Human Design vs Hustle: Authenticity Is the New Algorithm w/ Emma Dunwoody

What if the real algorithm for success isn't on Instagram but inside your own energy? Welcome back to the podcast, you guys. Today's guest, Emma Dunwoody, is a human design expert, master coach, behavioral specialist, and the host of the number one global human design podcast. Through her groundbreaking work with transformational human design, she's helping thousands of people unlock their inner wisdom, reclaim their power, and rewrite the rules of success. In this episode recorded live together in studio in Miami, Emma and I go deep into how she built the world's top human design podcast without niching. Pushing down and what that means for your brand. Why no one wants a guru anymore and how showing the real you creates deeper trust with your audience. The surprising rules Emma had to break from living with dyslexia and depression to designing a business and life of total freedom. The manifestation hot take about the energy of waiting that we can so often find ourselves in and why the how doesn't matter when you are truly living your design. This episode is raw, rebellious, and it's packed with the kind of insights that will make you rethink the way that you create your success. So if you're ready to clean up your frequency, trust yourself even more deeply, and step into some more magnetism and authenticity, this episode is for you.

You guys are going to love it. And if you want the video, make sure to check us out on YouTube so you can see us live in person in studio together.

Without further ado, let's welcome Emma to the show. Welcome to the Makeshift Happen podcast. I'm your host, Samantha Daly, entrepreneur, life coach, and your no BS bestie, here to bring you all things mindset, manifestation, and personal development.

This podcast is designed to help you expand your mind and uplevel your life.

So turn the volume up and roll the windows down if you're coming along for the ride. Let's go make shift happen.

All right, we're live. Welcome to the show, Emma. I'm so excited that you're here all the way from Australia. We're live in person in studio in Miami. This is so fun. Welcome to the show. How are you feeling?

Yeah, good, good. I'm excited to be here. This is— it's so much fun doing these in person, you know, because obviously most of mine are over, you know, riverside, over on the internet. So it's so beautiful to be here in person.

I know, we have such a lovely vibe here. We were just saying it's so serene, this kind of peaceful energy. There was like some spa music playing. So this is fun. It's definitely so such a different vibe when you get to record in person with people also, because you feel that connection and that energy. So I'm grateful that we got to do this. But speaking of podcasting, I wanted to start by asking you about your show, because you've created the number one Human Design podcast. Like, a pretty crazy accomplishment. And I think, you know, in the business landscape today, there's a lot of conversation around this idea of niching down and being really narrow so that you can really succeed or grow a social following. But then there's this other school of thought that's more about building a personal brand and having people be invested in the individual and sharing a multitude of interests and things. And so I think, you know, a lot of people would look at the success that you've had with this podcast and say, oh, that's because she niched down and it's so specific of just being the Human Design podcast. But I know that that's not necessarily how you feel about it. So can you share with us kind of the real magic behind the journey of the podcast and how it grew into what it is today?

Yeah, I love this question because it's something that as an entrepreneur I've wrestled with for so long because I'm a manifesting generator. So the idea of niching down is, you know, like I'd rather poke myself in the eye. Yeah. It's not something that comes naturally to me and it's not something that I want to do. So early on in my business, um, career. Before Human Design, I tried so hard to shove myself into one box and to really get super clear on one thing and stay with one group of people. And, you know, yes, business was successful, but it was never as successful as it became once I discovered Human Design. And one of the big things that I really understood quickly with the podcast was I was there every week sharing my Human Design experiment. Now, I still talk about Human Design as this, this macro Human Design piece, um, and most people these days have really niched down. But at the end of the day, what I'd learned over that journey was it's not about who I think I am or who I think I serve. My role is to be the most authentic version of me. So as long as I'm sharing the experiment, whatever that— my experience, my Human Design experiment, what I'm learning, and if I'm going deep on something, share that, you know, and then business became such a big topic for me because it was my personal journey. And then my Line 5 wanted to take it to the world. So I am very cautious about telling people you have to niche down because there's so many of us that are just not designed that way. So I like to think of the whole niching down piece, it's more about becoming authentically you. So if you are the most authentic version of you, if you understand why people are drawn to you. So I know people are drawn to me because they wanna hear my experiences and they want my solutions. They want me to coach them. Um, they also want the breakthrough. People come to me because I'm gonna deliver a breakthrough. They don't know this like mentally. Energetically, they know this. You know, they also come to me, and it's interesting because you and I have the same, um, South and North Node on our personality side. And I heard you talking on another podcast about this. People come to me without knowing that they're here to be empowered. You know, it's the same for you because we have the 34 in our North Node. So I don't really see— I don't— I feel like niching down can be very mental work, but when we understand that the role we're here to really fulfill is an energetic role, it's this authenticity role, then niching becomes a little bit different because it becomes about authenticity of self and what, however you're here to serve, as opposed to trying to work it out through the mind.

I have a friend who's awesome at social media. She's an amazing creator and she talks about this idea of niching down within yourself. And so it's like, it's not the niche, but like you are the niche in a sense, but that only works to your point, if you're actually being that most expressed authentic version of yourself. I think like there's such a big conversation around authenticity, right? But something that I've even experienced in showing up online, especially in the digital space, is even when you feel like you are being your authentic self, there's always— seems like there's always another layer because you hang out with people or you go on retreats, you host retreats, you meet people in person. And they're like, wow, like you're even better in person than you are online, or you're even cooler in person than you are, or you're even funnier in person than you are online. And I think a lot of us get these comments and, and we know that there's these other facets to our personality that come on when we're just like in our natural habitat. Mm-hmm. And it's hard to present them on camera or for social media. So in your experience of, you know, all the years that you've been in business and growing this like digital empire, have you also felt that you've— you didn't feel, or maybe you did, but like, I never felt that I was being inauthentic online. But when I reflect back on how I showed up in the beginning compared to how I'm showing up now, I'm like, wow, there's so many— there were so many more layers of authenticity to be peeled back. And what was your experience of that kind of like?

Well, I think it's— this is interesting. I've reflected on my own journey and asked a lot of people about this. And I think what happens is, especially in the beginning of our journey, um, in the world that we're in, we're already on our personal development, our spiritual development journey. Yes, we're growing and evolving, so we're changing. We're maybe not our most aligned selves, but there's still this really pure authenticity about us because we're just like in the messy middle and we're sharing that experience. I think somewhere we get tripped up a bit as entrepreneurs where we We build our business to a certain level that our identity all of a sudden becomes the business instead of this authentic version of us that's just running this experiment or, you know, taking this message out or whatever. And it's, it's pure and it's innocent and it doesn't have any attachment. And then I think we get to this place where we're like, wow, I haven't this sort of level of audience. And at some point. We just kind of gently take our foot off the accelerator. And I don't think we realize we do it, but we get stuck in this conditioning. It's like the next layer of conditioning of, well, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a face of a brand, if you have X amount of, you know, um, revenue, this is the way you should behave. Now, I know for me, I never considered that. Like, I'm very big on being my authentic self, breaking all the rules, doing it my own way. But I noticed that I'd kind of fallen into that area. And I think that's where that gap comes, where, because as soon as people turn up in person with us, you don't have kind of this, this ever so gentle handbrake on because you just relax, you relax into the space. And I know for me, and it's for many years now, one of the things that I've noticed is the feedback I get is like, you are the same wherever you go. Like whether you're on the podcast, in person, anything. And it's because I identified that even every level we go to, we're going to hit the collective consciousness. We're going to hit the collective conditioning. And even if it's super subtle, we potentially will fall into that. And once we see it, that's when we go, okay, I've got to let go of this because I've created something that isn't normal. Like we are at the cutting edge of building this whole different world of entrepreneurship, of wealth, of success, of You know, no longer giving our power away. So we just have to be conscious that every time we forge new ground, we've got to make sure that the unconscious mind and the collective consciousness isn't, you know, quietly creeping in. Because I think that's what that gap is.

Hmm. Yeah, that's so interesting. As you were saying that, I was kind of reflecting on my own experience. And I do feel like I have felt that at certain times where the identity becomes about the business. And then you have to— it's almost like this practice of like continuing to come back to the remembering of like who you actually are as like the person behind the personal brand. Exactly. Um, and not letting the personal brand become the business. Yeah, I've definitely felt that. Um, even like I was just having conversations with clients recently about how when you get to a certain level in this, you know, digital education space, it can be really easy to just lean into like that authority side of things or the kind of look at me side of things or the look what we've created kind of energy. And it's so interesting when you reflect back on like, well, how did I build my community to start with? Exactly. Like when I was nobody and there was no reason for anyone to trust me or care about what I was talking about, what was I doing? Who was I being? And I think it's a really amazing invitation for all of us, no matter where you are in business, to again return, like you're saying, to that authentic self that isn't trying to fit into that box because now you have the 7-figure business or whatever it is. But you're like, oh no, I used to just like show up and talk about random stuff and share, you know, the things that I was experiencing, or not have to be the expert all the time, which I think is something that we can easily fall into as well, of feeling like I can only show up as an authority, I can only be the expert, I can only speak to the things that I have the solutions for and that I can solve the problems around. But it's actually so refreshing when you could say, hey, like, I'm trying this new thing, I don't know how it's going to work out, follow me, come join me on this journey. And so yeah, I've been having that conversation a lot with my clients, and it's even something that like I'm wanting to work on too, is let's go even harder into that, like more of the personal side of the personal brand again.

I love every— all of that. It's— and I think that's something that's so important because Again, we are creating a new world. And in that process, we have to get away from these old school labels. And this is how it's done. And like you said, we have to remember the innocence that created the path in the first place of, you know, I don't worry about being the authority. All I'm concerned about is showing up and sharing what I have to share. And, you know, I think that's also something that I'm seeing um, kind of in the background, like where there's a lot of really big names, really big guru-type names who can't work out why their businesses aren't working anymore. And it's because no one wants a guru anymore. Like, yeah, it's not about being the leader out the front anymore. This— the entire world's changing. We're all learning to lead ourselves, to become individuals, to empower ourselves. So if we stand out the front and say, look at me, then we're going to lose audience hand over fist because people aren't interested in that anymore. They're so tired of, I'm the guru. I know I've got all the answers.

And I know it's also just boring. Oh, it's boring to listen.

And it's arrogant and it's cocky. And it's like, you don't know me, but you, you have a bunch of tools that got you where you are. How about you share your experience or whatever your superpower is and help me do the same? And I know that that's one of the things that makes our marketing very different and our whole brand very different is You know, people always will say to me, how do I succeed? And I'm like, I don't know how you succeed. I know how I succeed. Um, and I've, you know, so many business coaches, entrepreneurs, they're out there saying this is the way to succeed. No, it's not. That's the way you succeed. Like, great. There's going to be a bunch of people that, that, that will succeed the way that you're teaching, but there's also going to be a bunch of people that think they're a failure. Because they don't succeed that way. So for me, it's not about teaching this, this is the method. For me, that's why I love Human Design, because I'm gonna teach you how to be you, and you're gonna be the authority. You're gonna be the guru in your own life. You're the one that can break all the rules, become the rebel, and just basically say, that's it, I'm not interested in the cookie cutter. I don't succeed that way. Um, this is actually the way I go, and I can trust myself. I can trust my strategy. The way I'm designed to be in the world.

So good. I always say self-trust is my number one business strategy. That's like one of my, one of my quotes.

I love that.

The audience listening is probably like, we get it, she said.

I feel like all the time I'm like, the one thing that all successful people have is belief in themselves.

Yeah, self-trust of knowing the path and that it's going to be unique and not the same as everyone else's. You've mentioned a couple of times now kind of breaking the rules. So I'm curious about what are some of the societal rules that you had to break in order to create success for yourself?

Well, I suppose the, the first one was I was diagnosed with dyslexia really, really young. So I thought I was stupid, you know, and so for many years creating any success, I just thought that I wasn't going to be able to do it because I couldn't do it the way everyone else did it. Now, I think I was in my late 20s when I realized that one of the things that most dyslexics have is genius. And the reason why they label us as there's something wrong with us is because we don't fit into the education system. We don't process information the same way as other people. But if you want a visionary, and that's what I am, I'm a visionary, that's the role in my business, um, then go pick a dyslexic because we do not see the world the way most people see the world. We see it in a much more expansive way. So, you know, it started really early for me. Um, the next one was when I was diagnosed with depression and panic disorder, and the leading specialist in Melbourne said, well, you'll never heal from this, but you'll learn to manage it. And here I am in the darkest time of my life, considering taking my own life for years, and something inside of me just went, I call bullshit. This isn't true. And I said to him, I remember saying to the psychologist, I'm like, no, but if you can just tell me how I got here, I'm sure I can get out of it. And he's like, oh, it doesn't work that way. And I was like, yes, it does. So that's when I started learning about the brain, about neuroplasticity, about, um, psychology, behavior, quantum physics, like all— I went down the spiritual path all at the same time. So I've really felt that everywhere I've broken the rules, even with my business. So I think it's fascinating. All of these huge entrepreneurs now are talking about downsizing their team because of AI. And these are people that they're stressed, they're making millions, but they're stressed out. They have huge teams to run. They've got massive investments going into the business. And the whole time I'm like, I don't want a big team. I don't care how big the business gets. We need to run. We've got a core team of 3. And then we've got a team of coaches and a PR person. And I'm like, I don't want to be business. I don't ever want to be business because that's what I thought I wanted. But I, you know, well, cause that's what society sells you.

Exactly. Kind of the dream.

So, you know, even down to our marketing, you know, the way we market, um, we market in alignment to my design and most people are like, but you're marketing to other people. So it has to be about them. I know my core, my target audience. Like I can pick her on the street. Like I know her really well. But at the end of the day, it's my energy that's attracting them to us. So in so many ways, like, I have just, you know, broken the old model and just rebelled against who everyone else tells me I should be. And instead, I've just chosen to trust my own authority and the guidance and the mentors that I'm sent, and, you know, the path that shows up in front of me. Because so many years I just tried to force myself to I think one of my coach's favorite, you know, systems or the things she would tell everyone was like, just model, just find the person that's got the results that, that you want and just model them. And I did it and I did it and I did it. And all I did was got burnt myself out, you know? So it was that real like, okay, no, other people's stuff doesn't work for me. And it's not to say that I haven't taken pieces from all sorts of different entrepreneurs because I'm a manifesting generator. That's what I do.

It's kind of like weaving your own tapestry of the different strategies that you pick up. From people, but like making it your own thing that kind of works for you.

Yeah. But even my podcast, you know, like there's so many rules about how you create a podcast now and you know how many times you need to, um, you know, you've got to go live the same days every week. You've got to have the same amount of episodes. You've got to do it this way. You've got to do it that way. And again, we just follow strategy and authority instead, because otherwise if I don't have that passionate energy for something, cause I'm an MG, if I don't have that energy for it, if I don't trust what my internal guidance system is telling me, then what's the point of me teaching what I teach? Because at the end of the day, all my success has come from following my design, not from what someone else has told me.

Yeah. That's so interesting. So do you just kind of like flow and upload whenever? You don't have a consistent schedule?

So I have a bit of both. Everything for me seems like it's a bit of a hybrid, you know, like Um, there's always guests that I want to talk to. So we've always got enough kind of, we'll have a guest a week and then we'll have a solo podcast a week. Um, and that one, like sometimes it doesn't happen because it has to be really like, if I don't have energy for it, I'm not going to do it. And often my ego will freak out, you know, like it'll be like, what are you doing? You know, it's going to affect the numbers. Oh, hang on a second. I don't care about that. I'm not here to get the biggest numbers. I'm not here to have the greatest followers. I'm here to inspire an audience into action. I'm here to build something that's going to help people build a better life, to work less, live more, to have an impact and a purpose. That's what I'm here for. I'm not for all these metrics that everyone else talks about. So, so yeah, I, I feel like a lot of my, um, business is very instinctive and intuitive. Like I've also just launched a, um, a private, a secret podcast. I love those. Yeah. And it's just me because I, all my friends are like, God, I love it when you leave me a 10-minute voice message. I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, I hate, like, I don't have time for a 10-minute voice message. But all my friends would listen. Listen on 3x speed. Yeah, exactly right. Um, and enough people had said it to me that I was like, well, maybe I should turn that into a podcast because again, MG, um, it's something that I'd love to do, but didn't really think too much about it. Then all these people kept saying it. My sacral's like, yep, I got energy for this. My emotional authority's like, yeah, we got clarity. Let's do it. So it just became this, I'm going to talk to my friend for 10 minutes and, you know, challenges I'm going through in my life, I'm sharing it on the Secret Podcast. Um, whatever's happening in the business, I'm sharing it on the Secret Podcast.

Yeah, just more intimate.

Exactly. So again, it's just following. The breadcrumbs that lay down in front of me.

Yes, I say that all the time. Oh my God. Okay, so many things that I've resonated with. Um, when you were talking about the small team, I've always been like that too. Like, I just love, like, running a lean business. Um, so I don't know if that's like a mani-gen thing or—

I just— freedom thing. We need freedom.

Yeah, yeah. And I think I'll never forget also just feeling really validated in that, listening to Sophia Amoruso in an interview once say, like, I never want to be a CEO again. Um, with, you know, the whole like rise and fall of Nasty Gal and the huge— I mean, that was, you know, a size of a business that I can't even fathom or imagine, especially when you're dealing with physical products and fashion and other things. But yeah, that's never been— I don't think that's ever been the dream for me. And so I've never really wanted to build in that way. But yeah, I love the idea of a secret podcast. We've done them kind of like in short stints when we're leading up to the launch of something. But my audience doesn't know this yet, but we are definitely in the works of doing a more consistent kind of behind the scenes secret podcast because those crush. But I'm curious your perspective because I know you're a mani gen as well and, you know, kind of mentioning how you like to flow with your structure of the podcast. Obviously there's an overflow of guests wanting to be on the show, so you have that really consistent. But with the solo episode, sometimes it's just not there. I've definitely found that for myself too. Like the bigger the business gets and the busier we become, the more narrow I think my channel is for creative energy to just be like, okay, what's the concept? Let me come up with something. Especially also because my strategy is to respond. Exactly. So I find the solo episodes, I love them. And once I get into the flow, like they're the best. And I know my audience loves them too, like they're obsessed with them. And I, and I want to and plan to do more. But I'm wondering if you have any like Human Design guidance on how to get tapped in when you're not responding to like the questions or anything like that?

Yeah, so I love this question because it's definitely a challenge I've had in the past. And really it comes— the simplicity of it is it just comes down to not having something to respond to that you're lit up about. So one of the things that we do is we make sure we do like an Ask Me Anything probably, you know, once every few months, but we always make sure we've got a bunch of questions sitting in the background so I can go through a list of questions. Like, what do I want to respond to? We also have, obviously, with the rise of AI and ChatGPT, everything that, all our marketing, everything runs through ChatGPT. So we also have like, write me the top 20 podcasts that my listeners want to hear. So I actually give myself all of these things in the business to respond to. Now the old model would be like, okay, well now I have to talk about this on this day and this on this day and this on that day. But for me, it's a lot more fluid. It's like, I know I want to sit and talk or sit and record on a Monday. That's what I will tend to do. And then I'll just go through the list and then whatever I've got energy for, that's the one I'm going to talk to. And sometimes I'll be like, oh, there was this other one I really want to talk to. So I'll also record that one. So I try and keep it— it's always a balance between, okay, I need some structure, And I need it to be in a way that it keeps in alignment with my, my design. So it has to be in response. The other thing that's really always worked brilliantly for me is my community. So whatever my HDX crew, whatever questions they're asking, whatever they're curious about, and whatever I'm studying, whatever I'm curious about in that moment. So I'm just super aware in my, you know, just in my life, what is it that I could sit down with my friend right now and like bang on about? Because that'll often be something that, you know, I'll just go and do a podcast on. So it's like just being aware 7 days leading up to, you know, okay, well, what are the things I feel like I have energy about and energy for?

Yeah, I need to do more Ask Mandy things. It's so easy, obviously, because it aligns with my strategy. I'm like, it's so silly, but it's so true.

Like, and, and you're like, give me any question and I could talk for like an hour. Exactly. So, I mean, that's a generator manifesting generator thing. It's also a line 5, like line 5s, give them a microphone and they're away. So yeah, like it's, it, we, we've found ways that we can, I can constantly be in response. You know, I also do, um, podcasts, like I'll unpack a famous person's, uh, design on the, uh, potty or like for you, like you could even potentially like talk about someone's business and maybe their business growth or how, you know, um, you've seen it change or something that you're curious about, um, that potentially is going to help the audience.

Okay, so I have something I think you're really going to love and your business is going to love it even more. Do you want to steal the strategy I've been using to seduce premium buyers and sell out my offers on Instagram Stories? Chances are you're already posting, You're already making sales, but if your Instagram stories aren't working as hard as you are, you're leaving money on the table. Sold Out Stories is going to teach you exactly how to change that so that you can sell out any offer at any price point. And even high-caliber coaches miss this because selling on stories isn't about how much you post or how frequently you show up face to camera. It's about psychological sequencing and the way you're posting right now might be giving the premium buyers in your audience this. Ick. Documenting your day and hoping it builds trust, posting look-at-me content and calling it authority, sharing client wins as soon as they drop in instead of strategically weaving them into a story selling sequence designed to drive demand and convert sales. We both know that you're not here to learn how to show up more. You're here because you know your content could be converting faster and more effectively. Sold Out Stories is gonna give you 5 high-converting story selling frameworks built specifically for premium buyer psychology. Inside, you'll get over 6 hours of deep dive video trainings, real IG story breakdowns, and live walkthroughs that show you exactly how to elevate your slides from authority building all the way to offer flow in less than 10 slides. My clients have already been using these frameworks to pull 5-figure sales days while posting less. One client generated 14 premium leads from a single story sequence. Another Victoria Ward sold out her event in under 6 hours with just 8 strategic story slides. No sales calls, no paid ads, just the right frameworks. You'll walk away knowing how to sequence for desire, transition into your offer seamlessly, and sell daily without ever feeling salesy.

You already know your offer is incredible, so now it's just time for your stories to sell it like it is.

Grab Sold Out Stories today and turn 10 slides or less into your highest converting content. Let's make your Story, your most profitable one yet. Click the link in the show notes below and I'll see you inside.

Yeah, and also kind of like responding. I've even done episodes where I talk about like the marketing genius of certain celebrities like Taylor Swift or things like that. So yeah, just response to like pop culture, what's going on in the world. Exactly. And I know so many people listening to this who are also podcasters, and even just for content, like even if you're just building a personal brand on social media and you're struggling for the ideas. Like, I think this is a really good conversation to kind of help people remember that you're not, you're not broken because of the fact that you're sitting down at 9 AM saying, get creative, think of ideas, and then like nothing's coming to you, right?

It's just, it's not, it's not natural for most people, and it's not how creativity works. So creativity only comes when there's space.

Yeah.

So if we're, if we're planning our days, if we're like trying to put everything into a shoebox or a, you know, from 9 to 10, I'm going to do this. There's no space for creativity. So if we want to be super creative, we have to create the space. We have to receive creativity. It's not something we do. It's something we receive. You know, I often think about meditation and manifestation. You know, everyone's like, yeah, I'm, I do my visualization, but that, like, that's creating. Yes. That's creative meditation or creative visualization. But to manifest, it takes creation and receivership. Receivership is meditation where you sit there and you do nothing. Like, you just want to sit and be still and receive and listen. Sometimes you'll get something, sometimes you won't. And I think that that's what people miss. If you want to be creative, yes, you can put your creation out there, this doing action, but you have to also equally have the receiving energy to have the creativity. The creativity to come to you.

Yeah, I think that's a, a challenge for a lot of business owners. Like, the deeper they get into their journey, or the bigger the thing is that they're building, when you have this huge, like, vehicle or, or company that you're running, it feels like we— I don't have time for that. I don't have time for, you know, the meditation or whatever. But I even challenge my clients, especially my Mastermind clients that are a little bit, you know, deeper into their business journey, like, okay, for a month we're gonna commit to this like creative vortex challenge where we cut out all the outside noise. Like, we unfollow and mute everyone in our industry. We like kind of put the blinders on really hardcore, and we commit to every day going on non-stimulation walks where there's like no input, no podcast. Because I think that's another thing is the overconsumption that we're all, you know, addicted to in, in some regard of— and I'm, I'm guilty of this as well. Like, we love learning. We love— like, I'm the investigator. Like, I just always want to be consuming something so it's natural, but I have to create the space for my channel to be open and for me to receive those ideas. Something that I've spoken about on the show before, but that became really clear to me at a certain point in my journey, was like, oh my gosh, we're literally plugging our ears to like the divine guidance. Like when we put those AirPods in, when you, you have headphones in all day long, whether you're like cleaning, cooking, walking, like whatever you're doing, like we're plugged. Exactly. Like what the, what the divine guidance is that's wanting to come through. And so really just making it a priority to have the space. I even find, like, I'm sure everyone like feels this too, of like taking a longer shower and actually just allowing yourself— you can't do anything, you can't bring your phone in there, like you're forced. But that's really the time when a lot of creative ideas come through.

Yeah.

So I definitely feel that there. I saw a post of yours that talked about the quote of like, success comes to those who wait, quote unquote. And I know that waiting can kind of be a big conversation specifically when it comes to human design, because that's some people's like strategy is like wait for the invitation. So I'd love to hear your kind of nuanced hot take perspective on waiting, because in my experience, I feel like when I'm wait— when I'm just like waiting for something to happen for me, Waiting attracts more waiting. When I'm in the, when I'm in the energy of, okay, I'm helpless, I can't do anything about this, I'm just waiting for something bigger, better outside of myself to come save me, it's only going to attract more of that experience of feeling like I'm in the waiting.

Yeah, so I love this, and I think there is this whole, um, with Human Design projectors, wait for the invitation. So there's this, this idea that you, well, just sit around on your hands. No, no, no, no, no. That's not how it works. At the end of the day, what we feel is what we're creating. So one of the things that I see a lot in my community is we've got a lot of high achievers. We've got a lot of women who have already succeeded. They've succeeded the old school way, but they're like, they're burnt out. They're not interested. And they're, what they're starting to learn is actually we don't need to do all the doing. We don't need to do all the heavy lifting. So when we start to realize that waiting is more about divine timing, waiting is also about frequency. So if you are waiting and you're trying hard to wait, then you're going to bring more trying hard into your life. The— for me, I think one of the things that we've got to understand, and I mean, like, I'm a little bit older and wiser, you know, one of the big things for me— I wouldn't say wiser, well, Maybe, who knows? Um, but like I've been around long enough to know that, like what you just said about plugging things in and constantly thinking that the answers are out there. Like now, now I know that the actually the answers are in here because, you know, I've actually got to a point where I can't listen to podcasts all the time. Like I was addicted. I've read thousands of books, like, and then probably a number of years ago, I just stopped.

Did it start making you anxious? Because that happened to me. I would listen to podcasts and I would be like feeling like I— I'm like, oh, I'm gonna listen to this while I'm on a walk, but then the walk would no longer be peaceful. The walk would feel like work. Yeah. And then I'd be like, oh, that was really good, let me like take my notes app out, write it down. Exactly. And then I would like feel the anxious like pressure in my chest because you have to do something.

You have to take action.

Exactly.

So I like, I cut them out too. I like stopped. I was like, I'm, I'm unplugging from personal development for a while.

And I think that that's one of the things we need to do, because once we do, we start to realize— I know for me, there's oftentimes where I'll be working on something, um, and it's something that's perhaps come from one of my insights. And I'm, you know, maybe I'm writing something on it, maybe I'm discussing it with friends, maybe it's a concept that just came to me, um, you know, in meditation or tea ceremony, which I'm obsessed with. Um, and then I'll listen to a podcast, and I wouldn't have listened to a podcast for weeks, let's say, and it's a topic that everybody's talking about. And I'm like, well, crap. Like, this is something I've literally been contemplating this whole time. I'm working on, I'm building, and it makes me realize, oh my God, I don't need to listen to everything out there because it's coming straight through me. If we wait for it to come from someone outside of us, you're already late. And it's not even like you're, you're not only potentially late, but, you know, can we, can we really be late? I don't think we can be late. I don't think that's a thing. I think divine timing is a thing. I think that time is something that, you know, isn't actually the way we think it is. It's not linear. It doesn't work that way. Um, but the other part of that is that it makes you realize that you have your own authentic, unique expression of whatever is going on in the collective consciousness. And if you choose to see it and experience it and contemplate it, teach it, learn it, whatever it is. Through your own lens, then that is your contribution to the planet. But if you end up— and I totally resonate with the anxiety— if you end up listening to everybody else's opinions and what everybody else thinks, then you get in this place, especially from a Human Design perspective. You know, someone like me, I've got an undefined head in ajna, meaning that I'm going to get all stuck in everyone else's ideas. Me, like, trying so hard to find clarity, which I'm not going to get, instead of trusting my own innate wisdom, you know, all the conversations that I have that my sacral goes, that you need to share that. So I do think that we have this challenge because we're in the information age right now where there's nothing new. Like, I've got to a point where I'm like, I'm not hearing anything new. Like, I've been there, especially the beginning. Like, my journey started over 20 years ago and everything was new and exciting and, oh, this is fascinating. And now I think we're really being called to connect more to our hearts, to our authenticity, to understand ourselves first, and then whatever that is, we need to share it with the world.

Hey, don't forget that every month we are picking a Listener of the Month to win $50 in cash just for showing love to the show. All you have to do is leave an epic review of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, screenshot the review before you hit submit, and DM that screenshot to us on Instagram @makeshifthappenpodcast. And that's it. I want to thank you for being such a loyal listener and show my appreciation by putting a little extra cash in your pocket. I know it's super easy not to do it, but every single rating and review seriously helps the show rank higher and reach new people, so we appreciate them more than you know. We'll announce the next winner at the end of the month and slide into your DMs if it's you. So keep an eye out and good luck. Love you guys and thanks for supporting Makeshift Happen.

Yeah, and because nothing is really that unique anymore, the thing that makes it unique is you and your take on it. Full circle of like the, you know, going back to the authenticity, bringing more of like the personal side back to the personal brand. Like you're not hearing anything new. And so the only thing that's going to make it fresh or like really land with someone in a different way, in a new way, in a powerful way, is you filtering that through your unique experience, your, your lens of, of life for sure.

And because then the audience actually sees themselves in you or they resonate with your story or they're empowered by what they hear. So it's all intrinsic motivation, whereas my generation, we were all like extrinsically motivated, like you have to strive, push, force, all of those things where we're just moving. Like, we want to be intrinsically motivated. We want it to be something that's coming from in us. You know, I think about my eldest son who is also dyslexic. He really struggled with marks at school for the longest time until one day he said, Mum, I want to go to Steiner School. So we moved schools and all of a sudden being with the right people. And he's a Line 4, so relationships are everything for him. Being with the right people really intrinsically motivated him. So he went from being a D student to the top of the class. No one said, you have to, have to, have to, force, force, force. He intrinsically motivated himself. And that's where we're moving. And I think there's a trainer, a personal trainer in Australia that always talks about like motivation is like a bad boyfriend, never there when you need it. So we have to understand that our intrinsic motivation is so much more important, and Human Design is a way that we can see the mechanics of that. We don't have to just go, what does that mean and how does that feel? Human Design says for you and I, we are sacral beings. So literally our sacral is going to light up. We're going to have energy for it. It's going to be enough passion for, for whatever that thing is. So there's very, you know, practical ways that we know that internal guidance is saying, this is the thing, like, go after it.

Hmm. You have a quote where I heard you talking about you don't need to know how, you just have to believe that your success is inevitable. And how if you have that and you're following, like you said, the blueprint that your Human Design is giving you, that you will succeed. Can you kind of speak to that? Yeah, because it's a common thing, like in manifestation, right, of like, don't focus on the how, Um, but I'm curious your perspective on how that aligns with when you're living your design. It's the how is irrelevant.

Well, it is absolutely because when, so how I remember, um, listening and I cannot remember who I was listening to, but one of the things to understand is when we ask how, we're asking a question from the ego. So we're already asking a question from the 3-dimensional part of ourselves. That says, I need control and certainty, so tell me how I'm going to get there. Now, would you rather take the path that the mind is going to say, well, then we have to go from here to here to here to here. And this is a part of us that has literally access to the past. That's all, just our unique past. It has access to our unique past. And it's asking how. Or do you want to have access to the collective consciousness? Where how doesn't actually matter, because the universe is like, the less you know, the more you believe, the more quantum leaps I can deliver you. So the less invested you are in the how, the more opportunity. Like, you're literally not squashing the quantum possibilities.

It's kind of like how they say dumb luck. Yeah, like when you're more like ignorant to what you should be doing, it almost seems to weirdly work out better.

100%. And I think that that's the thing we need to understand, like, cause that is, I, the, the really practical example I have is my book. So I said on my podcast 2 years ago, I'm like, I think I'm going to do a book. And then one serendipitous thing after the other happened. I had no attachment to it. I just said it one day. And this, a friend of mine was meant to, was approached to write a book. She didn't want to write it. She gave them my name. This particular agent was in London, um, and I happened to be in Spain walking the Camino. I'm like, oh, can I come meet you? I'll come meet you in London. She happened to be able to get a couple of publishers to come see me, come meet me at the time. Um, one of them was an imprint of Penguin. I got signed by this imprint of Penguin. The other thing, I was walking the Camino, so I couldn't put together a chapter. So we had this ghostwriter take my content from HDX, put it into kind of like a, a rough draft. And then I just went through on my phone and I edited and, and this person actually helped me do that with my entire book. Again, being dyslexic, I'm like, really? I have to write a whole freaking book? I know, I was gonna ask you about that. And so she took all of my content, put it into my structure. Then all I had to do is go through and really heavily edit it. Yeah.

And I'm like, which is a dream for someone who responds. Right. Because you're like, here's the draft. Now let me just make it mine. Exactly. But when you're looking at a blank page, oh my God, forget about it. That's my worst nightmare.

And so I'm not even thinking about these things. Um, we just before we launch in the UK and in Europe, um, we still haven't signed with an American publisher and like we know nothing because this is the first book. One of my best friends in, or a good friend of mine at home is a publisher and she's like, what's got this? This is not how it's meant to be going. This isn't how this works. I'm like, okay, and I'm just going with it, right? Um, then we end up having the, the book, um, is passed to a Penguin imprint over here. Um, they also have another Human Design book on there that they're literally like, oh, we wanna, we want a Human Design book, we've got this book. My book appears and like, wow, this is the book looking for. And like, this is another major name, and I'm like, whoa, like, what are the odds of them choosing mine over that person's, right? Yeah. So then we signed a really great deal with, um, this Penguin imprint. Um, we also find out in this little window, um, I'm doing the audiobook in Australia. And again, like, if you want to really punish a dyslexic, put them in a booth, tell them to read out loud with someone watching on. Like, I am literally like, oh, this This is really healing. But even the guy in the booth was amazing, you know, he had a lot of experience with, um, dyslexics, so he was amazing. But we just discovered a mistake. There was a mistake in the book. Like, it wasn't a massive mistake, but it was a mistake. I'm like, this isn't, this isn't right.

You're like, I might be dyslexic, but this—

exactly, right? And I'm a line 3, so everything happens through trial and error. So I'm like, it's very on brand for being And if we'd signed with the American publisher when I wanted to sign, then that would have been— the mistake would have gone out to the US, but it didn't because there was this, this time. And so we fixed it. And the, the one that just launched, um, last month is perfect, you know. Um, and again, like, I didn't— this whole process has just gone from one to the next to the next to the next. Even to the point where people who I have admired and loved and followed for many, many years, they're like, oh my God, I love this book. Come and talk to me. Da da da. Like, where does this— and at the end of the day, I've had no great attachment. I didn't get really stuck on what the outcomes had to be. You know, people say, how's sales going? I'm told good.

Um, because I'm not looking at the numbers. You're not like, try, you're not like.

Because I'm just not attached to that. And I really feel like this is what Human Design gives us. It makes us realize that we have an energetic blueprint that just wants to be lived. You know, your soul just, it has a mission. It wants to be lived. And our mind just gets us in the way. You know, we slow the whole process down. Um, my, my, my podcast story is very similar. Like it grew effortlessly. Um, and everywhere that we've put more effort in. It's taken slower, it's taken more time to grow. And I think going back to a question you asked a lot a while back in waiting, one of the things that we also have to understand is that we have to become the person that can have the business, interview the guest, have the experience, call in the relationship, make the money. You have to become that version of yourself that can receive that before you can ever receive it. So if you feel like you're waiting, You're waiting because you haven't become that version of you yet. Yeah. So focus on being that version of you and then those things will move faster.

Yeah. I just got goosebumps. When I get goosebumps, like for me, that's like my sign that like my, all of my centers are lighting up and it's like a spiritual, like truth. I love that. So I felt that deeply. Yeah. The waiting is the time that you're not waiting, even though it might feel like you're waiting. What you're, what you're doing or what you should be doing while you're waiting is becoming that version of yourself who has it, who can hold it. And if it's not, if it's not moving forward, kind of looking at that, right, of like, where am I not doing that work? How am I not focusing on becoming the version of myself that could already have this and, and hold this? And what would that feel like? And what would that look like?

Totally.

Sorry, go ahead.

I was going to say really quickly, I think it's also this integration piece. A lot of people at this point in time, they're learning a lot of information, but they're not actually integrating it into the body. Into the actions that you take, into the, the way that you feel.

And I think that's so true, especially with, you know, the rise of things like TikTok, where there's so much more information and education is being spread, which is amazing. But at the same time, it's very surface level, or can be. But there is such a large consumption of it that I think it presents another challenge for when we're marketing ourselves, because now anything that you say, people already feel like they know it. Even though they've only just like heard about it in a 30-second TikTok, they haven't really like integrated it, lived it. They don't know it in their bodies. They feel like intellectually, I've heard that before, so that's not for me. So it's interesting to see like the marketing challenge with that of having to kind of repackage the framework, say things in a different way, because the way that everyone's saying them now is so oversaturated that people just kind of tune it out.

In a sense, I think you're spot on. I think the other thing that we need to understand is that we are also at a time where things are changing to the degree that no one's actually listening to the words that come out of your mouth. They think they are, but they're, they're actually experiencing your frequency, your energy. So if you're authentically yourself, then you are going to have much higher conversions than someone who, like, I know for me, I can like viscerally feel the gap in my body of someone who is saying one thing and feeling another.

Yeah.

And this is something that's happening to all of us all the time. So this is why authenticity— and authenticity, just as an aside, like, it's above love and joy on the scale of consciousness. Like, authenticity is right at the top of the scale of consciousness. So we are moving away from being these thinking-doers that are obsessed with language. Because it's, it's getting less and less about the language and more and more about the frequency. So if you're showing up, um, you know, operating from the heart space with a clean frequency, just honestly, innocently, um, with wisdom in your heart, with freedom, like just with generosity, people are going to be more drawn to you, you know. Um, because how many of us have gone and spent the money on the landing page and got some excellent person that's really good at copy to write the landing page. And you're like, this is it, I'm gonna make a fortune out of this. But it doesn't land. And the reason it doesn't land, it's got nothing to do with the copywriting because the copywriting is brilliant, but it's because the copywriting doesn't match your frequency. So the frequency that you put into it and then how you show up, or how you show up before that landing page or after that landing page, boom, it's out of— it's, it's not congruent. So I think this is why I love Human Design so much is because you've got, we're really at this point in time where we have to understand it's not our doing, it's our being. And it's just going to get more about our being. It's more about our frequency. It's more about, you know, if you feel like you're hustling, then you're going to call in more hustling. It doesn't matter what you tell yourself, you know, and I am one of those people that like my bathroom mirror has everything written all over it. You know, like I love just having those little reminders everywhere. But at the end of the day, we have to be so aware of how, like, what is this frequency? What are we feeling on the regular every day? Because that is creating our reality.

What would you say to someone who's like, I feel like I've kind of gotten off course. I've started to take on a lot of what everyone else is saying and doing. I'm definitely in the thinking and the doing and the trying to push. I want to clean up my frequency. I want to get back to the space where things can just feel effortless and easy. And maybe I know too much now, like we said, like it's, it's easier when you're more ignorant. Um, what would you say to someone who wants to like have that experience of returning to themself and feeling like they're in a magnetic frequency that's totally of their own, you know, authentic expression?

I love this, and I feel like it's one of the most important questions that all entrepreneurs should be asking themselves right now. And from a Human Design perspective, um, The big and complicated answer is, well, get into alignment with your design. But the simple answer in, you know, the objective of this conversation is if you're a manifestor, you need to get back to that creative urge. Like, do you even know what that feels like? Do you listen to it when it is there? All you got to do is practice that. If you're a generator or a manifesting generator, what lights you up? Like, and I'm not talking like, you know, you don't have to have a big vision for global impact. Like, what do you eat? Do you go to like a nourishing supermarket or grocery and just be like, oh my God, I just love these oranges? Like, it seems like it's little, but it's really important because it's, it's your sacral. It's the thing that's telling you, this is what, this is my life force energy. So again, get back to the things that light you up and or get back to the creative urge and start small. Don't, don't begin with like, I need to—

5-year plan for the business.

Or 10K months or like none of that. Like just drop it and go back to these things. If you're a projector, then you, you really want to like, what do you want to obsess about? Like what's the thing? What's the gap you see in the world? Go obsess about it. Go and have fun with it. Go and learn about it. Go and, you know, geek out on it. If you're a reflector, get super honest with yourself. Do you feel good around the people that you're with? In the environments that you're in, you know, the opportunities that you've said yes to, because if you don't, move on. So from a Human Design perspective, it's really about coming back to the core of our energy because our energy is giving us the answers all the time. It's just that we override it. We override it with the mind. We override it with information. We look out there and we go, exactly. Oh, that person's doing so well, so I should do that. No, they're doing well because whether they know it or not, they're in alignment to their design. You know, there's a been so lucky to interview some really successful people. And honestly, most of them are so in alignment with their design, you know, and they don't even know their design, but it's because they've learned to listen to their internal guidance system and, you know, the source universe, whatever you want to call it.

Yeah. So I, I resonate with that so much of before I ever knew what my design was at all. I, was able to reflect back and be like, wow, yep, that's totally like an expression of how I've lived my life. You know, when I first learned about sacral authority and just following like your gut instinct of what you feel is right, I'm like, oh yeah, that makes sense why, you know, everyone told me that it was a dumb idea to decline my job offers and move to Spain for a guy that I met on a dating app. But I was like, fuck it, I'm gonna do it. Oh, it's a very, very sacral thing to do. But that was, of course, one of the breadcrumbs that I needed to follow because it lit me up, because it excited me. And then I got to live in Spain, which was like, oh my gosh, I love this environment, like feeling more aligned and feeling more alive. It took me down my healing path. It was the whole, you know, catalyst to my journey of eventually, you know, building all of this and, and getting to where we are today. So I love that so much.

Oh, and I love that you never asked how.

No.

How am I going to fall in love? How am I going to—

No, no.

All you did was like, oh, I have energy for this and I'm going to follow it.

Yeah, totally. And I think I, you know, people talk about manifesting their partners and stuff, and I think that truly me doing that was because I was being my most authentic self. I wanted to travel so badly. I wanted to explore the world. It was my first time ever in Europe, studying abroad in Spain, and I just wanted to take a bite out of life so badly. I wanted to do everything. Possible and have like the most juicy, decadent experience that I could. And so I was like, I'm going to go on a date with a foreign guy. Hell yeah. Like, who cares? We'll see what happens. And just by being in that expression of like what lit me up, what was exciting, what felt authentic, and just living my truth was the thing that, you know, brought that person into my life that we've been together for over a decade now. We're about to get married soon. Like, yeah, I didn't have to try and I didn't have to think and I didn't have to write a list and I didn't have to do any of that.

Mm. I really believe that manifesting is changing right now. And I don't think it's changing. I think we're changing. And I think we've lived in a world, you know, things like Think and Grow Rich, where we've had to be very mental. We've been very mental and our energy is, it's almost like we had to understand manifesting from a mental perspective, but we are now moving to a time that we do not need to be so mental about things. We can skip so many steps. And, you know, classic MG, the hack is how you feel. Like, that is the hack. That is the way that we skip steps. And the, like, the story you've just told, they're the stories I'm obsessed with because my life, everything that I don't effort, it just happens so easily. And I don't visualize, and I've done so many different manifestation trainings and this, that, and the other. And like now I teach manifestation with Human Design, and ultimately it's just about being authentically you. It's really about letting go of all the things. Like, I do not sit down and write a list and visualize and all of these things. I just don't do it because honestly, I'm a high achiever who tries too hard. So I literally feel the whole time like I'm trying so hard and all of a sudden it gets too hard and it takes longer and all these things. So even though my ego didn't like it, I've really learned to go, screw it. I'm not interested. I'm not going to do all the work because I've done so much work and I rewired my brain, you know, from my mental health. Like, I know that there is a place for that, but I really feel like we are in such an incredible time where we realize that what information we can take in through the mind and the brain, that it It's the clunky road. We, if we really understand frequency, because frequency is everything, that's our universe. It's how we create our reality. I mean, at the end of the day, we don't even know if like maybe I'm just a figment of your imagination and this is all your life right now and or vice versa, right? Like, is this really even happening? So if we really do live in this incredible magical world, how do we create more magic? The way we feel, our frequency, it's everything. So one of the really big pieces that Human Design talks about is we're going through, it's called the mutation of the solar plexus. So we're moving through this time where we have to stop being at the mercy of our emotions because, and I mean, look at American politics right now. All the emotions that that is creating is literally keeping us deaf to the subtle energies that are actually like, you know, none of that over there matters. That actually there's these little steps that you can take over here that seem weird, but just do it anyway. Um, and it leads you to the man of your dreams. It leads you to a book. It leads you to like whatever it is, you know. Um, and that's where I think things are really shifting. We have to focus on how we feel. It's the most important thing. If you want the best business strategy, focus on how you feel. You want the best parenting strategy, focus on how you feel. Like this is the way forward.

So good. I think this conversation is going to inspire so many people to move away from being so cerebral and getting back into like the, the energetic truth of who they are, their authentic expression. Like, I think that's kind of the theme of everything that we've talked about, is that like return, um, and that that is truly the way forward of being more magnetic, creating more success, creating more wealth, all the things that we ultimately desire. Um, but that maybe realizing at some point we shifted into hard mode. Yeah. And we can kind of shift and direct ourselves back onto easy mode where it, it is just effortlessly kind of flowing and happening, happening for us. So loved this so much. Thank you so much for coming on the show, Emma. This was so much fun.

Oh, you're so welcome. I've had a ball. Thank you.

It's so good. All right, if you guys love this episode, make sure you share, send us DM on Instagram. Let us know that you are listening, and we can't wait to hear your thoughts. Thanks guys, we'll talk to you next week. Bye!

If you loved this episode, make sure to check out the show notes where I've linked a few similar episodes I know you're also going to love. You'll find them under the similar episodes section in the description down below with direct links so you can dive in and start listening right away, or add them to your queue for later. Binge away for even more growth, expansion, abundance, and fire motivation.