In this pod I talk to a Kiwi-born rainmaker, risk-taker, & entrepreneur, Santa Barbara-based Gia Levé, who, at 60, walked away from the life she'd built to embark on what she calls her Legacy Lap - aka the Heroine's Journey. After landing in the United States in 1980, Gia built a successful career in communications & sales before co-founding an award-winning publishing company, Dream Spaces. At 60, following the death of her father, she spent two years trying to answer the challenge posed by three little words which can hit many of us at a key inflexion point in life - "Is This It"? As Gia tells it, she landed on a resounding 'no', deciding to walk away from ‘playing it safe’ – her words, not mine – leaving her corporate life. Then, with no prior musical training, Gia reinvented herself as a charting singer-songwriter, a keynote concert speaker, and reinvention mentor. In the pod, Gia shares her journey to reinvention and we touch on common Kiwi values of humility, belonging, and not “making a fuss" and how these don't always translate internationally. She describes how Californian culture challenged her Kiwi 'wiring' which meant standing out, dropping self-deprecation, and refusing to stand small. Gia now steps onto the literal stage as both a speaker and recording artist, especially inspiring women entering new chapters of their lives, demonstrating that it's never too late to claim your voice. For more on Gia, head to gialeve.com, gialevekeynote.com, or go to www.uniquespeakerbureauint.com/speakers/gia-leve to book Gia for your next event. On behalf of the team here at OFNZ, thank you so much for listening. My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound-meister Robbie at Matrix Digital (Wgtn) for his commitment to the craft and making himself available at the weirdest of hours to record these conversations from abroad. Thank you too, to Team Kea for promoting the pod. If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode.
