Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Author: Jules Schroeder

How this Producer went from Nowhere to Next Level
Justin Ching is the founder of the production company, j-school, that specializes in empowering underrepresented communities to tell their own stories, in their own voices. He is also an award-winning showrunner who has produced hit series for Amazon, FOX, and YouTube.

In Ching’s episode, you will learn:
- How fierce dedication to his path paid off
- Why he’s changing the narrative for underrepresented communities
- How to uplevel your visualization game
- And so much more…
Thought-provoking questions from Ching’s podcast…

When will you know you’ve made it? Ching shares right off the bat that even with huge accolades and over 10 years in production, he still has imposter syndrome. However, this man values the blush and nervous awe when he hears the list of his achievements, believing that without it you might become potentially over-confident and start to lose your edge.

Are you trying to find a powerful perspective to calm your nerves? It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and forget to zoom out to see the goals you’ve accomplished along the way. Take some time to write down everything it’s taken for you to get where you are today. While being a student for life will continuously enrich your human experience, reflect upon what you’ve done too. Look how far you’ve come to make your next move that much more powerful.

How hungry are you? Driving five hours round trip every day for a local production company sounds like hell for most people, but Ching was grateful for the time and utilized it to workshop his stories. As a professional storyteller, many hours are usually spent alone internally editing and processing narratives for films. Being intentional with this time ultimately led Ching to his internship with The Walt Disney Company after he delivered a brilliant elevator pitch about this fierce dedication to his dreams.

When time seems to drag on and you’re wondering what your commitment is leading towards, remind yourself of the bigger vision. It’s helpful to remember that what you’re doing right now may not be the end all, but every moment counts as an investment in the future you desire.

What will it take to achieve your dreams? If you’re anything like Ching, you are out to make a tangible impact on thousands of peoples lives. By noticing the subtleties within the bigger picture, he’s able to account for the risks and the rewards. Listening to this powerful producer speak, I’m reminded of the quote from Uncle Ben in Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility”.

When visualizing your big dreams, it’s important to work your way back from the end goal to understand what you might have to let go of or face to level up. Instead of living the life you’ve inherited, what might you create? What will it take?

Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia recently became our Operations Director and will be consistently contributing her writing.
September 21, 2018
How to Cultivate the Confidence You Need to Build Your Empire
Lady Colleen Glaeser is a powerhouse woman and self-made millionaire. She is the owner and operator of 3 companies, and started her first company when she was just 22. She is also the only female to serve on the board of international directors for the Russian Software Company – AxxonSoft.

We caught up with Lady Colleen during Unconventional Life South Africa while we staying at her hidden paradise, Karkloof Safari Villas, earlier this year.

In Lady Colleen’s episode, you will learn:
- Why confidence is key to pioneering your own path
- How to kick your daily stressors with a dose of self-acceptance
- How personal integrity is vital for a thriving business and network
- And so much more…
Inspired Insights from Lady Colleen’s episode:

The Relationship You Have with Yourself is #1. When I first met Lady Colleen, I was instantly present to the confidence this woman exuded. She clearly walks her talk and firmly believes that everything comes back to confidence. With a lifetime of achievement and success, this mentality has enabled her with the ability to continuously perform and execute no matter the circumstances.

At the end of the day, you are your own life partner, soulmate, and partner-in-crime. When you’re caught up in a swirl of fear or anxiety, go look in the mirror and remind yourself that you are more than capable of crushing your goals and living the life you truly deserve.

Accomplish More Through Creativity. Listening to Lady Colleen inspired me to find creative ways to tap into my confidence reserves. She shared that she has a collection of brooches that symbolize her mood and are worn for each respective event in her life. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the back-to-back tigers brooch representing that she has lots of meeting and will be busy all day. By giving the people in her life a nonverbal heads up, I can see how this purposeful symbol would have intentional rippling effects on her confidence to accomplish efficiently.

What nonverbal symbols could you use to communicate your needs ahead of time to your coworkers? Bonus points if you use something you love to send a message.

When in Doubt, Be Yourself. If you’re caught worrying about what others are doing, remember that you have a unique gift you have to give the world. Pave your own path, create your own trends, and be confident in all you do. Lady Colleen’s brief experience working for someone else was enough to cement her desire to be her own boss. By designing her life to her expectations, she’s been able to continuously thrive and commit to personal integrity over everything. She continuously comes back to prioritizing the relationship with yourself, no matter what. Are you changing yourself to fit into a role or paving a path that inspires you to continuously be 100% you? Be yourself, the rest will follow.

Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia recently became our Operations Director and will be consistently contributing her writing.
September 11, 2018
Here’s How to Make The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make
Wes Yee is an award-winning audio engineer, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He studied Music Production and Engineering and Performance at the prestigious Berklee college of music. He is credited with producing the #1 New York Times Bestselling audiobook, a podcast series for the New England Journal of Medicine, and many other productions. Yee is also the host of a Top-10 iTunes Music Podcast.

In this episode, Yee, shares…
- How to define successful living on your terms.
- Why college isn’t for everyone—and may not be for you.
- How to access compassion for your haters.
- And so much more…
Bite-sized nuggets of wisdom from Yee’s episode:

There is Nothing More Fulfilling Than Pursuing Your Inner Bliss. We’ve all heard the phrase “follow your bliss” before. It’s the emblem of Pinterest mugs and graphic yoga tees. But what does it really mean? Have you let this phrase marinate in your heart?

Yee shares an experience from his childhood that illustrates the deeper meaning of this phrase. According to Yee, his “Tiger Mom” Asian mother had high expectations for him when he was a kid. Each day, she would set a timer and make him rehearse his scales on the piano again and again. He hated it. One day, she wrote a note to his band teacher in Chinese requesting that her son play the violin. When the teacher asked Yee, “what does this say?”, he replied, “it says she wants me to play the trumpet.”

In that small act of defiance, Yee declared something big for himself. He decided that he would pursue his own dream. Not the dream of his mother—the woman whose unconditional approval he so desperately craved—no, the dream of his own heart.

It’s Never the “Easy” Path. This courageous act represents a choice we all must make at some point in our lives. We must all decide for ourselves whether we will succumb to social pressure and do what we perceive we should do (i.e., “climb the corporate ladder because it will impress my parents”), or do what would most authentically light our soul on fire.

If you are at a crossroads, about to make an important decision in your own life, consider the following:
- How do I feel when I imagine myself in scenario one vs. scenario two? Notice any expansion or contraction in your physical body. Do you feel light, energized, and excited in one scenario? Do you feel apprehensive, nervous, or heavy in one scenario? The light, auspicious energy may be a signal that your soul wants to experience this scenario.
- Whose voice is telling you to pick one scenario over the other? Be still and quiet; try to tease apart if it is your voice or the voice of somebody else. If it is the voice of somebody else, ask yourself, why wouldn’t this person accept me if I decided to do what I wanted to do? If they did accept me, what would I gain? If they didn’t accept me, what would I lose? What would I gain?
- Choose courage. When it comes down to it, we all know that inner fulfillment is more valuable than perceived social “approval;” especially when that approval is conditional and rooted in fear. Choose love. Choose to allow yourself to experience what you want to experience. Let go of the judgment of what it means that you want to have this experience. Surrender and welcome the sensations. You are the gatekeeper of your heart; you can either deny yourself your deepest desires or facilitate their fulfillment.
- If you didn’t do what you most wanted to do, would you regret it?
- Trust: life will find a way. There is always a way.
Yee says, “People respect you more if you become successful at the thing they said you couldn’t do.”
September 6, 2018
Accessing Intuition and Trusting the Wisdom of Life with Elizabeth Locey, Spiritual Mentor
Elizabeth Locey introduces people to their legendary self. She has a Ph.D., is a teacher, mentor, author, and Oracle who specializes in transformative life and business guidance for high-level entrepreneurs. She catalyzes next level performance for the best of the best by using her intuitive and mystical gifts to remove blocks around resources and so much more.

As part of the weekly Unconventional Life giveaway, Elizabeth is giving away a free “Legendary Self Exploration” session. Click here to enter the giveaway for a chance to win!

In Elizabeth’s episode you will learn…
- How your intuitive gifts are a key aspect of your zone of genius
- How trust and surrender guides her life
- The importance of a daily practice
Valuable guidance from Elizabeth:

Have a Daily Practice. Elizabeth recommends starting a daily practice if you don’t already have one. Do something every day that makes you feel good, whether that’s journaling, walking through the woods, drawing oracle cards, yoga, meditation, etc. The key purpose of the routine is to get out of your mind and into your heart and emotions.

Find Your Own Center. With a magnitude of shift happening in the world, it’s vital that you listen to yourself and what you believe is best for you. Elizabeth shares, “you’re not going to find any reliable center outside of yourself”. Everyone is going through drastic changes, you can see this quite clearly in our political climate, environmental shifts, and energetic fluctuations.

Take time to listen to your needs, your ideas, and your desires. If you notice yourself swirling in confusion, come back to your daily routines to drop into your body.

Identify Your Strengths. It’s clear to see the value Elizabeth exudes with her intuitive nature and gifts. From Ph.D. to becoming a mystic, Elizabeth’s journey started as a child watching the sky to following a conventional academic path to receive the attention of her parents. Once she heard the calling to be an intuitive there was no hiding, seemingly everything continued to get louder for her to step into her zone of genius.

In claiming and sharing her strengths, Elizabeth listened to the unexplainable gifts and starting seek out ways to practice and refine her ability to be able to communicate to others about what she knew possible.

Elizabeth’s story inspires me to keep stepping into the unknown, to trust in the greater purpose of the Universe, to surrender my agenda, and explore the infinite untapped potential that exists within each and every one of us.

Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging. An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia recently became our Operations Director and will be consistently contributing her writing.
August 21, 2018
The Evolution of Self and Career: Aligning Work With Personal Growth
Darrah Brustein is a special return guest and it’s clear to see why we had to have her back. She is the founder of the networking events company, Network Under 40, which serves over 30,000 people. She founded and grew an electronic payments company into 38 different states with her twin brother. An avid writer, Darrah is a columnist for Forbes, ThriveGlobal, Entrepreneur, and has written a kids book on financial literacy. With her next book in the pipeline, she founded a virtual summit called Life By Design, Not By Default to support people in designing the life, career, relationships, and network that they truly desire. All this, while traveling 60% of the time for pleasure!

As I listen to Darrah’s podcast, I’m reminded of evolution. I think so often we box ourselves into a career with certain skills and ways of operating, and many times we’re missing the ability to express parts of ourselves that deeply want to be shared. When you know deep down it’s time to move into the next phase of your life, what holds you back from welcoming the change? One of the biggest questions woven into this podcast is “what do you do when who you’ve been isn’t aligned with who you are today?”

In this podcast, Darrah shares the process she went through to answer this very question and live life by her own design, not by default.

In this podcast you’ll learn…
- How to listen to feedback to discover your next career move
- What it takes to intentionally design the life you truly wish to live
- The value of committing to your growth
- The importance of your network and how to build it
Key questions inspired by Darrah’s podcast:

What does success mean to you? After being let go multiple times from conventional jobs, Darrah made the choice to step into the entrepreneurial world and try her hand at something much less glamourous than her sexy fashion career. It was in this choice that her twin invited her to start an electronic payments company. After initially being offended by his request, she decided to be curious about the opportunity and was able to see the greater value she would be able to provide with this career path.   Originally her version of success had included working for someone doing something she was passion about; this new company would allow her to learn and grow while helping people at the foundational level of their company.

Someone else’s version of success may look nothing like your own. In this case, Darrah’s shift came from adjusting her perception of what could be possible when she looked through a different lens. Instead of just checking the boxes every day, what could you get excited about contributing to the work you are doing?


How are you committing to your personal growth? Growth can look an endless amount of ways and it’s important to find what works best for you.

Right before Darrah attended the Unconventional Life Italy Business Accelerator, she realized things needed to shift in her company, Network Under 40. It was after that event that she made a promise to herself to carve out time and energy to discover this next phase of her life.

Committed to the exploration, it wasn’t about letting go of all that she’d created, but instead taking a look at who she was, gathering intentional data, and asking questions. She read books, went back to old journals, did free flow brainstorms, asked what problems she’d want to tackle, and noted what people would come to her for.

Through this process she was able to take what she’d learnt and overlay it with what was already working in her life. Growth is just as much about expansion as it is shedding layers.

Who are you surrounding yourself with? It’s important to assess the relationships you’re investing your time and energy in. Are they lighting you up? Do you feel exhausted or inspired after your interactions?

Darrah suggests finding friends that are on the same or similar path you desire to be on. Look for people that are in alignment with what most excites you.

With social media, intentional networking events, and various growth-oriented communities popping up all over the world, the opportunity to create relationships that inspire and support you is available like never before.

Asking for feedback about who you are to other people helps you see how you’re viewed in another person’s perspective. This process illuminates places in your life that are unique to you and shines light on the waters you swim in every day.

Virtual summits, such as The Life By Design, Not Default Virtual Summit, can be a great place to spark conversations with people who are interested in things you value.

Seek out events that elevate you.

Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging.  An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia recently became our Operations Director and will be consistently contributing her writing.
August 17, 2018