An Interview With Melissa Llarena

Imagine this: It’s Saturday morning. 6:30 am. You are sitting at the beach on soft sand. It’s warm. You are surrounded by other people who are doing the same thing. And you’re sitting in silence for 20 minutes. You watch the sunrise on a beach in Sydney, Australia. Then you feel heard and supported as each of you has a chance to share what you got or learned out of that time alone with your thoughts. This has become my Saturday morning ritual and it’s just as amazing as it sounds. In this week’s episode, I wanted to bring to you the founder of The Sit, Jason Partington who first thought of this free weekly meditation experience you can find on many beaches in Australia, and later on, even in Portland, Maine. Jason talks about how one day, he was watching the news with his two sons, and then they learned there have been 33 suicides in their local area.  We are constantly looking at the news. For instance, our eyes are so glued to what’s happening in Ukraine and Russia. We might have seen images of X and Y. The

This is a special conversation between two moms: one is at the helm of a neurodivergent family. Every single person in Zoe Martin’s has been touched by autism, including Zoe herself; and on the other hand, me, a neurotypical who doesn't know the realities of a neurodivergent family.  Zoe Martin is a coach and mentor to parents across the world who are leading neurodivergent children. Zoe awakens the sovereign hearts inside the parents, which then brings forth radical healing, connection, and inner and outer freedom that often gets lost when diagnosis hits the family unit.  Zoe wrote the book Making Peace With Autism. If you are a parent of a neurodivergent child, this is the book for you. And even if you aren’t a parent of a neurodivergent child, but your child is in a classroom with neurodivergent kids, then you’ve got to read this book, because your children will be experiencing a world where people have many differences and abilities that may be hard to see on the surface. And this is a wonderful conversat

If you enjoy podcasts in general, or you've ever wondered whether you wanted to launch one yourself, then this conversation is for you! Today, we have Jordan Harbinger, a 15+ year veteran in the podcasting space. Jordan spoke to this idea of fear, whether there's such a thing as good or bad fear, and how do you know? He also spoke to the art of podcasting in general. Could it be the right career for you or just a really good hobby? He also shared how to earn the trust of millionaires and billionaires. Now, I've decided to take Jordan’s advice and open my door for ad swaps with fellow podcasters. So if you're listening to this right now, and you have a podcast, let's have a conversation about doing an ad swap, just reach out to me on Instagram, send me a DM @melissallarena. According to Jordan, the best way to grow a podcast in the early days is to do those ad swaps. So I am opening the opportunity to you if you, or a friend who has a podcast, would like to have their show featured on one of my episodes and ha

Have you ever struggled with finding a toy or any object to keep your kids entertained for more than a day? This episode features an inventor, business owner, and mom Abby Sullivan, who is also the founder of Wundernook, the patent-pending, modular building system that encourages open-ended play for children ages 3 to 10. It is a Scandinavian-inspired, modern heirloom constructed from sustainable materials in the USA. Wundernook's mission is to nurture the wonder of childhood while also simplifying the journey of parenthood. Abby and I met at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth before we had kids. At the time, neither of us could have ever imagined what it would be like to be a parent. And I’m glad we reconnected because motherhood is a shared journey.  In this episode, Abby shares her insights including her realization that parents are imperfect humans too. She walks us through her journey as a mom wondering how she can keep her kids entertained while teaching them useful skills and growing with them. A

Have you ever read those Chicken Soup for the Soul books? In this conversation with Patty Morrissey, it just felt like I was reading Chicken Soup for Women. If you're a woman seeking some answers to life's big questions, then this conversation is for you! We’ll cover topics such as a woman’s intuition, what to do if we hear something we don’t like, the lessons our kids are here to teach us, as well as how you can take baby steps from surviving to thriving. As a mom of three young boys and having a coaching business, I was feeling a little overwhelmed one night. And it dawned on me that other moms must also feel this way. Our kids are going to grow so quickly that if we're not present, we could miss that. But how do you become present without losing your sanity? There has to be some balance there. Out of that meditation, I came up with the idea of creating a safe space for us, moms, who have young kids. It is totally possible to be more present and not lose your mind. Join this one-hour free workshop with me a

Do you believe in marriage? Do you feel left out this Valentine’s Day? Where do you stand on this “need” to even have a partner on Valentine’s Day or forever?  This week’s guest is my husband, Jesus Diaz, Jr., whom I met 25 years ago, and we’ve been married for 18 years. Some of our Valentine’s Days have been remarkable, and others we can’t even remember.  This is Jesus’ second time on this podcast and he’s back due to popular demand. Whether you’re spending Valentine’s Day alone or with a partner, tune in to this conversation as Jesus shares his thoughts on loving ourselves and others too. This is not a gushy conversation between two married couples who feel like we have to recruit the world to follow our path.  We both believe you should spend Valentine’s Day however you choose because you are the only person who best knows what your greatest expression of love is. You know what you need this “love season” more than the idealities that you see about love.  In this episode, Jesus and I cover a lot of ground

Do your kids have a great relationship with their grandparents? Family is everything, but not everyone realizes that. And if they do, sometimes it’s already too late and regrets always come later. But if you can be more intentional with nurturing relationships within your family, you will be surprised by how everyone can uplift each other’s lives. Cal Fussman has interviewed icons from the last 70 years. In this conversation, we had a heartfelt discussion around his personal wisdom as well as some insights that he gleaned from the wisdom of people he had interviewed such as Robert De Niro and George Foreman. Cal shares his insights into the loss of a parent and his wisdom around the importance of family.  Despite being a celebrity and being amongst celebrities, Cal reminds us that we each, at our core, have similar experiences. And so, this interview is less about glitz and more about those special moments. Hopefully, you're able to get Cal's insights and make them personal in your family and ensure your kids

Are you a coffee drinker? My coffee palette has absolutely evolved having been in New York City for most of my life, where it was okay to drink a crappy cup of New York City coffee, to now, living in Australia for about three years and solely having a very Italian-influenced, long black coffee. Just to give you a little context, a long black is a coffee lingo here in Australia for a very dark espresso cup of coffee.  Coffee in Australia is very personal, and there are tricks to creating the perfect cup. So I decided to ask Hugh Kelly, who placed third in the World Barista Championship in Milan, Italy, why coffee is so important here in Australia, as well as how you and I can brew our best cuppa ever! Hugh answers so many questions pertaining to how coffee is sourced, some coffee species available, and what it would take to pay a coffee bean farmer. Learn how much you might have to pay for a cup of coffee in the near future. Hint: How much do you pay for a glass of wine?  If you enjoy the quality of my questio

Are you tired? It’s a silly question, right? This is the episode that can change the quality of your life because this is for you if you are tired all the time.  We actually don't have a sophisticated language around our exhaustion. But this week's guest, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, wrote the book, Sacred Rest, where she outlines the 7 different types of rest, which you will hear about today. This is a book about honoring rest in a society that values productivity as a way to express your worth.  We also go into why we experience Zoom fatigue which is one type of “tired” as well as why our brain doesn’t always shut off when our heads are on our pillow and we're just thinking about that challenge or that tough conversation of the day. Then there is social rest. Interestingly, there are some people that pour into us, and then there are also some people that pull from us. Dr. Dalton-Smith also shares a quiz you can take to uncover what kind of rest you may need more of in your life. You will also hear about my 5 s

Were you part of The Great Resignation or do you want to be? Is getting out of the rat race your BIG goal in 2022? Whether you left by choice or were let go by your employer or you want to launch a side-hustle, this conversation is perfect for you.  This week’s guest, Amy Guth, has been self-employed for the majority of her career. She has had a portfolio career for decades. A portfolio career concept was first introduced on Episode 65 by former CMO of GE Beth Comstock and I wanted to bring someone who could give us a sense of what it takes by way of courage, self-reliance, and autonomy. Hence, Amy is a great example. She understands what it feels like to hunt for your own food.  In this conversation, she lays out precisely how you can use fear as your beacon rather than let it get in your way from doing the most meaningful work of your life. Anyone new to self-employment has several new choices to make, whether it’s related to what projects to take on, clients to fire, skills to monetize, and even down to ho

Are you looking to lose weight? Let's talk about this top New Year's resolution, which is the desire to lose weight or increase exercise or just improve our overall diet. Sure, we want to improve our health. But how serious are we when it comes to making the changes necessary to turn our health around? Now, what would be possible if we actually got it right this year? Today, we have Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a board-certified family physician, seven-time New York Times bestselling author, and nutritional researcher who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods. He's here to help us understand why we get diseases in this modern era when we're supposed to be living longer than ever before. He shares how we can regain that power and how we can start leveraging nutritionally dense foods in our lives and that also taste delicious.  Dr. Fuhrman gives me a sense of hope that despite some diseases being hereditary, they are not a fact in my life nor in future generations. ​​And s

Are you a fan of Sesame Street? I had the opportunity to ask Chris Thomas Hayes, a puppeteer and actor, about what it takes to capture our imagination, along with the imagination of our kids. This episode reveals a lot about what happens behind the scenes of Sesame Street.  Chris walks us through how he gets into character in the field of puppetry and how he approached playing a legacy character that may have even existed when he was a child and watched the show on TV. Listening to Chris, I’m just in awe of the technical sophistication behind what it takes to play our favorite Sesame Street characters including Big Bird, Hoots the Owl, or Ernie. Chris also talks about the way he conveys emotions through a puppet that is made of felt and stitching. In Chris’ words, the characters on Sesame Street were not built out of anger, but they came from love. They were built with the spirit of a child in mind that the more we watch them, the more we forget these are not real entities. So how then is he able to convey an

Think about what 2022 could look like for you. What does it take for you to make 2022 amazing? Imagine using your capabilities and resources as an adult and pairing those up with the confidence, resilience, curiosity, and energy you had as a kid. During a coaching engagement, a client asked me something that illustrates how we might be keeping ourselves stuck by relying purely on thinking like an adult.  In this episode, I’m doing a 2021 wrap-up and sharing with you some of my upcoming guests in 2022. Specifically, I’m giving you a sneak preview of next week's episode which features a Sesame Street puppeteer who offers some words of wisdom about reconnecting with our inner child being the key to harnessing our imagination. There's no better way to approach 2022 than with oodles of imagination for you to dream bigger.  My goal for this podcast is to bring you world-class thought leaders across disciplines from around the world who courageously and creatively went after their curiosities until they felt ready.

Being a mom to three little boys, I could have inherited this notion of delivering on a perfect Christmas experience – from the hot cocoa and the annual outing to seeing the best neighborhood Christmas decorations. Then I realized that perfection was the worst possible ambition I could ever have in my own life.  No matter how hard you try to deliver perfection, there would always be an imperfect Christmas table setting for someone seated at the table, or an imperfect Christmas Eve menu for someone who disliked my brown rice, Latin-dish alternatives. And there’s always going to be an imperfect Christmas party outfit for a party guest. There's always been a difference in how we define the perfect Christmas. Yet, we have this notion of striving for perfection when we know there's no one universal definition for perfection. So much time and effort go into ensuring that our kids have the perfect Christmas, maybe it's a Christmas that we never had. This idea of perfection that we show our kids is stressing out a lo

Just because you have comfy sofas does not mean that you have to sit down. You could still stand up for your goals and your ambitions and treat this December just as you would next January – with enthusiasm, optimism, and a deep desire to continue to evolve. It's almost the end of 2021 and I want to be sure that you do everything in your power to end this year with a bang! In this episode, I've decided to share with you some key ideas or ways to evaluate what you can do or should be doing during these final weeks of the year. And so, I want to share with you three key ideas that I think are going to help you rethink how to approach the end of this year while keeping in mind what you want to accomplish in 2022. I'm also sharing the approach that has helped me become successful, something that requires consistent movement, either at a turtle pace or as quickly as a hare. You will also hear this concept pertaining to celebrating your wins and pulling forth the person you have become. You will also have a good se

If you want to come close to fulfilling your life purpose, then challenges definitely come with the territory. And when it comes to going after something big and facing these rejections, setbacks, and failures, the most important piece to the puzzle is IF and HOW you choose to get back up, and ultimately, learn from them as well.  But how exactly can you go about this mental gymnastics? The key is to reframe rejections and reimagine how a setback can just be that thing that gets you ready for your comeback, especially when things might feel quite devastating in the moment.  This week, I have curated 10 unique excerpts from my 100+ podcast episodes, where my guests share how we can all reinterpret or use those tough times, and ultimately, how we too, can get back up with earned wisdom we can use to move forward towards the direction of any big ambition. My guests include a former volleyball referee, professional dancer, an Olympic gold medalist, an entrepreneur with the ambition to help a billion people, a pol

In this episode, I've curated another 10 excerpts from my 100 episodes where my guests have shared about happiness – how little it takes to feel happy and more inspired. It's also amazing how short of a time someone can go from feeling anxious to feeling grateful, joyful, and truly supported the moment you take heed of your guiding light. We're constantly told to appreciate the little things and be grateful. We're also told that happiness is within our reach. And so, I want to help you make happiness within your reach, especially during those hard moments.  Maybe you’re living in a humble New York City apartment with chipped paint on the walls. And then you’re seeing all those things on social media with everybody living big, glamorous lives. Or maybe you're reading or watching the news bringing about feelings of anxiety. Maybe you’re in a similar situation where you’re in a panic mode, and you don’t know how to break out from that feeling. Maybe you’re in the process of writing a book and you find yourself s

I've come to realize that while the central themes of this podcast have been creativity, courage, and curiosity, the deepest core of this is our identity. Today, I'll be covering how some of my guests have uncovered their truest identities, whether you can truly change your identity, and what this whole identity crisis and searching is really all about.  You'll be hearing 10 excerpts from my last 100 episodes that I carefully curated because they've meant something to me, and I surmise, they can change the way you think about getting to know yourself. When it comes to our personal evolutions of who we are, I have noticed three types of moments that truly make an impact on our identities.  The first type is how traumatic experiences can put our identities in question. Such as Cepee Tabibian, Co-Founder of She Hit Refresh, who lost her two parents back-to-back and decided to leave a good Texan life for a great Spanish existence (Episode 45), and Marshall Dun, who after losing his brother to suicide, he learned

Have you been feeling like your life is on auto-pilot? Then consider this conversation a stop sign. Or if you’ve ever struggled with FOMO, then be sure to listen to this episode as Dr. Brad Elphinstone shares how his brain surgery at the age of 18 helped him appreciate the risks we all face of feeling like we missed out on our own lives.  Based in Melbourne, Dr. Brad Elphinstone shares his insights that will help you better understand how varied our interpretation of human experiences can be no matter how common they are. Our discussion today focuses on three main topics – self-determination, equanimity, and non-attachment, which all can have life-long implications that will allow you to stop living on auto-pilot and never miss out on the things that truly matter to you.  Be sure to take this episode to heart and get some actionable guidance by picking up your free copy of my Courage Makerspace (™) Playbook on www.melissallarena.com/courage. It will help you boost your courage in 7 days' time. If you currentl

What does it mean for a person to find their purpose? And how does a person go about doing that? In Laura Carney’s case, her life purpose found her – and in a situation where she was finally ready.  Laura’s dad was killed by a female driver who was distractedly talking on her phone. 13 years later, Laura and her brother found their dad’s bucket list of 60 dreams he wrote at 29 that they didn’t even know existed. Today, Laura is living her purpose of finishing that list. Do you want to know whether you are on the right track to fulfilling your personal life purpose? Might you already be living it? Or are you still waiting for it to find you? Hopefully, this episode will inspire you as you uncover key insights to help you gain some momentum around your own life purpose. Discover the kind of mindset she had to consciously bring to the table, how she pursued this list of 54 possible items (out of the original list of 60), and how the universe conspired with her to finish her dad’s list. Also, as a mom with incomp