Episode 1481: Interview with Elona Lopari About Building a Purpose Driven Business and Life

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1, 481 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] Elona Lopari: I'm Ilona Lapari. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to find the path of your intuition is key.

[00:00:22] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspire Stewardship Podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:40] Spiritual people, like to me, years ago, I judged that to me, it's like, well, they don't achieve. And my main motivation was achievement. I have to be the achiever. So to me, if I was in the being, how was I going to get all the achievement done? So there was always like this conflict for me. [00:01:00]

[00:01:00] Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:05] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:34] In today's podcast episode, I interview Alona Lafrey. I ask Alona about her journey to discovering her role as a coach, and I also ask Alona what it means to have a purpose driven business and life, and Alona also shares with you what it takes to be a purpose driven leader. I've got a new book coming out.

[00:01:55] called Inspired Living, assembling the puzzle of your call by mastering your time, [00:02:00] your talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about it and sign up for getting more information over at InspiredStewardship. com, Inspired Living. That's InspiredStewardship. com, Inspired Living. Alona is the visionary CEO of The Life School.

[00:02:19] A speaker, a bestselling author to numerous books, and she shows and speaks event organizer to an audience of over 30, 000 heart driven, service based entrepreneurs and corporations. She is both a servant community builder and a people connector. She is a prior Fortune 500 CEO. Also featured in Disrupt, New York Weekly, Business Insider, CEO Weekly, The Business News, and Famous Times.

[00:02:45] And now she is the CEO of The Life School, where she helps visionary leaders and CEOs grow their legacy of a purpose driven business through inter alignment, Branding, marketing, sales, and team so that they can maximize their impact and income [00:03:00] and do more good in the world. Welcome to the show, Alona.

[00:03:04] Elona Lopari: Thank you so much, Scott. Thanks for having

[00:03:06] Scott Maderer: me. Absolutely. So I talked a little bit in the intro about some of the stuff that you're doing now and some of the books you've written, but at the same time, I always know that intros don't really count. include the whole journey or the whole story of what gets you to the point where you're at today.

[00:03:25] And I like to highlight that for the listeners. So can you share a little bit more about your journey and how did you get to where you're now running? the life school, doing the work you do and working with the folks that you work with.

[00:03:40] Elona Lopari: Yeah. Thanks for asking. I think I believe in, everyone's journey, we all have these catalyst moments, which obviously when we go through them, we just feel like they're just obviously part of our journey and it could be challenges.

[00:03:50] I found the challenges actually the biggest catalyst for where we are and where we feel like we need to be as far as. Journeys, concern, and [00:04:00] phases. So I'll start with my original story. I'm originally from Albania. I moved to the U. S. Specifically New York when I was 15 with my parents.

[00:04:08] So early on, I still struggle, how it is starting over in a new country. I feel like I was at the perfect age to even start to become an adult. So I grew up very fast. I was the oldest child and I was contributing and, doing

[00:04:29] So very early on my dad, especially because he always felt the American the like America somehow always called him He's the one that did the paperwork and all of that is how we got here And, he just projected very early on that I, we all three of us, me and my siblings have to get the American dream and go after the American dream and chase that because it was one of the most important things and we could be anything that we wanted to be because those opportunities were not available where we came from.

[00:04:57] So I took that, for what it was. And I just [00:05:00] started my journey with getting my bachelor's first for business management and finance very early on. I have a strong intuitive. sense for business and that I had a strong business mind, which was very odd because I was only what, like 17 at that time when I started college.

[00:05:14] But I paid attention to classes that I loved and I was attracted to lots of marketing, business, psychology, philosophy, things like that, things that I do today and I'm passionate about. And then I climbed the corporate ladder, got my first job, company was growing. Fortune 500 company, big company.

[00:05:31] They had, I was at the wrong, right moment, right time. I did many roles. I was very entrepreneurial. I didn't know that at the time. I just thought that everybody just does a good job and adds value. And I just always went beyond the pay. Because to me, it was like, I loved what I was doing. So I did marketing for them, sales, I did HR for many years, moved all the way to the C suite level, only to find out that the American Dream, alongside, way before I shared that, I also had met my husband, [00:06:00] grown a little family, I met two kids, we bought our home.

[00:06:03] We were settled. We had the base happening. And when I reached the top, I got like a sort of this, like despair, almost like that all there is. I'm like, I'm supposed to be feeling this. I thought that this was,

[00:06:18] Scott Maderer: I made it. I should be, it should feel better than this.

[00:06:22] Elona Lopari: Yeah. And I got there and I'm like, huh.

[00:06:25] Like this is the front. And meanwhile, everything just started to connect and the company was bought by another company. I no longer felt like I belong where I was and some inner conflict with my marriage, some inner conflict with my values, like sometimes everything just like connects and it all goes to before it can go like on the other end.

[00:06:47] And that's where entrepreneurship showed up for me, honestly, never thought I'll be one. And yeah, I just always knew that I didn't want to go to the old journey, which was like nine to five work for another company and do the same that to me felt [00:07:00] like, oh, I already was over that phase.

[00:07:02] So that's where I, I just the light, I felt the light of entrepreneurship and I started to consume a lot of information and how I was supposed to position myself and how I could begin. And that's how I began to build my business.

[00:07:17] Scott Maderer: So a couple of things I want to dive into a little bit there is one, you mentioned you had an entrepreneurial spirit in terms of how you approach your quote day job, you were working and doing all of that, but you, that you didn't really recognize that's what it was.

[00:07:32] And then, here at the end, you were talking about that was that feeling of, oh, wait, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. What, was there something in particular that you read or that you heard or that somebody shared with you that made you realize, oh, wait, this stuff I've been doing over here is proof that.

[00:07:47] Or, gives me that feeling that I could go do this other thing on my own.

[00:07:52] Elona Lopari: Yeah, I love the question because I always had an inner knowing around business and business was my field. It was my jam. It was like, where I wanted [00:08:00] to play. It was my thing. I was very good at it.

[00:08:02] Leadership. Also is very strong for me. 1 of the top. things that I did there was build teams, high performance, build talent, all the, all those things that it always connected me to people and people is always showed up for me everywhere. Like I like to help people, like to be with people. I like people.

[00:08:19] I'm a high introvert, so obviously I have my moments, but I've always wanted a I always love to grow as a person. So even when I worked in HR, I implemented so many person development programs, which at that time they were like, How is this connecting to job performance and, the results of the KPIs and the PNLs.

[00:08:40] And I just seen it early on. I'm like, there's such a high correlation between the personal stuff and the, the, your performance at work, the professional side. So that's like inner knowing, honestly, I just like always knew, I don't know how I knew it. I just always knew it. I just felt it everywhere.

[00:08:58] And every time I [00:09:00] would. Listen to things that would business would attract me. I always wanted to know okay, how do they build this? There's a podcast about that. How did people build this? Like I was always interested in journeys of like entrepreneurs. Like how do they begin? What were the challenges?

[00:09:14] Like how, what is this what are the phases? There's gotta be patterns. Like I've always been like that kind of crazy student and something else that was a really important piece for me was the inner voice. I had, I heard my own voice telling me I was meant for something bigger, and he always directed me to entrepreneurship and leadership.

[00:09:34] So that was one that took time for me to clarify because at the beginning, I'm like, okay, everybody hears voices like what is this? I did not know how to listen, but the thing about our inner intuition is that it never leaves me. It never left me. It just kept haunting me. Like every time I want to push it away and distract myself with other things, because I'm like, I'm, logical, like I got to pay my bills.

[00:09:56] I got to, work under that operate operating [00:10:00] mode. It would just come back and it would just be there. So finally I said, okay, I'm paying attention and I'm going to take the next steps, even though they're very scary for me at the time to pretty much transition Everything that I knew was how, the world worked

[00:10:18] Scott Maderer: pretty

[00:10:18] Elona Lopari: much, which was very small.

[00:10:19] Now that I think

[00:10:20] Scott Maderer: about it and the picture that you have today is still probably small in its own way in that it's always, I don't know, Einstein, I think, had the famous quote that the more you learn, the more that you see that you don't know, it's Yeah the Dunning Kruger effect, right?

[00:10:36] Yeah, if you don't know very much, you think you know a lot, but when you learn more, you're like, I know nothing.

[00:10:42] Elona Lopari: God, I heard another quote from Socrates. I know one thing that I don't know anything and that like always like I'm like, whew, that connects with me. I know one thing that I don't know anything.

[00:10:52] So That's like relating to what you said, but once you see it, you cannot unsee it. That's other good . [00:11:00]

[00:11:01] Scott Maderer: So you mentioned a couple of times, having a, an intuitive sense, a an inner an inner voice or inner guide. I talk a lot to people about hearing their calling, hearing the direction they're supposed to go, learning to, to have some of that.

[00:11:17] and be able to lean into it, whether it's a particular faith walk or a particular spiritual journey that people are on, different people. I always laugh and say people call it different things, but the concept is still the same. So when you talk a little bit about your your spiritual journey and what you've gone through, talk talk to us a little bit about how that has intersected with and guided this journey and then how it's also developed from the journey that you've been on, if that makes sense, that, that feedback between them.

[00:11:46] Elona Lopari: Thank you. Because I'm on a mission to connect the material to the spiritual, and I feel like I've really gone through my own journey of that as well. But I think one of the things that I always did really subconsciously or [00:12:00] unconsciously, I should say, was. while not even being aware, was vision. I was always the visionary.

[00:12:05] I always saw before things were seen and a lot of things that I have implemented or I have in my life, I've always seen them and that's that, how they were going to happen. So having that insight, out of that unawareness. I always got very interested around opening up my awareness, like removing my blocks, healing my trauma.

[00:12:23] Like the more I got into it, the more I'm like, Oh my God, there's more, there's always more. So I just got addicted to inner work. And then I just went on and, got my master's in neuroscience and just got trained in so many modalities. That would help myself and others around me to just unblock their potential pretty much, unblock a lot of the things that we hold that kind of blocks us from our purpose so that we can go back to the core.

[00:12:49] And I always resonate to the, with the oak tree because my name is actually originally, like the origin of my name is actually oak tree. So I was like strong with my base. but then there's [00:13:00] always like the leaves around and the stronger the roots the higher the tree, the higher the light. Now I know it in spiritual lingo, lingo.

[00:13:08] We got some new lingo now, which I'm learning myself. But it all comes very naturally through. So through my journey, I always felt like there was more it couldn't just be like the logical, the masculine okay, you got to do. Yeah. Be the high achiever.

[00:13:21] That's been my journey to heal a lot of overachieving due to not feeling good enough. That's like my main method of madness and healing a lot of money trauma. So I'm like, okay, this gotta be more like, this gotta be flow, energy. Like it's gotta be an easy way to do these things. So that's where I learned more and I became very Very intentional as a human.

[00:13:42] I'm like, okay, so it's not about working hard. It's about working smart. But wait, there's so many more concepts that I don't know. So I just implemented practices in my day to day, which are very practical. I meditate, tree walking, like walking in nature. I love the ocean. So I'll go like visit, and [00:14:00] meditate there.

[00:14:00] I'll do my gym. Like I love weightlifting because it's the strength, that I get, attracted to. And like just activities that I really enjoyed. And eventually these just became my, the spaces that I created so that I can go in and explore some of the inner world stuff which I always knew were inside of me.

[00:14:19] But obviously I didn't always know I just thought the stuff was just, again, woo, like most people, like, when you don't understand something, that's another saying, we judge it, right? I'm like, it's spiritual people to me, years ago I judged, right? Because to me, it's they don't achieve, right?

[00:14:35] And my main motivation was achievement. I had to be the achiever. So to me, if I was in the being, how was I going to get all the achievement done? So there was always like this conflict for me but then eventually, the more I learned, the more I'm like, I can actually tap into both oh, that's very smart.

[00:14:52] And the more my awareness open, the more my visions expanded and the more I could take inspired action and just be [00:15:00] really aligned with sort of the things that I felt were natural to me or authentic to me. And I just never stop. I'm just always on that journey. And the more that I. Obviously, the more you learn, the more you know when you're not really in good harmony with that.

[00:15:14] And I just pay attention to that now more closely. But when I started, I was sleeping, I call myself, like I was sleepwalking because I thought I knew. But and every day I'm probably sleeping so many other areas. So that's actually what catalyzed my physical my awakening, which happened to be only one month.

[00:15:31] And it's been like, it's been like, So I'm also like now trying to re recalibrate my new insights and energies and healing work that's coming up. So yeah, that's been my journey.

[00:15:46] Scott Maderer: So when you talk a little bit to of. I'm hearing a couple of different things. So you mentioned that back when you were in the corporate world developing leaders, you started seeing that connection between the personal side and the business side.

[00:15:57] And now you're talking about that kind [00:16:00] of, we can't just treat it like it's the bottom line. It's all about business. People don't matter, that kind of thing, as well as the more intuitive or flow side of not just being a leader. Yeah. When you work with people, how do you help them understand what it means to be purpose driven and how does that look different for the folks that you work with, before versus after they've been working with you?

[00:16:26] Elona Lopari: Yeah, now it's turned into my life's mission to humanize business and to put purpose first and profit second for companies, almost like flipped in the script just for businesses, because those are the areas I'm strongest at. So then now that's become my mission, but the way that I help my clients is I'm pretty much my biggest, highest level of service is to connect dots.

[00:16:46] I just happen to do it in business and leadership. Those are my strengths in speaking, because those are the channels that obviously I'm naturally, good at or I've also developed over the years. So when it comes to my clients, I'm pretty much the umbrella, right? I'm the dot connector [00:17:00] for them.

[00:17:00] So when they have their goals for business, their purposes for, what they want to do and achieve and all of that, or even personal life stuff, their health, the relationships, their energy, their wealth. I never saw things as one thing I've always been, which I struggled Always for the longest because to me it's like I see the human like I don't know why I have to just Position myself in one thing.

[00:17:27] I wasn't I mean I now do it at a high level with as far as like businesses and I walk 'em through the stages, but that's always been a struggle for me. 'cause I always saw like everything connecting together, like all the dots always connect. So I'm like. Let me do purpose. I think that's what it is.

[00:17:42] So that's why I focus more on the purpose side and with the individual. I asked intentional questions and obviously I'm a good mirror now for them because I've done a lot of that. I think if I was blocked, I wasn't obviously going to be able to see and use my intuitive senses to pick up stuff that they're saying.

[00:17:59] How [00:18:00] they're feeling and acting and I'm just like an observer, right? And I'm just the guide and I just ask intentional question back to their vision for their business, which always starts with that. My bread and butter is always business and leadership because that's the thing that always I keep coming back to really with everything else.

[00:18:17] And then we explore other areas, which really combined to that. So what my goal is, I always work under those pillars, business and leadership, but then if we have to we need to align personal life stuff or like life partnerships or parenting or things like that. I already have all of that in my life as well.

[00:18:33] So it just seems like more of a beautiful complementation of our gifts and experiences. And that's the way that I that I help with business and that's what makes me. me that I can connect the bigger, most important dots for them between their life's purpose and how we need to time track now backwards so we can work backwards for from that big vision that we have connected.

[00:18:58] So I always go back. [00:19:00] I'm always like going in the future, coming back in the future, coming back. It was always like my pattern. And that's the type of work that I always do, whether, many of my years, I didn't always know that was my pattern, but now I know that we go back and come back.

[00:19:14] We go in the future and come back to build here. So yeah.

[00:19:18] Scott Maderer: So for you what would you define or paint us a picture of what a purpose driven company would actually look like?

[00:19:28] Elona Lopari: To me, a purpose driven company is led by purpose is very clear on its mission on its purpose in the way that it wants to contribute to the world on its service.

[00:19:37] It's always bigger than one individual. It's more of a community or an independent entity that works together to really serve that cause or solve that big problem in the world, whatever. Whatever the company or the founders are feeling called to go after. And then the rest of the system structures, people are all aligned [00:20:00] towards that mission, but everybody works together in beautiful harmony between the HR, between, the marketing department, between the sales, between, all the rest of the pieces that are needed.

[00:20:11] And it's not so much rigid structure like we're used to in corporate. It's more like entrepreneurs under entrepreneurship, like a big umbrella. The bigger the vision, obviously, the more the leadership, the higher the leadership, which, very well from the work you do. So I almost see the big umbrella, like the founder of the leaders, like the top leaders that are like conscious leaders and then, protecting everybody or empowering everybody.

[00:20:36] So you do both roles, obviously, because you don't just want to protect. Nobody needs protection, just guiding people and then guiding people was towards the same vision, mission and purpose. And because they're so clear. everything, all the decisions that are being made are usually in alignment with that.

[00:20:53] I'm not saying there's perfection, there's days that we lose sense of that, we're human, but I think that [00:21:00] the star is always there, so all the decisions that are made are healthy decisions that are being made for the right reason, and I have found in my personal life when I make decisions out of abundance and strength and love and compassion and care, which are really values that Most purpose driven companies are really interested in.

[00:21:20] You never get to make a wrong decision. And even if that decision didn't work out the way you wanted it to, there's such a big lesson for you. So it's like a big blessing. But when we make decisions out of fear, I've always seen those hurt the most, cause the most pain. So the more we work on the inner stuff, That's to me.

[00:21:38] It's a healthy purpose driven company made up of healthy individuals that are very interested in doing their inner work and interested in also being the light for other people right now. I just see lights and soul. That's the language I speak, and I don't want people to be in the darkness, right?

[00:21:54] Because we have darkness and we have light. So the more purpose driven we are, the more we realize what that [00:22:00] is individually, then we can utilize that collectively in leadership and in co creation with. Companies, universe, clients, communities, teams, all the people in the physical world that we are connected to in our individual journeys.

[00:22:16] So that's how I look at it. Big scale.

[00:22:19] Scott Maderer: How about that leader that's in that company? What. What are the traits or the characteristics or how does someone act or look if they're that purpose driven leader?

[00:22:33] Elona Lopari: They lead with care and compassion and unconditional love. I know it's the highest and it's not easy to get there because I think we have to be selfish to be selfless.

[00:22:43] These are some concepts that, are coming up for me strong nowadays. So being selfish, meaning work on your stuff, honor you first always, so that you know how to do the same for the people around you. It's almost feed yourself so you can feed other people within [00:23:00] light. So that's what's coming up.

[00:23:01] And Empower people, be the, be the mirror for them. Because when you work in your life, then you could see Alona's got this gift or she's got that experience. So how is it that I can create the space to empower her, to live her purpose within my company? Yeah, just like connection with each other, nurturing, care, love for people, always lean, lean in love and care and compassion are two most important values that I also clarified all because I had so many values.

[00:23:32] So I'm like, I believe in that. I believe. Freedom, growth, all these things are like tiny details when it comes to just care and compassion. But to me, like that's really the most important one. And a lot of times I thought that was, I did it under theory. I thought, okay, I thought, because I never knew how to do that for myself.

[00:23:49] I didn't know how to be caring and compassionate for myself. So it leads with you. It starts with you. You be the light. You do that. And then you just automatically would transfer it, even if you [00:24:00] don't say anything, maybe if you're speaking, it's not one of your high intuitive senses, but just your presence or your energy.

[00:24:07] And you feel other people. We have five senses and they're all intuitive insights that we can all develop. I'm working on my last two now, which is good and a lot of work because the feeler, the feeling thing is not really my, my piece of cake, so to speak. So I think the more we develop these five senses, which are so natural to us, because we see, we hear we know what they are that's have connected intuitive powers that we have.

[00:24:33] And The more we can tap into those, the more it will be in our light, and the more we're going to automatically, just as a byproduct light the lights in other people. And that's what it is.

[00:24:45] Scott Maderer: So I've got a few questions that I like to ask everybody, but before I ask you those, is there anything else about the work you've been doing or this journey that you've been on that you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:24:57] Elona Lopari: Thank you for that question. Right now I'm feeling [00:25:00] pulled to align my work a little bit differently. I am, I launched a community of people that are already awake spiritually, which are all entrepreneurs and business leaders. So my niche is still the same. that are looking to do inner soul work.

[00:25:14] So it's more a community level where we just come together and we just do soul work because this is the highest level of work anyway, when you can lead from the spiritual world, you already have killed all the rest of the world in a good way. So you're already at the 5 percent or the 1 percent because there's so much work to do.

[00:25:33] 95 percent of people are still in the darkness. My communities that bringing in people that are around their awakening, and they don't know, or people that are interested in doing their inner work and people that are already awake that are now looking to collaborate with each other within our purpose that way.

[00:25:51] Scott Maderer: So as well one of the questions I like to ask is I run things through this lens of stewardship and that's a, the language I use and yet that's one of [00:26:00] those words that like leadership and a lot of other words can have different meanings for different people. So when you hear the word stewardship, what does that word mean to you?

[00:26:11] Elona Lopari: You, the guide, be the steward to yourself and others. That's what's coming up for me.

[00:26:18] Scott Maderer: Okay. So this is my favorite question that I love to ask everybody. Imagine for a minute that I invented this magic machine, and with the power of this machine, I was able to pull you from where you are today and to transport you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years.

[00:26:38] But through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life and see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left. What impact do you hope you've left in the world?

[00:26:51] Elona Lopari: I already have a very clear mission, which is heal, heal others.

[00:26:55] So if I could have a little impact in [00:27:00] guiding people and healing them and helping them discover what their life's purpose and mission is, or at least trigger it in a good way. Like other people have done for me. That's what I feel would, I'd be very happy with that kind of legacy.

[00:27:15] Scott Maderer: So what's on the roadmap?

[00:27:16] What's coming next for you?

[00:27:19] Elona Lopari: More, more speaking, more one to many opportunities where I'm sharing what I do, growing my business. community in the way that I'm restructuring my business and where I am now. I'm writing my life book where I'm documenting pretty much my journey. So I'm working on that.

[00:27:38] That's very exciting to me. And then just every day staying open to the flow and just feeling joy and I, wherever comes my way, I'm open. That's how I live my life nowadays.

[00:27:51] Scott Maderer: So you can find out more about Alona over on her site at alonalapartecoaching. com. Of course, I'll have a link to that over in the [00:28:00] show notes as well.

[00:28:01] Is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:28:05] Elona Lopari: I want to thank you for the work you do Scott, because I think all of us we work so Especially when you work on purpose, you don't always realize how much work you're actually doing and the way they are impacting others. And I know we all get fed by the work we do, and we don't always hear the impact, especially in these virtual environments.

[00:28:24] I've always been like an addict in a good way to just feel where people are and all of that. So I felt like you're doing the same. You're doing a big service to people just by bringing in this information. Or even just helping them connect their own dots because humans always going to learn from unions, right?

[00:28:40] We're social creatures, no matter what threats we feel from tech and all of that. I believe that, it's going to be even more important to do this type of connection and to do this time like have these types of conversations. And my final message is Pay attention to the dots in your journey.

[00:28:57] They're there on purpose. Everything that [00:29:00] happens to us is there for a reason. It's always serving our highest service of mission and purpose, no matter how, blurry the journey gets or how much darkness comes our way. Always look for the light and look for a little light in other people and try to always have that.

[00:29:15] Always remember that because at times I also forget it. So the more we can align each other with people like this and wherever you can find people that you can support and be there for each other with care and compassion, the more we all will rise together. And it's really beautiful on the other side.

[00:29:34] So the more people can come join the better. It's a big party. Yeah.

[00:29:44] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. [00:30:00] If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspiredstewardship.

[00:30:07] com slash podcast. iTunes rate, all one word, iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review, and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast, so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures. Develop your influence, and impact the world.