Have you ever wondered how your upbringing influences your path to leadership? Leadership coach Dominic George joins us from Oakland, California, to share how a strong, community-centered foundation has been the bedrock of his success and personal development. Our conversation traverses the landscapes of Dominic's life, from his cross-country shift from the West to the East Coast to his competitive swimming days, revealing the powerful interplay of service and personal history in cultivating leadership skills.
Navigating spaces where diversity is sparse can be daunting, but it's also where transformative life lessons are learned. Through engaging stories, we recount the pivotal moments that have shaped our outlook on diversity, opportunity, and community support. Dominic and I uncover the strategies for building a network of diverse and skilled individuals and discuss how trust and exposure to new environments can widen our horizons, providing context for success in unfamiliar territories.
Lastly, we dissect the mental shifts necessary to shatter self-imposed barriers and foster a mentality of abundance. Reflecting on my own journey, I unpack the transition from a scarcity mindset to embracing risk and financial freedom. We pay homage to inspirational figures and literature that offer a roadmap for leadership while emphasizing the dual importance of self-care and professional development. This episode is not just a conversation—it's a masterclass in leveraging personal narratives to forge a path to impactful leadership and success. Join us for a narrative-rich exploration that might just be the catalyst for your next breakthrough.
Have you ever wondered how your upbringing influences your path to leadership? Leadership coach Dominic George joins us from Oakland, California, to share how a strong, community-centered foundation has been the bedrock of his success and personal development. Our conversation traverses the landscapes of Dominic's life, from his cross-country shift from the West to the East Coast to his competitive swimming days, revealing the powerful interplay of service and personal history in cultivating leadership skills.
Navigating spaces where diversity is sparse can be daunting, but it's also where transformative life lessons are learned. Through engaging stories, we recount the pivotal moments that have shaped our outlook on diversity, opportunity, and community support. Dominic and I uncover the strategies for building a network of diverse and skilled individuals and discuss how trust and exposure to new environments can widen our horizons, providing context for success in unfamiliar territories.
Lastly, we dissect the mental shifts necessary to shatter self-imposed barriers and foster a mentality of abundance. Reflecting on my own journey, I unpack the transition from a scarcity mindset to embracing risk and financial freedom. We pay homage to inspirational figures and literature that offer a roadmap for leadership while emphasizing the dual importance of self-care and professional development. This episode is not just a conversation—it's a masterclass in leveraging personal narratives to forge a path to impactful leadership and success. Join us for a narrative-rich exploration that might just be the catalyst for your next breakthrough.
All right, welcome to another edition of hey, the Journey to Freedom podcast. And so each week, or, you know, as many times as we can, in 2024, when we're currently recording right now I'm not sure when you're going to get a hold of this, Hopefully 10 years from now this is super, super relevant and you're able to watch it. But you know, one of the things is is we start thinking about our culture and we start thinking about, you know, how do we move forward, how do we take, uh, all the lessons from the past? Uh, the things that are part of what we do.
Speaker 1:I was listening to a guy named Myron Golden just the other day and he was talking about being born in a uh, a segregated hospital and how racism has been part of his life, his entire life, because he contracted polio six years after the polio vaccine had been invented and that segregated hospital did not allow him. But he also talks about that was a contributing factor in my life. It wasn't a determining factor and I had to move beyond that. I had to get past the fact that this has affected me every single day of my life. And so, when you think about success leaving clues and you think about what are some places that we can move towards, and that's why we call it a journey, right, a journey, in most cases, has a destination, but it's a destination that takes a while to get to. This isn't a destination that happens overnight. It's not a destination that most of us may ever see in our lifetimes, because it's for our kids and our kids' kids.
Speaker 1:And today I'm excited because I have Dominic George on today, and you know, when you think about, you know am I willing to do to move out of my bubble, to move out of my comfort zone, to move out of what is normal to me. And so you know, as he I'll let him tell his whole story, but you know, I just know he's been on one coast, on the West coast, and that now he's on the East coast and he gets to travel a lot. He gets to to spend time looking at how culture impacts the world and that we live in. So excited that you're here, dominic, thank you for being a part of the Journey to Freedom podcast.
Speaker 1:We're doing 100 men here in 2024. And so you are absolutely the person that we want on this show and the person that we want to talk about some of these five pillars that we have, and so maybe we can just start off with you giving us a little bit about your background, your story, I guess your origin story, right? We think of all the superheroes and I look at all of us as superheroes in the things that we do. So go ahead, introduce yourself however you want and tell us a little bit about your background.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm so excited to be here. I love that story of the success clues leading towards your journey, and so maybe I'll tie some of that into my own storyline. So I'm originally from the Bay Area, oakland, california, was born and raised there, and I lived there for about 30 years the land of sunshine to some people, but we do have some variation in weather there, just a little bit and I grew up in a family that was really caring. That was all about community, all about connection, and that foundation is what really set me up for success in my own life. And so, as I've navigated my own life, I've gone through many different educational journeys. I've gone through many different educational journeys. I've gone off to get my master's degree in New York, I studied my undergraduate degree in University of California, berkeley, and everywhere in between just committed to learning. But the foundation piece of that was I wanted to be in community with people, because I saw the way that my mother taught others how to learn and connect with people was just through being and helping and being in service to others. And I think that's what led me to my current journey, which is to be a leadership coach for Black men in spaces, moving from mid-level positions into senior leadership. And I'll just say I think about my own childhood in Oakland, california, and one of the brilliant things that my mother did for me was to set me up with my neighbors. I got to know each person in my community. There was never a point where we were walking down the street where we weren't having a conversation with somebody, and so I sort of took that lesson and applied it to everywhere I went and that turned into the brilliant idea of networking and the path that that leads you towards. And so, as I've moved into a journey of leadership coaching, I coach people around, like the value of networking and what it takes to really succeed in spaces that maybe you're not familiar with, maybe you haven't been given the success clues to get there, but that's sort of a foundational thing that I had picked up in my childhood. But more about me I, like I said, born and raised in California.
Speaker 2:One of the foundational successes for me was being an athlete, so I was a swimmer. I started swimming when I was about 12 years old, got into the sport later than most of my peers, but I was one of those individuals who were truly committed to success from a very early age you could talk to my family. I was that one kid who was just like stuck on a thing until I got it perfect and then I would move to the next thing. Perfection doesn't exist, but I was trying to get as close as possible to everything, and so I was a swimmer for a number of years. It allowed me my first opportunity to travel, my first opportunity to travel, and I got to travel across or within the US.
Speaker 2:Eventually I got to travel outside of the United States at some point through the sport of swimming, and it really led me to this world of possibilities, which I was able to meet, friendships, able to just really see the world differently, and that eventually led me to understand that I wanted to navigate over to New York City, where I came to New York initially to pursue my graduate degree and where I studied business and social work. I wanted to plan what does it take to really help people thrive in businesses? And I saw the foundational piece being with people, and so I wanted to couple social work in that framework and eventually like went off and and worked for a number of different companies consultant, worked with government agencies, education spaces, corporate and eventually landed on. I just wanted to help people lead, and that's where I'm at today.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love it. I love it. And just when I think about identity and think of you know where we show up in places and as a leadership coach, I'm sure that is one of the number one topics that you probably started out talking about. You mentioned being a swimmer, you know, and when we look at swimming pools we don't see a lot of Black folks in the pool. I mean, we swim. I mean, obviously we don't swim, but we swim well. But as far as the sport goes, you know, how did being a swimmer shape the part of the identity? I know you have a really good foundation from your parents and the loving community, so I really wanna know how I'm jumping into athletics and I'll jump back into being in Berkeley in the West Coast, compared to New York, but what kind of things. How did that shape who you became as Dominic George?
Speaker 2:Yeah, such a great question and I have two different stories inside of being a swimmer. I think I was just really lucky to be in the neighborhood that I was in, in the area that I was in, to be connected to the type of people that I got connected to at a very early age and again, I contribute a lot of this to my mother. But I was fortunate enough to be a part of a swim team that was so diverse and it is, so it is not the norm at all. I had a opportunity. I was. I'll tell you the backstory of how I learned how to swim. Cause that led me to this pool I went to. My cousin actually was a was taking swim lessons.
Speaker 2:My entire family is competitive. We like to compete against each other and so my older cousin she was about a year older than me was sort of going through the dozens. She learned how to swim. I didn't know how to swim. She challenged me to like go to the pool with her and we went to this pool. That was maybe three blocks down the road from where I was at the time and public pool went there. She was just like showing off and I was frustrated and I didn't know how to swim, so I was just like on the side of the pool.
Speaker 2:I decided to just like watch. I have a watcher, a listener that's also how I learn and I noticed that this father was teaching his daughter how to swim and I just listened intently on what the instructions were, how he was doing it, what he instructed her to do, and I watched for a good 30 minutes whereby my cousins and my brothers were also there at the time, were playing around and I was just listening and, like I said, I've always been that type of kid who I've committed to something until I got it right and I've never been afraid to just jump into fear. And that's been a thing that I've just been like since I was younger and I decided at the age of 12 that I was going to walk over to the deep end, had never jumped into a pool ever and I said I take the test. I'm gonna take the test to swim four laps back and forth, or four width of the pool back and forth, and I jumped into the water.
Speaker 2:The lifeguard said can you swim? I said yes, no hesitation. I just said yes, I could swim, and had no clue what to do. But I was like holding on to the lessons of this father who was teaching his daughter how to swim. And I jump in the pool. I made sure that I was like next to the rope because I was like at any point, if anything happens, I'll grab onto this rope.
Speaker 2:But I jump in and I just make it across.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I was shocked, but I made it across. I was shocked but I made it across. And something beautiful happened in that moment where the lifeguard, who was a Black woman, which is also not a common thing in pools, but the pool that I was at was still diverse Black people, latinos, who were just everybody. It was a mixed crowd. But something beautiful happened where I did that first lap and everyone started cheering me on and I, yeah, and so I just like, kept going back and forth. I was struggling, but I made it through the entire test and somebody then offered hey, do you want to be a part of a swim team? And from that point I ended up being on the swim team. But you asked me a question around that diversity. So that was my a question around that diversity. So that was my first experience in a pool.
Speaker 2:I was able to see that support from an early age had encouragement, people who look like me in the space, and eventually I got a lot better. I was able to compete at a national level at some point in my tenure of swimming. To compete at a national level at some point in my tenure of swimming. But along that journey, as I got better and better. I became one of few in every single spaces, and it was challenging. It was hard to walk into spaces where you didn't see yourself reflected in other people's experiences, and it's no different than how I support people in navigating leadership. But what I hold onto was that early moment of support and community that I think people just need that in spaces where they're one of few and oftentimes one of only.
Speaker 1:That is so cool because you think of all. You know all the opportunities where it could have gone bad. You know where it could have been. What are you doing in this pool? Why do you think you should try to be here? You have no business here and you were able to get the exact opposite, I think, of.
Speaker 1:You know I was a pretty good swimmer growing up and you know I was an athlete and you know our stories kind of mimic each other. Where I was, you know, in track and I was able to do stuff, I wasn't on a, you know, I think, one swim team in my life and it was during track season. So I did track. But I was able because I got my degree in physical education, I got my WSI, and then I immediately became a beach guard, you know. So I'm now I'm in Southern California, you know, on the beach and saving people all the time, and then I did the. You know I worked at a few pools and worked at a water park for a while.
Speaker 1:Kind of the same experience. It's like I'm this only guy that's here, but it translated to my kids right. So my daughter was in gymnastics but she wanted to learn how to dive, you know, and I had been a gymnast in high school and so we were really. But I, you know, we were over in Mount Sac and we're you know she's getting in a bucket every day after she gets out of the pool. You know trash can. And you know we're down at Mission Viejo and she literally came to me saying the same thing dad, there is not anybody here. You know, she's 10 years old and realized that looks like me. I'm like you're going to enjoy it, you know, and she went on to switch over to track, but just to be able, she's like is there anybody? And I'm like you know, we're in Mission Viejo. There's not even people who live in Mission Viejo. So what are we going to do, you know?
Speaker 1:But the experience is huge for her and she brings me back to that all the time. So I can think of, you know, whether it was me encouraging you. And you know, when I remember she got up on the platform for the first time, you know, just to jump off of it and people were doing the same thing, clapping for her, encouraging her to do it. So that's huge that that happened with you. I love that, that you were able to do that? Were there any other pivotal moments? I mean, I know you, you know you're in Northern California and you're starting to get to travel and it sounds like you were a good enough swimmer to be able to, you know, maybe go to some junior nationals and some national stuff. And then did you swim in college as well? Were you on the swim?
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I did swim in college as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, good. So then you got to travel all over as far as seeing that, and then, like you said, europe or overseas, you know, I got to do track the same way and spend time in Europe. What an experience to be able to gain these experiences. How did those different experiences because now you say, okay, yeah, it's lonely there, but I'm still gaining all of this experience by being able to do the sport and be in different areas how do you think that shaped who you were, as far as your belief in yourself and your ability to do anything, as far as your belief?
Speaker 2:in yourself and your ability to do anything. Yeah, I still go back to that early encouragement of those early cheers, because there's moments where you could feel lonely in a space if you're not represented in the spaces in which you enter into. That's a perspective. You could also see the abundance of people around you as well. That, that's a perspective. You could also see the abundance of people around you as well. Um, but the how did that influence me? I, I feel like I've navigated.
Speaker 1:actually, I'm sorry can you say the question one more time? So I make sure that I'm answering no. I'm just asking how, how, how, that those experiences being able to be in a different place shaped your ability to be able to, hey, have your own business as I'm a leadership coach now and move forward in life.
Speaker 2:Got it. Thank you for the clarity. So yeah, I still think of that early validation, that early praise, because there are so many different moments where you're going to go through hurdles and you're going to be on a high note of celebration and there's going to be moments in your career or however you're navigating life. There may be some pitfalls along the way, but I personally hold on to those early moments of praise and early moments of cheering because it's in community that I think we often get to thrive. So for me, the way that I do that is I consistently surround myself with people who I think are just smarter than me as often as possible, because I know my gifts and I know my talents and what I'm able to offer the world and the spaces where I'm not able to do that, I'm surrounding myself with the best groups of people. But for me it's all about exposure. You may be one of few, you may be one of many in a space, but the more exposure you have to different opportunities, the more your mindset shifts, the more you can see what's available in front of you.
Speaker 2:I think of that first time that I was able to travel internationally and it just opened up a whole world of possibilities. I remember there was a moment where someone gave me a choice and it was the best advice that I ever got. But they said you could either buy a pair of shoes or you could buy a plane ticket. And I said, huh, I'm going to go without the shoes for today and just save that money that I earned over time. And I bought my first plane ticket and getting off the plane to see the world in front of me, I was like there's a whole different possibility and it was just that. It was just another piece of exposure that allowed me to see that I could do anything that I set my my mind to. It's just a matter of like. Can you actually see it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh man, I just, I love that. Do you want to buy a pair of shoes? You already have shoes in your closet, right? If you think of consumers of our communities and our culture that aren't getting the exposure, that are not able to travel because maybe that's never posed to them that they even have that option, or that choice is there, and I love that you took advantage of. Hey, let me learn more about the world, and I love that you took advantage of. Hey, let me learn more about the world. When I think about associations and you brought up associations and people that you're around how important were the people that were in your life, or not even just how important they are. How did you choose the associations that you would even have somebody who would say that to you by a pair of shoes or by a, you know, a plane ticket? How do you find those? You know, if we're talking to people that are here, they're looking for it, and then how has it shaped you as far as you finding the right associations?
Speaker 2:I think it was in the inquiry for me. I'm a naturally inquisitive person. I was that child who was asking my mother, why this, why that? To the point where she was like stop asking me why. But I would just always ask why is this the way that it is? Because I wanted to figure out the world in front of me, and I believe that the way that I was able to get connected to so many different people is because I one was just open to the possibility. You have to be open to the idea of meeting people, open to the idea. Even on this podcast, we were in collaboration, had a conversation, and then we're on this podcast having a conversation. Right, it was that early openness, to be open to whatever the possibility is, and I think it's just like being curious and from there, once you're curious, you're able to ask the right questions.
Speaker 2:For me, I was on this quest to learn and on this quest to get better, because I knew what my childhood journey was, which I grew up in a family that didn't have a lot of money. We were definitely economically just not well off and there was no other way other than to go upward. And my mother really taught me, like how do you utilize the resources around you to make the best of your scenario? Me like how do you utilize the resources around you to make the best of your scenario? And it was in that eye-opening reality of watching her navigate her resources, navigating community, navigating support, that I was able to go off into these spaces where I didn't always have the answer, but I knew that I had the right questions to ask and somebody would lead me to the right person that I need to be connected to, and that opened up the door to the resources.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's good. Let's pivot right now to you know we talked a lot about identity here and I want to kind of talk about trust Because I think of the moving. You know, I've been to Northern California many, many times and I've been to Northern California many, many times and I've been to New York many, many, many times. They are totally two different cultures. The space is two different. Everything and your ability to trust. You know, if we want to show up with trust and you know we can at some point talk about different pillars of trust but in order to move forward, you have to be able to trust, and I know there has to be fears that are inside that. What are some of the things that you had to overcome or things that you had to rethink in order to have the courage to move to a brand new environment that doesn't have family opportunity? But so many of us get stuck between opportunity and where we're at now because we don't know how to bridge that gap, because of fear. How did you bridge that gap?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's such a brilliant question. I immediately think of mindset shifts, and I'll speak from the I first, and then how I experience other people. Often For me, it's about someone gave me some advice that I have never let go either. So there's the advice about the shoes or the travel that has stuck with me forever because it's helped me manage money in a different way. The other advice I got was just like a perspective shift, was someone said to me you've never failed to this moment.
Speaker 2:Why would you anticipate that you're gonna fail tomorrow? And when I really sat back and thought about it cause I was in this moment of like, where do I go next? I'm trying to think of, do I take the right turn or left turn? I have this opportunity in front of me. Do I take it or not?
Speaker 2:And inside of that was fear. I was thinking if I go this way, I might fail, if I go this way, I might succeed. And I was trying to navigate the what ifs and this person stopped me and said you haven't failed yet. Why would you assume that you are? And so for me, it's really sitting down and being grounded in who you are, because we all navigate triumphs and tribulations right, but when you really think about it, none of us has ever really failed. We may have hit a place of disappointment or our lowest, but we've never really failed.
Speaker 2:And when you're, I believe, when you are able to step forward and you're able to take another breath and you're able to have another conversation, or whatever the progression forward is for you, whether it's big or small, you are succeeding by moving forward, and so I believe it's just like taking that first step. That's how you build trust, and as I continue to work with other people, I offer those lessons. Right, take a moment to sit back and think about where you are now. If you think about five years ago, were you in the same situation or were there elements of your experience that allowed you to grow, to be where you are? And a lot of people just don't have the privilege and the time to sit back and reflect, but when you do, you actually see how successful you truly are, and there's nothing that is impossible.
Speaker 1:I have 13 grickets, but I was two in particular with that. We're at a swim meet. They were swimming, they didn't come in first, they were mad. They were talking about how they lost. You know, and our conversation in the car on the way home was you didn't lose, you only lose if you or fail. They said I'm a failure, like no, you only lose or fail if you don't learn anything. You know, if you do that, then that's when you actually have lost. But I love what you just said there, because you said we really don't fail, you know, we just fail to gain.
Speaker 1:Whatever the perspective was that I was loving there, you know, and you're just thinking about that whole mindset. I just finished a book called there Is no Tiger and it's about overcoming, you know, fears, overcoming, overthinking and controlling anxiety. And I just saw that in exactly what you were saying, that you know what we put in our mind, that we overthink, that we put together that we've. You know, why would I assume I'm going to use that too? That's what I'm talking about. Why would I assume I'm going to fail? I love that.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm talking and speaking. Why would I assume I'm going to fail? I love that. If we could all walk into every situation instead of thinking about all the ways I can fail. Right, because when you're overthinking you're finding every real in your mind that allows you to figure out why it's not going to work. Switch that mind shift and say wait a minute, why would I assume that in the first place? I love that you did say you talked about mindset shifts. Can you kind of just talk about what that is and how we can integrate it in our lives or find ways that we can shift our mindset.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think of the simplest form when I think about mindset shifts is you have a perspective that you are comfortable with, and then there's a space in which you don't know really what you don't know right Until you're exposed to it.
Speaker 2:And when you think about what you do know, you could stay in that comfort zone and you could lead from that space, you could operate in that space and you could be very comfortable with who you are in this moment, which is great. And there are opportunities where, if you want to shift and you want to do something different, what you've already done is not going to get you to that new place. And so it's about shifting your mind to what's available in front of you and what's possible, and for some people, that is fear, that is getting stuck in. If I let go of what I know, can I access the unknown to bring me further? And I believe that the answer is always yes, but it's about shifting your mind to say there's something greater for me. On the other side, I just have to let go of what I'm used to and what I'm comfortable with in order to get to a new level, and so that's how I interpret it. Mindset shifts in the basics form, but there's many different layers that go into it.
Speaker 1:Give me an example of letting go. Like you said, you know, hey, in order to shift your mind to something else, you have to be willing to let go of something else. How does one do that? What is an example of a way that, either from your personal life or people you coach how do you help people? Or you yourself let go? Of an existing mindset.
Speaker 2:I'll make a general term or a general example so people could relate to it. I think about relationships.
Speaker 2:There are individuals in the world we're all in relationships, whether we want to be or not with somebody. And there are those individuals in the world who just like can't figure out relationships, whether that be a friendship or a romantic relationship. There are individuals who try Maybe you go out on that date or you approach somebody and it just doesn't work. And you try it with a new person and you try the same tactic and you do it. You approach them in the same way and maybe you get a little bit further in the conversation, but it just doesn't get you any further. And then there's those people who actually go on the dates and it's successful. They go on date one, two, three. They have fun. By date four, the person's like this is not going to work and you have those individuals who have those repeated experiences.
Speaker 2:You could take on the mindset that there's something wrong with me. That is why this is not working. So that's one perspective. The other mindset is you could let go of the way that you think that this has to look in order to relate to people and you could try on something new. So maybe it's not you pursuing that person, it's like you allowing the other person to lead in the conversation.
Speaker 2:Or you could let go of the idea that, whatever your upbringing is around relationships like, you don't have to be the person who's like creating the experience. You could actually be supported in the process. It's about letting go of what your assumed beliefs are so you can be open to the possibility, because that could get you to date number five or that could get you to a year of marriage. That could get you to a new relationship. That's an example of what I think of in terms of like a relationship when I'm coaching people and I'm thinking about career. When I'm coaching people and I'm thinking about career, often people think that I've experienced a lot of people who, like, come in contact with me as I'm going through the initial phase of like helping people develop goals and strategizing and then executing on those goals, and what I often encounter is individuals think that they have to do it by themselves.
Speaker 2:They have to be the greatest person in the room. They have to be the person putting in the work, the hard work, in order to move further in, whatever their ambitions are. And you could take a step back in that mindset shift and say who are the resources and the stakeholders around me, who are the sponsors that are in my reach that I either have talked to, that I didn't know was a sponsor, or I've been in resistance to, because, whatever reason, there's an opportunity to realize like you don't have to do it alone and you could actually be in a relationship with people and you can actually move further together than doing it by yourself. So those are two different types of ways that people can let go of something in order to gain a new mindset.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think of being willing to let others help. I think it's a weakness of mine that I have that. I, like you, said that I see in many people is this belief system that we have to do it by ourselves. You and I have been part of teams and we know that we are better together than we are individually.
Speaker 2:What do you think it?
Speaker 1:is that's within us that makes us believe we have to do it ourselves.
Speaker 2:I think part of that earlier conversation around trust right is vulnerability, and when you're unable to really step into vulnerability and part of that is sometimes saying, hey, I'm actually wrong or I don't know everything that you think I know, or I don't have all the answers right it's about being vulnerable enough and you could be right as well, but being vulnerable enough to be open with people so that they can actually help you and they can support you. I think at the foundation, we all want to succeed and we actually all want to succeed together. I think society has created this false narrative that we're all in competition and there's an abundance of opportunities in this world, and that is something that I've learned as I've traveled across the world that people are consistently willing to help you if you just open your eyes to the possibility.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this belief that there's a lack of resources. That's not. You know, it's. You know every time, you know, even when you, you know, study economics and you know it says that there's, oh there's, a finite amount of resources, and then, once that's depleted, then you know there's nothing left. And yet, as as the human existence continues, every time we run out of one resources, resource, we figure out a way to have another one come up. You know, if it's whale blubber that creates fuel in the 1700s, now we have oil and solar, right, I mean? And how about with people power as well, and things that we want to do? And there's this ultimate.
Speaker 1:You can, I guess, have that mindset that it's not based on a lack and if I don't get mine, then nobody else is going to be able to get. That you mentioned earlier and I didn't want I wrote it down because I don't want it to go by. You talked about your mindset changed, about money and, as we move into just talking about finances a little bit and how you think about finances, because I think that's a block that we find ourselves in so many times is I can't, because I don't have and I didn't grow up having. I didn't. You know I don't really understand this whole concept of money, but I think you know. Back to your your thing on mindset. You know what? What are? What is that mindset that you said that changed in your life? That allows you to interact with money differently than maybe some of the other folks that you interact with on a daily basis?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I would say that something that occurred for me in my childhood which I'm still working through how to truly release is this idea of growing up in poverty and my family did the best that they could to navigate the world that they had in front of them and we did the best that we could do at that moment and I'm so grateful for those learn lessons because it's truly set me up for success.
Speaker 2:But what I have worked to let go of is this idea that I needed to be a permanent saver, that I need to like hold on to my money so tight that I couldn't release it, and so I was always working hard to save, working hard to hold on to everything that I had.
Speaker 2:And what I learned over time is in being in these other networks and and connecting with other people who are a little bit more affluent than I was at the moment and just just entering into different circles, I learned that in order to truly have abundance like, you have to release in order to receive, and that has turned for me. That's turned into understanding what does investment mean, what are the different diversifications of investment, how can you both support someone else while also benefit at the same time, and there's just so many different ways that I've learned how to invest my money in a way that adds values to the things that I want to do and want to support but also helps me thrive at the same time, and I think both of those things don't have to be mutually exclusive. And in my younger age I thought again you kind of have to work hard in order to preserve and to um sustain.
Speaker 1:But my my later career and tenure I've learned that you could actually thrive by giving yeah, that whole law of reciprocity and the whole law of of sowing and reaping, uh, is so huge, uh. But that poverty mindset, I mean, I think that is not easy to get over. It's not like, okay, I just wake up one day and I have this different concept about how money works, or this different concept of how it will work in my life. And we get back to that trust. Right, I have to trust that my money can work for me, instead of me working for it and trading those hours for dollars, because when you trade those hours for dollars, it's hard to get rid of it because, hey, I work for this and now that I've worked for it, if I give it to somebody else, then it's not mine anymore and somehow I have to have it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's an example of. I was in undergraduate school. I was surviving, I was figuring out life and just fortunate enough to be a part of many different organizations, learn many different things. But part of the undergraduate process was me taking on loans. I was able to pursue a lot of scholarships and that helped me out a lot. But in undergraduate I wasn't familiar with debt to expenses and went down a rabbit hole there. But what I ended up doing was my first entrepreneur venture is.
Speaker 2:I discovered Airbnb at a time and I was in a position where I had a place that I was able to rent out at the time, and there was a moment where I was like, holding on, do I let people in my space? That's my sanctuary. I value home. I value like the energy that I'm surrounded by, and there was a moment where I just couldn't decide if I wanted to invite people into my home that I wasn't familiar with, and I decided to release that and shift my mindset to something greater is on the other side of this. Although I'm working towards releasing this debt, there's something greater on the other end, and so I went on this whole journey of the shared economy and started a side hustle with Airbnb and renting out my place and that turned into.
Speaker 2:I was fortunate to be in a space where it was like an international hub and so right next to San Francisco. I was in West Oakland at the time and it turned into like so many different people around the world wanted to stay at my house and I got to connect with these people from around the world. That turned into friendships that then blossom into now. I get to travel across the world and actually connect with these people. I've stayed with them because they've stayed with me, and it just speaks to the reciprocity of when you give, you actually receive in different ways, and that's what stood out to me as you were talking.
Speaker 1:That is so good to me as you were talking.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, that is so good, and the other side of that was that I actually like paid off my debt at the same time.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so cool. So you develop a risk tolerance, an ability to risk without believing it's going to all fall apart and fail. What are some of the things that you did or thought processes that you had to have? Because it's easy to say I just changed my mindset, right, Because you're looking at hindsight and say, oh yeah, yeah, I just changed my mindset, you know, because you did. But what? Maybe, looking back, what are some of those risk tolerance things that you did that allowed you to say you know what I don't want to take a risk of somebody living in my house to get to. Oh, there's a whole bunch of international people living in my house and I'm learning and growing and being exposed and all those things that end up being wonderful. Maybe a couple of things that could help folks out with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll talk on like a smaller scale, or at least it felt like a smaller scale stakes to me at the moment. I remember I had chose just not to buy a car for the longest time. I remember I had chose just not to buy a car for the longest time and I'm still all about it was one of the reasons I moved to New York City because I just I didn't want to commute and drive. I wanted public transportation, which I love, and but when I was in California you needed a car. But I was on that curve of just like, I'm still not going to do it, I'm a figure out like how to commute without a car. So I figured out conveniences for myself, but there was a moment where I decided, okay, I actually need a car because of the career trajectory that I was on, I needed to be in different places at a reasonable time and the car was the best solution at that time and so I had taken.
Speaker 2:I did all my research. I decided on the car that I wanted. I figured out the lot and the dealer that I wanted to pursue. It was my first time entering into a space of negotiation and I decided that I was willing to risk it all. I had already decided I wanted this car.
Speaker 2:I was like I'm going to go get this car no matter what, but I had decided, if it wasn't in my price, that I was actually just going to walk away and I go on this lot and I'm negotiating it's the first time doing this for myself, I was a young kid and the dealer is trying to go back and forth about it has to be this price. And I'm like no, I know the facts, it needs to be this price. And I'm like, no, I know the facts, like it needs to be this price. And I'm going back and forth and there was a point where I realized he wasn't gonna like budge on the price that I actually wanted, and so it was in that moment that I said this is the moment where I'm willing to just let it all go. And so I'm like walking off the lot. I'm like terrified Cause. I'm like I'm losing this car and I wanted this car. And I get to the end of the lot, literally as I'm turning the corner, the guy yells and he's like come back, I'll give it to you for that deal.
Speaker 2:And it was in that moment that I realized like you just have to stick to your gut and there are things that if you're just truly willing to let go of that, you can get what you actually need on the other end.
Speaker 2:That's a small example. A larger um, or I'll say another smaller, even smaller skill decision that I have picked up over time is just even in my own work, um, my, my work trajectory and leadership journey, I realized that I have a huge skill set and I've honed in on the things that I do best and I've become an expert in certain areas that I know that I could offer a company, I could offer a business, I could offer individuals on how to thrive in certain areas, and I've just learned how to rally my resources, hold on to the things that I need to do to survive. So I have a cushion. And then there's areas of my finances and there's areas of decision making that I'm willing to just say I'll let this go if I can't get to where I need to be and it's just a matter of saying I'm open to the no, I'm open to the possibility that somebody is not willing to meet my standards Because, again, I think on the other end of that no is your increased possibility.
Speaker 1:I really enjoy the fact that you feel like, hey, I got a skillset, I'm in my purpose. I need to kind of journey into our faith and spirituality. One of the prayers that I say every single morning is dear Lord, give me the wisdom to do what you put me on this earth to do and give me the ability to as why I serve others, please you and serve others. That's one of my prayers every single day, because I feel like a now in my gift to this and that for you in your spiritual journey and your faith journey. What, what are some of those ideas or those, those principles that you hold to yourself that allow you to go? Hey, I'm in the right spot at the right time, doing the right things through my journey. What are some of those kind of? Tell us about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I talked to earlier about my mix of of social work and business, and, um, I had gone through a journey of of prioritizing business first and business practices, which are often focused on bottom line, and then people second, or at least the companies that I initially worked for or was signing up to work for, and what I realized was that I actually wanted to put people first in that equation. I wanted to prioritize people growth. I wanted to prioritize people growth. I wanted to prioritize relationships, and I believe in the investment in people is what's going to actually get you the sustainable bottom line that you're looking for, and so I was looking to flip that equation. And social work and business. I found a program that aligned both of those things and it made sense to me and I've since ran with it, and so every opportunity that I'm up against, that I have an opportunity to either invest my talent in or invest my business in, I often reflect on, is this putting people first in the equation. And I'm in a space where I actually get to do that every day. I'm working with people that I love, I'm working with organizations that I get to impact, I'm working with individuals who have like-minded mindsets, and so one of the things that grounds me is, every day I wake up in gratitude. The first thing that I do is I say thank you for another opportunity to breathe, because it's in the ability to just like get up and move forward and take that one step as another opportunity towards your goals and your dreams that we get to truly thrive and be happy to. My own spiritual practice and the other piece of social work that I've learned over time is you truly do have to be centered with yourself to understand who you are.
Speaker 2:Part of my transition from California to New York is, like you name is two different cultures, completely different environments, different expectations.
Speaker 2:It's two different cultures, completely different environments, different expectations, and I found myself like in this in-between space of I want to be on this fast track that everybody else is on in New York, but I also want the ease and the comfort of the relaxed lifestyle of California and I found myself like being at odds between the two.
Speaker 2:And there was a moment where I realized I was like moving to everybody else's pace in life and I took a step back and I said, actually let me just center on what I wanted, what I need in this moment, because when you think about your own gifts and your own desires and what you have to offer to the world because I believe that your gifts are for other people so when you can like truly center on that, then you start to like pivot towards the things that you actually love and you start to move towards happiness and you start to be in a position where you don't have to like dread the day, and so for me, that spiritual practice is just being centered. My personal preference is to be centered with God, who I believe in, and it's just a matter of just sitting with yourself, both in that gratitude but also in relationship to whoever your spiritual leader is.
Speaker 1:I can tell you're a very introspective person. You do a lot of thinking, you do a lot of searching for things before you make decisions. Yes, who, yeah, who do you read? Who do you like when you're putting things in your mind to help you make decisions, or just you know the types of books that you read, the, the, the information that you allow to go into your mind and keep out some of the others, what, what are some of those practices in? You know, like I said, the, your favorite, your favorite authors or the. You know I can tell you got some. So, yeah, I'll just let you go ahead and run with it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the first person that I think about is Angela Davis. I think she's such a phenomenal individual I was thinking about. I just read Freedom is a Consistent Struggle, and I think about her just her lifespan. I've been fortunate just to hear her speak in person and see the consistency in her journey over time, and what I love about her is that she centers people first and then she brings all of her lived experience and knowledge into that conversation. But that's a person that I have been currently reading, but that's a person that I'm have been currently reading.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I'd love to read is memoirs, and I just love to to hear people's stories and how they have overcome whatever they were up against in order to get to a place of thriving, and so I've learned from people like Cicely Tyson's book, just watching her journey on screen and then hearing her own memoir of her experience. I think about the who else am I reading? There's a older novel that I sort of go back to time over time again Thinking Grow Rich, which is Napoleon Hill, I believe, who wrote that book, and it's a fascinating. It's a quick read if you want it to be quick, but to really sit with that information and think about, like how are you actually internalizing the things that you have and the perspective that you have on, whether it be money or whatever the thing that you're reflecting on is? I think it's an interesting read.
Speaker 2:Toni Morrison I love all of her novels. I think the central piece is for all of the books that I pick up, and I try to learn from other people's experience, because I want to take the tools that they've lived through in order to apply to my own life.
Speaker 1:Any leadership people that you, whether they speak about leadership or you follow their example, that you've dug into a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the person. I read a number of different leadership books, but I would say that the Leading Change by John Cotter is a book that I have loved. Kim Scott has wrote a book about radical candor. I read that earlier in my career. That I think just really supported. Just like how I'm navigating spaces Because I've led so many different teams. I think this is always applicable to whatever space that I've been in, but the five dysfunctions of a team. Patrick I'm going to butcher his last name. I can't even say this. It starts with L, for sure.
Speaker 1:But what was it?
Speaker 2:again, the five dysfunctions of a Team. Okay, and what I love about that book is it just really speaks to different personalities that you will encounter over the span of your leadership and how to really shift people to get centered on a shared goal and a shared direction. Shift people to get centered on a shared goal and a shared direction. Those are a couple of books that come to mind, but I feel like I'm always learning from different leaders, whether it be podcasts or conferences or other CEOs in different spaces, and learning from their experiences. But, yeah, those are things that come to mind.
Speaker 1:I came up with Patrick Linconi a really alien. Cio and I, Right, yeah, I've really been. You know, John Maxwell has been a big you know, leadership person for me right now, and then reading some TD Jake stuff and some, you know, even Tyler Perry. I just watched the Netflix story on Tyler Perry's life.
Speaker 1:Which was incredible to me actually, oh my gosh, what an amazing man. As we move forward, I want you to give some time to talk about whatever you want to, but just how do you stay healthy? What is it that African-American men the average lifespan is 72 years old? What are you doing in your life to make sure that you stay healthy?
Speaker 2:I like to reflect on the study to study. Often it's that study where I'm going to forget the title, but it's where people are on their deathbed and they're speaking through their regrets, and those are the top seven, I believe. And so I'm often reflecting on an annual basis or biannual basis on what are those components that people just live to regret, and that is like working too much and not having enough time to do the things that you love. And so for me, it's about balancing exercise and health.
Speaker 2:I've definitely been on this health journey of a vegetarian so I don't eat meat and I think that mind shift of I've been a vegetarian for about five years now and just having the last like 30 plus years be, I just grew up eating meat, and so it was a whole shift to like, think about like, how do you actually take care of your body in a different way? How do you read ingredients to make sure that what you're ingesting is not what you were familiar with? And that's been a whole learning journey for the last five years to reinvent my whole diet, which I love. It's been a fun discovery. So that's one way just focusing on what I'm actually digesting but actually making time to exercise and be in community with people who also exercise. I think it's easy to work nonstop in this world and it's easy to go back to back meetings, especially as you navigate your leadership journey. It's easy to get consume woodwork and improving things, but you can't be better for other people if you're not prioritizing yourself first.
Speaker 2:So I try to balance both of those things health and eating and exercising. And then the last thing I would say is making time just to like laugh, being with friends and having conversation. I don't think we laugh enough, and it's the thing that that for me, it keeps me happy, so I try to do it as often as possible.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's, that's, that's great.
Speaker 1:I feel, like you know, today, again bombarded. I was just in the car with a young lady that kind of challenged me. She said have you? You know, we were talking about fish and I was saying I was allergic to it. And she says well, have you ever tried being a vegetarian or vegan? I'm like no. She says you like me? Right? Yeah, well, why don't you try it? I'll take you to a place and then I'll get on with you and you're like okay, so, but yeah, I mean it is what we put in. Right, we are.
Speaker 1:You're only as good as the substance that we put into our body. I've been doing a lot of intermittent fasting lately and I don't eat before 1 o'clock in the afternoon now and I'm loving that journey because I have that energy right. It's energy you don't realize you have and we have such bad habits of the things that we put into our body. Now I think we're at about five minutes left in our conversation today and I really want.
Speaker 1:Our conversation always goes in a different direction than people have assumed that it would go. But our conversation always goes in a different direction than people have assumed that it would go and I know there might have been some things when, before we talked that, you said, hey, I really want to talk about this or I really want to explore this. I want to give that opportunity right now. What are some of the things that you really wanted to impart? As people watch this or people want to grow, I know that I want to make sure we get your information. In the comments. People are looking for some leadership help, because I think that it's definitely something you could help somebody out with. But what are you know as closing thoughts or as thoughts of things that you want to make sure that we talk about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I appreciate that, and I've thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, even weaving out of childhood journey to travel to books and and it's just been a fun conversation.
Speaker 2:But the thing that I often center all of my clients around, all of my friends, anybody who I come in contact with, is that it truly is about your mindset. And if you could shift your mindset from what you think is impossible to what's possible, you can truly achieve whatever you want to. It's just a matter of thinking about it first, believing in it enough that you could actually visualize it and see in it, and then, when you open up your mind and your eyes to the possibilities, the world will literally transform to meet you where you need to be, in order to open that door or that window to get you where you want to go. And so I would impart that if you're in a space where you're thinking whatever you're up against, there's no solution out that I would offer you that you shift your mindset to understanding that what you think is impossible now is actually possible. It's just a matter of redirecting.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is so good, so many interesting things, and I know we talked about a lot today. You know whether it was exposure or mindset shifts or not being able to fail. I would love to come back at some point, you and I, and just really maybe just do a mindset shift show. You know where we talk about. You know the basics of what it takes to shift your mind and what are some of the practices and the habits and the you know the things that you really have to do internally. You know these are deciding factors, not contributing factors, where you know we're like contributing to where you're at, but internally, making those decisions that make a huge difference. And so hopefully you'll be willing to do that. You know we'll see. If we get a call, we could just, you know, because I think it's so helpful, but I don't think we got deep enough Right, you know, to actually help somebody shift their mind to making it better. But that's what the show is all about. The show is about.
Speaker 1:So, if you're finding that you're needing things, like I said, I'll have Dominic's, you know, contact information. If you're willing to talk to a few people who might, you know, just reach out. You know, and you know I'm not saying that you know we should do any of these things for free either. I mean, you know I'm not saying that you know we should do any of these things for free either. I mean, if there are some things in your life that you need help with, get some help. You know, I say at all my shows that you can do the things that we're talking about doing and you can change your trajectory in life. You deserve to be able to do it.
Speaker 1:You know, when we think about our past and the things that are happening, we are in one of the greatest opportunities in the history of the world right now, to be able to take the I don't know the bull by the horns, or whatever you would say, and move forward. Uh, but I would also say don't try to do this alone. Do not try to do this alone. Find some people that you can be around. We talked about associations today. We talked about books that people read. Those are the associations and the communities that we need to develop. And so, dominic, again, thank you for being part of the show, thank you for coming on. Like I said, I hope you'll come back next time and we can enjoy another episode of the journey to freedom as we try to move forward in our lives. So thank you.
Speaker 2:I'm definitely looking forward to it and I would say that anybody who wants to connect with me, the easiest way to get in contact with me is through LinkedIn, and my handle is Dominic C George. You could connect with me there on LinkedIn, send me a request and I'll respond to you there, or the other option is to email me directly, which is Dominic at visionleadershipforlifecom, and those are two avenues to get in contact with me.
Speaker 1:You said visionleadershipforlifecom, visionleadershipforlife. Make sure you do it. Thanks again, dominic. We appreciate you being on the show today. Appreciate it, thank you.