April 13, 2025 • 27 mins
From soap star to soul healer, Cynthia James reveals how her public heartbreak became a global movement in emotional integration and trauma recovery. In this raw, revealing episode of Rise From The Ashes, discover how to transmute pain into power and reclaim your truth, your voice, and your future.
What if your trauma isn’t the end but the ignition? In this no-holds-barred episode of Rise From The Ashes, Baz Porter is joined by transformational powerhouse Cynthia James, a former Hollywood actress who turned heartbreak into healing for thousands worldwide.
From overcoming five generations of trauma to creating the Emotional Integration™ Method, Cynthia shares the raw truth behind her journey and how you can reclaim your wholeness, no matter how fractured you feel.
Whether you're a leader, seeker, or survivor, this episode delivers a soul-level strategy to rise into your purpose.
Emotional Integration™ Demystified – Why traditional healing fails, and how to work with your nervous system, not against it.
The Burnout Trap – Why “high-functioning anxiety” masks deep emotional disconnection and how to spot it in yourself.
Healing in the Spotlight – How Cynthia turned a public divorce into her divine assignment.
Breaking Generational Chains – What it takes to stop inherited trauma in its tracks and lead a new legacy.
The Leadership Shift – From control to compassion: why today’s leaders must evolve or dissolve.
Colorado’s best business coach, Baz Porter, has a new mindset strategy mentoring service to help you unlock new heights of growth, prosperity, happiness, and success. Book your first meeting with the coaching visionary at https://www.ramsbybaz.com/
Friends, as we wrap up today’s powerful conversation, hear me loud and clear: I’m grateful for you. You’ve chosen greatness over settling, clarity over chaos, and brilliance over burnout. Remember Great CEOs deserve NO burnout.
Did this hit home? Pass it on. Your share could be the spark someone desperately needs. Together, we’re rewriting the rules of leadership, one bold conversation at a time.
I want to hear YOUR story your wins, your struggles, your breakthroughs. My door is wide open whether you’re in Boulder or reaching out at support@ramsbybaz.com, I'm here.
Here is a gift For you Click Here
Are you ready to drop confusion, claim clarity, and step powerfully into purpose?
Let’s connect. Book a coaching session today and experience firsthand how the RAMS framework amplifies results, shatters limits, and creates lasting legacies.
This is Baz Porter, in your corner, fiercely committed to your brilliance. Keep rising, stay unstoppable, and know you’re never alone in this climb.
Until next time rise boldly.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode
of ross nash's podcast.
This is burnout to brilliance.
It's not my brilliance, it'syours, and I'm privileged and
honored to be with a globalspeaker and author and a coach
today.
Her name is cynthia james andshe joins me from the sunny mid
us.
(00:22):
I'm not going to tell her whereshe lives it's near Denver, but
it's somewhere around there, soit's my local area and I'm
privileged to have her.
Cynthia, please say hello,welcome to the show and tell the
audience a bit about yourselfand who you are.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, thank you for having me.
I'm very happy to be here andI'm grateful that people like
you do podcasts and things sothat people get to meet new
people.
Me, what I do for a living isI'm an author.
I've written six books.
I'm a coach.
I coach companies andindividuals and teams on
(01:03):
emotional integration so thatthey can live a clearer, more
aligned life.
I'm a speaker.
I speak all over the world.
I have a TEDx talk called thePast Does Not Define you, and
I'm really committed to helpingpeople awaken, to remember who
they are, because we're allunique, we're all powerful,
(01:24):
we're all on this planet in thismoment, because we're essential
and because we're needed.
So I feel that that's mymission here.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So I'd like to ask people how did you get into this
?
Because it's a very, it's aloaded question, because people
are going to think all the wayback.
But it's not just something youdo, it's part of your identity,
it's what you thrive at and youlive for.
How did you actually find thatpurpose within yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, you know it was securities.
I'd love to tell you that, like, oh, I went to college and then
this all, but that's notexactly what I used to make my
living as an actress and I wasthe first Lexi on Days of Our
Lives and I did a lot oftelevision and film and I was
really happy.
And then I had gotten marriedto a pretty visible person and
(02:22):
we went through a public divorce, gotten married to a pretty
visible person and we wentthrough a public divorce and
right when that happened, it waslike the universe said, okay,
you're done doing that.
And so I would go up for movies, I'd be between me and another
person, the other person wouldget up, I'd go up for series and
it'd be three people and itwould go another way.
It just kept happening and Ihad children and so I was like,
(02:48):
okay, what am I going to do?
And I've been meditating forlike 40 years, and so in my
meditation I said, okay, what'snext for me?
And the little voice within mesaid you need to go to school.
And there was a place inCalifornia, in Santa Monica,
called the University of SantaMonica, and they had a master's
(03:10):
degree program in spiritualpsychology which I didn't even
know what it was at the time,but I liked the word spiritual
and so I went and I interviewedand it just was one of the
greatest gifts I gave to myself,because what happened in that
class was one of the semestersyou had to create your own
(03:32):
counseling strategy.
And I'm like I don't even have acounseling strategy but because
I'd been meditating and doingspiritual work for so long,
there were always things thatkind of dropped in.
So I kind of pulled them alltogether and I created what is
now called emotional integrationand I presented it to the class
that I didn't know what I wasgoing to do with it.
(03:55):
I just thought it was anassignment and I had already,
you know, been through aspiritual program, become a
spiritual counselor and stuff.
But I didn't realize that thatactually was the beginning of
what I do today.
And to this day I don't do alot of marketing for clients.
(04:16):
It's word of mouth.
People come and I believe it'sbecause what came through me was
kind of like a magnet for whatI was to do on the planet.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I love that story and something that you said there
and you glazed over.
You went from stardom, busyactress in the public eye to
that's not for me, and you addedroles for me and you yeah, it
rolls.
That's an incredible courage,encouraging thing to hear for
many people because you getsucked into that little dome of.
(04:50):
This is what I'm gonna do forthe rest of my life.
It's a thick.
You know, you've been there.
You know what I'm on about bythat.
You know that that environmentand it can be very toxic right
well.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well you can't, and because when you're in the
Hollywood structure a lot ofyour identity is your last job,
what you look like in public,how you, what's your resume, how
, what's your resume.
(05:22):
And then I was married to astar, which made it even more
crazy because it was public andI didn't know it at the time
when the marriage startedfalling apart.
But that was the universe's wayof saying I've got to move you
because the world you're in isnot healthy for you.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
But it was that that moved to a different direction
and, although you didn't realizeit to start with, it was the
best thing for you longer term.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
A hundred percent, and it wasn't easy.
It wasn't easy being a singlemom.
It wasn't easy having a publicdivorce.
It wasn't easy learning what amI going to do if I'm not acting
.
What am I going to do and howam I going to, you know, make
money to take care of me and mychildren?
But this is what I learnedthose moments in your life are
(06:18):
like a void.
It's like a pregnant spacewithin your life where something
new is being birthed and if youcan trust it, you'll be guided.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
I think that's great advice there, from being someone
who knows exactly what you'relearning how to trust not just
the other people but yourselfand a lot of people who are high
performance, they're jetsetters, they're go-getters find
it very difficult to come backwithin themselves and say I'm
(06:54):
going to trust the journey.
But that has a knock-on effect,at least to something we call
burnout.
Well, we've got to known asburnout, but there's different
levels of burnout and that'swhat I just want to touch on
briefly right now.
Anxiety is a form of burnout.
It's a symptom to a much deeperunderstanding, but there's also
(07:15):
a component there ofspirituality and that's where we
find our faith.
Have you ever had an experienceor had a client you don't have
to name them, obviously that'shad that similar experience,
that had that burnout throughanxiety, through overwhelm, but
they come back through yourguidance.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Well, I've had personal experiences and clients
.
I had a client that came to methat was a brilliant musician
but was really struggling, washoarding in their house and was
sabotaging their work, eventhough they were brilliant.
And when they came to me,sometimes I will do inner
(08:01):
guidance work, mind-body workand so I was going to have them
close their eyes and we weregoing to do something, and he
said I cannot close my eyes,it's not safe.
And I said tell me why.
And then he proceeds to tell methat he was in a cult and the
level of abuse and trauma andindoctrination that he went
(08:23):
through made him completelyparanoid.
And so what we did was theentire time together was how
could he learn to be safe withinhimself, how could he learn to
trust himself, how could helearn to love himself?
And one of the ways thathappened was he knew this
(08:45):
chaplain in a hospital and thechaplain asked him to come and
bring his guitar and play forpeople who were in hospice.
And what he would do is hefound that when he went there
playing for those people, therewas this connectivity and that
he could see that his music washealing.
(09:06):
And as he continued to do thatover several months.
It also inspired him to createspace within his home, so he
ultimately cleaned out his home,became a part of the staff at
that hospital and then startedgoing out more and doing work in
(09:27):
the world.
But he said that he had notrealized the depth that the cult
had taken away his trust inhimself and his trust in god or
spirit, or whatever you chooseto call it I love that story.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
This is where I do the podcast and have these
conversations, because thiswouldn't be out there and most
people would just, oh, let'sjust skim over the carpet, it
doesn't matter.
People matter, and one of thecommonalities that I've seen
through the time I've been doingthis is we don't believe we're
(10:03):
enough, and that's a lie, amistruth or misconception that
we've been led to believe.
The moment and you've justmentioned this in theories the
moment you believe you're enough, you're worthy of something,
you are amazing and you havethat light and potential and you
(10:27):
experience this, you changeyour whole life, inner world and
outer stars to transform.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Yeah.
So what's important about whatyou're saying, baz, is, before I
was Cynthia, actress and allthose other things, I grew up.
I come from five generations ofwomen who have been abused and
traumatized and they left theplanet overweight.
They left ill, depressed, rightand my mother in her second
(11:01):
marriage.
My father, my biological father, was an alcoholic and floated
in and out, but my stepfatherturned out to be a wife beater
and a pedophile and so he abusedme physically, you know, for
over a year until my uncle cameand rescued us from the house.
(11:22):
But I'm telling you that becauseI thought that that was normal
what I was going through, theviolence and the trauma, you
know, and I didn't realize thatit had put something in me that
said I'm not safe and I don'tmatter that I don't have a voice
(11:45):
, and so a lot of the work I'vedone and you know I mean some of
the journeys I've taken is likeyou know, I was a functional
wreck, but the great thing aboutit is, I believe, that all of
that that happened to me becamefodder for the work that I do
(12:05):
today to let people know thatreally the past doesn't define
you, that you get to choose yourlife, you get to be the captain
of your own ship and whateveryou have to go through to get to
that knowledge that you'reenough and that you're important
, I mean, why would the universebreathe life into you if you
(12:26):
were insignificant?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I love that For the listeners.
Now, if you've just tuned inand you're like what the hell's
going on, pause it, go back andplease just go back about three
minutes and get a notepad andpen and go and take some notes
for yourself, because that therewas about six months of
coaching in three minutes.
The experience that Cynthia hasand she is an experience she's
(12:56):
not brought it with her, sheuses it to fuel her, and the
tonality in her voice, theauthenticity in her, is exuding
that.
She metaphors it in stories orexperiences and she brings it
forward.
For someone who has seen andunderstood what she is talking
(13:18):
about and in depth, because Ican see her face for those
people on audio go and look atthe video.
You will understand the passionshe has within her to actually
help support and grow you as anamazing person that you truly
are.
It's not about what we aregetting.
(13:39):
It's about what you are getting.
That's the journey and thespiritualistic side of it, the
meditation, the understanding ofthe universe, quantum physics,
whatever how you want to call it.
That's important because it'swithin you, the moment cynthia
understood that she mattered.
(13:59):
She's amazing, she is more thanenough and everyone else can go
to hell.
That's when her life started tochange and, as you said earlier,
it's not easy.
How life started to change?
And, as you said earlier, it'snot easy.
Caveat for that nothing goodcomes easy, because we have to
(14:20):
learn the lessons in order toembody that next, next version
of ourselves.
When we talk about leadershipin many different aspects,
people think leadership, big ceo, etc.
Etc.
But it's not.
You can be a leader in your ownlife, cynthia.
I want to talk briefly aboutsome of the burdens that can
(14:45):
come with that.
When you stand in yourauthenticity, when you stand in
your life like a leader and earnwho you are, because it's not
as simple as I'm the leader inmy life, that's it.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Can you just think that?
Yeah well, I'd love to talkabout that, because I've worked
in corporate America.
I've been at the top of thefood chain in media management
in the world.
This is what I want to say.
Leadership is a quality, it isnot a definition of who you are.
(15:21):
And for me, leadership meansare you clear about who you are?
Are you clear about what youvalue?
Are you clear about what yourboundaries and non-negotiables
are?
Because that clarity is whatsupports you in leading.
(15:44):
Because if you are leadingwhether it's yourself, a small
group or a large group you knowyou are modeling for the others
around you who you are and ifyou are authentic to who you say
you are.
And so when I work with teams,with the leader, it's like
what's your mission, what's yourvision, what do you value, and
(16:06):
is your organization inalignment with that?
And if it's not, it falls onyou, because that means that
you're not giving to thisorganization, to the world, the
truth of who you come here to be.
And so leading is about thereare good leaders and there are
(16:29):
interesting leaders.
And good leaders are open,they're collaborative, they're
curious.
They're collaborative, they'recurious, they're innovative.
Interesting leaders want to bein control.
They can manipulate, they cando acts that are unkind and
(16:51):
uncaring, and the differencebetween those two things is
frequency, because a good leaderis going to lift people up, an
interesting leader is going topush them down.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I love that.
What you're speaking into now,it's basically narcissism in
corporate America, and that'sjust how it is.
And what you're speaking intonow has been encouraged for a
very, very long time withinstructured systems finance
marketing, big marketing but itcomes down to the person.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yes, it does.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
And you mentioned something there earlier about
listening, but really listening,opening up the potentiality
within a person and pouring intothat person, as well as
learning yourself.
I love that definition of aleader.
So if you're listening to thisnow and you're like, well, I
want to be a leader, go and lookat Cynthia James, Go and
(17:52):
research what she has done.
Go and have a conversation withher, because if you're ready to
stop thriving and really startthriving in your life, this is
the time to do it.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Oh, I think this is totally the time to do it.
You know, we don't have onemore minute to be wasting
playing small, pretending,hiding, trying to be something
that we are not, because whatthe world needs is people who
are conscious and people who areawake and people who care about
nurturing and caring and lovingothers.
(18:29):
You know, because what we'rewitnessing in so many places is
you mentioned narcissists.
I think that narcissists havesuch a deep insecurity Correct
that they are continuingconstantly to prove that they're
important, to prove thatthey're powerful, to prove that
(18:53):
they're in control, and in manycases, they can get followers,
they can get people to followthem with that, but the thing is
is that it doesn't have analignment with the universe,
which is harmonic.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I love what you just said there.
And the validation of thatperson is constantly trying to
elevate themselves throughinauthenticity.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
And this has been the footprint for corporate America
now for at least 50 years Atleast.
You know.
Let's just say how it is, butit's been acceptable and I love
people like you who come in andgo.
Well, actually, that's completeBS.
This is what it is.
This is how to change it, ifyou're willing to do the work
(19:40):
and the art.
I don't believe in failure.
I don't believe it exists.
I believe it's another step fora journey.
Can you speak into the failureaspect, of perception of failure
in a lot of people in yourexperience?
Because I think people go oh, Ifailed, that's it, but it's it.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I don't believe in failure.
I think that there are mistakes.
When I was acting and you woulddo a take, they would say cut,
do it again because it was amistake, it wasn't in alignment
with the vision or what theywanted to show on the screen.
And I think it's the true withlife.
(20:26):
It's like you'll make a choice,everything's a choice.
So you make a choice, itdoesn't work out, you fall down.
But my thing is get up and whatdid you learn?
You know, because if somethingdidn't work, then there's a
reason, there's an opportunitythere and it's like so then what
(20:46):
did you learn?
And how can you make adifferent choice?
How can you to make yourselfclearer, more confident, more
powerful, more abundant?
What can you do?
And that doesn't mean that thatchallenge doesn't hurt.
It doesn't mean that you don'thave feelings about it, and
sometimes it can kind of knockyou to your knees.
(21:08):
I mean, my divorce was intense.
It was like whoa, I didn't signup for this, but I did.
So it's like, if you don'tlearn the lesson from this
experience, you will repeat thisclass and it will get more
(21:29):
intense each time, if you don'tlearn the lesson.
So my thing is okay.
What's the lesson, how do Ilearn it and move on.
So I don't have the lesson, somy thing is okay.
What's the lesson, how do Ilearn it?
And move on, so I don't have togo through this again I love
that.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I have something very similar where I just say to
myself I don't need the volumeturning up, I get the message
and how can I take away fromthat to improve and move forward
.
Before we leave for part one,I'd always like to ask you or my
guest, in this case you,cynthia what it is you want to
(22:02):
give back to the world.
What is your legacy?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
A reminder that every person is significant and
essential to this planet and itsevolution.
Otherwise we wouldn't be here.
And so I want to say to anybodylistening your only job is to
(22:32):
find out who you've come here tobe and remember who you are at
the cellular level.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
That just spoke, not just to my heart, but I can
assume it spoke to theaudience's heart as well.
Thank you for sharing that,cynthia.
Before we close down, ladiesand gentlemen, this is part one.
Before we close down, ladiesand gentlemen, this is part one.
Prepare for part two Get anotebook and a pen, go and get a
drink, settle yourself down,because it's going to be
explosive, it's going to be mad,and this is Royce, from the
(23:03):
Ashes, from burnout, to yourbrilliance.
Cynthia, I'll see you in parttwo.
Audience download share andchange somebody's life, because
you are enough.
See you soon.
ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode
of ross nash's podcast.
This is burnout to brilliance.
It's not my brilliance, it'syours, and I'm privileged and
honored to be with a globalspeaker and author and a coach
today.
Her name is cynthia james andshe joins me from the sunny mid
us.
(00:22):
I'm not going to tell her whereshe lives it's near Denver, but
it's somewhere around there, soit's my local area and I'm
privileged to have her.
Cynthia, please say hello,welcome to the show and tell the
audience a bit about yourselfand who you are.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Well, thank you for having me.
I'm very happy to be here andI'm grateful that people like
you do podcasts and things sothat people get to meet new
people.
Me, what I do for a living isI'm an author.
I've written six books.
I'm a coach.
I coach companies andindividuals and teams on
(01:03):
emotional integration so thatthey can live a clearer, more
aligned life.
I'm a speaker.
I speak all over the world.
I have a TEDx talk called thePast Does Not Define you, and
I'm really committed to helpingpeople awaken, to remember who
they are, because we're allunique, we're all powerful,
(01:24):
we're all on this planet in thismoment, because we're essential
and because we're needed.
So I feel that that's mymission here.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So I'd like to ask people how did you get into this
?
Because it's a very, it's aloaded question, because people
are going to think all the wayback.
But it's not just something youdo, it's part of your identity,
it's what you thrive at and youlive for.
How did you actually find thatpurpose within yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, you know it was securities.
I'd love to tell you that, like, oh, I went to college and then
this all, but that's notexactly what I used to make my
living as an actress and I wasthe first Lexi on Days of Our
Lives and I did a lot oftelevision and film and I was
really happy.
And then I had gotten marriedto a pretty visible person and
(02:22):
we went through a public divorce, gotten married to a pretty
visible person and we wentthrough a public divorce and
right when that happened, it waslike the universe said, okay,
you're done doing that.
And so I would go up for movies, I'd be between me and another
person, the other person wouldget up, I'd go up for series and
it'd be three people and itwould go another way.
It just kept happening and Ihad children and so I was like,
(02:48):
okay, what am I going to do?
And I've been meditating forlike 40 years, and so in my
meditation I said, okay, what'snext for me?
And the little voice within mesaid you need to go to school.
And there was a place inCalifornia, in Santa Monica,
called the University of SantaMonica, and they had a master's
(03:10):
degree program in spiritualpsychology which I didn't even
know what it was at the time,but I liked the word spiritual
and so I went and I interviewedand it just was one of the
greatest gifts I gave to myself,because what happened in that
class was one of the semestersyou had to create your own
(03:32):
counseling strategy.
And I'm like I don't even have acounseling strategy but because
I'd been meditating and doingspiritual work for so long,
there were always things thatkind of dropped in.
So I kind of pulled them alltogether and I created what is
now called emotional integrationand I presented it to the class
that I didn't know what I wasgoing to do with it.
(03:55):
I just thought it was anassignment and I had already,
you know, been through aspiritual program, become a
spiritual counselor and stuff.
But I didn't realize that thatactually was the beginning of
what I do today.
And to this day I don't do alot of marketing for clients.
(04:16):
It's word of mouth.
People come and I believe it'sbecause what came through me was
kind of like a magnet for whatI was to do on the planet.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I love that story and something that you said there
and you glazed over.
You went from stardom, busyactress in the public eye to
that's not for me, and you addedroles for me and you yeah, it
rolls.
That's an incredible courage,encouraging thing to hear for
many people because you getsucked into that little dome of.
(04:50):
This is what I'm gonna do forthe rest of my life.
It's a thick.
You know, you've been there.
You know what I'm on about bythat.
You know that that environmentand it can be very toxic right
well.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well you can't, and because when you're in the
Hollywood structure a lot ofyour identity is your last job,
what you look like in public,how you, what's your resume, how
, what's your resume.
(05:22):
And then I was married to astar, which made it even more
crazy because it was public andI didn't know it at the time
when the marriage startedfalling apart.
But that was the universe's wayof saying I've got to move you
because the world you're in isnot healthy for you.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
But it was that that moved to a different direction
and, although you didn't realizeit to start with, it was the
best thing for you longer term.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
A hundred percent, and it wasn't easy.
It wasn't easy being a singlemom.
It wasn't easy having a publicdivorce.
It wasn't easy learning what amI going to do if I'm not acting
.
What am I going to do and howam I going to, you know, make
money to take care of me and mychildren?
But this is what I learnedthose moments in your life are
(06:18):
like a void.
It's like a pregnant spacewithin your life where something
new is being birthed and if youcan trust it, you'll be guided.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
I think that's great advice there, from being someone
who knows exactly what you'relearning how to trust not just
the other people but yourselfand a lot of people who are high
performance, they're jetsetters, they're go-getters find
it very difficult to come backwithin themselves and say I'm
(06:54):
going to trust the journey.
But that has a knock-on effect,at least to something we call
burnout.
Well, we've got to known asburnout, but there's different
levels of burnout and that'swhat I just want to touch on
briefly right now.
Anxiety is a form of burnout.
It's a symptom to a much deeperunderstanding, but there's also
(07:15):
a component there ofspirituality and that's where we
find our faith.
Have you ever had an experienceor had a client you don't have
to name them, obviously that'shad that similar experience,
that had that burnout throughanxiety, through overwhelm, but
they come back through yourguidance.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Well, I've had personal experiences and clients
.
I had a client that came to methat was a brilliant musician
but was really struggling, washoarding in their house and was
sabotaging their work, eventhough they were brilliant.
And when they came to me,sometimes I will do inner
(08:01):
guidance work, mind-body workand so I was going to have them
close their eyes and we weregoing to do something, and he
said I cannot close my eyes,it's not safe.
And I said tell me why.
And then he proceeds to tell methat he was in a cult and the
level of abuse and trauma andindoctrination that he went
(08:23):
through made him completelyparanoid.
And so what we did was theentire time together was how
could he learn to be safe withinhimself, how could he learn to
trust himself, how could helearn to love himself?
And one of the ways thathappened was he knew this
(08:45):
chaplain in a hospital and thechaplain asked him to come and
bring his guitar and play forpeople who were in hospice.
And what he would do is hefound that when he went there
playing for those people, therewas this connectivity and that
he could see that his music washealing.
(09:06):
And as he continued to do thatover several months.
It also inspired him to createspace within his home, so he
ultimately cleaned out his home,became a part of the staff at
that hospital and then startedgoing out more and doing work in
(09:27):
the world.
But he said that he had notrealized the depth that the cult
had taken away his trust inhimself and his trust in god or
spirit, or whatever you chooseto call it I love that story.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
This is where I do the podcast and have these
conversations, because thiswouldn't be out there and most
people would just, oh, let'sjust skim over the carpet, it
doesn't matter.
People matter, and one of thecommonalities that I've seen
through the time I've been doingthis is we don't believe we're
(10:03):
enough, and that's a lie, amistruth or misconception that
we've been led to believe.
The moment and you've justmentioned this in theories the
moment you believe you're enough, you're worthy of something,
you are amazing and you havethat light and potential and you
(10:27):
experience this, you changeyour whole life, inner world and
outer stars to transform.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Yeah.
So what's important about whatyou're saying, baz, is, before I
was Cynthia, actress and allthose other things, I grew up.
I come from five generations ofwomen who have been abused and
traumatized and they left theplanet overweight.
They left ill, depressed, rightand my mother in her second
(11:01):
marriage.
My father, my biological father, was an alcoholic and floated
in and out, but my stepfatherturned out to be a wife beater
and a pedophile and so he abusedme physically, you know, for
over a year until my uncle cameand rescued us from the house.
(11:22):
But I'm telling you that becauseI thought that that was normal
what I was going through, theviolence and the trauma, you
know, and I didn't realize thatit had put something in me that
said I'm not safe and I don'tmatter that I don't have a voice
(11:45):
, and so a lot of the work I'vedone and you know I mean some of
the journeys I've taken is likeyou know, I was a functional
wreck, but the great thing aboutit is, I believe, that all of
that that happened to me becamefodder for the work that I do
(12:05):
today to let people know thatreally the past doesn't define
you, that you get to choose yourlife, you get to be the captain
of your own ship and whateveryou have to go through to get to
that knowledge that you'reenough and that you're important
, I mean, why would the universebreathe life into you if you
(12:26):
were insignificant?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
I love that For the listeners.
Now, if you've just tuned inand you're like what the hell's
going on, pause it, go back andplease just go back about three
minutes and get a notepad andpen and go and take some notes
for yourself, because that therewas about six months of
coaching in three minutes.
The experience that Cynthia hasand she is an experience she's
(12:56):
not brought it with her, sheuses it to fuel her, and the
tonality in her voice, theauthenticity in her, is exuding
that.
She metaphors it in stories orexperiences and she brings it
forward.
For someone who has seen andunderstood what she is talking
(13:18):
about and in depth, because Ican see her face for those
people on audio go and look atthe video.
You will understand the passionshe has within her to actually
help support and grow you as anamazing person that you truly
are.
It's not about what we aregetting.
(13:39):
It's about what you are getting.
That's the journey and thespiritualistic side of it, the
meditation, the understanding ofthe universe, quantum physics,
whatever how you want to call it.
That's important because it'swithin you, the moment cynthia
understood that she mattered.
(13:59):
She's amazing, she is more thanenough and everyone else can go
to hell.
That's when her life started tochange and, as you said earlier,
it's not easy.
How life started to change?
And, as you said earlier, it'snot easy.
Caveat for that nothing goodcomes easy, because we have to
(14:20):
learn the lessons in order toembody that next, next version
of ourselves.
When we talk about leadershipin many different aspects,
people think leadership, big ceo, etc.
Etc.
But it's not.
You can be a leader in your ownlife, cynthia.
I want to talk briefly aboutsome of the burdens that can
(14:45):
come with that.
When you stand in yourauthenticity, when you stand in
your life like a leader and earnwho you are, because it's not
as simple as I'm the leader inmy life, that's it.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Can you just think that?
Yeah well, I'd love to talkabout that, because I've worked
in corporate America.
I've been at the top of thefood chain in media management
in the world.
This is what I want to say.
Leadership is a quality, it isnot a definition of who you are.
(15:21):
And for me, leadership meansare you clear about who you are?
Are you clear about what youvalue?
Are you clear about what yourboundaries and non-negotiables
are?
Because that clarity is whatsupports you in leading.
(15:44):
Because if you are leadingwhether it's yourself, a small
group or a large group you knowyou are modeling for the others
around you who you are and ifyou are authentic to who you say
you are.
And so when I work with teams,with the leader, it's like
what's your mission, what's yourvision, what do you value, and
(16:06):
is your organization inalignment with that?
And if it's not, it falls onyou, because that means that
you're not giving to thisorganization, to the world, the
truth of who you come here to be.
And so leading is about thereare good leaders and there are
(16:29):
interesting leaders.
And good leaders are open,they're collaborative, they're
curious.
They're collaborative, they'recurious, they're innovative.
Interesting leaders want to bein control.
They can manipulate, they cando acts that are unkind and
(16:51):
uncaring, and the differencebetween those two things is
frequency, because a good leaderis going to lift people up, an
interesting leader is going topush them down.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I love that.
What you're speaking into now,it's basically narcissism in
corporate America, and that'sjust how it is.
And what you're speaking intonow has been encouraged for a
very, very long time withinstructured systems finance
marketing, big marketing but itcomes down to the person.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yes, it does.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
And you mentioned something there earlier about
listening, but really listening,opening up the potentiality
within a person and pouring intothat person, as well as
learning yourself.
I love that definition of aleader.
So if you're listening to thisnow and you're like, well, I
want to be a leader, go and lookat Cynthia James, Go and
(17:52):
research what she has done.
Go and have a conversation withher, because if you're ready to
stop thriving and really startthriving in your life, this is
the time to do it.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Oh, I think this is totally the time to do it.
You know, we don't have onemore minute to be wasting
playing small, pretending,hiding, trying to be something
that we are not, because whatthe world needs is people who
are conscious and people who areawake and people who care about
nurturing and caring and lovingothers.
(18:29):
You know, because what we'rewitnessing in so many places is
you mentioned narcissists.
I think that narcissists havesuch a deep insecurity Correct
that they are continuingconstantly to prove that they're
important, to prove thatthey're powerful, to prove that
(18:53):
they're in control, and in manycases, they can get followers,
they can get people to followthem with that, but the thing is
is that it doesn't have analignment with the universe,
which is harmonic.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I love what you just said there.
And the validation of thatperson is constantly trying to
elevate themselves throughinauthenticity.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
And this has been the footprint for corporate America
now for at least 50 years Atleast.
You know.
Let's just say how it is, butit's been acceptable and I love
people like you who come in andgo.
Well, actually, that's completeBS.
This is what it is.
This is how to change it, ifyou're willing to do the work
(19:40):
and the art.
I don't believe in failure.
I don't believe it exists.
I believe it's another step fora journey.
Can you speak into the failureaspect, of perception of failure
in a lot of people in yourexperience?
Because I think people go oh, Ifailed, that's it, but it's it.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
I don't believe in failure.
I think that there are mistakes.
When I was acting and you woulddo a take, they would say cut,
do it again because it was amistake, it wasn't in alignment
with the vision or what theywanted to show on the screen.
And I think it's the true withlife.
(20:26):
It's like you'll make a choice,everything's a choice.
So you make a choice, itdoesn't work out, you fall down.
But my thing is get up and whatdid you learn?
You know, because if somethingdidn't work, then there's a
reason, there's an opportunitythere and it's like so then what
(20:46):
did you learn?
And how can you make adifferent choice?
How can you to make yourselfclearer, more confident, more
powerful, more abundant?
What can you do?
And that doesn't mean that thatchallenge doesn't hurt.
It doesn't mean that you don'thave feelings about it, and
sometimes it can kind of knockyou to your knees.
(21:08):
I mean, my divorce was intense.
It was like whoa, I didn't signup for this, but I did.
So it's like, if you don'tlearn the lesson from this
experience, you will repeat thisclass and it will get more
(21:29):
intense each time, if you don'tlearn the lesson.
So my thing is okay.
What's the lesson, how do Ilearn it and move on.
So I don't have the lesson, somy thing is okay.
What's the lesson, how do Ilearn it?
And move on, so I don't have togo through this again I love
that.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I have something very similar where I just say to
myself I don't need the volumeturning up, I get the message
and how can I take away fromthat to improve and move forward
.
Before we leave for part one,I'd always like to ask you or my
guest, in this case you,cynthia what it is you want to
(22:02):
give back to the world.
What is your legacy?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
A reminder that every person is significant and
essential to this planet and itsevolution.
Otherwise we wouldn't be here.
And so I want to say to anybodylistening your only job is to
(22:32):
find out who you've come here tobe and remember who you are at
the cellular level.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
That just spoke, not just to my heart, but I can
assume it spoke to theaudience's heart as well.
Thank you for sharing that,cynthia.
Before we close down, ladiesand gentlemen, this is part one.
Before we close down, ladiesand gentlemen, this is part one.
Prepare for part two Get anotebook and a pen, go and get a
drink, settle yourself down,because it's going to be
explosive, it's going to be mad,and this is Royce, from the
(23:03):
Ashes, from burnout, to yourbrilliance.
Cynthia, I'll see you in parttwo.
Audience download share andchange somebody's life, because
you are enough.
See you soon.
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