Episode 164: A Case Study in Evolution with Pioneer & Keynote Speaker Gaby Natale - Part 3
When you picture your future self – who are they? What do they value? What are they leaving behind? What are they taking with them?
In this final episode with Gaby Natale, you’ll see how past Gaby, current Gaby, and future Gaby connect and create a full picture that will help you reflect on your past, current, and future versions of yourself.
Erin and Gaby discuss how to surrender and trust the universe to lead you to the right space.
And if you’ve noticed folks around you telling you about a superpower that you have that you’re working up the courage to put out into the world – this is the episode for you.
ICYMI – Your Post-Episode Homework: Picture your future self. What does future you do compared to current you? How can you start putting energy towards that future version of you right now?
Connect with Gaby Natale:
Gaby’s bestselling book, The Virtuous Circle: Restore Your Confidence, Bounce Back, and Emerge Stronger
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Connect with Erin Diehl:
Connect with Erin Diehl:
Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 164 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Welcome to the Improve It Podcast!
Erin (00:10):
Improve It peeps. Welcome back to this second part of this three part series with Gaby Natale. If you have not yet listened to episode 162 of the show, please do so now. It is so amazing. It is so fantastic, and we hear about the past version of Gaby, and you also get to stay really great understanding of where she is today and how the formative years helped her see and understand where she wanted to go. So Gaby has so many accolades. Again, check out 162, episode 162 to hear about Gaby and all of the amazing work she is doing to help women people pioneer. And now we're gonna get to talking about where Gaby is at currently. This episode is so wonderful. We're gonna talk about listening to that inner voice and really thinking about our present and the mindset shifts that we have to be in, and the daily practices and the, the techniques that we need to become and stay where we are. Let's get to it. Here's episode 163 with Gaby Natale. Okay, so you're in this carpet warehouse, all right, now you're in this carpet warehouse. Tell me about the shows. And then I wanna, I wanna jump to, I mean, I know there's so much in between, but Gaby in a carpet warehouse is totally different than three time daytime Emmy when, and Gaby surprising
Gaby (02:03):
It, it the same. It's it's the same, it's just different scale, but it's just
Erin (02:06):
Totally, totally. But like this, it's different context, right? Like you, when I see you, and this is the power of perception, I see this glam and I see these big stages. Your message is probably the same as it was and it's evolved over time. But how did you go from this, from this moment at the Carpet Warehouse to being, you know, the first Latina author, to have a published book with Harper Collins leadership? What, what mindset shifts is really what I want to know. Got you. From, okay, I'm now on my own. I'm starting this, this television show on my own to now. How did you shift your mind to get there?
Gaby (02:52):
I think I always talk about a mantra that I feel every pioneer has to embrace, and that is inner voice over outer noise. Yeah. Inner voice over outer noise, because there's so much noise out there. And at the same time, if you're a woman of, you're coming from an underrepresented community, many times you don't see people like, I don't see, or I don't hear people who sound like me in every conference, in all those stages, Mo most of the times nobody has an accent there nor all native speakers, or most of the times in many meetings that I have, you know, there is this thing that you have to embrace who you are and feel comfortable with who you are. Because when you look around, you don't see that many people like you. You know? And of course, if you're a woman living in the United States, you've never seen a Madam President the, the, the, the impact of growing up.
Gaby (03:49):
And we can, and we tell little girls, and we can tell every day, you, you put your mind to something and you can achieve whatever you want. And that's amazing. But the impact of seeing somebody like her in the White House, the day that happens, it's gonna be so much stronger. Mm mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. So there's a lot of inner work, a additional inner work that goes into occupying spaces and moving in a journey where you have little to no roadmap for someone like you. So what I did is, you know, something that happened af right after the carpet warehouse, the crisis of the year 2008 in the United States and global crisis happened. So I knew because I came from a recession that I either changed the way that I was doing things and expanded, or I would go bankrupt, or I will have to go and ask for a job in a recession, which I have done in Argentina for two years.
Gaby (04:47):
And I knew it was not fun. So I said, I, I am going to expand. I am going to look for new markets because if I stay only with this area you know, I'm not gonna be able to survive. So little by little, we started traveling around the country pitching like a homemade syndication for seven years until, you know, our YouTube channel started to take off. And I started uploading content. I wanna, I love to say, I would love to say that I did it because I was some kind of visionary and I knew YouTube was the future. But no, it was for my mom to see, Hey, mom, I'm doing a show here. You wanna see it? I'm gonna upload <laugh>. So it was for my mom. And, you know, suddenly more people other than my mom started watching it on YouTube. And so that was a very strong piece. When we started discussing with other TV stations until in the year 2014, we reached national syndication with a sister station from P B s BeMe. And then the year, couple of years later, we competed at the national stage, not the, not the local Emmys, the national, the daytime Emmys. And, and we won three times back to back competing with the CNNs and the NBCs Telemundos of the world's Univisions, you name it, which, you know, have a significantly, significantly bigger structure and manpower. That's why I always say inner voice over outer noise.
Erin (06:25):
Oh my God. Yeah.
Gaby (06:27):
If I have to sit down and think like, what are my chances of beating c n n? And as an independent producer with a small team, I'm gonna stay home, but I'm just focused on the work and the right next step. And then once that happened, Aaron, is that I started being asked to, you know, speak on stages, moderate panels, be an mc, and one day I went on a stage and they told me, this time it's gonna be different. We don't want you to be like this role of the mc, we want you to actually talk about you and your life for 12 minutes. And I talked about myself and my life shared a little bit about everything that happened in Argentina with a crisis and, and my story, little did I know that in the audience there was a literary agent.
Gaby (07:16):
And a few months later, you know, we had a deal, book deal with HarperCollins. The book was published first in Spanish and a little bit years later in English. And I became the first Latino author published by the Leadership development, by the leadership division of HarperCollins. So I, it's, this is a long, long story that I'm trying to put really short, but you know, I didn't want to miss any of these little steps that, because it, it seems like one day I was in Argentina the next day I was, you know, doing these big stages. Everything was really step by step in a very unlikely against the odds journey that was possible.
Erin (07:59):
Oh my God, I have had chill bumps. And I, you know what podcast shows say that. They're like, I got chills. Like, I mean that, like, I feel, I feel this Gaby, like you have been listening to that inner voice this entire time. It's almost like going back to Gaby on stage at five, even though that was pure joy, you knew it felt right. And you have listened to that every step of the way from leaving the job and getting your own own studio and own show going in the back of a carpet warehouse to saying, yes, L M C and now, yeah, I'll talk about my life for 12 minutes. And just through that saying yes, which is an improviser's mindset, by the way. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> of yes. And mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, you had a literary agent in the audience, and you got this amazing book deal, and you have a, a fantastic, I have the stats I'm gonna share with, I think I've already shared this in the bio with the Improve It Peeps, but your book has gotten so many accolades, you have done so many things for women. And what I hear is just this continuous listen to your inner voice and this guidance system that zen within you. So I wanna stick on this. Do you have any daily practices that you put in your place that help keep you grounded in your current day-to-day? So maybe it's a morning routine or something you do in the evening. Do you do anything that keeps you listening to this voice?
Gaby (09:36):
What I do is I try to monitor my emotions. I'm, I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna say every day wake up at five, I look at the birds and I <laugh> No, no, no, you know, life happens and sometimes I'm disciplined, sometimes I'm not disciplined. Yeah. I portray or say that I'm perfect or that I, everything is clockwise. That's, that's not the way things happen for most of us. Great for some other people who manage to do it. But what I do is I, I don't disconnect from my emotions. So when I realize that like, things get, I feel overwhelmed or it gets like too much, then I kind of emo do an emotional scan and I ask myself, okay, why are you feeling agitated? Or why are you feeling frustrated? Or what's happening that is making you feel uneasy? So that is something that I found helps me a lot. And then realizing like, how am I coping with these emotions? Am I grabbing, usually I have some sweets from Argentina that I'll call are called Alpha Hos. Am I grabbing the alpha horror boxes way too often? You know, <laugh>?
Erin (10:50):
Yeah, no, I get that on a real level. Am I,
Gaby (10:53):
Am I stuffing my face with Alpha Hos or you know, am I, I, you know, am I being, you know, irritable with the people that I love or you know, what's happening? And, and if I can probably, I'm gonna try to do a workout because that's a healthy way of coping with it. So I think by monitoring our emotions, you know I don't have any specific morning routine or journals or anything like that, but that helps me have more clarity because when you are getting a lot of emotional clutter on you and you don't realize it, that's the moment when you start exploding.
Erin (11:35):
Yes. Oh my God. Well, and it can manifest into physical pain. I've actually, yes, just gone through a whole healing journey myself because I had a lot of unprocessed emotions. So the fact that you recognize this, you check in with yourself on a daily basis, and maybe not daily. I like the things were being real too. Like some, you know, some people are like, I wake up at 5:00 AM I sing with those birds, and then I get the ice bath. And with the birds and what they're singing to me with the ice bath, I can't do it either. I have, I have a routine that I try to stick to, but like, the reality is, as human beings, you just have to go with what comes natural. And the fact that a natural practice for you is checking in, that's, so that in itself right there helps you show up more, present every moment of your day, not just the moments when you're on stage or you're interviewing somebody, or you're on a podcast, whatever it might be.
Gaby (12:34):
It's easy, healthy, and it's sustainable because those, like very hard routines or inflexible routines you know, maybe they are sustainable for some people, for most people, if you don't have a lot of help or if you have fluid situations going on in your life and it's not as structured, maybe it's not that easy to sustain them.
Erin (12:57):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like you do your best. Right? And that in itself, just, I will tell you too, again, going back to recovering perfectionist, recovering control, freak, all of the things, I never, I never checked in with myself for the longest time. And it's so simple. It's so simple. Let me ask you this too, because talking about present day, Gaby, where you're at right now, you've accomplished so many things, and with this mindset, are there things that you feel like you've manifested? Do you believe in manifesting? What are your thoughts on that?
Gaby (13:40):
I think everything that we see around us, this mouse, you know, the pillow, everything was an idea in somebody else's mind at some point. Yeah. And it was only because an idea in somebody else's mind at some point that is now, you know, something that I can buy that is a product that is in the world. So does that mean that every idea is going to come to the world? Not necessarily, but it does mean that everything that is going to happen or everything that we touch, et cetera, has been an idea on someone's mind. So we have to give ourselves that permission. And sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's hard to give the permission because sometimes it feels like, oh, no, no, it's a lot. Oh, no, no, it's overwhelming. But we have to give ourselves permission to have those ideas in our minds, because if we want them in the world at some point, first, they have to be in our minds. So, yes.
Erin (14:42):
Oh my God, I love that. If we want them in the world first, they have to be in their minds. I'm gonna write that down, Gaby. That's a tweet. Uhhuh. That's a tweet. <Laugh> <laugh>. Okay, so let me ask you this too. I'm so in alignment with all of these things because it's giving cl this is along the line of your intention. This is clarity. This is truly helping other people listen today to understand that intention, attention to intention, and also just clarification on what it is that you want, can help and attract these things into your life. So the Gaby that we see today on big stages, the Gaby that is best selling author, a keynote speaker, are there things that you do today, a ritual, maybe even a mantra or mindset, which I love the inner voice mantra before you get on stage, before you're about to speak? Are there any things that you do there?
Gaby (15:42):
Couple of things. One is I am thankful because I never, never because I've been unemployed, because I've been in situations where, you know, things didn't look as nice. I never, ever take for granted the possibility of a, having a job, being able to provide, and two, being able to make a living, doing something that I love. So it's always being thankful. Then also I say, I hope I can be an instrument to say what my audience need in this moment of their journey. And then the third thing is something that happened without, you know, without even knowing or without an intention. My demo reel has a picture of the day when I graduated. So I'm there with my cup on my gown, and I have two friends by my side. And, you know, we did the demo reel and we have a picture there, but one of my very dear friends who is in the picture died really young in an accident.
Gaby (16:47):
And so it hits me every time when I'm seeing that demo reel, and I know I'm seconds to go on stage, and I'm always trapped thinking like, okay, am I I'm going to start like this and I'm gonna do like that. And like, I'm in, in this state of mind where I'm planning and doing all of things. That picture comes on the screen and it always takes me, and it hits me in the face. Like, you know what? It's not that important. You are here today and gone tomorrow, so make the most that you can while you're here. And it's like it, I didn't do it intentionally, but now every time that the, the speaker reel comes on, on, you know, on the screen, I am always thinking, okay, one minute to go. 30 seconds. And then the picture and the picture is a reminder that, you know, everything is fragile. That everything is, you know, something that you can embrace and that you have to enjoy the moment as well.
Erin (17:50):
Mm. My god, I love that. Again, show bump scabby. Like that's for real. And you know, that friend is with you that whole time. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, you're on that stage mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, which is so cool. And again, your inner voice, for whatever reason, was like, let's put this picture in the reel and there it goes. It's just shown
Gaby (18:09):
Up. I know it was unplanned, but now every time I, you know, every time I go on stage, I get to see that picture. I remember my friend you know, and at the same time, I remember that sometimes people in the, in this industry and in media industry, in different industry, they take themselves too seriously. Their egos are to the roof. So I think it's a humble reminder that we have to focus on our job, and we have to know that one day we may be here and we, they, we may not be here.
Erin (18:43):
Oh my God, it's so good, so good. I really, all of this resonates with me on a deep level. Like I can, I just, even the way that you tell the story, I am seeing all of these things happen. I can picture you backstage watching the real, seeing this picture, and then boom, it's like, swoop in. Gaby's ready. She's in the moment. She's out on stage.
Erin (19:14):
Oh my God, I could talk to Gaby all day. This is fascinating. I love talking mindset work. I love thinking about listening to her inner voice versus the outer noise. I loved hearing about her gratitude practice and thinking of herself as an instrument. And also just the reminder that she has in her demo reel before she goes on stage with her friend, who is her angel guiding her. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to think about your inner voice. We had you an episode 1 62. Think about your younger self and things that brought you joy. What is current present you thinking? I want you to get still this week, and I want you to listen to what your inner voice is saying. Maybe it's telling you to go back to those things that brought you joy as a child. Maybe it's telling you to listen, refresh, change jobs. Maybe it's telling you to enhance where you're currently at and the role that you have. And amp up those leadership capabilities and really invest in yourself. Get still this week and listen to your inner voice. Stop listening to the outside noise and tune in for episode 1 64 with Gaby Natale coming up next. And you know what I'm gonna say, pees, keep failing. Keep improving because this world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you back here for episode 1 64.
Erin (20:57):
Hey, friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it, and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.