Meet Dana Gionta

 

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dana Gionta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Dana, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

When I was very young, I had a lot of confidence and self-esteem, and would often introduce myself to others and easily make new friends. Over the years, with some hurtful school experiences, societal conditioning, and family perfectionistic tendencies, my self-esteem slowly decreased. In freshman year of high school, with that transition came the loss of 2 friendships which contributed to me experiencing depression for the first time. I’ve always loved to read and journal, and that year I came across a book that changed my life, called “Intimate Connections” by David Burns. It introduced me to the concept that our thoughts influence our feelings and that we can have control over the the way we think. This was an extraordinary concept for me at the time. I learned and practiced the skills of cognitive behavioral therapy in the book, and within 3 plus months I was feeling significantly better. Making the decision to Intentionally and over time let go of perfectionism and become more accepting of myself – reflecting on my strengths, what makes me unique, and what brings me joy helped tremendously. Also by surrounding myself with positive and supportive people.

I think one of the best and fastest ways to develop confidence is to get out of our comfort zone, and intentionally do things we’re afraid of, that stretch us. Both clarity and confidence often come from taking action on something that may feel scary and that is important to us. By developing greater self-love and acceptance, and intentionally making courageous changes which involved sometimes taking a scary step, and other times taking a terrifying leap – my confidence and belief in myself grew. Some of these courageous changes included relocating to Spain to learn the language, which was a dream of mine, writing my first book, and opening my own Coaching and Family Business Consulting company.

Also learning the invaluable skill of setting healthy boundaries is a wonderful way to build both confidence and self-respect. Learning and establishing healthy boundaries in my closest relationships was a way to honor myself and my needs, and powerfully contributed to greater confidence and self-love over the years.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

One of my greatest passions and joys in life is to help women live happier, healthier, and empowered lives, whatever that may look like for them. I believe women are incredibly resourceful, smart, resilient, creative, intuitive, and deeply caring. As women, we often know what we want and need, but don’t give our Selves permission, and prioritize others needs and responsibilities over our own happiness and wellbeing. We unknowingly give our Power away, and then feel overwhelmed, stuck, out of control and depleted as a result.

Working with women over the past 20 years as both a coach and psychologist, I have identified 4 areas of focus that lead to transformative change. These are building a loving and strong relationship with your Self; nurturing your wellbeing, prioritizing your happiness, and making courageous changes in your life. In my company, Dana Gionta LLC., I work predominantly with professional women and those in executive leadership roles develop these key areas through my signature BWC (Boundaries, Wellbeing and Courageous Change) process. Within 3 months, they are feeling more centered, confident, happier and empowered, and have an increased sense of Self-worth. It’s been wonderful and an honor to see such beautiful transformations and to play a part in this journey.

I have recently written a new book for women specifically to help them build greater self-love and confidence, which I’m excited and very happy about. It is called “52 Weeks to Self-Love: A Yearlong Journey of Inspiring and Empowering Reflections for Women.” This book integrates many of the best concepts and practices I have shared with my clients over the past 20 years. Each of the chapters build upon each other, and will take the reader on a beautiful journey of self-discovery toward greater self-acceptance, self-love and confidence over the year ahead.

I also recently launched the “52 Weeks to Self-Love Book Club” for women to provide a supportive, empowering and uplifting community of women to read the book together. I know the magic is in applying the concepts and practices in the book and I wanted to create a safe space to share self-discoveries, insights, take risks, encourage action, and celebrate each others’ growth and courageous changes.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I believe having courage, and the ability to take risks and make courageous changes was a major factor in my career success. It’s very important to keep growing, and if you find yourself stuck or in iimbo, whether personally or professionally, to intentionally make the decision to get unstuck and commit to continued growth and vitality. If you need support, work with a coach or therapist to help you regain your power, see the wonderful possibilities ahead for you, and take that next courageous step to move forward!

I believe connecting with others, for collaboration, learning, shared accountability, and support made a significant difference in my ability to achieve what I have over the years. I don’t know if I ever would have written my first book if I hadn’t decided to partner with a colleague of mine who had similar interests and expertise. You can be successful doing it largely on your own, however, I think it will likely take much longer, and may not be as enjoyable.

Learning my worth was another pivotal shift for me. At some point, I recognized the tremendous value, human behavior expertise, business knowledge, and deep connection and care that I bring to all my client relationships. I repeatedly saw the wonderful transformations and courageous leaps my clients were able to make through our coaching together, This was exciting, affirming, and very rewarding and enabled me to raise my rates and create programs and products that I knew would help them on their life journey. I also believe in “walking the talk” so I’ve made many courageous life changes over the past 10 years, which brought me greater happiness, love, and confidence, and has enabled me to more powerfully guide women to make their own courageous changes.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is a professional woman between the ages of 35 – 60 who believes there is more for her in this world, and is not as happy and fulfilled as she could be. She knows there is a change she needs or wants to make, or an unrealized dream, that would bring greater happiness, confidence and peace in her life, but is either afraid, doesn’t think it’s possible, or feels guilty about what the change would mean for her relationships or career. Yet she is determined to make the most of this one beautiful life we have, is committed to growing, and is motivated to prioritize her own happiness and wellbeing, to learn to set healthy boundaries, and make whatever courageous changes are needed to become the woman she desires to be and live the life she imagines for her Self. She loves herself enough to recognize she is worthy of happiness, love and success, and recognizes the value of coaching as a powerful medium for transformational life change. What an exciting and beautiful journey is ahead for such a courageous woman!

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