Transcript of Episode

Leah Gervais: Hey Visionaries. Welcome back to the Your Biggest Vision show. I’m your host Leah, and I’m very excited to have a very inspiring entrepreneur and a dear friend of mine, Carla Blumenthal with us today. Hi Carla. 

Carla Blumenthal:

Hi Leah. How are you? I’m good. How are you? 

Carla Blumenthal: Excellent. 

Leah Gervais: Good, good. Well, we are very lucky to have Carla here, you guys. She has both an amazing journey of her own as well as an amazing share of the work she does. So Carla is a coach for high achieving men. She helps them master their emotions so that they can have better relationships and more fulfilling successful lives. Carla is also a fellow New Yorker with me and she’s a fellow newly wed, so thanks for being here with us Carla. 

Carla Blumenthal: Oh totally. Thanks Leah. 

Leah Gervais: So I want to go back before you have your business, which I know you know you’ve grown so much over the past few years. When you were in high school, what did you think you were going to be when you grew up? 

Carla Blumenthal:  I wanted to be an actress. Which is sort of funny because growing up I was really shy. Like I, when I was really little, when an adult would say something to me, I would clam up and I could barely even open my mouth and say anything back. But I used theater and theater and dance to really learn about myself by learning about different characters and emotions. And so I always thought I wanted to be an actress and uh, that’s part of the reason why I like fell in love with New York when I was younger. 

Leah Gervais: Mm. Yeah. I, I hear that I was going to be a Rockette and then they were like, you’re not going to get over five two, so you’re going to need to give up that dream here pretty quickly. But I hung onto the New York one, yeah. Oh, you wanted to be an actress. Did you go to school for acting? 

Carla Blumenthal: I didn’t. I ended up studying communications and marketing, so I was like, oh, that’s the safer thing to do. But I put it, my, my parents were like, well, you know, you can always do, uh, marketing or communications for theater in the city. And so I was always like, okay, there’s part of the thread of my story of like sort of following the safe route. And that was really the first thing where I was like, okay, I’ll do the thing that, you know, should I should do, um, versus following my heart, but, you know, I studied communications and marketing and I ended up loving it. Um, and learning about really how people receive messages and what makes people tick, what makes people buy. And I’m learning a lot about different, you know, consumers. And, it was really interesting. It was also during the time, uh, when social media was starting. So it was right at the time where I was studying PR, but a lot of it was about, you know, how do we use the Internet and social media to get messages across? 

Leah Gervais: Yeah. Well, I’ve definitely, it’s probably helpful in the work you do now. So that works out well in the end. When you were deciding to say frau at that point, did you like know that you are opting for the safe route or did you not even question it because you just were going to do what other people and all your parents told you to do? Do you know what I mean? 

Carla Blumenthal: Yeah. I don’t think I had the language yet to be like, oh, that’s safe versus that’s like what my heart wants. But I was just like, well everyone, you know says it’s the right thing to do or what I should do. And so, you know. Yeah. I mean I knew I wanted to be in New York and do something that would light me up, but I, I, you know, didn’t have the language yet or consciousness to understand like what was safe versus what my heart was saying. 

Leah Gervais: Right. Okay. Great. Yeah. So when you graduate college, you end up working in communications and marketing. Did you realize pretty quickly that your heart was not lighting up or did that not happen yet? 

Carla Blumenthal: It didn’t happen yet because I worked for a, basically a social media startup and agency that was really exciting. So everyone was basically like 28 or younger and it was really fun. Um, so working with really amazing minds in advertising and social media and you know, at a time when that was literally just starting, I think it was, I started working there at 2009 and so I was, you know, 24, 25 and managing like multimillion dollar accounts for Microsoft and visa. So I got thrown in really fast and learned a lot of amazing business skills when I was there. Like how to think about a contract, how to scope out hours, how to do sort of like the foundational business stuff. So actually I, I really loved that experience, um, because I just, I learned so much so fast. But then I got caught in the New York high achieving burnout cycle. So it was about two to three years in where I realized I was, you know, staying at the office til eight, sometimes nine at night, eating pad Thai, like then going and working out at like 6:00 AM. And I was like just to just exhausted and not treating my body and my mind and my spirit the way that now I do. And so I realized, you know, probably a few years in that I was like, wow, I’ve, you know, gained weight. I’m unhappy. But I didn’t have, once again, I didn’t have the language again to be like anything other than this doesn’t feel good. 

Leah Gervais: Still though. I mean, there must have been something because what you’re describing is, I dunno any 20 something that lives in New York that hasn’t felt that to some extent that hasn’t felt like either they’re sacrificing herself fourth for a boss or they’re sacrificing their health for crazy hours or they’re sacrificing their peace of mind for like bad lighting, you know, cubicle or something like that. And you though you might not have had, you know, the dedication to your spirituality and personal development and mental health that you now practice something must have made you say this isn’t working and it’s not working that so much that I’m going to do something about it. Whereas I think a lot of people just sort of like complain about it and accept it. What do you think it was that was your tipping point? Or was it something that was in you that just you were not going to have it? Well, what was it? 

Carla Blumenthal: Yeah. Yeah. So after I worked at the agency, I was like, I really want to find more fulfilling work. So I went and I worked at a health foods company, um, and I was there for about a year and, um, I loved the brand. I love what I was working on, but I ended up being let go from that job. And this was the beginning of 2014 and so I was let go and honestly as a type A, I was like, I was actually overjoyed and you know, it totally rocked my identity. So that was the real push. I was like actually someone sort of pushing me and I, but at that time I just, I was like, okay, wow. I’ve been given such an opportunity to really find what lights me up, really find like learn more about myself too. And um, so that’s really what started my whole journey into personal development and spirituality was really that that year of 2014 of doing a deep, deep study. 

Leah Gervais: Did you right away kind of go into the mode of, okay, this is a crappy situation. What can I learn from this? Or do you think you had to do a lot of work on how you can train your mind to be positive and see opportunities. Because I think, you know, it’s so inspiring to hear how you turned a scary situation into something very useful for your life. And I think a lot of us can look back on situations where we’ve inadvertently done that, but someone listening who might feel like they’re in a situation they don’t want to be in and they’re kind of hung up on the negativity of it. How did you get out of that? 

Carla Blumenthal: Yeah. Um, I knew the one thing I did know is that I was, um, I just, I just felt free on the other side. Wow. I, I mean literally to like, I didn’t even like cry that much when it happened. I was just like, wow, I’m gonna, um, just like do whatever I can to not be not feel the same way that I felt the past few months, almost to the point where I am literally the day after I was let go. Um, someone reached out to me with a freelance opportunity and I hadn’t even put myself out there at all. Um, so I feel like I was just like somehow opening myself up for opportunities and honestly, I just said to myself, I’m not going to put myself in a situation where I feel that I’m just either not, not being myself. Um, just being in a job where you’re mean, we’ve all been there where like, you just feel smaller, you feel like you can’t express your authentic self and you’re also not doing work that feels in alignment. I mean it, it cascades across all areas the whole life. It’s so true. Yeah. 

Leah Gervais: It sounds to me like, you know, some, a part of it, whether this is totally how it resonated with you or not, but it sounds like some part of you was like, you know what? This job didn’t work out. I ended up not that happy in my last job. I’ve, I’m not going to go this far to not actually do something good at this point. Like I’m already here, so let’s finish this out and make something of it. But you kind of did a radical thing with that. Not only did you really dive into your own personal development, you then kind of, your business was born out of this time period. So it sounds like it was a big dive.

Carla Blumenthal: Totally. Well, it was a slow turn because all I knew when I was let go was, um, it’s basically what you said. All I knew was that I was going to not do what I’ve just done. Anything else. I was literally like, okay, I just know I don’t want a job in marketing or social media. And that was very clear to me. Right. I said there’s something I don’t know yet, but you know, feeling good about myself is the first step. 

Leah Gervais: You’re so amazing. Feeling good about myself is number one. 

Carla Blumenthal:Totally. And honestly, at that point, like literally the next month I hired my first coach and started doing all the really deep work and we, we worked together for a really long time and I dug into all, you know, everything I learned from childhood, everything, you know, really bringing a lot of awareness. And so that’s when I started to have the language around, wait, this doesn’t feel good, but I don’t know how to talk about it. They started to build just the, yeah, the language and the awareness around the way my mind work, the way my emotions worked, what happened in childhood, how I can take personal responsibility and move forward. And so actually the, that insight I had around, well I don’t know what to do net next, but all I know is I don’t want, that was actually really smart because it gave myself so much space to really become my own methodology and that’s, well, we’ll probably get to this, but like that’s the way I see, um, all the work I do now is I need to practice it myself. And yeah, that’s what I did the first, honestly, the first two to three years even before I was a coach. 

Leah Gervais: Right, right. So did you, was that your last job before you started your own business? Like, well, I know you’ve kind of worked a little bit here and there as you started it, but that was your first or last kind of five full on job. Yeah. Okay. So how long after that did you wait until you started your business or how long week? 

Carla Blumenthal: Yeah, so I had been freelancing and like just taking up, you know, jobs here and there and um, was actually the freelance jobs came pretty easily to me. I did some in social media, I did some in sort of the girls and women’s space. Um, and I actually really enjoyed dabbling in all that because I was in such a period of studying basically 2014 to 2016. Um, I was still in the zone of, I’m learning about myself. I, you know, I’m basically trying to find the work I want to do in the world, but, um, I just want to, I was just really attracted to personal development and my own growth. Um, so I was working with a coach and at the same time, um, I started a small organization. Um, I love drinking tea. I actually have my, actually, [inaudible] anyway, I love drinking tea and I was learning so much with, uh, my, my coach and I felt like I didn’t have a community to connect with. 

So I started, um, basically a meetup group called tea plus purpose. Um, and for two years, basically 2015, 2016, I was just running workshops and I was, I was basically breaking even. Um, it, I didn’t even really necessarily see it as a business, but I was facilitating small groups. I was basically coaching once a month and developing content and it was actually through that. So I, you know, had a chapter in New York and then friends started opening chapters across the u s so I was training them on the, um, on the content. And, um, through that, uh, you know, I hosted a, this was for women and one by one, um, guys. So either in my social group or when I was at nec networking events started asking me about what I was doing in tea plus purpose. And that’s actually how my first coaching client came out. I had no intention to become a coach at all. Um, and so I was at a networking event and I’m was talking to a guy in his, his forties, and he emailed me the next day and said, uh, you know, I, can you teach me? Can you coach me on empathy? I was like, I’ve never been a coach. Um, he was a CEO of a real estate company and I said, great, let’s dive in. So I started, uh, basically my coach started coaching me on how to coach. So that was the genesis of it all. 

Leah Gervais: Okay. So many things are so good about your story that I want to pull out for everyone getting out there. So this is such a great example. I don’t want to take the story away from you, but I tell one frequently and I’ll just tell it quickly when I was like by myself in Thailand and I thought that it was such a good idea to go to Thailand by myself until you’re alone in a different country and I didn’t really know what I was doing there, et cetera. And this again comes from a long story. I’ve been there for awhile and so at this point I had been in Southeast Asia for awhile and at this point I was sort of like, what am I doing here? How long should I stay? Should I go back to New York? Which like totally, totally clueless toward what I wanted to do. But the only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to go to law school. That was the reason I went to Asia and I just remember kind of making a decision when I was in Thailand that like I didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew what I didn’t want to do, like bring it on world. And it was amazing the things that opened up to me. Just like you’re saying how you got freelancing and you loved them. I mean I started, I met someone on the subway and I ended up tutoring her kids from Israel on their English accents.

I don’t know anything about vaccines to when, so all I’m trying to say is Carla’s story is an amazing example of how things I’ve, I don’t know how to say it in a less woo woo way. Maybe you do Carla, but when you, you know, take the first step or you open a door, opportunities are all around you all the time. They are already there. And so we can easily get second as thinking of I don’t know how to make money this month or I don’t know where to find my next client or I don’t know how to quit my nine to five job. I don’t know where my next target is going to come from. Those opportunities are always there. They’re always there, but they’re not going to show up unless you signify in some way that you’re receptive to them. And again, I know that sounds a bit weird, but your story is such a great example that once you just sort of said, okay, I’m not going to cry over my job. That was meant to be, I’m going to see what happens and be committed to being happiest and feeling good and to things like, it sounds like the dots just connected right in front of your eyes. 

Carla Blumenthal: Totally. I think the biggest thing there is, you know, being open and receptive and also your perception of things is the most important thing. Right? Like, I could have, um, like just seeing what’s in front of you, exactly what you were saying, seeing what’s in front of you. Um, I could have not gone to that networking event that night. I could have, um, you know, just talk to someone very briefly, but not brought my full self, but I said, no, I’m gonna feel good and I’m going to put myself out there. Um, and just see what unfolds. And literally, I mean, so much has come from just just doing that. No doubt even I didn’t even know what was, you know, I didn’t have a particular goal in mind. 

Leah Gervais: Right. It just, it’s so funny you say that and that you lead with, you know, I was so committed to feeling good because I just saw their day read in a book and I will remember what bucket is that. I don’t right now, but it just, it hit me so hard. And it was that when you are mad at yourself, hard on yourself, unhappy with yourself, you are never in the receptive mode. And I thought that that was such an amazing takeaway because it’s such a reminder that entrepreneurship is, it requires personal development. You don’t get to skip out on this, you guys, you can have the best idea, the best marketing plan, the best whatever on your computer in place. But unless you’re really believing in yourself and feeling good about yourself, you can’t really receive all that’s out there for you. You can receive some, like I think you can hustle your way to some stuff, but there’s so much more out there that you’re blocking yourself from. So it’s amazing that you led with that. I obviously could go on about this forever, but do you have any like final comments on how you, what you learned about that time period and how, like did you learn something about trust that you really carry with you? 

Carla Blumenthal: Hmm. It was quite a, you know, a magical couple of years, even though I can say that now those are removed. 

Leah Gervais:  Were you scared? 

Carla Blumenthal: I was scared. Yeah. I was scared, but I just knew that if there was a time to, to trust, if there was a time to just figure things out, it was, it was then and literally in those few years, I mean, I found my life’s mission. I met my, my now husband, I, you know, did so much, um, that I really feel was foundational work. Um, so that I could, you know, level up. 

Leah Gervais: When you were going through it. And then I want to move on more to what you do now. But it’s, it’s, so I love talking about those early days because I think it’s easy for people to look at you now. You have this successful business, you work for yourself. Um, it’s not easy in the beginning at all and I really think it’s important to highlight that. Um, what were you scared of? 

Carla Blumenthal: Hmm. I mean, on the surface I was afraid of running out of money to go back and home and to go back to my job, right. Or to social media or marketing. Um, but I think because I was learning on the deeper level, because I was learning so much about myself, I was afraid of losing myself again. Wow. It felt so new to like be connected to myself, to understand that I am an introvert and that you know what that means and what that looks like. Right. And that I don’t have to, um, because I did so much acting right when I was younger. I don’t have to act anymore as myself. Right. I am myself. And I was afraid of losing that. And because I had lost that when I, um, when I was in a nine to five, you know, that I had made an association with that. I don’t think it all, you know, that’s just always the case for everyone, right? Like I think there are amazing organizations out there where you can be yourself. Um, but for me, I had, I didn’t feel that I could be my authentic self and that now I have a lot more freedom to, to just be myself and pursue what I desire. 

Leah Gervais: Yeah. Oh, I’m so happy for you. That’s a very real fear. Thank you for sharing that. So now you work with high achieving men. What about, you just mentioned that you’ve found your life’s purpose, which is amazing. Talk to me about how they relate. How is your life’s purpose involved with coaching high achieving men? 

Carla Blumenthal: Yeah, well it was a combination of fate and strategy. Like literally going from what I shared about my first client approaching me. Um, and so what I decided in that timeframe that was 2015 is that a, I was just going to get as much experience as I could coaching. And so I arranged, uh, um, I had an arrangement with my coach and she was actually starting to send me referrals. Um, and so during that time I was just once again very open and trying to learn as much as I could. And my first dozen clients were all men in their thirties and forties who had similar types of challenges, right? They wanted a better career or they wanted, um, to feel more satisfied in their career. Uh, and they wanted stronger relationships were like the two things that we ended up working on together. Um, and so I just realized through, through coaching and through my own work that it was such a lovely process where when I up-leveled, when I bettered myself, when I understood my mindset and my emotional world more, it had a direct impact on my clients. And so it wasn’t just about, you know, me feeling good for me to actually really had a ripple effect into other people’s lives and in the world. And I just felt like that was such a strong thing to see that feedback loop. And, um, and so that really, I realized there was not only just, I felt amazing about the work I was doing, but there was a ripple effect and, um, that you know, that there was a real need in the marketplace as well. So seeing those three things really had me narrow in on the work I do now. 

Leah Gervais: So this is an amazing, amazing point. You mentioned that you up leveling yourself, you putting yourself first, you becoming the best version of yourself, transformed the lives of your clients. Not just yours. And I’m sure that that’s something that you share with your clients as they’re developing themselves. So if someone out there who’s listening who maybe hasn’t really recognized this concept yet, or maybe is grew up Catholic like me raising my hand where selfishness was a sin, um, or just doesn’t understand that putting yourself first isn’t about you. Well, what kind of practical steps or tips can you give to explain that? It’s, it’s a very generous thing. 

Carla Blumenthal: Hm. Yeah. So a couple of things. One, still from a conceptual level, right? I often say like, I am my own methodology, right? So I need to feel good in all these areas so that you know, other, so I can perform my best. But on a practical level, it means like actually looking at all of your relationships. So whether you have, you know, a spouse or your family or your colleagues, you know, noticing when you are feeling down or when you aren’t feeling good or even if you have like, uh, a problem. Like there are ripple effects that can happen in your relationships and recognizing the power that you have in, in your relationships can bring some more awareness to like, wow, if I’m sort of more on the negative side, that affects all these people around me, right? If I’m on, you know, more of a positive side or taking care of myself better, that actually affects the people around me in a different way. So it’s actually not about you at all. I mean it, it, it is, but it actually is about your community. It’s about the people that you interact with every day. I mean, even down to like the Barista, right? If you’re going in and you’re, you know, negative, it’s like people can feel that. And so seeing that it’s the, the practical step is to actually notice all an inventory, all of your relationships and how when you show up differently in them, how that impacts a lot of different people that you care about as 

well. 

Leah Gervais: When you started really implementing this in your life, were there any specific things you can think of that needed to change? Like, did you sort of saying no to more people? Did you start doing social things differently? Did you have to cut anyone out of your life? Like what is this? What can this actually look like? And can it be uncomfortable at first cause that might keep people from actually doing it. 

Carla Blumenthal: Totally. Yeah. I mean, I went, you know, the whole reason why I started that original organization tea plus purpose is because I felt lonely. I was lonely in learning this. Like I was learning so much and I felt like things were, you know, expanding so much. And yet I didn’t feel like I had a community to connect with. My girlfriends are lovely people and I realized I wanted more connection. I wanted to talk about all of everything I was learning, um, in just a much deeper way. Um, so I was very lucky that people weren’t negative. Like my, my family was nervous. Um, but they weren’t, they realized that, um, because I was in so much pain and suffering when I was, um, when I couldn’t really feel like myself and my nine to five, they were like, great. You, you’re feeling good, you know, go do what you want to do. Um, and my friends were just a little bit confused, but they were like, go do it and you know, whatever. So that was fine, but I didn’t, I didn’t have to cut anyone out, but I couldn’t rely on them for like really rich, um, support. So that’s where I started, you know, obviously working with the coach and then, um, built this organization so that I could find that deeper connection. 

Leah Gervais: Yeah. Wow. It’s incredible how you took the initiative to recognize what you needed to do to actually make this transformation. It’s one thing to learn it, read about it, to hear it, but another to actually apply it. And a lot of people can’t do it on their own in the beginning. I don’t think you should. What’s the point of that? And so to take the initiative to not only find an organization and a community, but to start one is very admirable. Um, one other thing I wanted to ask you a little bit about the work you do now. And then I also just want to give you the space to share any, you know, of the big things you’ve learned in working with men, because this is probably a show up more so women, although I know there are guys out there too, and we’d love to hear, but my question specifically, it goes back to you mentioning that you were doing some freelancing stuff and maybe some volunteer stuff with women and girls. And I’d be curious to hear how your work with men supports feminism, um, and, and, and women and girls and how that intersects in your purpose. 

Carla Blumenthal: Oh my gosh, what a juicy question. I love that. Um, yeah, like there’s a lot of intersection like, right. I believe we’re all equal, but we all come to the table with different perspectives and different challenges, right? And so, um, you know, I think with, with men, uh, when, when guys like we all, we all have pain, we can all suffer in different, different ways. Um, but I really believe that when, um, men step into even more of who, who they are under realize their own, you know, their own challenges, their own suffering and are able to do the work they need to do to either release that or recognize, you know, if it’s a childhood wound or how they want to commit to themselves. So their integrity, they’re more in integrity in the future. That, you know, elevates everyone too. That elevates women. Um, and 100%. 

Yeah. And you know, I think about, you know, dating in New York City is always a big question. You know, you know, we’ve, we’ve been it, um, and a lot of my clients or some are in New York, some are all across the U.S. but dating is a big question, um, that we, I ended up working on. And a lot of what I do is around how do you want to show up as a guy that’s in integrity towards, you know, other women. I have a couple of clients who are gay as well. And so whatever your, your sexual orientation is, like how do you want to show up? So you feel that you are putting not only your best foot forward but that you are just, um, in treating others the way. Obviously you, you want to be treated in integrity with your own personal values. Um, so that means like not ghosting. That means, you know, there’s like pretty tactical things that we all have experienced at some point, but it can go on a super high level of how do you want to show up as a man, um, has these incredible values and it trickles down into these daily actions that you take take every day. Um, and I think once again, that has a ripple effect towards women and it has a ripple effect towards other guys too, right? 

Leah Gervais: 100%. I mean, I think it’s, it’s so amazing everything you’ve just said. And then thinking about how one of the biggest things that your clients either come to you with or end up talking to you about our relationships. Like that’s everything. When you look at, so many of the social problems we have in this country, obviously not all of them are rooted in relationships, but a big majority of the tension comes from a lack of misunderstanding or a refusal to even try to understand. So even if it’s just working on one relationship, that’s sometimes enough, you know, that is creating change. And I think it’s amazing that you’re able to, to help men themselves and then also help everyone in their lives by doing what you do. 

Carla Blumenthal:  Thank you. Yeah. I think one, one quick thing around that is, right, relationships are like, there’s so much emotion packed into relationships, whether it’s, you know, it doesn’t really matter. Friendships or colleagues or, you know, a lot of what I work on is romantic relationships, but, um, when we can understand our own emotions better and what I call emotional fitness, so be able to work with our emotions, get really strong in our own emotional landscape. Recognize that we don’t need to be a victim to someone else’s action or non-action like we can when we have really strong emotional fitness and can, you know, just be, uh, who we are, but also like just not be, um, reactive. Then we can actually, uh, you know, we can just be stronger humans and have stronger relationships. So I think it narrows down, we can take this idea of relationships and really build these foundational building blocks, truthfully around emotions and your relationship to your own emotions. And so that’s what a lot of the work I ended up doing is it’s about relationships and it’s also about your mindset and your emotional capacity. 

Leah Gervais: Wow. Love that. All incredible. Is there, okay. My, my, I keep saying like I have one last question and then I think of another, I could talk to you about this all day, but is there any big challenge that has come up in your work with your clients that you didn’t expect or that maybe you felt like you weren’t ready to handle? And how did you overcome it? 

Carla Blumenthal: Hmm, good question. 

Leah Gervais: Also, really just about business. Like if you just want, if there’s something about business that’s been really hard for you, anything along the way that just shocked you? 

Carla Blumenthal: MMM. I mean it’s, it wasn’t so much of a challenge other than how much, um, how deep people really go. Wow. Like of, um, I feel very blessed that people feel they can, you know, they trust me and that we can work on a lot of, you know, the, the deepest things. They’re deepest challenges. And, um, you know, I’m, I’m obviously, I’m not a therapist, but I feel like through the coaching work I’ve done, it’s been, um, really looking at how people are distracting themselves, right. Distracting themselves through, uh, through unhealthy relationships or unhealthy jobs or social media or some type of, you know, sort of addiction in some way. And so being able to recognize, um, how the different flavors of distraction out there. Right. And how, um, that was, I think the, the most interesting thing for me was like feeling that while I’m, I, that’s why I value the work I do so much is that people really trust to go deep with me and that they, they want to go there so that they can have, you know, a stronger career or, or better relationships. Like those are the surface level problems, but that at the end of the day the work can be quite, um, quite satisfying and deep and really life changing. We’re not making small tweaks. 

Leah Gervais: Do you feel like what you do can be, how do you emotionally take care of yourself? Because I can imagine that sometimes you get off these calls and you’re like, wow, I am drained. Not that you don’t love doing it, but that’s heavy heavy stuff. Have you noticed that you’ve had to change your lifestyle? 

Carla Blumenthal: MMM, yeah. Um, well a couple of things. One, I take a lot of walks. I go outside a lot and I, I actually moved, I was living in Brooklyn and I moved just one stop over in Jersey City. And even just being like slightly on, on the other side, outside the city. Um, I live like right near a park. And so I love the combination of having like a city like feel, but being right by, um, you know, right by a park, being able to walk around. Um, I do once, once or twice a week I do a partner dance, um, with my, my now husband. Um, and it’s, uh, it’s a Brazilian partner dance called Zuke and it’s very, it’s sensual. It’s can be like fun and hip hop. It’s, it’s quite a chameleon of a dance, but it’s, um, really helps me like, forget, um, but also be really in my body and just, we’ll explore dancing with another person, which is like a totally different thing than dancing on your own. And also, I’m really stay true to working out several times a week and eating well. So sort of the basics of, um, you know, meditating every day, those foundational things, those foundational rituals are really important so that everything can build on top of it. But I think honestly the dancing is so important because it helps you. It helps me get into, get into my body and I sort of feel like I’m in a different, just a totally different world for that hour or two hours once or twice a week. 

Leah Gervais: Uh, I love looking at that way. Well, Carly, you are amazing what a journey you’ve had and what amazing work you do. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. 

Carla Blumenthal: Totally. 

Leah Gervais: I have a few lightning round questions for you. Your biggest vision questions. Are you ready? Yeah. What do you do when something feels like it’s fighting against your vision, whether it’s logistics, reasoning, friends and family, society. What’s your like first instinct? 

Carla Blumenthal: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is honestly taking a walk cause I didn’t get to that. I really, I think my body can, um, I, my body feels the fear very quickly. And so being able to get my body first out of any fear is really important. Um, and then I, you know, every year I write down like my full vision of like who I want to be, what my care, you know, who I want to be as with like my own character traits and what my vision is and what my goals are. And so just coming back and rereading that, um, and having a really supportive partner is, is such a goal of mine. 

Leah Gervais: Oh, those are all three great tips. What are you most proud of in your pursuit of your vision thus far? 

Carla Blumenthal: Hmm. Being true to myself. 

Leah Gervais: Amazing. Do you have a book or podcast you really recommend for fighting for your vision? 

Carla Blumenthal: Hmm. My favorite podcast, you were on the successful mind podcast. I think I’ve listened to almost every episode. Um, I love David Nagle’s a successful mind podcast and book. I really like, um, it’s not a business book, but, um, Byron Katie’s “Loving What Is”, um, helping you put anything that comes into your mind, a negative thought or um, it helps it, it’s a system to look at anything that comes in that may not be, you know, supporting your vision or, um, it really helps there basically four main questions that you can bring any thought through and help you reset. 

Leah Gervais: Hmm. That’s a great recommendation. Yeah. Okay. And what, I know you have something you want to share with our listeners today. Could you tell us a little more about that? 

Carla Blumenthal: Sure. Um, so I have an audio and workbook that will help you, uh, really increase your productivity and focus by overcoming your inner critic. Right. We talked a lot about my journey of having to step into you from being really young, um, until now of honestly, the inner demons or your inner critic of stuff that might come up that might not support your vision. So I have this free resource that will help you just be much more focused, um, and by overcoming anything that may be coming up internally. Um, so that’s at www.carlablumenthal.com/biggestvision. 

Leah Gervais: Amazing. Thank you for creating that. And um, we will put that in the show notes for you guys as well. And then your website is www.carlablumenthal.com/biggestvision?

Carla Blumenthal: Yep, totally. 

Leah Gervais: All right. Thank you so, so much Carla it was amazing hearing your story and we so appreciate you sharing it with us. 

Carla Blumenthal: Oh, thank you Leah. 

Leah Gervais: Talk to you soon. Alright, visionaries, we’ll talk to you soon. Thanks for tuning in.

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