Viveka Von Rosen’s core mission is to empower her clients to bring their legacy dreams to life. Put an end to burnout. Reignite your passion. Exit the boardroom and start your purpose-driven life. Live Beyond The Dream Board with Viveka Von Rosen’s Post Executive Coaching for Women Over 50. Tap or click the play button below to listen to: “Women Over 50 – Start Your Purpose Driven Life Beyond the Dream Board with Viveka Von Rosen”
Women Over 50 – Start Your Purpose Driven Life Beyond the Dream Board with Viveka Von Rosen Transcript
Lori Gama: So once you come to the conclusion that, okay, I need to make a shift and I need to take off this Teflon three-piece Teflon business suit, um, and really expose who I am and release what’s no longer serving me, all of a sudden, there’s just this well of energy that comes up. Welcome to the Pathfinder podcast, my friends. I’m Lori Gama. Here, you’ll find inspiration for going full-time with your passion or, if you already own a business, find some inspiration to take it to the next level. My guest today is Viva Von Rosen. Welcome. Thank you. And this studio is so cool, isn’t it? It is. We’re so lucky. Thank you for being here.
Viveka Von Rosen: My pleasure.
Lori Gama: Viva Von Rosen, a celebrated LinkedIn expert, best-selling author, and transformational speaker, is dedicated to empowering successful executives and entrepreneurs with their brand and business pivots. With over 19 years of experience in LinkedIn marketing and sales, she is recognized as an authority in the business world. As an accomplished author and international speaker, Viva captivates audiences with her keynote addresses on transition and transformation, catalyzing people to find their voices and create their own transformative ventures. Outside her professional pursuits, she embraces adventure, whether soaring the skies on hang gliders, exploring the ocean depths through scuba diving, or hiking amidst the picturesque Colorado Foothills and Costa Rican Landscapes. Viva’s core mission is to empower her clients to bring their legacy dreams to life.
Lori Gama: So, you’ve walked down many paths in your life, literally worked many different careers since you were like 15 years old, and you know, maybe some of them were fulfilling, some of them weren’t so fulfilling, right? I can relate. But the path you’re on now, yeah, tell me about that. How fulfilling is it?
Viveka Von Rosen: Yeah, I think when you finally go, “Okay, yes, I will do what I’m supposed to be doing,” it just, it takes living to a whole other level. I mean, to, to answer your question, there’s no short answers. Anyone who knows me knows that. Um, so to answer your question, yes, it’s, um, I’m, I’m loving this path I’m on right now. And while I’ve loved everything else I’ve done, and I felt passionate about everything, well, some of the other things that I have done, it, it wasn’t, I wasn’t motivated for my very core. And what I’m doing now with working with women and helping them with their own transformations, that’s that core work. That’s allowing me to tap into those internal gifts that, quite frankly, lay dormant for a long, long time. So it’s, um, I’m so excited that I finally said yes to this.
Lori Gama: That’s awesome. Like, did you have like an aha moment when you recognized, “Hey, wait a minute, this is really the path I’m supposed to be on?” Tell me about that.
Viveka Von Rosen: Yeah, interestingly enough, um, you know, I’ve had this opportunity, and it’s been in retrospect pretty clear, like back in 1997, 2002, 2007, 2017, lots of sevens there. I’ve had the opportunity to make the pivot into kind of what I was really put on this Earth to do, um, and I just went a different direction. I went a safer direction. And this time, it was kind of like the universe going, “Yeah, honey, you don’t have another choice here. Like, you have to make this pivot. You have to start living authentically.” So the actual moment was literally lying in a hospital bed, um, in my, you know, working on, I think it was, uh, I was writing, um, grants, which I’m not a grant writer for my last company, and I just had this like, “What am I doing? Like, this is insane.” Uh, also, you know, turning 55, realizing I’ve got less before me than I had behind me, it was, it was kind of one, one of those moments where I just, I, you know, I shook my head and went, “I can’t, I cannot do this anymore. And I really, in order to be fully alive, um, I need to be doing the work that I was put on this Earth to do, right?”
Lori Gama: And so many of the women that you help and want to help are living beyond the dream board, and that’s the name of your website, right?
Viveka Von Rosen: Exactly. Beyond the dream board.com.
Lori Gama: Yeah, tell me more about that, ’cause you’ve probably achieved more than one dream board. And please tell us, for people who are watching or listening, some people might not know what is a dream board.
Viveka Von Rosen: Yeah, so I mean, for me, it’s a metaphorical dream board, but yes, I mean, dream boards, vision boards, those things that we always create on, you know, January 1st, with all of our ideas about what we want in our lives, the houses, the cars, the, the spouses, the whatever, um, and ironically, I had been cleaning out my garage, as one does, and I found one of my old vision boards or dream boards, and you know, it even had like the same car on it that I drive now. Not that I consciously bought the car, I mean, it, anyway, that’s how they work. That’s how they work. Exactly. Like, I didn’t even know I wanted that car, um, and again, I was at a stage in my life where I had achieved everything that I thought I wanted to, right? The international speaking, the writing of books, you know, owning, running, uh, a big SAS company, um, and I just wasn’t, oh, yeah, and married to, you know, that guy, married to the man of my dreams, living in a beautiful, have a couple of beautiful houses, actually, and I was just kind of like, “Okay, so why aren’t I happy right now? Why aren’t I feeling fulfilled? There’s got to be more to life than this.” And so the name of, you know, Beyond the Dream Board, I was actually at a speaking event, um, a Soul Speaks event, and we were just doing an exercise, and the name came to me. And then that’s kind of when everything fell into place because my women have mostly achieved everything they wanted to do, and they’re going, “There’s got to be more to life than this.” And like me, hopefully not lying in a hospital bed, but they’re going, “I cannot possibly keep doing what I’m doing. Like, I just can’t, I just can’t.” And a lot of us feel a certain exhaustion because we’re weighted down by our history, we’re weighted down by our successes, um, the reason I chose to work very specifically with with corporate women or very successful, um, entrepreneurial women who are ready to shift is because we have certain, uh, we’ve just have certain experiences that maybe, you know, um, somebody else wouldn’t have. And the, the fighting that we’ve had to do to get where we are, and the armor that we’ve put on to protect ourselves from some of our colleagues, and the, and the thought leadership that we’ve established for ourselves, like all of those things need to be shed in order to move forward. And that’s what weighs us down, and that’s what feels so heavy, and that’s what feels so tiring. So once you come to the conclusion that, okay, I need to make a shift and I need to take off this Teflon three-piece Teflon business suit, um, and really expose who I am and release what’s no longer serving me, all of a sudden, there’s just this well of energy that comes up. So that we get the momentum that we need in order to move into what’s next.
Lori Gama: That’s so cool. And often, society at that point in time, when we shed that, yeah, we, they see us as invisible. We have lost this visibility or some certain power we had before, our magnetism, whatever. Yeah, and suddenly, we’re not like looked upon with the same attitude or respect or, yeah, yeah.
Viveka Von Rosen: And sadly, you know, for, and, and I, I get that men go through this as well, to some degree, but a lot of women, we’ve relied on our looks, you know, our hotness, whatever, which that’s a whole other conversation we’ll have. But yeah, as those, as the, you know, being hot at 30 and 40 begins to fade away,
Lori Gama: … and then we’re like, “Oh my God, what do I have left?” And that’s where the real power comes in.
Viveka Von Rosen: Exactly. And I think that’s, that’s the biggest, um, the biggest fear, right? It’s like, “Well, if I’m not this, then what am I?” And I think that’s where the real journey begins. It’s like, “Well, who am I without all of that?” And when you start to peel back those layers and you start to really look at yourself, you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I have so much more to offer than I ever thought I did.” And that’s, that’s the beautiful part of this journey. And I think that’s what I love the most about working with women over 50 is that they’re just, they’re so incredibly powerful, and they have so much to offer the world. And it’s just, it’s really, really exciting to see them step into their power.
Lori Gama: So, what are some of the biggest challenges that women over 50 face when they’re trying to make this shift?
Viveka Von Rosen: I think the biggest challenge is that fear of the unknown. It’s like, “What if I fail? What if I’m not good enough? What if people don’t like me anymore?” And it’s, it’s that fear of the unknown that really holds us back. And I think the second biggest challenge is, is that we’ve been so conditioned to be perfect, to be successful, to be, you know, the, the, the A-plus student, the, the overachiever, and we’ve forgotten how to just be human. And so, when we’re trying to make this shift, we’re still trying to be perfect. We’re still trying to do everything right. And that’s just, that’s exhausting.
Lori Gama: Yeah. And it’s almost like we have to give ourselves permission to fail.
Viveka Von Rosen: Exactly. And to be imperfect. And to be human. And to make mistakes. And to learn from those mistakes. And to just, to just be okay with not being okay.
Lori Gama: Yeah. So, what are some of the steps that women over 50 can take to start this journey?
Viveka Von Rosen: Well, the first step is to really, really get clear on what you want. What is it that you’re passionate about? What is it that you’re good at? What is it that you love to do? And once you’ve got that clarity, then you can start to take action. And that action might be, you know, taking a class, or reading a book, or networking with other people, or, you know, just starting a blog or a podcast. But whatever it is, just start taking action. And don’t be afraid to fail. Because, as I said, failure is part of the process.
Lori Gama: Yeah, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Viveka Von Rosen: Absolutely. And surround yourself with people who support you and who believe in you. And who will tell you the truth, even when it hurts.
Lori Gama: And don’t compare yourself to others.
Viveka Von Rosen: Exactly. Your journey is your journey. And everyone’s journey is different. So just focus on your own path.
Lori Gama: And celebrate your wins, no matter how small they are.
Viveka Von Rosen: Absolutely. And remember, you’re never too old to start something new. So, what are you waiting for?
Lori Gama: I love that. And I want to thank you so much for being here today. This has been an incredible conversation. And I know that the women who watch this will be so inspired by your story.
Viveka Von Rosen: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a pleasure.
Lori Gama: And for those of you who are watching, if you want to learn more about Viva and her work, you can check out her website, Beyond the Dream Board.com. And you can also follow her on LinkedIn. And don’t forget to subscribe to this channel for more inspiring content. Thanks for watching.
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