April 23, 2025 • 33 mins
One of the most effective ways to succeed in entrepreneurship is mindset. To help you get in the right frame of mind for your new or existing venture, The SAL Podcast gets you a coach to answer some challenging questions on your journey to success. This time we have Performance Coach and Happiness Expert, Brandi Hudson. In this episode, she breaks down her B.A.S.E. framework that she uses to help her corporate, entrepreneurial and individual clients to reach the next level.
Here are the main topics we covered during our conversation:
-Shifting Her Own Mindset
-Moving from personal to business success
-How she works with entrepreneurial clients
-The problem with the notion of manifestation
-Agency
-Navigating systemic barriers to success
-Honoring your heritage
-The power of intuition
MORE ABOUT BRANDI HUDSON
Performance Coach and Happiness Expert, Brandi Hudson is passionate about helping women embody their own magic and step into a life of purpose through the power of performance and happiness. As an intuitive with extensive executive experience and a strong educational background, she brings a powerful combination of spiritual insight and real-world savvy to her work. “My unique blend of spiritual wisdom and practical wisdom helps women tap into the quantum field and align with the laws of the universe, making the pursuit of their dreams feel effortless and fulfilling”
LINKS AND MENTIONS
Power Versus Force by David Hawkins
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with others. You can also compliment this session with coach Neketa Thigpen, who believes that one should be Intentionally Selfish to change their narrative.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brandi Hudson (00:02):
There was definitely a younger version of
me who believed that I had toshow up in a very specific way
in order to be accepted and inorder to advance my career, and
no matter how many people youknow kind of like me now, like
older people, told me just bringyour whole self to work.
I'm like they ain't talking tome.
(00:22):
I can't bring my whole self towork, self to work.
I'm like they ain't talking tome.
I can't bring my whole self towork.
And the work of this lifetimeis to hold on to the wisdom of
what happened to you and let goof those dense emotions that are
associated with it.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (00:39):
Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers
.
I'm your host, Kutloano SkosanaRicci .
Today, we present your coachfor the season, Brandi Hudson,
performance coach, happinessexpert and speaker, who's
dedicated to empowering women tolive the life of their dreams.
She does this through her veryown framework, which she calls
BASE, and she walks us throughit during today's episode.
(01:01):
Also, in today's conversation,we get into Brandy's
entrepreneurial journey andexplore how she leverages 20
years of corporate experienceand combines that with spiritual
and practical wisdom to helpwomen to fulfill their potential
.
She says what you dream of isalready meant for you.
Her job is to help you get to aplace of unwavering belief in
(01:24):
the idea that you can have it.
Brandy was looking forprofessional childcare help when
she realized that she needed amindset shift.
While rereading the jobdescription, she realized that
she herself did not embody someof the specific qualities she
was looking for in a childminder.
What did she do next?
Well, that's where ourconversation begins, and so,
(01:47):
without further ado, here isyour coach for this season.
What kind of work did you startdoing to get yourself to where
you felt like you could?
Brandi Hudson (01:56):
you are the best version of those things that you
wanted to be yes, I mean I willhave to say that over the years
I've really tried everythingright.
So I've done a lot ofmindfulness work, I've done a
lot of energy work, I've done alot of, obviously, prayer and
meditation and journaling, andso I really was exploring all
(02:16):
the ways that what I know now Idon't think I called it this
then, but like how I couldreally heal my nervous system
and be like in just a much morepeaceful state of being overall.
And I think that journey hasbeen, you know, up and down, but
I've learned so much through it.
But I think the biggest impactis like having time every day to
(02:39):
reflect on what I believe, whatI want to be true setting
intentions about how the daywill look, how it will go.
That has had the biggest impact.
And then, you know, havingother people hold space for me
over time has also been helpful.
But I think those dailycommitments to ourself, to our
own improvement and up levelinghas had the greatest impact on
(03:00):
my life Right.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:01):
So that's on the personal side.
And then you formalized it andyou created a business.
Tell me about that journey, howit started and where you're
finding yourself right now.
Brandi Hudson (03:12):
Yes, well, I love that question as well.
I started really just, you know, organically People started to
see a shift in me and they werereaching out to me.
And as I, if I look back overmy career, when I was kind of
leading teams at really bigcompanies I ran ERGs, employee
resource groups, and so I alwaysspent time kind of mentoring
(03:35):
and guiding and I loved kind ofleading teams and people to
reach their own goals.
So that's always been at thecore of who I am.
And as I started focusing moreand more on myself, as I
mentioned, people organicallystarted coming to me asking me
for help.
It took time kind of for me toreally settle into like where do
(03:55):
I have the best fit, like wherecan I help people?
And I think what I, where I'velanded now is my background as
an athlete, like as someone whocan like be super disciplined
and reach these goals.
That shifted it away from beingmore like executive coaching
coaching to really performancecoaching, like how do we get
people to perform at theirhighest level in all aspects of
(04:17):
their lives, right?
And I think that mindset workand then like how our emotions
guide us and so I do that work,that performance coaching work
with a high emphasis on how ouremotions guide us.
And so I do that work, thatperformance coaching work with a
high emphasis on how ouremotions impact our journey.
I do that mostly with techcompanies, with investment firms
.
I have a special place in myheart for women and people of
(04:37):
color and like how theyspecifically think about, like
navigating their journey, mostlyprofessionally, but also in
other aspects of their lives.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (04:46):
Right.
How do you work withentrepreneurs?
You know how do you guide themon their journeys to build
whatever it is that they desireto build.
Brandi Hudson (04:55):
Well, I have a framework that I've created.
I'd love to walk you through itif I met yes.
Okay, well, I call it base,because I think it's
foundational to building thelife that you desire, and so
there's four aspects to it.
So the B in base is reallyabout your beliefs.
So I want to help people toreally understand, like, what
are their beliefs.
(05:16):
So, if you're an entrepreneur,like, do you think that?
Like, are you looking at allthe data on the percent chance
of your company being successfuland then, like, storing that in
your brain and constantly usingthat as a rubric, that's
probably not very helpful, right?
Like?
We know that most startups likeactually aren't going to make
(05:37):
it right, so you have to havethis level of like, unfettered
belief that you're going to getthere, right?
So, really starting by helpingpeople to explore, like, what
are your beliefs about?
What's even possible in thisworld?
Like, if we're thinking aboutmoney, are you thinking like
money doesn't grow on trees,when in fact, it does grow on
trees Cause it's paper?
Right, like, so literally,literally does Right.
(05:58):
So we like help people reallylike explore what's in their
brains and how that may not bein service to their goals.
The A is about alignment, right,and I know people have heard
this before, but really we needto feel the experience.
We need to feel like we wouldwhen we reach our end goal right
(06:21):
.
So, if you are looking to takea company public, or if you are
looking to take a company public, or if you are looking to close
a new round, or if you're aninvestment firm and you want
more assets under management,like you actually have to like
feel as though you are alreadythere.
You have to have a knowing thatit has already happened,
because you want to be resonantwith it.
You want it to feel like oh,I'm already on that same plane,
(06:43):
I'm already in alignment withthe person who has the outcome
that I'm seeking, and we also.
I also remind people that ifyou have a desire in your heart,
it's already meant for you, itis already occurring.
You just have to collapse thattimeline right.
And so I help people like havethat resonance, because so often
(07:03):
in America what we're doing iswe are, we have this idea of
like this is the thing that Iwant, and we think of it as like
in the future, up into theright.
And this is where I am.
And oftentimes we think the waywe're going to get up into the
right is like by worrying aboutit, having anxiety is it
actually going to happen, havingfear that something may happen
(07:24):
external to us, us that's goingto shut it all down, and none of
that is like very helpful.
It's like pushing a boulder upa mountain.
And so what I help people torealize is like if you can feel
in advance of it happening, asthough it already has, you can
really close that timeline.
And then the S is aboutself-awareness.
I think it's actually the mostimportant of the four steps
(07:44):
because it gives you insight onthe other three, like do you
actually have self-awarenessabout how you are contributing
to where you are in thislifetime?
And then the E is emotionalresilience, right?
So over the course of our lives, no matter how big or small,
we're all going to have eitherstressful incidents or we might
(08:06):
actually have traumaticincidents that happen to us,
right, and the work of thislifetime is to hold on to the
wisdom of what happened to youand let go of those dense
emotions that are associatedwith it.
Because what we know for sureis like if we're still holding
on to the emotion of shame oranger or fear that that incident
(08:29):
created in us, it's actuallydrawing us back to the past and
we're more likely to be onrepeat for those incidents to
happen again, and that's wherepeople start to see these
patterns in their lives, thatthey resemble each other.
So I take people through thatfour step process about whatever
goals that they have to helpthem get to the other side, and
(08:50):
then that's a process that theycan really like, embody and use
on their own as they look toachieve other goals in their
lives.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (08:59):
Right, you know, there's also this
whole idea of manifestation.
You know, there's also thiswhole idea of manifestation?
Yes, right, yes.
How do you guide people throughthe difference, you know,
between putting something intoaction and bringing it to being,
and this whole ephemeral ideaof manifestation?
Brandi Hudson (09:17):
Yes, Well, I don't love the word
manifestation in many ways,because I think it's like I
think you're right If I hear youcorrectly.
I think it's like I thinkyou're right if I hear you
correctly.
I think it's like this ideathat people will like think
something and then it justappears right.
And then there's like right.
It just feels like, oh, I justlike I wish it to be true and
suddenly it's true.
But I do think that it is veryempowering to believe that you
(09:42):
are the co creator of theentirety of your life.
I believe that if we go throughlife thinking that someone else
has the power to create ourlives for us, then that's like a
very disempowering way tonavigate life.
So if you believe that you arethe co-creator, of your life,
then you will, at every moment,creator of your life.
(10:08):
Then you will, at every moment,back to the S and base, have an
awareness about the things thatyou can do differently only you.
So you don't need to call yourmom and ask her to be different,
you don't need your boss to bedifferent, you don't need your
colleague to be different, butyou, in every moment, can think
about how you can shift in orderto align with the life that you
want.
And I think that's socritically important.
And I choose to believe that,whatever you want to call it
(10:30):
manifestation, co-creating thatyou are manifesting the entirety
of your life.
Because, also, the thing aboutmanifestation people want to
take all the credit formanifesting the good things,
right, like, oh, I manifestedthe house, right.
But then something bad happensto them and that's somebody
(10:51):
else's fault, entirely right.
Like, oh, I manifested thehouse, right, but then something
bad happens to them and that'ssomebody else's fault, entirely
right.
And so I tell people that, as weco-create our lives, it is
important I should say that wehave this sharpness of idea in
our head that we're movingtowards right, which is how
people talk about manifestation,that we have an emotional
connection to that outcome.
But, however, the mostimportant step is that we're
taking inspired action.
It is only through action thatwe get the life that we want.
(11:15):
Like it is not going to fallinto your lap, like maybe
sometimes you'll think it doesand that's great.
Like if every once in a while,while something special shows up
for you, I love that.
You know why not have a look atthe luck in life.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (11:28):
But I think, by and large, we get the
life that we want throughinspired action sure, this is
shades and layers and this isyour coaching session with
performance coach and happinessexpert, brandy Hudson.
Up next, we discuss navigatingsystemic barriers to success,
(11:48):
what it means to be truly happyand how to approach failure.
And yes, we have agency, butthere are things that are hard
to ignore which are alsosystemic.
How do you help your clients tokind of, you know, navigate
around those thoughts, becauseyou don't catch a break if you
read news or you know, justexist in the real world.
(12:08):
You know these things are veryobvious and they are daily
reminders of you know thesystemic issues that are going
stumbling blocks.
Brandi Hudson (12:16):
Yes, so a couple of things.
One I'm actually writing a bookabout this, so because I think
it's, I think it's so criticallyimportant, and so, and I, and
in the book we're going to talka little bit about, like these,
this idea of unpopular belief,so I'm going to leave it my
unpopular belief is actuallythat there are bad actors in the
(12:36):
world and there are systemicissues, and I want to like put a
pin in that and make sure thateveryone hears that loudly and
clearly, because it has impactedthe trajectory especially of
marginalized communities in theUnited States of America and we
can at times be so beholden tothat past that we can't even
(13:02):
think about like how to forge afuture right.
So I really say to people youcan watch the news and you can
be like these are all the thingshappening to people like me,
but what I know for sure, allthose things aren't actually
happening to you.
But when you're focused on allthe bad that is happening in the
world, you're actually puttingyourself into this state of
(13:22):
fight or flight.
And what in the world you'reactually putting yourself into
this state of fight or flightand what do we know?
When you're in fight or flight,you don't have any available
energy to actually create,because your body's like I just
got to keep her safe right nowLike I can't.
I can't give her energy to doanything else, so she just has
to keep safe.
And so I really invite peopleto just take on what is actually
(13:42):
yours.
Like you can't take on all ofit right, like this doom
scrolling or this watching thenews.
All of these things aren't inservice to your highest good,
and we can't actually change asa people if we're spending all
of our energy in fight or flightbecause we can't help each
other from that play.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (14:00):
Yep, it's just panic.
Brandi Hudson (14:02):
It's just like panic, and I I'm not the first
one to say this, but the systemisn't broken.
It was built this way rightLike so.
If I, if, if you as a person inpower, can keep all the rest of
the people in this perpetualstate of chaos, then you never
lose your power.
And the way we take our powerback is extricating ourselves
(14:25):
from the chaos, saying I'mactually not going to let you
take me down this rabbit holewhere I am focused on all that
is bad in the world.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (14:36):
Yeah, that is really great.
That is really great.
And I also wanted to find outabout your definition of
happiness.
Yes, what is happiness?
Brandi Hudson (14:47):
Yeah, you know, and I think that is such a great
question and I try not todefine it for other people,
right?
Like I think happiness hasnothing to do with anything
external to you, right?
So if you believe you'll behappy because you'll have
something or get something orachieve something, that really
isn't it.
It's like this inward statethat you exist in, where you
(15:12):
feel worthy, where you loveyourself deeply and where you
feel as though you are movingkind of in lockstep towards your
dreams.
It's like a place of peace,it's a place of joy, Like it's
just.
It's just where you can be andyou don't define yourself by
anything external to you.
And so many people have likeofficial definitions of
(15:34):
happiness.
But I really help people tothink about how it feels for
them.
How does it feel to be happy?
Because so often people willsay they're happy, but then when
you're talking to them, you'relike well, that doesn't sound so
much like you're happy, right?
So I don't want people to likedefine it in words as much as I
want them to feel this sense ofI can just be.
(15:55):
There's no friction, there isno wanting, there's no proving
like, it's just this place thatwe are in.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:03):
Yeah, yeah, the peaceful place.
The peaceful place, yeah.
So when I uh speak to peopleabout you know happiness, I
often get uh pushback, orsometimes I get pushback on you
know you're on this toxicpositivity.
It's just a term that's beingbandied around.
How do you distinguish twopeople that you?
(16:24):
Know there's a differencebetween what that is toxic
positivity and genuine happinessno.
Brandi Hudson (16:32):
I love that.
The only way that we can behappy is to feel all the
emotions.
The only and I want to, I wantto say that twice the only way
that we can ever be happy is tofeel every single emotion.
So if I lose a friend, you knowthere's no value in like
bypassing that real feeling ofloss.
Or if I lose a family member,right Like, the value is to like
(16:56):
experience the sadness first ofthat loss and then to
transition, hopefully to thisplace of like remembering all of
the great things about thatrelationship and how you can
like move that forward.
Right, but sometimes we justbypass right from like well, you
know, I lost my job, but it'sokay because, and then dot, dot,
(17:17):
dot, right, like, and peoplejust don't want to actually sit
with that feeling of like, no,it's not probably okay, you
don't feel great.
I actually just hung up withsomeone right before this and
they were telling me how they'reworking on a project which I
won't name specifically, butthey're working on a big project
and how there were all thesehurdles in the project and they
were making all of these youknow rationales for why the
(17:46):
hurdles were happening.
And then I, you know, I justsaid, like I'm going to be
direct with you.
It feels like you're very, verysad right now.
And then they just burst outcrying Right but like, but they
were looking to really like,explain why.
Like well, this is happening.
But it's okay to be sad.
We actually want to be sad.
We stay in a perpetual state ofsadness when we don't feel the
emotion, or perpetual state offear, anxiety.
But when we really feel theemotion like oh, I'm worried
(18:07):
that this won't happen and whatdoes it feel like to be worried,
and just in that emotion,that's the only way we can get
to the other side is to feel itdeeply.
And the opposite is toxicpositivity, to just act like
it's not a big deal or that, oract like we shouldn't be sad
about it.
And I think there's value ifyou're always angry, if you're
always feeling triggered, rightTo feel it like, to feel the
(18:31):
anger.
And then, once you're to theother side of it, you can say to
yourself, like why am I alwaystriggered when my kid doesn't
listen?
Why am I always triggered whenmy boss sends an email?
Like if there's things that aretriggering to you, you do want
to explore them and navigatethem so that maybe you don't
always have to deal with them,right?
You want to ask yourself, likewhy does this feel so heavy for
me that my husband doesn't putthe dishes in the dishwasher?
(18:53):
Right?
But the first step is toactually just be like I am angry
, I wanted him to do the dishes,and then, once you feel it,
then you explore it and notdoing that is the toxic
positivity, and I don't inviteanyone there because that's not
healthy.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (19:09):
No, absolutely, which ties into the
whole idea of shame to feel yourfeels and also failure and
startups.
Nine out of 10 times I just notgoing to make it.
And I know you want people tobe aligned and you know act as
if, but you know failuresometimes does come.
So, how do they, how in theworld do you navigate that and
(19:29):
be fine and try again.
Brandi Hudson (19:31):
I mean, this is what I say to people If you have
a big dream and you don'tpursue it, you fail.
And if you have a big dream andyou do pursue it and it doesn't
work out, you've also failed.
But you have tried and you havelearned in one version of those
events and then the other youare sitting at home ruminating
about why you haven't followedyour dreams, and so I invite
(19:54):
people to actually not call itfailure, right?
I think that as we move throughlife, everything, every single
thing that happens to us, eithermoves us closer to our dreams
or it gives us information thatactually also moves us closer to
our dreams, right.
And so I think even the termfailure feels so heavy for
(20:15):
people.
But you're just learning, you'rejust exploring, you're just
getting information, right, andwe are human, and what is true
about the arc of the humanexperience, regardless of your
color or your creed or your ageor your experiences, is that it
is filled with imperfections,and it has to be.
(20:35):
That's what makes us human,right.
So the more we can actuallyhave grace with ourselves and
not think about it as failure,right, so the more we can
actually have grace withourselves and not think about it
as failure.
We actually like not onlyexperience the when things don't
go our way, we actuallyexperience it from a better
place.
But the data supports that weactually minimize the number of
quote unquote failures we havewhen we're in that place.
(20:57):
If you're desperately trying toavoid failure, if you're
desperately trying to avoidthese learning experiences,
you're holding on so tightlythat you're actually more so
inviting them to you.
But when you can just like holdon to life gently and have
grace with yourself and justwalk through it, you're going to
have far fewer of thoseexperiences and you're also just
(21:17):
going to like be in a placewhere it just feels better to
live your life.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (21:25):
We're nearing the end of our
conversation Brandi HudsonHudson, but first we find out
what she means about using yourintuition to achieve success in
business, honoring your heritageand leveraging your cultural
background in a professionalsetting.
And, of course, as we usuallydo around this time, we get into
the shades and layers rapidfire.
Something else that I've heardyou talk about, and that's
(21:48):
intuition when you're in anentrepreneurial venture, just
using that to your advantage.
You know, intuition andbusiness are two things you
would never see together.
I mean, this is data, hardfacts, etc.
So how do you work with clientsin that from that perspective?
Brandi Hudson (22:05):
Yes, well.
So I think that we shouldnavigate the totality of our
life in a similar way.
So I wouldn't say like, oh, wenavigate our business this way
and then the rest of our lifethis way.
So I deeply believe that weshould be following our
intuition and we should befollowing our knowing.
I, we should be following ourknowing.
I'm actually working with alarge company right now and it
(22:26):
was interesting because I wassaying to the CEO of the company
like, oh well, your team seemsto really be data driven, right,
it's an investment company, sothat makes sense.
And the CEO was like oh, that'sso interesting because I, like,
always follow my gut in the end.
Right, like, so it's not.
Like, oh, that's so interestingbecause I, like, always follow
my gut in the end, right, like,so it's not.
Like, oh, we don't do the work.
(22:46):
We do the work right, we getthe information and as we
synthesize all the data, like,that final step is like, does
our knowing say that we're onthe right track and how do we
trust that?
Right, and that will never failus.
However, we have to build thatmuscle right, and that will
never fail us.
However, we have to build thatmuscle right, like so we build
this muscle of trustingourselves, of knowing that our
(23:08):
intuition is guiding us right,but it goes back to like the
manifestation.
It's not like I just wake uptoday and I'm like, okay, like
what are the lottery numbers?
Someone send them to me and I'mlike okay, three, seven, 45,
you know, it's not like that.
It's like I've done the workand all the information I now
have at my fingertips and I'mlike okay, this is the next
(23:31):
right step, right.
And I, if I ask anyone, myhusband's a venture capitalist
and so he invests in startups.
And if a startup, oftentimeswhen a startup doesn't work out,
which they will, I say to himI'm like, oh, did you know?
Upfront, like, did you have?
I always ask him, like, do youhave a spy, decents?
And he can always reframe forme, like what happened in these
(23:54):
early meetings with the founders, where he had a level of doubt
but really wanted them to work.
And so and I think that's whatwe oftentimes do we have
something that tells us like, gothis way, go left instead of
right, like pick the A insteadof B, but then we rationalize
(24:14):
ourselves out of that knowingand always looking back.
If you really do this kind ofpostmortem.
You had something that told you.
I knew it.
It's 100% of the time.
I've never had someone say likeno, I really thought that was
going to work out and I neveronce doubted it.
(24:36):
And now I don't know why it did.
Everyone always says but wehave to trust that knowing going
forward, not just looking back.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (24:45):
Right, right.
One more thing I wanted to chatto you about in coaching people
was the achieving success whilehonoring heritage.
So we know about code switchingin professional environments.
You know you're there, you'retrying to sell an idea or a
project and you are one way.
Then you're in the coffee roomwith your other colleagues who
(25:06):
are from the same culturalbackground and suddenly your
accent changes and your lexiconchanges.
So how does this tie intosuccess, like the cultural
authenticity?
Brandi Hudson (25:17):
Yes, I love this question so much because there
was definitely a younger versionof me who believed that I had
to show up in a very specificway in order to be accepted and
in order to advance my career.
And no matter how many peopleyou know kind of like me now,
like older people told me justbe, bring your whole self to
(25:38):
work.
I'm like they ain't talking tome.
I can't bring my whole self towork and now fast forward.
I know it to be true in thedepths of my soul, right?
And I think we have to lookthrough this lens from the
perspective of we cannot fullybe an acceptance of ourselves if
we don't believe that the mostauthentic version of ourselves
(26:00):
is the most successful versionof ourselves.
And if we are not fullyaccepting of ourselves, then we
just can't flourish.
Because how can someone elseaccept you, how can someone else
honor your ideas and yourthoughts, if you haven't done
that for yourself, right?
So we want to start from thisbaseline of like I know that I'm
worthy, I accept myself fullyand I love myself fully.
(26:23):
And from that baseline, theonly way to show up is as our
most authentic version ofourselves.
And when we show up as the mostauthentic version, knowing that
, whatever you believe whetheryou believe in God or a creator,
just like your highest self youhave to think, oh, these unique
aspects of myself are what Iactually bring to the world and
it's all that the world canresonate with.
(26:44):
It's all that the world canalign to, world can resonate
with.
It's all that the world canalign to.
The world can't align to asecond version of you know, mark
Zuckerberg, or a second versionof Serena Williams or whomever
you respect as, like a leader.
If you're just trying toemulate who they are, that space
is already taken.
But the authentic version ofyourself that says, like your
(27:07):
unpopular opinions, like I saidearlier, just like, shows up
exactly as you are.
That version of you, thatauthentic version of you, is who
the world needs.
It's what the world is lookingfor and that's all that people
resonate with.
I said, like, when people tellme how?
(27:27):
Oh, well, I said this and theydidn't, they didn't react very
well to what I said and I'm likeoh, but what did you mean?
Well, I was angry with them,but I didn't say that.
What I said was X, y, z.
Well, they knew you were beinginauthentic, like, even though
you think, like people alwayswant to tell me the words that
they said and they're like Idon't understand why they didn't
accept the words Right, butit's like, oh no, they didn't
(27:50):
hear your words.
They felt something, yourenergy.
They knew that that's not whatshe means, that's not what, like
, who she is, and they may nothave been able to put the finger
on it, but that didn't resonatefor them.
But when you are just who youare, that always resonates with
all people, across all heritages, across all ages, demographics,
(28:15):
because it's who you were meantto be.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (28:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
Brandi Hudson (28:18):
What have you?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (28:19):
been called to do.
Brandi Hudson (28:20):
You know this work.
I feel like many, many yearsago I was meditating in my
living room, by my fireplace.
Many, many years ago I was likemeditating in my living room,
by my fireplace.
I was really called to helppeople many, many people, but
specifically people that looklike me to align with the life
that they deserve right, andhelp people to see that there
(28:40):
are no limitations to who we getto be in this lifetime and that
, like, our soul has chosen thistime, this space, this body,
and that our desires are meantfor us.
And I think if I do that forone person, I will feel like
I've won, but my goal is to doit for many, many people over
(29:00):
this life?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:01):
Yeah, and who are your mentors?
Who would you credit with thisenergy that you have and your
inclinations to help others?
Brandi Hudson (29:09):
The person who had the biggest impact on my
life is my grandmother.
She's passed away, but at avery young age she taught me
kind of like this holisticoutlook on life.
She taught me to be there andin service to others and she's
one of my best friends and I'mvery grateful to her and for her
, and I've had many people alongthe way that have helped me in
(29:31):
numerous ways.
But I we think about those mostformative years and she had a
tremendous impact on me and I'mvery grateful for that.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:39):
Yeah, and books.
What's been the mostinfluential book in your life?
Do you think yes.
Brandi Hudson (29:47):
Yeah, the most influential book in my life is
Power Versus Force by DavidHawking.
I think it's really like whattaught me to like make this
shift away from.
I used to really think that Ihad to force, push through,
right, you know, like be strongblack woman who pushed for what
she wanted.
And then I realized actually Igot a new administrative partner
(30:11):
recently because someone elsein my team moved to a different
role and she was like higharcing everything and she's like
well, is this more importantthan this?
And these were very greatquestions and I finally said to
her I said, oh, you know, Ireally am at a place in my life
where everything will actuallywork out and she's like what,
when you're in this place ofpeace, is this place of knowing.
(30:33):
Then it starts to work out foryou.
That book, it took me actuallya while to read it.
I had it and I kept going backto it and going back to it and
when I finally, when it was mytime to read it, I was like oh,
it was just so impactful.
I recommend it so highly.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (30:48):
Great, and you're writing your own.
Brandi Hudson (30:57):
Yes, I am, I'm working on that.
The placeholder is no one'scoming to save you, and it is
this idea about how we we reallywe have so much power, and it's
just a practical approach tohow to live your very best life.
And how to live your very bestlife and how to think through
this practical lens and thisspiritual lens and to really
realize that we have so muchsovereignty in this lifetime.
Kutloano Skosana Ric (31:17):
Absolutely , and what I like to ask my
guests is if they had to write amemoir what would you call it
and why.
Brandi Hudson (31:25):
Oh, I love that question.
I've never been asked, if I hadto write a memoir, what would I
call it and why?
Oh, I love that question.
I've never been asked, if I hadto write a memoir, what would I
call it and why?
I think I would call it favor.
I feel as though I've beenhighly favored in this lifetime
and I've done my best to takeadvantage of all the
opportunities that God saw fitto give me, and I think that's
(31:46):
what we're all called to do.
Yeah, Great.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:49):
Yeah, and if you had to turn it into a
film, who would you choose forthe lead actress?
Brandi Hudson (31:55):
Maybe Kerry Washington.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:56):
Yes, I can see that.
Yes, and if you had to host adinner tomorrow night, which
famous black woman would youinvite, living or dead?
Brandi Hudson (32:07):
Michelle.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:07):
Obama.
Brandi Hudson (32:12):
Hello, hello night.
Which famous black woman wouldyou invite, living or dead?
Michelle obama, hello, hello.
Are you free, michelle?
I I've got some a great menuset for us yeah, I would love to
sit with her and have have aconversation lady grace.
I call her oh, I love that namefor her.
Yeah, she was very graceful andsome really persnickety moments
, so yeah, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:31):
So if people want to work with you,
give you money, where can theyfind you?
Brandi Hudson (32:36):
You can find us at Brandi B Hudson, so Brandy
with an I, that's the onlyunique part, and then Hudson,
like the river.
So we're brandibhudson.
com and that's where we are onYouTube and Instagram and
LinkedIn, and I would absolutelylove to connect with people in
all the ways.
And I do have a sub stack thatis every Monday we publish and
(33:01):
it's just Hi, brandy is our substack.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (33:04):
And that is all from me this time around
.
Thanks to performance coachBrandi Hudson for giving us tips
on how to succeed in career andentrepreneurship, and thanks to
her also for sharing her story.
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with someone
else who might find it useful.
As always, I thank you forlistening and for your ongoing
Kutloano Skosana Ricci.
I'm , and until next time,please do take good care.
There was definitely a younger version of
me who believed that I had toshow up in a very specific way
in order to be accepted and inorder to advance my career, and
no matter how many people youknow kind of like me now, like
older people, told me just bringyour whole self to work.
I'm like they ain't talking tome.
(00:22):
I can't bring my whole self towork, self to work.
I'm like they ain't talking tome.
I can't bring my whole self towork.
And the work of this lifetimeis to hold on to the wisdom of
what happened to you and let goof those dense emotions that are
associated with it.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (00:39):
Hello and welcome to Shades and Layers
.
I'm your host, Kutloano SkosanaRicci .
Today, we present your coachfor the season, Brandi Hudson,
performance coach, happinessexpert and speaker, who's
dedicated to empowering women tolive the life of their dreams.
She does this through her veryown framework, which she calls
BASE, and she walks us throughit during today's episode.
(01:01):
Also, in today's conversation,we get into Brandy's
entrepreneurial journey andexplore how she leverages 20
years of corporate experienceand combines that with spiritual
and practical wisdom to helpwomen to fulfill their potential
.
She says what you dream of isalready meant for you.
Her job is to help you get to aplace of unwavering belief in
(01:24):
the idea that you can have it.
Brandy was looking forprofessional childcare help when
she realized that she needed amindset shift.
While rereading the jobdescription, she realized that
she herself did not embody someof the specific qualities she
was looking for in a childminder.
What did she do next?
Well, that's where ourconversation begins, and so,
(01:47):
without further ado, here isyour coach for this season.
What kind of work did you startdoing to get yourself to where
you felt like you could?
Brandi Hudson (01:56):
you are the best version of those things that you
wanted to be yes, I mean I willhave to say that over the years
I've really tried everythingright.
So I've done a lot ofmindfulness work, I've done a
lot of energy work, I've done alot of, obviously, prayer and
meditation and journaling, andso I really was exploring all
(02:16):
the ways that what I know now Idon't think I called it this
then, but like how I couldreally heal my nervous system
and be like in just a much morepeaceful state of being overall.
And I think that journey hasbeen, you know, up and down, but
I've learned so much through it.
But I think the biggest impactis like having time every day to
(02:39):
reflect on what I believe, whatI want to be true setting
intentions about how the daywill look, how it will go.
That has had the biggest impact.
And then, you know, havingother people hold space for me
over time has also been helpful.
But I think those dailycommitments to ourself, to our
own improvement and up levelinghas had the greatest impact on
(03:00):
my life Right.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (03:01):
So that's on the personal side.
And then you formalized it andyou created a business.
Tell me about that journey, howit started and where you're
finding yourself right now.
Brandi Hudson (03:12):
Yes, well, I love that question as well.
I started really just, you know, organically People started to
see a shift in me and they werereaching out to me.
And as I, if I look back overmy career, when I was kind of
leading teams at really bigcompanies I ran ERGs, employee
resource groups, and so I alwaysspent time kind of mentoring
(03:35):
and guiding and I loved kind ofleading teams and people to
reach their own goals.
So that's always been at thecore of who I am.
And as I started focusing moreand more on myself, as I
mentioned, people organicallystarted coming to me asking me
for help.
It took time kind of for me toreally settle into like where do
(03:55):
I have the best fit, like wherecan I help people?
And I think what I, where I'velanded now is my background as
an athlete, like as someone whocan like be super disciplined
and reach these goals.
That shifted it away from beingmore like executive coaching
coaching to really performancecoaching, like how do we get
people to perform at theirhighest level in all aspects of
(04:17):
their lives, right?
And I think that mindset workand then like how our emotions
guide us and so I do that work,that performance coaching work
with a high emphasis on how ouremotions guide us.
And so I do that work, thatperformance coaching work with a
high emphasis on how ouremotions impact our journey.
I do that mostly with techcompanies, with investment firms
.
I have a special place in myheart for women and people of
(04:37):
color and like how theyspecifically think about, like
navigating their journey, mostlyprofessionally, but also in
other aspects of their lives.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (04:46):
Right.
How do you work withentrepreneurs?
You know how do you guide themon their journeys to build
whatever it is that they desireto build.
Brandi Hudson (04:55):
Well, I have a framework that I've created.
I'd love to walk you through itif I met yes.
Okay, well, I call it base,because I think it's
foundational to building thelife that you desire, and so
there's four aspects to it.
So the B in base is reallyabout your beliefs.
So I want to help people toreally understand, like, what
are their beliefs.
(05:16):
So, if you're an entrepreneur,like, do you think that?
Like, are you looking at allthe data on the percent chance
of your company being successfuland then, like, storing that in
your brain and constantly usingthat as a rubric, that's
probably not very helpful, right?
Like?
We know that most startups likeactually aren't going to make
(05:37):
it right, so you have to havethis level of like, unfettered
belief that you're going to getthere, right?
So, really starting by helpingpeople to explore, like, what
are your beliefs about?
What's even possible in thisworld?
Like, if we're thinking aboutmoney, are you thinking like
money doesn't grow on trees,when in fact, it does grow on
trees Cause it's paper?
Right, like, so literally,literally does Right.
(05:58):
So we like help people reallylike explore what's in their
brains and how that may not bein service to their goals.
The A is about alignment, right,and I know people have heard
this before, but really we needto feel the experience.
We need to feel like we wouldwhen we reach our end goal right
(06:21):
.
So, if you are looking to takea company public, or if you are
looking to take a company public, or if you are looking to close
a new round, or if you're aninvestment firm and you want
more assets under management,like you actually have to like
feel as though you are alreadythere.
You have to have a knowing thatit has already happened,
because you want to be resonantwith it.
You want it to feel like oh,I'm already on that same plane,
(06:43):
I'm already in alignment withthe person who has the outcome
that I'm seeking, and we also.
I also remind people that ifyou have a desire in your heart,
it's already meant for you, itis already occurring.
You just have to collapse thattimeline right.
And so I help people like havethat resonance, because so often
(07:03):
in America what we're doing iswe are, we have this idea of
like this is the thing that Iwant, and we think of it as like
in the future, up into theright.
And this is where I am.
And oftentimes we think the waywe're going to get up into the
right is like by worrying aboutit, having anxiety is it
actually going to happen, havingfear that something may happen
(07:24):
external to us, us that's goingto shut it all down, and none of
that is like very helpful.
It's like pushing a boulder upa mountain.
And so what I help people torealize is like if you can feel
in advance of it happening, asthough it already has, you can
really close that timeline.
And then the S is aboutself-awareness.
I think it's actually the mostimportant of the four steps
(07:44):
because it gives you insight onthe other three, like do you
actually have self-awarenessabout how you are contributing
to where you are in thislifetime?
And then the E is emotionalresilience, right?
So over the course of our lives, no matter how big or small,
we're all going to have eitherstressful incidents or we might
(08:06):
actually have traumaticincidents that happen to us,
right, and the work of thislifetime is to hold on to the
wisdom of what happened to youand let go of those dense
emotions that are associatedwith it.
Because what we know for sureis like if we're still holding
on to the emotion of shame oranger or fear that that incident
(08:29):
created in us, it's actuallydrawing us back to the past and
we're more likely to be onrepeat for those incidents to
happen again, and that's wherepeople start to see these
patterns in their lives, thatthey resemble each other.
So I take people through thatfour step process about whatever
goals that they have to helpthem get to the other side, and
(08:50):
then that's a process that theycan really like, embody and use
on their own as they look toachieve other goals in their
lives.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (08:59):
Right, you know, there's also this
whole idea of manifestation.
You know, there's also thiswhole idea of manifestation?
Yes, right, yes.
How do you guide people throughthe difference, you know,
between putting something intoaction and bringing it to being,
and this whole ephemeral ideaof manifestation?
Brandi Hudson (09:17):
Yes, Well, I don't love the word
manifestation in many ways,because I think it's like I
think you're right If I hear youcorrectly.
I think it's like I thinkyou're right if I hear you
correctly.
I think it's like this ideathat people will like think
something and then it justappears right.
And then there's like right.
It just feels like, oh, I justlike I wish it to be true and
suddenly it's true.
But I do think that it is veryempowering to believe that you
(09:42):
are the co creator of theentirety of your life.
I believe that if we go throughlife thinking that someone else
has the power to create ourlives for us, then that's like a
very disempowering way tonavigate life.
So if you believe that you arethe co-creator, of your life,
then you will, at every moment,creator of your life.
(10:08):
Then you will, at every moment,back to the S and base, have an
awareness about the things thatyou can do differently only you.
So you don't need to call yourmom and ask her to be different,
you don't need your boss to bedifferent, you don't need your
colleague to be different, butyou, in every moment, can think
about how you can shift in orderto align with the life that you
want.
And I think that's socritically important.
And I choose to believe that,whatever you want to call it
(10:30):
manifestation, co-creating thatyou are manifesting the entirety
of your life.
Because, also, the thing aboutmanifestation people want to
take all the credit formanifesting the good things,
right, like, oh, I manifestedthe house, right.
But then something bad happensto them and that's somebody
(10:51):
else's fault, entirely right.
Like, oh, I manifested thehouse, right, but then something
bad happens to them and that'ssomebody else's fault, entirely
right.
And so I tell people that, as weco-create our lives, it is
important I should say that wehave this sharpness of idea in
our head that we're movingtowards right, which is how
people talk about manifestation,that we have an emotional
connection to that outcome.
But, however, the mostimportant step is that we're
taking inspired action.
It is only through action thatwe get the life that we want.
(11:15):
Like it is not going to fallinto your lap, like maybe
sometimes you'll think it doesand that's great.
Like if every once in a while,while something special shows up
for you, I love that.
You know why not have a look atthe luck in life.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (11:28):
But I think, by and large, we get the
life that we want throughinspired action sure, this is
shades and layers and this isyour coaching session with
performance coach and happinessexpert, brandy Hudson.
Up next, we discuss navigatingsystemic barriers to success,
(11:48):
what it means to be truly happyand how to approach failure.
And yes, we have agency, butthere are things that are hard
to ignore which are alsosystemic.
How do you help your clients tokind of, you know, navigate
around those thoughts, becauseyou don't catch a break if you
read news or you know, justexist in the real world.
(12:08):
You know these things are veryobvious and they are daily
reminders of you know thesystemic issues that are going
stumbling blocks.
Brandi Hudson (12:16):
Yes, so a couple of things.
One I'm actually writing a bookabout this, so because I think
it's, I think it's so criticallyimportant, and so, and I, and
in the book we're going to talka little bit about, like these,
this idea of unpopular belief,so I'm going to leave it my
unpopular belief is actuallythat there are bad actors in the
(12:36):
world and there are systemicissues, and I want to like put a
pin in that and make sure thateveryone hears that loudly and
clearly, because it has impactedthe trajectory especially of
marginalized communities in theUnited States of America and we
can at times be so beholden tothat past that we can't even
(13:02):
think about like how to forge afuture right.
So I really say to people youcan watch the news and you can
be like these are all the thingshappening to people like me,
but what I know for sure, allthose things aren't actually
happening to you.
But when you're focused on allthe bad that is happening in the
world, you're actually puttingyourself into this state of
(13:22):
fight or flight.
And what in the world you'reactually putting yourself into
this state of fight or flightand what do we know?
When you're in fight or flight,you don't have any available
energy to actually create,because your body's like I just
got to keep her safe right nowLike I can't.
I can't give her energy to doanything else, so she just has
to keep safe.
And so I really invite peopleto just take on what is actually
(13:42):
yours.
Like you can't take on all ofit right, like this doom
scrolling or this watching thenews.
All of these things aren't inservice to your highest good,
and we can't actually change asa people if we're spending all
of our energy in fight or flightbecause we can't help each
other from that play.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (14:00):
Yep, it's just panic.
Brandi Hudson (14:02):
It's just like panic, and I I'm not the first
one to say this, but the systemisn't broken.
It was built this way rightLike so.
If I, if, if you as a person inpower, can keep all the rest of
the people in this perpetualstate of chaos, then you never
lose your power.
And the way we take our powerback is extricating ourselves
(14:25):
from the chaos, saying I'mactually not going to let you
take me down this rabbit holewhere I am focused on all that
is bad in the world.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (14:36):
Yeah, that is really great.
That is really great.
And I also wanted to find outabout your definition of
happiness.
Yes, what is happiness?
Brandi Hudson (14:47):
Yeah, you know, and I think that is such a great
question and I try not todefine it for other people,
right?
Like I think happiness hasnothing to do with anything
external to you, right?
So if you believe you'll behappy because you'll have
something or get something orachieve something, that really
isn't it.
It's like this inward statethat you exist in, where you
(15:12):
feel worthy, where you loveyourself deeply and where you
feel as though you are movingkind of in lockstep towards your
dreams.
It's like a place of peace,it's a place of joy, Like it's
just.
It's just where you can be andyou don't define yourself by
anything external to you.
And so many people have likeofficial definitions of
(15:34):
happiness.
But I really help people tothink about how it feels for
them.
How does it feel to be happy?
Because so often people willsay they're happy, but then when
you're talking to them, you'relike well, that doesn't sound so
much like you're happy, right?
So I don't want people to likedefine it in words as much as I
want them to feel this sense ofI can just be.
(15:55):
There's no friction, there isno wanting, there's no proving
like, it's just this place thatwe are in.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (16:03):
Yeah, yeah, the peaceful place.
The peaceful place, yeah.
So when I uh speak to peopleabout you know happiness, I
often get uh pushback, orsometimes I get pushback on you
know you're on this toxicpositivity.
It's just a term that's beingbandied around.
How do you distinguish twopeople that you?
(16:24):
Know there's a differencebetween what that is toxic
positivity and genuine happinessno.
Brandi Hudson (16:32):
I love that.
The only way that we can behappy is to feel all the
emotions.
The only and I want to, I wantto say that twice the only way
that we can ever be happy is tofeel every single emotion.
So if I lose a friend, you knowthere's no value in like
bypassing that real feeling ofloss.
Or if I lose a family member,right Like, the value is to like
(16:56):
experience the sadness first ofthat loss and then to
transition, hopefully to thisplace of like remembering all of
the great things about thatrelationship and how you can
like move that forward.
Right, but sometimes we justbypass right from like well, you
know, I lost my job, but it'sokay because, and then dot, dot,
(17:17):
dot, right, like, and peoplejust don't want to actually sit
with that feeling of like, no,it's not probably okay, you
don't feel great.
I actually just hung up withsomeone right before this and
they were telling me how they'reworking on a project which I
won't name specifically, butthey're working on a big project
and how there were all thesehurdles in the project and they
were making all of these youknow rationales for why the
(17:46):
hurdles were happening.
And then I, you know, I justsaid, like I'm going to be
direct with you.
It feels like you're very, verysad right now.
And then they just burst outcrying Right but like, but they
were looking to really like,explain why.
Like well, this is happening.
But it's okay to be sad.
We actually want to be sad.
We stay in a perpetual state ofsadness when we don't feel the
emotion, or perpetual state offear, anxiety.
But when we really feel theemotion like oh, I'm worried
(18:07):
that this won't happen and whatdoes it feel like to be worried,
and just in that emotion,that's the only way we can get
to the other side is to feel itdeeply.
And the opposite is toxicpositivity, to just act like
it's not a big deal or that, oract like we shouldn't be sad
about it.
And I think there's value ifyou're always angry, if you're
always feeling triggered, rightTo feel it like, to feel the
(18:31):
anger.
And then, once you're to theother side of it, you can say to
yourself, like why am I alwaystriggered when my kid doesn't
listen?
Why am I always triggered whenmy boss sends an email?
Like if there's things that aretriggering to you, you do want
to explore them and navigatethem so that maybe you don't
always have to deal with them,right?
You want to ask yourself, likewhy does this feel so heavy for
me that my husband doesn't putthe dishes in the dishwasher?
(18:53):
Right?
But the first step is toactually just be like I am angry
, I wanted him to do the dishes,and then, once you feel it,
then you explore it and notdoing that is the toxic
positivity, and I don't inviteanyone there because that's not
healthy.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (19:09):
No, absolutely, which ties into the
whole idea of shame to feel yourfeels and also failure and
startups.
Nine out of 10 times I just notgoing to make it.
And I know you want people tobe aligned and you know act as
if, but you know failuresometimes does come.
So, how do they, how in theworld do you navigate that and
(19:29):
be fine and try again.
Brandi Hudson (19:31):
I mean, this is what I say to people If you have
a big dream and you don'tpursue it, you fail.
And if you have a big dream andyou do pursue it and it doesn't
work out, you've also failed.
But you have tried and you havelearned in one version of those
events and then the other youare sitting at home ruminating
about why you haven't followedyour dreams, and so I invite
(19:54):
people to actually not call itfailure, right?
I think that as we move throughlife, everything, every single
thing that happens to us, eithermoves us closer to our dreams
or it gives us information thatactually also moves us closer to
our dreams, right.
And so I think even the termfailure feels so heavy for
(20:15):
people.
But you're just learning, you'rejust exploring, you're just
getting information, right, andwe are human, and what is true
about the arc of the humanexperience, regardless of your
color or your creed or your ageor your experiences, is that it
is filled with imperfections,and it has to be.
(20:35):
That's what makes us human,right.
So the more we can actuallyhave grace with ourselves and
not think about it as failure,right, so the more we can
actually have grace withourselves and not think about it
as failure.
We actually like not onlyexperience the when things don't
go our way, we actuallyexperience it from a better
place.
But the data supports that weactually minimize the number of
quote unquote failures we havewhen we're in that place.
(20:57):
If you're desperately trying toavoid failure, if you're
desperately trying to avoidthese learning experiences,
you're holding on so tightlythat you're actually more so
inviting them to you.
But when you can just like holdon to life gently and have
grace with yourself and justwalk through it, you're going to
have far fewer of thoseexperiences and you're also just
(21:17):
going to like be in a placewhere it just feels better to
live your life.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (21:25):
We're nearing the end of our
conversation Brandi HudsonHudson, but first we find out
what she means about using yourintuition to achieve success in
business, honoring your heritageand leveraging your cultural
background in a professionalsetting.
And, of course, as we usuallydo around this time, we get into
the shades and layers rapidfire.
Something else that I've heardyou talk about, and that's
(21:48):
intuition when you're in anentrepreneurial venture, just
using that to your advantage.
You know, intuition andbusiness are two things you
would never see together.
I mean, this is data, hardfacts, etc.
So how do you work with clientsin that from that perspective?
Brandi Hudson (22:05):
Yes, well.
So I think that we shouldnavigate the totality of our
life in a similar way.
So I wouldn't say like, oh, wenavigate our business this way
and then the rest of our lifethis way.
So I deeply believe that weshould be following our
intuition and we should befollowing our knowing.
I, we should be following ourknowing.
I'm actually working with alarge company right now and it
(22:26):
was interesting because I wassaying to the CEO of the company
like, oh well, your team seemsto really be data driven, right,
it's an investment company, sothat makes sense.
And the CEO was like oh, that'sso interesting because I, like,
always follow my gut in the end.
Right, like, so it's not.
Like, oh, that's so interestingbecause I, like, always follow
my gut in the end, right, like,so it's not.
Like, oh, we don't do the work.
(22:46):
We do the work right, we getthe information and as we
synthesize all the data, like,that final step is like, does
our knowing say that we're onthe right track and how do we
trust that?
Right, and that will never failus.
However, we have to build thatmuscle right, and that will
never fail us.
However, we have to build thatmuscle right, like so we build
this muscle of trustingourselves, of knowing that our
(23:08):
intuition is guiding us right,but it goes back to like the
manifestation.
It's not like I just wake uptoday and I'm like, okay, like
what are the lottery numbers?
Someone send them to me and I'mlike okay, three, seven, 45,
you know, it's not like that.
It's like I've done the workand all the information I now
have at my fingertips and I'mlike okay, this is the next
(23:31):
right step, right.
And I, if I ask anyone, myhusband's a venture capitalist
and so he invests in startups.
And if a startup, oftentimeswhen a startup doesn't work out,
which they will, I say to himI'm like, oh, did you know?
Upfront, like, did you have?
I always ask him, like, do youhave a spy, decents?
And he can always reframe forme, like what happened in these
(23:54):
early meetings with the founders, where he had a level of doubt
but really wanted them to work.
And so and I think that's whatwe oftentimes do we have
something that tells us like, gothis way, go left instead of
right, like pick the A insteadof B, but then we rationalize
(24:14):
ourselves out of that knowingand always looking back.
If you really do this kind ofpostmortem.
You had something that told you.
I knew it.
It's 100% of the time.
I've never had someone say likeno, I really thought that was
going to work out and I neveronce doubted it.
(24:36):
And now I don't know why it did.
Everyone always says but wehave to trust that knowing going
forward, not just looking back.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (24:45):
Right, right.
One more thing I wanted to chatto you about in coaching people
was the achieving success whilehonoring heritage.
So we know about code switchingin professional environments.
You know you're there, you'retrying to sell an idea or a
project and you are one way.
Then you're in the coffee roomwith your other colleagues who
(25:06):
are from the same culturalbackground and suddenly your
accent changes and your lexiconchanges.
So how does this tie intosuccess, like the cultural
authenticity?
Brandi Hudson (25:17):
Yes, I love this question so much because there
was definitely a younger versionof me who believed that I had
to show up in a very specificway in order to be accepted and
in order to advance my career.
And no matter how many peopleyou know kind of like me now,
like older people told me justbe, bring your whole self to
(25:38):
work.
I'm like they ain't talking tome.
I can't bring my whole self towork and now fast forward.
I know it to be true in thedepths of my soul, right?
And I think we have to lookthrough this lens from the
perspective of we cannot fullybe an acceptance of ourselves if
we don't believe that the mostauthentic version of ourselves
(26:00):
is the most successful versionof ourselves.
And if we are not fullyaccepting of ourselves, then we
just can't flourish.
Because how can someone elseaccept you, how can someone else
honor your ideas and yourthoughts, if you haven't done
that for yourself, right?
So we want to start from thisbaseline of like I know that I'm
worthy, I accept myself fullyand I love myself fully.
(26:23):
And from that baseline, theonly way to show up is as our
most authentic version ofourselves.
And when we show up as the mostauthentic version, knowing that
, whatever you believe whetheryou believe in God or a creator,
just like your highest self youhave to think, oh, these unique
aspects of myself are what Iactually bring to the world and
it's all that the world canresonate with.
(26:44):
It's all that the world canalign to, world can resonate
with.
It's all that the world canalign to.
The world can't align to asecond version of you know, mark
Zuckerberg, or a second versionof Serena Williams or whomever
you respect as, like a leader.
If you're just trying toemulate who they are, that space
is already taken.
But the authentic version ofyourself that says, like your
(27:07):
unpopular opinions, like I saidearlier, just like, shows up
exactly as you are.
That version of you, thatauthentic version of you, is who
the world needs.
It's what the world is lookingfor and that's all that people
resonate with.
I said, like, when people tellme how?
(27:27):
Oh, well, I said this and theydidn't, they didn't react very
well to what I said and I'm likeoh, but what did you mean?
Well, I was angry with them,but I didn't say that.
What I said was X, y, z.
Well, they knew you were beinginauthentic, like, even though
you think, like people alwayswant to tell me the words that
they said and they're like Idon't understand why they didn't
accept the words Right, butit's like, oh no, they didn't
(27:50):
hear your words.
They felt something, yourenergy.
They knew that that's not whatshe means, that's not what, like
, who she is, and they may nothave been able to put the finger
on it, but that didn't resonatefor them.
But when you are just who youare, that always resonates with
all people, across all heritages, across all ages, demographics,
(28:15):
because it's who you were meantto be.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (28:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
Brandi Hudson (28:18):
What have you?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (28:19):
been called to do.
Brandi Hudson (28:20):
You know this work.
I feel like many, many yearsago I was meditating in my
living room, by my fireplace.
Many, many years ago I was likemeditating in my living room,
by my fireplace.
I was really called to helppeople many, many people, but
specifically people that looklike me to align with the life
that they deserve right, andhelp people to see that there
(28:40):
are no limitations to who we getto be in this lifetime and that
, like, our soul has chosen thistime, this space, this body,
and that our desires are meantfor us.
And I think if I do that forone person, I will feel like
I've won, but my goal is to doit for many, many people over
(29:00):
this life?
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:01):
Yeah, and who are your mentors?
Who would you credit with thisenergy that you have and your
inclinations to help others?
Brandi Hudson (29:09):
The person who had the biggest impact on my
life is my grandmother.
She's passed away, but at avery young age she taught me
kind of like this holisticoutlook on life.
She taught me to be there andin service to others and she's
one of my best friends and I'mvery grateful to her and for her
, and I've had many people alongthe way that have helped me in
(29:31):
numerous ways.
But I we think about those mostformative years and she had a
tremendous impact on me and I'mvery grateful for that.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (29:39):
Yeah, and books.
What's been the mostinfluential book in your life?
Do you think yes.
Brandi Hudson (29:47):
Yeah, the most influential book in my life is
Power Versus Force by DavidHawking.
I think it's really like whattaught me to like make this
shift away from.
I used to really think that Ihad to force, push through,
right, you know, like be strongblack woman who pushed for what
she wanted.
And then I realized actually Igot a new administrative partner
(30:11):
recently because someone elsein my team moved to a different
role and she was like higharcing everything and she's like
well, is this more importantthan this?
And these were very greatquestions and I finally said to
her I said, oh, you know, Ireally am at a place in my life
where everything will actuallywork out and she's like what,
when you're in this place ofpeace, is this place of knowing.
(30:33):
Then it starts to work out foryou.
That book, it took me actuallya while to read it.
I had it and I kept going backto it and going back to it and
when I finally, when it was mytime to read it, I was like oh,
it was just so impactful.
I recommend it so highly.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (30:48):
Great, and you're writing your own.
Brandi Hudson (30:57):
Yes, I am, I'm working on that.
The placeholder is no one'scoming to save you, and it is
this idea about how we we reallywe have so much power, and it's
just a practical approach tohow to live your very best life.
And how to live your very bestlife and how to think through
this practical lens and thisspiritual lens and to really
realize that we have so muchsovereignty in this lifetime.
Kutloano Skosana Ric (31:17):
Absolutely , and what I like to ask my
guests is if they had to write amemoir what would you call it
and why.
Brandi Hudson (31:25):
Oh, I love that question.
I've never been asked, if I hadto write a memoir, what would I
call it and why?
Oh, I love that question.
I've never been asked, if I hadto write a memoir, what would I
call it and why?
I think I would call it favor.
I feel as though I've beenhighly favored in this lifetime
and I've done my best to takeadvantage of all the
opportunities that God saw fitto give me, and I think that's
(31:46):
what we're all called to do.
Yeah, Great.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:49):
Yeah, and if you had to turn it into a
film, who would you choose forthe lead actress?
Brandi Hudson (31:55):
Maybe Kerry Washington.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (31:56):
Yes, I can see that.
Yes, and if you had to host adinner tomorrow night, which
famous black woman would youinvite, living or dead?
Brandi Hudson (32:07):
Michelle.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:07):
Obama.
Brandi Hudson (32:12):
Hello, hello night.
Which famous black woman wouldyou invite, living or dead?
Michelle obama, hello, hello.
Are you free, michelle?
I I've got some a great menuset for us yeah, I would love to
sit with her and have have aconversation lady grace.
I call her oh, I love that namefor her.
Yeah, she was very graceful andsome really persnickety moments
, so yeah, yeah.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (32:31):
So if people want to work with you,
give you money, where can theyfind you?
Brandi Hudson (32:36):
You can find us at Brandi B Hudson, so Brandy
with an I, that's the onlyunique part, and then Hudson,
like the river.
So we're brandibhudson.
com and that's where we are onYouTube and Instagram and
LinkedIn, and I would absolutelylove to connect with people in
all the ways.
And I do have a sub stack thatis every Monday we publish and
(33:01):
it's just Hi, brandy is our substack.
Kutloano Skosana Ricci (33:04):
And that is all from me this time around
.
Thanks to performance coachBrandi Hudson for giving us tips
on how to succeed in career andentrepreneurship, and thanks to
her also for sharing her story.
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with someone
else who might find it useful.
As always, I thank you forlistening and for your ongoing
Kutloano Skosana Ricci.
I'm , and until next time,please do take good care.
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