The Power of Female Friendships, Spirituality, and Being Your Authentic Self

I'm in a place in my life where I'm trying to fall in love with challenges. Like, I. I really do actually love them, but I. I want. I want to, like, thank them. The word for me makes the challenge and the. The hardship in your life that you're going through, it's like, no, this is the initiation to the thing.

To the thing. Exactly.

It's so good.

Portal. It's the doorway. It's where you are tested. You get to meet the challenge and choose who you're going to be in that. And that creates muscles and strength. I call it light warriorship. Do you get to choose how you respond to it? Consciously. And that creates this awakening of just how powerful you actually are. You can handle anything.

Hi, Jess. Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Thanks, Lori. I'm so happy to be here with you in the flesh.

So, you guys. We are actually in your. We're in Jess's house.

Yes.

Which is kind of a fun story. So I. I don't even know what the first time you came across, like, my path was.

I do. You do?

Yeah. Okay, tell it.

Okay. So you were launching A Tribe Called Bliss.

Okay.

You were going on a book tour. This is pre Covid, and we have a mutual friend in Angie Lee. Yes.

Okay.

Yes. You were coming through Chicago to do an event, and I was living there at the time and knew that city well. So Angie reached out to me on your behalf and was like, so my friend Lori Harder. I'm like, I know who Lori Harder is. She's looking for a venue. Do you have any ideas? I was like, yes. And I have relationships, so let me just send an intro. That's, like, all I did. You sent me a. One of the most beautiful bouquets of flowers. Yes, you did. It was the classiest shit. I was like, who is this woman? And it was a handwritten note just for simply making that introduction. And then we had each other's cell numbers, and we started following each other on social. But I could just feel your energy. You were really walking your walk because your whole book was around, like, let's be a Tribe Called Bliss and rise together, and we should be kind and true sisters and have each other's backs and root for each other when we're rising. And so anyway, that was how we. We came into each other's lives. And ever since then, I'm like, yes.

This is all coming back to me now. I. I love that. That. That was, like, 2017.

Yes. That was Years ago.

Oh, my gosh.

Years ago.

I. First of all, time is not real. Not real. I'm like, such an illusion. It's just like, how did that even happen? But truly, we. I feel like we have been on each other's journey. Like, I feel very much like if I need something, I can reach out to you, and I know that it's going like, I know you will have me, and we don't you guys, for anybody listening, it's. We haven't had, like, this is the first time we're meeting person, like, in person.

It felt weird because I feel.

Yes, same. I literally am still convinced. I'm like, I'm still convinced I met you somewhere. But for all of you out there, like, people just look at other people's relationships online and they're like, how did that happen? Or what does that look like? It's like a shared, you know, give and take.

Yes.

It is for, like, giving to someone and feeling like, okay. What would feel like an okay ask and whatever this looks like. So, anyway, long story to say, I am using your house for recording podcasts, and it already feels so freaking good. You have this beautiful podcast studio. I'm here in Nashville. We get to do this podcast today, and then I have, like, five guests tomorrow in this space. And I'm so grateful for that.

I'm just so grateful for you. And what's mine is yours, and my home is your home, and that's that reciprocity, you know, it was so. It was such an easy yes. You know, you. You helped me get my first book agent with Marilyn. I was like, can I drop your name in the subject line when I pitch book one?

You were like, yeah, babe, go for it.

And then I had this huge book launch that was beautiful and successful, but it's brutal launching a book. And I had a real comedown, like, post launch blues for a few months after that. And I called you. Do you remember that?

I was like, hey, girl. I feel like a failure.

Even though it was successful, I don't get why I feel this way.

To the club.

Yeah.

Welcome to the club.

Welcome to.

You finally arrived.

Exactly.

This is the part where you now truly are an author.

Yeah, exactly. True. Like, so true. And I just basically cried over tea on a Zoom call with you. And you're just. Again, I want to say this in front of your audience, who knows you so well and feels obviously so connected to you, but you really are the real deal, and it's just beautiful to have the opportunity to pay back to you.

Thank you. Well, you make it easy because truly, we know that it's like, it is an energetic thing, and it's how other people show up.

Exactly.

And you showed up so generously for me as well. I just feel like I knew that you would always be willing to do whatever, and I think that that's a true. You feel that. You feel that with people, and you also see how they. Like, I hear about you through other people. So your reputation really does like. It is.

It's.

It's beautiful. So people saying crazy.

I leave from the heart. I try.

So, guys, welcome to our date.

Welcome to our girl date. Sorry to interrupt your day. Thanks for, I guess, being here.

You need to hear this because, like, back in the day when I didn't have my girl tribe, like, I yearned to be a fly on the wall and just listen to other people who had really good girlfriends and people who they, like, had them. I mean, it's why we were all obsessed with Sex and the City.

Absolutely.

Because we just wanted a piece of that. And it's real, you guys. You can create it. You can make it happen. I didn't necessarily know that's where this podcast was going to go, but it's so. It's so fun to see how those journeys, we've just kind of helped each other through the years, and now we get to be here in person and just talking about the whole journey, which you have had now. One of the things I'm so excited about chatting with you today about is, like, you truly have had, like, complete, like, births, death, like, in.

In.

You're doing it very publicly. Like, you're doing it in a way right now where I feel like we're going to be so unapologetic about whatever it is you're. Maybe someone listening at home is feeling like maybe they have a part of themselves that they just know they are not sharing. They are covering up. They're worried that they'll be rejected. Maybe they feel like their religion isn't a fit anymore. Maybe they feel like you. Where you are, like, I am so super woo. And people don't know. Maybe it wasn't a part of my company before, but I'm like, I can't hide it anymore. I want to come fully out and just say who I am. Maybe they're feeling like their friend group is just not a fit whatsoever at all. But they know that they're here to do something big.

Yeah.

And they know that they need to start stepping into it. But, man, the fear around that. So let's talk about where you were.

Yes.

So let's go back to when you had started your agency, the Simply Be agency. And it ended up like turning into a much bigger success, I'm guessing, than you initially thought. So tell me about how that started, kind of where you were around that time.

So I love that we're going to go back and start there because that was really the beginning of the beginning. I started that company in 2017 when we met and I had started another business earlier in my 20s that bottomed up and I, I found myself broke at 33 years old.

Okay, great. I love this. So she failed. So she started an initial idea on.

My knees after seven years. I mean we built a critically successful brand on the outside, but it was my first business. We didn't know what we were doing. We didn't know how to lead people. I didn't know how to run a P L sheet, I, I didn't know how to communicate to my business partner effectively. It was just a disaster. And I found myself literally on my knees asking my parents to help me pay my phone bill because AT&T was going to shut it off. I had literally no money and filled with so much shame and I, that, that trauma of scarcity went on to live in my body pretty unconsciously. I took a two year bird walk into corporate America to like lick my wounds, pay off some debt. And then I relaunched kind of my Simply Be agency which was an idea two years before and I made it real and it took off like that and within 18 months I had crossed a million. Within a few years I had done multi millions. I grew a 30 person team, I got a six figure book deal.

You have to be a leader to be able to do that, girl. Yeah, girl.

The stretching of like personal development school on steroids to be a CEO of people was the hardest part. And I started winning awards and I had opened this gorgeous office in Chicago that was sort of this marquee decorated example of my success and got all the press hits, started a podcast and I was quote unquote winning and the whole world was reflecting back to me. You're doing something right. And it took me about five and a half years into that seven year journey to realize that I really wasn't in a state of abundance, but I was running from scarcity still because that system shock of going broke was still running the show.

I fully understand that I can still have traces of that for sure from if you've had that experience.

Yes, yes. And so my spiritual journey, which has been a huge part of my life story. I mean, I'm. I've been talking to angels and goddesses and white light communing since I was, like, literally 10 years old. Wow. And have really studied a lot of different spiritual modalities and had done. Worked with a lot of healers and done the. But it wasn't really front and center of simply be. We were a personal branding agency.

Did people know that about you? Who people worked for you?

Oh, for sure. I named all my conference rooms after crystals.

So they weren't like, what's going on? They knew if they were there that.

Yeah, yeah. Like, my. My spirituality was definitely out on display, but not the main character. It was really about me being the expert in personal branding and marketing and business development and leadership and sales and being the CEO and was just all of this masculine energy that turned sort of toxic. Masculine energy. Got really hooked on the dopamine hit of hustling and making money. It's a high.

Yeah.

And I found myself in early 2022 after the book launch that year that you and I had connected. I had been working 100 hours a week. My business doubled after that book launch. I went from 10 people to 20 people in less than 11 months.

And from the book.

From the book, it was the biggest funnel opener. And pipeline generated Legion. And I was doing the role of the CEO. I was managing my staff. I was doing business development. I was hosting the podcast. I was promoting the book on stages. I was on TV segments. My whole nervous system was fried from just being on and under slept and deeply chasing this hamster wheel that just never satiated me. But I was unconscious to that. And I found myself, literally in January of 22, unable to. To get out of bed and leave my house and shower. And I cried every day for a couple weeks. And I was seeing my therapist, and I'm like, I just think I'm really tired, Anne. She's like, no, you're actually depressed, and I'm gonna diagnose you with situational depression because I was so completely, physically depleted in my brain, in my body. It was real burnout. And I had sort of hit layers of burnout building the agency, but nothing like this. And I had no choice but to really, truly unhook from that way of being and go deep, deep, deep into the dark. And I did a ketamine journey, actually, that really helped clear my depression. I'm not sure if you're familiar with ketamine as a modality to heal mental illness, but it cleared minds so for.

Anyone who doesn't know, share.

So ketamine is a psychedelic sort of. You can take it in different forms. I took it in an iv, okay. With a nurse at a holistic psychiatrist office. And basically it is a psychedelic medicine where you journey and you can go deep into past memories and rewrite trauma. But what my holistic psychiatrist explained is that what it ultimately does is it decreases inflammation in your brain because when you're depressed, your brain is inflamed and the circuits stop working and the wiring can't talk to each other from the left brain to the right brain hemispheres. And so what ketamine does is completely decreases that and gets your brain back online.

Interesting.

And it worked like, it worked in.

One thing where you. So what felt different? Like, what started feeling like?

I just felt like I could see my life clearly. So it was six treatments, two weeks in a row, three treatments per week. And I took myself a tally of the level of depression. I felt level 10 being the worst, level one being not depressed at all. And it was this accumulative effect over those two weeks where literally was 10 on session one and was at a one session six. Wow. It was miraculous.

And nothing in your outside world had really changed necessarily, or did you change it right away?

That's a very good question, Laurie. That's a very poignant question because I say that while ketamine healed my depression, it didn't heal my habits. Got it. So while my brain was technically cleared, I dived right back after. I was like, oh, hey, I feel better. I can go back to 100 hour work weeks. I have to. And it really wasn't until about six months later it wasn't burnout as much as it was. I call this, I say this in my book, like Rage against the Machine called my life. And I found myself very serendipitously getting on a plane. I had booked a trip to Egypt a year later or a year prior. And the timing of that trip was so wild because I got on that plane to Cairo, Egypt, feeling like a complete shell of myself. I wanted to burn my whole business down. I was like, I can fix my. My body. I can do, you know, the psychiatric work, but I'm not, Nothing's changing. I'm still feeling so out of alignment. Yeah. And Egypt was where I died. And I came back from that trip completely new. And from that place, I knew that I had to sell my business, change my entire way of being, write a new book, which I channeled in three and a half months.

That's fast.

It's crazy fast. It just came from my higher self. Yeah. Poured. Poured out of me. And really step forward with this new identity that is front and center spiritual for women particularly, who are stuck in this toxic hustle of the masculine paradigm of go, go, go, make, make, make, do, do, do, scale, scale, scale. And it's. I think a lot of us are suffering in silence around that. And I just had no choice but to make that really loud. Like, I sold the business. And this is really where I'm today. And I think it's even more powerful to talk about these things and, you know, how to optimize your social media grid. And so that's really where I. I landed today. And I feel more aligned and authentic and clear than I've. And most of all at peace. Yeah. Than I've ever felt in my life.

Oh, okay. So for somebody listening. I remember listening to podcasts when I was feeling. I mean, you know, multiple times in my life when I was feeling like, oh God, something has to give, something has to change. And you know, hearing a lot about people who either go. Have to go on trips or they. They do different psychedelics or different things. And I'm like, do I. Does somebody listening have to take a journey like that in order to. Because someone listening right now is feeling stuck. They are just feeling like their life does not match.

Yeah.

What they are feeling internally. So what would you say to that person who's listening and feels like, I can't get away from my kids. I don't have the money for that. I don't know how I feel about that. Like, but I need something.

Yeah. So a couple things. Yeah. One is this. For whatever it's worth, one of the biggest unlocks that's propelled me to start simply be in the first place. Seven years ago, I went to a women's retreat in the woods of Wisconsin. I spent 700 on this retreat where in Wisconsin? I don't even remember.

When I read it in your book, I was like, I have to ask her where? Cuz like that.

It was north. It was beautiful.

Okay.

And I walked away from that retreat with. It was really crazy actually, what happened to that retreat. But the one major thing that I took away was that I am fully responsible, radically responsible for everything in my life. Everything I don't like, everything I like, everything I detest, everything I love. It's all up to me. I was really in a state of victim mentality. Like everything was happening to me. Nothing was happening for. For me. And just Knowing that I was that powerful, that I was that sovereign, that I had agency over how I looked at my life was the first step. And so that really was what set me on this path. To create for time simply be was beautifully aligned. It wouldn't have been successful if it wasn't right. I was so on purpose. I'm so on fire. Felt so much joy creating that company from the ground up in a lot of ways. But to that person that you're listening that you just mentioned, that's listening. I really do think that step one is just looking at where you aren't holding yourself accountable to the fact that you are in total control of how you respond to your life. One of my favorite metaphors is like point one finger at someone else. Like I don't have time, this is too much. The airport's always on my flights because it's, it's like, well, point one finger at something and you have, you have three pointing back at you. You get to choose how you respond. You get to choose you are and who you be in those moments. And really unapologetically prioritizing space for yourself. If, if you have one minute in the morning, if you have five minutes in the morning, taking a 10 minute break to walk outside your door, if you work from home or an office, just to be with your own thoughts. I think we, we run away from sitting with ourselves constantly. We are programmed and wired. Look at, we were just talking about the pace of this life, this world. And I have just found the medicine is in the silence is in the solitude. And I get. If you're a parent, I'm not. You know, I give such props to moms. I don't know. You're super women. You're the CEOs of this world. I can't relate to balancing it all, but I balance a lot and my alone time is non negotiable. It's where I find all my answers. And so radical responsibility is an unlock. And I think your silent space is where you go in to find those answers.

Have you ever had a time in your life where you had too much solitude? Meaning like you were still busy but you were isolated, away from people? Because I've definitely experienced that. And I'm like, that's a dangerous spot for me as well.

Yeah, I, I've been feeling that way lately, actually. I'm in the middle of a book launch, I work from home, I get sucked into the day. I just moved to a new city, you know, I love Nashville. I have so many women here. My home is Chicago and I spent a whole week alone last week because my husband was out of town for the Masters and he's. I'm a golf widow. I'm alone a lot because of that sport. And I really was in it. Like I met my loneliness.

Yeah.

Right. Yeah. And it was sort of. It felt really honoring just to allow myself to feel the sadness of that while also being in the exquisiteness of solitude. Because my life is pretty full and those moments are rare. But I have healers. I have coaches. I have very good girlfriends that I have feel so safe in my vulnerability calling them. Which I did all week last week in the midst of my loneliness. Yeah. And just to own it and talk about it and work through it because we never really are alone. And I think that we have to be proactive in reaching out and saying I really, I feel isolated. I'm working with a coaching client right now. She's a massively successful online entrepreneur. She lives in la. She lives in the Palisades. She's like really far out from a lot of other people. And she herself was saying I feel isolated in my business and she has me to call. But I'm like create a community event calling. She's a massive national membership. I'm like charge, charge a couple bucks and have them come meet you so that you can reach into your community. Because it's so important that in person connection. And at the same time I think it's really okay to feel lonely and to honor that and be really gentle with yourself.

Had you always had girlfriends that you could call or how did you start getting like minded girlfriends in your life? Like what did that initial even outreach look like?

Like wow. I think I had to go through some really horrible female friendships.

Same. Thank God for them.

Thank God for them. They were some of my deepest, greatest spiritual teachers.

Yes. And the person who I was, I definitely attracted that as well.

Same. And I send love to that girl as well.

Same.

I think that those relationships there was. It just created so much polarity of what felt good in my body and female friendships and what didn't. So that I could start to smell it so far away.

Same.

You know, it's like what we were saying earlier. Like we've known each other through the ethers since 2017. It's a long time. And we don't necessarily talk all the time or you know, spend time. But there's a. A real safety I feel with you and with the women that I. I've called in as my dearest friends and I think part of it is also really recognizing that you don't need a million girlfriends. Like, if you have one or two or three that are your inner, inner tribe, you're blessed that there are women who come into your life for a reason. A season or a lifetime. That's one of my absolute favorite metaphors. And I. I have a whole chapter in my new book called Female Friendships the Greatest Medicine of All. Because I believe that you're not there yet. It's okay. You'll get there. You'll love that.

It'll be your favorite chapter.

I say that our parents, you know, kind of create the traumas that we're here to. To really come into this life to heal. Our romantic partnerships are where we actually do the healing, because they're such freaking mirrors and containers for that kind of growth. And our female friendships are the. The places where we actually get to go the deepest. Like, there is a sense of emotional intimacy that you have with a girlfriend that is unlike any other relationship in life. And because of that, it can create a lot of triggering. And if we do our own work, if we do our own light work, and we meet those relationships with consciousness and responsibility and authenticity and vulnerability and trust and compassion and really look at our own, like, we're all prone to, like, a little bit of jealousy and sometimes gossip and totally competitive natures and, you know, loneliness in those relationships. And when we can name those feelings and really claim them as ours and find the right girlfriends to work through them with, like, that is the biggest. I call it the biggest medicine of all. And so I've been very. I've done a lot of my own work. I've called in a lot of women who are doing theirs. Yep. And those are the deepest friendships in my life. Those are the most treasured relationships in my life. I would be nowhere without them.

I love hearing that. That's the biggest thing for me, too, is, like, finding those other women who are also, like, fully responsible for how they are showing up. And they get. They get that portion. Like, if we know going into a relationship, like, honestly, whatever results you and I get, whoever else gets, like, I'm fully responsible.

Yes.

For whatever. Whatever I'm experiencing, because I can choose at any time to pull out of that experience. I can choose to put a boundary up. I can choose to speak my truth and say, you know, I. I had abandonment issues, and this is how that made me feel. And whatever this looks like, and that's been. That's been huge for me with girlfriends, is like, actually finding the ones who can speak that same language that I just said so that I can use this language to be able to finally, like, express how I feel if things aren't maybe feeling great. Because I haven't had one relationship where I haven't been triggered. Not in like, a crazy way, just in a, like, oh, this is really bringing something up for me. And sometimes it's. Even around, you know, you could get really close to someone and all of a sudden everything is going right, but you make it wrong because you're like, what if I lose this person? Or what if, you know, I like them more in this? Like, we have all these crazy things that come up, girl, preach.

I feel so seen as you're saying all of this.

It's. It's definitely, yeah. Girlfriends are one of the most healing, healing places I have ever experienced because we both are obsessed with our partners. Like, I've been married. It'll be, oh, my God, is it 20 years this year? 19 years, August. But together, like, 21 or 22 years.

Your, like, whole life.

Like, my whole life of. Of what I remember. And while that relationship, I mean, that's gone through its own, like, journeys, lives and deaths and all of the things. But being married is not enough.

It sure ain't.

He can't be everything for me, and I tried to make him be everything for me in the beginning, and let me just tell you, it. It did not go well. Like, that's when our relationship was the worst, is when I wanted him to be my best friend, my confidant, my cheerleader, my. Just all of these things. That. That's way too much pressure for one person.

I feel like I'm looking at a mirror saying all this. I've been with Brian for 12, and those first few years were the hardest. I wanted him to fill all of my cups, and I expected him to be there for me and meet every single need all the time. And it was just such a recipe for resentment and on both sides. And I've learned how to fill that cup myself in certain ways. For example. And with friends like Brian, believe it or not, he's not much of a world traveler. He likes to go to, like, Florida to golf. We, you know, like to go to LA and California. But he's not going to, like, go to the Amazon and jungle with me.

And you feel called. You're just like, bring me to the edges of the earth.

Bring me to. And I've been there. I've gone with my best friend, like, and so great. That's my Partner. We've traveled to 15 countries together. And Brian, we've created a lot of safety in our marriage where he lets me fly and values my best friend Megan for being that person for me. Totally. You know, and that was a journey to get to. But I think the best thing about friends, when you find them and they can fill those needs in the space of being a highly powerful women woman, and I think we're all powerful, is really finding girls who can support you. Rising.

Yes.

Who aren't only there for you when you're down. Like, the real test of a friend is like, can she hold space when you are expanding and shining and succeeding without any of her own projection or attachment to it? And I think that's an even more special type of friend to find. And, you know, because your husband, our partners, are like, you go, girl. We're going to always cheer. They're always going to cheer for us. But there's, you know, I think an unprogramming I. At least I'm offering with my work, with my book, with my conversations, my podcast, where we are really all looking at each other like true sisters. Yeah.

Like, which capital S. Everybody get the book for that? Not just that chapter, but really for that chapter as well.

Because of my favorite chapter.

Yeah, it's. It's been.

It's been.

I can honestly say girlfriends has probably been the most healing thing I've ever experienced. But I had to learn how to be a girlfriend.

Absolutely.

That was a journey in and of itself. But for all the places that I've been able to go, I can look back and say I can see the containers of, like, girlfriends that I had during those times that really got me through. Like, I would not be where I am. I'd be dead with same same. I would be alone, dead in a puddle or in a corner, rocking. Because having those experiences that they get you back to yourself.

Yes, they sure do.

Oh, my gosh. Like, we can do all of the work in the world out there and we have to on ourselves, but it's like the work doesn't actually work until it's also becomes not just personal, but like community.

Yes.

That's the whole thing with. That's why I love your book too. It's like, it's personal development, but then you have to integrate it and you also have to go and get the people, because personal development is great, but you don't get to use it and integrate it into your life until you get to use it with other people.

Yeah. That's really where it Comes to life.

So your book, your new book, the Light Work. I want to know where. Because you wrote another book.

B. Yeah.

When you were, you know, you had your agency and this is, like, what you were known for.

And I love that book. I'm so proud.

So good. So good. And like, your. Your brand is beautiful and all of the things. It's what you're known. It's what you were known for.

You.

This book is a pivot.

It sure is.

It is. You've always been, you know, you've put it out there that you are spiritual. So you've been, like you said, since you were 10 years old. But this is like a. Hey, world.

Oh, yeah. This is.

This is really me fully exposed. I want to know because the book is not released yet. It's not out.

Yes.

Let's fast forward.

Okay.

To the day before it comes out. I had some moments in my book. So I want to know, like, we're going to talk about that pivot in the hard launch. We'll call it a hard launch. The real you.

It's fun, actually.

How are you feeling the night before?

I'm feeling ready. I'm not there yet.

What are we doing to get ready?

Someone who's reading at another podcast interview came in the other day. She's in the middle of it. She's like, you're naked in this book. And that was the best word, because I'm like, I feel so exposed. I feel so raw. It's so vulnerable. I've never shared these things. I can't believe I'm publishing this world. Like, are you crazy? Why did you decide to do this? And the word naked is really the word. And I. I got my own copy the other day. It was so fun to hold it in my hands. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna start to read it.

So fun.

Yeah. And I started reading it, Lori. And I'm not joking. I was lying in bed and I thought I was gonna have a panic attack. Like, my heart started racing, my mind started spinning. I started hyperventilating. Reading this, I'm like, not only because it is my own naked, truthful stories of my. My own journey, but you are right. I am standing unapologetically in the woo, if you want to call it that. These are my spiritual beliefs. I am talking about extraterrestrials, like, in the first page. You know, I was the former CEO of a multi. Multi seven figure company who was serving Fortune 500 CEOs. And now I'm going to talk about aliens. Like, it. It feels like a pivot in a large way. I call it an evolution, but it's a pretty bold evolution.

Yeah.

And so to answer your question, I know that by the. My intention, by the time comes out that night before on August 5th, I'm going to feel ready. I'm going to get myself there. I'm. I heard Spirit say to me as I was processing the next morning, because I got to put this book down. I'm not going to sleep if I keep reading my own book. And I woke up the next morning and I just heard Spirit say. And I, you know, commune with it all the time. Said, this isn't actually about you at all. You were the channel, the vessel for this to come through, but your only job now is to get out of the way. And I really do feel that that's why I wrote it in three and a half months. And thank you for saying it was fast because it was like Most books take 6, 9, 12 months for people to write. My other book took me nine months to write. This came in three months because I didn't wave and write it like my higher self did. So I want to attune back to that higher self the night before, link arms with her and say, let's. Let's go. Let's open the door. Let's open the invitation for other women to see themselves in this story. Because it's not about me. It's about all of us. I am your sister. I'm your teacher. I am your guide. I am not your guru in this book at all, I share how I have made the same mistakes over and over and had to relearn so many of the same lessons in this human experience. But I have been willing to go into the dark in every area of my life. That's where we find our light, and that's why it's called the light. Work. It takes work. We have to hold ourselves accountable, be responsible, not be victims, be sovereign. Face it, go in, not around. And I just don't want women to know what we were just saying about community. You're not alone. You're. Of all the things that are hard, no, you're not alone. And that is really the intention of why my higher self wrote that book.

Well, I love it because it is, like, true. Being unapologetic, like, for me, even. So, you know, my journey has, like, come from a really religious background, really dabbled in spirituality for a while now I'm in this, like, place of trying to figure out where it all fits with God and spirituality. And like, I. It'll be a forever journey for sure. And like, we're always learning different things and the different things in our life like, that happen bring us to different places. So I think for me, what. What was so great about the book is it, like, it allows me to have. I love perspective in life. It's the most powerful. Sure is Thing that we can ever do. So wherever there's a spot where I'm like, I'm not sure about this. And there was some. I will admit there was some in your book, I'm like, I'm not sure because I. I've heard of it, dabbled in some of it, but you gave it. What's so cool, you guys, is, is she also helps you learn a new language. So I got to like, learn a bit of the language in the spiritual world, which I knew about it, but I really actually wanted to. Here's what I don't like when I experience in my life that I do when I'm like, scrolling through the Internet and someone comes on and is. Is giving a completely different idea than mine, and I make a judgment about them. And I'm like, I don't like that because that's not what I think. And I try so hard to not be that. Trust me, when I say hard, it is hard for me. It's because. And so for your book, I was like, keep reading. Like, this is interesting. Keep reading. And I'm glad that I kept read because now I'm not saying, because it didn't even, like, do much of that for me. I was just kind of like, I don't know if this is for me. That's how I first felt. Yeah, I'm so glad I kept reading because I'm. I think I'm on page 75. And I'm like, oh, there's really beautiful messages in here. And I. It actually made me understand a lot of the people that I follow even more and appreciate them more. And so I think for anybody who's even curious about maybe some of the things that you just said, go into it with a. I'm going to use a biblical term. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

From my old school, like, raising like. Like, eat the fruit, spit out the seeds. Because I'm telling you, there are in everything and anything and anyone that we meet. This is why I have such a large network now, is because I don't need people to be a certain way anymore. I can, I can go. Okay. I don't know if that part is for me, but this part of her is really for me.

Yeah.

And so that was something that I just, like, took from your book, that I'm like, I'm literally gonna finish the book. I'm so excited about it because there are. The messages are so beautiful.

Thank you, Laura. I really. I so receive that. And I know it's so funny, you know, being in personal branding, like, I would never call myself an expert, but Forbes called me an expert. Like, I can stand in that world really confidently, and I have my trademark methodologies, and the spiritual space is very nebulous. There's a lot of opinions and people have their own experiences and call it true, but it's. It's. Everyone's a spiritual teacher, in my opinion, because we're all like. I feel that doing the human curriculum right now. We're all students as much as we can be teachers. And I'm not saying with my book, this is the way. I'm saying this has been my way. And I really open it up into all the different explorative modalities and beliefs and philosophies that I've picked up. That. Because I believe that when it comes to quote, unquote, and I'm not a religious person at all, I don't even like to use the word God. I think it's the most personal relationship you will ever have in your life. That connection to whatever that is, whatever you call that thing, it should not be dictated by a priest or a Bible or a rabbi or a Torah or a guru. It's. It's you. You are the source. It's. My book is a message of personal empowerment. And I share a lot of my ways. I figured that out myself. But it's really. The book is divided into three sections, Inner Light, which is how we find and cultivate our personal power, our appreciation for our physical bodies, leaning into the emotional spectrum of being a human being and how we connect to source. Outer light is where our light is tested, which is in relationship with family, lovers, friends, money.

To put it lightly.

To put it lightly. That is really where all of the polarity exists. The dark and the light. The challenges, challenging breakdowns, failures, heartbreaks and trauma and future Light is the last section of the book. That's like my. If anyone's going to take away anything from the book, it's not believe in this or don't believe in this or, you know, keep that seed in your mouth. It's like, you are really important, like, your life, what you do with your career, what you do with your family. What you do with your time is not by accident. It is so incredibly needed. You impact multitudes. The future generations will inherit what we are creating right now in the most micro and macro kinds of ways. And don't take that for granted. Don't undervalue your power. And that is the true lesson that I am hoping. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, no matter where you are in your professional journey, if you're a mom, if you're not a mom, there is something in here for you that I know is going to open you up to that truth.

You know what's so cool? I'm thinking about every story that you shared thus far that I've read. And I'm observing how you had a moment of like, you know, breakdown or something not working in your life. You set an intention that you're gonna. For you, it's, you know, because you love to travel too. For you it's like, I'm gonna go journey somewhere or I'm gonna find someone.

Yeah.

And. But I'm setting this intention on this journey of what I want to be open to and what I want to find.

Yeah.

And I think that when we even do that at all in our lives, it could, it could be like, I'm gonna go to the beach today.

Yeah.

And here's what I want to experience. Here's what I want to do.

Yes.

But we don't do that unless we're kind of like setting this, this time. And what else is interesting is I think we're going to be spoken to through whatever you believe. God, universe, angels, whatever it is. Like I think we're going to be spoken to in a way in our lives that is going to be received at that particular point. Sometimes it's going to scare the shit out of you.

Totally.

Because maybe you're like, wait, is this, you know, coming from a really religious background, There have been times where I'm like, what was that? Or do I believe in this? Or what. What just happened?

Like, so many people feel that way.

Yeah. And like being open to. You're going to be committ. Communicated with in a way that gets through to you. And sometimes you need to be shocked. Sometimes you need to be taken by surprise.

That's typically where you break open.

Yeah.

And find it totally. Those moments of surprise. Because I stayed open whether I. I. Sometimes those things came in and hit me. Sometimes they were just presented really beautifully. Like in a coaching session when my coach at the time pulled out an oracle card deck for the first Time and talked to me about, like, goddess archetypes. I was like, well, this is fun. This is cool. It spoke to you. It spoke to you.

It did something for you exactly where it was able to shift you in a way that something else couldn't.

That's it. That's it. And if you are willing to stay curious, what you said about perspective, it's like, that's the gold. That's what I love about you. I mean, I love a lot of things about you, but you really strike me as like, an insatiable learner, and you really appreciate other people's perspectives and. And take what. What works for you and leave the rest. And that's all we should be doing. That's the only expectation we should put on ourselves. And that is really. And I. I say that in the book because I introduce the Pleiadians in the book and I say. And I bolded this line. I'm like, I'm not here to convince you to believe in aliens if this doesn't resonate.

Right.

I'm just here to offer you a new perspective of what light really is through my own lens and take what works for you here and leave what doesn't. And I. I think we've been maybe programmed, especially from a religious perspective and how we were raised in our DNA and our family systems that, like, this is the way. This is not the way I think the world is waking up. Yeah. I think we are in an incredible time in collective consciousness right now. We are waking up. People are coming back online and remembering that we have agency and choice and not just our spiritual beliefs, but in our lives, everywhere. You know, when.

When you think about it, this isn't that different of a conversation than historically humans have had throughout the world. Because if you even just look at how people in Japan worship, it's a very different.

Yes. Way.

It's completely different. They talk to someone different, they think different, and you cannot shake those beliefs. Just even from, you know, country to country, it's completely different what they believe. And then you look historically like the Romans, and it was all different gods. And, you know, so many things that you can go to Rome and experience and go, oh, we have been thinking this way historically for years, which means we've all been spoken to in a way that we can understand.

Yes.

Like, I can't think that someone on the other side of the country is supposed to understand the same way that I do when I've been raised with a completely different set of beliefs and a completely different culture with different holidays around completely different people.

Yes.

And so I think, you know, talk about separateness being like the biggest challenge of life. Like thinking that one way is right is the most lonely, like, stuck place you will ever be.

I love that you said this. In the first chapter of my book, I talk about how I've tried on, explored, and studied. I don't claim to be an expert in any of them, like Native American traditions, shamanism, Hinduism, Christianity. I was born Jewish, extraterrestrial star families. Like, I know that by understanding the diversity and the expansiveness of other beliefs has made me a more expansive person, a more humbled person, a more open hearted person. This is gonna be so random, but did you see the Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon?

No.

I highly recommend you watch it. I bawled my eyes out at the end of that movie. And really the whole conversation of that movie, the point was, was the conversation of oneness, that we all come from different parts of the world, different tribes, different beliefs, different ages, shapes and sizes. Yes, we have sovereignty. We are different, distinct human beings with our own timelines, but we really all are the same because we're all human and because we've forgotten that that's what's created so much divisiveness and separation and lack of trust in the other, which creates a lack of trust in ourselves. And I just. That is, if I'm gonna say I'm here for anything, it's that one word. You know, Michael Beckwith wrote the forward to my book, and I intentionally asked him because I re. I associate that word oneness with him. And I just think it's. It doesn't have to be this grandiose mission that you take. It's just changing your perspective, catching yourself when you're seeing that Instagram reel that you disagree with and what it brings up in you, and holding that person as their own timeline, their own human experience, it has nothing to do with you. There's something in there, in that trigger for you to look at. And I think if we really did that, that's what I was saying about the future generations. It's so important how we show up right now. And that's the world that I'm trying to create.

I love that because coming I can say in a. Being raised in a religion where it was like, everyone else is wrong, wrong, and you can't even associate with them or read a book outside of it, because it's wrong. And so I don't remember a lot of happy people. They were good people, sure. But I can say that I don't remember a lot of happiness. Like, I remember a lot of like stress and anxiety and fear. And that has taken years of understanding what has caused that. And it is thinking that you are like, alone and in a fight against everyone else and trying to get them to believe like you believe. And that is an isolating, lonely place to be. So I, I love the, just the perspective in the book and all that you offer in it. And one of the things that I loved in it is I love this word. But you me just really think about it just in terms of life in general. And it helped me just even more with challenges. I'm in a place in my life where I'm trying to fall in love with challenges. Like, I, I really do actually love them. But I, I want, I want to like, thank them like when they're here presently. Not like, oh, this sucks. Like, I want to be like, okay, let's diffuse the emotion out of it. Not right away, I know to like feel it, but like, let's. We don't need it. It, we all need it. Because the challenge is like, it's also. It's like eating breakfast. You're gonna have them. Like, it's just, it's gonna be there. So you talk about initiation. I just love that that was something where you, you had spoken about the word for me makes the challenge and the, the hardship in your life that you're going through, it's like, no, this is the initiation to the thing.

Do the thing. Exactly.

It's so good.

Portal. It's the doorway. It's where you are tested. You get to meet yourself. You get to meet the challenge and choose who you're going to be in that. And that creates muscles and strength. I call it light warriorship. Right? You are going through a portal of pain to alchemize that yourself. And I keep coming back to this word agency. Like, you get to choose how you respond to it consciously. And that creates this awakening of just how powerful you actually are. You can handle anything. The journey that I, I think you're referring to in the book, when I went to Egypt, that trip was so massive. I got so sick at the end because I had this huge experience in one of these temples. I literally couldn't eat, I couldn't drink water. I couldn't stop shaking for days. And I was still there on a 20 person pilgrimage in an African continent. Like trekking across buses and new hotel rooms and airplanes. Like, I had to power through that. And I remember having this conscious thought Like I am being initiated right now. There's something deeper here. I'm going to come out from this trip. I'm not going to be here forever. My body's going to restore. I'll start eating again. I'm going to get good sleep soon enough and I'm going to know my own strength when this is done in a new way. And I love that you brought that up, that you're re imagining your relationship with challenge and thanking it. That's, that is so conscious like for you to be able to see because I can only imagine glossy's on fire. I'm so proud of you.

Thank you.

And yet it's hard.

And so every day is hard.

Every day is hard.

I was like, I went from, you know, launches every however often to what feels like a daily launch.

Yeah, I bet, I bet.

I was like, damn. Okay. New perspective needed.

Yeah. And you had such a journey to get there. I want to talk to you about that. When you come on my show, there's so much that goes behind the scenes. I mean every day we've got a micro or to a macro challenge. And I just think we're born to be like the warriors of it and we, we can face it. We're not victims to it.

Where right now in your life would you say you feel you're being initiated.

Going into building a house can be.

In anything and everything?

Yeah. Why exactly? It's just a massive undertaking. My husband and I have bought five acres of land and we, we've, you know, hired this architect who's built a very ambitious plan and it's not even about the house. You know, I'm launching a book. It's a, that's a pop up business. I'm, I started a new business. I'm making great money at it. But you've got to fuel the business to continue to grow the business. Sure. There's just a bit of, I don't want to say scarcity coming up but like how are, how can I hold all of this at once? Totally. And my husband and I have really done a lot of work on our marriage together and we have been, we've been through like what you were saying about you and Chris, like deaths and rebirths. There's been multiple iterations and versions of Ryan and Jessica and we are in a really powerful version of ourselves right now and we're being met with what would have historically really triggered us. Yeah. And so I think we're being in this whole year, we have grand plans is initiating us to move through this with new tools because it's. It's bigger than anything we've ever done, and it has already caused challenges, you know, in our. In our marriage for sure. And so I think it's. And also, I may add one more thing. I'm really stepping forward in this space of spirituality with this new book. And like I was saying before about the opinions and people's perspectives and my heart racing reading my own book the other night, I think I'm really being initiated into standing even more. And I hate to say this because it sounds like low vibe, but it's not, like, just really not caring what people think anymore. Yeah. You have to, like, and I don't, but I do. And it's like, right in. Like, how do I really allow it? This is how. Yeah, like, exactly. I think I'm about to be initiated into that. If I'm gonna be.

And you'll be so free on the other side of whatever that looks like. It's gonna be so good.

Thank you. Yeah.

You've written your freedom pass, which is so cool.

Thank you for saying that.

Yeah. Yeah. It's exciting.

I. I feel your genuine love and support for my. My work and my being in the world, like, since the second I met you. And, you know, it's the same for you. It's such a sisterhood.

Well, I'm just so excited we had this conversation, truly. I'm, like, feeling weepy.

Me too.

I don't know if it's because I stayed up late listening to country music with good part of Nashville, but I think it's just this moment. I think it's all the things. Which, by the way, you have to go to the writer's room if you haven't been there yet.

No, stop it.

Okay. I'm just doing, like, a big plug for the writers room right now.

Tell me everything.

Okay. So Brit was like, you have to go. Brit Driscoll, who is also your. You guys are, like, you know, amazing friends. And she's like, this is an experience that I bring everyone from out of town to. And I'm like, okay, you know, what is it? How amazing can this be? What it is, is, it's like, all of the songwriters for a lot of the, like, celebrity. I've heard of stars. I think I've heard it's life changing. I cannot wait to book another trip to come back. Like, if I lived here, I think I would go weekly. Wow. Because they. They truly channel like they are. They get in a room. They do what we essentially do. They Mastermind together. So they get two to three brains or more in a room. They all just start, like, riffing that the creative process. They tell you about it. They tell you where the song came from. One person has an idea that ping pongs off of another person's idea. It's like, like, I want to go back tonight. That's how much I'm like, I gotta go.

I'm going. Right. My husband is obsessed with country music. You're.

You. Like, you need to. Yeah. Last night Jack was like, I want to buy a permanent table here. I'm like, can you. He's like, I don't think so.

I mean, if they can, let's talk about it. I just want to say about Nashville, like, I'm biased every time I'm on any. I talk about Nashville. I should get paid by Nashville.

You really need. You need affiliate link for Nashville. No joke, Lori.

Like, you're listening. Call me. I'm your walking billboard. And I just feel like there's a creativity here and there's a synergy here. And country music, whether you love it or not, you can't deny the magic of the storytelling of it. Yes. And I just think because that's sort of the seed of this soul of the city, it's created this really sacred energy of community and creativity, and you can just feel it. And so when you go into places where it's literally the genesis of that.

Yes.

I can only imagine how special that was. Yeah.

So go. Everybody who comes and visits, go.

Yeah. Okay.

Well, I'm so grateful for you. You guys go grab her book. The light work. I know that you have some bonus. We're putting this out so that you guys can get the bonuses because she's made a ton of cool stuff for you. So.

Tell me about it. I poured my heart into these bonuses. Okay, Laura, you get it. You get. When you or pre order the book, you get a sneak peek into the book. So at the back of the book, there's this whole resource guide called the Light Workers Toolkit. It's dope. It's got like, my favorite crystals, Oracle card decks, essential oils, a playlist I made like, go to guide of, like, how to raise your frequency. You get that right away. You get two live group coaching calls with me. You get a ticket to my live virtual event on August 8th. I'm doing it out of stage events with Michael Beckwith, Koi Webb, Danielle Page. It's online technically. And then you get a brand new first ever released masterclass called how to Take Your brand from the 3D to the 5D. Really talking about the magnetic, feminine power of a brand and how it impacts your marketing and sales. So it's a really one of a kind training. A lot of people have taken it and they're like, giving me the best feedback. It's. It's really kind of unlike anything else. You get all of that with one book. It's about a little under $3,000 worth of value and time and bonus material. And it's only for pre orders. So if you're listening to this now, go grab a book and you'll get all of that good stuff. And it's at thelightworkbook.com thelightworkbook.com. yeah.

And you guys, we've put this podcast out so you don't have to wait too long.

Exactly.

We wanted you to get the bonuses and then you also get the book coming in like a couple days. Yeah, a couple weeks. Gonna be great. Couple weeks.

Yeah, it's gonna be perfect.

It's gonna be a little surprise when it comes in the mail that I love. All of those bonuses are freaking amazing.

I love it.

And you guys, honestly, I didn't know what direction this conversation was going to go in today. And it was so perfect. But only also, one of the biggest things is when you do work like this, it does impact your life and your business. And I. What I have learned is the more work that I do on myself to get in alignment with myself, however that looks, the more of a magnet you are for abundance. All the right people, money, all of the right things, the place that you want to live, everything just gets exponentially better. So, you know, I've done like 1100 podcasts now. I can literally tell you that, that there is a through line with every successful person, is the business stops growing. If they stop growing, I say that's.

One of my favorite mottos. It's the truth.

It's the truth. You cannot. You can't outgrow yourself.

No.

And so it's like always expanding and always doing the work, which I think this book is a really great guide to guide yourself through because you have amazing, like, questions and different things to work through throughout the whole book, which I'm like, you get deep right away, which is perfect. We don't wanna. We don't wanna waste time, so it's great. So I'm so grateful for you.

I'm so grateful for you. Lori Harder.

Thank you for coming on the show. You guys go give her a follow. Let her know what your biggest takeaway was. I think that's always so much fun to see who actually listened to the podcast. Let us know if you're gonna grab the book.

So your Instagram handle is at Jessica Zweig. That's how you say my last name, by the way. Everyone's always like, zwig, swag. And it doesn't bother me when people mess it up. It's. That's my whole life. But Jessica Zweig is my handle.

Jessica Zweig. Make sure you go give her a tag. Give me a tag. Let us know what your biggest takeaway was from the podcast so we can see you and reshare. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.