Reinventing Success with Erika Brechtel

Air Date - 12 August 2026

Join Host Marc Lainhart – The Intuitive Prospector™ this Wisdom Wednesday as Marc welcomes Ms. Erika Brechtel, founder and CEO of Élanoura, a social enterprise creating transformational, women-only retreats that combine leadership development, cultural immersion, and meaningful volunteer service around the world. Join Marc and Erika for an inspiring discussion on the relationship between purpose, service, well-being, the importance of meaningful travel and cultural connection, and, most importantly, reinvention after 40 and the embrace of life’s next chapter!

Please join us for another inspiring, encouraging, educational, healing, motivational, and transformational show! “Prospecting to discover the diamond within and the many hidden gems all around us!”

#ErikaBrechtel #MarcLainhart #InspiredLiving

About the Guest

Erika Brechtel is the founder and CEO of Élanoura, a social enterprise that creates transformational, women-only retreats combining leadership development, cultural immersion, and meaningful volunteer service around the world. A brand strategist with more than 20 years of experience advising leaders and purpose-driven organizations, Erika launched Élanoura after a life-changing volunteer experience in Morocco inspired her to redefine what success and fulfillment could look like.

Since 2022, Élanoura has welcomed women from 24 countries through retreats that foster connection, personal growth, and global impact, with 10% of every retreat fee supporting local nonprofit partners. Erika is also the creator of the LIFT Index and has been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, HuffPost, and SELF. Her mission is to help women reconnect with purpose, lead with intention, and create lives rooted in impact rather than achievement alone.

WEBSITE: https://elanoura.com/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Join Mark Lainhart, the Intuitive Prospector, on a journey into
creativity and transformation. Each episode, Mark and his guests explore
the intersection of science and spirituality to uncover ways to
live a more inspired life. Together, we'll navigate both the
seen and unseen realms to spark joy and personal growth.

(00:36):
This is a community where you are empowered to discover
the diamond within. Mark is an award winning psychic medium,
decorated veteran, and teacher based in Seattle. Using his intuitive gifts,
he guides the curious on profound soul adventures. Now Here
is your host, Mark Lainhart, the Intuitive Prospector.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
And Hello, prospecting friends, and welcome to Inspired Living. I'm
your host, Mark Lainhart, the Intuitive Prospector, and I'm so
thrilled to have me back and tuning in as a
guide you and fellow prospectors. Or what I always like
to say, or what I call soul adventures filled with creativity, curiosity, education, encouragement, inspiration, mindfulness, motivation, manifestations, vision,

(01:27):
and a whole lot of spiritual awesomeness. Here on the
episode of Inspired Living, We're going to present content, stories,
and interviews that will offer you a chance to ignite
your dreams, your passions, explore your curiosities, thoughts and ideas,
while we embrace the many wondhers are both the extraordinary
and the ordinary, the paranormal and the normal. And of course,

(01:47):
what I always like to say, what first appears as
science fiction later becomes science fact. And together, through this show,
we will uncover the unite diamonds within each of us,
while discovering and revealing the many wonderful hidden gems waiting
to shine in our lives, our journey, and the human experience.
Inspired Living is all about building a supportive community that
celebrates every victory, big or small. Each episode features incredible

(02:09):
guests like the one we have today, who have faced challenges, loss, failure, defeat,
but have persevered and pursued their passions, goals and motivations
to make a positive impact in their respective fields and
make our world a much better place. You can expect
thought provoking, perspective discussions and also actionable steps to transform

(02:29):
inspiration into your own reality. I want to always say
give a huge thank you to our Inspired listeners from
around the globe. Your support through listening, downloading, subscribing, and
leaving reviews has made Inspired Living now not only a
top choice for inspiration, but introspection and spirituality. And we
can't do this without you, So we really truly appreciate
and very humbled and grateful that you're tuning into our shows.

(02:53):
If you haven't subscribed, liked, or followed the show yet,
there's still time to do so you can follow us
here now streaming through Long Time Television Live. You can
also connect with us over on our Facebook page, Inspired Living, Instagram,
Blue Sky, and X just look for Inspired for us,
that's the number four. You can also check us out
on our YouTube channel, Inspired Living, and we're also streaming

(03:13):
through Audible Alexa and you can find this podcast wherever
you listen to your favorite podcast from. So let's get
this episode kicked off, or as I like to say,
you're both the inspiration and the inspired. So let's embrace
this journey together. Let's inspire others, and let's make every
moment count before we expire. And I hope that you
will enjoy this next episode of Inspired Living. So our

(03:34):
guest today is joining us for the first time. Her
name is Erica Breckel, and she is the founder and
CEO of I Hope. I'm saying this right, learn al Nuria.
How do you say that?

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Eric, Eleanora. So it's a loon like yes, like life
and aura like light Eleanora.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Eleanora, that little niche at the top of showing me off.
It's a social enterprise creating transformation women only retreats that
combine both leadership development, cultural immersion, and meaningful volunteer service
around the world. It's a brand strategist with more than
twenty years of experience advising leaders and purpose driven organizations.
Erica launched this after a life changing volunteer experience in

(04:17):
Morocco that inspire her to redefine her success and fulfillment
and what that could look like, especially as we get older.
Since twenty twenty two, Eleonora, I don't know why I
cannot say this today has welcomed women from work countries
through retreats that foster connection, personal growth, and global impact,
with ten percent of every retreat fee supporting local nonprofit partners.

(04:41):
Erica is also the creator of the Lift Index and
has been featured both in Forbes, Thrive, Global, huff Post,
and Self and Her mission is to help women reconnect
with purpose, lead with intention, and create lives rooted in
impact rather than achievement alone. So today, Hey, we're going
to be talking about how purpose, service and community can

(05:03):
help women reconnect with themselves. And Eric, I just want
to welcome you to the show. I'm so sorry I
can't pronounce that name. It's a tongue twister for me.
For some reason, I'm not sure what welcome to Inspiredly
say the name one more time.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
Name.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Sometimes you just I've been doing this a long time
and just sometimes you just have those tongue twisters where
you just can't you can't say it.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
So yeah, sure it's Eleanora Elenora.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
There we go. I will have this down by the
end of Eleanora, Welcome to Inspired. Thanks for being with
us today. Tell the listening audience just a little bit
about yourself and how those events really kind of put
you on a different path, you know, to do this
since twenty twenty two and then also travel around for
women retreats only.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Yes, so I've had my own consultancy for twenty four years.
I do as you said, brand strategy. I'm a strategic advisor, designer,
business builder. I help startups as well as solopreneurs. So
I've been working with women for quite a while and
I had, you know, I had gained you know, success,

(06:08):
I guess is success in terms of I had a
stable business, I had great press. And in twenty fifteen,
I was in London working on a client project and
I was invited by someone that I knew a sort
of socially to come to Morocco and volunteer. And I
was like, sure, why not. It's only like a two

(06:28):
and a half hour flight. I'll hop on and go
for forty eight hours. And those forty eight hours changed
my life forever. So I went, and I don't know
what I was expecting. It was definitely the craziest thing
I'd ever done, to go to a foreign country by myself,
like on a whim, for forty eight hours. But I
was so inspired by the woman that I met there

(06:50):
who her name is Maria Montague. She's incredible. So she
and her husband are American. They moved to Morocco and
they built a give back hotel there just outside of
Marrakesh called Peacock Pavilions, and essentially that hotel funds a
nonprofit that she started called Project Sore. And so the
issue that she was trying to address was she recognized

(07:13):
that a Morocco child marriage is still a problem. About
fourteen percent of young girls under the age of fourteen
or eighteen excuse me, still get married. So she wanted
to address that, and one of the ways in which
she is addressing that is through helping them with their studies,
helping them get to college, helping them, you know, get
move into more of a leadership capacity. So I went

(07:36):
and I volunteered with her. And I think the reason
why it just blew my mind. It was more of
I had been living my life according to like the
American dream checklist, and I had checked everything off by
my mid forties, as a lot of us do nowadays.
And I just saw like a whole way of living,

(07:57):
a completely different way of living a life. And how
I came back in a way that made me think
about how I want to live my life moving forward,
how I can insert more meaning and impact into my
life moving forward. And then in twenty twenty one, during
the pandemic, I was busier than I had ever been
in terms of my business. I had so many women

(08:18):
coming to me who I recognized were at that also
at that place just before transformation, where they were looking
for something more and just like I had experienced this
feeling of I've checked off all the boxes, especially for
high achieving women, I've checked off all the boxes, and
they were just like, I'm not feeling as fulfilled as

(08:38):
maybe I thought I would. So I recognized at that
point that women were really missing. High achieving women were
missing purpose, they were missing connection, and they were missing impact.
And so I said, why don't I just take a
bunch of women with me to Morocco and we'll volunteer
and we'll see what happens. And it was a huge success.

(09:01):
And so we went back the following year and we
worked with teen girls there who are facing child marbers.
As I mentioned, they're living off of a dollar a day.
So our work and our donation helps fun period products
for them because if you think about it, they can't
afford period products, so they're not able to stay in school,

(09:22):
which also contributes to the potential of them being married
off before they're eighteen. We've gone to Majorca we volunteered
with women survivors of violence. We went to Greece, we
volunteered with women and girl refugees there, and in October
we're going to Japan. We're going to be volunteering again.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
Well, I love it, and thank you for all you do.
Thank you for that volunteering. I love that. I have
a mantra it's always if you don't risk it, you
don't get the biscuit. And you know you took a
leap of faith to do this, to be in service.
So thank you. Thank you for being that inspiration. Thank
you for bringing awareness and a light to these subjects,
which I just you say it, I just shake my

(10:03):
head because I'm in twenty twenty six and I just
I still can't comprehend that that still goes on right.
And you know, I'm blessed to live here in the
United States, but I'm just I'm just I don't know
if the word right word is, but it's just it's
a palling that that still goes on right, and that
you know that in this world, that there are still
pockets of the planet that just you know. So thank

(10:25):
you for bringing a light to that and bringing the inspiration.
And so today for today's show, because this goes by
so quick and there's so many things that we can
jump into, but let's you know the main topic is
redefining success beyond achievement and external validation. So let's talk
about that relationship that you've built and that you're you know,
bringing awareness to through these communities and through these events.

(10:49):
The relationship between both purpose and service and well being
because those are three different categories very very important for
the human uh, the human journey and the human experience.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah, So when I think about purpose, and I'm sure
everyone if you haven't heard Simusinic's podcasts, start with why
are the famous Ted talk that you had, How great
leaders inspire action. He talks about his Golden Circle, and
he really believes in starting with the why and then
you look at how you could deliver it on the why,

(11:22):
and then what comes out of that? What's the product
that comes out of that? For me, I always like
to start with the who because I believe that it's
about who we want to impact ultimately, right, And how
that connects with the three that you just mentioned, the
purpose and the service and the well being is that
it really helps us when we're going on these trips

(11:43):
or these retreats, we're taking ourselves out of sort of
our everyday lives and all the nonsense that we might
think we are dealing with in terms of like car
pools and getting our kids to sports or whatever little
things that we might have going on in our lives.
And when you are sitting there volunteering with say a
young girl who's living off of a dollar a day

(12:05):
and can of Ford period products that might be married
off before she's eighteen, all of a sudden, like it
just gives you a whole new perspective on what you
have in your life, what you actually have in your
life right versus like all the little issues that we
think that we have going on that we think are
so much bigger than they actually are. So you come
back with a sense of gratitude. And I feel like

(12:25):
that's for me, the kind of secret sauce in terms
of like changing your perspective, changing not only how you
think about the impact that you want to make in
the world and what you're doing and what you're creating,
not only like big picture wise and what that legacy
is going to be that you're going to leave behind,
but also just in your every day So that's where

(12:46):
it really connects with the well being component. How are
you impacting people on an everyday basis, How are you
living your life? How are you coming from a place
of love? Are you giving love? Are you giving fear?
You coming from a police of fear and projecting that out?
And so I think it's it's not only like big
purpose when we think about purpose, but it's also are

(13:07):
excusing big picture when I think about purpose, But it's
also just in your everyday life. How are you thinking
about purpose and leaving a certain impact that you want
to leave on whomever it is in your community?

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yeah, that ripple effect. And so I think those are
three important categories for the human journey and for the
human experience as far as you know, purpose being in
service and you're well being to do so. So again,
thank you for all the work that you do for
this episode. Where can people find you? So? Tell us
about you have any events coming up, any books that

(13:43):
you'd like to share, any content your social media, your
main website. Where can people that are listening to this
episode are intrigued or interested? Because I find that a lot.
When they get this, they'll hear it either live right now,
they're going encorecial, they may hear it twenty years from now.
Where can people find you?

Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yes? So Eleanora Eleanora dot com. We do have a
retreat coming up in October We've got two spots left,
so that we're going to Japan, which is really exciting
because I'm half Japanese myself. There's definitely a personal journey
involved in that. And then you can also sign up
for our newsletter on our website I've created we have

(14:25):
a quiz that you can take called the Lift Index,
and we can talk a little bit about that if
you'd like. And so that is a structure of framework
that I've created for leaders who are thinking about how
they can insert more meaning into their life and to
their work. And so there are five different stages that
I have found in my own life and through all
the women that I've worked with, and so I just

(14:46):
provide a bunch of tips and tools for each of
those different stages so that you can lift from one
stage to the next on the way to significance, leaving
some kind of significant impact behind. And so that's what
we provide through Eleanora and then obviously my own consulting business,
ericabrekteil dot com is where I work one on one

(15:08):
with clients. So I do work with men, not just women,
but mainly a lot of women seem to align with
my work, and there I do I have a strategic
advisory where I help when I'm like a brainstorm partner,
an accountability partner, we've helped I help them build out
a roadmap in terms of really figuring out because what
I have found with purpose, and maybe you found the

(15:28):
same thing, is that it doesn't necessarily need to be
something loud or huge. Sometimes it's little things, little clues
in your life around you, and it's a bit of
being a detective and figuring out what that is because
I find myself being mostly a facilitator and bringing out
what's already within these leaders to help them get clarity

(15:51):
around what that could be and the confidence to build
something from that and then conviction to really put it
out there in the world.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah, and you know, you make a good point because
my mentor taught me a lot of times, a lot
of the when we're aware of something that comes in
like a lamp, not like a lion, it doesn't need
to be allow It's usually very subtle and it's really
you know, are you paying attention to it? So you know,
and you know, and just a reminder for all you
guys out there too that these are for guys as well.
So let's let's see the guy population step up a

(16:22):
little bit. So let's talk about Eleanora, because I'm now
finally got the name down. How did that? How? Where
did that come from? I'm always curious, like where you know,
there's usually a story behind, you know, whether it's a
wine label or my journey of the intuitive prospector where
did Eleanor come from? Why did you choose that concept

(16:45):
and that name to brand?

Speaker 3 (16:47):
I guess, yeah, yeah, great question. So I do branding
for a living, and so I wanted to create It's
a made up word essentially, as I said, A long
stands for life and aura for light, and so my
intention with it was to be how can I not
only live a life of light but inspire others to

(17:09):
do the same and we are spreading light by doing so.
And it came from I would say, between that period
of twenty fifteen when I went to Morocco and officially
twenty twenty two when I started Eleanora. We went on
our first retreat. I had gone through like a brutal
betrayal by a business partner, and it was one of those,

(17:32):
as Elizabeth Gilbert calls, like your bathroom floor moment when
you're just down on the bathroom floor, and you can
decide do I want to stay here a little bit
longer or do I want to get up and start moving.
And so I decided that no matter what that was about,
that I knew that I had something to give and
continue to give, and so I started Eleanora eventually, but

(17:57):
what I started to do was just insert more meaning
into my work and since twenty fifteen, but it was
really at that point when I realized, I have I
always have my purpose. I always have what I call
the four piece. I have my people in terms of
like who I'm doing this for. I have my purpose
why I'm doing this. I have my positioning how I'm

(18:17):
unique in providing this. And I have my personality, so
my authentic self, how I'm authentically me. And I went
back to those basics, those essentials, those foundational basics, and
I was able to create a couple of different solutions
along the way, which eventually became Eleanora. And here we are,
five years later, five retreats later.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
I love it, and for Eleanora too, because I was
going to ask is it an actual word? Because I
didn't like I was having pronunciation, But really, if you
break it down. It's just it's a compound word between
life and life. I understanding that correctly. Yeah right, okay,
see you do these I've been doing this for years
and I learned something new every every show, I'm learning

(19:00):
something new. So and you're going to Japan. I've heard
a lot of you know, it's funny how Japan keeps
coming up on my radar because I've had friends and
family go to Japan, and I keep hearing wonderful things
about Japan, about how clean it is, how friendly it is,
how organized it is, and what better place to launch
a retreat than in Japan. So I might have to

(19:21):
put that on my travel list. I do a lot
of travel because I'm I'm with you on the importance
of you know, traveling and cultural connections and learning. I've
learned so much about myself by travel outside my own
bubble here in Seattle and traveling around the world, and
you know, learning different languages and mixing with different cultures

(19:41):
and history too, you know, And so I'll have to
You're like the fifth person that within the last two
weeks it's talked about, Oh we just went to Japan.
We had a great time. So I'm going to add
that to my my travel list of places to see
in the world before I make my next big adventure.
So let's talk about So, Robert Rabert are just our
one break coming up here shortly. Like I said, this

(20:03):
show goes by so quick when you're when you're talking
about uh, inspirational you know, content like this. But tell
me about you know, just the leadership, because you really approach.
You talked about leadership, and that's something you just look
around all the day. It's something that we're lacking, is leadership.
I think we need more spiritual teachers, more you know,
humble leaders, leaders in leadership. But you talk about, you know,

(20:26):
leadership being rooted in authenticity, which I think is huge, Uh,
empathy and community. I think those are three big things
of higher intelligence. Especially empathy is a very high form
and it s to be lacking some of these things
in today's world. Tell me about just your perspective on
just that that leadership that is rooted in authentic, authenticity, empathy,

(20:48):
and community. I think that's important.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
Yeah. Sure, So I mentioned the Lift index and the
five different levels that I've seen myself and women go
through on their way to living purposeful and meaningful life
and building a body of work that aligns with that.
What I have found is that with I'm also a mentor,
so I mentor a lot of UCLA students and they're

(21:12):
really at the sort of those beginning phases, and just
like you said, they are looking for role models who
embody what you're talking about exactly. And so we really
have the opportunity, I think, especially for women, I think
we're naturally empathetic as well. When we build empathy and
to empathy into most of what we do just kind

(21:33):
of our nature, we really have an opportunity to lead
with light and lead with empathy in that way. And
a lot of that has to do with aligning with
who we authentically are, right because we don't have to
pretend to be something we're not when we're really comfortable
with who we are. And that's why I say, like

(21:53):
going back to those foundations in terms of really sitting
with you know, who am I doing this for? Why
am I doing this?

Speaker 2 (22:00):
What?

Speaker 3 (22:00):
What is my value that I want to that I
want to give, and how do I want to be remembered?
And once you have the clarity around that, it really
does give you the confidence to step into that in
an authentic way where you're not really doing it as
a performance necessarily.

Speaker 5 (22:15):
You're kah, no, I'm.

Speaker 3 (23:23):
Here, I'm here. Oh there you are.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Hi.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
Hello, can you hear me?

Speaker 2 (23:45):
Okay? So it looks like we're having some technical difficulties.
I do apologize. There she is, Okay, you have a
solar eclipse that is taking place just f y for
the global listening audience. There is a very powerful taking
place around the world right now. So there's a lot of
energy and a lot of you know, sometimes you have
technical difficulty, So Eric, I do apologize. Can you hear me? Okay?

Speaker 3 (24:07):
Now, yes, I can.

Speaker 2 (24:10):
Okay. So you were talking about leadership and talking about
the authenticity and the empathy and the community, and then
I lost I lost the sound. So I do apologize
for that. So tell me again about the four piece.
I like, I liked how you brought that up. And
then when we go we're going to go to our
one and only break and then we come back we're
going to talk about the lift lift, the lift index

(24:33):
and what that means. But just remind the listening audience
about the four piece. I think that's pretty powerful. Another
ped ad.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
Yeah sure, yeah, So it's a method that I've developed
working with so many leaders, and essentially it's your people,
your purpose, your positioning, your personality. So it's as I said,
I start with the who because I believe that it's
not about us, it's about whomever it is that we
want to impact, So really thinking about who do you
want to serve? Then then thinking about your why. So

(25:02):
it's getting that emotional connection. That's what purpose essentially is,
what is the emotional connection to you, whether it's some
kind of story or your experiences, you have to be
emotionally connected to what you're doing. How can you expect
anyone else to be emotionally connected or care Then we
get into the positioning, which is your uniqueness. So what
is it about you on a practical level that's unique

(25:24):
that you're offering, and on an emotional level that's unique
about what you're offering. And then lastly the personality piece.
So I've developed an archetype framework with twelve different personality
archetypes that if we had a whole other podcast we
could get into. And that really helps you identify like
just you know, sort of like strengths finder in terms
of like you can align with who you authentically are

(25:47):
you don't have to worry about being everything else.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah, And I'd say to listening audience, you know I've
done those you know, disc profiles Myers Briggs. I always
tell people be honest with your spons I remember I
did Myers Breaks the first time and those profiles, and
you know, we can fluff it. We can not be
honest with ourselves. And so I always say, if you're
going to do something like that, and you just get

(26:13):
a better perspective about who you are and in this
journey that we're on. So if you want to check
this out, check out the podcast, you want to check
out Erica's amazing inspirational work, you can help head to
all Eleanora Eleanora dot com. I have no idea Erica
why I'm having such a tongue twister today those days,

(26:36):
but help head over to Eleanora dot com. And you
can also get her on the social media pages. We
have all of her links, all of the content over
on our social media platforms. If you want to check
that out over on Inspired Living. And we're going to
go to our break because I want to get back
to this as the second half is going to go
so much quicker. So I have a lot to ask Erica.
So stick around. We're going to go just to our

(26:57):
one break and you're listening to Inspired. You'll be right
back after this brief.

Speaker 6 (27:02):
Animission, Home Times TV.

Speaker 7 (27:09):
Billions of people walk this earth, yet there is only
one you. Life offers endless connections, lessons and moments of awakening.
Are you ready to explore the beauty of this world,
the healing energy that surrounds you and your own sole adventure?
Mark Lainhart, known as the Intuitive Prospector, is a trusted
guide on that path. An internationally recognized psychic medium, medical intuitive,

(27:32):
and spiritual advisor, Mark Blend's experience with heart centered insight.
From decorated veteran and first responder to teacher, minister, author,
podcast host, and mentor, his journey has been one of
service and discovery. His mission is simple to help you awaken, heal, grow,
and uncover the diamond within while discovering the hidden gem's

(27:54):
life has placed around you. Dare to explore, dared to
rise to learn more at Mark Lainhart dot com and
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Speaker 6 (28:07):
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Own Times Media and Broadcasting offers a unique and multifaceted
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Speaker 8 (29:06):
If I could be and you could be me but
just one I was, If we could find a way
to get inside each other's mind.

Speaker 4 (29:21):
Walk a mile in my shoes, Walk a mile in
my shoes. Well before you abuse, grinicize and accused, welcome
mile in my shoes.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
All right, Welcome back too, inspired living. We are just
to have all sorts of energy uh solar eclipses going on,
so we'll just kind of roll with this. Our special
guest today is Erica Brechtel. She is the founder and
CEO of Eleanora, a social enterprise creating transformational women only
retreats that combine leadership, development, cultural immersion, and meaningful volunteer

(30:21):
service around the world. Is it only women or is
it men too? You have women only.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
Retreats, women retreats?

Speaker 2 (30:30):
You work with men?

Speaker 3 (30:32):
I work with men in a consulting am for my
consulting business I have Okay.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
So I want to make sure I read that right.
And so before the break, we were just we're having
all sorts of energy and inspiration going on. Uh so,
tell us a little bit more just on your journey
and what if somebody wants to sign up to one
of these retreats going to Japan, for example, take us
through what that looks like? What what the what the retreats?

(30:59):
I know you're combining a lot of you know, leadership
and development and culture immersion, but kind of just walk
us through for those listening to the show or watching
the show, Now, what does that look like? And then
we're getting to the lift index.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Yeah, sure, so I retreat to Japan. I wanted to
create it for women mainly as a place where you
can again like get out of your every day Let's
go to Japan. Let's go to a culture and a
location that's completely different from where you are, and that

(31:34):
in itself provides a bit of adult We're going to
start in Tokyo. It's going to provide a bit of
a jolt in terms of like wait where am I?
But that's intentional, and the reason being that I want
women to be fully present and so when there's a
lot happening and you're in a new place, like you
have to be fully present. And then we're going to

(31:55):
be doing a bunch of different activities through Tokyo. Kakone
is near the base of Mount Fuji and more nature
inspired forest lake, and then we're going to end our
journey in Kyoto, and through that I curated activities that
are essentially around what I'm saying are the sixth senses.
So we're going to be doing, for example, a singing bowl,

(32:18):
sound bath, really excited. We're going to do a traditional
green tea ceremony. We're going to do a meditation and
a zen temple as well as a Japanese calligraphy class.
We are going to be doing some We're going to
do an incense making workshops, so that's around smell, so
everyone gets to make their own scent to take home

(32:39):
with them. We're going to do something fun like a
Kimona photoshoot. But I also with every workshop, I insert
those development workshops, those self development workshops, And so for
this particular one, I am going to be bringing purpose
envisioning exercises that I do with my clients, and the
goal is to really help these women who are coming

(32:59):
to figure out what that legacy is that they want
to leave behind and what do they want to do next,
like what's next? They've checked everything off of that American
Dream checklist. Most of the participants are from the US,
and so they're really thinking like, okay, what is that.
There are no rules really for what that next forty
years are going to look like, what that new success

(33:21):
checklist could be. So it's really around defining what and
that's really exciting we could define it as we wish,
So helping them figure out what that is. And just
as we were saying, like getting curious about the little clues,
I do this exercise called purpose mapping that helps to
kind of make sense of it all and then building
out a roadmap in terms of towards that bigger vision

(33:45):
that they can take action steps when they get home.
So one of those days in Tokyo will half a
day We'll be volunteering with a nonprofit there working with
young adults who have left violent or unstable homes. We're
working with a nonprofit they're called Sanko Kusha, and they've
created a three year program that brings these young adults

(34:05):
in age fifteen to twenty five, helps them with housing
and pay, job skills training, and they because they don't
really have any adults to rely on, I mean us
being there just caring for them, giving them some kind
of hope, and then leaving behind a financial contribution to
the program. And so you can check out all of

(34:26):
the details about it on our website Eleonora dot com
and then if you're interested, you just fill out a
quick little application. I get on a call with every
applicant before you can masure. That is just because I
need to be fully responsible for who I'm bringing on
this retreat, not only to make sure that people are
aligned with the group, but also because we are working

(34:47):
with a very vulnerable population and these nonprofits trust us
to come in. I'm so honored that they trust us,
and so I just need to have a quick twenty
minute chat and make sure that we're aligned and it's
a good fit.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Yeah, I love it, and I love that you within
the retreat it. So if you you incorporate our different senses,
not just about being present, but the green tea, the sound, bath, meditation,
and the temple, I think that's very very powerful. You
know when retreats do that and they and they you know,
accompany our senses, our spiritual senses, our physical known senses. Uh. So, yeah,

(35:23):
if you want to, if you want to get into
that and check that out, then head over to Eleanora
dot com and get booked so Erica can have a
twenty minute chat and see if that is the right
direction for you. So it's funny that you talked about
Mount Fuji because I actually h on my back. My
latest tattoo that I just got is the uh the

(35:44):
Great Wave of Kanagawa, which is, you know, incorporates a
large wave of mother nature. How small humans can really
be eventhough we think we're bigger. And of course in
the background is Mount Fuji. So it's a very spiritual tattoo.
So when you were and I was like, oh, that's
interesting because I actually have that tat too. But let's
talk about let's talk about reinventing after forty because you

(36:08):
talked about like, you know, most of your clients do
come from America because I think culturally we're a little
bit backwards, and you know, we have all these things
that we strive for and you know, get all these
things and attachments, and then we get older and we're
like that really didn't really make me happy. But let's
talk about, you know, reinvention after forty, where when you

(36:32):
took this leap of faith and left what you were
doing to do this, to be a consultant, to be
the CEO of your own company. Tell me about just
your you know, your worries, your fears, the ego like
oh you can't do this, or you know, the things
that we go through as humans and self sabotaging moments.
And you know, for people listening to this, this is
what this show is about, is inspiring them and encouraging

(36:54):
to take those leaps of faith. And you know, if
you don't risk, if there's no biscuit, but tell us
what you went through to leave what you did to
become who you are, which is probably a little bit
more deeper, empathic, a little bit more authentic and really
loving when you do. And that's really the secret of life, right,
getting paid to what you love, because we have only
species that pays delivery if you think about it, right,

(37:14):
So kind of and that reinvention, you know why, especially
after forty, right, because I think that we're just starting
to get to our maturity, especially for men. Science is
teaching as men actually start to get into their actual
maturity in their forties now on their twenties, and women,
you know, science is teaching us a lot more. So
forty doesn't have to be the end of the road
or what we would call over the hill. It could

(37:36):
be the next great chapter in that book that we're
all writing, right mm hmm.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
Yeah, absolutely. And just to be clear, I haven't left
my consulting business. It still goes, still going strong. So
that's one of the points I wanted to make is
that when you align with your purpose, it doesn't need
to blow up your life like you can. You can
implement it in small ways you can do. And so
one of the ways that I did that, for example,
I do that in my work, but I also do

(38:02):
that by through the social impact work. So for me,
I think that in terms of, you know, reinventing after forty,
I do work with a lot of women who are
in midlife, and I, as I mentioned before, I am
I often find myself as a facilitator. I've because I've
been doing this work for so long. I know how

(38:23):
to ask all the right questions. All of those pieces
in terms of what you are inspired or maybe here
to do, They're all sitting within you, through in your soul,
in your life experiences, whatever it may be. And I
find that what happens is we dismiss it right. So
it's like, oh, that's crazy, I can't do that, Just

(38:45):
as you know, I who am I to think that
I could do something like that? That's just so crazy,
And that's all the old programming that we've been trained
and brought up. And so certainly when I am taking
these risks and these swings, it's hugely scary. Nobody in
my family's ever done anything like this. And how lucky

(39:07):
am I to be in a place where I can
push myself a little bit to take a risk here
and there and explore these these pathways that previous generations
were not. For example, you know, talking about Japan, one
of the reasons I'm so excited about going is my
great grandparents are from Japan. My two great grandmothers were

(39:29):
picture brides from Japan, meaning they met their husbands on
the dock in one in Honolulu and one in Kona.
And thinking about them and how far we've come, but
yet how far other women and girls in the world
still have to go, who are still in those positions
and having a sense of responsibility. So when we hit

(39:52):
a certain point where, like we said in our forties,
where maybe we've checked off all of those the American
June checklists, you just feel, at least the women, the
high achievers that I know, and I'm sure your audience
you feel a sense of responsibility, like there is something
more that I'm meant to do and I know it.
And so I created the Lift Index. You know, I

(40:13):
know we're going to talk about it as one of
the ways in which to help people with there. Because
there is no framework, there is no checklist, we get
the opportunity to create what that new checklist looks like.
And so I created the framework. And just in terms
of like helping people identify where they're at on that journey,
giving them some exercises and some tools and ideas on
how to keep moving forward on that path towards real

(40:37):
meaning and impact and significance that they perhaps want to
leave behind. And it is just as you said, like
identifying what that is, exploring it, pushing yourself, taking a
risk doing this because it's not, as you know, a
straight line.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
It.

Speaker 3 (40:50):
Certainly I'm reandering journey, both sideways and up and down,
but I can't imagine living any other way. It's been
so so it's added such a layer of depth and
meaning to my life that and honestly, because of this
extra piece that I've added into my life, I've been

(41:11):
able to have these opportunities like talking to you and
being on this podcast and connecting with your audience and
inspiring and making an impact around the world with women
and girls and with leaders here that come with me.
I just would not have been able to do that
with the consulting work. As much as I love it,

(41:31):
it's very one on one and it's still very meaningful,
and I love it. So when you're able to push
yourself just a little bit, like just how much bigger
your impact can be in the world, I think is
how you can think about it. And as I said before,
it's because it's really not about us, it's about them.
It's about whomever it is that you want to make
an impact on.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
Yeah, the layers of the human condition, the layers of
the human experience. So what I meant was, so, have
you always done consulting or did you do something for
consulting that then led you to this, which then led
you to this podcast. I've always would you do?

Speaker 3 (42:05):
Yeah, You've always been Yeah, yeah, I've been doing.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
Do you find do you find that you're leaning towards
this a little bit more than you're consulting as far
as like your your passion to do it and what
I guess the return on your investment and seeing that
in people? Are you finding Because the reason I'm saying
that is I used to work many years for the
federal government. I have since then retired and I get
to do this and talk to amazing people like yourself,

(42:28):
and write and do events and but just see people
really grow, see people expand, or you know, go prospecting
for that time within or those layers that we were
just talking about. So do you find that you're leaning
more towards this as far as just the basic consulting.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
Yeah, so yeah, in some ways, So for example, I
was doing everything on my own, I mean consulting very much.
People hire you for you, So there's not you can't
really hire team necessarily for that. There's like small things
that you can delegate out for Eleanor though. I've been
able to build a team this year and that has
been amazing and wonderful, and a team of young women

(43:09):
and they each have their specialties, and so that's also
put me into a different type of leadership position where
I'm leading a team now and mentoring them and helping
them along their own professional and personal paths as well.
So certainly, and I absolutely want to continue to expand Eleanora.

(43:32):
And it's because of me also being a single co
parent of a teenage girl. You know, we only have
so much time that we can give. But having a
team in place helped me so much. For example, I
just got back from the UK last month. We went
to look at universities for my daughter, and to have
a team in place, that structure in place, that allowed

(43:53):
me to step away from it just for that, you know,
those ten days that I was over there was hugely,
hugely helpful. And that's you know, and definitely a part
of as you're growing and you're thinking about and that's
you know, and definitely in one of the stages of
the LIFT index is what are the structures and systems
that you are putting in place that it can help
you expand because we can only do so much just us, right,

(44:16):
So we've really got to think about that. But yes,
certainly built a team this year and that's been really fun.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
Congratulate I know that feeling. So I did this all
on my own, very beginning. Eleven seasons later, I have
a great team in place and many hands make easy work, right,
That's that community aspect. So you mentioned the lift Index.
Let's talk about that real quick because again we're going
to run out of time unfortunately, but let's talk take
us through the Lift index and what that is and
what the listeners can take away from that.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
Yeah, sure, so just real quickly, As I mentioned, I
created this framework. There are five stages and lift actually
is an acronym. It stands for a live intentionally, fearlessly
and transformatively. And so what it is is it's kind
of the key to how you lift from one stage
to the next, so really quickly I have found what's

(45:05):
great about these stages, And once you take a go
on our website, you can take a quick quiz. It'll
land you on to a landing page and one of
the five stages, and there I've included just a lot
of tips and advice and tools workbook for each of
the stages so you can do a couple of exercises
while you're there. Essentially, we start with seeking, which is

(45:26):
kind of the hummingbird, and that's more about like the
getting curious and really living your joy and figuring out,
like we're saying, like paying attention to those signs and
what's calling to you. And then once you get into
living your joy and really recognizing what that is and
you have a direction, you get to the next stage,
which is striving. And that's all about like the horse
being the workhorse. That's when you're building, right, that's the

(45:47):
hustling and grinding and all of that, and that's really
where getting those systems and those people and those structures
in place is hugely important for you to build something
that's a little more stable. So really have working with tension,
the eye and left. Then you get to the steadfast
phase versus elephants. That's when you're really feeling good. You've
built something pretty stable. The problem with that, though, is

(46:10):
you can get a little too comfortable and maybe a
little scared to take risks as we were talking about, right,
So I've provided some ways and when you can push
yourself a little bit, and that's really when you're trying
to get a little more fearless about what you're doing,
and when you have clarity around your people, purpose, your
positioning personality, it's a lot more easier to do that.
The next stage is the shining, which is the peacock.

(46:31):
So this is like, Okay, now I've got my expertise
and I'm maybe I'm speaking, I have a podcast. I
know I'm getting my voice and everything out into the world.
But then you're realizing, like, how am I actually going
to impact people an enduring way? Right? So that's that
transformative piece and once you get there, that's the significance

(46:52):
when you go to the fifth level, which is the leopard,
and that's all about building community, mentoring people, bringing peopleople up,
like creating something that you can actually leave behind in
the world. So those are the five stages and there's
a lot more on the website to kind of dig into,
but yes, essentially, I want to help people identify where

(47:14):
they are on the path. As they said, there are
no frameworks for this, and we're we've we've checked off
all of the boxes and so what does the next
forty years look like for us? And how exciting is
that we get to create so much more?

Speaker 2 (47:28):
Right? And I love that you've tied it to the
total animal spirits too, like nature is important in the
spiritual path transformation. I always talk about from caterpillar to butterfly.
That's not an easy you know, life just happens, and
we have the struggle in the cocoon to get from
those two perspectives. So I like that you actually did
the index, the lift index, gave it an acronym. I
love acronyms. The BACKGROUNDDIC so we always worked with acronyms.

(47:52):
And I love that you tied you know, different animals
visual references, whether it's the peacock or the hummingbird or
the elephant to you because those images and come up
when people do this. I find this very The synchronicity
is the coincidence, Like, oh, I just did this profile
of this index, and I keep seeing the elephant or
I keep seeing in the hummingbird. I just actually heard
just the other day. I was sitting in a workshop

(48:13):
and it was the acronym for pain, and I was like, Oh,
this is going to be interesting. You've talked about your
four you know, you talked about the four p's, you've
got the lift index, and this acronym I heard for pain.
And this is for the listeners out there. Take pain
because you become more present in your painful journey because
there are learning lessons, and the lesson repeats until it
completes right or what we resist persist. And the word

(48:35):
pain doesn't have to be something of dread or to
be scared of. It's actually broken down to pay attention,
integrate now. And I was like, oh, that's genius. Like
pay attention to what's going on, what the pain is,
and then integrate that now is as the acronym is
a great way to remember that. So maybe that's something
you can use it one of your you know events,

(48:55):
that pain brings us into the present moment and that's
where your true power is in the present.

Speaker 3 (49:00):
Yeah, that's how you turn it, how you take your
power back in that moment. You don't have to remain
a victim of it, right, right?

Speaker 2 (49:07):
Is it happening to me or is it happening for
me to me as the victim for me is the butterfly?

Speaker 3 (49:11):
Right?

Speaker 2 (49:12):
So I love that. So you also talked about purposeful mapping,
and just for the sake of time, because you only
have a few minutes left, So just give us a
little little brief what that looks like purpose purposeful mapping
if I heard that correctly? And then also, what are
some practical ways that the listeners or those that are
watching the live show because we're neewer to the Home

(49:33):
Times network used to be just listening, but now you
can listen and watch, how can they reconnect with themselves
and their purpose? Right? Because purpose is such a big
thing for the human condition. We see people leave this
planet every day because they lack purpose, they've lost their purpose.
So how can listeners reconnect with themselves and their purpose

(49:53):
and maybe tie the purposeful mapping into that for the
next few minutes?

Speaker 3 (49:57):
Yeah, sure, I have a ton of exer sizes, and
I think it all comes down to a couple of
different ways in which you can connect with there's an
emotional connection that you have to make, and it's so
easy for us to forget about that. So it really
we've already you know, mentioned several times about getting curious

(50:18):
around what's inspiring inspiring us. And so one of the
exercises that I do with people is thinking about people
that you admire. So what are the qualities that you
am I what are they doing? And they could be
someone you know, it could be someone famous, could be
someone living or dead kind of what are those muses
for you? And really recognizing kind of, So that's like

(50:38):
one piece. Okay, these are some clues here that I
see for me. For example, I look to certain women
who for example, Diane von Furstenberg, so she has a
company and then now she has another component of her
company that's all that's give back. And so I'm looking
at women like that in my world, Mary Montague the

(50:59):
woman I meant and Morocco who really inspire me? And
what is it that they're particularly doing like pieces of that,
and then you can think about I have these purpose questions.
So one of the questions that is so interesting to me,
and it's so interesting, like every person that I work with,
there's one question that might connect with them significantly versus another.

(51:21):
But one of the questions is, you know, think really
thinking about Like when we're thinking about what I want
to leave behind, that can sound really abstract. So let
me put it this way. If someone were to google you,
what do you hope that they'll find?

Speaker 2 (51:34):
Right?

Speaker 3 (51:34):
So, what is it that we're putting out into the world.
What does it say about who we are, what we believe,
what are we actually building and creating, and the impact
that we're having on people thinking it's not it's yes,
it's your social media, it's your words, it's your actions,
it's how you are in your every day right, So
really thinking about that piece and then simple questions like

(51:55):
we've all heard this question, but it's such a useful question.
If I had all them money and time and resources
in the world, you know, without any concerns, what would
I do? What would I really want to do? Like
give yourself permission to really dream and think about that, Like,
imagine your your perfect life, your perfect day. What does
that look like? Where are you, who are you with?

(52:17):
Like what are you doing and what clothes are you wearing?
Et cetera. There are so many clues just in that
visualization that you can kind of grab. So all of
this adds to this map for you. It's just like
I said, we have to play a little bit of
a detective and then it'll start to become clearer and clearer.
There's also the question of like what would you regret
if you didn't do right? So that's another way, another

(52:39):
clue for you to really connect with something that you
know is there and maybe you're not listening to it,
or maybe you're not giving yourself permission to really dream
and think about how you can how you can make
it work. And it's going to keep tapping on the door.
It's going to keep getting louder and louder. As you've noticed.
I think there's something in Japan for you because you've
mentioned it a few times. You even have a tattoo.

(53:00):
So anyway, so there are all all of these little
tips and tools and if you really want to get
into it, you can visit Eleanora dot com and take
the lift index and have got some tools to get
started there.

Speaker 2 (53:13):
Yeah. Well, Eric, I'd love to have you back and
continue these conversations and inspiring conversations and just you know,
keep doing what you're doing, keep setting Matt Ripple effect.
You know, keep inspiring people. I think that's important, especially
where we're at in you know, in our history and society.
And you know, I was thinking you talked about, you know,
for your listeners out there, if you're curious, go to

(53:35):
the website, check her out, do the lift index, you know,
get on, get on a call with her and see,
you know, if it's a fit, and you may find
yourself in Japan doing a return. You never know, right,
the journey loves to reminds us the journey of a
thousand miles always begins with that single step. And I
think with Erica and her company, I think you can
definitely go down a inspiring, fulfilling, healing journey to know thyself,

(54:01):
because that's why we're all here, trying to know ourselves better.
And so I was, and you talked about curiosity. As
we wrap up. You know, there's two quotes from Einstein
that I love. You always talked about the important thing
is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason
for existing. And I think there's listeners out there, you know,
keep that curiosity going. And of course I have no
special talents. I'm only passionately curious and that's why I

(54:23):
do what I do, because I'm just passionately curious. But Erica,
thank you so much for being our guest today. Before
we close, what or who inspires you most in what
you do?

Speaker 8 (54:33):
Wooh?

Speaker 3 (54:34):
That is a tough one. I would because I have
these two sides of me, my grandparents, as I mentioned
to you before, my grandfather being a two star general,
he's got that drive in that discipline, and obviously I'm
a high achiever as well. And then my grandmother. She
was such a wonderful, sweet giving soul, and I try

(54:55):
to embody both sides of them into one person in
what I'm doing.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Beautiful Well, it ends up being what wolf do you
feed most?

Speaker 3 (55:05):
Right?

Speaker 2 (55:05):
The two wolves? The angel devil? You know, the du
out the journey of duality is always important. So it's
always like what do you feed? What wolf do you
feed the most? And you know, honor both of them
and what they brought to who you are to ripple
effect is uh in your legacy after after this show
is over and as you keep going and have a
great time in Japan, have fun.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
Thank you so much, Thank you for.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
Being one offul guys. Sorry for the technical difficulties, but
there's just a lot of energy going on right now,
including a solar eclipse, so it does happen with the internet.
So I appreciate you, and I'd love to have you
come back and continue this journey, in this conversation with
you if you're interested, my friend.

Speaker 3 (55:41):
Yeah, and and please get yourself to Japan.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
I will. That's that. There's a you know, universe talks.
I definitely listen. So all right, well, thank you Erica,
and to our listeners out there, thank you for tuning
in to another episode of Inspired Living. Until our next
sole adventure together. Please be kind, be caring, be compassionate,
and most of importantly, whatever you're doing wherever you are
in the world, dare to dream, dare to explore, dare
to live, and you'll not only discover the diamond within,

(56:07):
you'll discover the many hidden gems that are all around
us waiting to be found, just just by you. So
we appreciate you, and again appreciate Erica and your work,
and we'll see you next time here on Inspired Living.
As I like to say, no I'm gonna stay, No,
I'm gonna go. Take care