Meet April Diaz

Hi April, 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?
Confidence is one of the primary areas women identify as a struggle in their life and leadership. I think people look at me and think “She’s a confident woman! I want some more of what she’s got.” But my confidence hasn’t always been there and still isn’t always strong.

There are two ways I’ve grown my confidence over time that have proven to be most effective in my journey.

First, confidence increases when you do the work and get results. Second, confidence grows when you know your value.

Confidence doesn’t magically increase and it certainly doesn’t grow by comparing yourself to others. The degree of your confidence is directly tied to consciously taking action, getting wins along the way, and knowing who you are from the inside out.

One definition of confidence is that it’s “a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities”. What I love about that definition is that confidence is an inside job. It’s an inner knowing that you’re good, enough, have what it takes, and can achieve your goals.

As you do that process repeatedly, you can develop your confidence and show up even more whole-heartedly in the world.

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?
The company I founded and lead, Ezer + Co., is only 4 years old and we’re a coaching company centered on women’s wholeness in life and leadership. One of things I’m most proud of is that we survived a global pandemic that disproportionately impacted women, especially women of color.

As a company, we had to pivot (ugh!) so many times and figure out what women needed when most of us couldn’t even figure out what that was for ourselves! We were in survival mode for so long.

I’m viscerally excited about two things now that we’re on this side of the pandemic. First, I’m crazy excited about our wholeness retreats that we’re starting this fall. They are small, intimate, weekend retreats in wine country that invite women to recover their life in every dimension. Being together in person is a dream coming true and our community is aching to be together IRL. It’s like the best girls’ weekend getaway we all need!

I’m also really excited about our membership community. There are priceless benefits when you’re in a community with others who want the same things as you. Most of us don’t have at least 5 supportive people that are wildly cheering us on to keep going for it. So, our membership provides those people and gives you accountability and support so you can keep achieving your goals and becoming your whole self as you kick ass and take names! Our membership helps you stay the course with what matters most so you don’t get stuck, start settling, stuff your desires, and slow your momentum.

We’ve always said that we’re better together and these two offerings allow us to be together in new ways. Transformation happens better together, so we’re making the most of it!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
That’s almost impossible to narrow down, but these three resonate the most currently for me, and what I’m seeing emerge with the women we work with.

1.) You are your best investment. You need to disproportionately invest in yourself because the return on investment isn’t only satisfying and life-changing for you, it’s game-changing in the world. Plus, if you identify as a woman, it’s an act of resistance to the patriarchy. Win-win!

2.) Leading yourself is the most important job you’ll ever have. Too much of leadership is externally focused on skills, management, and strategy. I’m a big believer that if you work on yourself, you’ll get better results in what you do and your influence will be more potent and powerful.

3.) Wholeness begins in your body. You can’t ignore, push, force, starve, or resist what’s hapepning with your body without major consequences. We say all the time that your physical wholeness starts with sleep, is fueled by food, and is maximized with movement. If you do those three, in that order, you’ll live more powerfully into your potential.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
We work with women and men who want more wholeness in their life and leadership. Regardless of gender, they have several characteristics in common that make them ideal to work with:

• They want more. They aren’t willing to settle or tolerate their current reality.
• They know they aren’t living into their potential but they want to!
• They’re committed to doing the work. We work from the inside out because when you heal and expand your capacity, you naturally get better results.
• They are willing to be honest and confront what’s not working.
• They will take action. We often will say, “Today isn’t a learning day; it’s an action day.”
• They trust the process will guide them to experience the transformation they desire.
• They’ll do whatever it takes to achieve what matters most to them.

Most importantly, our ideal client doesn’t need to be ready, they need to be committed. Commitment is the most important characteristic if you’re going to get different results in your life and leadership.