79 - Actualizing Your Life with AdaPia d'Errico

Welcome to the Thought Leaders to Watch podcast. I'm Catherine Mora, founder and CEO of Change Empire Books. We help coaches, speakers, and entrepreneurs write and publish quality books and get them out into the world. We believe that thought leaders are made through a combination of quality of service, planning, and authenticity.

Do you want to impact lives and leave a legacy? stick around until the end of the show and we'll reveal how you could be our next guest on the Thought Leaders to Watch podcast. Let's get started. Your host, Starlet Henderson here with this episode's thought leader, Adapia DiRico.

Adapia is from productiveintuition.com or at a Pia Dorico website, right? At a Pia Dorico.com.

How are you tonight? I'm doing really good. Hi, Starlet. Thanks for having me.

You're welcome. Let's tell us what you do over at Productive Intuition. What's your company's known for? Well, my Productive Intuition is my book.

So my website, like you said, at a Pia Dorico.com. I'm in real estate, private equity professionally. That's what I do professionally.

I'm really passionate about helping people and especially women actualize their wealth through investing in this asset class that is traditionally really hard to get into. So I do that professionally. And then at the same time, that passion for lifting others kind of translates into the book, productiveintuition.com.

And it's very much like what I went through when I went, when I had an awakening, which was precipitated by career burnout and kind of understanding how I brought it all back together to go back into the business world and stay there and really make an impact there. So it's been a huge part of my journey. So I kind of, you know, I'm just like, everything is about empowerment and self-mastery and like, whether it's financial or spiritual or, you know, whatever it is, like, I just really want to lift people into that, that place of self-mastery.

Yeah. That sounds great. Um, it's funny as soon as you were talking about, you know, how you came to be, I just had this thought. It was like, thank God for burnout.

Right. Like, I mean, I don't know how else, but I was like, you wouldn't be doing what you're doing right now. Had you not, you know, gone through that. So, you know, kind of tell us really what was going on there.

Yeah. I mean, when it first started, it was, um, it just, I didn't even know what was going on. That was the whole problem. Like I didn't understand.

I've been, I had been at that point, like really successful, you know, woman executive in the FinTech space. I was at the pinnacle of my career position. Everything you could ask for. Everything you could ask for.

I was like, you know, commuting to San Francisco from LA, like sounded really sexy, all the things. And yet I just intuitively, like, I just knew it wasn't right. I just knew it wasn't going to be, you know, what I wanted it to be. Cause I took the job, that final job for my ego.

Like I took it because I really, like I had something to prove and then everything started to fall apart. Like I just, like, I just, it wasn't going well there. So I thought, okay, I'm going to transition into coaching and women's leadership. And I'm going to, like, it was at the time of the me too movement.

So this window of opportunity opens. Well, I jump into that and nothing was working there either. And I, and I was freaking out. I was freaking out.

I couldn't make money. So I couldn't be creative because I was always worried about my finances. It's so super stressed. And then this burnout, just, it took my whole identity away.

And that, that threw me into really, truly a spiritual awakening around like, who am I? And I couldn't talk to anybody in the business world of my, like, you know, normal people, because I couldn't even explain what I was going through. And I was ashamed to say I wasn't succeeding. Right.

And you weren't seeing them go through the same thing, I'm guessing. So you're like no clue that other people experience this or on their way to experiencing it or on the way back from experiencing it. Cause we don't share those stories. That's right.

Yeah, totally. And so I went like way over left field. I like, I never thought I was going to be able to come back to the business world again. And, um, and instead I went on this like really deep journey of understanding myself and like really, really like putting myself back together.

And then what I realized in all of this on a practical level was that I love business. I love finance. I love doing deals. Like I love my stuff and I love, I became very mystical and I love that too.

Like I love working with my unconscious and my higher self and and and just really understanding what meaningful to me And I found this integration of of you know some of these spiritual concepts that before I was like I don know about that kind of stuff Like I a business person. And my understanding is the way that I've been able to like weave it in together for me. And that's what I teach people or explain to people. And that's really like the book.

It is about like, is for people, let's say business people who identify as working people. And they're kind of maybe going through the same thing where they're like, I can't language what's going on. I'm not feeling like myself. I'm not feeling really successful, but I can't leave my life.

I can't be a yoga teacher, you know, a guru, like a monk. So what do I do with myself? And that's, the book is really for them to really own ever because what it comes from is we don't accept all the parts of ourselves. We don't accept our creativity.

We don't accept, you know, our intuitive signals, which we have. And it's like, it's not woo woo. It's actually like biologically like hardwired into us. And so it's just like kind of putting ourselves back together in what I call inner authority so that we also stop just needing external validation, which was ultimately what precipitated my burnout.

Cause I'd been for years and decades, just going after all the things that I thought I was supposed to go after, like trying to get the role and the promotion and, you know, people pleasing left, right and center. And then it just, you know, it just, it all blew up in my face. Right. What is that line from, um, top gun, your body's writing checks, your ego can't cash, or maybe it's your ego's writing checks, your body can't cash.

I mean, it's that, uh, yeah. So it's like that multi-dimensional thing. Like you need to understand you are a little bit ego and you are a little bit spiritual and you have to achieve things, but you have to, um, you know, just like you said, integrate the multiple parts. Yeah.

A hundred percent that you got it. Like, it's like, you can't get rid of the ego. It's never going away. You're not supposed to.

Um, and the, you know, the whole point is to be in our body and, uh, and, and like live, like actually live this life, not like try to escape through, you know, too much meditation and like out of body experiences and all that kind of stuff that I was like, it's not what I want. I just want to feel good in my own body and I want to feel good in my own life. And so I found that and my whole life is so much different after the burnout, after the awakening. And I feel a lot more in control of myself and what I manifest and what I magnetize towards me.

I mean, it's like night and day. So to your point, thank God for burnout. out. Yes.

I, yeah. I mean, just that one thought, it just popped in my head. I'm like, wow, that almost sounds gross, but I mean, you know, you're, you are where you're at. And really the stories that I hear from the different thought leaders we interview, it all kind of starts with that.

Right. Yeah. Um, you know, that ego taken a hit. So, um, let's talk about thought leadership in that space for you.

Like what does being a thought leader mean to you and how are you, um, you know, engaging that role, that part of yourself. Yeah. I mean, I've had a huge shift around it because I'm a writer. I love to write.

I love concepts. Where I've landed on thought leadership, it's that it's action-based, right? Yeah. It's like, you can be a thought leader and you can say all the right things and you can have the right social media feed.

And, but if you're not actualizing it, if you're not living it and doing it and like actually taking action that leads to something, first of all, you're not going to have truly authentic stories or lessons to teach because they might just be a regurgitation of what somebody else wrote. Yeah. Right. You know, potentially, right.

It's just like, Oh, I wrote, I read all these books and I can make it sound really cool. And, but a lived experience, that's true thought leadership and taking what you say and actually doing it. So for me, all of my experiences have really just taught me that the the way I come forward is in my authenticity. So it's in who I am.

And that's how I show up. I show up with like, I, you know, I made these mistakes and I learned this and I did that. And this is how I do things. Um, that is true thought leadership.

And it comes from my own, uh, experience of, of life. Right. Yeah. So you're not talking about something that you haven't experienced or like you said, that is more, you know, others, um, learn from someone else.

Right. I mean, yeah, you've read it, but it happened and you're like, oh, I can draw those parallels. Yeah. Thank you for that.

Exactly. Because a lot of times, and I've read tons of books, and I didn't really understand, especially the highly spiritually conceptual ones. And then when I started to live it, then those words made sense. And then I would implement them in my life and be able to speak about it because I'm like, here's what it feels or looks or acts like for me.

And here's what I do. And so I always tell people to like you know like take what resonates for you and what lands and leave everything else you know just whatever feels right for you And the whole point of my sort of platform of thought leadership if you will is like listen to yourself That inner authority. Yeah. Right.

Yeah. I mentioned that earlier. Yeah. Listen to yourself.

Books. You mentioned, you know, reading and reading a lot. And, you know, you kind of got to start there. Right.

And check and see, do I believe that? Is this something I ascribe to? or have I lived this? And, you know, are these words ringing true to me?

So do you have a book that changed your life that you'd love to share with our audience? Yes. So a book that fundamentally helped me shift into understanding myself as a woman, even though I think men can read this, but it's a Bible for women is women who run with the wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. And what I really love about it is that it dives into myth and archetypes.

So one of the ways I've been able to locate myself in time and space and life is through the mythical story, through the hero's journey, through stories where you see yourself as characters, you know, like fables. And they're not just for little kids. And this is the amazing thing about mythology, but that for me, that book is for women placing themselves in myth. And, and it just really works on like, you're really deep, like your archetypal, like, like Jungian depth psychology level, deep to the soul.

Amazing book. Yeah. That's the storytelling component of it must really just, you know, like kind of steep you in, you know, Oh yeah, I know what they're talking about. You talked about archetypes.

So like if you had to describe yourself, is there an archetype that you identify with from, from this book? Yeah. So there's like different stories and it, and I see myself in like different characters at different times, like in the story. And I think where, like where I've actually landed is sort of like the narrator, like a sage, like the person who lives an experience and speaks from experience.

Um, so I, I very much feel aligned to the sage archetype, uh, and, um, also the warrior archetype. I have a lot of strong, like warrior kind of what they would call divine masculine energy, um, which I've had to work on because there was a lot of like of the toxic as well, because we get conditioned. Right. Yeah.

That reaching, reaching, reaching, and without really understanding why. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And so like really embodying those different archetypes.

So a lot of the more feminine archetypes that come up in mythology, you know, like earth-based religious mythology, like Egyptian, like all that kind of stuff, which I always loved as a kid. And now I get to put it together and I'm like, oh, that's why, because I see myself in these archetypes at all phases of life. And, but the sage for me is really the strongest because that's, that's what I do. I speak my experience and I pull wisdom from my experience that helps others as well.

Helps others. Yeah. So let's talk about that. You know, you've gone through this journey and you figured it out for yourself, but then the point is you're putting this together for other people through your masterclass, through the wisdom in your book.

Can you give us a story of someone you've helped and, you know, share with us the growth that you saw in them? Oh, oh yes. So, um, uh, I'm in a mastermind, a professional mastermind. And when I, my book came out, everybody in my mastermind bought my book and, um, this, this one amazing woman, that's a blessing.

They're so amazing. Um, you know, you just got to ask like, that's a hard thing, you know? Um, and so the, this woman Raquel and she and I had connected anyways, like very, very personally. Um, so she bought my book and she found and implemented a passion that she had always had, but didn't really know she had.

So she does, um, uh, brand, uh, like brand work. She's big in LinkedIn, like, like, I don't even know tens and tens and tens of thousands of followers, like does this brand stuff. Amazing. So she launched a YouTube channel where she speaks to children.

She's like the new Mr. Rogers. It's amazing. And she was telling me, your book showed me what I was really wanting to do, but I didn't have the courage because, you know, we really talk about like, like listening to your inner voice and like taking the time and the space and redefining productivity into creativity.

And, and she's launched this channel and she's getting so much traction and she just is glowing. She, she, I just had a call with her the other day and she said I have never been so happy So it like that would be an example of like sharing my story Like and that came through the book Yeah So being yourself has helped her kind of you know come full circle and become herself her full self or, you know, and on her way to that. Yeah. So when you hear her saying, you know, she's never been so happy in her life.

Like, how does that make you feel? I'm just so humbled. Like I don't have words and I'm never without words, but lately when people like, I have a hard time, um, receiving, um, receiving praise and just, just receiving in general. Like it's not easy for me.

Um, but I, I just like my heart just so full and I just feel so full and so joyful. And I realized like, like, yes, it's my book, but, but actually I know it's just them because they took action, right. You know, like they took the action, they went inside themselves and did their own reflection and work and self-awareness practices. And then they, you know, they, they put like rubber to the road and, and like did it.

So to me, I'm just like, listen, like I'm, you know, the magical helper as, as they say in the hero's journey. And I'm just honored, but, but really just humbled. Yeah. It seems like it would be a humbling experience.

Like you talked earlier about books, like, you know, they don't always resonate with everyone. So it's nice. I'm hearing you say that, you know, really what you did is, yeah, that book was there, but it resonated and she did something with that information. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we have to, right.

Like it's fine to read, but like you caught me, I've read tons done less than that. Right. Yeah. Some we don't act on, you know, and maybe that's okay.

Yeah. And that's okay too, because part, some things you can't act on some things are just, they're, they're just meant to enrich maybe something you need to know. And one day you will take action or, you know, the concept of you hear something 15 times and the 15th time that that different person said it all the other 14 times finally makes sense. They catch up halfway.

Yeah. Speak to you. Yeah. So true.

Well, um, Adapia, can you tell us where to find you. I know you have the masterclass, you know, the coursework behind the productive intuition coming up. So tell us how to find you and how to keep in touch. Sure.

Yeah. So productiveintuition.com is where you can find out about the book and a little bit about me. And if you go to my website at a pietarico.

com, there's a few things there that, that I do, including this, this masterclass, which is putting the, what I talk about in the book into action. And that masterclass is called writing the self. So the practice is to go into our story and pull out the wisdom and pull out the gift and pull out the power because so much of our past lives in a story that is limiting and actually false and you can rewrite it. And so that's been my practice as of the integration.

And so we have an evergreen course on teachable and we do quarterly lives, but really like the evergreen courses is just this amazing, like visual experience with all the writing prompts and, and, and a lot of support outside of it, but that we're really excited about that. Cause it's such a rich experience. Yeah. It sounds like a perfect experience to rewrite that story that you were saying that a lot of people are, are still in and stuck in.

So, well, thanks for bringing that out into the world. Thanks for your time and for your thoughts today. I appreciate it. Thank you, Starlet.

Catherine Mora here. Thank you so much for listening to the Thought Leaders to Watch podcast. If you are a successful coach, speaker, or entrepreneur who would like to be on this program, please visit changeempire.com slash podcast slash apply.

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