EP 21 Of The #Sparked Life Podcast: Following Your Inner Star With Joyce Weru
Purpose Peeps,
We often hear phrases and buzz words that sound amazing and yet we may have limited knowledge of what it really means to experience or embody what sparked us in the words or between the words. We hear words like resilience, nimbleness, pivoting, the ambiguity that easily lose power and potency without the stories of the experiences of unlocking the meaning and the journey that gives the words high placement as we co-create and write our life stories.
Unlocking Principle: We travel to understand the words that spark us and touch our soul.
When I met Joyce, within our first conversation, I knew she journeyed these words and life experiences–they became a part of who she is! I knew immediately that she had a sparked life perspective worth sharing. Joyce has an aura of authenticity and “loving what she is doing” that takes her on many courageous risk experiences that show up throughout her life, including her work life. Did you catch that sparked life placement?
How do you start a coaching practice at the beginning of a pandemic? How do you balance being a solopreneur and a single mom who is homeschooling during a pandemic? How do you wear many leadership hats within your community of peers and not burn out but burn up and spread out through a flame of intention? Listen and find out!
Joyce is the Founder of Rise Above Coaching, an executive and leadership coaching firm based in Washington, DC that works with international NGO’s and Associations. Joyce has coached people from all levels of the workforce and cultural backgrounds, from senior executives to entry-level professionals. Being born and raised in Kenya and moving to the US, her story tells a real journey of resilience and following your inner star no matter how scary that journey appears. Her energy and warmth are liberating. Joyce serves on the Board of Directors for the District of Columbia Society for Human Resource Management (DC SHRM). She partners with Metro DC International Coaching Federation and leads their Racial Equity Community of Practice. Joyce holds a master’s degree in human resources management and a master’s in business administration from the University of Maryland University College. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources® (SPHR). Joyce has also received the designation of Certified Executive Leadership Coach by Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership. Joyce is also a founding member of the Lean In Sparked Women of Purpose Circle. Learn more about Joyce at www.riseabovecoaching.com listen to her CEO interviews here.
Dena Wiggins (she/her) is a Best-Selling Transformational Author and MBA informed Purpose Doula. She wholeheartedly believes that purpose is the birthright of humanity and intentionally refers to all of humanity as Purpose Peeps. Dena’s sweet spot of service is to transform the many ways of living survival as a lifestyle into the many ways of living thriving lives of purpose. This shift is vital to members of BIPOC communities who have experienced systemic oppression as well as doing our individual and collective parts to the end intentional oppression that is the antithesis of thriving lives of purpose. Her style is to be a voice of shared experience meeting clients where they are on their sacred path to purpose journeys with empowering frameworks reflective of her lived experiences, Divine guidance, and learnings in–spirituality, facilitation, purpose, and strategy–all working in service of clients delivering their purposeful expression into the world. Learn more and grow in connection at www.denawiggins.com.
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Dena Wiggins is a Transformational Author, Consultant, Certified Purpose Coach & MBA. She takes an unwavering stand for your purpose. Dena unlocks purpose in sparked Purpose Peeps facilitating businesses and organizations to transform into lighthouses that shine solutions into the marketplace, no matter what. As a Purposed Resultant, she combines her experiences and passion for spark, purpose, and strategy to create impactful solutions that deliver your results that matter. Learn more about her Unlock The Keys To Your Success And Turn Them Into Results® programs and A Life of Purpose® Products that shift your sparks (or ahas) into action at 
I am thrilled that The #Sparked Life Podcast’s first interview format features a painfully complex and beautiful purpose story that will help us answer some of the big questions many have during this challenging time of history. Please open your hearts and hear a story of a tragedy that birthed purpose and societal change with Mr. Kenneth Barnes, Sr., Community Leader, Purpose Prize Fellow, Founder of Reaching Out to Others Together (ROOT Inc.) and father. Here how the unthinkable allowed him to coin the term, Chronic Traumatic Stress Disorder™ (CTSD) that built a platform for change in how we view and treat youth who are repeatedly traumatized by gun violence.
Surviving and thriving are not at war with one another or at opposite ends of a spectrum. We are wired to kick into survival mode when needed and to return to our homestate when the danger is no longer present. The issue lies in staying in survival mode in a defensive posture, which can be problematic to thriving in life, which requires being open, vulnerable and available to our path to purpose journey and experiences.