IAM1666 – Inspirational DJ, Teacher and Big DREAM Jockey On a Mission to Smash the Shame and Stigma Around Mental Health

DJ Valerie B Love Teaser 00:00

Listening to music and using it in a medicinal way, not just random acts of it, I'm just gonna push play and hope Pandora or Spotify drops something for me. It's the intentional use of music, and so we really do have the opportunity to create soundtracks for our life.

Intro 00:18

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 Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:43

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. And if you've been listening this year, we're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes under certain categories or topics that we think are gonna be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

This month is going to be about not forgetting about the human part of business. Often we forget about the human part of life. We often forget about the human part of business. So look forward, to self-care tips, fitness, burnout, purpose, biz, and personal, personal branding, motivation, drive success, understanding your why, and of course, how important customer service is.

But at the heart of it, it's all about remembering the human part of the business. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I am CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresham Harkless from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today have DJ Valerie B love of the Big Dream School podcast. DJ it's awesome to have you on the show.

DJ Valerie B Love 01:42

Hey, Aloha. Good to be here. Thank you.

Gresham Harkless 01:44

No problem. And what I wanted to do was read a little bit more about DJ Valerie so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

Inspirational DJ – Teacher – Big DREAM Jockey

“I believe we have the power to remodel our planet at our fingertips”-DJVBL

When she’s not spinning records for thousands of dancers on the Nile in Egypt, Burningman, or a Beach in Hawaii, she’s making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for her kiddos before recording another episode of the Big DREAM School podcast. DJ Valerie is an Inspirational DJ – “Dream Jockey” and Big DREAM Coach who believes Music is the Medicine and the DJ is the Doctor.

Valerie fuses art, science, and soul to teach and inspire creative, bad@ss, change-makers how to get out of their funk, get their groove back, and rock their Big DREAMS.

She is a co-founder of 2 multi-million dollar real estate companies, USCG Charter Boat Captain, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Teacher, and of course the most blessed Mama of 2 Earth Angels. DJ Valerie is on a mission to smash the shame and stigma around mental health so that we can SNAP! Back to rocking our Big DREAMS and co-create a planet where all life co-thrives in delicious harmony!

DJ are you ready to speak to the I am CEO community?

DJ Valerie B Love 02:57

I just like dropped the mic right there. That sounds fun.

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Gresham Harkless 03:00

Exactly. Well, it's awesome to have you on the show, and oh, the way I wanted to start everything was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

DJ Valerie B Love 03:08

Well, wow. Thank you so much, and thanks again for inviting me to share space with you and your tribe. You know, this part of my life, I've got lots of chapters of life. I think we all do, and this particular chapter got started because basically, I lost my shit. You know, I have always prided myself on being somebody who has had it together.

I've had it together financially, I've had it together relationships, I've had it together, and so my dream is to help people feel safe to raise their hand and get support and help in whatever form that is. They're big dreamers. We all, like us entrepreneurs, artists, we are the big dreamers and we do see this vision for the future.

And the only way we're gonna do it is together. And the only way we're gonna do it is if we're honest because I was always the one that people would, Hey Val, what's, you know, they would come to me and that was like a huge wake-up call. And I realized like, wow, there's a lot of other people out there who are probably suffering with the same shame and stigma around raising their hands and saying, Hey, I don't get this right now.

I usually got this, but I don't get this right now. Occurred to me like, wow, if this is happening to me, I wonder if it's going on with others. And so people who are business people, people who are performers or artists or parents, they have a lot of responsibility. And so having things not go your way, it's like you think you're gonna bounce back and get out of your funk, cause you usually do, but then when you don't, it's like, whoa.

And then it's this vicious downward spiral. Especially with social media, people are like, I'm so perfect. It's like, no, you're not. You're just like everyone else. We don't have it all together all the time. That's what prompted this, cuz I'm like, wow, I really know that I can share my wisdom and experience and stories to help people remember like, we got this and we're gonna do this together.

Gresham Harkless 04:53

Yeah. And I truly appreciate you for doing that.

DJ Valerie B Love 04:55

Yeah. It's been humbling, it's been empowering and humbling and inspirational and I feel like I'm just literally scratching the surface of this project and moving forward on this planet together. That's what's up. And I do think, as a DJ, as somebody who's been absolutely impacted by the power of music and by the power of dancing together and by, I'm a Kundalini yoga teacher, I also teach meditation and personal mastery practices.

So to me and as an artist, like fusing all of those things together, that's like my magic sauce cause it's one thing to go learn stuff, but it's another to really embody it. And so I'm working on a project called Dance Our Dreams, and so doing events where we come together and we put our dreams together in a circle and we just dance like, however, we need to dance to get ourselves embodied in the possibility and the hope of the dream being reality.

So I think it's super fun and I think music and art, like they're medicine. Like they have the power to change you instantly, in a snap, right? Like you're listening to a Bob Marley song, Get Up, stand up, you're like woo-hoo. And you can change your mood. It changes your chemistry and your frequency.

And so it's not woo-hoo stuff. The stuff is real, you know? And by doing that in groups and big groups of people like the Oh my, I have goosebumps because I get so excited. Like feeling myself in the rooms with people and just having their experiences shared and their dreams shared. It's so powerful and so that's my jam. I wanted when we're dancing around the world, guess what? We're not fighting. When people are dancing together, they're not killing each other. And so my dream is to have us all dancing at the same time regularly around the planet. So I think that's gonna be so much fun.

Gresham Harkless 06:41

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I would definitely look forward to that day as well. And, I know you touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more about like what you're doing that kind of help support clients. So what do you do kind of to support these clients that you work with.

DJ Valerie B Love 06:52

Well, I'm working with them in group settings, in one-on-one settings, and then doing dance events. So the idea really is to get people together regularly. I've done a ton of workshops and conferences with other leaders and people who are my teachers, and I love them.

And then I'm done and I'm like, well, now what? What do I do? Where's my tribe? Where's my community? Where's my regular basis of stuff? You know, a community to dial into. I went through a few years ago, I was drinking like crazy. I ended up going to rehab and I ended up doing a 12-step program, which was awesome.

I love it. Love it, love it. And the issue with it for me was it's like there's this anonymity around it and you're not supposed to, you know, there are no T-shirts that are like, Woohoo, I'm doing 12 steps. Right, right, right. And I'm like fucking people who are doing any kind of personal work, it's like you should totally have a t-shirt and rock and give yourself high fives all the time.

And so even though there's like a really awesome framework for 12 steps, so whether it's for eating, drinking, sex, whatever the thing is, it's an awesome framework for personal transformation. The thing that's missing though to me is that T-shirt factor, I call it, you know, and it's like the tribe of like, high five, like people around.

It's like you don't wanna tell your boss, oh yeah, I gotta go to my AA meeting at lunch. And so it's what can we do to transcend that model and remix it into something where people are gonna be like, oh, really? You're gonna go at the Dancer Dreams event, or you're gonna go to a Snap Circle or something that's empowering, where people are stoked for you.

So I'm working on putting together a new framework for people to have a regular touchpoint and regular tribes in person to show up and work on their big dreams.

Gresham Harkless 08:35

And I know you touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to ask if you had anything else to kind of build upon it as far as your secret sauce. Would you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart?

DJ Valerie B Love 08:42

Well, I definitely know my secret sauce is music. I mean, a hundred percent. Just listening to music and using it in a medicinal way, not just random acts of I'm just gonna push play in hope, Pandora, or Spotify. Drop something for me, it's the intentional use of music.

And so we really do have the opportunity to create soundtracks for our lives. And we have the opportunity to reprogram ourselves really with certain types of music, with different kinds of programming. Whether it's meditative, whether it's like the binaural beat, whether it's hip hop, whether it's if you're listening to me like my kids are starting to listen to, you know, all sorts of music.

And I notice that my daughter. She's 12. I love you, baby. But she'll listen to some music that's got some pretty negative words around women, you know? And, I'm just like, you may not think that you're hearing that, but your soul and your subconscious is sucking that up and thinking that it's okay to be called a bitch. And, you know, it's okay to all these things. And it's like, it's not, it's never okay.

And I think music has the opportunity to uplift us and it certainly has the opportunity to hold us into certain roles. And so, part of my secret sauce is really working with people. You know, everyone's not gonna like the exact flavor necessarily of music that I might like, but my job is to help them figure out what is their medicine, what's their medicinal flavor, and use it in a way that empowers them and inspires them, or calms them down if they need to chill out a little bit.

So there's all these different, I think that's my overall glue of secret sauce, you know. And of course, personal mastery practices, self-awareness and spiritual coaching is definitely integrated into what I do, but the music part is my jam. There you go.

Gresham Harkless 10:27

I love that. I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack, and this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

DJ Valerie B Love 10:36

Cold showers. It's so crazy to think that cold showers for me in the morning, I started doing this when I started practicing Kundalini yoga, and they were like, yeah, one of the things you should do is the first thing when you wake up take a cold shower. And I was like, no, absolutely not. Like this woman needs to be in Maui because I'm a mermaid and I'm a warm water girl.

And I'm like, okay, whatever. These people are healthy and they look pretty good. I'm gonna check it out. And I'm like, painful, you know? But I swear it has helped my circulation, it helps my clarity, and it helps me hit the ground running. I did it I think for nine months straight. And you know, recently it's wintertime and that's when I should do it even more, which sounds crazy.

It's snowing right now here in Colorado. But it does help you get your circulation going. So there's a guy named Wim Hof. Have you ever heard of him?

Gresham Harkless 11:24

No.

DJ Valerie B Love 11:25

They call him the Iceman. And so he talks all about your immune system and there's different, you know, cold plunges and cold body practices to help trigger your immune system so that you're stronger.

And you know, cause if you're not healthy, you are not gonna be a good c e o, you're not gonna be a good service provider of anything on this planet. So that's one of the tiny little ways that I stay alive and happy.

Gresham Harkless 11:47

Awesome. Yeah. Well, I love that. So, now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget.

And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self.

DJ Valerie B Love 11:58

Just believe sister, like you got this, you are supported, when you get into a place of serving others from your heart. And the highest good of all, then things are gonna go your way.

And they do. You know, and so remembering to believe that you can do this, that you got this. So that's like, to me so huge. It's so so huge. It's so easy to get distracted and not believe in yourself because of X, Y, or Z. And you compare and all these things. So if you just truly believe you will do this thing of yours, this big dream a hundred percent.

Gresham Harkless 12:35

Absolutely. As the kind of saying goes, if you can believe it, you can achieve it, but you have to make sure that you believe it or it makes it a lot harder to be able to make it.

DJ Valerie B Love 12:42

Yeah, it does. If you don't believe in something like it's not gonna happen, there might be some chance, but it's like you must embody that truth that you got this and you can do this thing.

So, it's the most powerful medicine, I think, and music, of course. And my theme song is called Believe, and it's by Ministers de la Funk. It's super duper old. It's an old-school house song. And, Jocelyn Brown was a singer in that. And it's just like, and that was the name of my first CD back in the nineties when I started DJing.

Gresham Harkless 13:11

You're rocking and rolling and you're making it happen. So Definitely. I think, everybody just added that to their soundtrack now.

DJ Valerie B Love 13:16

Yeah. So it's so good. She's such a great singer. I feel like I'm going to church with her. It's so good.

Gresham Harkless 13:22

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And, now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO, and we're hoping to have different quote-unquote, CEOs on the show and look at entrepreneurship and business.

So DJ what does being a CEO mean to you?

DJ Valerie B Love 13:35

I believe I'm a C E O. I'm a chief elevation officer, and so to me, it means elevating others to their best so that we can all achieve this vision, this mission on this planet. And so, business is a tool to do that. And it can be conscious, it can be socially aware, and I think it's helping people rise to their best and holding each other accountable.

So to me, being a CEO is definitely being a servant leader. It's not about leading from above. It's leading from below as a, like the wind beneath, everyone's wings. So and beneath the vision swing. So that's to me, I'm an elevation officer.

Gresham Harkless 14:11

I love it. I love that acronym too. So DJ, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic just to see if there is anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then of course, how best they can get ahold of you. And of course, subscribe to your podcast.

DJ Valerie B Love 14:26

Thank you. I gotta circle back to the belief part and whatever it is you might be doing on this planet right now, and whatever things are in your way, know that someone else has already faced those obstacles.

And look at the people who have gone before you. The people who are the big dreamers, the people who have overcome obstacles that would seem completely insurmountable, but they did it anyway.

Tap into that energy, tap into that vibration of truth, that magic is possible when you believe in yourself and when you believe that your dream is worth dreaming and doing on this planet. So just embody that and know that and know that we got this. So that's my jam on the people.

So if you guys wanna check out the Big Dream School podcast, you can check it out on iTunes or Spotify, or Google Play, and you can also check out each week when we do these little seven-day experiments, the idea is one shiny simple thing in your life that you can do to move the needle forward on yourself.

And so I call them experiments rather than challenges because if you do them and you don't like them, it's like, okay, cool. But if you do something and you're like, yeah, I'm gonna maybe do this for another seven days, or maybe I'm just gonna integrate this into my life. And so I think we're all experimenters.

Whatever it is in your life, grab a buddy. And do something to keep moving the needle forward. You know, we're always growing and you know, in our tribe, we're dream jockeys. We're dreamers, but we're doers. We're people who are riding our dreams to the finish line like you. And so I'm excited to see you all there, but you can check the podcast.

And downloadable sheets at djvaleriebeloved.com and I can't wait to check you all out in the world and see you on the dance floors.

Gresham Harkless 16:00

Definitely, definitely. And we appreciate you for doing all the awesome things that you're doing and of course, taking some time outta your schedule, we'll make sure to have all those links in the show notes.

But DJ I truly appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

DJ Valerie B Love 16:11

Thanks a lot. You too, hon. Aloha.

Outro 6:14

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 www.ceogear.co. This has been the I am CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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