Breaking Barriers and Empowering Women: Michele Risa’s Journey to Success and Fulfillment

Join Rachel Garrett and Michele Risa as they discuss breaking barriers and empowering women on the path to success and fulfillment. This episode offers valuable insights for healing practitioners and seekers focused on awakening, spiritual growth, and soul healing practices. Discover how spiritual mentorship, inner light work, and aligning with your soul purpose can inspire personal empowerment and transformative growth.

Michele Risa, CEO and founder of Collaborative Solutions, is a communication strategist, and a motivational speaker.

In this episode, Michele opens up about her passion for helping people develop essential soft skills like listening, gratitude, and healing. She shares her journey of empowering women through business incubators in Russia and her current project, providing holistic support to women in various aspects of their lives.

As a firm believer in self-trust, Michele dives into her personal qualities of hard work, discipline, and resiliency that have shaped her path. She discusses the importance of learning to trust, even when we're unsure of how we know to do so. Michele also reflects on a recent experience with cancer and the fear of death, highlighting the duality of the challenging moments and the blessings that came with it.

We also explore Michele's decision to leave an unfulfilling job, despite the risks involved. She shares how her spiritual path unfolded during a hiatus full of self-exploration and testing her abilities. By attending a yoga class in New Mexico and accepting the challenge to become a yoga teacher, Michele discovered the power of fully committing and showing up.

Throughout the episode, Michele offers valuable insights and practices for spiritual growth. She talks about the profound impact of deep breathing on our nervous system, immune system, hormonal balance, and overall well-being. We're even treated to a simple yet transformative breathing exercise that you can try from the comfort of your own home.

Michele also delves into the current state of the world, expressing her confusion about how extreme events aren't convincing enough for some to acknowledge climate change. She discusses the importance of being close to death and how it can awaken a deeper appreciation for life.

Manifestation is another topic that captivates Michele. She emphasizes the need for stillness, listening to our thoughts, and envisioning our optimal selves to bring our desires into reality. Taking action and moving toward our goals is key, as Michele offers her assistance to anyone interested in diving deeper into the practice of manifestation.

Lastly, Michele addresses the importance of active listening and better communication skills in our daily lives. She encourages us to define words during arguments to ensure understanding and highlights the value of listening as an essential component of effective communication.

To contact Michele:
 collaborativesolutionsco.com

Transcript

Spiritual Journey and Embracing Death

Speaker 1 0:50

Hello everyone , welcome to another spiritual spotlight series . Today I am joined by Michelle Risa . She is the CEO and founder of the Collaborative Solutions . It has been in since 1991 . Whether hiring or firing employees , she increases engagement and loyalty , turning talent into competitive advantage , which I think is a very beautiful thing , especially in our time right now . She's a communication strategist , a motivational speaker , and she's also a coach . Michelle , thank you so much for joining us today . I'm so happy you're here .

Speaker 2 1:21

Pleasure to meet you and be with you . It's wonderful .

Speaker 1 1:25

Now Michelle has a very diverse background . She actually began her spiritual journey in 1993 . Can you tell us how your spiritual journey began with the leader of Kunalini Yoga ? How has that influenced your life and spiritual growth over the years ?

Speaker 2 1:46

Thank you for asking . I'll just give a little behind the scenes of 1993 .

Speaker 1 1:51

She's like more time .

Speaker 2 1:53

I was working at Citibank . It was a large bank . For those who may not know , at that time it was number one . I very much realized , without going down a rabbit hole , that this was not my destiny because I was not very happy there . They were requiring 24-7 . I mean , I have breakfast there , lunch there , dinner there , and , yes , they would drive me home at 11 pm . But that really wasn't a life , not at all .

Speaker 2 2:27

Dallas , texas , excuse me , not Houston . I'd have to live there for a month to get . They had just bought a portfolio in Texas and now they wanted the Yankees to be liked by the Texan . Good luck on that . It was a different country . They didn't know that . Anyway , I digress . I just want you to know that I left there with no job possibilities . I just said it's just time to leap out of this . Everyone , of course , around me said you're nuts . I understood , because prior to that I was the traditional . You never went anywhere without your next job , absolutely Okay , fine .

Speaker 2 3:13

There was this hiatus , rachel , of actually several years , where I got to test the concept do you know who you are and do you trust you ? At that time and I'm amazed that I did said I know I can land on my feet . I always have . I can do this . That's a long period of time to not be employed . However , by 93 , someone said to me oh , you know that yoga class that we go to downtown . The master of that is in New Mexico . Let's go there this summer . It was summer solstice , yeah , wow .

Speaker 2 3:54

Long story short , he would meet with you , yes , up on a stage with hundreds of us , but he would also schedule one-on-ones . I had , yes , the , and many times met with him that way . I would say he knew how to motivate me because he's a master . He didn't say hi , would you like to be a yoga teacher ? To which I said , no , you know , that's not anything I've thought to do . But he instead said Michelle , I think you're a little too shy and you know that you wouldn't teach yoga .

Speaker 2 4:32

So that challenged me . And so , when I came home , I was on the corner handing out flyers for my yoga class , and it's my way of saying how we , you know , have we have , I don't . We have pathways in our life that we may not at the moment see how they serve . They do , you know , they do , and I would say , for me , the key to my spiritual path has gone from going through the motions of a daily ritual or yoga and meditation and other such things to realizing none of that would work , until I showed up all in and really it was not doing it , but how I did it . That was more important than the doing . So I'll stop there and no , that's beautiful .

Speaker 1 5:25

I mean , it sounds like you kind of you hit a wall and you knew that there was something more inside , and then you saw it out and then it kind of meandered your journey , and I love the fact that you kind of surrender to the possibility of what exists further for you .

Speaker 2 5:43

Trusting , trusting self . Yeah , I'm not saying this is for everyone , but I knew how hard I have worked , I knew how disciplined I was , I knew I had zillioncy , and what I learned in addition , rachel , is to trust . Yeah , and I don't know how I knew that . I'm gonna just jump to a more recent situation . I think you had cancer . Cancer adds the dimension of death and I know that's not a word many of us enjoy . However , last I checked , many of us know that we actually die . Somewhere in our brain . We go , oh yeah , I think we do all die . However , yeah , we don't really speak about it , but the beauty of that . Now I'll add the aha that cancer gave me . There's always both sides to the coin in everything . Yes , in my cancer situation , a challenge and painful , no doubt , and the blessings that came with it , which actualizing both , going through both , is what I feel , or , let me say , seeing both . Everything is a great suggestion and I'll just say whoever's listening to consider that when something horrible happens or something beautiful happens , to be aware of the balance .

Speaker 1 7:13

I appreciate you so much in bringing up the topic of death only because I'm a registered nurse and I have a very solid background in hospice and death is something that's not discussed and it's almost like , well , we're gonna put that away in the drawer for now . But I appreciate the fact that you're willing to say no , this is going to happen and there's duality .

Speaker 2 7:37

Beyond that , I'd say let's start embracing death , because it enables us to live .

Speaker 1 7:43

Absolutely .

Speaker 2 7:44

Gives us an appreciation , and there's nothing greater than gratitude , right for this breath that I have . That's keeping me alive and I think part of our suffering , not only in the United States but elsewhere , taking whatever we have for granted right and being depressed and being whatever the no absolutely . Recognizing the mental illness that used to have such a stigma is actually , I think , finally .

Speaker 1 8:13

Yeah it's really very much . People are much more open to talk about the struggles that they're facing .

Speaker 2 8:20

Because so many of us are experiencing it . Finally right and that's what I think I'll just shout out to this , that's why all of this is happening , rachel , in my opinion , to finally break through these barriers that so many of these I mean . I don't know how 110 degrees doesn't still tell people there's climate change , but I haven't figured that one out yet . But so if 110 , 113 doesn't do it I don't know if it's 35 days straight , I'm not sure but aside from that , aside from that , that type of event will in fact help us . And so , yes , death does come in closer to death , does give us a greater appreciation for life .

Speaker 1 9:05

No , I totally agree with you , and it's interesting that we're both in New York state and we've gone from really hot to flooding to it feels like fall and we're expected to be back to hot , and it's this cycle of okay guys , this is reality now .

Speaker 2 9:23

Exactly .

Speaker 1 9:24

This is reality .

Speaker 2 9:26

Nothing's going on here , rachel , nothing at all . Nothing is here , exactly .

Speaker 1 9:33

I mean , I don't even know what's where to work anymore , Like it's just like it's baffling to me actually , Like I don't even know . Do I bring my winter boots and my swimsuit ? I don't know , probably . Oh , there you go , Bring both . I do bring a heavy sweater and like like clothes . So I do want to shift gears a little bit .

Manifestation and Communication

Speaker 1 9:55

So you are a communication coach I think is amazing and you've also been a TEDx speaker . You've helped many individuals discover their inner heart and vision . Could you tell us more about a transformation experience or a success story where you witness the power of manifestation in someone's life ?

Speaker 2 10:14

Oh , so many okay .

Speaker 1 10:16

Yeah , we're down .

Speaker 2 10:21

Let me just say , when communication is heard by a lot of people and I just want to say to everybody , when you get into your next argument , can you at least define your words so you're not just even arguing on totally different definitions of ?

Speaker 1 10:36

that that's a really good point .

Speaker 2 10:39

Let's just bring that one out . So , yeah , listening is really a huge part of my communication tools . I appreciate many of us have been taught to talk . Our presentation , our elevator speech , what have you ? Yeah , it's the . And I will just say we've lost the real gift of giving someone else the gift of being heard , the gift , and that requires listening right and as much as we want . Yeah . So I've already made the point we want to present , we want to sound smart , yada , yada , and I'm not saying no to that . My favorite word in the English language is three letters and A and D . So , yes , be articulate , share your insights and wisdom and also be able to listen and understand who other people are . Sounds like you wanted to ask me something before I continue .

Speaker 1 11:43

No , I'm enjoying this .

Speaker 2 11:47

So you know , it's not so much transformational , so I've had I'm not doing it right now because I have a different project which I would love to announce it just strangers from all over the world gather for healing conversations , and so people from all over the world and , yes , strangers would come together , we'd create , you know , prompts or questions . They would go into breakouts because it's hard to speak to 30 people or 40 people at the same time and would listen . And what was transformational , rachel , was that people were consistently saying I arrived as a stranger and I'm like gosh , I love these people , I feel like I'm leaving with friends and yeah , yeah . And in our current contentious situation that we have and I love politics , I know that too like , like mental illness has a stigma , but I'm seeing I hope others are that who you vote for makes a difference .

Speaker 2 12:51

Yes , I would argue Whether you like or don't like Mr Trump , he's made a difference . It doesn't matter , right , how you feel about him . So how could you not see that who you vote for makes a difference ? He then elected people to the Supreme Court . They're making a difference . He put judges on benches . They're making a difference . So I just want to move that tip to like please vote . You know , regardless of how you vote , just vote . So true , right , because that's the type of government you will have . And , yes , is it perfect . Let me I'm sorry one more tip . It will be as it will be , as imperfect as you and me . We're human . We created this experiment called democracy and , yes , does it need improvements ? I just say what doesn't , but it doesn't mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater . My answer would be no , you know , let's see what we can do to improve upon it . So , to anyone again listening , say I welcome any and all suggestions and what contribution you want to make , even if it's for climate , just compost .

Speaker 1 14:05

Do something that's going to make a positive change . Even if something small , do a little small move .

Speaker 2 14:11

And you will feel better as a result too .

Speaker 1 14:14

Absolutely . And you bring up such a valuable point that right now I feel like society is this hustle bustle , always going , always stimulated by something , and just the act of listening is something that's not present . You know , it's very much . Well , I'm going to sort of hear you , but then get my point out . I'm going to sort of hear you , but I have my point is more important , you know , and I respect the fact that you're like okay , I'm going to listen , I'm going to take it in , and then I'm going to teach people how to kind of come up with some . You know , better communication skills . I think that's fantastic .

Speaker 2 14:53

Well , again listen and realize that when you next say to that person , either just thank you , thank you for sharing because I'm not assuming you agree or disagree Correct Is that people just simply say thank you for sharing and I appreciate some of us may not actually appreciate , but just be gracious , thank you for sharing . That will be a gift that you gave that person for the rest of their lives , that someone listened to them and said thank you . So I just oh nice , thank you for the chills . I got them too .

Speaker 1 15:33

It's so true , because I'm registered nurse and I have patients , you know . So it's very people . Just they want to be heard , yes , they want to be listened to , like I'm experiencing this . Help me , don't brush me off the phone . Help me .

Speaker 2 15:52

Right as much as we're afraid to engage . All you need to say after you listen to someone is thank you , and if you want to add two more words for sharing , but if that's too much , just thank you .

Speaker 1 16:07

So I do want to pivot and talk about your new thing , the art of manifestation from thought to 3D . This sounds very intriguing . Can you provide us a glimpse of what this concept is and maybe what offers you have coming with this ?

Speaker 2 16:24

Okay , so it's . It was a conundrum for me . How can I work so hard and I did mention that I have most of my life , yes , work so hard at what I was told to do , right and feel that it was such a struggle ? It just didn't seem and again , as you , as I said , I wasn't even happy doing what I was supposed to be doing , which was right . You're supposed to be happy , right , right , money is it ?

Speaker 2 16:55

And I was like no , it's not that it's not Right , okay , we can't . Well , that's a different topic , so true . And so I'll just say , because it's a really longer than than a few minutes , Take your time , okay .

Speaker 2 17:13

So I'll just say that we'll probably . Yes , we started a few times and we have some time . The , as I see it , rachel , the beauty of the art of manifestation is to in that moment of stillness . And I appreciate , like anything else , we need to practice to get there . I couldn't now be speaking fluent French or Spanish just because I said , oh , I think I'll do that . You might agree that , michelle , go practice . So nothing , no new skill is like that . We need , as news suggests , learning it . So it's first being willing to sit .

Speaker 2 17:57

And we talked about listening , listening to not just your thoughts , which , if I can suggest , we think a thousand per blink of the eye , just if I may , you can Google it , but let's just say you think a whole bunch every second . And the beauty is for the mind not to be our master , but for our hearts to be the master . And when I began sitting in silence , rachel , with that openness right , and asking myself what is it that you envision , michelle , for your life ? You may not be there right now , right , but what do you envision ? And I'm not talking about a physical job , I'm saying who do you , who is your optimal self , right , in that moment . Here's the the you'd get , I'm sorry , the brief , concise version . I know in school they used to be called something , I can't remember it right now . You know , right , you would buy the abridged version of a big , long book .

Speaker 1 19:06

Adlibs .

Speaker 2 19:08

So it was something I can't , I know , I know , but anyway it was a cliff notes kind of cliff notes .

Speaker 2 19:15

Yeah , there you go that that , as you envision , you then give yourself this huge leap of faith that says it's already done . And now , in this moment , feel , feel if what you just imagined is already done . Because when we , somatically in our bodies , feel that celebration , that right , we then are a very specific frequency or vibration , and that much , I would say everyone is what you would track to you . Yes , if you are desperately seeking , that's your energy , that you're putting out one of desperate seeking , if you're . I have already written , you know , I envisioned , and now , every day , I'm going to practice that feeling and trust . And , let me add , I'm not sitting back and waiting for mana to fall from the sky . Right In those moments , I will , yes , also take steps to move in that direction , but it's again a different energy . So it's not the what , it's the how . Once again , I mentioned that earlier . So please try it . You know anyone , you know who's interested , and I'm happy to help .

Speaker 1 20:47

Is this a program that you're offering , like , if somebody is looking to maybe shift out of you know victim mindset and really learn the skills of you know manifestation ? Is this a program that you offer ?

Speaker 2 21:00

So I let me tell you about a program and this is more of a one on one coaching .

Speaker 1 21:05

Okay , one on one , perfect Okay .

Speaker 2 21:07

And anyway , I'm just making that distinction and what I did with someone , just to be transparent . He came anxious and depressed and had been dealing with this for years . This is not new . I recreated a 30 day challenge , so he created new habits .

Speaker 2 21:23

Some of us believe , and even the spiritual master of Kundalini yoga I go like that because that's where his picture is , but anyway , the spiritual master of Kundalini yoga , you know , we , many of us , believe if you practice something for 30 days , it is the beginning of a new habit , and so , yes , that that would be a potential way for me to help someone in 30 years . Okay , I'll just quickly tell you my program . Yeah , absolutely About . So I'm doing this with other people , someone who lives in Dubai she is my best , one of my best friends , and I just returned from there a month or so ago and what we're doing , rachel , is we've decided that we both agree the importance of women's empowerment and it's not anything over men at all , it's coming back into balance . Thank you for that . So we're looking to launch this six month program that will be over three to five years , to employ a million low income women in the MENA region , which is the Middle East and Northern African region of the planet . And , yeah , that's my current project .

Speaker 1 22:34

How does somebody get in touch with you if they're interested in your one-on-one coaching or they're interested in this beautiful program that you're getting ready to launch ?

Speaker 2 22:43

I'll make it simple . They can go to LinkedIn and just I'll spell my name , because it's Michelle , with one L M-I-C-H-E-L-E-R-I-S-A . Again , it's like Lisa with an R , lisa that can be remembered . Or I can give my email . I'm happy to do that as well .

Speaker 1 23:01

It's also I'll make sure to put that in the show notes .

Speaker 2 23:04

Okay , yeah , it's just M and then my last name R-I-S-A-E-L-E-N and not spelled out . Just one one Add , jeep .

Speaker 1 23:13

Perfect . I love that . Anything else that you wanna share , that maybe you have coming down in the future that's coming to fruition , anything that you would like to share .

Speaker 2 23:23

Well , right now , I'm honestly very excited about this project . It sounds amazing , it really is , and I'll just say the reason this exciting for me is not just because it sounds exciting , because I'm not that kind of person I hope people have figured that out it's because the way I'm going to do it is yes , we have hard skills . You're helping people with business plans and social media , of course , such right . I'm going to help people develop the soft skills which we've been talking about the listening to self and others , having gratitude , not taking things for granted , to heal Right , talking about hospice , to truly have an opportunity to heal Maybe not at the end of our lives , but now , we never know Right so to begin to heal .

Speaker 2 24:15

And so I'm all about holistic meaning . It'll include every aspect Our relationship not only to self , but to our families , to money , to our play . All right time To nourishment , but real nourishment , and to make it sustainable , meaning all of what we're doing will not be a fly , a flash in the pan I think that's the expression but something that really supports women over many years . I'll just end by saying I did the same thing 30 years ago in Russia . I went to Russia in the early 90s with other women , the American Russian Alliance , and when Yeltsin was firing women indiscriminately , we went to Moscow and St Petersburg and put together incubators business incubators so women could become an entrepreneur and not be victim to being fired like that , so indiscriminately . So it looks like I'm doing the same thing 30 years later in the Middle East .

Speaker 1 25:21

That is amazing . By any chance , any of the women that you mentored 30 years ago , are you still in contact with them now ?

Speaker 2 25:30

I have been because we had a 30 year reunion and many have continued to feel the impact of what we did 30 years later .

Speaker 1 25:41

Yeah , and that gives you . I mean , obviously that's just amazing for what you're about to do and the impact you're going to have 30 years from now . That's phenomenal . I do have one more question Any piece of advice that you would give to somebody that is maybe going through a spiritual awakening process and feeling overwhelmed ? I feel right now a lot of people are looking at the spiritual awakening and it's feeling a little . Any piece of advice ?

Speaker 2 26:13

I truly believe this Trust , the unknown . I know many of us feel that that might suggest we're not smart or don't have an answer .

The Power of Conscious Breathing

Speaker 2 26:26

However , when we are willing to breathe and maybe that's my also my tip there's something quite magical about us when we're in that panic to say let me just breathe and not three minutes , let it not be this overwhelming . Oh my God , now I have to climb a mountain and breathe . It's just to take three minutes .

Speaker 2 26:51

Science has shown that when we do that with consciousness , right it , I won't go through . How it comes . Our nervous system , our digestive system , our immune hormonal . It impacts us profoundly . Let me just say it like that our brain , you know the panic right to obviously a place where we can have greater peace and calm , and it's only from that place can we then move forward . So I'll just say maybe the breath is , you know it can be inhale nose for four seconds and then just hold for four seconds . I'll do it this one then exhale for four seconds mouth and hold out for four . So you're kind of creating a little box , so very , and if you can't do the whole , no problem , work up to it . But it's a simple inhale for four , hold for four exhale mouth and I'm sorry , I meant to say nose on the inhale mouth on the exhale and hold out for four seconds and do that for three minutes . I believe it will substantially help .

Speaker 1 28:00

I love that . Thank you so much for Michelle , for being a guest on the spiritual spotlight series . I'm looking forward to see you know what unfolds for these amazing women . It's going to be amazing . Thank you so much .

Speaker 2 28:12

My pleasure Lovely being with you .