Healer Q&A: The art of holistic business expansion with Darlene Cordero
The following interview is a transcript excerpt from The Heallist Podcast episode. Listen to the full audio version below and subscribe to get notified of new episodes.
Join us as we welcome Darlene Cordero, affectionately known as the Wellness Connector, who after a decade in finance on Park Avenue transitioned to media and event creation, eventually joining Chopra Global in 2019. She is the founder of WellnessCulture.co and the author of The Healers' Playbook - supporting wellness professionals by making the business acumen of healing arts accessible to all. This conversation promises to equip healers with the confidence to carve out their unique paths to success, illustrating that business and spirituality can indeed go hand in hand.
We tackle the art of overcoming fear and finding authenticity, highlighting the importance of knowing one's value and setting the right value for services offered. Listen to personal stories, including overcoming the fear of public speaking, that underline the role of mentorship and supportive relationships in personal growth. By weaving elements like astrology and human design into the narrative, we open up new avenues for understanding oneself, pushing boundaries, and embracing the authentic self, while emphasizing the delicate balance between personal practice and community service.
<div id="buzzsprout-player-15944344"></div><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2158150/episodes/15944344-the-art-of-holistic-business-expansion-with-darlene-cordero.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-15944344&player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>Overcoming Fear and Finding Authenticity
Darlene Cordero: It's two things. It's the fear of being seen and it's the fear of understanding your value, and I think they're connected, like what you think about yourself and how you value yourself and your expertise, and then how people perceive you and how you're perceived.
And if you don't have a grounding because of your background, because of past lives, because of whatever you're here to do in this life and you have any, which, by the way, the wounded healer, this is what you're here to do. You're here to heal that piece of you, to then support others, and that's unlike any other industry. It is not the same as opening up a barbershop, because that could be very therapeutic, all of these things that we do. But when you're in the healing arts and you're here to support others, there is a piece for the practitioner, the healer, to do some of that work on themselves and be okay with that process, And I think that's where a lot of them have understanding on what to charge, how to really focus on themselves and their own practice and understand the connection between their own practice and how they're consistently working on the thing that they're here to do and then how that's connected to the community that they serve.
And there is a through line, because you'll see a lot of this because of the work you do. A lot of the work is that wounding is what they're here to do and how they show up for their client, and if they're not working consistently on facing it and seeing it and focused so much on the other person and not on themselves, that's when that connection of “what do I charge and do people really value me?” And then all of those insecurities start creeping up because the focus is not on themselves and more on the business side of all of it and they're not in that flow. That flow is the goal.
You become rich and you become abundant and you become whatever it is you want when you really are in that flow, and you really are in that flow and that's what we're striving for. Every day we wake up, we do the work on ourselves, we show up for ourselves and then we can support others from that place and then, authentically and genuinely, people then connect to us. So that's the goal. It's like being seen from that perspective and then being really conscious of what is it that I am putting out, that then I'm receiving, and how do I value my work and how I'm showing up for others and what does that mean for me on pricing or being having opportunities come my way? It's all connected.
Understanding Your Purpose through Astrology
Darlene Cordero: I know this sounds more complex than it is, but I think that understanding your astrology and understanding your chart and understanding your human design gives you an insight about, first, what is happening in the transits, why you haven't wanted to be seen so you have that information. Data and information to see why this is happening. Everyone's path is so different, and it happens in different times, based on their chart and based on what they're here to do - their North and South Node and understanding those pieces. One of the biggest pieces that I tell people when they've done my mentorship and when I work with people is I get them connected to my astrologer and my human design practitioner.
Why? Because I want to know what I'm working with and I want them to know what they're working with, and I'm going to give you an example for myself. I had a massive fear of public speaking. Until about two years ago I never did face video. I didn't think I had anything to share, and it's funny because I am outgoing and I love connection, I love meeting new people. But public speaking was very much connected to a wound in my childhood, and when I started doing that one thing, my friend Avery Whitmore, he's an amazing sound bowl healer and practitioner. I had brought him into Chopra to do sound healing for our retreats and he's been such a support for me as a friend of pushing me. We need somebody that pushes us and says, “Hey, I see that in you and acknowledge it” and “hey, how can you show up? Because I already see that you can do this.” I was nervous, but I did that one thing that pushed me out of my comfort zone - I was supported. I had somebody that said, just do that one thing. And then I started hearing the feedback and people were saying, “You should do more of those.”
Embracing Expansion and Vulnerability in Healing
Darlene Cordero: We're creating because it's coming from that place. We all think that once the day we get there, get the book out, we get that partnership, we get that client that then we're going to be filled with this euphoria. Never. You'll always doubt yourself. I've heard this from many people and I've seen it because I've prepared people to get on stage and worked with big partners and brands and artists and all of that. Every time someone gets off that stage, I'll look at them and say how did I do? Everyone does that because everyone has that insecurity. They want to know that what they did mattered, because we are human, no matter who they are, no matter if they've had they filled up stadiums with thousands of people, they're always going to have that feeling.
Because we assume that we do this thing, we create something, and then all those insecurities creep in and they're still there and all the wounding is still there, and now we have more out there that we're vulnerable. Ultimately, that's what holds us back, that vulnerability of being seen in such a raw way. When we start speaking, we start showing our faces, when we start writing, when we start sharing our personal stories it's not easy, but the freedom of that and then when you get that feedback in return, then it's worth it. It's worth being uncomfortable, it's worth putting myself out there.
Creating the Right Service Pricing for Your Clients
Darlene Cordero: I think that the most important thing with the connection of offerings and understanding what to charge and I do a practice in the book where I outline what it takes for people to kind of bring their services to life what are the tangible things that they invest in and the products or things that they are spending on - the preparation for seeing the client. So I really do make it very grounded, like what are your expenses? How do you show up then? What's the time that you're then integrating after you've seen a client that you need? When people start there if you're doing energy work, that's a lot of work, but what is it that you can reasonably do without burning yourself out, and taking care of yourself and having that honest conversation with yourself, what are, and then what are my expenses?
