IAM189- Inspirational DJ, Teacher and Big DREAM Jockey On a Mission to Smash the Shame and Stigma Around Mental Health

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!

• CEO Hack: Cold showers in the morning
• CEO Nugget: Just believe, things are going to work out your way
• CEO Defined: Elevating others to their best

Website: https://djvalerieblove.com/

Fcebook: facebook.com/djvalerieblove
Instagram: instagram.com/djvalerieblove
Twitter: twitter.com/djvalerieblove
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/djvalerieblove

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-dream-school-art-science-soul-rocking-your-dreams/id1441540841?mt=2

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/dj-valerie-b-love/big-dream-school-the-art-science-and-soul-of-rocking-your

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2fOz00qpoiHMv818zuVaE0

Full Interview

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

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 0:26

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresham Harkless from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I 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 0:38

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

Gresham Harkless 0:40

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. An inspirational DJ – Teacher, and Big DREAM Jockey. She believes we have the power to remodel our planet at our fingertips. 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 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?

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DJ Valerie B Love 1:53

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

Gresham Harkless 1:56

Exactly. Well, it's awesome to have you on the show. And oh, by the way, I wanted to start everything I want 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 2:04

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 got lots of chapters of life I think we all do. And this particular chapter got started because basically, I lost my 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 in relationships, I've had it together spiritually and in my health. And a few years back, that wasn't the case, because of a perfect storm with a lot of things going on in my life. Like I found myself just at the lowest level I have ever been ever.

And I realized, like, whoa, and one of the biggest reasons that happened was because I was too embarrassed and ashamed to ask for help. Because I was always alone that people would, you know, have hours, 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. And it 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 because you usually do but then when you don't, it's like whoa. And then it's this vicious downward spiral. 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 are all like entrepreneurs, and artists, are big dreamers, and we do see this vision for the future. And the only way we're going to do it is together.

And the only way we're going to do it is if we're honest, especially with social media, people 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. So that's what prompted this because 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 4:09

Yeah, and I truly appreciate you for doing that.

DJ Valerie B Love 4:11

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. So 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 because 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 in the hope of the dream being reality.

So I think it's super fun. And I think music and art have, like their medicine, like they have the power to change you instantly, like in a snap, right? Like you're listening to a Bob Marley song, get up, stand up, you're like woohoo. And you can change your mood, it changes your chemistry and your frequency. And so it's not woo-woo stuff, this stuff is real. And by doing that, in groups, and big groups of people, like the, oh my god, I have goosebumps, because I get so excited, like feeling myself in the rooms with people and just having their experience shared and their dreams shared. It's so powerful.

And so that's my jam is I want to, you know, 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 5:57

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

DJ Valerie B Love 6:08

Well, I'm working with them in group settings, and one on one settings, and then doing dance events. And 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, what are what do I do? Where's my tribe? Where's my community? Where's my regular basis of stuff, but 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. And the issue with it, for me, was it like it, there's this anonymity around it, and you're not supposed to, you know, there are no t-shirts that are like Whoo, I'm doing 12 steps, right? Like 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, 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, and it's like the tribe of like, yeah, high five, like people around it's like, you don't want to tell your boss like, oh, yeah, I kind of go to my AA meeting at lunch.

And so it's like, what can we do to transcend that model and remix it into something where people are going to be like, Oh, really, you're gonna go to like the dance or 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 touch point and regular tribes in person to show up and work on their big dreams.

Gresham Harkless 7:51

And I know you've 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, what do you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart?

DJ Valerie B Love 7:58

Well, I definitely know my secret sauce is music. I mean, 100%. Just listening to music and using it in a medicinal way, not just random acts of 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 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 a binaural beat, whether it's hip hop, whether it's, you know, if you're listening to me, like my kids are starting to listen to all sorts of music, and I noticed 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, and I'd be like, you may not think that you're hearing that, but your soul and your subconscious are sucking that up and thinking that it's okay to be called a bitch.

And it's okay to do 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 are all these differences that I think that's my overall glue of secret sauce, 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.

Gresham Harkless 9:43

There you go. I love that. And I love that idea of having a soundtrack for your life and a soundtrack probably for ways you want your life and potentially your day to go. So as you said, if you want to chill out, maybe there's a certain soundtrack or tracks that you're going to put together. If you're trying to get amped up to crush a goal. Maybe going less than something else. So I really love that perspective and kind of how you approach 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 or book or a habit that you have. But it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

DJ Valerie B Love 10:12

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're like, yeah, one of the things you should do is the first thing when you wake up is 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 going to check it out. And like, painful, but I swear it has helped my circulation, it helps my clarity, it helps me hit the ground running. I did it, I think for nine months straight.

And 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 I've ever heard of him? He called him The Iceman. And so he talks all about your immune system. And there are different cold plunges and cold body practices to help trigger your immune system so that you're stronger. And because if you're not healthy, you're not going to be a good CEO, you're not going to 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 11:25

Awesome. Yeah. Well, I love that one of my neighbors tells me about taking cold showers and I still haven't made it to the point where I said yes, yeah. I do not necessarily a mermaid, but I do love the warm water. Warm water. So I haven't made it there yet. But I'm definitely going to try it now. Then I heard it again. So I will try that.

DJ Valerie B Love 11:43

Yeah, is it? Yeah, tell me how it goes.

Gresham Harkless 11:48

I definitely will hear me screaming all the way from Washington, DC. So there you know.

DJ Valerie B Love 11:52

Email me after you go wow, you're crazy.

Gresham Harkless 11:56

Exactly. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

DJ Valerie B Love 12:06

Just believe sister, like you got this you are supported you are, you know, 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 and so remembering like to believe that you can do this, that you got this. So that's like, to me that's 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 all these things. So if you just truly believe you will do this thing of yours this big dream 100%.

Gresham Harkless 12:44

Absolutely. And I kind of say 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 12:50

Yeah, it does. If you don't believe in something like it's not going to happen. There might be some chance but it's like you must embody that truth, 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 minister, Dayla 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, that was the name of my first CD back in the 90s when I started DJing.

Gresham Harkless 13:20

You're rockin' and rollin'. You're making it happen. So definitely, I think everybody just added that to their soundtrack now.

DJ Valerie B Love 13:25

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. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 13:31

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is a 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 13:43

I believe I'm a CEO, 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 like the wind beneath everyone's wings, so and beneath visions wings. So that's to me, I'm an Elevation Officer.

Gresham Harkless 14:21

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

DJ Valerie B Love 14:35

Thank you. I got to 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 want to 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 tiny 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 it, 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 going to integrate this into my life.

And so, I think we're all experimenters, whatever it is in your life, you know, grab a buddy, and do something to keep moving the needle forward. We're always growing. And in our tribe, we're dream jockeys, we're dreamers, but we're doers. We're people who are writing our dreams to the finish line like you. And so I'm excited to see all that but you can check, the podcast and the downloadable sheets at djvalerieblove.com. And I can't wait to check y'all out in the world and see you on the dance floors.

Gresham Harkless 16:11

Definitely, definitely. We appreciate you for doing all the awesome things that you're doing. And of course, taking some time out of 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 16:21

Thanks a lot. You too, hon. Aloha.

Outro 16:24

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

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