We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rechelle Conde-Nau a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rechelle , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Once you’ve had a double-whammy happen (in my case a rebellious teenager going off the rails along with a friend’s surprising betrayal – aren’t they always surprising?), you can come out of that bitter or better. You’ve got a choice, really. Once I felt all the feels, processed and began to recover, I felt a sense of starting over in a profound way.
I asked myself, What qualities are so important to you now that you will insist on embodying them yourself, and be drawn to the same in others? For me the answer was simple. Authenticity. Transparency. Vulnerability. Sure there are lots of other good ones and I hope people see more in me but these three are the trifecta of beginnings.
I also had all this creativity bubbling up inside of me that needed an outlet. I’m an educator by profession and while that’s not a sexy word it means wanting to impart, wanting to instill. I’ve been doing it professionally and personally for years. That’s one of the benefits of aging, the experience that comes along with it.
Enter the podcast Unabashed You and blog. Each guest comes as they are and shares a part of their story, their passion. We have a conversation and both leave feeling more complete and connected. I get to do many of the things I’m good at and the ones I’m not, I learn about.
My purpose is to encourage authenticity. I want those I connect with to feel permission to be uniquely who they are. We’d all have more fulfilling, expanded lives if we each did.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
At the age of 60 I realized I was in my third act. What else did I want to do? What did I have to give? What empowering, creative thing could I do? After the willingness, and even the excitement, to take risks I was ready to go all in on my own thing. A podcast. And I would write a blog with it. I would have a guest on each week who was not famous, who was an extraordinary every day person like you, and me. We would have a conversation. We would get to know them through playful questions along with some thought-provoking ones then we would take a deeper dive into their passion whatever that might be.
In this way I encourage the sharing of stories so they can inspire others. It’s a collaborative effort, one that is fulfilling. I hear from listeners who are moved and grateful for what they’ve heard. It propels them forward. In the blog I write about something related to the conversation that is expressive, relatable and thoughtful.
When it comes to workshops, courses, etc. the focus is to provide a space where there is safety to (re)discover who you are with courage and confidence. Then to look at your passion and see how it can become your purpose. This is done with enough structure to move forward, and with enough space to explore. There are more offerings in the works!
What sets Unabashed You apart is it’s very open to who the guests are and what they want to talk about. They get to be themselves and that’s the whole point. Sometimes to become who we already are we need to listen to other people and their stories. We feel less alone. We feel more courageous.
Unabashed You is in the top 5% of podcasts worldwide. We’ve been heard in over 70 countries and we currently have over 150 episodes with accompanying blogs to choose from. Our guests are from all over the world who have compelling lives to share.
While Unabashed You is for both women and men, our coaching services cater to women. We mentor women who struggle with how they see themselves, feel more courage and become more confident in their thoughts and words.
We will be celebrating our third anniversary in April. We are grateful for the +100 guests we’ve had, the richness experienced from every conversation, and the connections made who we now call friends.
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?
Three different questions come to mind when I consider what the driving forces were on my journey.
1. What are you waiting for? This showed up in more than one instance so I knew I needed to listen. The time was here to take the risk instead of wondering what would have happened if I had only tried.. “Then the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anais Nin
2. Who would you be if you weren’t afraid? A great one to work through your fears. You owe it to yourself to figure out who you are. The discovery can be fun and is very freeing. Accepting the whole package: strengths, weaknesses, they make you who you are. “To achieve all that is impossible, we must attempt the impossible, to be all that we can be, we must dream of being more.” – John C. Maxwell
3. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Worst-case-scenario is a great strategy. It helps to take the wind out of fear. Once you dial it down you realize if nothing else you will take your newfound knowledge with you and you will pivot. There is nothing wrong with that. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My faith is the beginning of who I am. It informs how I live and how I love. Next is my gut, a part of me. When I’m listening it doesn’t steer me wrong. Then there are my people, those I’ve chosen, or who have chosen me. I like to be understood and those in my corner know that. I like to encourage and those in my life feel that.
Your people believe in you. They cheer you on and are there when you need to have a good cry. You’d do the same for them in a heartbeat. There is a profound sense of belonging that carries you. And a fierce sense of loyalty to bring comfort. Above all it is the love that binds, that sustains you for the duration.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://unabashedyou.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unabashedyou
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rechellerenae
Image Credits
white shirt photo by Karen Floyd
