S01 Ep22: Thriving Without Hustle: A Mind, Body, Career Approach with Amina AlTai

EntrepreneurshipSelf-ImprovementHealth

Apr 9

Written By Melissa Wesner

If you’re like me, you’ve been told that the path to success involves hard work and long hours. This messaging, however, can lead people down the road of burnout and result in extreme health problems. Executive Coach, Amina AlTai’s knows all about that from first-hand experience, and her experience has completely transformed how she now works.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
• Amina’s personal journey and how it led to her mind, body, and career approach.
• The oppressive origins of hustle culture
• How working within your zone of genius can facilitate a sense of well-being
If you’re tired of being exhausted, overwhelmed and burned out and ready to work differently, this episode will show you that there’s another way to be successful without sacrificing yourself or your well-being.
Follow Amina AlTai:
Website: www.aminaaltai.com
Instagram: @aminaaltai
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aminaaltai
Free Unearth Your Purpose Workbook: https://bit.ly/4aIR21S
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (00:03.281)
Welcome back to the Dreaming and Doing podcast. I am really excited to be here with Amina AlTai, who is a holistic business and career coach, proud immigrant, and chronic illness advocate. And it's been a while since I've had the chance to talk to Amina, so I'm super glad that we can be here today to catch up and also to let people know about the really incredible work that she's doing. So welcome, Amina.
Amina AlTai she/her (00:28.47)
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor and joy to be with you and to see you after so long.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (00:35.893)
Yes. So, Amina, you do mind, body, and career, right? That's how you approach executive coaching. So talk with me about this mind, body, and career approach that you take.
Amina AlTai she/her (00:49.738)
Yeah, so early on in my career, I started in marketing and brand management. And for a while I had my own agency and I hadn't done any of the coaching work on myself. And I carried all of my familial programming into the workplace. So I was boundaryless and deeply codependent and took care of everybody but myself. And I eventually burned out and I developed two autoimmune diseases. And it was this very dramatic moment where I got a call from my doctor and she said, if you don't go to the hospital now,
Instead of going to work, you are days away from multiple organ failure. And it was this really dramatic moment in my life, the stop moment, I call it. And so that was the moment that kind of set me on a new path where I realized, okay, I can't show up at work the way that I have been showing up at work. And I invested in coaching for the first time for myself, just to kind of feel better in my own life. And I call it my Eat, Pray, Love year that I embarked on after that point.
And it just opened up so much possibility for me and it opened up the doorway for coaching. So when I sat down to design my own curriculum, I really wanted it to support a holistic, I wanted to take a holistic approach because I knew that you can't just focus on career. You can't just focus on leadership. We are one person, we are one system. And so if we really look at our mindset and what's happening in that space, if we look at our bodies and how we're taking care of ourselves or not, and if we look at the strategies and tactics we're using in our careers when we take that multidisciplinary approach,
we could be much more successful.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (02:14.473)
Yeah. And as you're talking about that, I'm thinking about another episode we did recently, we were interviewing someone who had experienced burnout and her experience with burnout led her to sell her business, develop this whole new business where she is location independent. She has her own, like she's able to travel, make her own schedule that works with her own body and her own body's needs. And I think the thing that I'm thinking about as I hear you talk and as I'm reflecting on that conversation is
We, you know, these moments where you have this health crisis or you're experiencing burnout, we typically don't talk about those experiences in a positive light because they're so hard and stressful. And yet there are these opportunities to listen to our body and say, hey, what can I do with this? What can I learn from this? And it sounds like this was that moment for you where you took in that information and it kind of led you down a new road.
Amina AlTai she/her (03:13.234)
Yeah, I had a spiritual teacher once who said, we have to use the contrast in our life to refine the vision. And the contrast is any material that doesn't feel good, that causes friction, but it allows us to refine as we move forward. And so that was a contrast moment and I used it to refine the vision.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (03:19.851)
Hmm.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (03:30.525)
Yes, I love that. Not easy either, right? When that happens.
Amina AlTai she/her (03:33.478)
Oh no. And it's so interesting because I've been on other people's podcasts. I've had people on my podcast and when we tell these sort of origin stories, they're so tidy, right? They're so linear and neat. But in the moment, they're deeply messy and you don't know the way forward and you don't know what you're going to do. And so I just honor anyone that is in a moment like that because it's messy and it's challenging.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (03:55.197)
Yes. And one of the other things that I'm thinking about as you're talking is really this idea of wellness as it relates to career. Because I think that even though more and more people are talking about the importance of well-being as it relates to productivity and even the health of an organization, I think there's still this underlying belief that many people have that...
We need to work hard, which means long hours. We need to be stressed and do all these things in order to be productive. And I know that you really take an anti-hustle approach to your work. Would you talk a little bit about that?
Amina AlTai she/her (04:33.258)
Yeah. Yes, I am very anti-hustle culture because I came of age in hustle culture during the girl boss era and leaned into that in my first business. And it's partly what had me express two autoimmune diseases. And hustle is really interesting because I'm writing my book right now and I actually was sort of tracing the lineage of hustle. And hustle is something that a lot of marginalized and underrepresented people had to do to survive, right? Because of so much bias, because of redlining, because of the pay gap.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (04:57.236)
Mm-hmm.
Amina AlTai she/her (05:02.826)
A lot of people, underrepresented people, had to work two, three jobs to make ends meet. But we saw a lot of organizations sort of co-opting the idea of hustle to further exploit people. And so I think that we really need to change the conversation there. And I think it's very much about working in service of our genius versus hustling. So I really believe that each and every one of us came to planet Earth with a gift and something to contribute. And when we kind of figure out what that gift is, what that genius is, and we bring it forth,
What we can contribute far out paces, what we can contribute in spaces we're not genius at. And so we don't need to hustle, we just need to find that sweet spot where we're contributing the thing that is the best within us basically.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (05:43.057)
Yes. So for people who are listening and they're thinking like, yeah, that sounds really great, theoretically. And also in the core of my being, I don't really buy it. I am really glued and committed to this idea that you've just got to work hard and that's how you be productive. You spend long hours at the office. This idea of there being another way where I'm able to focus on my own wellbeing, that just doesn't sound possible. Like what are some things for people who have a really hard time?
Amina AlTai she/her (05:49.751)
Mm-hmm.
Amina AlTai she/her (05:53.366)
Ooh, yeah.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (06:12.137)
believing that there's another way. What are some recommendations that you would have or what would you say to that?
Amina AlTai she/her (06:17.13)
I love this. So three things. The first one is that we all get our lessons when and how we get our lessons. So if you don't believe that wellness can be an important part or a contributing part to the way that you work and you feel like it's really hustle and productivity all the way, I honor that experience and there may come a moment where something shifts and you change that idea. I think the other thing that's really important is that
we get a sense of what we are genius at because most of us don't kind of buy into this because we don't believe we actually have any genius to contribute. So a lot of us think of genius in a particular way, right? A certain IQ or a particular area that we're contributing, but every human has something out of this world to contribute and we can start by just spending 10 minutes a day in that space. So I would invite people that are listening now that don't believe in this way to just spend 10 minutes there a day. And once you spend 10 minutes there, see what's possible for you, how you feel.
And then the next day, see if you can spend an additional 10 minutes there, and so on and so forth, until maybe things really start to shift for you. And then the third thing I'll say is lean into people that are living that way. So if you don't believe that it's possible for you, I want you to find examples of people out in the world that have perhaps a slightly less hustle culture, productive vibe around their work, and just start paying close attention to them and how they're living, and how they move through work.
And if they feel close enough to you, it's gonna expand your belief system that it's possible for you as well. I'll give you an example. So when I was shifting from overworking in my first agency to then trying to change into this coaching business and not embody hustle culture, I was trying it on for size. I wasn't sure if it actually could work. I was figuring it out as I went.
But I started to look for examples out in the world of people that, you know, weren't bedraggled and overworking and burned out with really stressed adrenals. And one by one, I would find people. And it was really important that I found people that sort of identified similarly to me because part of my story was like, well, of course that cishet white man can do that. Like he's got all the power and privilege. And so when I found people with closer identities to mine, I was like, oh, it is possible for me. Oh, they're doing this thing. I'm going to try that. So look for the examples out in the world as well.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (08:31.485)
Yes, I really love that. And as you're talking about kind of finding what you're good at and kind of leaning into your zone of genius, I'm wondering if you can say more about that because I think, like you said, a lot of people don't realize what they are good at. When someone is thinking about starting their own business, they might say to themselves like, well,
but there are a bazillion other people who can do that. Or when someone is starting a new career, even if it's not their own business, I think, and they have all of the training, feeling a bit like an imposter, what are some ways that people can kind of uncover their zone of genius and how can that help us in our wellbeing?
Amina AlTai she/her (09:14.462)
Yeah, so I would say first and foremost, you wanna look inward. You wanna ask yourself, where are the places that you are off the charts amazing? Where are your efforts innate? It's almost like you don't have to force or push to contribute something. It just flows through you. And the thing about our genius is a lot of us are ready to very quickly discount it because it comes so effortlessly. So I'll give you an example. I was once on a consult call with this woman who worked in the trades.
And she came into, and she's not my typical client. I usually work with like sort of executives, lawyers, doctors, marketing leaders, that type of thing. And she came onto the call and she was talking about changing her career. And she thought that her gifts were in this space as like as a mechanic and as a person in the trades. But literally within a few minutes, I could tell that this person was exceptionally emotionally intelligent. The way that they were speaking and the way that they had witnessed their own emotions, the way that they were showing up with me. And I reflected that back to them and I was like.
I think that there's exceptional EQ and capacity here. And they were like, no, but everybody's like that. And I was like, actually they're not. And so a lot of the times we really readily discount the genius. And so the thing that you're throwing away and saying it's so easy and everyone's got that thing, it's probably something there for you. The other thing you can do.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (10:16.577)
Mm-hmm.
Amina AlTai she/her (10:28.598)
This is a fun one, is ask people in your life, five people that see you fully what they think your genius is. And see you fully is the operative phase here because a lot of the times people will project onto us. So you wanna find the people that know you, love you, always cheering for you, and really see the truth of who you are. Ask them what they think your genius is. And then there was a part two of your question, but I forgot it.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (10:50.865)
Yes. And how can that connect to our wellbeing at work?
Amina AlTai she/her (10:57.846)
Because when we focus on what we're genius at, there's much less friction. So I believe we operate in three zones. Our exceptional or genius, our excellent and our eh. So our exceptional is where we're like off the charts amazing. Our excellent is where we're polished and proficient and we've clocked our 10,000 hours. And the eh is like what we're average at. If I spend all day working in what I'm average at, it is gonna take me so long to get the job done. If I spend all day in my genius, it's gonna be pretty miraculous in terms of what I'm able to contribute.
And so when we shift into that space, what we produce is that much more prolific, that much more vast, and also we're not fighting our bodies. We're working with them, right? Because if I'm working in a space that I'm not designed for, I probably have to instrumentalize my body to get the thing done, to get it done to a quality that I feel comfortable with. And so I'm squeezing every last drop of productivity out of myself versus if I'm in my genius, there's a whole lot more ease and flow.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (11:54.825)
Yes, and I'm just thinking about that, how good it feels when you are doing the thing that feels natural, that you are naturally really good at. And also some of the negative self-talk that can come up when we're doing something that's not really, something that we're great at, and rather than realizing that this just isn't my skillset, we start to think that there's something wrong with me.
Amina AlTai she/her (12:17.194)
Yes, absolutely. I'm working on my book and I was recounting some of my own stories around this. And I remember in one of my internships, this is like many moons ago, I was interning in commercial sales and I thought initially, oh, sales would be cool. I'm charismatic, I love chatting with people. But at the intern level, you're basically spending all day every day in Excel and making pivot tables and running regressions. And like, can I?
find my way around Excel? Sure. But like, can I spend all day, every day in there, like doing the fancy things that they need me to do? No. And I felt like I was failing spectacularly and I felt like such a misfit in that role. And there was such a hit to my confidence. And then when I was able to kind of zoom out and realize, okay, like I know I've been able to knock it out of the park in other areas, I'm not broken. I think this just isn't the space for me. These aren't where my skills are. These aren't where my genius is.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (13:13.529)
Yes, I'm totally resonating with that when I think about administrative work and how it just feels like it's sucking the life out of my soul.
Amina AlTai she/her (13:21.622)
I'm with you, not made for it. And there's some people that love it and that like wanna organize our lives and they're so happy to do it.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (13:24.11)
No.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (13:30.261)
Yes, I remember one time I was doing like a group therapy and I had a bunch of people in there who like love Excel sheets and they were just having a great old time chatting about all the amazing things that they can do in Excel and how it makes them so happy, which was yes, it was so fun to watch them enjoy that and I can appreciate their love and skills in that area. Just yeah, it's just not one of my skills.
Amina AlTai she/her (13:45.547)
less femme.
Amina AlTai she/her (13:58.462)
Me either, sister.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (14:00.309)
Yes. So knowing that when we're not working in our zone of genius, it can really drain us. It can start making us question ourselves and our own abilities. Maybe some negative thoughts start popping up. And I know that one of the areas you're really gifted in is helping people find their passion and their purpose. And you do that with people who are already by
outward definitions, they're succeeding, it looks like everything's going great for them and yet they're showing up to work going, eh, maybe I'm just not loving this. So talk with me about what you often see when people are not living into their passion and purpose and some things that people can do to lean into that more.
Amina AlTai she/her (14:44.138)
Yeah, most of my practice is made up of really celebrated individuals that sort of sprinted to the top of the ladder in their career, and then they look around and they realize that this isn't it. Like there's no joy or freedom at the summit, and they're like, I don't even like this thing that I'm now at the top of. And it's often because we didn't choose our careers consciously. So...
David Eagleman, who's a neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author, talks about how the cities that we choose to live in, the partners that we choose, and the work that we choose to do are driven by mechanisms that we're not aware of, that we're not conscious of. And so very few of us actually sit down and say, I want this thing for this reason, and it's connected to my genus, and it's connected to my why. Most of us are reacting to familial programming or cultural programming. And so then we get to the top of the mountain and we say, okay, well, I've checked all the boxes. I've got all the accolades and titles. Now what?
And that's usually the moment that they're like, okay, I feel safe enough to now ask myself, what do I really wanna contribute? What do I really wanna do in the world? And that's the work that we get to do together. And so in my work, there's a five-part framework that I use to help people unearth their purpose. So it's understanding their genius, which we've talked about. It's knowing their values, being connected to joy.
ottering their needs and then being connected to the impact that they want to have. And then when we look through all five of those filters, it's a lens for our purpose and the work that we want to do in the world. And the two things aren't the same, like our purpose is not our work, but I want our work to feel purposeful and aligned, so that's why I use that lens.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (16:16.073)
Yes, absolutely. Yes. So I also know that with the work that you are doing, you often work with individuals who are the only one, the only one who maybe looks like them in the workplace. And I'm wondering if you can speak to that experience that you see people are having when they find out that I'm the only one in this role, whether it's the stressors of that or some things that they celebrate in those roles.
Amina AlTai she/her (16:46.238)
Yeah. So I work with a lot of firsts, fues, and onlys. So my practice is 98% women, 60% women of color, and they occupy lots of other intersections. So maybe they're queer or navigating chronic illness and disability, et cetera. And so they often get to the top, get that shiny title, but there's so many headwinds that we will experience as underrepresented people as firsts, fues, and onlys. And so that can make the ascent feel a lot harder.
And then there's a lot of wear and tear on our mindsets and our bodies as a result, right? So a lot of the time imposter syndrome comes up, scarcity is perpetuated, because we're told that there's only one seat at the table for somebody like us. There's even a physical impact where actually bias and experiencing prejudice is listed as a contributor to cardiovascular disease. So you see a lot of first-fuse and onlys that are navigating a lot of health stuff because they face so much resistance in the context of their work. So
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (17:35.518)
and
Amina AlTai she/her (17:44.59)
The ascent definitely can be challenging, but I'm a firm believer that it can be challenging and you can have everything that you want in the way that you want it. And so that's how I support them is like looking at this and noticing where the contrast is, helping them refine the vision and make it work for who they are and what they want for their lives.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (18:04.689)
Yes. Now you do coaching both one-on-one and for organizations. So, and group. So I'm wondering, like I think about the work that I do as a therapist, what does it take for someone to reach out to a therapist? What does it take for someone to reach out for coaching to help them address
Amina AlTai she/her (18:12.158)
Yes, and I also do group in my private practice too.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (18:32.117)
their sense of purpose or passion or even like, hey, I'm not loving what I'm doing. What does it take for someone to reach out and be vulnerable enough to say something's not working?
Amina AlTai she/her (18:42.846)
Yeah. So I'm not the coach that you reach out to when you have like a pebble in your shoe around your career. Like, oh, like I mostly like my job. It's fine. And I just, you know, want this next title or salary bump. Like that's not me. Usually when it's when you want a bit more of a bigger transformation and something's feeling a bit more just like a bit more uncomfortable. And so that can look like they've had a health crisis like I have. I've had a lot of people that are navigating autoimmune disease because the stress of work has taken such a physical toll.
It can look like leaving a career after many years and not knowing at all what it is that you want to do, but you know you want to do something big and different and there's something huge to contribute inside you, but you don't know what that thing is. And then I've even worked with people that have been in spaces that were misaligned for them and they've been, you know, quote unquote, canceled. And then what does it look like to actually have a more purposeful relationship to work and do something new and in a more integrist way. And so...
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (19:32.181)
Mmm.
Amina AlTai she/her (19:39.826)
Usually it's when people are ready for a big-ish change. Oftentimes it's when they're ready to leave corporate and step into entrepreneurship. And it takes so much courage. Like people that book the consult calls, I'm like, bless you angels, because I know how much courage it takes to just do the thing. And when you have, like even before you've signed up for coaching, I think that actually the intent and the change behavior and actions start the moment that you booked a call, because you've already decided and you've taken an action around it.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (20:06.677)
Hmm, I love that. So specifically people who are ready to take a big leap. Yes, and what about the organizations who work with you? Is that also the case or maybe not so much?
Amina AlTai she/her (20:11.647)
Yeah, exactly.
Amina AlTai she/her (20:19.498)
Not too much. So that'll look like how do we refine your leadership? And so I'll either work with leadership teams, ERGs like women's groups, disability groups. I may also work with smaller startup teams that might be transitioning to hybrid or remote environments, and they wanna optimize their communication. So basically inside of that corporate container, it can look like fine tuning their leadership skills.
to be more empathetic and inclusive leaders. It can look like teaching them the art of feedback because that actually is an art. It can be helping them understand their communication style and how to flex to be more effective with other folks. It can be helping them create a more values aligned work culture. It can be centering wellbeing like we've been talking a little bit about on the podcast.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (21:06.665)
Yeah, and I'm wondering along that note about organizations, employee wellbeing. I think that sometimes, at least my sense is that sometimes it appears that companies believe that, or employees maybe that, I don't know, that they don't go together. Wellbeing and productivity, that they don't go together. That to benefit the company, you've just gotta be productive and you've gotta work hard. And again, that wellbeing does not have a.
place. And I think a lot of the research that I'm reading shows that, you know, again, companies who focus on employees' wellbeing, that really plays an important role in productivity and other outcomes. And I'm wondering if you can speak to conversations that you're seeing show up within organizations around wellbeing and maybe even productivity.
Amina AlTai she/her (21:55.21)
Yeah, I think now more than ever, organizations understand that healthy and well employees are productive employees that contribute to healthier culture, to greater productivity, to more inclusivity. When we feel good in our bodies, when we have a clear mind, what we can contribute is very different to when we're burned out and can barely keep our head on straight, right? And there's also a nervous system impact. If we are in perpetual motion, we're not rested, we're not taking care of ourselves,
often we live in that predominantly fight or flight state. When we live in a fight or flight state, we can't access higher level thinking and creativity. So we can't be strategic. We can't figure our way out and through problems. So there's actually a very real impact on the organization if we're not taking care of ourselves. So a lot of people will think that wellness is a bit woo or fluff, but it's not. You know, we have...
true science that is showing us that we actually perform so much better. We think better, we're more strategic, we're more creative when we actually take care of ourselves.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (22:54.657)
And I'm also thinking about entrepreneurs, or because I think entrepreneurs are some of the people who are guilty of this as well, right? Like, no, I can't take care of myself, right? Taking care of myself means that I take time away from my business. It means that I'm taking time away from my family, or I need to spend that time working on my business, or they believing that again, spending long hours is gonna be the thing that's most beneficial. I hear people say, well, I can't take time away from, like I can't go on vacation.
And I'm wondering for anyone who is in that place of believing that they can't take time away for themselves or their own well-being, what things you might have to say.
Amina AlTai she/her (23:34.866)
Yeah, I think professional athletes are always really interesting to look at in this analogy because they perform at the highest level. But in order for them to perform at the highest level, they have to have rest days and they have to have recovery days and they have to train, right? And so same goes for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs. We need rest and recovery days to be able to show up well for the actual quote unquote race. And so when it comes to designing our work, I think it's really important to design it around our bodies. So I'll give you an example.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (23:45.333)
Hmm
Amina AlTai she/her (24:03.35)
Like we all have different brains and bodies. We all move at different paces and speeds. And so we want to understand hours and move with it. So I had a client, we'll call her Felicia, and she's a CEO of this company and she works really long hours. And so one day I was like, okay, Felicia, let's test out this thing. Okay, you keep going until eight, nine o'clock like you think that you have to and tell me how much you get done.
And so basically she texts me at like seven o'clock. She's like, I've been writing this one email for like two hours. I can't get it. Like I just, I'm not thinking clearly. And I was like, okay, so let's test this out. Why don't you go to bed? You work really well in the morning. Why don't you get up early and see if you can bang out the email? She messaged me the next morning. She was like, four minutes. It took me four minutes to do the email when my brain was good. But she's like, I literally sat there for two hours last night. So when we are optimizing.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (24:44.848)
Wow.
Amina AlTai she/her (24:53.154)
We actually spend a whole lot less time. We don't need to spend the 12, 14, 16 hours. Actually, we could probably do the four, the six, the eight at most, right? Because we're leveraging our body and its energy knowing when it shows up the best.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (25:08.413)
Yes, and I love the example of athletes, right? This idea of we need a rest day, we need a recovery day, and a rest and recovery day where we're not judging ourselves for resting, where we're understanding that is necessary, right? Because so many times I hear people feeling guilty that they rested because their body said I need to rest, and so they listen to their body, but then they feel guilty about it like they shouldn't have. And so I really love that example of
thinking about it like an athlete that this is necessary. It's not that I was being quote unquote lazy. I don't need to feel guilty. I was doing something that was necessary.
Amina AlTai she/her (25:43.595)
Mm-hmm.
Amina AlTai she/her (25:48.222)
It's part of the training program. People that run marathons, they never run the day before, right? Their training schedule literally says, do not move on this day. Carb load.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (25:58.923)
Yes, yes, I think that that's such a great example. And so tell us a little bit more about this book that you are writing.
Amina AlTai she/her (26:08.574)
Yeah, so I'm working on a book, it's called The Ambition Trap, and it's about how women, people of color, how we have kind of a tenuous relationship to ambition. We're told to take up space, to go do the big thing, but oftentimes we take a hit for taking up space for doing the big thing. And a lot of the times I think it's because a lot of us are coming from a wound with our ambition. So in the book I talk about the difference between painful ambition and striving because we don't feel good enough, we don't feel seen or heard.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (26:35.701)
Hmm.
Amina AlTai she/her (26:37.502)
and then shifting into more purposeful ambition that honors our genius and our gifts and is coming from that place of more alignment.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (26:45.517)
Yes, I love that so much. And when does it come out again? Okay. Okay, well, we will be ready. Make sure you let us know when that does come out. And I'm wondering, I have one other final question for you besides this one, but I'm wondering for anyone who's listening and they're hearing about your coaching work that you do individually with organizations or groups, or even the speaking opportunities.
Amina AlTai she/her (26:49.094)
Oh, we got some time. It'll be out in spring 2025.
Amina AlTai she/her (26:56.725)
Absolutely.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (27:13.477)
that are available. How can they find you? How can they connect with you?
Amina AlTai she/her (27:17.066)
Yeah, thank you so much. You can go to my website, which is amenatalti.com. I'm sure the spelling will be in the show notes. You can also learn more about me on Instagram. My handle is at amenatalti. Everything is either on Instagram or on my website from speaking to working with me to corporate stuff.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (27:33.353)
Awesome. And what is a big dream that you have?
Amina AlTai she/her (27:37.674)
I love this question. I actually just said it out loud on my own podcast recently, but I was talking about taking big leaps. And over the last year, I knew when I were in a mastermind together, my business kind of broke because I think I was resting on my laurels in certain ways. And I think when we do that, those small things kind of fall away because the universe and everything around us is like, come on now, you're ready for the big thing, let's go. And so...
The big thing, the big dream that I'm calling is I want a big show, whether it's the podcast or that morphs into something else, but I am ready to interview the world's best, brightest teachers, ones that are really shifting culture and share that in a big way. So from my lips to God's ears.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (28:23.017)
Amina, that makes me so excited for you.
Amina AlTai she/her (28:25.719)
Oh, thank you so much. I love that question. It's beautiful.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (28:28.945)
Yes, well, I am believing that for you. So I'm cheering you on. I see you on Instagram and I'm seeing your podcast interviews and loving what you're doing. And of course, appreciate all that you're doing. And I hope that people are listening and that they'll get to interact with you and your light and your energy. Also, your humor is just really great. And so I'm hoping that people will check you out and connect with you.
Amina AlTai she/her (28:54.309)
You're the best. Thank you so much. Can I ask you the same question? What's your big dream?
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (28:58.133)
Yes, you can ask. So one of my big dreams, that is only my dream, nobody else in my family shares this dream with me, even though it includes them, but I dream of having a family commune. I know that sounds creepy and like cult-like.
Amina AlTai she/her (29:11.25)
No, I love that. I'm really into a commune. Because I think we're moving back to more of like a collective culture model where we live on a cul-de-sac and everybody like alternates cooking dinners and all the things. Anyway, but tell me your dream.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (29:21.237)
Yes, that is exactly what I'm talking about. So I literally envision this space where we have like this ton of just like green grass and multiple little houses on it. The houses aren't even like fancy. They're just like these tiny little farm houses. But we just, my whole family lives there. We've all got our own house. We've all got space, but we can like go out the back door, walk into the lawn. Like Tuesday night dinner is at one person's house. Next night dinner at someone else's house. So.
you only have to cook like once a week. And then, you know, even mowing the grass, like, well, this week, this person's in charge of the lawn and, oh, I need to run to the store. Can someone watch the kids for a minute? You know? So I just think that would be so much fun. My family members are seriously not interested in my idea, but I'm putting it out there. And I think that, you know, maybe one day it can come true. And when that...
opportunity exists for real that maybe they will lean into it.
Amina AlTai she/her (30:22.398)
I love that. I'm a plus one for this idea and I know that it's going to happen for you. That's so beautiful. Yes, please.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (30:29.097)
Yes, well thank you so much for asking.
Amina AlTai she/her (30:32.022)
I love that.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (30:35.157)
Yes, well thank you so much for joining us today, Amina, and I am looking forward to sharing this information, and I'm of course looking forward to staying in touch.
Amina AlTai she/her (30:43.798)
So wonderful to be here and thank you everyone for tuning in. I can't wait to stay in touch too.
Melissa Wesner, (she/her) LCPC (30:49.089)
Bye.