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00:00:01
Why Doubt Might Be the Sign You’re Ready to Lead with Brenda Hukel
69 Plays27 days ago
What if the voice of doubt in your head wasn’t a warning sign, but proof you’re stepping into real leadership? Today’s conversation reveals why impostor syndrome may actually mean you’re on the right path.
My guest, Brenda Hukel, has lived this transformation firsthand.” Brenda is an Author, Speaker, and Founder of Awakening the Consciousness Within, LLC. After more than 30 years in Human Resources, Organizational Development, and transformational coaching, she stepped away from her executive career to help women release limiting beliefs, unhealed trauma, and generational conditioning that keep them from their true selves.
Connect with Brenda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-hukel-mba/
At The Second Voice, we explore the inner conversations leaders rarely say out loud.
If this episode resonated, it is likely because the second voice is active in your leadership too.
Hosted by Luisa Hogan, leadership resilience strategist and founder of Vermelho Consulting.
Luisa works with founders, executives, and senior leaders who carry real responsibility and want to lead with steadiness, clarity, and self-trust under pressure.
Her work focuses on nervous system regulation, leadership identity, and the inner dialogue that shapes how leaders show up when things are hard.
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Learn more at: vermelho.com.au
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Transcript
00:00:01
Luisa Hogan
What if the voice of doubt in your head wasn't a warning sign, but proof that you're actually stepping into real leadership? Today's conversation reveals why imposter syndrome may actually mean that you're on the right path.
00:00:17
Luisa Hogan
Welcome to the second voice where we have the conversations that leaders don't say out loud. I'm Louisa Hogan, your host. And today I'm exploring imposter syndrome syndrome with an incredible guest and imposter syndrome is often seen as a weakness, but it can actually be a powerful rite of passage for leaders.
00:00:34
Brenda Hukel
Okay.
00:00:35
Luisa Hogan
My guest, Brenda Huckel lives, has lived this transformation firsthand. She is an author, a speaker, the founder of Awakening the Consciousness Within, LLC. And after more than 30 years in human resources, organizational development, and transformational coaching, she stepped away from her executive career to help women release limiting beliefs, unhealed trauma, and generational conditioning that keep them from their true selves.
00:01:06
Luisa Hogan
Through her company, Brenda guides women through deep inner work, addressing the inner costs of self-sacrifice and imposter syndrome. And her mission is to lead women back to self-trust and worthiness and authentic power.
00:01:19
Luisa Hogan
She's an award-winning author and her book is called Courageously Authentic, A Woman's Guide to Transform Pain into Power, Fear into Courage and Dreams into Reality. And it's a book that combines spiritual insight, healing practices and lived experiences. And I highly recommend that you get onto reading this book. i have really enjoyed getting to know Brenda over the last few months.
00:01:41
Luisa Hogan
We're both speakers at the Women Thrive Summit in 2026. And I'm so pleased to have her here because Brenda, you speak my language in terms of self-talk and bringing people out of that self-doubt and back into self-trust.
00:01:49
Brenda Hukel
ah
00:01:54
Luisa Hogan
So it's such a pleasure to have you here. Welcome.
00:01:56
Brenda Hukel
Oh, thank you, Lou. I love being here. I've been waiting for, I've been really looking forward to this conversation. It's such an important topic.
00:02:01
Luisa Hogan
Oh, me too. Yeah. And it's been a long time coming. We've been planning this for a couple of months now. So it's so good to finally have you here. Well, look, before we get into talking about imposter syndrome and the work that you do, i'd I'd love to hear more about what led you from that corporate leadership role and that work to where you are today. Like, tell me the journey that got you from there to here.
00:02:27
Brenda Hukel
Well, it its actually was a very unexpected journey. I had spent three decades in corporate leadership, so I was very successful. Received multiple promotions, lot of recognition, traveled everywhere, made a lot of money.
00:02:39
Brenda Hukel
I built a very prestigious career. But over time, i began to see that I was leading from a state of conditioning rather than my own truth. because I was operating from a belief that worth came from achievement and constant constant striving, do more, succeed you know accomplish more, and I kept climbing the corporate ladder.
00:02:50
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:03:02
Brenda Hukel
Yet inside, I never felt fulfilled. No matter what I accomplished, Lou, I never felt fulfilled. And at that time, what I didn't realize, safety mattered more to me than honesty. And I had learned to quiet the inner voice that was telling me that the work I was doing no longer matched the person that I was transitioning into.
00:03:22
Brenda Hukel
So by my 50s, that disconnect had turned into void I could no longer ignore.
00:03:22
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:03:28
Brenda Hukel
So toward the end of my executive career, I found myself in a very toxic environment that demanded conformity, but resisted change. So I chose to stand by my values because I did not agree with their practices, and i certainly didn't agree how they were treating employees.
00:03:46
Brenda Hukel
And that created a lot of tension. So the more I stayed in line with my integrity, the harder things became for me, the harder they made my life. But as difficult as that period was, Lou, what became so clear to me, and and I would never have understood this without going through that experience, is that leadership without authenticity comes at a very high cost.
00:04:10
Luisa Hogan
Hmm.
00:04:11
Brenda Hukel
So at 55, I walked away. and left a very lucrative income status, everything behind. And I made have the choice because staying true to myself mattered more to me than compromising my values or the title that i preserved.
00:04:28
Brenda Hukel
So after I resigned, that's when the doubt really surfaced and it surfaced quickly. At times it was suffocating and I started to question my confidence and the decision I made. But over time, as I worked through those emotions, I realized I had released an identity that defined me for a long, long time.
00:04:50
Brenda Hukel
So what I came to understand was that the doubt wasn't about confidence. It was a signal that my understanding of leadership was changing. And that included how I led my life and how I showed up for others.
00:05:04
Brenda Hukel
So that realization, that really reshaped how I lead today. Because at its core, leadership rests in self-trust and authenticity. So when someone can remain present in the uncertainty and really listen inward, a more honest way of leading takes form.
00:05:12
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:05:22
Brenda Hukel
That's why doubt in my experience isn't about fixing something. It's not about being fixed. It's about ah It's often about recognizing as a signal that your values are asking to be honored.
00:05:34
Brenda Hukel
That's true leadership.
00:05:34
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:05:35
Brenda Hukel
Being courageously authentic.
00:05:35
Luisa Hogan
hundred percent
00:05:37
Brenda Hukel
So that means standing in your truth, even when the world asks you to change.
00:05:37
Luisa Hogan
yeah
00:05:41
Brenda Hukel
And that's why i titled my book Courageously Authentic because it takes courage to stand alone when your authenticity is being challenged.
00:05:50
Luisa Hogan
It's, and I'm sure this resonates so much with people listening because, um a lot of the audience are are leaders. a lot of them are in executive roles.
00:06:00
Luisa Hogan
Um, some are founders who have left executive roles.
00:06:00
Brenda Hukel
Uh-huh.
00:06:01
Brenda Hukel
Uh-huh.
00:06:04
Luisa Hogan
I'm one of those. I was in executive corporate roles and then I left those roles to found my own business. And I, I resonate with what you're saying because, um, at the time, my first CEO role, I absolutely did not enjoy it at all.
00:06:18
Luisa Hogan
And I just didn't feel like I was being my authentic self.
00:06:19
Brenda Hukel
huh
00:06:21
Luisa Hogan
And it was only much later that that realization come to me that, and when, after my second role, I was like, no, this is, I actually want to do something completely different. I don't want to be climbing this corporate ladder anymore.
00:06:33
Luisa Hogan
It doesn't feel right to me. So i I get that. But what was that inner voice saying to you? know what What did the doubt sound like You know, what were the words that you were using inside of you? And what was the second voice that was coming through to to talk you out of that? I mean, I can i i hear that you were saying, no, this this means I'm being authentic and that's good. But what did that sound like to you?
00:06:55
Brenda Hukel
What stood out during that time was, and this is really, maybe I'm sure you've experienced this too, was how many people turned against me, turned away from me.
00:07:05
Brenda Hukel
Because it felt easier for them to stay within their existing controls to take a stand. And I was at peace for standing alone because I just couldn't condone what they were doing.
00:07:16
Brenda Hukel
But what was harder to witness was how many people felt pressure to silence themselves out of fear.
00:07:22
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:07:23
Brenda Hukel
So when the doubt showed up for me, it wasn't emotional. It was practical because that structure that had defined my leadership for more than 30 years was gone. And that inner question became, you chose value over security, Brenda. Now what happens?
00:07:39
Brenda Hukel
So I was moving forward without a familiar framework and that I had relied on. So while a new one was still taking shape, I was adjusting to a life outside of a system to reward a conformity.
00:07:52
Brenda Hukel
And that adjustment can be very disruptive and it can be very lonely. So what I came to understand, Lou, was that the doubt I felt wasn't resistance. It was integration.
00:08:03
Brenda Hukel
And that's what I want women to understand. I was reorganizing how I trusted myself because I was shifting from the need for approval to integrity. So when that process isn't understood, it's often labeled as imposter syndrome.
00:08:17
Brenda Hukel
So as the old identity falls away before the new one fully forms, doubt becomes a signal that meaning transformation is underway.
00:08:26
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. How did you know to trust that? You know, because for many, imposter syndrome feels very real and is a very confronting thing.
00:08:38
Luisa Hogan
And, you know, I feel like there's a great sense of wisdom in you, but some people might not be there yet. So what message do you have to others who might be going through that same feeling of imposter syndrome and not really understanding that it is transformation?
00:08:55
Luisa Hogan
How can they trust it?
00:08:58
Brenda Hukel
It's by giving yourself permission to really explore your belief systems. And this is such an important topic. I dedicate a whole chapter in my book on belief systems and imposter syndrome. But our belief systems are formed we're children and we don't realize it.
00:09:14
Brenda Hukel
So from age of baby to like five years old, there's different varying degrees, it could be seven years old. We're absorbing our parents' beliefs, judgments, biases.
00:09:25
Brenda Hukel
And this isn't about judgment to our parents. It's about awareness. Because without having that awareness, were we take those beliefs and we turn into adults. So if you have and and dysfunctional upbringing, then you're gonna that's going to form you as a child.
00:09:42
Brenda Hukel
So imposter syndrome can actually form as a child. So if you grew up in a family that strives for perfectionism, then you're going to you're not going to want to take more risk because you don't want to disappoint someone.
00:09:55
Brenda Hukel
If you grew up in a family that's based on condition, your, your, your love is based on your conditioning and which a lot of women are because we're taught to be strong, not to talk about our feelings, to suffer in silence. We have to be the strong one.
00:10:08
Brenda Hukel
Then what you're going to do is overcompensate. So when you take those beliefs into your adulthood, then in, without the awareness, then the imposter syndrome can be suffocating, but it's not lack of skill.
00:10:23
Brenda Hukel
What it is, is you're you're you're on the brink of some of major transformation. But we don't understand that because we're going by what society tells us to believe that imposter syndrome, which has been proven, and I've used Dr. Clance's work, and it's three doctors in my book, is that it's a fear of being exposed as a fraud.
00:10:47
Brenda Hukel
Right? You're not a fraud. It's just that you don't have the confidence and you don't understand what's going on when you're going through this transition. That's the difference.
00:10:57
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:10:58
Brenda Hukel
It's shifting your perspective.
00:10:58
Luisa Hogan
So. I love that shift in thinking too, because it's it's very hopeful thinking, right? It's like, you know, this means that this will end and I will come out so much more empowered and as a different person, but in a good way. you know, is is that what you see? You you work with clients. Do you you work with clients who do this work? What transformation do you see in them?
00:11:22
Brenda Hukel
What I see is once they understand that imposter syndrome shows up during moments of expansion, it never reflects a lack of skill, then it appears when your sense of identity hasn't caught up with the level of responsibility that you're stepping into.
00:11:40
Brenda Hukel
So without that perspective, it can feel paralyzing. So that's where I bring my clients to understand that once you move outside the systems that provide this constant validation, the familiar points that that when those disappear, because without those markers, your mind naturally will go backwards for reassurance rather than inward for guidance because that fear grips you so tightly.
00:12:06
Brenda Hukel
So that's what I try to get them is a shift out of the old identity and let that fall away. Start trusting yourself because when imposter syndrome is understood as a transition rather than a flaw, it stops being something to fix and becomes something to listen to.
00:12:20
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm.
00:12:22
Luisa Hogan
Amazing. Oh, I love that shift in thinking. It it really changes it because i I have clients too, and I don't work specifically in imposter syndrome, but we we do cover a lot of self-talk and the neuroscience behind self-talk and the negative self-talk and how you can shift that negative self-talk something positive.
00:12:36
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm.
00:12:41
Luisa Hogan
So I really love this shift in thinking of not fearing imposter syndrome, but seeing it as a signal So I absolutely love that. what What is your self, I mean, this is a podcast all about self-talk, particularly in, you know, if for founders and leaders.
00:12:59
Luisa Hogan
Knowing this note now about yourself, like tell me about your self-talk now going through, having been through what you've been through and doing the work that you do. What does your self-talk sound like now? Yeah.
00:13:11
Brenda Hukel
The biggest shift came when I realized the question itself needed to change. So if what I find a lot of my clients do is they say they're focused on the self-talk and the perspective of who am I to do this?
00:13:27
Brenda Hukel
And I say, who you not?
00:13:29
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:13:29
Brenda Hukel
Right? Whom and i did who am I to do this came from comes from a comparison of permission, the need for permission. It assumes yet that your authority lives outside of you and it has to be earned.
00:13:43
Brenda Hukel
That's what we're conditioned to believe, Lou. So what changed everything for me was noticing that when the question showed up, it appeared at moments when something meaningful was asking me to move through.
00:13:55
Brenda Hukel
So once I saw this pattern, that the doubt felt less personal. So I also stopped asking whether I was qualified enough to start, and I started asking the question whether I was being honest with myself.
00:14:09
Brenda Hukel
Because so many women are afraid to really look at themselves and accept them for who they are because of conditioning. There's so many different layers.
00:14:16
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:14:18
Brenda Hukel
So that shift mattered because it moved me from providing proving to listening, especially after I stepped outside of the organizational structure that shaped how worth and success are measured.
00:14:30
Brenda Hukel
So it's not about how the organization measures you. It's about your inner dialogue needs to shift from needing certainty to trusting discernment and from seeking approval to honoring responsibility.
00:14:45
Brenda Hukel
So shifting that from feeling that something is happening to you versus allowing those emotions and those experiences to move through you. That awareness is more important because you're letting go of the resistance. You're letting go of the victim victimhood.
00:15:04
Brenda Hukel
So that's when the question really changes from whom am I to do this for me who I to keep this to myself when I'm watching so many women struggle. And that shift came from alignment.
00:15:15
Brenda Hukel
So when your offering comes from your truth, the call to show up becomes clearer than the fear of being seen.
00:15:24
Luisa Hogan
Yeah, makes total sense.
00:15:25
Brenda Hukel
Does that make sense?
00:15:28
Luisa Hogan
And, you know, i love the way you said, you know, people, you know, start off with, oh, am I qualified enough? You know, i just think back to my own journey and journeys of clients to founders that I know, you know, starting um work and thinking, okay, well, I can't put myself out there until I've got all the right qualifications.
00:15:47
Brenda Hukel
huh
00:15:47
Luisa Hogan
And when I have that qualification, and when I have that qualification, when I have that, people will believe that I'm supposed to be here on the stage age or doing this work. And it's never about that, is it? It's like...
00:15:57
Brenda Hukel
no
00:15:58
Luisa Hogan
It really isn't because in the end you can have the whole laundry list of qualifications, but unless you truly believe in yourself and, as you say, find that inner authority and put permission inside, you're not going to – the qualifications don't matter, right?
00:16:14
Brenda Hukel
It doesn't matter because we're one of the things that Dr. Valerie Young talks about in her book, and I quoted her work, is that women especially ah strive for perfectionism.
00:16:25
Brenda Hukel
So Dr. Clance and Dr. Imes, they actually did a study of over 200 250, 150 women who were very highly credentialed. I mean, they had PhDs, they were attorneys, that very highly credentialed. And the number one thing that came out was that all of them suffered from imposter syndrome. And they felt like they had to go get more degrees, more certifications.
00:16:48
Brenda Hukel
And they felt internally that they, to work themselves to exhaustion proved that they're how how smart and how capable they were.
00:16:59
Brenda Hukel
It doesn't. That's a belief system that we were conditioned to believe. So it's really coming, it's peeling back all those layers. And this is what I do in my book is I help you peel back all those layers to really get to the core to understand whose belief system is running your life.
00:17:18
Brenda Hukel
Is it truly yours? And once you get you when you get to that core And you realize that it's not, it was conditioned or it's somebody else's belief system on based on their fears, their but background. It's passed down from generations.
00:17:35
Brenda Hukel
And again, this is just about awareness. Your parents did the best they could. They were just repeating what was taught to them. But it has such a huge impact on our lives and who we end up being as an adult and as a person, that until we start peeling it away, and this usually starts when you're in your 50s, 40s, and 50s, when those masks are coming off, the perfectionist, the people pleaser, the controller. and you get to the core of who you are, that's why this healing is so important.
00:18:07
Brenda Hukel
That's why when you leave corporate and you step into entrepreneurship, all these emotions come up, all these fears come up to be released, to be healed and released.
00:18:18
Brenda Hukel
And if we ignore it and we keep pushing it down, it's going to rear its head again. What I tell my clients is be comfortable with being uncomfortable. And so you can when that happens, it's not about being the victim saying, this happened to me and keep repeating your story.
00:18:33
Brenda Hukel
It's about understanding what is this trying to show me. And when you have the courage to release that and really look at it and heal it and forgive, then you're going to transition into the person you're born to be.
00:18:47
Luisa Hogan
Yeah, that's so powerful. i I know people are going to love hearing that as part of this podcast and I'm going to need to hear that. I'm hearing it. I'm like, yes, that's exactly what's that's exactly what I need.
00:18:58
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm.
00:19:00
Luisa Hogan
Still though, you know, that doubt can be so powerful and so strong.
00:19:05
Brenda Hukel
hu
00:19:07
Luisa Hogan
How how can you... um How can you continue on a daily basis, you know, when you're going to get that doubt, you're going to have to work through it. You're going to have to work through it on a daily basis.
00:19:20
Luisa Hogan
How can you make sure that you are working through that doubt and not allowing yourself to have more doubt on that going, no, no, this is doubt and not a way forward. It's not a sign of growth. This really is doubt. How can people start to peel that away? You say it's peeling away the layers. How how can people do that?
00:19:41
Brenda Hukel
Look at the doubt as a growth instead of as resistance and fear. So one way to tell is to look at when the doubt shows up. Growth-based doubt often appears after we made a decision that aligns with our values, stepping into who we who we truly are, our authentic self. So your skills and your experience remain intact. That doesn't change.
00:20:06
Brenda Hukel
What's changing is how you see yourself and how you're choosing to move forward to the next chapter of your life. Whether that's stepping in entrepreneurship or leaving a familiar role or choosing a path that requires self-trust, it doesn't matter.
00:20:20
Brenda Hukel
What matters is when the doubt shows up without evidence of failure, it usually points to integration, not failure.
00:20:28
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:20:29
Brenda Hukel
So when that doubt shows up, that fear grip grips us so tightly that in our mind, we're thinking, you know, I'm very successful. I you i raised a family. I had a successful career. i should be able to fix this.
00:20:44
Brenda Hukel
So we start, that that self-doubt starts you know taking over our lives. But if we understand that it's not evidence of failure, it's it's a it's a sign that we're integrating back to who we are.
00:20:58
Brenda Hukel
That discomfort reflects adjustments, not limitation. That's our ego mind that's limiting us. It's the process of learning to lead with integrity while moving through uncertainty.
00:21:04
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:21:08
Brenda Hukel
So this phase often brings very deep layers to the surface. So what happens, Lou, and a lot of people don't understand this, when our ego mind, when we're aligned with our ego mind, our ego wants to keep us in fear and resistance.
00:21:25
Brenda Hukel
It wants to control us. Because what happens, the ego keeps us in the past or the future. The past is our story. That's our identity. The future is just that. It's filled with just disappointments because we're always hoping for and and striving for something else.
00:21:44
Brenda Hukel
So when i and when I'm a successful in my career, I'll be happy. When I get that house, I'll be happy. When I lose 20 pounds, I'll be happy. But the ego, it operates on timing or time.
00:21:57
Brenda Hukel
So the time means that it keeps us in the past or the future. So we're never present.
00:22:05
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:22:06
Brenda Hukel
So that's where the fear comes in. When we operate on timing, we trust in God's timing. So we don't have the need for control, being controlling everybody else, controlling the timing, having to know what's going to happen. That's all fear and resistance. and when we let that go, and we really allow these emotions, these layers to come up to the surface, these deep layers, and we heal that, then people's opinion is irrelevant because we're stepping into our authenticity.
00:22:37
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:22:37
Brenda Hukel
We're standing so it soak strong in our authenticity and we're ready to step into our vulnerability to show the world who we are, that nothing else matters.
00:22:46
Brenda Hukel
No one's approval and nothing else matters.
00:22:47
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:22:48
Brenda Hukel
It's irrelevant.
00:22:50
Luisa Hogan
So true. It reminds me so much, i don't know if you've ever read the book, um Letting go The Path to Surrender, but I think it's David Hawkins.
00:22:57
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:22:59
Luisa Hogan
Excellent read too. And it's very similar to what you're saying. You know, it's about um surrendering to the timing and letting go of those emotions, not ignoring them or suppressing them or hiding from them, but allowing them to pass through you exactly as you say.
00:23:06
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm.
00:23:14
Luisa Hogan
And when they pass through you, you're able to move up this ladder of integration so that you can live a very present and whole life. And I i I love that concept and I love what you're saying there because it's so true.
00:23:29
Luisa Hogan
and And so interesting that you say how the ego keeps you in in that timing, right?
00:23:32
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:23:34
Luisa Hogan
um and And the work that I do, I talk about how my mind, it's it's designed not to make you happy but to keep you safe. And the way it tells you to keep you safe is by making you worry about things.
00:23:41
Brenda Hukel
her
00:23:44
Luisa Hogan
Is this dangerous? Is this going to make me fail? Is this going to humiliate me? And it's it's negative because it's trying to send you warning signals and to keep you safe. But if you turn that off, you can allow that other voice to come through, which is you are safe, everything is fine, and this is the right path for you.
00:24:04
Luisa Hogan
So i love that that's your message coming through.
00:24:05
Brenda Hukel
Right.
00:24:07
Luisa Hogan
um It resonates so so deeply with me, and i I love the steps that you talk about.
00:24:13
Brenda Hukel
I see, I just see so many women. I mean, i spent 30 years coaching, but many women, they go through this quietly. They suffer in silence. They're used to being the strong ones. They carry all the responsibility. They keep their inner work and their struggle private because that's how they're conditioned.
00:24:30
Brenda Hukel
And the condition traces back to childhood because we're not allowed to really show our weakness. And when we do, everyone, you know, the people who are trying to pull us back into their their control because they don't want to hear our story. It makes them uncomfortable. It's all about them.
00:24:48
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:24:48
Brenda Hukel
Well, everything's shifting. So when you reach the stage in your life, blue and that that that shift starts to transform you then expect disruption because you're you're giving yourself permission to put yourself first to do the healing that's one of the reasons why i created a journey back to you bundles and because they're designed for women who want to do the work privately in their own space It can be used along with my book or it can be used separate, but basically I took every theme of my in my book and I created a bundle that the women can use quietly and and privately in their home because they don't want, many don't want anyone to know that they're going through this.
00:25:32
Brenda Hukel
Right? So they, they, women don't, they don't need more rules.
00:25:32
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:25:37
Brenda Hukel
We're, we're conditioned to show that we, not to show our weakness. and We have to follow the rules. Women don't need more rules. What they need is they need a quiet place, a safe space to really explore and process their emotions. That's what they need.
00:25:50
Brenda Hukel
So whether they're struggling with imposter syndrome, fear of change, limiting beliefs, each one of those bundles can actually walk them through it. And they don't have to tell anyone.
00:26:01
Brenda Hukel
But what I would say to the women who are watching is give yourself permission and grace. We don't give ourselves enough grace because it's okay to feel what you're feeling. It's not okay to stay stuck in what you're feeling.
00:26:14
Brenda Hukel
You're not meant to suffer.
00:26:17
Luisa Hogan
No. tell Tell me more about those bundles. are they Is there a different theme to each bundle?
00:26:22
Brenda Hukel
huh
00:26:23
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. help Tell me more.
00:26:24
Brenda Hukel
So each each chapter in my book, is It starts with why we why we resist change. It talks about our inherited belief system, the posture syndrome, victimism, everything that I've seen women and myself go through. And I take them on a transformational journey back ah through all this healing and back through to the end where it's aligned with Christ consciousness, which means you are in a state of surrender and trust.
00:26:50
Brenda Hukel
right That's when you really step into your authentic self. So the bundles is I took each one of those themes. So let's take belief systems. We'll take imposter syndrome. And based on that, I developed a guided meditation that takes you deep into a journey where you recognize where the imposter syndrome originated.
00:27:10
Brenda Hukel
And then you release the imposter syndrome. Each one has a workbook with questions that make you go guide you to go so you know deeper into exploring.
00:27:21
Brenda Hukel
And then I designed and then I wrote a inspirational song for each bundle.
00:27:26
Luisa Hogan
Beautiful.
00:27:27
Brenda Hukel
Yeah. And then there's affirmation cards, but it's it just a soft way to go through it and to really explore where it originated by whom.
00:27:38
Brenda Hukel
And then it takes you through the forgiveness. The inspirational song helps you just stay with the affirmation cards to stay present so that as you're working through it, it's just, you have the tools that you need.
00:27:49
Brenda Hukel
So it's just a soft way instead of just going into, you know, an 18 month therapy session, which, you know, most people don't need because when you go through therapy, it is nothing against the professionals, but all you're doing rehashing.
00:27:56
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:03
Brenda Hukel
That's what my experience was. You're just rehashing. What I want to know is how do I, how do heal it and move forward? And now those are the tools I designed.
00:28:12
Luisa Hogan
Beautiful. And also, how do you let it go? Because I agree, rehashing it, you never let it go, right' There's never the surrender to it and allowing it to pass through you, which I absolutely love about what you were doing, because I think that's what many people need. Some people do need therapy, but I think most people, they're going through a process like this. It is incredibly helpful and healing.
00:28:35
Luisa Hogan
And you do get to that point of self-trust.
00:28:39
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm.
00:28:39
Luisa Hogan
to To those out there who have this feeling of, ah doubt What does self-trust sound like inside of you?
00:28:48
Brenda Hukel
Self-trust sounds like returning to the person you were born to be. So when you learn to learn to trust yourself, you're releasing all the belief systems, all the conditionings. I'm not saying this is easy.
00:29:01
Brenda Hukel
It's layered, right? But it's getting to the point where you give yourself permission to say that I matter and I choose me. I'm done. And when you get to that point, and you will, we all have, I know you have when you were the CEO, is
00:29:15
Luisa Hogan
Hmm.
00:29:16
Brenda Hukel
That when you reach that point that you love yourself enough to say, it's about me now, then the people that don't support you will be taken out of your life.
00:29:27
Brenda Hukel
And you have to understand that. So self-trust is really understanding what you're going through, why you're going through, what you're feeling, and not and letting go your story, not being the victim. It's stepping into your your authentic power.
00:29:40
Brenda Hukel
And when you do that, your vibrational level elevates. So as you're healing, you're going to elevate. Your consciousness is going to elevate. So the people who don't make match your vibration, they're going be taken out of your life. So the new people that do can come in.
00:29:57
Brenda Hukel
So when I went through the spiritual awakening or dark night soul, whatever you want call it, It's like why I said earlier, give yourself grace, because it's this transition is you have to go through an ego death.
00:30:09
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:30:10
Brenda Hukel
And when you go through that ego death, then the conscious that the light and the consciousness that comes in it's going to it's going change you so much that it's going to take you back to who you're born to be. There's 8 billion people in this world. There's one of you.
00:30:27
Brenda Hukel
So when you align with Christ consciousness, you're aligning with your authentic self. And when you do that, then you stand alone. That's why i say be comfortable, be uncomfortable. because But when, once that transition, this shift is done, the freedom you're going to feel, Lou, and who you become is just, you won't,
00:30:47
Brenda Hukel
It's something you you have to experience. It's just unbelievable.
00:30:49
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:30:51
Brenda Hukel
I mean, I walked away from a very lucrative job, making well over six figures.
00:30:51
Luisa Hogan
It's so true.
00:30:55
Brenda Hukel
And it was tricky the time because my husband was very sick living on Social Security. But I don't regret it. mean, I had no idea what was waiting for me on the other end. I wrote my book, had no idea what was if it was going to take off or not. It went global.
00:31:11
Brenda Hukel
You know, I can induct Ward Wendy.
00:31:11
Luisa Hogan
Award winning.
00:31:13
Brenda Hukel
Right. I end up in Times Square. i wasn't I didn't expect that.
00:31:16
Luisa Hogan
Amazing.
00:31:18
Brenda Hukel
I've been, you know, featured USA Today and Associated Press.
00:31:19
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:31:22
Brenda Hukel
So you don't know if you can get past the fear and release the old conditioning. And that's what my book does. The Courageously Authentic does. It takes you on that journey to release all those layers.
00:31:33
Brenda Hukel
And some of these layers can come from other lifetimes. We don't know. But for us and our generation, it's about being a role model for our daughters and breaking that ancestral lineage, teaching them because the world's tough.
00:31:37
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:31:45
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:31:47
Brenda Hukel
It's it's not like it was when we were growing up. It's harder.
00:31:51
Luisa Hogan
much harder.
00:31:53
Brenda Hukel
So what are what legacy are we leaving behind?
00:31:58
Luisa Hogan
So true. I am very painfully aware of that for my daughter. I've got a four and a half year old daughter. I've got two nieces who are older, they're teenagers.
00:32:09
Luisa Hogan
And, you know, I fear for them sometimes, you know, because the world is so much harder than it used to be and so much more complex
00:32:16
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:32:19
Luisa Hogan
the complexity of the world is intense. And, you know, I, I, I just, I want to pass on a different legacy to my daughter so that she can grow up feeling a lot more confident and not have, like you say, these layers of beliefs that I had growing up.
00:32:39
Luisa Hogan
And, you know, you'd say all the right words, the perfectionism before I went on my own spiritual awakening and coming out of And it's freedom, right? Like you get some freedom and I just, I want to pass that on to her in as much a way as possible, knowing that that's not gonna be perfect either.
00:32:39
Brenda Hukel
man
00:32:56
Luisa Hogan
There's always going to be something that gets passed on, right? So it's a, that's a.
00:33:00
Brenda Hukel
But that's okay because that our experiences... I mean, it's brought us to exactly where we are now. If I wouldn't gone through it I went through or you wouldn't gone through what you went through, you wouldn't be having the you wouldn't have the passion you have to do what you're doing right now.
00:33:07
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:33:15
Brenda Hukel
And that's holding these podcasts and impacting leaders across the globe, right? So that's where that mind shift needs to come in. And I've seen, I've worked with women who've had these horrific traumas, but they've taken their experience and they've built businesses around it.
00:33:30
Brenda Hukel
And so they have impacted millions of people across the globe.
00:33:34
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:33:35
Brenda Hukel
So when we can move out of that victim mindset that, you know, here's my story, and you keep repeating the story to share for sympathy and empathy and step into your authentic self and let and understand that those experiences brought you exactly where you are and in who you are today, what are you going to do with it you going to allow imposter syndrome and all these conditionings to paralyze you and stay the victim? Or you going to be a role model to your daughters and your nieces to say, here's how you step into your power. This is what you do.
00:34:10
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:34:13
Luisa Hogan
You know, once you get to that point, how do you stay connected to that authenticity? Let's let's say you've got to that point, you've found that authenticity. You've, you know, somebody might go through your bundles, for example, you find that authenticity, you've done some healing. How do you make sure that you continue to stay connected to that deeper authenticity?
00:34:35
Brenda Hukel
Awareness. Every day it's awareness.
00:34:36
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:34:38
Brenda Hukel
And it's choosing you. Because as we, are layers, it's like bubble wrap. So we get through but we get through a layer, we feel really good. And then all of a sudden it's like, wo where's this coming from? So once you dedicate the time to yourself and really do the work and you so you choose you, you have to choose you.
00:35:00
Brenda Hukel
And then when those when these emotions or these experiences start coming up and you view it from a point as what is it trying to show me? And not from a victim, because the victim is very easy, it's slippery, it's very easy to fall into.
00:35:14
Brenda Hukel
And you actually just say, thank you for bringing this to my awareness and release it with love. And you just keep doing the work daily. You do the affirmations, whatever it is that brings you back to wholeness.
00:35:27
Brenda Hukel
Then eventually that shift is going to take place. And when that shift takes place, the all the old falls away. And you'll feel it. You'll feel that power.
00:35:35
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:35:38
Brenda Hukel
I am very passionate about women's empowerment.
00:35:38
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:35:40
Brenda Hukel
You're very passionate about leadership. So it's it's doing the work and and finding a way to take your lived experiences and communicate that to the world.
00:35:53
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:35:54
Brenda Hukel
having the courage to communicate communicate that to the world. Because your lived experiences, once you share that and some another woman or someone else says, oh my gosh, that's how I feel, you're you've bridged that gap.
00:36:08
Brenda Hukel
You're stepping out of the isolation of this all happened to me and nobody, you know, I can't tell any anybody, id live in secrecy to sharing with somebody else that to freedom. So that, what you're you're stepping out of isolation, you're stepping into freedom.
00:36:21
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. And you're never alone.
00:36:24
Brenda Hukel
You're never alone.
00:36:24
Luisa Hogan
think so many people think you're out there and you're on your own and this is unique to me. And what I found so much in this podcast talking to people is how similar we all are in our, you know, in our challenges, in our thinking, in our doubts, in our fears,
00:36:41
Luisa Hogan
And we're never alone, but you're so right. Like, and women, I've speak to a lot of women, you know, do tend to hold it all together and, you know, hold the family, hold the work, hold hold everything and feel like if I just share this, their identity becomes, I have to be the strong one, right?
00:36:53
Brenda Hukel
Mm-hmm.
00:36:59
Luisa Hogan
It's their whole identity. And if I let go of that identity, who am I?
00:37:03
Brenda Hukel
Mm hmm.
00:37:04
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:37:05
Brenda Hukel
That's exactly what I went through.
00:37:05
Luisa Hogan
So, yeah.
00:37:06
Brenda Hukel
Yeah. Yeah, I am. I actually created a Courageous say Authentic Writers Toolkit because there's so many women.
00:37:13
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:37:14
Brenda Hukel
i mean um What I want to do is encourage women to tell their story. It's very healing. So getting to your point is how do you stay in that authenticity? Tell your story. tell Tell it in a way that it's going to help other people.
00:37:27
Brenda Hukel
And this writer's toolkit takes them from its it takes them from the beginning of identifying your target audience all the way through to publishing. Everything you need, all the guides, all the templates, so that they can work for those who want coaching out for coaching. But a lot of women, as i've as I've said, want to work silently, quiet.
00:37:46
Brenda Hukel
They don't want everybody to know what's going on. So that's how I created this toolkit. for them to be able to work through that. And that's what i'm gonna be talking about at the summit. It's is the power of your voice.
00:37:58
Luisa Hogan
Yeah, I can't wait. I mean, by the time this episode comes out, the summit would have passed, but I cannot wait to hear you speak at the summit.
00:38:04
Brenda Hukel
Thank you.
00:38:04
Luisa Hogan
You're speaking on the same day as me. I think you're two speakers after me. So I will definitely be watching.
00:38:08
Brenda Hukel
<unk>s
00:38:09
Luisa Hogan
I'm really looking forward to that. But where where can people find your toolkits, your bundles, everything that you've talked about? If people listening, like I have to work with Brenda or I have to you know access her tools, where can they find them?
00:38:22
Brenda Hukel
ah My website, brendahugle.com.
00:38:25
Luisa Hogan
Okay, excellent.
00:38:26
Brenda Hukel
Yeah.
00:38:26
Luisa Hogan
And have you got any tips for final tips, final aha moment or, um you know, gold nugget to share with people today?
00:38:26
Brenda Hukel
Yeah.
00:38:37
Luisa Hogan
The thing that you want people to walk away with, is there anything that you'd like to share?
00:38:41
Brenda Hukel
Choose often to stay over her perfection.
00:38:44
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:38:44
Brenda Hukel
Just choose you. Give yourself grace and do the work. because you deserve to be happy. And you deserve to have the life that you want to live not what others expect you to live.
00:38:58
Luisa Hogan
Beautiful. Well, thank you so, so much for joining me today.
00:39:00
Brenda Hukel
You're welcome.
00:39:02
Luisa Hogan
I have really enjoyed talking to you and i look forward to staying connected with you and hearing you speak. um And please do get along and look Brenda up and look up her work because I know that it is very valuable, especially if you are in a time of transition or in a time of doubt, either in your leadership or you're leaving leadership.
00:39:22
Luisa Hogan
Now's the time to get in touch with somebody like Brenda to support you through that. And and what I've taken from today is that doubt doesn't disqualify you. it doesn't make you ah less ready.
00:39:31
Brenda Hukel
You're welcome.
00:39:34
Luisa Hogan
It doesn't make you less capable. It often proves that you're stepping into a role or a leadership or something inside of you that matters the absolute most.
00:39:45
Luisa Hogan
So thank you again, Brenda. And until next time, keep listening to The Second Voice and have the conversations with us that leaders don't have out loud.
00:39:47
Brenda Hukel
welcome
00:39:53
Luisa Hogan
See you next time.