July 31, 2025 • 22 mins
Stacy Simon shares her journey from being paralyzed by anxiety when speaking to becoming a confident trainer with the US Air Force. Her transformation highlights how spiritual practices like mantras can address deeper issues than traditional public speaking training, helping her integrate her interest in holistic therapies with her military career.
• Stacy struggled with speaking anxiety since childhood, avoiding situations that required visibility
• Traditional speaking training like Toastmasters didn't resolve her issues including voice shakiness and anxiety
• Initially kept her interest in holistic therapies separate from her military career due to fear of rejection
• Successfully introduced breathwork to colleagues, finding acceptance for her authentic self
• Created new opportunities for herself at work, including becoming head trainer and making training videos
• Now finds the most fulfillment in the very activities that once terrified her
Connect with Stacy
Email: stacy0216@aol.com
Thanks for listening! To book a free consultation with Aideen visit https://www.confidenceinsinging.com/contact/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Aideen Ni Riada (00:02):
Welcome to the Resonate podcast with Aideen.
I'm Aideen Ni Riada, and myguest today is Stacy Simon, and
Stacy works with the US AirForce, specializing in coaching
and training.
She is passionate aboutwellness and holistic therapies,
with a particular focus onbreathwork, an approach that she
(00:23):
introduced within her militaryrole to enhance resilience and
well-being.
Stacy is also working towardlaunching a side hustle in
one-to-one coaching, aiming tosupport individuals on their
personal growth journeys, andyou've been on an amazing growth
journey yourself, Stacy.
When we first met, you werestruggling with your voice, and
(00:45):
I would love to hear a littlebit about what you were finding
the most challenging then andhave our listeners find out
about that journey you've beenon.
Stacy Simon (00:56):
Yeah, well, I've always kind of struggled with my
voice ever since I was little.
I was a shy kid and someone whojust never wanted to speak up,
never wanted to givepresentations, didn't even want
to speak up in class, had a lotof anxiety about that kind of
(01:16):
stuff.
And so, you know, for a longtime I decided I'm just not
going to, I'm just going to makemy way through life without
having to do that kind of thingand just focus on, you know,
doing my job in a cubicle andnot being seen.
But you know, the reality wasthat you can only get so far in
(01:38):
the workplace without, you know,basically trying to grow and
improve yourself and to be seenand heard.
And so eventually I thought,okay, this is worth really
spending some time and gettingout of my comfort zone and
pushing myself a little bit.
And so I had done, you know,toastmasters and all the
(02:01):
different things, trainingopportunities, and, you know,
kept trying to push myself.
But it never, it never, felteasy.
It always gave me a lot ofanxiety and, and I'm sure it was
helpful, but sometimes Iactually felt like it was taking
me backwards Because, you know,when things didn't go as
(02:25):
planned, then I'd get reallydown on myself and that kind of
thing.
So anyways, yeah, and then whenI had met you, it was like,
okay, this is a differentapproach of trying to, you know,
be comfortable with my voiceand speaking up, and and so I
thought, okay, let's give this ago speaking up and so I thought
(02:49):
, okay, let's give this a go.
Aideen Ni Riada (02:50):
I'm so glad you went with that because when I
met you, you were actually doinga online event, right, and you
were pushing yourself to do itand you did pretty well, but it
just felt internally veryuncomfortable to you, right very
uncomfortable to you.
Stacy Simon (03:08):
Right, right, right , exactly.
I would push myself to get outthere, but I never felt good
about it and never seemedcomfortable, and yeah yeah.
So there was a lot of workneeded still.
Aideen Ni Riada (03:18):
What do you think the discomfort was
stemming from?
Discomfort was stemming from.
Stacy Simon (03:27):
Let's see, well, I think it's ultimately like a
fear of rejection, basically,you know, worried about people
judging me if I'm going to saythe wrong thing.
A lot of times I would be sonervous that I would lose the
words I was looking for and thatwould trip me up even more and
get me into my head.
So yeah, it was.
(03:49):
You know, really, I think a lotof it just being in my head.
Aideen Ni Riada (03:54):
Yes, and of course, because you were shy as
a kid.
It's not like you had resourcesthere that you could draw on.
So some people will have hadconfident stages of their lives
that they can remember, but youhadn't had any of that.
Stacy Simon (04:11):
No, in fact I had a few recitals and things that
went terribly wrong.
So it seemed like this patternwas just, you know, happening
constantly and it got me intothe point where I thought like I
would go in, thinking I can'tdo this, you know yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (04:29):
And I know from speaking to you, and I know you
that you have a real passionfor sharing wellness and
holistic therapies.
Like you wanted to help people,but this problem with being
able to speak up comfortably wasreally holding you back, wasn't
it?
Stacy Simon (04:44):
this problem with being able to speak up
comfortably was really holdingyou back, wasn't it Right?
Exactly Like getting out thereand being seen or you know,
talking about things, being ingroups and talking about them,
all of it, even one-on-ones.
You know, I wasn't confident Iwould my voice would shake a lot
.
That was another thing.
So even if I went into itfeeling confident, my voice
started shaking, then it wouldget me in my head again and yeah
(05:09):
, so it really.
It really has held me back alot.
Aideen Ni Riada (05:14):
What was a turning point with you when we
started working together?
Because it was a slow but surekind of gradual process, I think
, but I'm wondering what it isthat was the light bulb moment
for you.
Stacy Simon (05:30):
Yeah, I don't know if there was a light bulb moment
or if it was just the practicesof the mantras and working with
those.
When I first started, it waslike, okay, it felt kind of like
homework, Okay, this is what Ineed to do, and you know I would
do them or whatever.
But, and they felt good.
(05:51):
But there was a time where,eventually, it was like I could
feel how deep it was when I didthem and like I could feel that,
I don't know, the energy in mybody was moving and there was a
lot more to it.
It wasn't just about likeopening up my throat, but it was
healing me in other ways.
And, um, and I started tonotice that my voice wasn't
(06:14):
shaky when I'd go to meetingsand things like that.
So I started to notice thatwhile I, you know, had been
practicing and keeping up withthe mantras, it really was
making a difference and I guessthe nervousness of my voice and
and even the tone of my voicechanged a lot.
It was more relaxed versus kindof, you know, nervous and fakie
(06:41):
, if you will.
Aideen Ni Riada (06:43):
Yeah, the tone might rise up because you were
nervous, something like that.
Stacy Simon (06:46):
Yes, exactly.
Aideen Ni Riada (06:48):
Yeah, because I think what's really interesting
about your journey is thatinternal default feeling of it's
not safe for me to speak.
There was some elements of yourlife where maybe you were
feeling a little isolated anduncomfortable working within the
military while also feelingconnected to holistic therapies,
(07:11):
and all of that seemed likejust two very different worlds
and you didn't really know howto be you within your workplace,
be you within your workplace,how to express who you were and
that authentic interest that youhad in holistic therapies with
(07:32):
these people that most of themdidn't have any clue and, of
course, we were coming from atime where it was actually
during COVID, when we startedworking together, there was a
lot of stress for you in theworkplace and there was a lot
going on with stress within yourcolleagues, and you were
feeling that very deeply, Ithink, because you're connected
(07:55):
to your spirit and you'resensitive in ways.
So there was a big journeythere as well.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow you became more grounded
and how you were able to manageyour sensitivities within the
workplace?
Stacy Simon (08:14):
Yeah, yeah.
So, like you had mentioned, Ifelt I kind of was going through
an identity crisis.
I felt like I was living twodifferent lives that I really
wanted to keep separate becauseI felt like my authentic self
was into the holistic andwellness.
And then, and then I had thisjob where I didn't think they
(08:37):
would accept that there and so Ireally wanted to, you know,
keep it on the down low and notreally, you know, be authentic
in that environment really.
But as I've done this work, itwas like I started to realize,
okay, I can bring things in hereand there and like it can, you
(09:00):
know, benefit them.
So I started doing breath workfor them and they it was really
well received, they, you know, alot of people had said you know
, I want to continue to do thisand look into more of this.
So, yeah, it was a nicesurprise and getting those
little reassurances was like,okay, I need to, you know,
(09:23):
continue to be myself and justbe solid in who I am and not
worry so much, not be in my headabout you know, continue to be
myself and just be solid in whoI am and not worry so much, not
be in my head about.
You know how people are goingto perceive it.
Aideen Ni Riada (09:34):
For sure.
And was there anything elsethat seemed to change within the
workplace as well?
Because there was a lot at thestart of our work together.
There was a lot of stress foryou within the workplace, like
you just did not want to go inthere at all, but something
shifted that helped you be moreresilient.
I think in that was.
Would that be true?
Stacy Simon (09:55):
Yeah, that is true.
Um, I, you know, would ratherwork from home, right, but, um,
I do go in and, um, you know, Ijust, yeah, I try to make the
best of it.
But I think one of the thingsthat also shifted for me was I
(10:17):
never felt comfortable speakingup.
It didn't matter whatenvironment it was, and so even
in my Air Force environment,where I had worked for a long
time, I was really quiet.
But after doing this work, Ireally noticed that I started
becoming more of a leader inthat environment and taking on
(10:37):
more opportunities that allowedme to be seen.
And I started doing thistraining program and I'm kind of
the head trainer for that now,doing this training program and
I'm kind of the head trainer forthat now, and I love it.
Like the old me would have, youknow, prepared something and
had all these notes and anoutline and gotten super nervous
beforehand.
But now I go into that and Idon't even know what I'm going
(11:00):
to say half the time.
Like I might have a little bitof like topics written out, but
it's just go with the flow andit's completely different.
So, um, yeah, what a turnaround, yeah thanks you.
Aideen Ni Riada (11:15):
Are you proud of yourself?
yes, I am yeah, I'm proud of you.
That's.
It's just been an amazingjourney.
It's almost like you know, aturnaround from like being a
little bunny rabbit in theforest and hiding from everybody
to being more of you know, aturnaround from like being a
little bunny rabbit in theforest and hiding from everybody
to being more of you know, juststepping into your power and
striding through and knowingthat you have a place there,
(11:39):
right, right, and you have animportant place, even though
it's different from theperspective of others within
your workplace that they willrespect and appreciate some of
what you have to bring yeah,exactly, we're, all you know,
different people and we havedifferent gifts and um, and so
that's how I see it now.
Stacy Simon (11:59):
It's not like I don't fit in and I'm not good
enough, but rather like I'mbringing in a lot of like the
coaching kind of energy and,yeah, just more focused on
people and helping people growand develop and that kind of
thing.
Aideen Ni Riada (12:17):
And so there's, you know, a place for everybody
and yeah sure, is there amoment or conversation or like a
specific thing that happenedearly on that you were like, oh
my God, I just did that.
Stacy Simon (12:35):
Hmm, yeah, I mean, I guess it would be with that
that training, as I noticed,like that I really wasn't
preparing for it anymore and itwas going so well and people
would message me and say youknow, you're so great at
training, like I really like youexplain things so easily.
In fact, the Air Force had memake a bunch of video
(12:57):
presentations for our website tolead through different kinds of
training as well, and I getcompliments on those all the
time and yeah, so it's justthose little things that I've
done that have really helped myconfidence so that I can do the
next thing.
Aideen Ni Riada (13:15):
It's amazing and look I the way we work
together.
It wasn't't just on.
You know speaking skills and weweren't just talking.
You mentioned that we didmantra and I just want to
explain for any of the listenersthat what we did was actually
almost like a spiritual processwhere we would I would recommend
a mantra from the Sufitradition or from the Vedic
(13:39):
tradition that was calling onsupport from the energy around
us, the unseen positive energiesthat we have around us, and
that was something you were opento because you were aware of
yoga and breathwork A lot ofbreathwork comes from that
tradition, so you just leanedright into that.
(14:02):
Had you done mantra before?
We worked together as well?
Stacy Simon (14:06):
Not really Just like in a yoga class, maybe here
or there, but I've never takenmore of a class or dived in like
that.
Aideen Ni Riada (14:14):
Yes, what was that like?
Because you put aside timeevery day to do some mantra,
didn't you?
Stacy Simon (14:23):
Yeah, exactly, and I still do.
Um, and you know, like I hadsaid this, this other way of
doing it, of pushing yourselfand getting out there and just,
you know, be like training and agroup and stuff.
I mean that can work, but itseemed like it was my nervous
system would just get, so, youknow, wired and stuff.
(14:46):
It just didn't feel safe.
So, and I did it so many times,I probably went on 30 different
trips and trained and thecomments were, you know, she's
really nervous.
So it wasn't just in my head,right, it was obvious and so it
just it seemed like a slowapproach that way and it didn't.
(15:07):
I didn't enjoy it at all.
So, you know, when you hadmentioned the mantras being able
to help with your voice andeven, like I said, the shakiness
and different things like that,I thought, okay, this is worth
trying because it sounds like alot more fun than what I'm doing
right now and I honestly thinkthere was more benefit out of it
(15:28):
.
I'm sure the other stuff didhelp, but the mantras is where I
saw like my voice stoppedshaking, it felt more steady and
, yeah, the voice changed and myenergy changed because I think,
like the mantras are doing morethan just the voice Right.
It's got other impacts too.
(15:49):
And and yeah, I just love themantras- yeah, I love them too.
Aideen Ni Riada (15:54):
It's honestly, when I started my own business,
doing this disciplined practiceof mantra was like a grounding
thing that I just did every dayfor my own mental health, really
, but it also made it made mefeel supported.
I didn't feel as alone doingthings and I was more guided by
my intuition.
(16:14):
Did that happen for you too?
Stacy Simon (16:16):
yes, yeah, I agree, yeah, yeah, I feel all sorts of
things happening in my bodywhen I'm doing the mantras.
So I know, like, like I said,it's doing other things, like
digestion is happening or youknow whatever.
It is like a you know spurt ofenergy going down my leg or
(16:38):
whatever random thing.
So it's like it's opening up,like stagnant areas and, yeah, I
think it's really helping withmy nervous system in a lot of
ways.
So there's so much more to it.
Aideen Ni Riada (16:53):
Yeah, and I just love that you trust
yourself so much more now.
Stacy Simon (16:57):
Yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (16:58):
That you can stand in a room and go.
I can figure this out.
I'll say something, and itdoesn't have to be absolutely
perfect, but I can do this.
Stacy Simon (17:07):
Right, I'm trying to live by that motto, to feel
the fear and do it anyway,because, yeah, I know that's how
things change and how you grow.
Right, but it's not always soeasy.
Right, but it's not always soeasy so Well.
Aideen Ni Riada (17:21):
I admire the way that you've transformed a
difficult workplace into a placethat you can grow, where you
have allowed your authentic selfto shine and you've stepped
into those new opportunitiesthat were there for you Like
(17:41):
there was you didn't see any ofthat.
That were there for you likethere was you didn't see any of
that.
It's actually.
It took us a while workingtogether for you to go.
Stacy Simon (17:47):
maybe there maybe I'm okay, like you really wanted
to leave your job, right and sobut there was something there
for you still yeah, I mean, Iactually created even some of
those opportunities, like youknow, thought of like the idea,
like we should do this and thenI'll do it, you know, and and
those are things I would havenever done before, right and,
(18:07):
and I enjoyed them, like it, thetraining part is one of my
favorite parts of my job now andyou know it used to be
something I was so scared of Iwould have never even tried,
right.
So, yeah, I'm, I'm glad it'slike all led to the right thing.
It's getting me more and morealigned.
Aideen Ni Riada (18:26):
I love it.
I love it.
Um, if you were to recommendthis kind of journey to a friend
, what would you say?
Stacy Simon (18:36):
Um, well, I would definitely recommend it.
I would say it's been, you know, so life changing and in an
easier way, like in a way offlow, rather than pushing and
having to be hard.
Yeah, and you know, like I saidwith the mantra specifically,
(18:57):
like the benefits that I getthere in so many different ways
are worth it.
It's worth taking 15 minutesevery morning and doing those
because it's helped with myvoice, it's helped with my
nervous system, it's helped with, like, my mental health
grounding, all of those things.
So, yeah, if you have like anyinterest in that, I would say
(19:20):
try it out, because it's been sobeneficial thank you so much
for sharing your story with uhwith me.
Aideen Ni Riada (19:27):
Again, it's amazing to hear all the
progression you've had since youknow the last few years.
It's been.
What an amazing journey and, um, I'm really, really happy to
hear all that you're doing.
And there was a big turnaroundfrom feeling like I'm scared and
I'm not safe to you starting torealize I'm the one that can
(19:49):
make everyone else feel better.
I can be a positive influencehere.
That's like a 180 turnaround.
I love it.
Stacy Simon (19:58):
Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you foreverything.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:05):
I'm so glad we met.
Yeah, me too.
Um, is there anything thatyou'd like to say?
Any anything that you think isworth maybe repeating that
you've already said to anybodywho's listening right now.
Stacy Simon (20:20):
I guess you know, I guess you know I it's okay if
there's nothing.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:28):
It's just if there is something like, if you
know I know you just asked youalready if you were to recommend
it to a friend, you'd say, godo it.
But is there like, is theresomething that you like?
Let's say, someone asked, askedyou, ok, how did you do it?
And they maybe weren't ready towork with me.
What would you say to them?
What would you tell them?
Stacy Simon (20:50):
If they weren't ready to work with you, but they
wanted to do the like speakingin public, kind of thing or yeah
, or tried the approach youtried.
Aideen Ni Riada (21:00):
What would you say to them?
Stacy Simon (21:01):
Yeah, or tried the approach.
You tried.
What would you say to them?
Yeah, I mean, I would say, ifthey're not ready, I mean, then,
how much do they really want itright?
Because we have to take a stepin that direction in some way.
So if it doesn't call to themto do mantras, there's other
ways that we can do it Right.
But, yeah, I think you're goingto have to take some kind of
(21:27):
step when, if you really want itright Cause I could have just
decided I'm not going to do thisand I'm going to sit in my
cubicle for the rest of my lifeand just work on the spreadsheet
, you know, but and I would havebeen okay with that, but I
wouldn't have been nearly asfulfilled.
You know, like I said, the partof my job that I love the most
(21:50):
is the stuff that I never wantedto do before.
So I think they say, right,you're supposed to follow the
fear, because that's where yourreal gifts lie, and I do see
that.
So you know, if there's a littlebit of them that really wants
to improve in speaking and beingseen and heard, then take some
(22:11):
sort of step and if you don'tlike that one, try something
else, because there's a lot ofdifferent ways you can get there
.
Aideen Ni Riada (22:18):
I love that.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Stacy, for joiningus today on the Resonate podcast
.
I'm Aideen, look forward tointroducing you to other clients
of mine over the next couple ofepisodes and thanks again for
listening everyone.
Bye, bye.
Welcome to the Resonate podcast with Aideen.
I'm Aideen Ni Riada, and myguest today is Stacy Simon, and
Stacy works with the US AirForce, specializing in coaching
and training.
She is passionate aboutwellness and holistic therapies,
with a particular focus onbreathwork, an approach that she
(00:23):
introduced within her militaryrole to enhance resilience and
well-being.
Stacy is also working towardlaunching a side hustle in
one-to-one coaching, aiming tosupport individuals on their
personal growth journeys, andyou've been on an amazing growth
journey yourself, Stacy.
When we first met, you werestruggling with your voice, and
(00:45):
I would love to hear a littlebit about what you were finding
the most challenging then andhave our listeners find out
about that journey you've beenon.
Stacy Simon (00:56):
Yeah, well, I've always kind of struggled with my
voice ever since I was little.
I was a shy kid and someone whojust never wanted to speak up,
never wanted to givepresentations, didn't even want
to speak up in class, had a lotof anxiety about that kind of
(01:16):
stuff.
And so, you know, for a longtime I decided I'm just not
going to, I'm just going to makemy way through life without
having to do that kind of thingand just focus on, you know,
doing my job in a cubicle andnot being seen.
But you know, the reality wasthat you can only get so far in
(01:38):
the workplace without, you know,basically trying to grow and
improve yourself and to be seenand heard.
And so eventually I thought,okay, this is worth really
spending some time and gettingout of my comfort zone and
pushing myself a little bit.
And so I had done, you know,toastmasters and all the
(02:01):
different things, trainingopportunities, and, you know,
kept trying to push myself.
But it never, it never, felteasy.
It always gave me a lot ofanxiety and, and I'm sure it was
helpful, but sometimes Iactually felt like it was taking
me backwards Because, you know,when things didn't go as
(02:25):
planned, then I'd get reallydown on myself and that kind of
thing.
So anyways, yeah, and then whenI had met you, it was like,
okay, this is a differentapproach of trying to, you know,
be comfortable with my voiceand speaking up, and and so I
thought, okay, let's give this ago speaking up and so I thought
(02:49):
, okay, let's give this a go.
Aideen Ni Riada (02:50):
I'm so glad you went with that because when I
met you, you were actually doinga online event, right, and you
were pushing yourself to do itand you did pretty well, but it
just felt internally veryuncomfortable to you, right very
uncomfortable to you.
Stacy Simon (03:08):
Right, right, right , exactly.
I would push myself to get outthere, but I never felt good
about it and never seemedcomfortable, and yeah yeah.
So there was a lot of workneeded still.
Aideen Ni Riada (03:18):
What do you think the discomfort was
stemming from?
Discomfort was stemming from.
Stacy Simon (03:27):
Let's see, well, I think it's ultimately like a
fear of rejection, basically,you know, worried about people
judging me if I'm going to saythe wrong thing.
A lot of times I would be sonervous that I would lose the
words I was looking for and thatwould trip me up even more and
get me into my head.
So yeah, it was.
(03:49):
You know, really, I think a lotof it just being in my head.
Aideen Ni Riada (03:54):
Yes, and of course, because you were shy as
a kid.
It's not like you had resourcesthere that you could draw on.
So some people will have hadconfident stages of their lives
that they can remember, but youhadn't had any of that.
Stacy Simon (04:11):
No, in fact I had a few recitals and things that
went terribly wrong.
So it seemed like this patternwas just, you know, happening
constantly and it got me intothe point where I thought like I
would go in, thinking I can'tdo this, you know yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (04:29):
And I know from speaking to you, and I know you
that you have a real passionfor sharing wellness and
holistic therapies.
Like you wanted to help people,but this problem with being
able to speak up comfortably wasreally holding you back, wasn't
it?
Stacy Simon (04:44):
this problem with being able to speak up
comfortably was really holdingyou back, wasn't it Right?
Exactly Like getting out thereand being seen or you know,
talking about things, being ingroups and talking about them,
all of it, even one-on-ones.
You know, I wasn't confident Iwould my voice would shake a lot
.
That was another thing.
So even if I went into itfeeling confident, my voice
started shaking, then it wouldget me in my head again and yeah
(05:09):
, so it really.
It really has held me back alot.
Aideen Ni Riada (05:14):
What was a turning point with you when we
started working together?
Because it was a slow but surekind of gradual process, I think
, but I'm wondering what it isthat was the light bulb moment
for you.
Stacy Simon (05:30):
Yeah, I don't know if there was a light bulb moment
or if it was just the practicesof the mantras and working with
those.
When I first started, it waslike, okay, it felt kind of like
homework, Okay, this is what Ineed to do, and you know I would
do them or whatever.
But, and they felt good.
(05:51):
But there was a time where,eventually, it was like I could
feel how deep it was when I didthem and like I could feel that,
I don't know, the energy in mybody was moving and there was a
lot more to it.
It wasn't just about likeopening up my throat, but it was
healing me in other ways.
And, um, and I started tonotice that my voice wasn't
(06:14):
shaky when I'd go to meetingsand things like that.
So I started to notice thatwhile I, you know, had been
practicing and keeping up withthe mantras, it really was
making a difference and I guessthe nervousness of my voice and
and even the tone of my voicechanged a lot.
It was more relaxed versus kindof, you know, nervous and fakie
(06:41):
, if you will.
Aideen Ni Riada (06:43):
Yeah, the tone might rise up because you were
nervous, something like that.
Stacy Simon (06:46):
Yes, exactly.
Aideen Ni Riada (06:48):
Yeah, because I think what's really interesting
about your journey is thatinternal default feeling of it's
not safe for me to speak.
There was some elements of yourlife where maybe you were
feeling a little isolated anduncomfortable working within the
military while also feelingconnected to holistic therapies,
(07:11):
and all of that seemed likejust two very different worlds
and you didn't really know howto be you within your workplace,
be you within your workplace,how to express who you were and
that authentic interest that youhad in holistic therapies with
(07:32):
these people that most of themdidn't have any clue and, of
course, we were coming from atime where it was actually
during COVID, when we startedworking together, there was a
lot of stress for you in theworkplace and there was a lot
going on with stress within yourcolleagues, and you were
feeling that very deeply, Ithink, because you're connected
(07:55):
to your spirit and you'resensitive in ways.
So there was a big journeythere as well.
Can you talk a little bit abouthow you became more grounded
and how you were able to manageyour sensitivities within the
workplace?
Stacy Simon (08:14):
Yeah, yeah.
So, like you had mentioned, Ifelt I kind of was going through
an identity crisis.
I felt like I was living twodifferent lives that I really
wanted to keep separate becauseI felt like my authentic self
was into the holistic andwellness.
And then, and then I had thisjob where I didn't think they
(08:37):
would accept that there and so Ireally wanted to, you know,
keep it on the down low and notreally, you know, be authentic
in that environment really.
But as I've done this work, itwas like I started to realize,
okay, I can bring things in hereand there and like it can, you
(09:00):
know, benefit them.
So I started doing breath workfor them and they it was really
well received, they, you know, alot of people had said you know
, I want to continue to do thisand look into more of this.
So, yeah, it was a nicesurprise and getting those
little reassurances was like,okay, I need to, you know,
(09:23):
continue to be myself and justbe solid in who I am and not
worry so much, not be in my headabout you know, continue to be
myself and just be solid in whoI am and not worry so much, not
be in my head about.
You know how people are goingto perceive it.
Aideen Ni Riada (09:34):
For sure.
And was there anything elsethat seemed to change within the
workplace as well?
Because there was a lot at thestart of our work together.
There was a lot of stress foryou within the workplace, like
you just did not want to go inthere at all, but something
shifted that helped you be moreresilient.
I think in that was.
Would that be true?
Stacy Simon (09:55):
Yeah, that is true.
Um, I, you know, would ratherwork from home, right, but, um,
I do go in and, um, you know, Ijust, yeah, I try to make the
best of it.
But I think one of the thingsthat also shifted for me was I
(10:17):
never felt comfortable speakingup.
It didn't matter whatenvironment it was, and so even
in my Air Force environment,where I had worked for a long
time, I was really quiet.
But after doing this work, Ireally noticed that I started
becoming more of a leader inthat environment and taking on
(10:37):
more opportunities that allowedme to be seen.
And I started doing thistraining program and I'm kind of
the head trainer for that now,doing this training program and
I'm kind of the head trainer forthat now, and I love it.
Like the old me would have, youknow, prepared something and
had all these notes and anoutline and gotten super nervous
beforehand.
But now I go into that and Idon't even know what I'm going
(11:00):
to say half the time.
Like I might have a little bitof like topics written out, but
it's just go with the flow andit's completely different.
So, um, yeah, what a turnaround, yeah thanks you.
Aideen Ni Riada (11:15):
Are you proud of yourself?
yes, I am yeah, I'm proud of you.
That's.
It's just been an amazingjourney.
It's almost like you know, aturnaround from like being a
little bunny rabbit in theforest and hiding from everybody
to being more of you know, aturnaround from like being a
little bunny rabbit in theforest and hiding from everybody
to being more of you know, juststepping into your power and
striding through and knowingthat you have a place there,
(11:39):
right, right, and you have animportant place, even though
it's different from theperspective of others within
your workplace that they willrespect and appreciate some of
what you have to bring yeah,exactly, we're, all you know,
different people and we havedifferent gifts and um, and so
that's how I see it now.
Stacy Simon (11:59):
It's not like I don't fit in and I'm not good
enough, but rather like I'mbringing in a lot of like the
coaching kind of energy and,yeah, just more focused on
people and helping people growand develop and that kind of
thing.
Aideen Ni Riada (12:17):
And so there's, you know, a place for everybody
and yeah sure, is there amoment or conversation or like a
specific thing that happenedearly on that you were like, oh
my God, I just did that.
Stacy Simon (12:35):
Hmm, yeah, I mean, I guess it would be with that
that training, as I noticed,like that I really wasn't
preparing for it anymore and itwas going so well and people
would message me and say youknow, you're so great at
training, like I really like youexplain things so easily.
In fact, the Air Force had memake a bunch of video
(12:57):
presentations for our website tolead through different kinds of
training as well, and I getcompliments on those all the
time and yeah, so it's justthose little things that I've
done that have really helped myconfidence so that I can do the
next thing.
Aideen Ni Riada (13:15):
It's amazing and look I the way we work
together.
It wasn't't just on.
You know speaking skills and weweren't just talking.
You mentioned that we didmantra and I just want to
explain for any of the listenersthat what we did was actually
almost like a spiritual processwhere we would I would recommend
a mantra from the Sufitradition or from the Vedic
(13:39):
tradition that was calling onsupport from the energy around
us, the unseen positive energiesthat we have around us, and
that was something you were opento because you were aware of
yoga and breathwork A lot ofbreathwork comes from that
tradition, so you just leanedright into that.
(14:02):
Had you done mantra before?
We worked together as well?
Stacy Simon (14:06):
Not really Just like in a yoga class, maybe here
or there, but I've never takenmore of a class or dived in like
that.
Aideen Ni Riada (14:14):
Yes, what was that like?
Because you put aside timeevery day to do some mantra,
didn't you?
Stacy Simon (14:23):
Yeah, exactly, and I still do.
Um, and you know, like I hadsaid this, this other way of
doing it, of pushing yourselfand getting out there and just,
you know, be like training and agroup and stuff.
I mean that can work, but itseemed like it was my nervous
system would just get, so, youknow, wired and stuff.
(14:46):
It just didn't feel safe.
So, and I did it so many times,I probably went on 30 different
trips and trained and thecomments were, you know, she's
really nervous.
So it wasn't just in my head,right, it was obvious and so it
just it seemed like a slowapproach that way and it didn't.
(15:07):
I didn't enjoy it at all.
So, you know, when you hadmentioned the mantras being able
to help with your voice andeven, like I said, the shakiness
and different things like that,I thought, okay, this is worth
trying because it sounds like alot more fun than what I'm doing
right now and I honestly thinkthere was more benefit out of it
(15:28):
.
I'm sure the other stuff didhelp, but the mantras is where I
saw like my voice stoppedshaking, it felt more steady and
, yeah, the voice changed and myenergy changed because I think,
like the mantras are doing morethan just the voice Right.
It's got other impacts too.
(15:49):
And and yeah, I just love themantras- yeah, I love them too.
Aideen Ni Riada (15:54):
It's honestly, when I started my own business,
doing this disciplined practiceof mantra was like a grounding
thing that I just did every dayfor my own mental health, really
, but it also made it made mefeel supported.
I didn't feel as alone doingthings and I was more guided by
my intuition.
(16:14):
Did that happen for you too?
Stacy Simon (16:16):
yes, yeah, I agree, yeah, yeah, I feel all sorts of
things happening in my bodywhen I'm doing the mantras.
So I know, like, like I said,it's doing other things, like
digestion is happening or youknow whatever.
It is like a you know spurt ofenergy going down my leg or
(16:38):
whatever random thing.
So it's like it's opening up,like stagnant areas and, yeah, I
think it's really helping withmy nervous system in a lot of
ways.
So there's so much more to it.
Aideen Ni Riada (16:53):
Yeah, and I just love that you trust
yourself so much more now.
Stacy Simon (16:57):
Yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (16:58):
That you can stand in a room and go.
I can figure this out.
I'll say something, and itdoesn't have to be absolutely
perfect, but I can do this.
Stacy Simon (17:07):
Right, I'm trying to live by that motto, to feel
the fear and do it anyway,because, yeah, I know that's how
things change and how you grow.
Right, but it's not always soeasy.
Right, but it's not always soeasy so Well.
Aideen Ni Riada (17:21):
I admire the way that you've transformed a
difficult workplace into a placethat you can grow, where you
have allowed your authentic selfto shine and you've stepped
into those new opportunitiesthat were there for you Like
(17:41):
there was you didn't see any ofthat.
That were there for you likethere was you didn't see any of
that.
It's actually.
It took us a while workingtogether for you to go.
Stacy Simon (17:47):
maybe there maybe I'm okay, like you really wanted
to leave your job, right and sobut there was something there
for you still yeah, I mean, Iactually created even some of
those opportunities, like youknow, thought of like the idea,
like we should do this and thenI'll do it, you know, and and
those are things I would havenever done before, right and,
(18:07):
and I enjoyed them, like it, thetraining part is one of my
favorite parts of my job now andyou know it used to be
something I was so scared of Iwould have never even tried,
right.
So, yeah, I'm, I'm glad it'slike all led to the right thing.
It's getting me more and morealigned.
Aideen Ni Riada (18:26):
I love it.
I love it.
Um, if you were to recommendthis kind of journey to a friend
, what would you say?
Stacy Simon (18:36):
Um, well, I would definitely recommend it.
I would say it's been, you know, so life changing and in an
easier way, like in a way offlow, rather than pushing and
having to be hard.
Yeah, and you know, like I saidwith the mantra specifically,
(18:57):
like the benefits that I getthere in so many different ways
are worth it.
It's worth taking 15 minutesevery morning and doing those
because it's helped with myvoice, it's helped with my
nervous system, it's helped with, like, my mental health
grounding, all of those things.
So, yeah, if you have like anyinterest in that, I would say
(19:20):
try it out, because it's been sobeneficial thank you so much
for sharing your story with uhwith me.
Aideen Ni Riada (19:27):
Again, it's amazing to hear all the
progression you've had since youknow the last few years.
It's been.
What an amazing journey and, um, I'm really, really happy to
hear all that you're doing.
And there was a big turnaroundfrom feeling like I'm scared and
I'm not safe to you starting torealize I'm the one that can
(19:49):
make everyone else feel better.
I can be a positive influencehere.
That's like a 180 turnaround.
I love it.
Stacy Simon (19:58):
Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you foreverything.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:05):
I'm so glad we met.
Yeah, me too.
Um, is there anything thatyou'd like to say?
Any anything that you think isworth maybe repeating that
you've already said to anybodywho's listening right now.
Stacy Simon (20:20):
I guess you know, I guess you know I it's okay if
there's nothing.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:28):
It's just if there is something like, if you
know I know you just asked youalready if you were to recommend
it to a friend, you'd say, godo it.
But is there like, is theresomething that you like?
Let's say, someone asked, askedyou, ok, how did you do it?
And they maybe weren't ready towork with me.
What would you say to them?
What would you tell them?
Stacy Simon (20:50):
If they weren't ready to work with you, but they
wanted to do the like speakingin public, kind of thing or yeah
, or tried the approach youtried.
Aideen Ni Riada (21:00):
What would you say to them?
Stacy Simon (21:01):
Yeah, or tried the approach.
You tried.
What would you say to them?
Yeah, I mean, I would say, ifthey're not ready, I mean, then,
how much do they really want itright?
Because we have to take a stepin that direction in some way.
So if it doesn't call to themto do mantras, there's other
ways that we can do it Right.
But, yeah, I think you're goingto have to take some kind of
(21:27):
step when, if you really want itright Cause I could have just
decided I'm not going to do thisand I'm going to sit in my
cubicle for the rest of my lifeand just work on the spreadsheet
, you know, but and I would havebeen okay with that, but I
wouldn't have been nearly asfulfilled.
You know, like I said, the partof my job that I love the most
(21:50):
is the stuff that I never wantedto do before.
So I think they say, right,you're supposed to follow the
fear, because that's where yourreal gifts lie, and I do see
that.
So you know, if there's a littlebit of them that really wants
to improve in speaking and beingseen and heard, then take some
(22:11):
sort of step and if you don'tlike that one, try something
else, because there's a lot ofdifferent ways you can get there
.
Aideen Ni Riada (22:18):
I love that.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Stacy, for joiningus today on the Resonate podcast
.
I'm Aideen, look forward tointroducing you to other clients
of mine over the next couple ofepisodes and thanks again for
listening everyone.
Bye, bye.
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