Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where
we explore the journeys that lead to success.
I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five
Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you
insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders
and experts who will share not just their expertise,
but the milestone moments that have reshaped
their journeys and led to significant achievements.
So if you're looking for motivation, you're in
the right place. Subscribe now and discover the
milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome
to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. I'm Sheila Slick, your host,
and today my special guest is Judy Slater. Judy
is a transformational leader, a spiritual guide,
and a creative visionary committed to integrating
spirituality, healing, and the arts. An ordained
pastor in the Presbyterian Church with over 40
years of experience, Judy blends her expertise
in co -active leadership, adaptive change, and
energy healing to help individuals and organizations
navigate an evolving world. She holds certifications
in intuition medicine, trauma wellness techniques,
and spirituality, health, and medicine, equipping
her to guide clients through growth, resilience,
and self -discovery. Judy is passionate about
reimagining leadership. helping individuals embrace
innovation while staying grounded in purpose.
And whether she's coaching individuals or leading
group training, she empowers leaders to cultivate
clarity, courage, and transformation. Welcome
to the show, Judy. Great to be here today. So
you have walked such a rich path, from ordained
ministry to energy healing and leadership coaching.
What was that key moment or that turning point
that led you to blend spirituality, healing,
and the arts and the work that you do today?
Well, I think there were a couple of pivotal
moments. And it was more like collecting pieces
along the way. I started out in medicine. And
so that was kind of the physical healing piece.
And then I went to seminary. And after that,
I had some chronic health issues. And so I realized
that medical peace was kind of for me. But the
first really pivotal moment was taking a course
in spirituality, health and medicine and realizing
that I was a healer, that I yearned for physical
healing, but also the spiritual healing. Because
99 % of illness is spiritually based. And by
that, I mean that the love bond has been broken
in some way. So that took me down another path
about looking at myself, looking at what love
is, looking at the different diseases, illnesses,
which ones are, you know, and that sort of thing.
And then the second major piece was actually
the second one was doing the leadership training.
I mean, I think I'd always been a leader, but
I never really felt I had the qualifications.
And so. Studying adaptive leadership and doing
the CTI Coaches Training Institute is now Coaches
Training International Leadership Program really
brought to the fore the different kinds of leadership
that you can use because I'm not in the business
world. I've come from the service perspective.
And so the regular business model isn't one that
I fit well with. So the adaptive and transformational
leadership kind of became my way in. And then.
Third was the certification in intuition medicine.
And people kept saying, oh, you're so intuitive.
You're so intuitive. And I didn't realize, like,
I don't see colors. I don't see things. I don't
see any of that stuff. But there's this deep
knowing. And I realized that I have trusted that
my whole life. And that has what's helped me
on my path. So being able to name that and really
being able to see that everything is energy.
change languages has helped me kind of speak
that universal language. So that works with my
coaching, that works with my leadership, that
works with my healing. So that's a little maybe
complex answer, but I think my life has been
kind of complex. Well, it just gives you more
experience in helping others with what you do.
And I personally love what you said about leadership
and there's different types of leadership out
there. I've been an entrepreneur most of my life,
so I have worked in organizations and I earned
a master's of leadership and it was focused a
lot on organization. My latest one has been applying
that to the self, self -leadership, because we
are all CEO of our lives and leadership, no matter
what kind, all starts from within. So I loved
how you pointed that out as well. Yes, I totally
agree. We are leaders of our own lives. And that's
the most important and first leadership position
we have. And in your website, I found a quote
that resonated with me. It made my heartbeat.
And it states, your relationship with yourself
is the key to your relationship with everyone
and everything else in your life. You are a complete
package and you have all that you need at every
given moment to simply self. Wonderful. Yeah.
So in your experience guiding transformation,
what would be an unexpected truth about self
-discovery that you believe has the power to
shift how we lead ourselves? Well, like you said,
and I said this, the most important relationship
you have is with yourself. And we so often look
outside of ourselves for validation and love
and everything else. And so the key is really
to love yourself. Now, that's great. We can work
on self -love and self -confidence and self -esteem
and all those things. But what smack dab comes
to us immediately is what I call the self -woundings.
So those places in our lives where we've picked
up. usually from other people's examples and
experiences, that critical, that judgmental,
that loathing, that self -pity, all those things
that block us from being ourselves. And so you've
got these beautiful self -wonderfuls, but then
you have these self -woundings. And I really
believe that our transformational work is working
on those wounding gifts. And I do call them gifts
because that's what makes us grow and transform.
If we're willing to work on them. So that's the
unexpected. It's like, oh, there it is. No, when
you say wounding, is it experiences, pain? What
exactly is the definition of? Yeah, it's anything
that detracts from being the 100 % you. I like
to talk in healing and energy terms. You need
to be 100 % full of yourself. And you want to
be full of that loving, caring, wonderful self.
So if someone is struggling with some of those
aspects, how do you help them? Well, and it's
funny because, you know, that's not what they
come for. They often they come for something
else. And so when you begin to say, you know,
this is coming up again and this is coming. coming
up again, I first like to just acknowledge that
we're all wounded. You know, that's what makes
us human. Humans are never meant to be perfect.
We are perfectly imperfect. And that's a phrase
I use all the time. And so it's living into our
imperfections. And so for clients and leaders,
it's really just kind of what's underneath that.
And so a lot of it is about awareness. What's
the pattern that's been there? Where is it in
your body? What does it prevent you from doing?
What would you like to do instead? And so there's
kind of a whole process of exploration, curiosity,
intrigue even. You know, the typical phrase is
peeling back the layers of an onion, but onions
make me cry. So, you know, I think I find a better
illustration. But it's really kind of going on.
For me, it's going on a treasure hunt. You know,
again, back to that self -loathing. Those are
part of our lives to produce the jewels and gems
that we can then use as we move forward. In your
book, do you share a process or do you share
examples? Yeah. Tell us a little bit about your
book. Yeah. And my book is called The Simply
Self -Wonderful Inner Workout Book. And it started
as a card deck because I just didn't. ever think
I was going to write a book. And so the card
deck has the definitions of the self -wonderfuls
and the self -woundings in a really creative
form. And then they have mandalas and then a
little blurb, but it's like, wait, that's not
enough. So in my book, I included affirmations,
I included quotes, and then I used the term MEPS.
So there's five areas of focus, the mental, the
emotional, the physical, the social, and the
spiritual. And yes, you can't tease out these
parts in reality, but to look at them each. And
so I have people look at the different areas
in each one of those categories. So the workout
book is really a workout because it's not just
easy, fluffy stuff. Like I said, it's kind of
going below the layers and looking at things.
And yet there's some really fun things. Like
one of my favorite self -wonderfuls is a self
-portrait. And it's not like, you know, drawing
one. It's taking words about yourself and making
a word cloud or other kind of creative things.
So there's a lot of joy and creativity and exploration
as you do them. I like that. And with the cards,
are they complementary? Can you use either the
deck of cards? Or do you have to use them together
with the book? How do the cards work? People
buy them separately. The book is just black and
white and I'm a color person. So I really like
the card deck. And I do have a habit of just
drawing a card from some deck every day. I don't
go into the full tarot reading thing, but I've
found that I'll pull a card. And then my newest
adventure, and this was just completed last week,
is I've put the card deck on a new app. It's
called Deckable. And so you can have more than
two sides, which was really fun. So I've got
each card with the mandala and the definition
and then a little blurb and then a video that
asks you questions for each aspect. So that's
a new thing. So again, when I wrote it, I'm like,
just be creative, use it however you want. But
the nice thing about the app is that you can
have it where you are. And you can also share
it. You can share the card that you pulled so
you can share it with other people. So it's a
little bit more interactive. So with the app,
does it limit how many cards you can pull? Because
I'm assuming that it's a card per day. No, it's
not. It's an amazing app. You can pull a spread.
You can have it shuffle. You can have one, two,
or three cards. You can choose your own. You
can flip the sides. You can take cards from other
decks and pull them into your reading. Wow. And
this is all part of a self -discovery process.
Yes. Yes. So how can a business leader, an entrepreneur,
an individual, a professional tap into their
inner wisdom, perhaps if they're pivoting or
transitioning or maybe facing challenging times?
Well, and the thing is, I think, you know, that.
Well, it's the name of my business, okay? It's
interlude, I -N -N -E -R. It's a play on the
words of interlude in music. So you've got the
music, but then you have the space in between
the sections. And so for me, it's about going
inward because our culture wants to do, do, do,
do, do. And so I'm saying, hey, in order to do,
we need to go inside. Spend some time in quiet.
And for me, being quiet is really hard. And so
it doesn't necessarily mean sitting and meditating.
There are forms of spiritual practice that are
active. So spiritual walking, dancing, whatever
kind of movement that you use. But the intention
is looking within and then just allowing, again,
that wisdom to come. In my intuition medicine
work, we talk about the analyzer brain, and that's
the one that we're always asking questions, and
that's where the monkey mind is, and that's in
the front of your head. But there is that meditation
sanctuary that's kind of in the middle, and that's
the place that we go that slows us down, that
opens us to a wider vision, a wider view, a wider
realm of consciousness. And that's where we want
to be doing our inner work from. And then the
third place, I'll just say it is the reptilian
brain. And that's kind of the brain that our
world is in right now. It's all about fear and
anxiety. And you cannot think rationally from
that place. So I'm encouraging business leaders
and clients and anyone who's listening to this
podcast or anyone else is to really go to that
meditative place. And whether you sit there.
whether you intend while you're walking, just
let things come. Don't force anything. It has
its own time. And I think that's what, back to
that kind of first question, I think that's what
I discovered along my journey is that anytime
I tried to force something, it didn't work out.
And finally I learned it's like, oh, I just have
to wait for the right thing to come. So again,
it's giving space for things to come. Well, there's
that saying, patience is a virtue. I always have
to remind myself of that because I'm sometimes
impatient. I am an action taker. I want it done.
Me too. It's like patience. I'm always learning
patience because I'm not very patient. So what
would be your next milestone? Well, I really
am passionate about people. feeling self -wonderful
about themselves. When I created the book and
the card deck, I kind of had women and teen girls
in mind, but really it's applicable and written
for everyone. And so I've just been imagining
this out in the world, you know, that people
take time for themselves, really begin to understand
themselves, work on themselves. And I know it
seems kind of like a luxury or a privilege, but
it's necessary in order for our world to become
more loving and caring and compassionate. It
does begin with us. So my goal is to just keep
the ripples going out. Thank you. I did a big
heart. That resonates with me. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
thank you so much for joining me today. Can you
tell our audience where they can? find you, the
book, the cards? Okay, so I've said all the buzzwords
before. So my website is innerludecoach .com
with the I -N -N -E -R. And then the book and
the card deck are at simplyselfwonderful .com.
And that is linked to my regular website so you
can find it going either place. And then deckable
.com, D -E -C -K -I -B -L -E. And spellcheck
always wants to spell it wrong because it's a
weird word. It's a made -up word. You can go
to deckable .com, and then I think it says Marketplace.
And then you can find, you download the app,
and then you can buy the deck and use it on your
phone or your tablet. And then, of course, I'm
on Facebook and LinkedIn and other places. You
can find me. I'll make sure to leave the URLs
in the description. of this episode so that anyone
that wants to reach out or to buy the workbook
or the deck of cards or download the app can
do so by just clicking on the link. Perfect.
Thank you so much, Sheila. It's been wonderful.
It has. And thank you all for joining us on another
episode of Milestone Moments in Business and
Leadership. Until next time.