EP43 Kamini Wood: A Life Coach's Guide to Authentic Growth and Self-Confidence

Have you ever felt like you're constantly chasing perfection and people-pleasing to the point where it's taking over your life? Kamini Wood, our esteemed guest for this special International Women's Day episode, bravely shares her personal evolution from tackling these very struggles as a mother of five to empowering individuals through life coaching. Her journey is nothing short of remarkable, revealing an intimate look at how her own challenges paved the way for her to support others in their quests for growth and self-improvement. With her company, Live Joy Your Way, and the Rise Up program, she's crafted a haven for those looking to find authentic joy and break free from the chains of 'comparison syndrome'.

Navigating the complex world of teenage self-confidence and social pressures is a task that many of us can find daunting. Kamini and I traverse her childhood experiences, discussing the intricate dance of seeking acceptance as a person of color in a predominantly white community, and how these early life lessons inform her current coaching strategies. Whether you're a parent, a mentor, or someone who remembers the pangs of adolescence, this conversation offers sage advice on fostering self-esteem and identifying the root of happiness within ourselves.

As we wrap up our conversation, Kamini candidly discusses the unique challenges and triumphs of building a life coaching practice, from overcoming skepticism to celebrating client breakthroughs. We explore the delicate dance of mentorship, the non-negotiable need for life coaches to be versed in trauma-informed practices, and how the ripple effects of personal empowerment can extend into corporate well-being. For anyone curious about the tangible steps towards achieving a harmonious work-life balance or seeking a nudge to trust in their path, this episode serves as an empowering guide to embracing life's journey with confidence and joy.

00:00 Introduction and Background
03:35 The Impact of Social Pressures on Teenagers
06:01 Comparison Syndrome and Overcoming False Beliefs
08:28 Creating Joy and Fulfillment in Life
10:14 Understanding the Role of a Life Coach
11:29 Utilizing Somatic Work and Breath Work
14:54 Standout Moments and Achievements
19:09 Passion for Empowering Individuals
20:25 Carving Out Time for Self-Care
23:53 Incorporating Breath Work into Coaching
25:49 The Importance of Networking and Mentorship
30:38 Embarking on the Journey of Becoming a Life Coach
32:04 Aspirations for the Coaching Platform
34:02 Trailblazer Takeaway Tips

Find
 Kamini Wood :https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaminiwood
https://www.kaminiwood.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/riseup-live-joy-your-way/id1502109850
Instagram :@itsauthenticme
Watch :https://youtu.be/Flex19iHWyE

Listen : to the audio version Apple Spotify .Amazon Music Google Podcasts
Watch and subscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@Thetrailblazersexperience
Follow Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thetrailblazersexperience/

Transcript

The Trailblazers Experience : 0:12

Welcome to another episode of the Trailblazers Experience podcast and, on this International Women's Day, I'm so excited to have my next guest, kamini Wood, who is a certified life coach. In this day and age, where it's all about mental health, well-being and living the best life that you can, I really just want to introduce you and say welcome, thank you so much for having me.

The Trailblazers Experience : 0:43

I could read through your whole resume. I mean, your journey as a certified life coach and wellness advocate is incredibly fascinating, but could you just take me back as to what experiences led you to say I think this is the direction I want to go and this is how I can add value to my own life and to others. Absolutely.

Kamini Wood: 1:07

So it was not a linear trajectory for me to end up in the role that I'm in. Actually, as a matter of fact, when I got into the business world, I was working as a project manager and found myself leading a project management office, and then, after that, I started from the ground up a law firm, actually with my husband, and found myself even in that role, managing the people and understanding what the clients needed in order to help them figure out what it was that they were trying to accomplish through utilizing the law firm. I share that, because in those professional roles so right from the beginning, what I was doing and what I kept finding myself in was in this role of helping others figure out what it was that they wanted and then helping them identify what were the things that they needed in order to have those things be potentially accomplished. That was what was happening professionally. On a personal perspective, I was becoming a mom to five, so my oldest is currently 22,. My youngest is 10.

Kamini Wood: 2:13

Through that process, though, becoming a mom, I say that that has been my greatest teacher in life, or my children and I was witnessing and having mirrored back to me certain behaviors and tendencies.

Kamini Wood: 2:25

So I definitely recognize that I am a perfectionist by nature it's part of my personality, definitely had people pleasing tendencies and still continue to recognize when those are popping up and when I might be leaning into those.

Kamini Wood: 2:39

But I share this again because what was happening as a mom?

Kamini Wood: 2:42

I'm starting to see my children show up in that way and recognizing that they were emulating me and I needed to figure out what was going on for me and how was I showing up.

Kamini Wood: 2:53

So I went through my own self-transformation journey and recognized where some narratives and some limiting beliefs on my part had taken hold and were holding me back. So through that own self-transformation I recognized that not only was that for my own growth and the growth in terms of being a parent and showing up differently, but I was meant to go on that journey because now I can pay it forward with others If I've had that experience, other people are having maybe a similar experience and then recognize that what I loved from a professional standpoint was helping people grow and expand into what they wanted to become. So I really brought these two things together and that's when I went on my journey of really training and certifying in life coaching but then going beyond that and getting specialty certifications in different modalities and different ways of helping individuals, because we're all different, so we similarly information differently and really about six and a half, seven years ago now at this point, starting this one-to-one coaching practice.

The Trailblazers Experience : 3:53

That's so interesting. You mentioned on your website that many teenagers struggle with building self-confidence and handling social pressures, which they seem to be a lot now than what it was 20 or 30 years ago, especially social media, et cetera. Do you think there's something in your upbringing or your childhood that led you to this point to say, obviously having a professional career, then becoming a mother of five and then pivoting now to 360 to being a life coach? What did the early years look like for you?

Kamini Wood: 4:27

Oh my gosh. Yes, absolutely. To answer your question quickly and succinctly, it's like absolutely. My younger years have an effect on that. When I was younger, I grew up in a predominantly white town. Both of my parents are immigrants. My mom came to the States from India when she was 13. My dad was 19 when he came to the States, so they moved my sister and I to this town in Connecticut lovely town, have no complaints about the town, but being one of the only brown children in a classroom full of white kids, there's already a difference that you're seeing.

Kamini Wood: 5:01

As individuals and humans we have this need to belong and this need to be accepted. So from a very early age there was this pressure and internalized pressure of how do I fit in, how do I belong? And that's really what's happening for our teenagers is there is that pressure of how do I belong to this group of people, how can I find acceptance? And so often that's the thing that we're struggling with. It's interesting.

Kamini Wood: 5:25

One of the topics that's been coming up routinely is just comparison. It's part of human nature to compare right. It's the law of relativity. We're always kind of comparing, but what happens is that social comparison takes hold and adds just this other element, especially for our teenagers, of am I good enough, am I measuring up? Am I good enough to belong to this group, do I, am I good enough to fit in here, or what's wrong with me? And so it is so important for us to have that dialogue with our teenagers and to give them space to work through some of these false beliefs that could be taking hold, like for me personally, at the age of five or six. I didn't know it at the time, but there was definitely a false belief of you're different and don't belong. Right, you need to now figure out a way to be good enough to be part of this group of people.

The Trailblazers Experience : 6:12

That's so interesting and that resonates with me as well. I was born in Germany, lovely small town, small village, but was the only person of color in that village and you know it's interesting as human beings we're actually. Our color doesn't make us any different from anybody else, but it does have an impact on how you're perceived and you feel like there's this validation that you're seeking constantly from people, and it does have an impact on your life as well. You talked about comparison syndrome, which you know some people describe as obsessive comparison disorder, which is probably elevated now in society. Talk me through when you're coaching, how do you tackle especially the things that are happening day to day and how do you navigate that to help your clients or teenagers or adults who come into your services?

Kamini Wood: 7:07

Well, one thing is for us to acknowledge when the comparison is happening right. So, because so often we fall into that line of comparison and we don't sometimes even recognize that, then this inner critic voice takes over and then we start judging ourselves. That's where the voice comes in and says well, this person is doing this and you're not good enough. And so a lot of times, what the work entails is stepping almost into observer mode and to recognize that one of the things that we're doing in comparison is we are comparing where we are in our story to somebody's completely different story that they're writing. It's almost like we're comparing one novel to another novel and they have nothing to do with each other.

Kamini Wood: 7:46

Another metaphor that I use oftentimes is that you're looking at somebody's curb appeal right, You're looking at the outside of their house. It looks amazing, but behind closed doors you have no idea how messy the inside of the house is. And here you are thinking that you're not good enough because you don't look exactly the same in terms of curb appeal. So it's just, a lot of times the coaching will entail looking at things through metaphor or through analogy, because sometimes we're so stuck in where we are in comparison we have to step outside of it in order to see it from that observer mode. But then, beyond just acknowledging what the thoughts are, then it becomes okay. So what's actually true about me, what's really the truth? Because so often our minds start telling us these false beliefs and false truths. And if we can acknowledge, notice and name them now, we can start breaking them down and actually live into what's true for us.

The Trailblazers Experience : 8:36

That is so important. You know you've talked about pivotal moments that just have ignited your passion for coaching and led you to establish you call it live joy your way and develop the Rise Up program. Do you want to talk to me about that?

Kamini Wood: 8:51

Yes. So yeah, the name of my company really did come out of this idea of you know. So many of us will say I just want to be happy, I want to be happy, I want my kids to be happy, and what really hits me with that is that happiness is an emotional state like other emotional states. It has lifespan of 90 seconds to two minutes, right, really, what it is that I think we're looking for is joy and fulfillment, and then it's really important in my mind to define that for ourselves, instead of looking for this external validation of what is joyful or what we should be enjoying.

Kamini Wood: 9:22

It's what fills me up and so that's where the name of my company came from is this is about living joy your way, living your life in your authentic way, and that's where the whole Rise Up came from. Was, you know, recognizing what's going on, doing the inner work, inner knowing, doing the self work and empowering yourself to make the changes, unlearn some of those false beliefs and false narratives, and then you're going to program yourself into putting it all together into this new narrative and this new story that you're writing for yourself, and in that process of rising up, we're going to create and you're going to live into your authentic me, because really that's what this is about. Is you getting to be your authentic self, not the definition or not living into the definition of success by somebody else or the definition of who you should be by somebody else. It's you defining yourself. Who is that authentic me, and let me live joy in that regard.

The Trailblazers Experience : 10:17

To our audience.

Kamini Wood: 10:18

I'm sure someone is saying, okay, what is a life coach, and how do I even define if that is a career path I would like to take, Sure yeah so many people, I think, do wonder what a life coach is, and I know that on the receiving end, people are like I don't need a life coach, I know how to do life, and it always kind of makes me smile and laugh, because you're right, you do know how to do life. A life coach, though, is really about being that co-collaborator with an individual and helping them figure out what it is and really get clear on what those goals are for themselves, and then helping them identify what are those steps. So, now that they've identified the goals, what are the steps they want to take to live in? What are the steps they want to take to live in to those goals that they've set for themselves?

Kamini Wood: 11:03

Now, all of us life coaches have different ways of working. Mine tends to be doing a little more deeper work just because I've trained in some of that deeper work. My belief is that if you have a deeper understanding of self, with that deeper understanding, we can truly get to that place of what are those inner goals that we have for ourselves and then finding what really motivates us to move through that. But, ultimately, a life coach is that person who can be that co-collaborator to help you not only set those goals, but live into them.

The Trailblazers Experience : 11:31

Yeah, and when you talk about those, what are some of the things you've specialized in? Because I've seen, for example, you talk about breath work. Yes, you talk to me about that as well.

Kamini Wood: 11:41

So the deeper work that I really do is understanding of self. So I do a lot of work with my clients about where are these narratives coming from. That's number one. Then I do do work through the somatic side, which is body intelligence. Right, because so often we try to just get to the answers from a cognitive perspective.

Kamini Wood: 11:59

But sometimes for those of us who are thinkers and overthinkers, we can get caught up in our thinking and so sometimes we've got to drop into the body, and the body does have so much intelligence.

Kamini Wood: 12:10

As a matter of fact, most often our body's gonna respond first, before we even have the thought that we're gonna have. So a lot of times when I'm working with clients with anxiety, once we work together, they'll notice that their body actually feels at first, before they even have the thought about anxiousness or they feel the anxiousness. So the somatic work that I do is dropping into the body, understanding what the sensations are in the body. And then I have gotten certified in breath work because, once again, with our body holding on to all of that, if we can utilize breath work and I use circular breath work, so it's a belly, chest exhale pattern of breath work what we end up doing is we get the air flowing but we're also releasing a lot of what we've been holding, and many of us hold all of that in our gut center, and so being able to just release that, there can be a huge emotional cleansing that comes with that as well.

The Trailblazers Experience : 13:02

Yeah, there's been a lot of studies and research done about the effects of breath work on stress and mental health, and you know how it impacts. And just raising your own self awareness, isn't it, with whatever is going on with you helps you combat whether it's a trauma or grief or whatever it is that you're going through. And so we're constantly on the go, and so often we do not have a lot of time to think about what's going on with us, and so we're constantly on the go, and so we're constantly on the go, and so often we do not even have any idea of what our body's feeling at any given point.

Kamini Wood: 13:43

I will share with you that with most clients. The first few times I asked them, you know okay, where do you feel that in your body, they kind of look at me dumbfounded, like what comedy do you mean by that? I have, no, I don't, I don't know. And they have to drop in because it's like wow, I haven't. I have not been paying attention to the fact that I've been holding that stress or that anxiety in the pit of my stomach or I've been holding it up here in my chest or in my throat. All of a sudden, this awareness is just it's. It's releasing, because once we become aware of it, we actually have the ability to decide how we want to respond or the choices we want to make to move through what it is that we're dealing with.

The Trailblazers Experience : 14:31

Yeah, and just reflecting on your journey, what are some standout moments or achievements that you think have shaped your perspective and approach to coaching? Obviously, lived experience is the best teacher, and how has that fueled your mission in terms of what you're looking forward to in the next few years as well?

Kamini Wood: 14:51

Oh, I love that question and you're absolutely right lived experience best teacher absolutely hands down. I will say, though, that the accomplishments along the way like, for instance, I set out and thought that I was going to have a practice focused on women, and here I am with a practice focused on teenagers, through mature adults half women and half men. So I will say that part of the accomplishments was just getting into the work and being there and showing up and working with clients and being open to what the process could look like. I say that that has been such a huge part of my growth has been being open to the process rather than being so outcome focused, because I own the fact that, as a high achiever, one of the things that I've always as okay, here's my goal, here's my outcome and just getting so, so focused on it, though, but being so rigid that you're not able to maybe see where other possibilities could buy so that's been a huge accomplishment along the way is to learn how to be more process oriented and less outcome focused, but then also the just having these experiences with the clients and hearing their reflections back to me.

Kamini Wood: 15:55

You know, hearing a client share with me that our sessions are the one where they are definitely something that they will look forward to in any given week and it's a place where they actually feel 100% love in the in that session, which means that there's no judgment, there's only being held, there's the ability to process through whatever's coming up. That, for me, is a huge accomplishment. Being able to provide that for my clients has been something I've always strive to do. But then hearing that reflection on me was just I mean, it was actually breathtaking in the moment because it felt like wow, I am living into the thing that I set out to do and it just felt so. I mean, it just encouraged me to obviously keep going and to keep doing what I'm doing because clearly I'm on the right path.

The Trailblazers Experience : 16:43

It's interesting because you talked about not being outcome focused and being, you know, focused on the process, the journey, which probably is a motto for no matter what career path you're in, because sometimes we forget about that as well that the journey is actually part of the process, and we know that life presents itself with formidable challenges beaten personal growth, professional aspirations or pursuing your dreams. Talk to me about the challenges that you have faced. Obviously, going down this, it was probably a segue in your career to become a life coach.

Kamini Wood: 17:21

Yeah there's definitely challenges in anything, I think, that we're set out to do. For me, some of the challenges included, you know, people not being totally on board with this, this deviation from where I was at, you know, not really understanding what do you mean? You're starting a life coaching business, you know, just kind of stepping out onto my own to do something. There was a little bit of pushback on that as well, so that was a big challenge for me to face, just knowing that it's okay for people not to see what I see in the potential and to still stand strong in my own belief in self, as well as my trust in self that this was something I was meant to do, regardless of the outcome, but that I really I needed to at least attempt to do this.

Kamini Wood: 18:04

And then, of course, self doubt. It's going to creep in, right I? Is this going to work? Is this, you know, is this going to be successful? Will like, can I continue to sustain this? And that's a challenge in and of itself, because that's really just coming back to you know, what is it? What is my purpose in this? What is it that I can rely on in terms of my own self trust and self belief, in order to continue to recognize that those doubts are coming up. And then, how do I want to face them and what steps am I going to take, even if they were really small steps, to continue moving myself forward?

The Trailblazers Experience : 18:34

Your passion for empowering individuals is so amazing and it shines through as you talk about it. But what aspects of your career path excites you the most, and how do you channel that passion into making a meaningful impact in the lives of the teens, the clients that you have?

Kamini Wood: 18:56

I have to be honest, the thing that really does excite me the most is when I can either hear in my client's voices or I see it on their faces, when they have those moments of seeing themselves for the amazing individuals that they are, or seeing their growth, or when they reflect back to me that, oh, I get it. That is just. It fills me up in such a way, and not from an external validation like, oh, I went and did this thing, look at what I create. I really internalize that of a place of, oh my gosh, look at this person blooming and becoming exactly who they were meant to be this whole time. And they get it now. And that is just so exciting for me to be a witness to that, because I don't ever see myself as the person who made that happen.

Kamini Wood: 19:41

And I will even challenge my clients to say, oh, you did this for me. No, no, no, no. All I did was give you space, you did all the work. And that's what I was saying with coaching to you is it's not a reactive or a bystander type of exercise. It is an absolute generative. I'm engaging in the process, but just being there with my clients and having those moments with them. It is the most fulfilling thing that I can ever imagine.

The Trailblazers Experience : 20:08

It's giving them the space to unlock their own potential, isn't it inevitably, Absolutely?

Kamini Wood: 20:13

Yeah, yeah.

The Trailblazers Experience : 20:15

Now you mentioned you're a mom of five. I can't believe it For those watching. I mean amazing. And you've had such a multifaceted career, so I can imagine your life is very demanding. How do you carve out time for self care and does work like balance, work life fit? Does that exist for you? You know what tips can you give from your own lived experience.

Kamini Wood: 20:41

Yeah, the one thing that I will share about work life balance is it's not going to be like a 50 50 balance, I would. How I define work life balance is it's going to be a moving spectrum on a day to day basis. Some days it's heavier on work, other days it's heavier on family stuff, and it is giving yourself the grace to define that for yourself each and every day. I absolutely carve out time every morning, though, for myself, before everybody in my house wakes up. I absolutely have at least an hour to myself, including the dogs they are still asleep as well because that hour, to me, is just sacred.

Kamini Wood: 21:13

It's the time for either, you know, meditation, working out, just quiet, just not really having to be on, so to speak, but I'm just taking care of being in my own space, being just connected to self, and I really do hold that sacred across the board. You know, every, every day, I have that time with myself, and I find that that's extraordinarily important for my own well being is being able to have that hour of peace where I'm just, I'm not having to go. Do you know? I'm not caught up in the doing of anything, it's just being, and I'm very intentional about that, even though my client says carving out time to be and not just do, because at the end of the day, we are these human beings, we're not human doings, and I routinely remind people of that.

The Trailblazers Experience : 21:57

That's really good. That's a good nugget right there. I mean having interviewed 40 plus women. That's one of the points that resonates that taking the time to make the space for yourself, whether it's five minutes, 10 minutes, half an hour, you have to start somewhere and prioritize yourself. And it might be you've got toddlers, so it has to be five minutes, or your caregiver, or you know you've got busy. But starting five will turn into 10, to then to 15 to 20 and you build it over time. I believe.

Kamini Wood: 22:30

Absolutely, and that's such a great point. And start, start right. Start with the five minutes, because it will grow over time. And that's what I mean by balance too is sometimes, you know, there are days when maybe I can't get the full hour because somebody needs to be at school early or something like that Great. I still carve out whatever I can and I recognize and am grateful for the time that I can carve out. But it is important to carve out something for myself at each day and if, for instance, in the morning recently I had to hop a flight at six in the morning so that time in the morning didn't happen, I made sure before the end of the day I had at least 20 minutes of just being rather than doing.

The Trailblazers Experience : 23:10

Just listening to you about your own approach to your personal well-being. Your approach to coaching and your own personal life is more holistic and comprehensive, and you've talked about mindfulness, meditation, breathwork and the positive impact it has on your clients. You know, I only heard about breathwork from listening to podcasts, and how did you discover it yourself that you could say I think this is something I can employ in my own coaching sessions.

Kamini Wood: 23:42

Well, actually it was through my coaching work, because I was recognizing that clients were getting stuck in their thoughts, and so then I started doing more research of okay, well, what are some other ways that we can access and get through? How do we break down when we get stuck in the rabbit hole of thoughts? What are the other modalities that are out there that maybe I haven't learned about and could educate myself on? And so that's where I started to find the somatic work. And then the somatic research ended me in looking at things like meditation, looking at mindfulness and looking at breathwork as different modalities to potentially add into what I know, and recognizing that I needed to learn about them and to educate myself on them. Because, again, my work is holistic, so I'm going to meet my client where they are, and if I'm really truly going to live into that, then having the ability to utilize a different modality based on where they are was really important to me in running my practice. So, again, you know, if somebody is able to work from a cognitive perspective, absolutely we can do cognitive work, we can coach from that perspective. But if they're too wrapped up in their thoughts, or maybe the anxiety is too high, their nervous system is outside of the window of tolerance, then we come from a somatic perspective, we take that bottom up approach and either utilize mindfulness or utilize breathwork in order to regulate their nervous system, in order to then do the deeper work.

The Trailblazers Experience : 25:04

Finding the right tools, isn't it For what you're trying to achieve as well? Let's talk about networking and mentors. Obviously, you were inspired to move into this direction, which is so inspiring. You know it's one of those acts of service I would describe them where you're fulfilling something for yourself and giving back to others. How do you build your network, and is mentorship a very important part of your journey?

Kamini Wood: 25:33

I absolutely believe in mentorship. Well, first of all, I will tell anybody that the best coaches have coaches, because we all have things to work through, we all have things to learn, and if we can have somebody in our corner that we can depend on, that's just a huge plus. And so I've been blessed to have a certain mentor in my life and she's been instrumental in helping me work through things like self doubt, but also just giving me advice along the way. When I think about, even like teenagers, for instance, when they know that they have somebody that they can count on as that mentor, it makes a huge difference than feeling like you're isolated and you have to go it alone. You know, knowing that you have somebody that you can share those vulnerabilities with, or share some worries or concerns with, or ask for support or ask for ideas, it's a huge part of being able to continue to grow and evolve. And so I mean I know that plenty of people have reached out to me on just a couple, you know, just asking for advice along the way, and I've tried my level best to give them some either resources or to try to answer what questions they might have.

Kamini Wood: 26:42

I'm ever thankful for the mentors that I've had along the way. I mean, I continue to have one that I work with routinely. She's always available for me. But even before that I had other coaches. I mean, even in the training programs I was very particular about what training programs that I would I would engage in, because mentorship was such a big part of it. I was really careful not to select programs or trainings where it was sort of like okay, you're signing up for the training and you're kind of on your own. I needed to ensure that there was mentorship along the way, because so much, so much comes of that co-learning.

The Trailblazers Experience : 27:16

Yeah, and you're touching on something that I listened to Gabbo Matte and he was talking about how we don't need to think that networking or mentorship should be mutually exclusive, or it's. You know, it's only if you have money in your pocket that you're able to reach out to people. Everyone's got a phone, there's YouTube, there are books you can read, you can be inspired by reading about other people's journey, listening to podcasts or even just reaching out. What's the worst that can happen, isn't it as well? Yeah.

The Trailblazers Experience : 27:50

Do you find sometimes it's hard to I found through the various phases in my life to define what are you looking for in that mentorship, because I can say, well, I want to mentor, but why? There's the why behind that.

Kamini Wood: 28:05

Yeah, and sometimes it's about going in with an open mind again of you know what.

Kamini Wood: 28:12

Maybe maybe we don't know exactly what it is that we're looking for and maybe it's really start just with the connection right, because a lot of times I think what happens, at least for me, is if I get too attached to what is the specific thing that I need from this particular mentor that I'm reaching out to, it becomes very closed and almost rigid and then there's a little bit of disappointment if that thing isn't being accessed immediately. But instead, if we kind of open up a little more and we just make it about the connection first and foremost and allow from that place to then understand where we're in alignment and where what might be, again, mutually beneficial for each of us you know how can I give and how can I receive and vice versa so that we both are getting something out of that relationship. At least that's how I've approached it and it seems for me that's the mentors, the mentorships and relationships that seem to be kind of like that mutually beneficial for both parties and I've enjoyed most.

The Trailblazers Experience : 29:09

I like that you're talking about building that connection. So it's, you know, sometimes even active listening. They're learning about you, you're learning about them and ultimately, I mean mentors are human beings, isn't it? They're also navigating through life. They don't have all the keys unlocked, but their lived experience is probably what's able to help build the relationships and maybe impart knowledge to help you grow, or they could even elevate themselves as well.

Kamini Wood: 29:38

Exactly, exactly. That's a really key thing too is, even in a mentorship you may have a mentor. They still are getting something out of that relationship too, and I think sometimes we forget that, or maybe that's what keeps us from fully embracing that, because we almost feel like they're above or they're superior, and then we tend to lose track on the fact that they're still a give and take on both ends.

The Trailblazers Experience : 30:02

Yeah, definitely, definitely. So circling back to being a life coach, someone's listening right now and they're saying, okay, I feel this is the journey I'd like to take. What are some tips in terms of the research for the right modules or things they should consider when embarking on that journey?

Kamini Wood: 30:22

My advice for people who are ready to embark on the journey is to do that research into programs and training programs that seem to be most aligned to you. I know that there are some individuals who just embark on the journey and become a life coach, and I'm not disputing that. That's definitely a path For me personally, given the intimacy and the importance of the work that we're doing with individuals, though, I'm a true advocate of ensuring that you're trained in a way to truly help people, because what happens is and this is something that's really important to me, and I've actually gone and become trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive trained, because we don't want to ever cause harm to people, and so just making sure that you've gotten the training you need in order to really serve people without worrying about harming them is important. So just taking the time to research which program is most aligned with you and will give you the knowledge and education that you need in order to move forward with your practice.

The Trailblazers Experience : 31:21

I like that. That's a very good tip right there. So, looking ahead, what are your aspirations for your coaching platform and how do you envision continuing to evolve and innovate in the field of wellness, because it is constantly evolving and it's becoming ever more important, whether it's for people's personal goals, priorities you know, if you look at the Maslolo of needs, I think people are putting that at the forefront and also organizations are investing in that for their leadership or executives or staff as well.

Kamini Wood: 31:56

Well for me personally and my business. I have an intention to continue doing what I'm doing, to continue growing my one-to-one practice, serving as many people as I possibly can who are getting something out of it. I would love to see the ability to take some of this into some corporations, just in terms of adding that value to employees, because I do think that bringing in wellness and mental and emotional health into a workplace is actually a very vital part of where our growth in for companies is going into right, because I think if we continue to ignore that individuals are not just the person showing up to do the work in the workplace, but they're this again, whole being, we're going and actually it plateaus where companies can go. So I would love to be part of that influx, of bringing this into the corporations as well.

The Trailblazers Experience : 32:52

I think there's an opportunity there to leverage that as a strength as well, don't you think? Absolutely.

Kamini Wood: 33:01

Yes, leverage it as a strength and recognize that when we invest in that, we actually all end up growing and evolving. Love it.

The Trailblazers Experience : 33:13

Trailblazer, take away tips. So if you were to advise the audience or your younger self on three key insights or things for them to go away with, what would they be?

Kamini Wood: 33:26

I would definitely say challenges are going to happen. So it's almost like it's radical acceptance of challenges, not not fighting them. The second really important thing is self trust is key Trusting yourself and trusting knowing that you can handle those challenges that are going to be inevitable. And I would say the other thing is having fun, because if we take it so seriously and we no longer have fun with it at some point when they're going to have to learn how to plateau. So having fun with what you're doing.

The Trailblazers Experience : 33:56

I love it. Thank you so much. What a great way to end the podcast, especially as we're celebrating International Women's Day and you have a high level of self awareness. You've really thought about what this means to you and the journey and what you want to impart for your clients, and they are really lucky and blessed to have you, and I hope that this podcast inspires someone just to go within themselves and understand what's important to them and if they're looking to embark on the journey. It's really you've shed some really key nuggets as to how they could actually go in that direction.

Kamini Wood: 34:34

Well, thank you for having me Pleasure.

The Trailblazers Experience : 34:38

Thank you.