IAM1457 – Coach Helps Women Find their Voice and Authentic Self

Dr. Rowena Winkler helps women find their voice and come back to their divine authenticity by using a combination of spiritual tools and practical strategies. Her mentoring approach encourages women to tap into self-love, build confidence, get unstuck, and make a change. As a marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, she is also a higher education consultant and instructor who develops and teaches courses in strategic communication.

• CEO Story: Rowena started to dig deep into her entrepreneurial journey after a tragic event happened to her father, that led her to think outside of the box, leave the teaching academy, and work in Marketing and Communications for a bit to hone her skills. She finally launched her business after giving birth to her baby last March 2020.
• Business Service: One-on-one coaching. Inner muse mentor to clients. Tapping the inner wisdom, inner knowing inside of a person. Marketing and business are based on innate intuition.
• Secret Sauce: Providing a system of the framework. Integrating it with intuition – astrology, human design, and holistic practices.
• CEO Hack: Using the power of astrology and moon phases to help plan and build your business.
• CEO Nugget: We know what's best for us. Be your authentic self. Give time to experiment and tweak.
• CEO Defined: Having the freedom and spaciousness to express your authenticity. To be yourself in helping and serving other people. Having the legacy and impact.

Website: www.rowenawinkler.com

Instagram: rbwinklerphd

Linkedin: rbwinklerphd

Facebook: rbwinklerphd

TikTok: rbwinklerphd

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Transcription

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00:26 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share it with you Precisely. You're in search of this is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Dr. Rowena Winkler of rowenawinkler.com. Dr. Rowena, it's great to have you on the show.

01:03 – Rowena Winkler

It's great to be here, Gresh. Thank you so much for having me.

01:06 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, super excited to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that you're doing. And of course, before we do that, I wanted to read a little bit more about Dr. Rowena so you can hear about some of those awesome things. Dr. Rowena helps women find their voice and come back to their divine authenticity by using a combination of spiritual tools and practical strategies.

Her mentoring approach encourages women to tap into self-love, build confidence, get unstuck, and make a change. As a marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, and also she also has a higher ed. She was also a higher education consultant and instructor who developed and taught courses in strategic communication and writing. Dr. Wayne is super excited again to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:47 – Rowena Winkler

Oh, I am so ready. Let's go.

01:49 – Gresham Harkless

Let's make it happen then. So to kind of kick everything off, I know I touched on it when I read your bio, but I wanted to rewind the clock, and hear a little bit more about how you got started. What I call your CEO story.

01:58 – Rowena Winkler

Yeah, my CEO story, I would say it was sparked by two catalyst moments, one of which was when my. My father was diagnosed with cancer and he passed away in 2013. And for those of you who have lost a loved one, especially a parent, as you can imagine, it was a game changer for me. It really caused me to reflect on my legacy and what I was doing here.

And essentially watching my father die, deteriorate and die from this disease led me to reflect on how I'm making the most of my time in this life. And so that was when I started to think about entrepreneurship. Being the CEO of my own business, was something that I'd wanted to do for a really long time. But of course, fear and imposter syndrome were getting in the way.

And that just allowed me to step outside of that fear and really consider going for it. But I didn't do that right away. At the time, I was still a tenure track professor, teaching courses in public relations and public speaking and writing. And that moment, that catalyst moment of my father passing away led me to leave academia and work in the marketing and communications industry for a little bit to still figure out and hone in on what I was doing.

The second catalyst moment was having my beautiful baby girl in March 2020, literally days before the world shut down during the pandemic. So that was a time. Leading up to that, I actually went through IVF in vitro fertilization to have my daughter. And that was a very powerful and humbling time because I am a very self-motivated person.

I got my Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD in less than 10 years. For the longest I was hustling and grinding this experience of me trying to have something I wanted so badly, a daughter, a baby. It wasn't happening by my usual checking-the-boxes method. It really again caused me to reflect on how am I going about this life now that I have this beautiful baby to role model for. Now's the time. And that was when I launched my LLC and my business and brought me here today.

04:11 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I appreciate you so much for sharing your story and all those points that you had, those inflection points, that kind of sound like change things for you. And I think so many times I say we forget about the human aspect of business. So I appreciate you having that transparency, talking about everything that was going through with your father and seeing that and how that kind of redirected some of everything that you're doing, but also your daughter and even going through IVF and how all those things we often forget about. It brings light to not just what we're doing, but a lot of times why we're doing what we're doing, which is one of the most powerful things.

04:48 – Rowena Winkler

Yes, yes, and no. You'll find it throughout this interview. I'm all about the humanness of our experience here.

04:55 – Gresham Harkless

So yeah, yeah, absolutely. So let's delve deeper into that humanness so take us through a little bit more on how you're working with your clients. You're making that impact.

05:04 – Rowena Winkler

Yeah. So a big theme for me in working with my clients is authenticity. And I know that's a word that's thrown around a lot, but for me, that really means tapping in deep. I call myself an inner muse mentor. And what does that mean? That means that there is this inner wisdom, this inner knowing inside all of us that, you know, I mentioned, homegirl just wants to come out. But as we grow up and go about this world, we're conditioned by external influences, by the media, by our parents.

There are all these messages and stories about who we are supposed to be. But the work that I do in my coaching with my clients is to tap in deep and find that woman that we are meant to be, that we deserve to be, that we are empowered to be, and who we truly are. So through my one-on-one coaching offerings, as well as through offer, given my marketing and communications background, I offer what is called intuitive business strategy.

So what that means is not going off of the shoulds, which I'll talk about a little bit later, not going off of these quote-unquote best practices when it comes to marketing and business, but really having a softening to that and tapping into our intuition. Because as women, we have an innate intuition. We have gifts and talents in terms of what is best for us and best for our business and not being afraid to explore that a little bit more and show up in that way in our own businesses.

06:34 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I absolutely love that. I love Intermuse Mentor. I love every aspect of that. Just because I think kind of you alluded to that and spoke to this where so many times in life you're kind of told that inner thoughts, that inner kind of intuitive perspective that you have is wrong because of X, Y, and Z. And I think we're always looking outward to try to find the answers, get the next thing, whatever that might be. So I love just the foundation in everything that you're doing because I think we're often so often we're often looking away and saying we need this or we need that. When a lot of the things that we need are already within, we just need them unlocked.

07:14 – Rowena Winkler

Yeah. And you know, as that mentor, I'm here to guide you in that process, to call that out, because you're absolutely right. We innately know what is best for us. But again, we're just competing with all of these distractions and feeling like we have to, as I mentioned, check these boxes and have these moments of external validation. And I'm pulling from my own experience after checking those boxes, I still felt unfulfilled and unhappy, and I was trying to figure out why. And so once I've discovered that, oh, just kidding. I have it all within me, and experiencing the death of my father and the birth of my daughter were the moments that really put the pieces together for me.

07:55 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And I know you spoke to two things, you know, fear and imposter syndrome. And I think that so many times when we're talking about, especially around business, but all aspects where we have so much. I'm going to use the word conditioning that you are kind of told not to trust that intuitive voice, told not to trust that person who wants to come out and unleash themselves. So I love that because, for one, you've been able to do it yourself as you kind of spoke to in many aspects of your journey. But also you get to empower those people and those women to be able to do that within themselves, too.

08:28 – Rowena Winkler

Yeah.

08:29 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So what would you consider to be what I like to call your secret sauce? This could be for yourself, the business, or a combination of both. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

08:39 – Rowena Winkler

Yes. So after working with several clients and having these conversations with them and, you know, gathering that data, what drew you to me? It really is the combination of, as I mentioned, I have a background in teaching and strategic communication and marketing. So I have that. That brain that allows to provide structure and goal setting and providing a system, a framework. But as I mentioned and alluded to that intuition, I also use astrology human design, and tarot.

So more of these esoteric, mystical spiritual practices and holistic healing modalities are in my work. So it's a beautiful integration of the two so that we can tap into these more intuitive spiritual practices. But then you have me as your mentoring guide to be like, okay, now that we've discovered and explored what we need to move forward, let's come up with inspired action steps to get there. So it's just wonderful because it really allows folks the space to explore, but then have accountability in getting to that dream career or getting to that ideal woman or starting that business that you've always been thinking about launching but haven't had the courage or the framework to get there.

10:08 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. I love that. And I can definitely see that in our background and all the accomplishments and things that you've been able to do and kind of, you know, that to me, kind of speaks directly to. Like, I think the essence of entrepreneurship is not really choosing either or, but creating the new. And I love how you're able. Able to kind of marry both of those.

This is a book I read years ago called The Opposable Mind. And it talked a lot about how sometimes the most innovative things that we can do are not from, you know, doing, you know, going left or going right, but actually blazing our own trail by combining the power of both of those. So I love that. And I imagine, like with your clients, it probably allows them to not think either or two probably thinks them. Allows them to create and create both.

10:49 – Rowena Winkler

Absolutely. It's been a lot of fun.

10:51 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it definitely sounds like it one day. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

11:05 – Rowena Winkler

So speaking of blazing your own trail and thinking a little bit outside the box, the hack that I decided to share with everyone in the community is actually what I use in my own practice and with my intuitive business clients. It's using the power of astrology and moon phases to help plan and build your business. For example, when I launched my business in 2021, I pivoted from a purely astrology business to this coaching integration practice. I launched it on a new moon at the time of this recording,

Last night we had a new moon in Leo. And new moons are energy when it comes to new beginnings, fresh starts, and fresh beginnings. I take the energy of planetary alignments, and that's based on what's going on for all of us, but also on your own chart. So I look at the astrology of my clients, I look at the human design of my clients, again, using these modalities to help with effective planning. So based on what is happening astrologically, I'm like, oh, okay, we're in LEO season, for example, at the time of this recording.

LEO season is all about presentation. It's all about having this boldness. It's ruled by the sun. So how can I show up through speaking engagements just like this to show the radiance of me and my business and how can I show up to help other people? So, yeah, that's. That's my hack. It's probably a little bit different from others you've received, but that's what I've used to build my business.

12:40 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I absolutely love it. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So you might have already touched on this, but this is kind of like a word of wisdom or piece of advice. I like to say it might be something you would say to your younger business self if you were to jump into a time machine. Or you might tell your favorite client.

12:56 – Rowena Winkler

Essentially, as CEOs, and business owners, we need to stop shoulding all over ourselves. We, you know, especially when we're first starting out, we look again externally, right? We sign up for the courses and we look at our role models, which is all good and said and done, but at the end of the day, as I mentioned, we know what's best for us.

Because if we're showing up using the best practices or trying to copy what someone else has done, it's going to come off as contrived and it's not going to attract the ideal clients for you. You're not going to have the business that you are dreaming of by not being your authentic self. And so stop it with the shoulds. Get rid of that perfectionism. I know that's so hard because I'm a recovering perfectionist myself.

When you're an entrepreneur, it is this big experimentation process. Not everything you put out there is going to land right away, but that's why you take the time to reframe, you know, look over, reflect on what's working, and what's not, and just tweak and see what happens from there. And the energy is what goes along with it. If you are putting yourself out there saying, oh, this isn't going to work, or what am I doing? If you don't have the confidence behind it, that's not going to go well. So stop the shoulder and just get out there and be yourself. And the folks that you are meant to help and serve will come to you. I just know it.

14:28 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different, quote, unquote CEOs on the show. So, Dr. Rowena, what does being a CEO mean to you?

14:39 – Rowena Winkler

So being a CEO, what it means to me is having the freedom and the spaciousness to express your authenticity and to be yourself in a way that helps and serves other people. What's so, so important for me is having this ability to create my business in a way that has a legacy impact. And really, really, I'm here to serve. So, yeah, absolutely.

15:09 – Gresham Harkless

And of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak. Just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course how best people can get a hold of you. Find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

15:22 – Rowena Winkler

You can find me@rowenawinkler.com and then I'm on all the social media channels. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. I think that may be it for now, but My handle is rbwinklerPhD for all of my social media channels, so feel free to check me out there. And in terms of my offerings, as I mentioned, I work one-on-one with coaching clients so if that is something you are interested in to tap into that inner muse, I am available. I also provide intuitive marketing and business planning services.

15:57 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I absolutely love that Dr. Rowena. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too so that everybody can get a hold of you and connect with you. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:06 – Rowena Winkler

Thanks. You too. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this conversation.

16:09 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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