October 30, 2025 • 23 mins
Come and listen to our Host, Candace Gish, as she chats with today's guest, Laura Cardwell, for our "Season of Shift: Women on the Edge of Reinvention" Podcast Series.
This series spotlights women who used this reflective season (Oct–Dec) to make major life pivots—career changes, endings, spiritual awakenings, and brave beginnings.
Laura Cardwell is a Transformational Life and Business Coach, author, and speaker dedicated to helping women—especially those in midlife—reclaim their energy, realign with their purpose, and create success that actually feels good. After navigating her own seasons of burnout and reinvention, Laura knows firsthand how easy it is to get stuck in patterns of overworking,
people-pleasing, or chasing external definitions of success. She also knows the freedom, joy, and prosperity that become possible when we align with our true design.
Blending applied neuroscience, energy medicine, Human Design, Gene Keys, and the wisdom of the 5 Elements, Laura has developed NeuroCohesion®, a groundbreaking methodology that brings together science and soul to create embodied transformation. Through this work, she helps women unravel burnout at its root—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually—while
equipping them with practical tools to live and lead with clarity, confidence, and ease.
As co-founder of Embodied Leadership by Design, Laura has guided leaders, entrepreneurs, and heart-centered professionals across the globe to rediscover their natural genius, heal long-standing patterns of self-sacrifice, and build lives and businesses rooted in joy and purpose. Her book, Unstuck Yourself: Thrive Beyond Burnout & Discover Your True Purpose, brings her frameworks and personal journey into a relatable, science-meets-soul roadmap for transformation.
Warm, witty, and deeply intuitive, Laura speaks to the midlife woman who feels “there must be more than this” and shows her that not only is more possible—it’s available now. When she’s not teaching, coaching, or writing, Laura can usually be found near water, dancing hip-hop in the kitchen, diving into her next learning obsession, or winding down with cozy mysteries (because Jessica Fletcher never lets her down).
@lauracardwell
We welcome author and coach Laura Cardwell to launch our Season of Shift series and map a path from burnout to purpose. We explore human design, deconditioning old stories, and a simple heart-brain practice to find calm, clarity, and courage.
• why reinvention often follows burnout and forced pauses
• how varied careers build a wiser, richer toolbox
• women questioning the grind model and scripts of success
• human design as a map for energy and decisions
• the PROSPER framework for living purpose from within
• deconditioning inherited stories stored in the body
• heart-brain cohesion to calm the nervous system
• where to preorder Unstuck Yourself and what to expect
For more Divas That Care Network Episodes visit www.divasthatcare.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
It's Divas that Care Radio.
Stories, strategies, and ideasto inspire positive change.
Welcome to Divas That Care, anetwork of women committed to
making our world a better placefor everyone.
This is a global movement forwomen, by women engaged in a
collaborative effort to create abetter world for future
generations.
(00:20):
To find out more about themovement, visit divas that
care.com after the show.
Right now, though, stay tunedfor another jolt of inspiration.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome back to
the Divas That Care.
My name is Candice Gish.
If this is your very first timetuning into our program, a huge
welcome.
We've been doing this now for 15years.
We're listening to in over 30countries around the world.
And it's because of all of ouramazing guests, our hosts, just
everybody that has been a partof this, our listeners.
(00:52):
You know, there's a lot of youthat have been with us from the
beginning, and we appreciateeach and every one of you too.
Uh, today we're gonna be doing anew podcasting series.
It's called Season of Shit: Women on the Edge of (01:00):
undefined
Reinvention.
I'm really excited because we'regonna be talking about two
different women, uh,spotlighting them, and they're
gonna be talking abouteverything from major life
changes to endings, spiritualawakenings, and brave
beginnings.
We're really excited about this,and I hope that you tune in and
listen to all of our other hostschatting with their guests also.
(01:23):
All right, everyone, I have anamazing new diva that we are
gonna be welcoming to ourfamily.
Her name is Laura Cardwell.
Laura, welcome to the divas thatcare.
Oh, thank you so much.
Thank you for letting me behere.
I'm so excited.
Oh my gosh, I am beyond excited,and this is gonna be so much
fun, Laura.
Would you mind introducingyourself to our listeners today?
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
Absolutely.
So I think, you know, we tend toin as women, we tend to
introduce ourselves with what wedo or who we serve, right?
And so, um, and in my world, youknow, that's always my first
go-to too.
But but really, I should alwaystry and start with who I think I
be.
I think I be somebody who is ais a good listener, who is um a
(02:06):
good friend, who likes to reallybe present to people and to
really help um see people in intheir life.
And so that's who I feel like Ibe in the world, helping people
find their joy in general, nomatter where I am.
And then the people that I serveand the things that I do in my
life.
I have um, I have two beautifuluh grown daughters who are 23
and 18.
(02:27):
Um, and so I've kind of justgraduated from the world of
being the boss into the world ofbeing the guide.
And it's a big transition forme.
So it fits.
And um, I have a a husband and afamily who I love.
And then in my career world, Iam an author speaker coach.
I do transformational work withpeople and um blending the art
(02:48):
of the soul with science.
So that's kind of my myelevator, who I am in the world.
SPEAKER_02 (02:55):
I love it.
What a beautiful introduction.
And I I love how you said thatbecause that's how I want to
feel like I'm contributing tothe world also as a person,
person that is really authenticin there for the people around
me.
So it's amazing how youintroduce yourself.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (03:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (03:12):
So, Laura, about how you decided to become a
transformational life coach,because that is absolutely
amazing.
And it's a perfect segue intoour topic today.
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Absolutely.
I mean, right, because becominga coach for me was a journey.
A lot of people become coaches,either they were therapists and
then they leave therapy and theybecome a coach because they they
want more freedom and how thatthey they can move with their
clients, or they come from areally specific career where in
transitioning out of thatcareer, they have a lot of gifts
(03:44):
to give back and mentorship in away.
And so they they kind of becomecoaches from that platform.
And so, but for me, I kind of Igot to it a little bit
different.
I actually um have had a variedcareer past.
I was a um, I've done all sortsof things.
I have a degree in creativewriting, that's where it kind of
started, and then um I followedthat up with some work in
(04:07):
photography, and then I did someevent planning, and then I um
kind of hopped around a littlebit, then I became an art
jeweler and I was an art jewelerfor many years.
Um, and then I actually grew myart jewelry business so fast I
burnt myself out at fully.
And that's um, we'll talk aboutthat in a minute, but that's
kind of the beginning foundationof my book was like my own
(04:27):
personal journey with burnout.
And um, and in the back end ofthat, of that kind of burnout
period of time in my life, Iactually was introduced to my a
modality that was really here tohelp people um work with the
energy systems of the nervoussystem and the brain and helping
with like ADD, ADHD learningdifferences, which grew to be
(04:51):
anxiety and depression.
And then I grew a whole clinicdoing that kind of work with
people.
Um, it's called brainintegration.
And then COVID hit and I had topivot.
I was deemed non-essential in myarea, and so basically I lost my
job.
And um, I was already thinkingabout pivoting anyway.
I was already on that kind oftrajectory of like what I wanted
(05:14):
more.
I was already kind of learning alot of other things, and I was,
I started back to get mydoctorate in um natural medicine
with a focus on energy medicineand vibrational medicines.
And so um, so it was kind of Ikind of reverse engineered and I
ended up getting my uh coachingcertificate as a result of COVID
(05:36):
because I had to kind of go tomore online work.
I was doing very hands-on umbrain integration work, and then
um, and then I was suddenlythrown into a remote position,
and um and I was already findingmyself coaching.
I uh in the world of vibrationalmedicine or energy medicine and
(05:56):
things like that, we tend to goin and have a have a session.
We feel good.
If you know what that is, thatmight be acupuncture, it might
be Reiki, it might be a soundhealing.
But what we go is we go and werelax and we receive all of this
amazing, juicy energy.
But no one, no one that I hadreally come across was
integrating that with coachingin a way of like asking the
(06:18):
right questions, kind of diggingup where those unconscious
beliefs and those where we getstuck really live in the
physical body.
And so I started to integratethose modalities together with
transformational coaching.
And that led me to studyinghuman design and then on to
quantum human design.
And and now I kind of pull allof those things together.
(06:40):
So so it was it was actuallylots of seasons of shift and
lots of pivots that led me tobecoming a coach in the first
place.
SPEAKER_02 (06:48):
And isn't that extraordinary?
You know, over the years I'vehad a lot of women come on the
program and say how COVIDactually helped transform their
lives, like you're talkingabout.
Um, you know, we talk about thegood, the bad, the ugly, but the
good is that it really allowedpeople on their journeys to see
a different side of themselvesthat they might not have ever
come across.
(07:09):
And and I love what you're doingwith that and how you've really
been able to embrace that.
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean, I do think I've heard the same thing
from several people of like thethe first initial shock, and of
course you want to hold all ofthe grief and all of the pain,
but for so many people, it was apivot moment.
It was like, okay, well, youcan't have that life anymore.
And instead of just picking upwhere you were or just trying to
(07:34):
survive that moment, there wasthis real growth opportunity for
us to say, but what do Iactually want?
And I think it was actually evenmore prevalent for women and
particularly maybe women between35 and and 65, where it was like
we are already kind of primed tostart to question question what
(07:56):
the systems that we that we wereworking with in anyway.
And so I think there is a a big,it was a big gift to the rise of
that movement of women that arestarting to kind of wake up,
that awakening of like, wait,this isn't what I wanted, but I
don't actually know what I dowant yet.
And COVID gave us a chance toquestion that, gave us this like
(08:18):
season of integration and quietto say, what do you really want?
And to let quiet give you spaceto answer that question.
SPEAKER_02 (08:26):
How did people take your transformation?
How did they sometimes it's hardfor others to accept the change
within you?
And that's kind of some of thethings that we talk about with
this season of change.
How are the other peopleperceiving you?
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
Oh, that's a great question.
I mean, I think in some in someworlds, like of course, there
are people that perceive me asum someone who's jumped around a
lot or or not committed, right?
There's the we we're sold thisstory that we're supposed to
pick a thing when we're probablynine somehow, and then we're
(09:02):
supposed to stay with that forthe rest of our lives in order
to be successful.
We're supposed to stay to thisdream that we had when we're a
kid.
And the truth is, is that we maycome back to the dream that we
had when we were nine or 10.
And in fact, a lot of times atmid-age we do.
But but we are also meant toexplore a lot of different
things.
And so that story that we'resold, that we should find a
(09:23):
thing, stick with it, and reallybe a supportive system is a
story.
And so I think some peopleperceive me as being kind of all
over the place.
I think some people perceive meas having a real rich, wise
toolbox that I bring to thetable.
Um, I have struggled with my ownself-identity and my own
self-worth, of like, where's myplace?
(09:43):
Because, you know, because I amactually designed to be someone
who really investigates a lotand tries on a lot of different
things.
That's also been a challenge forme internally to accept for
myself that that that's okay,that that I haven't hit all
those gold star standards thatwe've been sold since we were
younger about what success issupposed to look like.
(10:04):
But I have, I have like gatheredthis um bag of gold along the
way of all these things I'vebeen through.
SPEAKER_02 (10:13):
You know, just listening to you just makes me
feel like I'm listening tomyself.
And I think that's extraordinarybecause I've lived that life,
you know.
I I've I've done what you'vedone in an aspect of, you know,
people think of me as scatterbrains.
Like, why is she always tryingnew things?
Why is she always doing newthings?
And it's neat because I alwayssaid that my journey is to
explore, my journey is to figurethings out and to to live life
(10:37):
to the fullest.
And I never could picture myselfin a specific field, so I
explored all fields, and it'sreally interesting to hear
somebody else's uh perspectiveon that.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
Yeah, I think I think a lot more of us feel that
way internally than we'renecessarily allowing ourselves
to be.
And I love to hear you say that,Candace, because I think that we
are there is a richness to tohaving that kind of renaissance
experience in our life that isdifferent than someone who
committed 50 years to onespecific thing.
(11:10):
I'm not judging one specificthing.
I think it's amazing if that wasyour, if that was your calling
and you knew it and you went forit.
I I think that that's I mean, Ihave so much depth and
admiration for that.
And I've had to to do a lot ofinternal reprogramming around
that's not me.
And it's okay for me to be me.
(11:30):
And actually, me being me is ismy joy in the world is that
curiosity.
And I bring that new perspectivewhen I let it come through.
SPEAKER_02 (11:41):
Oh, that is so great.
And the acceptance, right?
We understand ourselves, and Ithink the older we get, the more
we realize we don't knowanything and we're more willing
to learn.
And I say that my kids are like,What are you talking about?
I said, You'll get it one day.
SPEAKER_01 (11:55):
Yeah, you will.
You really will.
It's so true.
SPEAKER_02 (11:57):
It's really true.
So tell me, how did you decideto write a book?
Like, I'm really excited aboutthis because uh Unstuck
Yourself, Thrive Beyond Burnout,and Discover Your True Purpose.
Oh my gosh, what a great title.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Um okay, so you know, like I'vealready said, I have a degree in
creative writing.
So writing a book has been mylifelong.
It's been, I mean, I was I waswriting poetry when I was four
or five and sending it in formoney to the um to the national
library to be published, youknow, from out of the back of
(12:32):
you this dates me a little, butyou used to be able to find
these ads in the back of 17magazines where you could get
your um work published.
And even as a little kid, I wasdoing that, right?
So so the book has been cookingsince I was little.
Um, but and I have kind ofchased the book throughout my
entire adulthood.
Like it's it's been elusive,it's been um, it's played around
(12:55):
with me, it's kept me on my toesand my creativity.
And also, it's really helped melearn what it means to listen to
divine timing and to sit in thepocket and wait for source to
guide what's next instead of mepushing and driving and wanting
and doing and um being certainabout or figuring out.
And so I actually um this bookin particular, I wrote with uh
(13:19):
one of my best friends, MeganO'Malley.
She and I have had, weco-founded a company called
Embodied Leadership by Design.
And we actually were speaking ata conference and um and one of
our mentors heard us speakingand kind of nudged her best
friend who owns a publishingcompany and said, Hey, why
haven't you asked me to writethe foreword for their book?
(13:41):
And and Michelle, the publishingcompany owner, said, Uh, I don't
have they're not writing a book.
And Karen said, You better fixthat by the end of today.
And so they approached us at theend of the day.
And like, yeah, I know it waslike, and it really speaks to
Candace, it really speaks tolike, I tried and I tried and I
tried and I tried and I tried toget that book deal.
(14:03):
And all of it was trying to getexternally validated for the
writer I thought I was inside.
And when I gave up the ego ofthe writer, and when I just
showed up and served, it showedup on a silver platter.
It came right to me.
And that is really the story ofthe book.
The story of the book is thatour purpose always guides us
(14:24):
back to what our heart-centeredleadership is asking us to be.
SPEAKER_02 (14:29):
Wow.
So is this book out right now?
So can our listeners go and geta copy of it?
SPEAKER_01 (14:34):
Depending on when this episode airs, it the book
is released October 20th.
SPEAKER_02 (14:40):
Oh my gosh.
Okay.
So how can our listeners get acopy of this on October 20th?
SPEAKER_01 (14:46):
Absolutely.
The um, so the book itself has awebsite called
unstuckyourselfbook.net.
And they can see we have umbookshop.org, we have Barnes and
Noble, and we have Amazon.
Um, right now it is available inthe for pre-order, and it'll be
available as an ebook.
And then we'll we're hoping tohave the audiobook out in the
beginning of next year.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
Oh my gosh, that would be awesome! And what a
treat, an audiobook for this.
I think myself, I would love tojust listen to probably
yourself, right?
You're gonna be the one that'sgonna be doing this and just
listening to you talk and gothrough it all.
SPEAKER_01 (15:21):
Yeah, it because it's our story.
I mean, you know, Megan and Iwrote the book together, but but
we we each individually broughtour our real gifts to the book,
and we really treasured thatopportunity to not have to do it
all, to do it in collaboration.
But it is our story and it's ourjourney, and it's how we got
here, and it's I and it's ourit's our take on a world that's
(15:42):
been conditioning us to lookexternally for more or for some
sort of validation or success,and how we begin to really
realign that through purpose,which is seeking that internal,
that internal guidance, thatinternal compass, and what gets
in the way of that and what andwhat we need to do to rewire
(16:05):
that.
Can you give us a little bit ofa sneak peek?
I could.
SPEAKER_02 (16:08):
You want me to open the book and read something, or
just give you like a or justtell us an old, yeah, because I
think that would be kind of aneat thing to do.
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Let's see here.
I'm sure I have the book righthere somewhere.
Um in the meantime, while I'mkind of searching around for
that, let me tell you a littlebit about like the structure of
the book is that we um we kindof laid it out.
So it actually is a beginningintroduction to human design.
And if people don't know whatthat is, that's kind of one of
(16:37):
the easy ways to talk aboutthat, is that it's a um it's a
modern, it's a modern kind ofastrology.
It's actually a book of uh, orit's a kind of a map to who
you're here to be.
It's a map to your purpose, andit's based on your birth time,
so that's why it's called amodern astrology, but it's
actually a blend of the ChineseI Ching, the um, the chakra
(17:01):
system, astrology, and theKabbalah.
So it's very deep.
It gives you a very deep, it'slike your energetic thumbprint
in the universe and what you'rehere to do and how you're here
to serve.
And so the book kind ofintroduces that in a very um
easy way to start to take it in,but it also introduces the the
(17:21):
concept that we're in ways weare conditioned out of that
beingness.
We're what we call the grindmodel, which is like how how our
culture and how, like, we'll saythe patriarchy is kind of has
has taken that and and turned itin in different ways, and what
we need to do to see thatconditioning.
(17:43):
And then it walks us throughwhat we call the prosper
framework, which is really kindof the seven core qualities that
we think are the I am statementsof what you need to live into to
live your purpose.
So that's like living yourpurpose, learning to be
responsible.
And that is a nervous systemissue, not just taking burden,
but living in alignment withwhat your nervous system says is
(18:04):
right and true for you, andbeing open and self-worth and
pleasure and play and and umbeing able to be in resonance
with the world around you.
And then the the last part ofthe book is our actual modality,
which is a blend of manymodalities that we bring
together um and and created acreated a modality that people
(18:26):
could use to decondition wherethe stories that they've picked
up throughout their life andbegin to really figure out what
their purpose is.
Purpose, we always say, is whoyou're here to be, then why you
be it, then what you do.
Because we tend to talk aboutpurpose as what we do, but
that's like the that's the endresult of being your purpose.
(18:46):
And so so that's kind of theheart of the book.
I can't find it.
That's so funny.
I'm like trying to talk and findI can't find it.
SPEAKER_02 (18:53):
Okay, I was just like, this is sounding so
interesting.
I love that.
And for all of our listeners,I'm gonna be posting Laura's
website.
Everybody should pre-order.
This sounds so amazing, it'sdifferent.
SPEAKER_01 (19:06):
Thank you.
Yeah, you know, I mean, we wroteit because we needed it, right?
That's the I mean, I think thoseare the books that serve the
best, are the ones that we wrotefirst for ourselves because we
needed it.
And it was the thing that wecouldn't find.
And then also, what one of thethings our editors said to us in
the early days was like, this isa book that's so generous.
And I don't think we were tryingto be generous.
(19:27):
I think we literally believethat every single human has the
right to be here on purpose andto live that purpose, and they
need to know how.
And it was just, we wanted toserve through the book, and so
so yes, we want it to be like adandelion.
Like, we just want to kind ofgive it one big blow and let it
go out into the world towherever, whoever needs it.
(19:49):
Oh, this is wonderful.
SPEAKER_02 (19:51):
Thank you so much, Laura, for sharing that.
I just think that this is goingto be an amazing book, and
congratulations on writing it.
And I wish you only the best inyour success for it.
SPEAKER_01 (20:01):
Oh, thank you so much, Candace.
Thank you for today.
Thank you for letting me behere, letting me share the book.
Oh my gosh, it is fantastic.
SPEAKER_02 (20:08):
I should ask you, one of the things I always ask
my guests when they come on tothe USA care is that if you
don't mind, could you share atip, a tool, something that our
listeners can take away withthem today?
SPEAKER_01 (20:20):
Absolutely.
Um, my favorite way to answerthis question is is to remind
every single person that theyhave everything they need right
now, that they're not broken,they're not actually stuck,
they're not actually, you know,that everything that they need,
they already are.
It's kind of that whole adage oflike the acorn contains the
(20:42):
whole tree, right?
It's already there.
And the tool then is to really,and this kind of goes along with
this what we've talked about alittle bit with the seasons of
shift, and that the season isabout going inward.
And we're such an we're we'resuch a distracted life, you
know, we're we're kind of livingin the outside of us all the
(21:03):
time.
But in order for the seed tobecome the tree, it really
requires time in that dark andquiet place.
And and we would say, you know,in in my talk, I would say
that's being really connected tosource.
So the one tool that I would sayis, are you spending time with
your connection to your highestself, your connection to your
(21:25):
heart space, the part of youthat knows?
And are you listening?
You know, like can you get quietenough to listen?
Most of us, when we start to getquiet, all of the chatter comes
up, all the fear comes up, andthat's why we avoid being quiet.
But if you do it enough and youlearn, meditation is one way,
but and and it's not about justhaving a quiet mind.
(21:46):
You you can't quiet the mind,that's not the state of the
mind, but you can quiet the, youcan quiet the environment around
it and you can start to reallycultivate a space.
It's kind of the space of thebreath.
So, my favorite tool to hand outin that way is called
heart-brain cohesion.
Because what we know now now isthat the heart is is more
(22:06):
powerful magnetically andelectrically than the brain, and
it will bring all of the brainwaves into cohesion.
And so, if to activate theheart, you just get quiet, you
just breathe into your heartspace, and then you activate a
really high vibration emotionlike compassion or gratitude or
joy or bliss.
Those are all really highvibration emotions, and you just
(22:27):
try and hold that emotion inyour heart and in your body and
breathe into it, and it willactually calm the whole nervous
system down.
SPEAKER_02 (22:34):
That's beautiful, and that is a wonderful way to
end our program today.
Thank you so much, Laura, forthat last-minute tip.
Absolutely.
Anytime.
Well, we gotta definitely dothis again because I had a lot
of fun today.
SPEAKER_01 (22:47):
I did too.
Thank you so much, Candace.
SPEAKER_02 (22:49):
Thank you.
And to all of our amazinglisteners, please take that to
heart.
You know, our world has a lot offrustrations, a lot of people
are angry.
Uh, the Divas I care is allabout promoting kindness, uh,
respect for one another.
And I think that just realizingthat you need to take a deep
breath at the very end and tryto focus and try to release it.
(23:12):
I think that's a wonderful thingthat we need to all kind of take
in.
Um, the season of shift, womenon the edge of reinvention.
Uh ladies, this is this is whatwe are.
Like we're going into ending ayear and going into a new year.
And I hope that you think ofkindness and respect for one
another.
And I I love this.
(23:32):
So thank you again to my amazingguest, Laura.
Thank you to all of ourlisteners.
I hope that all of you have anamazing day.
Until next time, everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (23:42):
Thanks for listening.
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Welcome to Divas That Care, anetwork of women committed to
making our world a better placefor everyone.
This is a global movement forwomen, by women engaged in a
collaborative effort to create abetter world for future
generations.
(00:20):
To find out more about themovement, visit divas that
care.com after the show.
Right now, though, stay tunedfor another jolt of inspiration.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome back to
the Divas That Care.
My name is Candice Gish.
If this is your very first timetuning into our program, a huge
welcome.
We've been doing this now for 15years.
We're listening to in over 30countries around the world.
And it's because of all of ouramazing guests, our hosts, just
everybody that has been a partof this, our listeners.
(00:52):
You know, there's a lot of youthat have been with us from the
beginning, and we appreciateeach and every one of you too.
Uh, today we're gonna be doing anew podcasting series.
It's called Season of Shit: Women on the Edge of (01:00):
undefined
Reinvention.
I'm really excited because we'regonna be talking about two
different women, uh,spotlighting them, and they're
gonna be talking abouteverything from major life
changes to endings, spiritualawakenings, and brave
beginnings.
We're really excited about this,and I hope that you tune in and
listen to all of our other hostschatting with their guests also.
(01:23):
All right, everyone, I have anamazing new diva that we are
gonna be welcoming to ourfamily.
Her name is Laura Cardwell.
Laura, welcome to the divas thatcare.
Oh, thank you so much.
Thank you for letting me behere.
I'm so excited.
Oh my gosh, I am beyond excited,and this is gonna be so much
fun, Laura.
Would you mind introducingyourself to our listeners today?
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
Absolutely.
So I think, you know, we tend toin as women, we tend to
introduce ourselves with what wedo or who we serve, right?
And so, um, and in my world, youknow, that's always my first
go-to too.
But but really, I should alwaystry and start with who I think I
be.
I think I be somebody who is ais a good listener, who is um a
(02:06):
good friend, who likes to reallybe present to people and to
really help um see people in intheir life.
And so that's who I feel like Ibe in the world, helping people
find their joy in general, nomatter where I am.
And then the people that I serveand the things that I do in my
life.
I have um, I have two beautifuluh grown daughters who are 23
and 18.
(02:27):
Um, and so I've kind of justgraduated from the world of
being the boss into the world ofbeing the guide.
And it's a big transition forme.
So it fits.
And um, I have a a husband and afamily who I love.
And then in my career world, Iam an author speaker coach.
I do transformational work withpeople and um blending the art
(02:48):
of the soul with science.
So that's kind of my myelevator, who I am in the world.
SPEAKER_02 (02:55):
I love it.
What a beautiful introduction.
And I I love how you said thatbecause that's how I want to
feel like I'm contributing tothe world also as a person,
person that is really authenticin there for the people around
me.
So it's amazing how youintroduce yourself.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (03:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (03:12):
So, Laura, about how you decided to become a
transformational life coach,because that is absolutely
amazing.
And it's a perfect segue intoour topic today.
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Absolutely.
I mean, right, because becominga coach for me was a journey.
A lot of people become coaches,either they were therapists and
then they leave therapy and theybecome a coach because they they
want more freedom and how thatthey they can move with their
clients, or they come from areally specific career where in
transitioning out of thatcareer, they have a lot of gifts
(03:44):
to give back and mentorship in away.
And so they they kind of becomecoaches from that platform.
And so, but for me, I kind of Igot to it a little bit
different.
I actually um have had a variedcareer past.
I was a um, I've done all sortsof things.
I have a degree in creativewriting, that's where it kind of
started, and then um I followedthat up with some work in
(04:07):
photography, and then I did someevent planning, and then I um
kind of hopped around a littlebit, then I became an art
jeweler and I was an art jewelerfor many years.
Um, and then I actually grew myart jewelry business so fast I
burnt myself out at fully.
And that's um, we'll talk aboutthat in a minute, but that's
kind of the beginning foundationof my book was like my own
(04:27):
personal journey with burnout.
And um, and in the back end ofthat, of that kind of burnout
period of time in my life, Iactually was introduced to my a
modality that was really here tohelp people um work with the
energy systems of the nervoussystem and the brain and helping
with like ADD, ADHD learningdifferences, which grew to be
(04:51):
anxiety and depression.
And then I grew a whole clinicdoing that kind of work with
people.
Um, it's called brainintegration.
And then COVID hit and I had topivot.
I was deemed non-essential in myarea, and so basically I lost my
job.
And um, I was already thinkingabout pivoting anyway.
I was already on that kind oftrajectory of like what I wanted
(05:14):
more.
I was already kind of learning alot of other things, and I was,
I started back to get mydoctorate in um natural medicine
with a focus on energy medicineand vibrational medicines.
And so um, so it was kind of Ikind of reverse engineered and I
ended up getting my uh coachingcertificate as a result of COVID
(05:36):
because I had to kind of go tomore online work.
I was doing very hands-on umbrain integration work, and then
um, and then I was suddenlythrown into a remote position,
and um and I was already findingmyself coaching.
I uh in the world of vibrationalmedicine or energy medicine and
(05:56):
things like that, we tend to goin and have a have a session.
We feel good.
If you know what that is, thatmight be acupuncture, it might
be Reiki, it might be a soundhealing.
But what we go is we go and werelax and we receive all of this
amazing, juicy energy.
But no one, no one that I hadreally come across was
integrating that with coachingin a way of like asking the
(06:18):
right questions, kind of diggingup where those unconscious
beliefs and those where we getstuck really live in the
physical body.
And so I started to integratethose modalities together with
transformational coaching.
And that led me to studyinghuman design and then on to
quantum human design.
And and now I kind of pull allof those things together.
(06:40):
So so it was it was actuallylots of seasons of shift and
lots of pivots that led me tobecoming a coach in the first
place.
SPEAKER_02 (06:48):
And isn't that extraordinary?
You know, over the years I'vehad a lot of women come on the
program and say how COVIDactually helped transform their
lives, like you're talkingabout.
Um, you know, we talk about thegood, the bad, the ugly, but the
good is that it really allowedpeople on their journeys to see
a different side of themselvesthat they might not have ever
come across.
(07:09):
And and I love what you're doingwith that and how you've really
been able to embrace that.
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean, I do think I've heard the same thing
from several people of like thethe first initial shock, and of
course you want to hold all ofthe grief and all of the pain,
but for so many people, it was apivot moment.
It was like, okay, well, youcan't have that life anymore.
And instead of just picking upwhere you were or just trying to
(07:34):
survive that moment, there wasthis real growth opportunity for
us to say, but what do Iactually want?
And I think it was actually evenmore prevalent for women and
particularly maybe women between35 and and 65, where it was like
we are already kind of primed tostart to question question what
(07:56):
the systems that we that we wereworking with in anyway.
And so I think there is a a big,it was a big gift to the rise of
that movement of women that arestarting to kind of wake up,
that awakening of like, wait,this isn't what I wanted, but I
don't actually know what I dowant yet.
And COVID gave us a chance toquestion that, gave us this like
(08:18):
season of integration and quietto say, what do you really want?
And to let quiet give you spaceto answer that question.
SPEAKER_02 (08:26):
How did people take your transformation?
How did they sometimes it's hardfor others to accept the change
within you?
And that's kind of some of thethings that we talk about with
this season of change.
How are the other peopleperceiving you?
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
Oh, that's a great question.
I mean, I think in some in someworlds, like of course, there
are people that perceive me asum someone who's jumped around a
lot or or not committed, right?
There's the we we're sold thisstory that we're supposed to
pick a thing when we're probablynine somehow, and then we're
(09:02):
supposed to stay with that forthe rest of our lives in order
to be successful.
We're supposed to stay to thisdream that we had when we're a
kid.
And the truth is, is that we maycome back to the dream that we
had when we were nine or 10.
And in fact, a lot of times atmid-age we do.
But but we are also meant toexplore a lot of different
things.
And so that story that we'resold, that we should find a
(09:23):
thing, stick with it, and reallybe a supportive system is a
story.
And so I think some peopleperceive me as being kind of all
over the place.
I think some people perceive meas having a real rich, wise
toolbox that I bring to thetable.
Um, I have struggled with my ownself-identity and my own
self-worth, of like, where's myplace?
(09:43):
Because, you know, because I amactually designed to be someone
who really investigates a lotand tries on a lot of different
things.
That's also been a challenge forme internally to accept for
myself that that that's okay,that that I haven't hit all
those gold star standards thatwe've been sold since we were
younger about what success issupposed to look like.
(10:04):
But I have, I have like gatheredthis um bag of gold along the
way of all these things I'vebeen through.
SPEAKER_02 (10:13):
You know, just listening to you just makes me
feel like I'm listening tomyself.
And I think that's extraordinarybecause I've lived that life,
you know.
I I've I've done what you'vedone in an aspect of, you know,
people think of me as scatterbrains.
Like, why is she always tryingnew things?
Why is she always doing newthings?
And it's neat because I alwayssaid that my journey is to
explore, my journey is to figurethings out and to to live life
(10:37):
to the fullest.
And I never could picture myselfin a specific field, so I
explored all fields, and it'sreally interesting to hear
somebody else's uh perspectiveon that.
SPEAKER_01 (10:49):
Yeah, I think I think a lot more of us feel that
way internally than we'renecessarily allowing ourselves
to be.
And I love to hear you say that,Candace, because I think that we
are there is a richness to tohaving that kind of renaissance
experience in our life that isdifferent than someone who
committed 50 years to onespecific thing.
(11:10):
I'm not judging one specificthing.
I think it's amazing if that wasyour, if that was your calling
and you knew it and you went forit.
I I think that that's I mean, Ihave so much depth and
admiration for that.
And I've had to to do a lot ofinternal reprogramming around
that's not me.
And it's okay for me to be me.
(11:30):
And actually, me being me is ismy joy in the world is that
curiosity.
And I bring that new perspectivewhen I let it come through.
SPEAKER_02 (11:41):
Oh, that is so great.
And the acceptance, right?
We understand ourselves, and Ithink the older we get, the more
we realize we don't knowanything and we're more willing
to learn.
And I say that my kids are like,What are you talking about?
I said, You'll get it one day.
SPEAKER_01 (11:55):
Yeah, you will.
You really will.
It's so true.
SPEAKER_02 (11:57):
It's really true.
So tell me, how did you decideto write a book?
Like, I'm really excited aboutthis because uh Unstuck
Yourself, Thrive Beyond Burnout,and Discover Your True Purpose.
Oh my gosh, what a great title.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Um okay, so you know, like I'vealready said, I have a degree in
creative writing.
So writing a book has been mylifelong.
It's been, I mean, I was I waswriting poetry when I was four
or five and sending it in formoney to the um to the national
library to be published, youknow, from out of the back of
(12:32):
you this dates me a little, butyou used to be able to find
these ads in the back of 17magazines where you could get
your um work published.
And even as a little kid, I wasdoing that, right?
So so the book has been cookingsince I was little.
Um, but and I have kind ofchased the book throughout my
entire adulthood.
Like it's it's been elusive,it's been um, it's played around
(12:55):
with me, it's kept me on my toesand my creativity.
And also, it's really helped melearn what it means to listen to
divine timing and to sit in thepocket and wait for source to
guide what's next instead of mepushing and driving and wanting
and doing and um being certainabout or figuring out.
And so I actually um this bookin particular, I wrote with uh
(13:19):
one of my best friends, MeganO'Malley.
She and I have had, weco-founded a company called
Embodied Leadership by Design.
And we actually were speaking ata conference and um and one of
our mentors heard us speakingand kind of nudged her best
friend who owns a publishingcompany and said, Hey, why
haven't you asked me to writethe foreword for their book?
(13:41):
And and Michelle, the publishingcompany owner, said, Uh, I don't
have they're not writing a book.
And Karen said, You better fixthat by the end of today.
And so they approached us at theend of the day.
And like, yeah, I know it waslike, and it really speaks to
Candace, it really speaks tolike, I tried and I tried and I
tried and I tried and I tried toget that book deal.
(14:03):
And all of it was trying to getexternally validated for the
writer I thought I was inside.
And when I gave up the ego ofthe writer, and when I just
showed up and served, it showedup on a silver platter.
It came right to me.
And that is really the story ofthe book.
The story of the book is thatour purpose always guides us
(14:24):
back to what our heart-centeredleadership is asking us to be.
SPEAKER_02 (14:29):
Wow.
So is this book out right now?
So can our listeners go and geta copy of it?
SPEAKER_01 (14:34):
Depending on when this episode airs, it the book
is released October 20th.
SPEAKER_02 (14:40):
Oh my gosh.
Okay.
So how can our listeners get acopy of this on October 20th?
SPEAKER_01 (14:46):
Absolutely.
The um, so the book itself has awebsite called
unstuckyourselfbook.net.
And they can see we have umbookshop.org, we have Barnes and
Noble, and we have Amazon.
Um, right now it is available inthe for pre-order, and it'll be
available as an ebook.
And then we'll we're hoping tohave the audiobook out in the
beginning of next year.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
Oh my gosh, that would be awesome! And what a
treat, an audiobook for this.
I think myself, I would love tojust listen to probably
yourself, right?
You're gonna be the one that'sgonna be doing this and just
listening to you talk and gothrough it all.
SPEAKER_01 (15:21):
Yeah, it because it's our story.
I mean, you know, Megan and Iwrote the book together, but but
we we each individually broughtour our real gifts to the book,
and we really treasured thatopportunity to not have to do it
all, to do it in collaboration.
But it is our story and it's ourjourney, and it's how we got
here, and it's I and it's ourit's our take on a world that's
(15:42):
been conditioning us to lookexternally for more or for some
sort of validation or success,and how we begin to really
realign that through purpose,which is seeking that internal,
that internal guidance, thatinternal compass, and what gets
in the way of that and what andwhat we need to do to rewire
(16:05):
that.
Can you give us a little bit ofa sneak peek?
I could.
SPEAKER_02 (16:08):
You want me to open the book and read something, or
just give you like a or justtell us an old, yeah, because I
think that would be kind of aneat thing to do.
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Let's see here.
I'm sure I have the book righthere somewhere.
Um in the meantime, while I'mkind of searching around for
that, let me tell you a littlebit about like the structure of
the book is that we um we kindof laid it out.
So it actually is a beginningintroduction to human design.
And if people don't know whatthat is, that's kind of one of
(16:37):
the easy ways to talk aboutthat, is that it's a um it's a
modern, it's a modern kind ofastrology.
It's actually a book of uh, orit's a kind of a map to who
you're here to be.
It's a map to your purpose, andit's based on your birth time,
so that's why it's called amodern astrology, but it's
actually a blend of the ChineseI Ching, the um, the chakra
(17:01):
system, astrology, and theKabbalah.
So it's very deep.
It gives you a very deep, it'slike your energetic thumbprint
in the universe and what you'rehere to do and how you're here
to serve.
And so the book kind ofintroduces that in a very um
easy way to start to take it in,but it also introduces the the
(17:21):
concept that we're in ways weare conditioned out of that
beingness.
We're what we call the grindmodel, which is like how how our
culture and how, like, we'll saythe patriarchy is kind of has
has taken that and and turned itin in different ways, and what
we need to do to see thatconditioning.
(17:43):
And then it walks us throughwhat we call the prosper
framework, which is really kindof the seven core qualities that
we think are the I am statementsof what you need to live into to
live your purpose.
So that's like living yourpurpose, learning to be
responsible.
And that is a nervous systemissue, not just taking burden,
but living in alignment withwhat your nervous system says is
(18:04):
right and true for you, andbeing open and self-worth and
pleasure and play and and umbeing able to be in resonance
with the world around you.
And then the the last part ofthe book is our actual modality,
which is a blend of manymodalities that we bring
together um and and created acreated a modality that people
(18:26):
could use to decondition wherethe stories that they've picked
up throughout their life andbegin to really figure out what
their purpose is.
Purpose, we always say, is whoyou're here to be, then why you
be it, then what you do.
Because we tend to talk aboutpurpose as what we do, but
that's like the that's the endresult of being your purpose.
(18:46):
And so so that's kind of theheart of the book.
I can't find it.
That's so funny.
I'm like trying to talk and findI can't find it.
SPEAKER_02 (18:53):
Okay, I was just like, this is sounding so
interesting.
I love that.
And for all of our listeners,I'm gonna be posting Laura's
website.
Everybody should pre-order.
This sounds so amazing, it'sdifferent.
SPEAKER_01 (19:06):
Thank you.
Yeah, you know, I mean, we wroteit because we needed it, right?
That's the I mean, I think thoseare the books that serve the
best, are the ones that we wrotefirst for ourselves because we
needed it.
And it was the thing that wecouldn't find.
And then also, what one of thethings our editors said to us in
the early days was like, this isa book that's so generous.
And I don't think we were tryingto be generous.
(19:27):
I think we literally believethat every single human has the
right to be here on purpose andto live that purpose, and they
need to know how.
And it was just, we wanted toserve through the book, and so
so yes, we want it to be like adandelion.
Like, we just want to kind ofgive it one big blow and let it
go out into the world towherever, whoever needs it.
(19:49):
Oh, this is wonderful.
SPEAKER_02 (19:51):
Thank you so much, Laura, for sharing that.
I just think that this is goingto be an amazing book, and
congratulations on writing it.
And I wish you only the best inyour success for it.
SPEAKER_01 (20:01):
Oh, thank you so much, Candace.
Thank you for today.
Thank you for letting me behere, letting me share the book.
Oh my gosh, it is fantastic.
SPEAKER_02 (20:08):
I should ask you, one of the things I always ask
my guests when they come on tothe USA care is that if you
don't mind, could you share atip, a tool, something that our
listeners can take away withthem today?
SPEAKER_01 (20:20):
Absolutely.
Um, my favorite way to answerthis question is is to remind
every single person that theyhave everything they need right
now, that they're not broken,they're not actually stuck,
they're not actually, you know,that everything that they need,
they already are.
It's kind of that whole adage oflike the acorn contains the
(20:42):
whole tree, right?
It's already there.
And the tool then is to really,and this kind of goes along with
this what we've talked about alittle bit with the seasons of
shift, and that the season isabout going inward.
And we're such an we're we'resuch a distracted life, you
know, we're we're kind of livingin the outside of us all the
(21:03):
time.
But in order for the seed tobecome the tree, it really
requires time in that dark andquiet place.
And and we would say, you know,in in my talk, I would say
that's being really connected tosource.
So the one tool that I would sayis, are you spending time with
your connection to your highestself, your connection to your
(21:25):
heart space, the part of youthat knows?
And are you listening?
You know, like can you get quietenough to listen?
Most of us, when we start to getquiet, all of the chatter comes
up, all the fear comes up, andthat's why we avoid being quiet.
But if you do it enough and youlearn, meditation is one way,
but and and it's not about justhaving a quiet mind.
(21:46):
You you can't quiet the mind,that's not the state of the
mind, but you can quiet the, youcan quiet the environment around
it and you can start to reallycultivate a space.
It's kind of the space of thebreath.
So, my favorite tool to hand outin that way is called
heart-brain cohesion.
Because what we know now now isthat the heart is is more
(22:06):
powerful magnetically andelectrically than the brain, and
it will bring all of the brainwaves into cohesion.
And so, if to activate theheart, you just get quiet, you
just breathe into your heartspace, and then you activate a
really high vibration emotionlike compassion or gratitude or
joy or bliss.
Those are all really highvibration emotions, and you just
(22:27):
try and hold that emotion inyour heart and in your body and
breathe into it, and it willactually calm the whole nervous
system down.
SPEAKER_02 (22:34):
That's beautiful, and that is a wonderful way to
end our program today.
Thank you so much, Laura, forthat last-minute tip.
Absolutely.
Anytime.
Well, we gotta definitely dothis again because I had a lot
of fun today.
SPEAKER_01 (22:47):
I did too.
Thank you so much, Candace.
SPEAKER_02 (22:49):
Thank you.
And to all of our amazinglisteners, please take that to
heart.
You know, our world has a lot offrustrations, a lot of people
are angry.
Uh, the Divas I care is allabout promoting kindness, uh,
respect for one another.
And I think that just realizingthat you need to take a deep
breath at the very end and tryto focus and try to release it.
(23:12):
I think that's a wonderful thingthat we need to all kind of take
in.
Um, the season of shift, womenon the edge of reinvention.
Uh ladies, this is this is whatwe are.
Like we're going into ending ayear and going into a new year.
And I hope that you think ofkindness and respect for one
another.
And I I love this.
(23:32):
So thank you again to my amazingguest, Laura.
Thank you to all of ourlisteners.
I hope that all of you have anamazing day.
Until next time, everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (23:42):
Thanks for listening.
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