Reinvention: The Art of Transforming Yourself

Makena: Hello everyone.

Gigi: Hello everyone, this is Gigi.

Makena: We are so excited to be back with you doing a fun topic today. We’re going to talk about reinvention, the art of transforming yourself. 

Gigi, as you know, I love this theme, and you have been the queen of reinvention for as long as I can remember.

Gigi: Absolutely. This is one of my most fun things to do in life: reinvent myself. I’ve done it many, many times. 

I have also watched you, and you have quite a passion for this. You’ve done it for yourself, and I’ve watched you do it with so many clients. I’m just curious: When do you see this theme of reinvention come up for people? 

That would be great for our listeners. Sometimes, I think people are scared to reinvent themselves.

Makena: Absolutely. I’ve seen that it kind of happens one of two ways. 

Sometimes we choose to reinvent ourselves. Other times, the change is sort of thrust upon us. 

About a year ago, when I first developed something I call The Rebirth Roadmap, I put a lot of thought into this because I was looking at the times when I had these reinvention times, like going into the cocoon and coming out the other side as a different version of yourself. 

Sometimes we choose that, right? We feel the call to something more, or something needs to change. 

Other times, something happens in our life. People move across the country and reinvent themselves, or they have a divorce, or some big outside circumstance calls them into a reinvention. 

I’m passionate about this topic because, having gone through this multiple times in my life, I love rediscovering who I am. I’m not the person I thought I was. 

This has a lot to do with the woman you’re stepping into, which is a lot of the work that I do and we do with women. I started seeing that when we would coach people, and you taught me this Gigi, how to see in this way, when I would be working with someone, they would be talking, and I would see almost a glimpse of a future version of that person, who they wanted to be in the life they were going to step into in their next chapter. 

I started reflecting that back to them and saying what I saw and asking if it resonated, and they’d be like, “My God, that’s so right on. I’m so glad you put words to something that I was feeling.” 

Do you have that experience when you’re coaching people?

Gigi: Yes, I do. As you said, I shared that with you early on in your coaching journey. We call it “sitting in the seat of the coach” and just allowing yourself to be super receptive and listening to people in such a way. 

Different people see it in different ways, but you almost see a vision of someone. You see the real them come out sometimes, which is amazing, right?

Makena: I love that you put it that way, the real them, because it is an even more real version of them than the one that’s there right now. It’s like who they really are.

Gigi: Absolutely. That’s what we do so much with people: help them get to the person they’re meant to be, the person underneath their stories, their personalities, and all these things that they’ve added on top of who they are. 

Your piece of the woman you’re stepping into has been such a powerful shift for many women because it allows them to tap into something that they might normally feel hesitant, scared, or embarrassed about. 

When you take it from that framework of who is the woman you’re stepping into, it feels so exciting. 

I love when we can give our listeners a reframe. When life thrusts a situation on you, and you have no choice but to have this kind of rebirth, to reframe it as a rebirth. 

Even though you have to feel the feelings, if you’re going through a divorce, it’s a very challenging thing. Feel those feelings, but also get excited about an opportunity to step more into the life you’re meant to be living and become more of the person you want to become.

Makena: That’s such a great way of looking at it. It could be a divorce, a job loss, or whatever it is. You can feel powerless in that situation if it’s not something you choose. 

But when you consider how you want to reinvent yourself and who the woman you’re stepping into is, it gives you a way to take some power back and take ownership of the situation. 

“Okay, I can’t control what’s happening here, or maybe I didn’t choose it necessarily, but I can choose how I respond to it and who I become as a result of it.” 

I always love to tell the story of the first time I really saw this in a powerful way with a client. She has given me permission to share her name. She was an empty nester, at a certain stage in her life, looking at what was next and starting to build this new business. 

She was describing what she wanted and who she was stepping into, and I said, “I think you need to become Nikki Unleashed.” Her eyes lit up, and she was so excited. 

This name, Nikki Unleashed, became her mantra. We fleshed out who Nikki Unleashed was, and she started to embody that in her life. Her life started to change so much more rapidly. 

I see this again and again: when you focus on who you are when you’re getting what you want, or who is the version of you that has the life you desire, and you start to embody that version of you now, it’s really powerful.

There’s often this period I call being in the mush before you come out of your cocoon. 

Whether you choose this or life thrusts it upon you, when we go through these rebirth cycles, there’s often a period where you feel like you have no idea where you’re going. 

None of it feels clear. I just know something isn’t working about where I’ve been, or I’m feeling the call to something more, but nothing really feels clear. I can’t seem to see what’s on the other side of all of this. 

My first big death and rebirth cycle was when I stepped into coaching and reinvented myself. That process took a couple of years. I was really stuck in that for a long time until you, Gigi, helped me get clarity and step out of it. That was my first experience. 

A couple of years ago, I went through another cycle like this, during which I really changed the way I approached my life and work. But that time, it was much faster. I was only in it for a few months before I broke through to the other side and felt like I was emerging. I could see where I was going and what it was all about. 

Knowing the steps that are happening, can speed up the process, and you don’t have to get stuck there for so long. There is a way to move through this with more ease and awareness. 

That’s a lot of what I love to talk about. 

I’m doing a masterclass next week if you are listening to this live or right when it comes out. It’s called the Rebirth Masterclass. If you’re curious about that, it’s totally free. 

You can go to www.rebirthmasterclass.com, and I’ll walk you through the different stages of transition, how to know when you’re in a rebirth or a reinvention, and how to navigate through that more quickly. 

I also think it’s fun to share stories. 

Gigi, we started this episode with you as the queen of reinvention. What are some examples of times when you have reinvented yourself?

Gigi: Boy, it’s a lot of work. When I first started my journey as a single mom working in corporate America, I had a moment in a seminar where I saw people being coached, and I thought, “I would love to do this.” 

For the next few years, I stepped into my work as a coach and trainer. That was probably one of the biggest rebirths of my life. I completely changed my life and the person I was. 

Sometimes when I meet people from that time, I can’t even remember that person. She was so different. Elements of me were the same in my heart and soul, but the woman I stepped into was so much more powerful and connected to who I am. 

I started going for my dreams, dreams I didn’t even know I had before. 

That was one of my big rebirths.

Makena: Yeah, I feel like there were elements of that in you when you tell me stories from your childhood or teen years. They just hadn’t been actualized yet.

Gigi: Absolutely. When I go back and see people from 40 years ago, they reflect back pieces of me that I thought I developed later in life. But they saw those things in me. 

When we go through these evolutions of death and rebirth, we take those raw pieces of ourselves and grow into a new person.

Makena: Yeah, instead of fixing or changing yourself, it’s revealing more of your true self.

Gigi: Yes, evolving yourself, growing into more of who you are. 

Another big one was after several years of doing training and coaching, but not really learning the money game, I moved to Austin and had the opportunity to build an international coaching business. 

I completely changed from living in Maui, where you could wear flip-flops and shorts everywhere, to dressing in a different way in Austin. I started buying beautiful clothes. We didn’t even have a credit card back then. We got our first credit card, and I bought expensive dresses, which you have now, Makena. These sequined dresses that I wore to evening classes. 

When the women came in, they would see these beautiful dresses and be intrigued. 

It was a reinvention. I stepped into business, learned how to grow a business, and evolved into more of who I was. I bought beautiful clothes, felt good, changed my image, and worked out all the time. 

It was a different piece of me, an important part of my evolution.

Makena: Sometimes, the outer image is an element of reinventing yourself. It’s not everything, but having our external selves transform can really anchor that change. The way you dress, act, and interact with people are important components.

Gigi: Absolutely. Another anchor is when people describe it in a name, like Nikki Unleashed. When you wake up in the morning and remember you’re Nikki Unleashed, it changes how you approach your day. 

Another big one for her was Easeful Nikki when she wanted to be more easeful in her life.

Makena: Yeah, easeful goddess. She’s going to listen to this episode and be laughing.

Gigi: Easeful goddess, right? When she wanted to be more easeful in her life, those names were important and pivotal for us to step into someone else.

Makena: Some of mine have been Audacious Eve, an avatar I stepped into a few years ago when I was starting to grow the coaching business and put myself out there more. I realized I still felt a little controlled and uptight when I got on stage. 

I wanted to be bold and authentic, so I created Audacious Eve and embodied that avatar. Now she’s part of who I am. More recently, I’ve had the Effortless Time Weaver, learning new ways to move through time and release stress. 

Creating these avatars and embodying them transforms my life. The names are really fun. 

I know you have one more story about moving to New York City. Would you like to share that one?

Gigi: Yes, in 2001, after the terrorist attack, I moved to New York. It was a crisis time for me. I had left my marriage and my business, and I was reinventing myself. I decided to live life fully. I loved New York City. It was an exciting environment. 

I changed myself, worked out like crazy, got super fit, became super social, and made new friends. I dated many men and had so much fun. A different part of me came out. I remember telling people I’m going to write a book and have a television show. 

Part of me felt a lot of pain that I had gone through previously, but when I went to New York, it was a liberating time. I created my life and went for my dreams. I also worked at JPMorgan Chase, leading women to advance in the company. It was an amazing time in my life.

Makena: I remember running in Central Park with you. Moving to a new place can be an opportunity to reinvent yourself because you don’t know many people if anyone. It’s a fun way to rediscover who you are at that stage.

Gigi: Yes. What about you? Do you have any other stories?

Makena: I’ve told these stories many times, but I’ll touch on them again. 

Gigi and I have a couple of episodes earlier in the podcast where we share our full stories. 

In 2018, I was having anxiety and panic attacks, feeling exhausted and burned out in my marketing work. I had a six-figure career, but my body was telling me something. 

I struggled for a couple of years to get clear on what that was.

You helped me see that I wanted to make a change and step into coaching. My rebirth and reinvention involved changing careers and moving from San Diego to Austin in the same window. 

It was important because that shift in who I was around and everything else allowed me to make this change more effectively. I think if I had been around my friends, as much as I loved them at that time, I would have seen myself in an old light, and it would have been not that it was not possible.

It just would have been a little more challenging for me. So it worked out, and I made the change into coaching, and I came alive.

The anxiety and panic attacks went away. I love the work I was doing and that really lasted for a couple of years. It was hard work getting the business going, but I loved it, and I still love it.

In 2022, I had health issues pop up. It stopped my world. I had a deep conversation with you, Gigi, and realized it wasn’t the work I was doing that needed to change, but the way I was working. I had patterns of overworking and getting stuck in go mode. 

It took about six months to reevaluate and shift the way I moved through my work and life. The woman I was stepping into was the Grateful Creative Conduit, feeling like a creative being, a conduit for what wanted to flow through me. 

Those were my two big death and rebirth cycles. 

Recently, I’ve been going through another big up level. I’m leading the Rebirth Masterclass next week.

I’ve been going through this up level, but it feels really different this time because I’ve been saying this aha moment for me was I don’t need the pain to rise.

I don’t need the pain to transform myself because life is really good, and not that there aren’t challenges. Of course, there are, but I’ve been in this really great place where I’m happy, fulfilled, not overworking, and having a lot of fun. I love, love, love everything about my life.

That was always true, but there was not sort of this feeling of my back up against a wall like there was with both of these other reinventions. 

That’s something I’m really talking about in this masterclass: not only when you’re going through a death and rebirth that really is through the challenge or the pain or whatever that is, but also when things are really good, but you feel that call like there’s more.

Right? There’s something more that I want that I’m stepping into.  So those are really my stories.  

Gigi: I love that. I like that point about not needing pain. For those listening, look at how you’re feeling called to evolve or become a different version of yourself. 

That’s what your masterclass is about, right, Makena? Tapping into what that is. 

Choosing a name and living up to that name can be your guidepost and exciting thing that moves you forward.

Makena: Absolutely. Yeah. And no matter what kind of death and rebirth you are going through, I’m going to talk about all of the above because there might be a challenge or pain.

You might be in a career pivot, a job loss, a divorce, or a career pivot on purpose.

Maybe you have a bigger dream of wanting a different kind of career, or you want to start this business, or you’re in a business that’s feeling a little stagnant, and you’re not sure why.

You say, “I want to break through to that next level.” But that next level doesn’t feel like an extension of what you’re doing now.

It feels like something needs to shift or change here. 

In my experience, those kinds of feelings usually mean that it’s you who gets to shift and change. You get to reinvent yourself and, by extension, the other parts of your life, your business, and so on. 

As a takeaway for this episode, I’m feeling into what evolution I’m in, what reinvention I’m feeling called to, and who is that version of me that has already stepped into this new chapter fully and give her a name. 

I think that’s a super fun takeaway for you guys. 

Gigi: Change can either come from outside, or you can choose to reinvent yourself, which is much more fun.

Makena: Definitely. This can also be about stepping into motherhood or becoming an empty nester, transforming your personal style, or any other reinvention. 

Whatever that is, it’s really important to choose. What do you want this to mean for you? It doesn’t have to be what anyone else says it needs to be. 

As I step into motherhood, how do I want to navigate that? What does that mean to me? Not what everybody else says it means or what I need to be. 

The same goes for if you’re making a shift in your career or whatever it is. Don’t get stuck on what other people say or do. This is an internal process of discovering who you are stepping into. What is this reinvention? 

If you’re in the mush right now and you’re like, “I have no idea. I cannot even see this,” then that’s a really great time. 

Also, that’s why I’m hosting the masterclass to go deeper. We’ll walk you through all the steps that will give you the road map to know, “Okay, this is where I am in the journey. This is where I go from here.” 

Because I think the only thing that’s certain in life is change, right, Gigi? 

Gigi: Yes, absolutely. From one day to the next. We could go on and on about this topic. We love it because we love sharing it and because we love doing it. We’re always looking to see how we can evolve.

It’s just this incredible sense of curiosity, always asking, how do I want to shift next? 

For me, I’m going into my third act, I guess I’m already there. I could listen to what everybody else says and the way people think of this time of life, or I can create it to what I want it to be.

So I’m always looking, and I haven’t quite seen yet, but I’m looking to see what the way I want to be in my third act is, and it doesn’t have to be the agreement of, “Oh, I’m just getting older or something.” 

Makena: Your third act, just for people who don’t know, is what exactly?

Gigi: After 65, the third big chapter in life.

Makena: I love the idea of defining that for yourself, not buying into what others say. 

One last thing: there are natural cycles of cocooning and butterfly time. 

If you’re in the mush, it’s a cocooning time. It doesn’t mean you need to stay stuck. You can move through it quickly, but it’s a time when things are less clear. 

Then there are times when you emerge from the cocoon as a butterfly as that next version of yourself, and there is that clarity. 

Gigi, you’re in the cocoon of your third act. Who are you going to be, and how do you want to navigate this? Then, you’ll break through and become that butterfly. 

Wherever you are on the journey, be kind to yourself. 

Hopefully, this gives you some inspiration. 

This is part of our tagline for the Way of the Muse: “Become The Woman You’re Meant To Be And Confidently Create Your Biggest Dreams.”

One more time, in case you missed it earlier, the URL is www.rebirthmasterclass.com.

If, for any reason, that one doesn’t work, it would be www.makenasage.com/rebirth-masterclass.

Hope to see you there. 

Thanks for listening. Please rate, subscribe, share, and we’ll see you next time. 

Thanks, Gigi.

Gigi: See you next time. Thank you, Makena.