minuteago, please.
You said even creatives needstructure.
This is one of our biggesthangups is this war between
feminine masculine energy of Idon't need structure, I'm a
creative, yada, yada.
(08:47):
And I had this, I don't wannasay vision because it wasn't
necessarily tangible like that,but there's this picture in my
mind the other day when I wasthinking about structure and I
saw like a performer on aphysical stage.
And I just heard structure isthe stage in which amplifies
your voice.
Neal Neo Phalora (09:06):
Say it again.
Heather Parody (09:07):
Structure is the stage that amplifies your voice.
It's the stage that we stand onthat brings our voice to the
masses.
And so it's not the voice, it'snot the talent, it's not the
heart.
We need all of that.
But the stage is the physicalstructure that amplifies what
I'm doing.
And so do creatives need that?
I think if you want your art andyour message to be out there, I
(09:30):
mean, not everybody does, right?
So no, they're just doing it forthemselves.
But if you wanna make it yourlife.
Hell yeah.
As far as the multifacetedpiece, this is really a
difficult one for me.
I don't have a pretty answer forit because it's something I
wrestle with.
It's something I question myselfa lot.
Like I could maybe run a lotfaster if it was in a straight
(09:50):
line and not all these zigzags,but man, I'm just having so much
fun.
And for me too, I've always beenasking, well, two things.
The fun piece is reallyimportant.
I wanna keep my spirit.
Light and happy and joyous forthe spiritual reasons we know.
And then two, there's so muchkind of inspiration that comes
(10:13):
from stepping outside of the boxa little bit and getting new
stimulus.
I get up at four 30, I read, Ijournal, I run, I lift, I get
Emerson ready for school.
You know, boom, boom.
My life is freaking routine andI'm very, very disciplined.
I have to be.
(10:34):
Driving to acting class twohours away, me going on Sunday
and going to a comedy club andhosting something, me going into
a movie, me.
Doing photography, it's hard asan achiever because I'm thinking
where is the direct correlationto what I'm trying to build?
And this is there an ROI here,and I can't give you a good
(10:56):
answer for it because on paperit makes no sense.
But I know I get some of mygreatest ideas when I'm not
doing my routine.
Neal Neo Phalora (11:03):
There you go.
You know, and there it is.
Yeah.
Heather Parody (11:06):
Yeah.
Neal Neo Phalora (11:06):
Yeah.
I like to think about that ascreative disruption.
Honestly, one of the best thingsI did for my business was take
drums and guitar on Friday, andevery Friday is an overachiever.
I get anxiety that I haven'tdone enough and I need to
practice more, and then when Ifucking go in there, I find a
point of flow and I'm like, itreleases something inside of me
that is so magical.
(11:26):
I'll just have to say in ourhigh achieving society, it's
always about revenue oraccolades or accomplishments.
But I love Esther Hicks.
I mean, I consume a lot ofdifferent things like you do.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Books and thoughts because itprovides fodder for my mind.
One of the things that she says,I love this piece where she's
talking she's having thedialogue for herself and she's
(11:47):
like, what are you doing thesedays?
Having fun.
For what purpose?
For enjoyment.
Right.
And, and to what end?
To have to experience pleasureon this earth.
And what does that do for you?
Create more happiness.
And she just.
And why the fuck not.
Who said that the only ROI isseven figures.
Right.
Come
Heather Parody (12:06):
on, preach, preach, preach, preach, preach.
Amen.
I love her too, man.
when I go down to Atlanta, Ilisten to a lot of Esther Hicks
content and it just gets meriled.
Neal Neo Phalora (12:15):
Yeah.
Yeah.
One of my friends went to herlive and the goal is that you
get called on, and she didn'tget called on, but she said that
the, that Esther spoke directlyto her, like what she had said
just landed for her.
All it was missing was her namein front of it.
Mm.
And she's like, that was a goodenough for me.
So, yeah, the woo wooexperiences.
One of the parts that I loveabout your story that I
(12:36):
personally identify with isleaning into things with, yes.
We either have this energy, Ithink in life we're either yes
or no.
And as we get older, because ofour nervous system and our
experiences, our brains need,our nervous system, need for
safety.
We're unconsciously saying no alot.
But talk to me about that momentwhen somebody emailed you about
(12:57):
podcast editing.
Mm-hmm.
And you just went.
Yes, I do.
And then you're like, I'm gonnafucking figure this out and like
move forward.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because there's something inyour story that's very
repeatable about this idea ofsaying yes to different things.
Yeah.
And people, like you said, itdoesn't fit together, but it
does.
It's building a framework of whoyou are.
(13:19):
It's branding yourself, right?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
As somebody, mm-hmm.
Who embraces these kinds ofunique challenges, they think
most people would go, I can't dothat.
Heather Parody (13:28):
Right.
Yeah.
Um, so, you know, rewind 10 plusyears ago, I had just finished
my master's in mental health andI had worked really hard on that
degree.
A lot of people know my story.
I didn't grow up with aneducation.
I was really behindacademically.
When I say I didn't grow up witheducation, I was homeschooled my
entire life.
(13:49):
And my mom dealt with a lot ofmental health stuff and really
just stopped teaching us after acertain point.
And so I didn't think collegewas an option for me, and I just
felt really stupid.
Oh, wow.
And going to school was, that'sa long story, but I was really
embarrassed and I had to go tocommunity college and take
developmental classes and I justworked my ass off really, really
(14:12):
hard.
So getting this degree, gettinga master's when you didn't even
have a high school diploma, um,it was huge for me.
It was something that said, Hey,you have worth, you have value.
You have a place here in societythat you can contribute.
And then when I knew in my gut,my gut that.
This was not my highest callingand I can't even explain it.
(14:33):
I just knew it and it was sofrustrating.
And I'm sure you've experiencedthis where there's nothing wrong
with the thing.
There's nothing wrong with it.
It's good, it makes sense andyou kind of want it, but there's
something about it that yousaid, this is not what's great,
you know, and that good to greatthing is what's really hard.
But, um, I got the job offers, Igot the license.
(14:58):
Through a series of events, justmade the decision to put it all
down and I didn't have anythingelse to fall back on.
And I swear that this happened.
It's the creepiest, weirdest,wildest thing.
But I remember having my laptopup here at the bar in the
kitchen.
And I remember emailing thepeople back and politely
declining the job, offerscrying, thinking I'm an idiot.
(15:23):
And then it wasn't 10, 15minutes, I'm still standing
there.
I had an email pop up in myinbox that said, Hey, Heather,
yada yada, yada.
Um, I know this is a far stretchthing, but for some reason you
popped into my head and Iwonder, do you edit podcasts?
And I'm like, hell yeah, I do.
(15:43):
You joking.
Which of course I didn't.
I was doing like a podcast outof my closet and not editing it
at all, and just throwing it upon iTunes.
But I took the job and Ifreaking figured it out, and I
started editing podcasts forpeople.
Got into a podcasting agency,started freelancing, and then,
you know how it goes from there.
Then you're doing social, thenyou're doing websites, then
(16:04):
you're doing funnels.
And after a while, you know,and, um.
So that's the kind of the sayingyes thing is, I feel like
sometimes God source, whatever,it's, you know, that Indiana
Jones thing where he steps outand then something appears.
I feel like anytime I'mbelieving for something in my
life, for me, it's required meto kind of step off the cliff
(16:28):
and trust something was gonnacome there before it actually
appeared.
It's like, if you want newclothes, give your clothes away.
If you need more food, feed yourneighbor, right?
Neal Neo Phalora (16:38):
No, that's awesome.
And.
I think the thing that we ashuman beings, you know,
spiritual beings in a meat suitreally crave is we are addicted
to what we can predict, right?
Mm-hmm.
And that comes from, I need aplan.
Tell me about the plan.
What is the plan?
But the plan is not aboutgetting you there.
The plan is about preparing youhere for the destination.
(16:58):
Yeah.
Yes.
And ultimately, the plan is onlyexecuted where you can just put
full faith into the plan.
Yes.
You don't know at the base ofthe mountain how, what's on the
other side.
Right.
And while that might sound likecliche, it's so true because
nobody leads from completetransparency.
They have to lead from faith.
Mm-hmm.
Amen.
They have to lead from faith.
(17:18):
The other thing that I reallyliked in what you said was, how
so often what I hear reflectedin what you said is we choose
fear thinly guise aspracticality.
I got this from Jim Carey in acommencement address.
Yeah.
You know, gave so good, so good.
I, I rewatch that every so often'cause it keeps teaching me over
(17:39):
and over again and I love thatchoice.
'cause Heather, when you chooseyou and the face of extreme
opportunity costs, youunderstand your value.
The thing that I'd like to askyou about is gut instinct, and
I'll just tell you somebody whoused to be in boardrooms all
across the US and all these.
(17:59):
We're gonna use our rubric andSWOT analysis, and then three
fourths of every meeting were,how's the customer gonna feel?
How's the marketing gonna feel?
And I'm like, can we just stoppretending that we make that we
are logical beings, right?
Yeah.
We're emotional beings.
And even Gary V said he usesgut.
I was at a dinner and there werefive women up there worth a
couple billion total, and theyall said gut was the most
(18:21):
important part of who they are.
I love that answer.
And there was very littlefeedback.
'cause people didn't want thatanswer.
They wanted the tackle.
So when you say gut, what doesthat mean to you?
Heather Parody (18:33):
Um, still small voice that knowing you, it's the
thing like kinda like theaftertaste of something.
You know that you can and can'tget rid of, and it's kind of
poking at you.
The interesting thing about itthough, is in my experience, it
does go away if you don't, I.
Hone it, you know?
(18:54):
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
And I, I love the way ElizabethGilbert explains it in Big
Magic.
And her, you know, analogy iskinda like ideas, inspiration,
muse of like, it wants to betaken care of and nurtured, and
if it isn't taken care of andnurtured, it will go find
another host.
And I know our intuition doesn'tnecessarily leave us, but if you
think about.
A dog that you never pay anyattention to, or a child or
(19:17):
something you're supposed to benurturing.
Eventually they'll stop cryingand asking for you.
And so sometimes people arelike, Hey, I don't have
intuition or whatever, and I'mlike, we all have it.
It's just something that needsto be nurtured.
Now granted, there are somepeople with spiritual gifts who
have highly attuned, and that'swhat they're put on this earth
to do.
We all have it, and it's just amatter of making space for it.
And that for me, I don't knowwhat your experience, it's come
(19:39):
through things that have beenvery illogical in the sense of
going to Atlanta and gettinginvolved in the community there
and driving, spending a lot oftime alone.
A lot of quiet time, a lot, alot of quiet time, and a lot of,
unproductivity.
Neal Neo Phalora (19:53):
So I have this thing that I'd love your
feedback on.
In the traditional sort of alphamale energy, it's all about like
how much you do.
How much you're hustling.
Mm-hmm.
How much you're grinding.
Mm-hmm.
I'm a very spiritual person, butI'm not one of these people that
think that you can just sit in acorner and go, mm.
Success.
And the success is gonna comedown from someplace.
I do think it's part of theequation.
(20:15):
For me I think that everythingin the biological world is a
spiritual mirror.
If we are supposed to come torest every day, if in our, even
in our breathing, we inspire andrespire to come to rest.
Mm-hmm.
Rest is something that's superimportant.
It should be done as fiercely aswe expand.
We should contract as fiercelyas expand.
(20:35):
I'm very much trying to disruptthe narrative of, of traditional
hustle by, by practicing actionand alignment, action alignment,
letting that.
Hmm.
Elevate your intuition, butacting from alignment.
So, how do you see thisparticular concept?
Or, how do you rejuvenate?
How do you rest because yououtput a lot of stuff.
You're doing a lot of things,but you've gotta rest.
Heather Parody (20:55):
I'm not the best at this.
I'm working on it.
If you look at my human design,I have really strong starter
vision, uh, visionary integratorenergy, and I put it on this
earth to connect visionaries,people with ideas to action.
So I have a very strong energytowards action, so I can hold a
lot without needing as much restas people.
(21:17):
That doesn't mean I don't needrest.
Okay.
So for me, with that in mind,again, my mornings are just
non-negotiable and I normallyhave a few hours on the weekend
that are unplugged, and thensometimes we'll take like full
days.
I recently started two weeks offat the end of every year.
Where it's just completelyunplugged, which is challenging
for me'cause I have a lot ofideas and I like working.
(21:39):
I enjoy working.
But again, I just have to Idon't wanna say force myself,
but very intentionally take thetime and realize that the work
is never going to be done.
I put out a lot.
I put a lot because I alwaysthink about the controllables
like if my goal is X, cool,what's the controllables to get
there and what actions is itgonna take for me to do it?
And so constantly getting databack and having to adjust, I'm
(22:00):
obsessed with it.
So I'm with you.
There's a balance and there's ayes.
And I'm like the most spiritualtalker with stuff, but I'll tell
you what, I'm a freaking doerand I have to go back to the,
everything that I say and makesure that I'm actually doing
what I say when it comes torest.
Neal Neo Phalora (22:16):
It's hard for all of us as high achievers or
people to find rest.
I preach this too, and I have tokeep coming back to it over and
over and over.
I often reflect on is like you10 years ago were at one place
and you couldn't see what's herein front of you now.
And that's part of being a humanbeing.
I think actually that's a partof magic, of being a human
being.
I don't fundamentally believethat if we were handed a book of
(22:39):
life and it had the 683,242pages and we read it, what would
we do after that?
Nothing.
Yeah.
Heather Parody (22:47):
Yeah,
Neal Neo Phalora (22:47):
nothing.
We'd just sit on the couch andgo, okay.
I don't know what comes next.
I don't mean this like in thetraditional, like where do you
see yourself in three to fiveyears?
I often really am fascinatedabout.
What people dream about.
And I love to dream, I love toenvision like Todd Herman's
stuff, I was doing that as akid.
Fantasizing about stuff andenvisioning it.
And Heather, it's worked so muchwhen I was chronically ill for
(23:11):
12 years and I rewired my healthand my body.
I had a vision where I'd finallyget to run and work out again
and be on a beach.
Mm-hmm.
And it happened.
With an alarming level ofdetail.
The real world version thathappened in real life.
Yes.
Yes.
Over and over again.
And Jim Carrey talks aboutsitting on the side of the
highway in front of theHollywood sign and so I know
(23:32):
this as an activator.
I think it would be reallyfascinating from somebody like
you who has done so many thingsfrom barely being educated to
where you are now.
Like what do you dream about
Heather Parody (23:43):
I love the entrepreneurial space, but I'm
not an entrepreneur.
I like making money and I wannamake money because it means
freedom.
And it means I can do whatever Iwant and that's the most
important thing to me.
I don't wake up thinking aboutnumbers and scalability and
selling something.
I'm a communicator.
I love media, I love stories.
(24:03):
But then I have my foot over inkind of the entertainment space
and I've been learning a lotabout that and have a lot of
friends who are full-time inthat space.
And there's a lot ofentrepreneurial stuff that's
missing over there.
So when you talk about my dream,I just kind of see myself with a
foot in both worlds, and I wannabe an entrepreneurial
storyteller in a sense.
I wanna make films and media andthings that make people think a
(24:26):
little bit deeper.
Ultimately I'd love to have myown feature film one day that I
write produce direct, let's go.
I'm working on shorts right now,that I'm gonna be filming this
year, just on my own dollar, andI wanna go more and more into
that space.
Media changed my life, listeningto podcasts, YouTube videos, all
that stuff.
And we're just getting startedin that space.
(24:46):
People are like, oh, you know,AI's taking over, and I'm like,
yo, you don't even know what'scoming.
And it's getting put in thehands more for creators and less
out of industries, and there'sless gatekeepers.
And I'm so excited to be aliveduring this time.
Neal Neo Phalora (24:59):
Yeah, I agree.
And I always lean into how manypeople have gotten their start
later in life.
And I think that's a bigmisnomer that happens on media
because we still are seeing mostof it's fake.
Actually, I recently intervieweda high fashion model who put out
a video that went pretty viraland she talked about wealth
faking.
Hmm.
(25:19):
And all these people thatverifiably managers are telling
them, go to this place and youcan use this mansion to film,
stand outside these shops andyou can pick up a Gucci bag to
pose, here's airplanes on therunway, and they're available to
rent.
We all know this is going on,but, but we still buy into the
narrative that Yeah.
(25:40):
That this is going on.
For me it's like, how do I leanin greater to my own authentic
message in a way that just, thatauthenticity just trumps
everything.
I think that people bastardizethat word.
Mm-hmm.
It's overused, but I think thething is that people don't
realize how to lean into it in away.
Mm-hmm.
Because it's so freakingartificial in our world.
Heather Parody (26:03):
Well, that, and also we're evolving and we're
changing, and so it's like thisweird pace and think about this.
There's never really been a timethroughout history where we have
had to figure ourselves out andexpress ourselves in mass
mediums at such a quick rate.
Think about it like when I wouldcommunicate hundreds of years
(26:25):
ago, it would be poured over andthought through and incent and
then consumed versus meinstantly thinking something,
creating something andimmediately being able to share
it.
There's no gap there.
And so I think we need to giveourselves a lot of grace too, as
creators when it comes to theauthenticity piece, because
we're evolving beings, we'retrying to figure things out, and
(26:46):
then there's an added pressureto constantly express it.
And there's not a lot of simmertime.
And so it's like I'm stilltrying to freaking figure out
who I am at 38.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
And.
We have a pressure and it'swrong that we need to present
ourselves.
Like we freaking know when it'sa part of the human experience
to not.
Neal Neo Phalora (27:08):
That's really good.
I got sidetracked on my ownpoint earlier, but really was
headed with that is we havethese 22 year olds that
supposedly are making it and Ihave a client right now that I'm
coaching and I just told'emlike, dude, the first 40 years
of research, man, I just gottatell you, they really are.
Everybody in their brother istelling you you're gonna be rich
in Lamborghinis and bottleservice by 27.
(27:30):
The average age, if your metricis this, which it doesn't need
to be, the average age of amillionaire is still 57 in this
country.
Heather Parody (27:36):
Yeah, totally.
Neal Neo Phalora (27:37):
Yeah.
And so don't have it that likeyou are lost because you haven't
gotten there.
If I had to place my finger bothon the creative space and the
entrepreneur space, which I amnot, is equally divided.
But I closet want to be, I mean,my acting trophy is still
sitting over here from highschool, college.
Because I see it every daybecause I'm like, Neil this is
(27:58):
what you've always wanted.
It's just my dad was, oh gosh,my dad was very physically and
emotionally abusive and he toldme no so much that got stuck in
my head.
But what the thing that peoplewould need to understand is it
takes time to get where you'regoing.
And I say this, Heather, is thatif your last breath were envied
around.
(28:20):
What you actually wanted inlife.
That moment would be enough.
Mm-hmm.
When you get to where you'regoing, everything that you've
been through, is worth it.
Amen.
Yeah.
Everything you've been throughis worth it.
It's being on these artificialtimetables all the time.
This idea that all theseentrepreneurs in the creative
space, all they say is, I'm notwhere I need to be.
Yeah, that's it.
I hear that the most commoncomplaint when I coach, when I'm
(28:42):
in masterminds, when I talk topeople like I should be farther
along and social media and thecomparison that we get to other
people's lives, artificiallyjust fuels the hell out of that.
Heather Parody (28:52):
I had a coach I was working with a few years
ago, it was actually ahypnotherapist and I was
complaining.
I was like, I'm not where Iwanna be.
What am I doing wrong?
I'm doing what Gary V says.
I'm posting all the time.
I'm very consistent, yada yada,yada.
And he was like, okay, explainto me where you wanna be in five
years.
And I was like, I wanna bespeaking.
I wanna have clients coming in.
(29:14):
I wanna be able to have like mydream guests on my podcast and
blah, blah, blah.
And he is like, all right,explain to me this past week.
And I was like.
Well, I got to go to this oneevent in my community with blah,
blah, blah, and I spoke to agroup of people in there.
There's about 10 people inthere.
And then I got to interview thisone person who was really,
really cool.
Oh, Anna just signed a newclient or whatever, and he was
(29:35):
like, you're living in anillusion.
Everything that you want isalready here and now, and you're
living this life, but you'reliving in an illusion and you
just don't see it.
And I was like.
Damn.
He's right.
Yeah.
Neal Neo Phalora (29:54):
It's one of those moments where they either
cry or you just sit down in achair and you just say nothing.
Because you're less like, damn,
Heather Parody (30:00):
I was thinking about that this morning.
I was out running and I'm justreally trying to tap back into
gratitude and just be like, God,thank you so much for all that I
do have.
I get to live this life and Iget to create and I get to make
my own schedule and I get toconnect with people I love, and
I love my clients and I love thecontent I make and does it
always perform great orwhatever.
But man, I would not do anythingelse and I'm so grateful.
(30:24):
I have to remind myself of thatconstantly.
'cause to your point, we'realways comparing, right?
But damn, what a good life.
Neal Neo Phalora (30:31):
Man, this is so important.
If nothing else, I'm hoping youguys are listening to this
podcast and hearing some ofthese nuggets from somebody
who's truly done it and comefrom a place that really as at a
serious disadvantage from noteven being educated enough to
move forward.
This is why I really hope thenext season of humanity, we get
back into tribe so that we canbe there for each other in a way
that we haven't.
(30:51):
But I'll just tell you, thismight sound boring as hell, but
we bought a couple of greenbookshelves.
We have the home, right?
We have the nice home in thenice neighborhood.
Yeah.
We put up a couple greenbookshelves and arranged, some
art, we got some things we want.
And the sunlight was shiningthrough and I walked out of my
studio into the living room andHeather as God is my witness, it
took my breath away.
(31:11):
I remember walking into otherpeople's homes that I thought
were affluent or doing betterthan me about 10 or so years
ago.
And I was like, man, if I couldjust live, if I could somehow
aim my life towards that, Iwould've made it right.
And I sat down in a chair andthere was a day that I would've
prayed for a day like this.
(31:32):
There were days, 10 years ago, Iwould've prayed for a day like
this just to have this thing ina feel thing.
This concept of more, is areally, really challenging
concept for human beings.
The best way that I have foundto actually embrace that is to
say, I have enough.
And I can create more.
Come on.
(31:52):
I say that all the time tomyself because I'm like, I need
the gratitude.
But somebody like me who camefrom an Indian household where
it was just all about achieving,getting a's, getting the
degrees, all this stuff, right?
You always do the best.
You always top notch.
I'm like, but I can't live mywhole life from behind and I'm
not enough.
So I do this, like I'll be atbreakfast and the pour the,
(32:13):
there'll be a coffee cup infront of me and I'll look inside
of it.
I'll be like, I have enough.
And I'll pour the coffee.
I'll say I create more.
I go into my closet, I have adirty shirt off, and I take it
off.
I say, I have enough.
And I put on a new shirt and Isay, I create more.
I'm, that's powerful.
I change my bias of everythingin the world, like pam Grout
from e-cubed.
She's running those experimentsout in the real world, and I'm
(32:34):
like, I'm getting goosebumpsright now because I'm
remembering what the fuck I'vecreated.
Right?
Yeah.
Heather Parody (32:42):
Damn, this is like a freaking church podcast.
This is,
Neal Neo Phalora (32:48):
Just like you, this is a thing that I love to
do day in and day out.
And while I'm so passionateabout putting my message out in
the world is'cause just likeyou, it's unconventional
thinking.
People aren't talking aboutbringing their neuroscience into
spirituality together.
People aren't talking aboutdoing grief work, but learning
how to sell better.
People aren't talking about if Ican only create net worth from
self-worth, but not in thereverse direction.
(33:09):
And then I have to have arelationship with myself.
'cause as Tom Bill says the mostimportant thing is how you feel
about yourself when you're byyourself.
And if you don't have that, youwon't implode.
Heather Parody (33:19):
Yeah.
What an interesting time to bealive.
Neal Neo Phalora (33:27):
Yeah.
Heather Parody (33:28):
Period.
Full stop.
We were talking before.
You know, people kind of arguewith me about this and I don't
have a logical reason to believethis.
I just do
Neal Neo Phalora (33:41):
okay.
Heather Parody (33:43):
But I believe in calling.
I just do, and I can't explainit.
It doesn't make sense.
And I don't know if I even agreewith it, you know what I mean?
Um, what does that word
Neal Neo Phalora (33:54):
mean?
Heather Parody (33:55):
Yeah.
So I think our tendencies, whenwe think of calling, we think of
it from like a hierarchy sense,you know what I mean?
Like, some people are called todo great things in this world,
or you're called to be, youknow, the leader when other
people are the followers and allthis stuff.
For me, it's just been thisacknowledgement of my bent
(34:18):
towards things like you sayingearlier your acting trophy or
whatever that's on your shelf.
I just don't believe that youhave that desire for kicks and
giggles.
It's like for why was it placedin you specifically, and why is
it still sitting there, and whyare you still thinking about it?
And why do I sit here and thinkabout the films I wanna make
(34:41):
when I have all the tools at myhand and clients and stuff?
I could build some agency and goa completely different
direction, but I keep gettingbent towards.
This little old lady in a coffeeshop and her grandson and this
narrative that I'm building withthem.
And so when I say calling, it'sless about like forever calling.
It's more like curiosity,seasonal calling of like, why is
(35:03):
this thing nudging me so much?
And this is a heavy word, I needa better word for it.
Not responsibility, but likewhere's the opportunity there
for me to grab a hold of it andtake it seriously?
Neal Neo Phalora (35:16):
Oh man, you get me all emotional now.
Wow.
If you guys will just listenback to what Heather said there.
That was that.
There were a couple moments.
There was one earlier, but thisis the one to let sink in this
podcast what she just said here.
'cause guys, if you don't havethat meat, the rest of the stuff
isn't gonna be worth it.
I have coach people that haveexploded at nine months and in
(35:37):
the 10th month, they were theedge on their balcony.
Yeah, they had all the thingsbecause it just, it didn't make
a difference.
Let me share a distinction withyou that was given to me by my
friend Lindsay, that I, itreverberate deeply for me.
She goes, you'll have manypurposes in this life, but
you'll only have one realcalling.
Heather Parody (35:54):
Interesting.
Um,
Neal Neo Phalora (35:54):
and the way that I teach this, it is that I
say to people your impact isalways vectored in the direction
of whatever you're healing.
Whatever you're healing foryourself.
I was just on a mastermind calltoday.
People were like, how do I finddirection?
I was just like, puts you acrossfrom you, you know, and whatever
you need to hear, that's whatyou speak out in your social
(36:16):
media, whatever you need tohear, that's what you speak out
to your clients or to youravatar, the people that you
want.
I think for me the purpose incalling is like.
I've done a lot of things.
I had a IV therapeutic spa, Ihad social media apps.
We had a six figure e-commercebusiness until covid happened.
'cause nobody was buyinghigh-end cappuccino, espresso
machines.
I've done a lot of differentthings.
(36:36):
I'm gonna list them all here.
I'll just tell you, those weremany purposes, but my calling
was still the same.
And every one of thosebusinesses, I was a spiritual
mentor.
Mm-hmm.
I was the people who was askingpeople like, alright guys, why
are we here?
and we can change the lens andwe can turn this into a
different narrative.
We're willing to lead.
I was the one who's disruptingculture in a sales organization
that was so narcissistic and gothis is torturous.
(36:59):
Why are we doing this?
Right?
Mm-hmm.
But that's always been me, butI've done multiple purposes.
My calling has been the same.
Heather Parody (37:07):
And I wonder with acting like how that's
expressed through acting too.
Yeah.
Because I think this is what Ilove about the whole kind of
creative space and thestorytelling space is it kinda
yields to our chronologic sideof the brain and just talks
about something completelydifferent, but spiritually gets
us back to the same place.
You know what I mean?
So it tells story and paintscolors and you don't even know
(37:30):
you're learning and you'regetting touched, and then it's
like, bam, there you are.
And so it's just like thisreally interesting backdoor, Rob
Bell mentioned that it's abackdoor into like healing.
And I think it's so cool whenhealers go into that place of
creativity because you're nottalking anymore to the logic
brain or you know, wrestlingwith something.
(37:54):
You're taking a back door thatanybody can take that spoonful
of sugar.
Neal Neo Phalora (37:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it leans into thefact that we're never just one
thing, that we're multitudes.
Mm-hmm.
And some people have experiencedme and said, wow, he's gifted.
And some people experienced meand probably went, what an
asshole.
And all of those things could betrue in any one moment.
And I think the thing that forme.
Like acting does, is it gives usone of the big things that we
all need is the need to be seen.
(38:18):
To be witnessed.
To have that self-expressionthat need to be expressed is
really qualified and need to beseen.
And the other thing I think Ilove about acting is that I look
at my whole life as methodacting.
I have a backstory.
I have an avatar.
I create a character.
And, you know, you interviewedTodd Herman.
One of his early mentees.
I used to speak in hismastermind, and he told me a lot
(38:41):
about Todd's teachings.
That's how I learned about it.
This is several years ago.
Acting is really that avatarprocess.
It's the Sasha Fierce and theBlack Mamba.
It's like, can I create a newexperience.
And for me, I think thewonderful thing is yes, you are
you.
You come to who you are throughexperience.
But what if you could, and Idon't like this word'cause it's
overused, but hack the systemand in your mind, start to
(39:03):
create that in advance of itsarrival, who you really are.
We already know this, LeonardoDiCaprio when he played Howard
Hughes.
He had months of rewiringtherapy because he started
taking on the symptoms.
He went so deep into character.
I didn't know that.
Heather Parody (39:16):
Really?
Wow.
He went
Neal Neo Phalora (39:17):
so deep into character that he started having
issues.
Heather Parody (39:21):
I didn't know that.
I'm gonna have to look that uplater, but that's what I'm
fascinated by, is just thatother self and stepping into
something that's just sospiritual and beautiful and man,
I've been reading a lot ofacting books over the past few
years and I tell people, I'mlike, this is some of the.
Most badass personal developmentI've ever done.
Oh, wow.
It's just learning, actingbecause it's literally this
(39:41):
separating factor of like selfand something else and getting
very tangible with theinteraction of those two worlds.
Damn.
It's deep.
Neal Neo Phalora (39:51):
Wow.
I'm gonna have to ask for a fewbook recommendations outside of
this.
Sure.
So Heather, like we've talkedabout a lot of things.
I knew that this conversationwas gonna be like that, and I
welcome it, right?
Because it just speaks to thediversity of who you are and
what you bring to the table, andthat you are very aligned and
you're very willing toexperience and show up in
(40:14):
multipurposes, multifaceted ofyourself.
Just like you said to me onetime, there's a difference
between message and delivery.
Mm-hmm.
I think your message is very thesame.
You just focus on multipledeliveries.
Right.
Amen.
And how Heather parody shows up.
I think one of the things thatwe'd be remiss in asking you, do
you work with people?
And, and if so, how do peoplefind you and what does that work
mean?
Because we've talked about a lotof things here.
(40:34):
So let's speak to a little bitabout that as we wrap up.
Heather Parody (40:37):
Yeah.
So for the past few years, we'vehad an agency where we've done
fractional COO work, whichessentially is just the
operational side, thebusinesses.
So I worked with a lot oftherapists and healers and
coaches and people who weredoing like one-on-one work, but
just didn't wanna handle thedigital side.
So we would go in and just.
Set up slash run the digitalside to their businesses and
(40:59):
it's doing really good.
And last year I had that gutcheck again, man.
It was strong of go heavy intothe creative space and start
working with creatives.
And so the people I was workingwith were really great.
But they just weren't in theindustry that I'm feeling really
called to.
So I re-listened to, I think Imessaged you my hours with our
(41:21):
human design coach and Ire-listened to it and it's so
wild when you go back and youre-listen to stuff and you're
like,
Neal Neo Phalora (41:27):
yes.
Heather Parody (41:28):
Damn, I missed it.
Yes, I missed it because therewas one connection that he made
that was fractional, COO work.
That made a lot of sense.
But the overall thing that hetold me over and over again was
messaging, translation, andmarketing.
And so that I'm put here to helpfolks who have a message be able
to articulate that and share it.
(41:48):
And so that's what I've beendoing over the past six, I guess
it's been not something sixmonths yet.
Or just do whiteboard sessions,strategy sessions, coaching,
consulting with folks who knowthat they have something to
share but need some supportsharing it.
Neal Neo Phalora (42:04):
Yeah, that's really good.
You have, along with otherpeople I've met this sort of
slum dog millionaire effect.
I very much identify with thatmovie.
I don't know if you've seen itor not.
Mm-hmm.
But it basically is a storyabout an Indian kid that grows
up and as he's on the show whowants to be a millionaire
everything that he's beenthrough becomes an answer to get
him to the million dollars.
Absolutely right.
So it all matriculates andthat's the thing that I see
(42:27):
reflected and I think a lot ofpeople's story I identify with,
and I think why I identify withyou as well is like.
All these things may seemunrelated.
But what I can get on the phonewith a semi-pro golfer and give
him a business called Readingthe Green and completely put him
into a world he's never beenbefore.
That's only because I've done somuch diverse shit.
(42:47):
Yes.
And I keep myself fed with stuffthat I can ideate and see
patterns and things that peopledon't see.
Yes.
And that's where.
I think it becomes hard forsomebody like a Heather parody
to go this is exactly what I do.
How do you quantify it and saywhat it is on a day by day
basis?
But if you were to start to dothat, I think that would take
away the magic that's you,Heather.
You don't wanna do that.
Heather Parody (43:07):
Well, at the end of the day, I know who I'm here
to help, and I know why I'mhelping them, and it's just the
avenues of how I'm helping themchange.
I started off helpingcommunicators, creatives,
visionaries edit their podcast'cause that's where my skillset
was at.
Mm.
And then it's evolved fromwebsite building to course
creation to COO stuff now intobranding and messaging and
content creation.
(43:28):
It's been the same person andit's been the same type of thing
of I want you to be lit up anddoing your thing and do it on a
high level.
How can I help you?
And of course, skillsets changeand all.
That's almost every entrepreneurstory.
You just don't hear about that.
Neal Neo Phalora (43:43):
So if people wanna reach out to you, how do
they find you?
Heather Parody (43:46):
Heather parody.
Google Me.
You can find me in whereveryou're at except Snapchat.
'cause.
I'm too old for that.
Neal Neo Phalora (43:51):
Yeah, you and me both.
Well thank you Heather, so muchfor being here.
So much fun.
Reach out.
Yeah, this is really good forme.
This is Nutritive.
I always judge a podcast by alsohow much I feel like I embodied
and moved forward during thepodcast.
If you want, please reach out toHeather it, go look at her
stuff.
It's a great template if you'retrying to figure out how to
express yourself in the world.
Trust me, I followed her workfor a long time.
(44:13):
She is the og.
She's done it, she's still init.
She's not a fronter.
Definitely look her up.
I just wanna remind thelisteners as always that the
best part of being wealthy isbeing happy.
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