We recently had the chance to connect with Ali McGuire and have shared our conversation below.
Ali, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
For most of my life, I was terrified of public speaking, singing in front of others, and mostly being seen. That was one of the reasons I chose my original career as an audio engineer: to stay in the background. To my shock and surprise, a few years ago, I was hit with the realization that I had to pursue a career in public speaking, which would include writing an album and being a music artist. Not only am I being called to do those things together, but I am being called to be fully, transparently vulnerable to help others enjoy their lives through awareness, accountability, curiosity, and the capacity to know that you can not only handle it all, but you can enjoy it.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Ali ‘AMAC’ McGuire. If you read about me before, I would have told you that I am a Platinum award-winning Mix Engineer and Vocal Producer, and, well, I still and will always be those things, but now I call myself a speaker and creative thought leader because that is the best title I can come up with. I have been on an interesting journey of self-discovery, healing, and self-love. Everything I am doing now has been birthed from this expereince, and it doesn’t really feel like I am working towards a title or accomplishment as much as it is me expressing myself and sharing my story to serve others, so let me tell you a bit about what that is.
I call it the Amaculent Mindset. The Ultimate self-healing expereince. Helping others help themselves by becoming self-aware through mediums like live performance, speaking, music, education, and community.
I have created a self-led workbook called The Amaculent Mindset Inner Compass, helping you become self-aware by finding your values, your whys (broken down into your purpose and ego), your whats, and your hows. Throughout, I share my personal story on how I built this and the struggles and revelations I went through. The workbook is also accompanied by an album I wrote through my journey from self-love to self-hate, creating an experience encouraging you to face yourself and knowing you are OK even when you’re not OK and I am with you through the whole process. You are NOT alone.
I also use mixed story and music through speech and performances to encourage the same. I’ve spoken at Universities like Stanford, the University of San Diego State, as well as recovery centers and mental health organizations like NAMI.
I do this work through mentoring one-on-one, working with other organizations to mentor and bring in programming, speaking, and performing. Honestly, every interaction I have is at this work because it is who I am. Being frank, I spent most of my life wanting not to be alive, and while it is impressive to have had the music career I had and the accolades I accomplished, I think the most amazing thing about my life is I went from hating it to loving it, even when it’s hard. I never thought I could feel the way I do. I thought the voices in my head would always win, but it’s not true. There is light, there is hope, there is joy and love, and I want to share that and help as many people live their lives as their authentic selves with their voice in their heads and not anyone else’s.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that is worried about others’ validation of me. I don’t seek approval from others, but I do seek validation that being me is worthy. That’s what I most sought by achieving accolades. Everyone sees me as an audio engineer, and now I want to break that, and it seems impossible in a lot of ways. The need for validation from others has to go. If I really want to step into this next chapter, I’ve got to be more fearless than I have ever been. And undoubtedly, when there is criticism, I have to let it exist without shaking me.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
The most defining wound of my life has been the belief that I am unlovable and that my emotions are wrong. That may seem like it’s two, but they are one and the same. I had big outbursts when I was a kid, lots of feelings, lots of reactions, and instead of compassion and tools, I got shame. Shame that I was broken and wrong. People liked the big “goos” parts of me. The funny, driven, and talented me, not the depressed, angry, sad parts. So I denied those parts of me for a long time. Not only did I receive shame from others, but I received shame from myself.
I had to learn to be proud of my anger. I had to learn not to diminish it and to honor it. It’s one thing to have an emotional outburst, but if, during that outburst, you are not letting yourself really go through it, you are only letting enough go until you can put a cap on it, and you allow the pressure to build up. Allow yourself to feel. You might even break something, and as long as it is your thing and it doesn’t hurt someone else, I see nothing wrong with that. Now I am not telling you that every time you are angry, you should break something. We absolutely want to learn from these moments and figure out a healthy way to handle the emotions when they come up, but sheesh, life is hard, and we all have outbursts in our own ways. You can’t shame yourself into having healthier breakdowns; only through loving yourself through those moments can there be growth.
So how did I heal? By allowing myself to be messy, so I could transform that energy into light and lessons to allow myself to be seen, at the very least, by me.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
The belief I think is naive or wrong is that I said I would do this, so I HAVE to do it. You don’t, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t a person of your word, or reliable, but when things become toxic, or your life changes, you get to change your mind. You never have to do something because you said you would. You DO have to communicate that you have changed your mind. You DO have to take accountability, possibly help the other person find other resources, but under no circumstances does changing your mind because you realized you made a mistake saying yes make you an unreliable person.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
My love of life and people. It took me a long time to rip my identity away from being only valued as a platinum award-winning mix engineer, but none of that is who I am. It is only something I have done. Being alive is incredible, and we all face so many challenges every day. Some of those challenges are insurmountable, but I hope even in the face of our worst oppressors, we still have joy even when it seems hopeless.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amaculent.com
- Instagram: @amaculent
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-mcguire-9296ab19/
- Youtube: youtubr.com/amaculentmindset
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