Welcome to Transformation Talk. Every Thursday for a year, starting in September 2012, I’ll post an interview with someone who is a force for good in the world. These men and women have either deepened their passion or found their calling after experiencing a loss, trauma or diagnosis.
I want to broaden the conversation around grief and its transformative power. My hope is that in their words you’ll find echoes of your story. In their inspired actions, you’ll see yourself and your immense possibility.
*Special Request: The technology of Skype is amazing and imperfect. Please listen with your heart and forgive the occasional blips on the screen.
This week’s interview is with Dyana Valentine. She’s a business and leadership coach who will help you define your superconditions for greatness. She’s an intuitive dreamer, who wakes up knowing things. She’s an oracle, an outlaw and she’s not sorry.
I first met Dyana in graduate school and she intimidated the heck out of me. She’s a powerhouse with strong opinions and – I soon discovered – she’s a lot of fun. Today we’re talking about one of the big formative experiences in her life. If you’ve read Picking Up the Pieces: thoughts on grief and growth, you’ll be familiar with part of the story. I’ve left the flubs, runny noses and colorful language in because…well, they felt like an integral part of our conversation. Enjoy!
Running time is around 21 minutes. Bio and link to download audio are below.
Right-click or control-click here to download the audio-only version.
Dyana Valentine is not for the faint of heart. She’s spent 13+ years teaching leaders to listen to themselves and complete seemingly impossible projects—we’re talking major brand overhauls, six-figure product launches, full-fledged manuscripts. She serves up straight-from-the-hip advice in online magazines and columns all over the ‘net. In a past life, she was an idiot-savant microsurgery tech, worked for the Olympic Games organizing committee, and was personally approached by the FBI with a recruitment invitation—for classified reasons – on two separate occasions.