Make Your Creative Dreams a Reality with Zhena Muzyka

Welcome to Mama Goddess. I'm your host, Alexandra J. Johnson. This podcast is all about rocking your goddess life, creating vibrant health and celebrating motherhood and family life. It's about living an authentically awesome life. Let's have.

A hello and welcome. I'm Alexandra J. Johnson, and today we have a divinely inspiring guest, Zena Musica. And she is the author of Life by the Cup, a keynote speaker, a mom, an activist, and also the founder of Xena's Gypsy Tea. And she is celebrated for her work in organic, biodynamic and fair trade business practices. And she's been magazines and media and had tons of awards of just how she's created her conscious business and what she's done with her life. So I am honored to be chatting with her today. So welcome, Zena.

Thank you, Alexandria. Happy to be here. Yes.

And I, you know, as we were just saying before, I love your name. It's like the best.

Name. It's kind of a cosmic joke. Being gypsy and loving music and having a last name Musica and not having a musical bone in my body. It's kind of like the universe, universe was like, here, let's give you all this and then you won't be able to do any of it. It's like one of those things, maybe, maybe in my retirement, whatever that means, I'll learn how to play a musical instrument.

You create music with your life.

Absolutely. Good point. You nailed it.

I would love to hear. Your book is just come out and it's so inspiring and I just love you sharing your story and it's such a powerful story. So can you just share how you started your business and just your amazing story.

Thank you. Well, I was a mom. Well, first I was a writer and I was writing a book about my gypsy grandmother from the Ukraine. She escaped some really horrific war situations as well as forced famine and concentration camps. And everything that's happening right now in the world is giving me a new level of commitment to empowering women. And we can talk about that. But my grandmother inspired this first book and I spent a few years writing it and I won a creative writing grant and I was living in a little cabin up in Matilla Hawk Canyon here in Ojai, California. Off the grid, really hippied out. So happy. Just totally water from the river, solar panels, growing my own food and herbs. Then my son was born and he needed a major operation, a life saving operation. At four weeks old. What happened was I had been writing about my gypsy heritage. My book didn't sell. It was a really Big book. It needed a lot of work. And my hobby was herbal medicine because my grandmother was a healer and she taught me how to use herbs, plants and botanicals to actually heal the body and soul. So I combined, I had a vision. I asked God what I could do to heal my son and to make enough money to pay for his operations. I didn't have health insurance and I saw a vision of a gypsy tea party. And I thought, my goodness, I can combine gypsy, my gypsy heritage and culture and this passion for with tea, this other passion, and actually make a business. And I started throwing gypsy tea parties. And the first one, almost 300 people came and we sold out of tea in the first hour. And my business took off from there. So it was a lot of baby steps. But the gypsy tea party was a divinely guided idea that actually really worked and took care of my son and myself.

So talk to us about purpose. You know, you have this inspiration and I think a lot of people are looking for purpose.

Well, my purpose. So my purpose was to get Sage his operations and to take care of my son and to learn how to be self dependent a little bit more in some ways and not in others. I thought that I would be taken care of by Sage's dad if anything happened. I actually didn't even consider anything would happen. But then when I found that I was on my own, it was a really powerful moment in my life where I thought, my God, I've got this child and I don't have any other options. Gloria Steinem has this great quote that a lot of women are one man away from welfare. And I was that. And so I decided that I was going to be independent of the system. I was going to. Although they helped. There was a program for babies with birth defects that helped because I couldn't get Sage health insurance because he had what was considered a pre existing condition back then, birth defect. That's how cold our system was. And so now that we have government health care in a bigger way, that's not an issue anymore. But what I found was my purpose was to save my son. But then as I grew the business, I got to India and Sri Lanka and I found the women in the T field and their babies, they had huge, very high infant mortality rates. I decided that I was going to help end that because I felt that I had been guided to there by my situation, to see what was happening and then to give them a voice. Because in 9,000 miles away we're drinking our tea with, we don't really know what the conditions are like, at the source, you know, with most of our botanical products or clothing or anything. And thank God for the Internet now because we can actually see what's happening so much more, you know, through social media. But back then, we didn't know. So when I got on the ground in India and Sri Lanka, I realized, my God, something has to be done. I have to become these women's voice because there wasn't anyone doing it yet. So I became the first 100% fair trade TikTok company, 100% organic. And I decided to end poverty for tea workers with my purpose and my mission. Or actually it decided me. You know, the thing about purpose is that often it will find you. And I have now since that happened and I grew the business, now the business is in God. The products are in 20,000 stores plus, and it's being run by management. I no longer run the company. I'm still a major shareholder. But I finding that the universe and my soul has a new purpose. And that's. I'm becoming very active in ending sex trafficking for girls. So I believe that our purposes can move and shift. But in my world, my entire purpose is to give a voice to the voiceless. So I am becoming. I'm gearing back up. Now that the book is out, I'm gearing back up to focus on my activism again. Nice.

So for women, I think that's helpful that you can have an idea of your purpose, but it may take different shapes and different forms and different adventures.

Absolutely. And I do. I was. So here's the book, Just Life by the Cup. I know you're reading it. I'm so grateful to you. Thank you. When I left the tea company, it's been about a year, and I knew I had to. It was terrifying. And I probably. It took like. I mean, I knew that it was time to reinvent myself. I had to go bigger because the tea company is already continuing the mission. It is ending poverty for tea workers. It's built into the model. And I had to, you know, take a leap. And this new purpose that I'm finding is actually something that I'm finding it talking to me. So the girls in Africa that have been abducted and all these different situations that are happening in the world right now with young girls, every time I hear something, I start sobbing and I feel it in my stomach. And now I have a daughter and I actually am speaking to me, and then all these coincidences and synchronicities are happening. You know, Gloria Steinem has endorsed the book And I'm becoming closer with, with her circle and they're involved with Apne app, which is ending sex trafficking. And so, and then all the products that I've been buying for my new business, Xena tv. I mean, the jute bags I bought are ending sex trafficking in Calcutta. The jewelry is ending it in Nepal. I just, I woke up one day and I realized, oh, my God, this is my new purpose. I've been doing it and it's affecting me and it does not. As the mother of a daughter and as a goddess on the earth here to empower other goddesses, I can't stand by and allow this to happen and not take action. So I think that for our viewers, so many of you have a purpose that's knocking at your door. If you take notice and increase your mindfulness with either a daily practice or just notice. Notice the things that are coming to you, the emotions that are coming through your body and speaking to you. And that's how you find your purpose. It's there. We just have to be aware enough to listen.

And then don't you think it's listening and then following the call too? Because we listen. And then I know that I've had this journey in talking to other women. You kind of doubt, like, is that my purpose? That feels like it lights me up. But should I be doing something else?

Should I be, you know, you know, Alexandra, you nailed it. Options are kind of like the enemy of purpose. But I want to accentuate. Not everybody has a purpose to do something. Like for some reason in this incarnation, I have been called to do something big. And I have to say, my advisor, I have a spiritual advisor. I just was with her this morning and I was crying a lot as she was saying, because I hadn't spoken to her yet, knowing that sex trafficking was something that I had to end, I had to get involved with. And I was on the fence with it. And I have to say, I was on the fence. And she said, you know, your angel guides are saying that you have to become a voice for the voiceless and sex trafficking and end it, you know, help to end it in this lifetime. And I just started crying because I said, who am I to do that? I don't have enough power. I don't have. And she said, but you will. You have to step into it. This is, this is a longer term plan for you. And so I believe that not all of us have to say in this incarnation, I'm going to go and fight that battle. But ever since I was a Little tiny girl. I was fighting for underdogs. I grew up in a hood in a tough neighborhood. I mean, people got killed. I mean, it was. There were kids running around without, you know, I don't know where their parents were, but they, I mean, practically had no clothes. They were hungry. And I was always protecting them, bringing food out, finding ways to help. I was. So this is how I was made this time around. It doesn't mean we're all made this way. Some of us have a purpose. To love and support a smaller community or to love and support the inner child within us, or to focus on nourishing a mate or nourishing a garden or nourishing a customer. Like, just know that your purpose may be very subtle, this incarnation, or it may be massive. The way that I'm being called to show up in the world is to make something massive, you know, But I'm called to do that. Every purpose is as powerful as the next. It's just a decision of your soul and the universe and the contracts you made before you got here. What is it this time? You know, trust me, I want my purpose to be hanging out in my yurt, writing books and being quiet. I did not necessarily want my next round of purposing on the planet to be so big because I'd really like to rest for a little while. But when the call comes, you know it. And I know that my call has come.

So very cool. Okay, so what do you do? Because I know most women know, like if they're honest with themselves, they know what their next call is. What do you do about the fear and the self doubt and how have you navigated this? Because you talk about it so beautifully in your book, of all the different steps that you've gone through of really stepping up to that call. So what advice would you give for women who are just like on the fence, like, wanting to step into that new reinvention, that new vision?

I would say, well, the one chapter that really got me, you know, it was fun to write this book, to go back and read my journals and everything that happened and look at what was actually happening then, because I didn't have perspective, it was happening. So, I mean, I'm sitting in this space right now looking back at my last 14 years of building the business and what that call was. And I have perspective. And one of those perspectives that became clear when I was writing the book and reflecting on it was, start where you are. You have to just start right now because there are never going to be perfect conditions there's never going to be, I mean, in your mind. So start when you know that the call is there. Just take some action and just know that it doesn't mean you're married to it for the rest of your life. But make a committed action in the direction of your dream or your call or your vision or your mission. In my case, it's a big mission. Take an action toward it and start where you are because there's nothing more empowering that you can do for yourself or the people around you. And just know that fear is how you know you're on the right track. Resistance is how you know you are being called in the right direction. If there's no fear and resistance, sorry, find another call because it means that it's not big enough to grow you. And really, the entire point of our lives on Earth is to fulfill our potential. So if we're fulfilling our potential in any given moment, sometimes that potential literally is lying on the couch and just like checking out. But sometimes that potential is to simply smile at a stranger. Sometimes it's to make an extra great breakfast for the kids. Whatever that potential is in that moment, just focus on fulfilling it. And then the fear and the resistance you chip away at is literal baby steps. My new mantra is asking for patience because I want the world fixed now. I don't have the patience to wait a decade or however long this is going to take us to fix things. So my mantra right now is I have all the patients in the world to serve the world.

Beautiful.

I love that.

Okay, so curious about money. You have a conscious business. Money is a huge hot topic for people and I think for women too, of really stepping into your power around money. And so can you talk to us about money?

Yeah, I'm in progress in some ways around money right now. I'm in full transparency most of the time. So you'll just get what's happening right now in my life. But leaving the tea company, I left my big salary. And although I still own a ton of equity in the company, I. It was interesting not having that regular paycheck again for a while. And I know that as entrepreneurs, you're basically stepping out of having that consistent regularity. So one thing that I tell other entrepreneurs is don't necessarily. You don't have to quit your day job until your baby is born and walking and stable enough to carry you because a lot of people will say, oh, I've got to fully commit to this thing or I'll never do it. It. I've got To. So I'm going to just. I'm going to quit the day job. I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that. Understand that money is actually, you know, we made it up as humans. We created this system. And now this system is how the world works. And you need enough money, which what we call. When I was raising, I raised over $8 million for my business in private equity and venture capital. And basically they call it Runway. Money is called Runway in business. And think of it that way. How much Runway do you have? If you don't have enough Runway to take off, you're going to crash. If you have so much Runway that you can see forever with it, you may not take enough risk to actually get that plane off the Runway and flying in the air. So you really want to just make sure you have enough Runway to run your life and fulfill your responsibilities and then also be. Be super scrappy with your business. I mean, I raised. I mean, the first round of investment, it's all in my book. But the first round, my next book, actually the whole half the book is about money. So I wish I had it to give you right now, but basically make sure that you are conscious enough of your value in the world to charge enough to give yourself that. But also know that you're gonna have to work for free for a period of time until you achieve mastery. And when I left the tea company and I, you know, I had a book advance to actually support me, so it wasn't as stressful. And I also have coaching clients. But what I found was I was like, you know, it made me have to think in really different creative ways. And. And I probably wouldn't have if I didn't need to, if that makes sense. But the comfort of having it was also really, really nice. So I think money is. It is. Well, it's necessary. This is my goddess. She's everywhere. My entire house.

Kuan Yin.

No, no, this is Lakshmi. Have you gotten to the chapter, my wedding chapter yet?

I fast forwarded, but I haven't read it. I just kind of saw the wedding, but I haven't read the full story.

You'll love it. That chapter has everything to do with love and money. And so what Lakshmi told me to do when I had a vision of her in my wedding was she told me to keep my hands open so that the money would come through. And what the vision was is it multiplied as it flew out from underneath my fingers. It actually multiplied to all others and the masses. So I see it as an open handed model. And I do believe in the law of giving and receiving where whatever you give comes back to you tenfold. And so I think money is a great tool. I think it's fun. I love it. It's warm and fuzzy when it's used in the right way. It's, it makes things a lot easier. Cash is queen when it comes to a business and I think that you have to respect it but also know that you're in charge of it.

Very cool, awesome advice. I love how too in your book you talk about, and this is, I think for a lot of people, they don't have enough time or they don't have enough money. There's a lot of limiting beliefs for all of us. And I love in your book and your journey, you've really taken those. You had the beautiful kind of stuff about our pain and our suffering, like carving our destiny in many ways of like really changing that. So can you talk about that? Our challenges are the way.

Yeah, you know, I think I have three chapters. The first chapter is the carving of the cup and then the limits I came up against when I decided to be 100% organic and there was no ingredients hardly in the world that were organic yet certified. And then the other one was I think the burden and blessing. But what I find with limits is that they are actually like the training wheels to your destiny. Like if you didn't have the limits, you wouldn't find your niche. And the limits are actually gifts showing you, you know, because when we get a little frightened when the world is all opportunity, you know, it's like, it's almost too much like it's like, well if everything's an opportunity and there's no guardrails and there's no, you know, you know, road to get to your destination, it's like, wow, what direction do I go? Some people, that's their karma and that's awesome. For me I always, I look at the limits in my life to really engage them, to actually see where I'm being led. And so really fascinating. After I left the tea company I had a non compete. So it told me I couldn't go back into the tea business for a year. Not that I would. I'm like, let's go compete against my brand, whatever. Anyway, but you know what, lawyers, lawyers have to make their money, so whatever. But anyway, so I have this non compete. So I'm like, well, I can't work in tea and I don't really know what to do outside of tea. But you know I'm writing this book, and I'm passionate about writing and books and authors. And I love authors. I love thinkers. I love getting together with other writers. I love supporting them. Oh, I just love writers. I love it, love it, love it. I read like three books a week, and I'm thinking, you know, and I don't know anything other than that. So I'm just gonna focus on finishing my book, the marketing of it, the marketing plan, the whole thing. And then the next thing you know, writers were bringing me their manuscripts and I'm helping them on the side. And then the next thing you know, I sell a couple and I'm like, oh, my God, I love helping other authors fulfill on a dream. And so then my publisher made me a literary scout, and so I'm a west coast literary scout for Simon and Schuster. And so that was really fun. And then more recently, they actually upped it and offered me a different deal, which I can't. I can't tell about yet, but it's even more exciting in this realm. And how would I have known that I was going into media and publishing next if I didn't have the limit that I couldn't do what I, you know, jump back in and start another tea company, like, ooh, you know, So I actually was grieving my limit, and then I kept moving in the direction of my instincts and intuition, and I ended up in this, a whole other realm. And I'm sorry. So grateful and happy to be here. It's the next chapter.

You're such a great demonstration of start where you are. You just are like, oh, I'm going to do this, and you do it and then something. It's so beautiful to see the miracles that happen when you take action and follow your heart.

Absolutely.

It's so inspiring. Okay, so I'm curious, you know, you have a big mission.

You.

You know, have a lot of energy and passion. How do you balance your masculine and feminine? Do you have different dances? You know, I know some people have stories around their masculine and feminine. Is that something that you work with or is it all just awesome energy?

Well, that's a great, great, great, great question. When I was CEO of the tea company, I was way more in my masculine. And, you know, I had my daughter on a Friday and was back in a board meeting on a Tuesday. And that was actually during that time, was actually the time I realized I was supposed to change my life, because I was. I had just raised, I think it was like a $4 million round of investment from these really Big investors in New York City. And I found out I was pregnant, like, the same week I raised the money. Oh, my God. I was like, oh, my God. Like, my. My. Both my dreams are coming true all at once. Funding my business in that. In that next tranche, that new, that next level, and being pregnant again after everything I've been through with Sage. I was like, how. How do you do both? And so I really. I overworked during Mia's pregnancy, man. I ended up in the hospital in Las Vegas in the emergency room from an event. And I had a wake up call then that. It was like, oh, my God, I've got to protect this baby. I've got to know my femininity. My femininity is to nurture this child right now. Why am I lifting all these heavy boxes? Why am I, you know, traveling? You know, every 20, 34 hours, I was on a different plane. I was like, okay, this has got to stop. So I had a big wake up call that my feminine and my masculine were not in union at that time. And so I slowly started to step away from my masculine to watch it. And then eventually, now I'm in balance. Because my masculine is, you know, my masculine is a really powerful force for good in the world. And I do a lot of, you know, meditation. I have a daily practice. And my masculine is the one who actually creates my boundaries and my limits and my drive. And then my feminine is the one that is a little bit more wild and wise. And, you know, she. My. My inner wild woman is actually my. My business book is about speaking to the feminine in business. So it's interesting you say that, but. Yeah, I. I think now they're good. I think. I think they weren't always good, but now they're good.

That's great. Yeah, I love that because it's such an important topic. I love that your book is about that too, for women, you know, like, what is the feminine way in business? Because I think that there's similarities, but then there's also very different gifts that the feminine brings to business.

Well, if a man is in touch with his feminine, it's. And a woman's in touch with her masculine. Like, we're like, everything's perfect. Like, everything is. Is right. So, you know, to have one dominate the other, you know, I think at times, you know, one has to be stronger than the other. But feminine force is not an. It's not a pushing force. It's a, you know, it's a receptive. It's a receptive force. And I think that, you know, my new book is a spiritual handbook for business women, and it goes into, like, our wild nature through Jungian psychology. I'm using a lot of Clarissa Pinkola Estes, but I find that the feminine is the reminder to the masculine of what matters most. The masculine is great at building infrastructure and pioneering and going down and chopping down the trees and then putting up the building. But the feminine force has to come in after and breathe the life into it, the soul, and actually sustain it. So I would say the male force is kind of like coffee and the feminine force is kind of like tea. I always say that coffee gives me courage, but tea sustains me. So that's kind of the same thing.

That is awesome. I love that. That is brilliant.

Of course, all roads lead back to my cup of tea. Sorry, I can't help myself.

That is awesome. That's so great. It's so great that you said that, because Brian and I, in Theos, our company, we have very strong masculine, very strong feminine. He has very strong masculine, very strong feminine. But it is that beautiful synergy. And it's very cool to see that.

Absolutely.

Okay, so I have another one more question. You have lots of things to do with your book launch. Talk to us about fellowship. You talk about this in the book and asking for help and connecting with other women and. And just more on that.

Well, I'll use an example. I have two examples. One is I. A couple years ago, I decided I was going to create a women's event, and it was called A Woman's Power. And I'm planning the next one right now. And what I did was I thought at the time that I would have to fill up all the space with great activities, events, speakers. You know, I. I had the best food, amazing, raw, vegan for the three days. I had the best resort here in Ojai. I had. Everything was the best, you know, And I created all these presentations to fill in, you know, all the other speakers. I have phenomenal speakers, very famous in the transformational world. And so I thought, oh, I have to fill in all of this. I'm going to educate them on this. And I brought in venture capitalists and, you know, everything they could possibly ever need. And what I found was, as soon as we started, that I didn't have to do anything. I actually, I had created the space. I had brought all the women together. I had brought the speakers, but we had these breaks in between. And so I cancelled all of my talks because I noticed that when the women got Together. That's where the magic was happening. I didn't actually have to do anything other than create the sacred space and the occasion for them to come in. And then all I was was a facilitator, you know, making sure that everybody's happy. Making sure that, you know, everybody's like, well, no, I didn't even have to make sure they were happy. I mean, I had to do nothing. It was the best thing I ever have done. That's why I'm so excited to do another one, because I realized, like, they just needed each other. And business deals were made and new products were born, new websites were born. Friendships. Just these incredibly passionate friendships were made. And so I was like, okay. So with that, I realized that fellowship, just watching the magic happen was spectacular. And then the other thing was. So I asked for help to. When I needed food. In the beginning, when I was starving and Sage was, you know, freshly out of the hospital and all that stuff was going on, I asked for help from my neighbor for food. She ended up becoming my main angel investor. I had no idea she had any investing money or. She actually asked me, can I invest in you? A few months later, after she saw me building my business, she was like, I'd like to invest. And I'm like, what? I don't even know what that means. So I had to learn all that, but. But just by asking her for help. And then the most recent was. Well, there's daily ones. But another one that happened was when I needed help with my book because it was so long, I couldn't figure out how to. And I called Deb Norton, who's my writing coach, and I said, can you help me get this thing structured? I mean, it's a disaster. Like, it just. It was like, you know, tangent central. And she came in and helped me, like. Like, cut, like, thousands and thousands of words out. And then. And then she happened to know the literary scout for Simon and Schuster in the Midwest who wanted to read it. And then I got my deal with them, and now all of a sudden, I'm a publisher, you know, a year and a half later, like. And that was me. I actually felt like, God, I can't do this. I'm gonna have to pick up the phone and call Deb. And I did. And it. And it turned into the next part of my destiny. So just know that asking for help, but being specific, like, that's why in the book, I say make a specific request. When you ask for help, you open up the ability to receive, but you have to actually learn to receive, which means you're out of control. When you're giving, you're in control. That's why we love to give women. You call it giving, but you're really a control freak. And so when you're giving, you're in control. When you're receiving, it's like, holy cow, you have no control. That's where you actually have to find. Your bliss is in the receiving phase. So make specific requests and then learn how to receive graciously. Don't deflect compliments. I do it all the time. Someone says, I love those shoes. I go, oh, my God, they're only $25. You know, but, you know, receive all the. Receive what you ask for. And you. I mean, your. Your ability to be successful is directly related to your ability to ask for help. Yeah.

Just being vulnerable, Right. Being willing to be vulnerable and say, I need help. Not trying to think that we have to have all the answers. I know. That's a big practice for me.

Oh, yeah. Welcome to humanity.

Cool. Well, thank you. There's so many more questions, but we will have to do it another time.

We'll do it again. And, God, we both live in Ojai. We could actually meet, actually in person.

I totally want to come to your event, so I'm going to make sure.

That you invite me to your invite. Well, you do. It's going to be in October. You definitely need to be there because you are an embodiment of a goddess making stuff happen in the world.

Beautiful. Well, awesome. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your book, thank you for your awesomeness, your tea, and thank you for sharing your wisdom with us today.

Thanks, sweetheart. Lots of plans.

Lots of love to you. Bye.

We hope you enjoyed this episode episode of Mama Goddess. Sending you lots of love and blessings. If you'd like to connect more, go to mamagoddess. Com. Until next time. Keep rocking it and have an awesome.