What is Leadership?

Jennifer England supports soul-aligned missions for the collective good. As an Integral Master Coach™ and highly skilled facilitator, she helps high performing leaders and teams access deeper fulfilment, clarity and alignment to succeed in transition, uncertainty and emergent collaboration. In this episode, Jennifer shares the value of bringing the principles of improv to our lives, and how our ab...

Kathleen Smith is a singer-songwriter/producer whose music has been heard on radio, TV and film. She is also a music supervisor for Netflix, Hulu, Showtime and the popular podcast & Netflix show - Song Exploder. In this episode, Kathleen discusses her new record 'Medicine', which she wrote - and taught herself to produce - in an old barn in New Mexico. She unpacks her early artist years - from see...

Bradley Morris is the founder of Majik Media - helping leaders unleash their majik to leverage their life's work - as well as Majik Kids, the Creator's Club and is also a professional golfer - and no, you will not find him on social media. In this episode, Bradley shares his decision to leave social media, highlighting the negative impact of algorithms, the divisive nature of the platforms, and a...

Lael Couper Jepson is all about change powered by women. Founder of SheChanges, she makes it her business to hold space for those willing to live from the crossroads of conventional thought and unconventional wisdom. In this episode, they discuss important conversations often buried - which Lael is passionate about uncovering -  and the language needed to disrupt traditional leadership thinking. L...

Sydney Craig, is the owner of Pilates Tonic, a studio she founded over 17 years ago, which has expanded into online movement learning. In this episode, Sydney emphasizes the importance of body as instrument - for moving through the world and finding guidance - inviting curiosity about what our body is communicating. The initial challenges she faced as a business owner revealed that her external st...

In this episode, I share about how the Creative Cauldron came to be, how it works and what to expect if you decide to join us this upcoming season! About a year ago, I was feeling creatively dry. I decided to finally take a course a friend of mine has on writing and performing solo shows, and the experience made me realize the importance of giving reverence and dedicated time to my creative writin...

Rob McNamara is an author, leadership coach, advisor and consultant with expertise in adult development and human performance. Co-founder of consulting firm Delta Developmental and faculty member for the Ivey School of Business' LIFT Advanced Coaching Program, he advises, trains, and coaches on a broad range of initiatives for individuals, organizations, and governments navigating complex, civiliz...

Are you a service provider struggling financially, despite having a very successful practice? In today's 'Dear Chela', I answer a therapist's question about how to make ends meet, speaking to: the wider context of the struggling economy and the historical possibility of supporting large families on a single income in comparison to today's conditions. I offer possible tangible shifts - including re...

Known for her raw, honest, and nuanced approach to spirituality and the healing arts, Elizabeth DiAlto is an Embodiment Specialist, a Mystic, and host of the Embodied Podcast. In this episode, Elizabeth describes the journey towards her Soul's work - how being a personal trainer in NYC led to questioning societal beauty standards, inspiring her to create her own business. They explore: Elizabeth's...

Rachel Flood is a technology enthusiast, operations consultant, and enterprise architect with over 20 years experience in for-profit and non-profit sectors. She is passionate about leveraging systems to simplify and automate mundane manual tasks, freeing up the 'beautiful minds' of operational workers - insisting the work should be repeatable, but the person not replaceable. In this episode, Rache...

In this episode, I share some massive shifts in my life's work over the past couple of years through devices I use with clients - calling, seasonality and impact statement - in the hopes that it may contribute to your own unfoldings. I discuss the four cornerstones of a calling, how mine has been evolving and personal experience of a "forced winter" to heal and do the inner work. An unexpected hob...

Heidi Rose Robbins has been a professional astrologer for 25 years, helping thousands of global clients live with more authenticity and clarity. She hosts two podcasts, THE RADIANCE PROJECT, featuring poetry, astrology, and good company, and CHART YOUR CAREER, with co-host Ellen Fondiler. She's written two poetry books and has been a featured poet at two TedX events. Her latest book, Everyday Radi...

Feeling personal-developed-OUT? Pounded with ways to progress, longing to just 'be'? Done with morning routines - burning to pump the brakes on evolving for a single moment - so you can just sip your darn coffee in peace!? Then check out this episode of Dear Chela, as I speak to external expectations and overwhelming standards that have us feeling 'never enough'. I talk input detoxes, awareness of...

Tired of being tired? Does hustle and grind culture have you by the short and curlies? If you've set your hopes on regenerative ways of living and working - wondering how you'll know when you've exited cycles of hustling & grinding - this episode is for you! Jacquie read my article 'Discipline & Heat = Spaciousness & Relief' and resonated with the quote: 'I have worked so hard not to work so hard'...

Gayle Colman is a certified financial planner, coach, writer and entrepreneur. With four decades of professional experience in financial planning, her diverse training infuses Integral coaching and spiritual embodiment with practical financial savvy to bring somatic finance to life as an entirely new way of understanding and being in relationship with money. In this episode, Gayle names the necess...

Recently, I wrote a blog post called 'Such a loser', and had some varied responses. One turned into a beautiful back and forth with a new reader. Part of her response was the question 'Are you okay?', which I was so touched by, and further went on to ask - 'Do some people experience emotions differently?' - naming that if she'd felt how I had described - she'd be worried. In this episode of Dear C...

Melanie Sheckels is a registered nurse and a death, grief and trauma educator/guide, helping hundreds of humans move from fear and freeze into possibility and ease. Melanie founded 'Threshold Doula' in 2019 after 7 years as a cardiac and hospice nurse, helping people navigate the healthcare system and dying process with greater understanding and confidence. In this episode, Melanie shares about he...

Jennifer Chapman is the founder of 'Ambition Leadership' which she leaped into on Leap Day 2012 - with a desire to build a company that embodied the leadership behaviours it promoted. She is an expert Leadership Coach working with STEM managers and leaders who want to increase their productivity and performance by strengthening their competence and people skills. In this episode, Jennifer provides...

This episode is part of the Guided Series, where Chela explores the key guiding principles in her work and business. Meet The Call explores what a calling is and how we go about meeting it. Chela speaks to how a calling is part of us, but also beyond us. She names common patterns noticed when heeding a call - both her own and with her clients - including what our callings care about and what they...

Ali Phillips founded 'Bust A Move Dance' in 2009 - one of Australia's first inclusive dance companies for children, teens and adults with disabilities - at age 17. Diving into entrepreneurship at an early age, she soon developed a passion for both teaching and leadership. In this episode, she speaks about how who we are is how we lead and how sensing into body and mind simultaneously, as well as d...

This episode is part of the Guided Series, where Chela explores the key Guiding Principles in her work and business. Post-Capitalist Business is the exploration of that as a possibility. She invites us into this conversation of imagination and experimentation, unpacking what is seen - how our planet is ravaged by capitalism and those values are deeply ingrained within us - and what she cannot yet...

While working in senior leadership roles in corporate Australia, Gabrielle realised the power of storytelling in effective business communication. She is a highly sought after keynote speaker, educator and author of 'Real Communication', 'Stories For Work' and her latest book, 'Magnetic Stories'. In this episode, she challenges corporate norms that facts and figures are primarily what matters, and...

This episode is part of the Guided Series, where Chela explores the key guiding principles in her work and business. Interdependent Emergence is the exploration of how through braiding together our individual and collective gifts, we can co-create a world we can belong to and thrive in. Chela discusses how this lens can help us co-create with both seen and unseen forces, enabling us to bring about...

Kate Northrup is an entrepreneur, bestselling author and mother. She's the founder of the Origin Company, a multimedia company reaching hundreds of thousands globally and the author of Do Less. She's on a mission to collectively reimagine work and have more by doing less. In this episode she shares the principles and practices that underpin her work, how working with seasons, cycles and our bodies...

TJ Dawe is a Vancouver based writer, director and performer of new theatre. He's toured to more than one hundred theatre festivals on four continents. He leads a course on creating a one person show and has built a 20 year + successful career in the arts in a niche that's fully and uniquely 'him'. In this episode, TJ shares wisdom, science and experience around the key ingredients to leading a cre...