Why I'm embracing my inner rebel
When my dad turned 40, my mom hosted an epic bash in his honor.
There was a live band, over 80 people and, wait for it...a belly dancer.
I remember watching her pull up in this crazy beat up car with spray paint all over the side of it.
She and her hippie boyfriend climbed out and she, dressed in a belly baring red ensemble, introduced herself to my mother as "Zelda" and discussed the agenda for the day.
Looking back at this scenario, I still don't quite understand with how hiring belly dancers for birthday parties was actually a thing, but our mom's creative spirit was always in full swing...my brother and I still joke about the mime she hired for his 3rd birthday.
As the party progressed, I could tell everyone was getting excited for the belly dancer's big performance.
My dad was instructed to sit in a chair as Zelda did her goddess routine dance around him.
She draped her silk scarves around his head like a turban and danced around the chair.
He was laughing and looking uncomfortable and everyone around me was laughing, but my 3-year-old self didn't find the humor in this stranger female making moves on my dad.
I remember looking up and saying to my older sister, "Go take that thing off Dad's head."
She said, "No, you go do it!"
And with her words something clicked inside my little body.
Without hesitation, I stomped right up to the chair in front of the whole party, ripped the scarf off my dad, threw it on the ground and shouted, "You're not my mommy!"
My parents still tell the story to this day.
I remember after the performance ended, the belly dancer was trying to butter me up, but as you can see below, I wasn't having any of it.
So what do belly dancers and honoring my inner 3-year-old rebel have to do with you?
I was so mad that day because what was going down didn't feel right in my gut.
And in my innocence and lack of regard for what anyone else thought, I stepped right on up and took care of the situation.
The problem for most of us is that we see things that don't feel in alignment, we follow rules that don't belong to us and we end up down a rabbit hole of regret.
That moment was a statement for me that has carried with me all the days of my life.
And my family's telling of this tale, over and over again, has only further solidified the value in standing up for what I believe in and in being WHO I am, no matter what that means.
So how are you standing up for what you believe in?
How are you telling the world who you are through your work, through your offerings and through the messages you are communicating?
I could have just stood on the sidelines that day.
My sister could have said, "Don't interfere, Amber."
But neither of those two things happened and I walked right out in the open and honored what was important to me (i.e. protecting my dad from floozies).
How can you do that right now in your life and business?
How can you throw out the formulas and the mold that you've been jamming yourself in to to honor your inner rebel?
My inner rebel has a gift for you.
I've spent the whole of my career as an entrepreneur, educator and rule breaker trying to shake things up.
Innovating the way we approach our work so we can do it better and in a more aligned and whole state is at the foundation of everything I do.
I believe that when we are honoring WHO we are in WHAT we do, we will make the conscious impact we are longing for.
I want to help you get in touch with your secret weapon too.