E160: Porch Lights, Lanterns, and Inner Circles: Your Leadership Sanctuary

Have you ever felt the weight of leadership pressing down on your shoulders? That feeling of holding space for everyone else while wondering where you get to lay it all down? You're not alone, and there's medicine for that soul-deep exhaustion.

The Be the Light community has finally arrived - a sanctuary designed specifically for leaders who crave authentic connection and growth without masks or performance. This episode pulls back the curtain on this new community space that's been created with heart and intention to support leaders at every step of their journey.

Structured around three powerful elements - the porch light (free community), the lanterns (self-paced resources), and the inner light (membership) - this community offers multiple pathways to find what you need most. The free community houses tools like positive intelligence practices, the feelings wheel for emotional awareness, and mental fitness exercises. The resource offerings include workbooks and toolkits addressing boundaries, career alignment, self-care, and life reset. For those seeking deeper transformation, the membership provides regular coaching calls in a judgment-free zone where you can truly exhale.

The world doesn't need more burnt-out, over-functioning leaders trying to do it all alone. What it needs is leaders who are present, whole, and aligned - leaders who recognize that connection is the medicine. Whether you're questioning your direction, running on empty, or simply craving a space where you can be witnessed in your full humanity, there's a place for you here. Because when you shine, others find their way too. That's what Be the Light is all about.

Join the community through the website here and choose what resonates most with your leadership journey right now. 

Your light matters more than you know.

Transcript

Welcome to Episode 160

Cynthia 0:05

Hello, hello, friends, and welcome back to Unchartered and Unfiltered a journey back to you. I am your host, Cynthia Jamieson, and this is episode 160. And can I just say that I am so excited that I can hardly contain it. I have been super, super keen, excited, elated, delighted to talk to you today, because today's episode is going to be a little bit different. I want to speak to you directly about something that I have been creating with my entire heart and it just feels so good that it's finally here and that I can finally talk about it and that, if it's something that sounds like it resonates with you, that you're excited about, that you're like, yes, this is for me, then you actually can follow through and begin being part of the community with me. So what am I talking about? I am talking about the Be the Light community. I know that I alluded to this on last week's episode or the weekend before, and I really have been super excited because there's been a lot of work that has been taking place on the back end of things, system-wise, to ensure that the experience that anyone has if they choose to join me in the community space, that that is the experience that I want them to have. And so, if you have ever wished for a place where you could just be yourself as a leader, this is a place where there's no mask, there's no performance, there is no judgment. This is it. This is that place, and I want to tell you not only what is inside of Be the Light, but also how it can support you. So let me set the scene, if you will.

The Free Community Space: Porch Light

Cynthia 1:54

Leadership, whether you are a formal, informal leader, regardless of the level that you're at, leadership can feel lonely. You're the one that's making the decisions, you're holding space for others, you're keeping it all together, but at the end of the day, you wonder where do I get to lay this down? Where do I get to be real? How can I take care of myself? And I know that experience. I've lived that experience. And I also know that the medicine, if you will, isn't pushing harder or pretending that you're fine. The medicine is connection, it's presence, it's light, it's living and leading from a place of love. And that is what Be the Light is all about. And there are three ways that you can experience Be the Light.

Cynthia 2:52

And I've been thinking about metaphors, because I love to work with metaphors and the one that seems to resonate the most with me is the porch light, the lanterns and the inner light, and so let me give you a little bit about what that means. So if you imagine for a moment this porch light, this is the free community space and this is the place to land. This is a safe, private space. It's off social media, where you can take a breath and you can know that you're not alone. And inside of the free community space, which will continue to grow, you will find the tools that have carried me through the heaviest seasons of my life and of my leadership, tools that you can start using right away, tools that I use with my current clients.

Cynthia 3:41

And so, to give you an example of what some of those might be, positive intelligence practices that you not only can have an awareness to the loudest critics in your head, but also some practices that can assist you in quieting them or loosening the grips of those inner narrators in your mind. There is a resource in there that I put together it's the feelings wheel, because fine isn't a feeling, and naming what is really going on for you can be incredibly powerful, and one of the struggles that I had myself along my own journey is. I was a head-led person and I've said this before on the podcast, so it's not new but also spending time understanding emotions, giving language to what I was feeling and being able to note and name that for myself, has been incredibly, not only eye-opening, but it's expanded not only my language, it's expanded my experience of what I'm feeling and that has expanded my ability to impact and work with my clients and support them in their own growth. There are mental fitness exercises that you can begin to explore, and I'm going to add more of these to the community spaces. Some of the ones like I want to add some videos in there of me actually walking through some of these exercises for you so that you can get a sense of which ones are the exercises that work for you, because what works for me may not work for you. The way that I calm my central nervous system may not be the way that you enjoy doing that the most for you, and so there's very much an element of like.

Cynthia 5:28

If I could have you think about this idea of this whole community. Be the Light is like a buffet, to introduce another metaphor, and there are multiple, multiple things on this buffet that you can choose to nourish yourself, and I trust you enough as the subject matter expert on you and your life to know what you need, to be able to know what it is you want to explore, to be able to know what it is that you might benefit from the most. And so there are things, there are resources, tools, techniques within this free community space that I want everyone to have access to, because they're absolutely no good to have in my head, in my heart, in my Google Drive. To be able to have medicine for people and not give it feels like such a disservice to me, and that is not at all who I am and it's not at all what I'm here to offer to the world. What I'm here to offer to the world is medicine so that you can come and be as powerful as you were when you entered this earth, to be able to reclaim that power for yourself in a way that feels good. And again, these are things that I didn't know along my journey. So, putting them together in ways that are accessible to people, to be able to build a community of like-minded leaders and seekers that want to not only live and lead from their own light, but also inspire that in other people.

Cynthia 7:04

This is the most exciting work that I have created to date in my lived experience. So I feel like that was a little bit of a caveat there, a little bit of a rabbit hole, but I trust that you're following with me. Of a rabbit hole, but I trust that you're following with me. There are growth mindset prompts in the free community space to enable you to shift your perspective whenever you feel stuck and this happens to all of us, right and so the best part of this community space is that you will be surrounded by people who get it, leaders who are also just like you navigating change, practicing self-awareness and choosing growth. You will have a place to ask is this just me? Is it just me? And celebrate your wins. That might not make the front page of your company newsletter, but they mean everything to you and you deserve to have those ways that you're leading and living differently celebrated, because what we get, those sorts of things when we're really wanting to embody and make change.

Cynthia 8:18

It's so incredibly important to celebrate each of those steps, no matter how small you might think that they are along the way. They're only small because we're judging them, or they're only small because we're comparing them to something else someone else is saying or doing, and I really want to create and invite you in to a community where you can come as you are and leave lighter, clearer, more lit up, and that is what the porch light is. It's like the place for you to come and feel safe and warm and welcome, and everyone is welcome in this community, in the free community. And so one of the things that I will tell you because I'll put the the information in the show notes for you to be able to join I'll put my website there, because it's all been updated and everything is there, everything that you want to know, all of the details for those of you that love details, it's all there. This is just a Coles Notes version or Cliff Notes, if you're from the States version of what is taking place within the community space, and so I want this to be very much this earth fireplace, like very much the lanterns, the lighthouses, the lightness, and a place where we can come and sit and speak and be in connection with each other, be present with each other, be available and see and hear and witness humans in their humanity. That's what this space is about.

The Lanterns: Self-Paced Resources

Cynthia 10:02

The next thing that I want to talk to you about when I talked about the beginning. There are like the porch light the porch light, the lanterns and the inner light. The lanterns are really about I would have you think about the lanterns as resources, toolkits, if you will. These are practical, self-paced resources that you can carry with you when you need them most, and each of these resources shines a light on a different part or path along your journey. And, to give you some examples, there are five of them. There are five different resources, and it was really important to me to have these resources accessible so that you would be able to people would be able to, even if you're on a low income, be able to access these resources and serve and support yourself in your own growth.

Cynthia 11:03

And so one of the first ones I'm going to talk and there's no particular order here, but the first one is the power of no workbook. So if, for you, boundaries feel hard, this workbook will help you understand why it will help you. It will help give you real world strategies and even create your own no script for those tricky in the moment conversations that we all have. And the invitation here is to really exercise your muscle in learning how to say no and not feel guilty. Muscle in learning how to say no and not feel guilty right, like we can feel guilty about it. But if you really query that, is that serving you? Is that serving you? And you can put it down. I'm going to give you full permission right now. You absolutely can put it down. You can learn how to say no in a way that honors like it's honoring of your truth and feels so good for you because you're living and leading in alignment with your own no Versus saying yes to someone when you really want to say no and then feeling all of that resentment later on.

Cynthia 12:19

The second resource is a career coaching toolkit. So if you're questioning your direction or if you are craving more meaning at work, this toolkit gives you 25 powerful questions. There's a career values workbook, there's a SWOT analysis, there's a career development wheel to help you see your next steps clearly. The third is a balance and self-care toolkit. So if your tank is running on empty, this particular toolkit will help you reset. You will map your life with the wheel of life. You will identify where your energy is being zapped from you, you will be invited to detox your toxic relationships and, yes, you will again learn to say no without guilt.

Cynthia 13:16

There is another offer called Renew. You Love your life Now. This is a 90-day program for whenever you need a reset Now. The first month focuses on reconnecting you with your joy, and month two helps you let go of what drains you. And month three gives you the structure and the habits to carry that renewed energy forward. And the last offer is the Career Values Identification Workbook. So if your job looks good on paper but feels off, this workbook helps you uncover your non-negotiables so that you can align your career with what really matters to you.

Cynthia 14:01

And so I love to think about these as lanterns to you, and so I love to think about these as lanterns, and that the lanterns are there whenever you need them. And when you pick one up, you don't just get a resource, you get also the invitation to step into the free community space to share, to practice and to be supported on your journey. As you go the other, let me see if there's anything else I want to tell you, just from a like, from the lantern pieces. So I mean, it's very, very possible that you might be interested. I really like this idea of this particular lantern that you're offering Cynthia, and I'm not interested in the free community. That's totally fine. Again, you are the subject matter expert on you.

The Inner Light: Monthly Membership

Cynthia 14:46

My desire is to create a space where other people, where you, others people who want to be in connection, who want to live and lead and navigate this life with other people who are doing the same work, you can get so much more motivation, inspiration. You can begin to understand that what you're experiencing isn't that um, it isn't just you that's experiencing it. It's a very, very normal thing for people, and quite often in the leaders that I work with and myself and the friends that I have, I mean, we've talked about this all the time. Like we tend to think about, we're the only one experiencing this and it's just not true. So now I would like to talk a little bit about the inner light, or the membership. This is where we are going to circle up for deeper transformation together. So, if you can just imagine that I've just opened the door on this podcast episode, you're coming into the foyer, you're getting a little bit, a little bit warmer around the porch light you have, there's some lanterns around and again, if you want to deepen, deepen that here's what you will get as a member.

Cynthia 15:59

So we're going to have two 60-minute community calls every month. There won't be you don't have to do any prep. There's no pressure. It's just real compassionate coaching and conversation that meet you exactly where you are. There is no, no judgment, there is no blame, there is no shame. This is the place and space where you can come and exhale. It is a calm, private space to be able to connect, reflect and be witnessed, without the noise or without the comparison traps of typical platforms. And there are also bonus resources that are practical and usable but not busy work. And again, this is I'm trusting you. I'm trusting everybody who comes in, because everyone is creative, resourceful and whole to know what you need Again, the expert on you.

Cynthia 16:56

So you will be able to come to this experience, this membership, whatever like, doesn't really matter if you call it a membership or a subscription, whatever the case may be, if you come and join the community, those resources will continue again to grow and to grow and to grow. There's also going to be occasional pop-up sessions and guest guides to support your whole being, your body, your mind, your heart. And it's two to four hours a month. It is enough to root in but not burn out, and some weeks you will come and be supported. Other weeks you'll come to remember who you are, and every time you will be lighter, clearer and more grounded. And the membership is about creating a steady rhythm of support of growth, so that you don't have to keep doing it on your own.

Cynthia 17:57

And so why do you think this matters now? I mean, for me, the truth is, the world doesn't need any more burnt out over functioning leaders at all, and I was one of them. What it needs instead is leaders like you, leaders that are present, that are whole, that are aligned, that are courageous enough to be able to lead from within, and that's why Be the Light exists, and I love this. Again, to work with the metaphor, the porch light is to welcome you, the lanterns are to guide you and the inner light is to sustain you. And so, if you're listening right now and if you're thinking, yes, this is exactly what I'm looking for, this is your invitation.

Cynthia 18:38

Come and stand in the porch light, join the free community.

Cynthia 18:41

What have you got to lose?

Cynthia 18:44

Pick up the lantern you need.

Cynthia 18:45

Maybe it's the workbook, maybe it's a toolkit, maybe it's a reset, or step into the inner light, the membership that keeps you rooted and growing, however you join.

Cynthia 18:58

Know this from the bottom of my heart.

Why This Matters Now

Cynthia 19:02

You belong here in this space, and my hope is not that you just lead, but that you lead in a way that feels like you, that you remember that you are not meant to do it alone, that you let yourself be supported, be seen and be reminded of your own light, because when you shine, others find their way too, and that is what Be the Light is all about. So, with that, thank you so much for allowing me to bend your ear today to share with you what has been on my mind, what has been on my heart. I'm so excited to put this work out in the world and I cannot wait to see any and all beautiful humans who join me in this space, free or paid either. Again, choose what resonates, what you feel called to, what feels good for you, and trust that you know what you need and give yourself that. So with that, thank you, thank you, thank you so much, and I will see you back here, at the same time, at the same place, next week. Make it a great week, goodbye.