The Inspired Leader with Ally Stone

Welcome to a solo episode! Today, we're diving deep into a topic that holds incredible transformative power - "The Power of Pausing."In a world that moves at an ever-increasing pace, the ability to pause becomes a superpower. Join me in this reflective conversation as we explore how taking a pause can profoundly impact our lives.Today, we explore the significance of hitting the pause button, not as a momentary stop but as an intentional act of self-care and personal growth. It has been an honor to get to do these podcasts and to have you listen in. Thank you for all of your support. 

Lorraine Miller is an inspirational author, speaker and coach who devotes her work to the game-changing practice of gratitude—what she believes is key to living one's healthiest, happiest life.Join us as we talk about all things gratitude! The science behind gratitude, and the health benefits from practicing!Lorraine loves her job as Mom, and finds gratitude essential to embracing her motherhood journey. She enjoys guiding other Moms in her Grateful Moms Monthly Coaching and Support Circle.Lorraine is the author of several books including the best-selling journal, From Gratitude to Bliss: A Journey in Health and Happiness and A Year Of Daily Gratitude (National Geographic Books). Her work has been featured in Dr. Oz The Good Life magazine among others. Lorraine is also the creator of the Gratitude to Bliss mobile app. Visit her at GratitudeToBliss.com.Check out her mobile app: The Gratitude To Bliss AppDownload the free guided meditation, Nourishing GratitudeFind Lorraine on Facebook and Instagram 

In this podcast episode, I had the absolute honour to have a conversation with  Dr. Jody Carrington, who is renowned for her best-selling books "Kids These Days" and "Feeling Seen."  Jody Carrington's expertise lies in reconnection and emotional regulation, a theme central to her work. Throughout our conversation, we explore various topics including authentic leadership, the challenges of burnout, the intricate relationship between emotional regulation and leadership, and the importance of connection and visibility within leadership roles. Jody also sheds light on how awareness shapes a leader's perspective, allowing them to see the world through different eyes. Tune in to gain valuable insights into fostering authentic leadership and meaningful connections in today's dynamic landscape! 

Join myself and Kiki  Rozema, author, former teacher, and founder of a successful business, as she shares her inspiring journey and passion for empowering women.Kiki dives deep into the topics of self-confidence, body image, and friendship, chatting about her business “Smoothies and Tank Tops”  a clothing line that empowers women.  Discover the secrets to building unshakable self-esteem and fostering meaningful relationships through Kiki's heartfelt discussions and expert advice.  We also talk about her new event she is hosting across Canada, the “No Girl Left Behind” event, where she helps women enhance their relationship with themselves and strengthen their connection with their mothers! It's so incredible

Meet Meagan Keelaghan! I was so excited to have her on my other podcast, Discovering Hospitality. I love this woman, we have had great times together and she has done some amazing things so I knew this was going to be a great chat. She is currently the Area Manager DunnEnzies Pizza Co in Kelowna, British Columbia, and loves it. This is a cool local concept that not only servers great food, but also takes care of their community in truly meaningful ways. Meagan is one of those leaders who people are naturally drawn to, if you know her, you know what I am talking about, this is a special trait that only a few leaders in this world are blessed with. In this cast we chat about vulnerability, leading from the heart, taking care of people, People Make The World Beautiful, and of course a cameo appearance from her dog Gema!. This was a wonderful conversation that you are going to love about our industry and why it matters.

Introducing Glori Meldrum; Business leader, social entrepreneur, author, and speaker!In this podcast we deep dive into the power of vulnerability, acceptance, and equal rights. Join us as we explore the remarkable journey of our guest, a courageous leader who exemplifies these values in every aspect of her life.She is the founder of Little Warriors, an organization dedicated to supporting young survivors of sexual abuse, and an author. Her current mission is to build an adult center, providing a safe haven for those seeking healing and growth.Throughout her life, Glori has faced immense challenges, including surviving sexual abuse and battling cancer. However, she refuses to be defined by these hardships. Instead, she shares her vulnerable story of resilience, demonstrating the incredible strength it takes to overcome such traumas. She shares about forgiveness and the transformative power it holds. She recounts her personal journey of forgiveness and how it has allowed her to heal and move forward, empowering others to do the same.With a unique leadership style, she emphasizes the value of softness, vulnerability, forgiveness, and acceptance. Her approach challenges traditional notions of strength and reveals the true power of leading from the heart. Her experiences have taught her the importance of fostering a nurturing environment where everyone's potential and abilities are valued and respected.Join us as we explore topics such as grit and resiliency, diving into the depths of the human spirit and its unwavering capacity to overcome adversity. You can find more information of her "Be Brave" Non-Profit at littlewarriors.ca  and her website glorimeldrum.com

I had the honour of being apart of "Find Your Lady Tribe" podcast. I connected with Brenda on understanding and then navigating through stress, overwhelm, and burnout. We talk about staying in the present moment and the importance of living your life based on values.  We discuss how to regain passion for our own goals and bring leadership principles into our personal friendships and relationships. If you would like to listen more to Brenda and Michelle, you can listen to their podcast or watch them on youtube. 

In this episode, I interview A. Garcia, the founder of “Be Your Incredible Self” and her Nonprofit - “Confronting Domestic Violence” an organization dedicated to providing support and resources for survivors of spousal abuse. Garcia shares her personal story of overcoming abuse in her own marriage and the inspiration behind starting her organization.We discuss the devastating effects of spousal abuse on individuals, families, and communities, including physical and emotional trauma, financial insecurity, and barriers to leaving abusive relationships. Garcia also highlights the importance of understanding the dynamics of power and control in abusive relationships, and the role of societal attitudes and stereotypes in perpetuating abuse.This is a challenging topic but an important one. Thank you A. Garcia for bringing light to this and sharing your heart with our podcast listeners. For more information you can click here to learn more at Be Your Incredible Self and her nonprofit, Confronting Domestic Violence 

Brad Bartko is a vital advocate for people with disabilities. He is incredibly passionate about people seeing the ability in the disability of individuals.  In this episode he communicates his grand vision of building homes that are all accessible for these individuals and integrating them with the rest of the world, so that everyone has equal ability to live their lives as normal. Brad is creating a movement that is truly phenomenal and inspiring. Join Brad and his team this year as they engage in his Hope Campaign where for 365 days in 2023 they will gift things to people who need more accessibility in their lives. AND …. At the end of this year the hope is that the gift is a fully accessible house to someone in need. WOW! What a mission!Thank you Brad, you truly are inspiring and amazing:Learn more about the Hope CampaignOr connect with Brad through instagram @bradinspires

The holidays can be a crazy time of the year. With extra commitments and obligations, it can be easy to let this time of the year get the best of us. Join me in this podcast as I cover four quick and doable tips that can help with managing stress, and staying healthy and happy over the holiday this season! to help manage stress and stay.At The Inspired Leader, we offer an array of customizable workshops, coaching and mentorship programs to fit your needs.We connect you to what's most important for you, your team, and your customers. We help you lead from uncertainty to growth and get you on an upward trajectory that you never look back on—tapping into human leadership qualities, moving toward opportunity, and finding ways to bring your people along with you on the journey in inspiring ways.  

Today you get to meet Lindsay Daniel. From a corporate career in oil & gas to ambitious coaching, Lindsay speaks authentically about her mindset and passion for helping women. She is inspired to help women become better leaders & live up to their fullest potential.  In this podcast, Lindsay communicates vulnerably about leadership, education, and imposter syndrome. Truly ambitious and authentic, this woman is very passionate about coaching. Lindsay specializes in working with career-driven women craving more purpose and meaning on their road to success. Lindsay's expansive leadership roles have awarded her some rare learning opportunities that create an extensive platform for her to coach from. If you'd like to connect with Lindsay, you can find her at The Ambitious Coach and connect with her there!Thank you, Lindsay, for the inspiring conversation; I am honored to know you. 

How many of us have underlying health issues, whether more significant or small, that can be related to the stress we are experiencing in our lives? I mean, if we truly stop and ask ourselves, where is this headache coming from? Or that kink in your neck? How about the stomach issues that have been bothering you? What answer comes to you? So often, it's because we have been going at full speed and not paying attention to the messages our bodies send us all the time. This conversation with Nicole Mixdorf is so essential to pay attention to. Nicole is a #1 International Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, and the Founder & Chief Wellness Officer of Balance by Nature. She was awarded as a Top 100 Healthcare Leader in the World 2020-2021 and Most Influential Woman in Corporate Wellness Services USA 2020, 2021, and 2022. She is passionate about teaching busy professionals how to create balance in their lives so they can heal and thrive, and of course, if you follow The Inspired Leader, you know this is so important to me and the messages I share with the clients I work with. I love that women are doing what Nicole does. Her advice and heart in the podcast might just be what you need as you head into the holiday season. You can find Nicole's company at Balance by Nature. 

Kim Jones, the founder of Kim Jones Alliance, is an executive leadership coach, career coach, speaker, and gender equity advisor dedicated to developing leaders and elevating women in the workforce. She works with individuals and companies committed to fostering the advancement and well-being of women in work.As a former C-suite leader in the IT sector, Kim knows firsthand the barriers women face with advancing their careers to reach their highest professional potential. Over her 25-year corporate career, she developed holistic strategies to address the issues that hinder women's advancement and equal representation in the workplace. Kim leverages her business experience and background in anthropology to guide her clients in developing the skills, authenticity, resilience, confidence, perseverance, and cultural acumen to guide professional growth while creating practices to balance professional objectives with overall well-being.Join Kim and me in this engaging, thought-provoking conversation and leadership, life and what it takes to succeed as a woman in today's world.If you'd like to contact Kim you can find her on LinkedIn at Kimberlee Jones or at KimJonesAlliance.com

Today you will meet Yulia Azriel, founder of Gentle Heart Yoga and Wellness.  I always love to hear the stories of inspiring women and this one is amazing. Yulia had her early education in biochemistry, but she realized that something was missing from her life. She became aware that she was pursuing a path that was not connected with her heart. In that time, she found yoga and was able to reconnect with her heart and her authenticity in a way that opened many doors for her. She made the decision to drop her pursuit of biochemistry and follow her heart to help other women also find themselves in the world and became a healer. She now runs The Confident Healers Academy where women come to shine, to be seen, and heard. She helps women supercharge their dreams and live their visions for their life, helping them make a difference. Join us as we talk about imposture syndrome, yoga Nidra, finding your calling, and how breathwork can open your heart and mind to what is truly possible for you. If you'd like to learn more about Yulia you can visit https://gentleheartpurpose.com/confident-healer/

This week I got to welcome Christy Benoit to the podcast, Partner at Results Canada in Edmonton, Alberta. Getting to speak with Christy was amazing as she has been a successful entrepreneur, and knows what its like to really go out and find what is right for her and her life. Join us as we discuss Women in business, self-care, finding purpose, and the role spirituality plays in business. As with the road each of us will travel, there will be clues along the way that offer us different outcomes. It's the willingness to explore those clues that Christy highlights so beautifully. Her story is inspiring and reminds us of the power of finding your calling. If you'd like to connect with Chirsty you can find her on LinkedIn

"Only through your heart can you touch the sky" RumiIn a world full of distractions and detours it can be challenging to stay connected to your heart. Yet when you connect, in those moments you are given beautiful clarity and an awareness of the reason you are here. Join me this week as I share my journey into teaching Meditation and Heart Math practice and how it has changed my life. I share how it has given me clarity even in some of my darkest hours and helped me find the reason to keep on. 

I was lucky to be able to spend the last month studying something called Ployvagal Theory. Its pretty scientific, so I won't bore you with all the details, but the main idea is that there is a language our nervous system speaks and when we learn that language we can connect in more meaningful ways with our bodies in our lives. This is the groundwork for connecting with your heart. In this cast I begin to explain some of this theory and offer four strategies that can help you connect with your nervous system. I hope you enjoy and find some space to connect with yourself on a deeper level.    

Is it possible to stay calm in chaos?I do think it is possible, but it requires awareness and a desire to stay calm. In my family I have always been labeled the emergency responder. I have often been the one who can respond in a high stress situation. It's a running joke… until there is an emergency of some kind.What I didn't realize was that to respond that way I was making what was at a that time, an unconscious decision to stay calm. As I have grown and had more experiences of life, I have learned to consciously make that decision. And it has changed my life immensely.Does it always work? Well, no… I mean I am human after all, it takes that awareness and focus to stay calm in a high-stress situation. The real key is that with that awareness I can think through my actions and respond in ways that either help me through the chaos or allow me to respond authentically.Join me in today's podcast as I share my eye-opening experience on the beach last week and my breathwork technique for staying calm in chaos. 

Did you know that you have everything you need within yourself to achieve anything you want in life? It's true. This is where the beauty in coaching lies. Join me this week as I talk about coaching, who it's for, who it's not for and what it can do for your life if it is the right thing for you. If you ever wanted to know more this is a  great cast for you! I also offer a complimentary 60-minute session to anyone interested in trying it out. DM me anytime or visit TheInspiredLeader.com to find out more  

Your inner fire is the flame that lights your life.  This is really important to think about because when our flame is lit and burning bright our hearts are on fire. We all know what it's like to be around someone whose flame is burning bright, we are drawn to them, like a moth to the flame but in a really good way. COIVD has created an environment where it has been tough at least at times over the past few years to keep that flame burning bright. The Sanskrit word for your inner fire is Agni. Join me today as we talk about what your Agni is and how to nourish it. Leaders who show up in the world with a healthy inner fire change the world, they change the communities around them, they change their lives for the better and they bring more love, beauty, and compassion to the world. In a world that desperately needs it right now. 

In this episode, I discuss change and our resistance to it. Change comes to us in one of two ways; either we look for it, we decide we need something to change in our lives or it is thrust upon us by circumstances out of our control. Once we understand that all change happens first on a cellular level itit'ss easier to find ways to move through the challenges we face when change enters our lives. Join me as I share my insights on change and learn more about how you can move through change in your life with more ease. 

In today's episode, I review the book "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse".I have an insatiable love for reading but the problem is I don't have a lot of time to read so I'll often read a few pages before I go to bed, so of course, it can take me quite a while to finish a book these days. But I'm not willing to give it up.Audible has become a great resource for me and keeps me moving forward on books in a much quicker fashion. Yet there's still something so comforting about holding a book, the smell of the pages, the weight of it in my hands...I love it. So that is why I always have a book on the go. When I go on holidays, I take anywhere from 6 to 10 books with me which is generally overkill but I get a ton of my reading in on a beach somewhere and I love that.This book, is probably not exactly what you'd expect me to review. It's a picture book, with at most only a couple of sentences on each page. When you read it, which I truly hope you do, I suggest you take your time, reflect on the pages and the drawings, and the creativity of it all, and let the book find its own meaning in your heart. The book starts off with a young boy and A mole where the mole all asks him what do you want to be when you grow up the boy's response is to be kind…I was instantly hooked I turned to the next page Then the boy asks the mole what do you think success is and the mole replies to love…I'm not going to give you an entire rendition of the story because I think it's such a beautiful read. But the consistent message throughout the entire book is that when we are open to kindness, creativity, and humanity, life has more meaning. And this is so true in both leadership and life we often get caught up in ways we have to do things, the ways in which we think we should do show up, and in the ways other people expect us to, and oftentimes that is not connecting with our hearts.If you'd like to learn more about The Inspired Leader click here.You can follow along on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, I'd love to connect with you and hear your thoughts.Resources mentioned in today's podcast:Self Assurance - Struggle, Confidence, and Success by Jeremy AmoyetteThe Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie MackesyTed Talk: Abandon the idea of being good and just tryKeynote: Its all about love 

A leader who struggles to communicate is often left floundering and wondering where it all went wrong.That being said if the past two years have shown us anything, it is that communication is what will not only help us build effective teams and execute in ways that move our business forward. The leaders who wholeheartedly embrace communication and have over the last couple of years are now thriving.So what is wholehearted communication? It is the ability to communicate authentically and with an open heart as a leader. Is it is the ability to find ways to meet the individual needs of your team your clients and the communities that you are a part of while moving towards a common goal, a goal that makes the world a better place.The CORE of The Inspired Leader is about this, I believe in communication from the heart.Today I share 3 tips on how to communicate wholeheartedly#1 It's all about being YOU!#2 Share your STORIES and EXPERIENCES!#3 Bring CURIOSITY to the table!Do you have aspirations of changing the world and the communities around you?If so connecting with your heart in your communication style will help guide you to a place that feels right for you and help you to deepen your leadership capacity in ways that will keep you coming back looking for more.

Lifelong learning is the process of gaining knowledge and learning new skills throughout your entire life. Many people continue their education for personal development and fulfillment while others see it as a significant step towards career advancement.Whatever your reasoning for lifelong learning know that is doing so much more than you might think. The benefits of lifelong learning can go well beyond career advancement. It can help you understand how the world works. It can help you realize your passions boost your creativity making your life more exciting and enjoyable.What are the excuses that have stopped you from being a long learner? And what can you do to change that in your life today?To learn more visit The Inspired Leader