Soulful Impact with Brooks Barron

Kelly Wilde Miller is a creative mentor, author, and soul-driven entrepreneur whose journey has been profoundly shaped by her quest to find authentic expression and deep belonging. I first met Kelly in May 2021, when she embarked on a Vision Quest with Animas Valley Institute—an experience that opened a transformative path toward manifesting her soul’s gifts through creativity.In this episode, Kelly shares vulnerably about her journey through profound self-discovery, including the powerful Vision Quest moment when encountering ancient handprints triggered her realization of longing and disconnection—the "song of the lost white people." She discusses the birth of Prismara, her new venture embodying her soul’s authentic expression, and how creativity has become her path toward integration and fulfillment.We explore creativity as a profound act of self-expression and healing, highlighting Kelly’s insight that our perceived blocks—what she calls our “maras”—are precisely the path our soul wants us to navigate to fully channel our unique gifts. Kelly also speaks candidly about navigating the complex dance between authenticity, visibility, and nervous system regulation, emphasizing the importance of creating from a place of grounded safety and embodied presence.Our conversation delves into deep questions around finding our true place—psychospiritually, metaphysically, and literally—and what it means to genuinely find oneself amidst the turmoil and opportunity of our times. Kelly shares her thoughts on conscious parenting, the journey of becoming oneself, and why choosing to live from soul is both a courageous and necessary act in today’s world.This episode will resonate deeply with anyone on a journey toward authentic expression, creativity, and soulful alignment amidst the challenges and potentials of modern life.--Links & Resources* Watch this episode on YouTube* Connect with Brooks on Instagram or LinkedIn* Soulful Impact: soulfulimpact.co* Subscribe to Kelly on Substack* Follow Kelly’s work at Prismara: prismaracircle.com* Check out Kelly’s book, Creative Dysregulation--Chapters00:00:00 - Welcome to Soulful Impact Podcast00:02:45 - Meeting Kelly: A Soul Journey Begins00:05:20 - Finding Authentic Expression in Modern Times00:08:17 - Introducing Prismara: Birth of a Soul-Aligned Business00:11:42 - Working the Mirror: Creative Projects as Transformation00:15:36 - The Power of Presence and Embracing the Wobble00:19:32 - Authenticity as the Path to True Expression00:23:10 - The Kelly of Four Years Ago: Lost and Searching00:28:07 - Intergenerational Patterns and Finding Yourself00:33:15 - The Quest for Self: What It Really Means00:37:54 - Vision Quest Revelations: The Wall of Handprints00:42:30 - Finding Belonging in a Disconnected World00:47:05 - Consenting to Life: Saying Yes to Existence00:51:37 - The Symphony of Being in Harmony00:56:10 - Motherhood and Not Losing Yourself01:00:28 - Soul-Centric Development and Necessary Darkness01:04:46 - Raising Children from a Place of Integration01:09:12 - Living in Integrity During Challenging Times01:13:45 - Creativity as Life Force Energy Expression01:18:22 - Creative Regulation and Clearing the Channels01:22:38 - Discerning Soul's Calling from Ego's Distractions01:27:14 - The Path of Authenticity: No Going Back01:32:05 - Future Collaborations and Closing Reflections01:35:45 - Final Thanks This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog

Watch this episode on YouTube.Jerry Colonna is a world-renowned and highly sought-after executive coach. After a successful early career in venture capital and private equity, he found his calling in coaching. Known in some circles as “the CEO whisperer” or “the Yoda of Silicon Valley,” he brings a depth of soul-rooted presence, love, and fierce advocacy for the disinherited and the unseen.How did he get this way? Through a long journey of meeting his own fear and trauma with love, of course (see his book Reboot for that story). And through decades of personal work and dedicated spiritual practice (primarily Buddhism).There’s also a lesser-known aspect of Jerry’s journey, which I personally see as vitally important: he traveled the nature-based journey of soul initiation. I believe the tremendous contribution that Jerry is making to the building of a better world — including his groundbreaking books and his work with leaders and teams — is largely empowered by the journey he went on to find and embody his soul’s true purpose.I was really excited to get to draw out more from Jerry about his experience of that journey in this podcast.He describes it as going from being “dismembered” and “a complete mess” (as a financially successful investor in his 30s) to becoming “re-membered.” To remembering himself.Jerry shares how at one point the Earth literally pulled him down and swallowed him whole, initiating a wakeup call that brought him into contact with his deeper self and eventually led him onto a vision quest.Jerry's story is a deeply moving example of what’s possible through self-discovery and self-healing in nature. We discuss how the part of himself he discovered on that quest — the essence of his soul’s unique gift — has informed and empowered his life and work since.Jerry and I also unpack how the lessons learned from what helps us make it through our own personal dark times in a good way can also inform how we collectively approach the current dark times we are witnessing on the global stage right now.–Links & ResourcesConnect with Brooks on Instagram or LinkedInSoulful Impact: soulfulimpact.coCheck out Jerry’s coaching firm, RebootRead Jerry’s two books, Reboot and ReunionConnect with Jerry on Instagram or LinkedIn–Chapters00:00 - Introduction: A Journey of Remembering02:30 - Early Years: Disconnection and Depression07:30 - Wakeup Call: Falling into the Crevasse11:45 - The Meaning of Soul16:30 - Vision Quest: Purging Pain, Finding Purpose24:30 - Integration: An Ongoing Process28:15 - Non-Directive Coaching: Allowing Emergence32:00 - Reunion: Belonging and Our Ancestors38:30 - Navigating the Dark Times44:15 - The Work That Is Never Done48:45 - Finding Joy Amidst the Darkness54:00 - Remembering Our Role in the Symphony59:30 - Final Reflections: Be Excessively Gentle With Yourself—Get newsletter updates & future episodes delivered to your inbox: Subscribe to Soulful Impact on Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog

Watch this episode on YouTube.Today’s episode features my good friend and nervous system specialist, Jonny Miller.Jonny is the host of the Curious Humans Podcast and founder of Nervous System Mastery, Jonny is the host of the Curious Humans Podcast and the founder of Nervous System Mastery — a 5-week bootcamp to cultivate calm, boost resilience, and increase aliveness.I often talk about how one way to conceive of the soul journey is alchemizing our pain into purpose.Especially in the modern world, where most of us don’t have village elders around to guide us into the initiatory journey of soul when we are deemed ripe and ready, that initiation is sometimes catalyzed by external life circumstances that shake us up to wake us up.In Jonny’s case, this occurred through the tragic and sudden loss of his fiancé to suicide in 2017 — right after she returned to work from some time off and suffered a panic attack.In this episode, Jonny and I explore how that terrible event sent him on an inward journey — which initially helped him heal and fully submit to his grief, and eventually ended up leading him to the deep, soulcenteric place of purpose from which he leads and creates today.I view Jonny’s work — and Nervous System Mastery in particular — as sorely needed, heart-centered offerings that can help people like his former fiancé stay regulated even in the most challenging moments of life.Beyond that, I think Jonny’s work is a highly effective “Trojan Horse” to bring the crucial skills of emotional and somatic self-awareness and mastery into the mainstream — when, let’s be honest, these skills have historically been maligned and ridiculed in our culture, especially for high performing professionals.These skills are not only important to help us stay emotionally, psychologically, and physically safe in our lives — but are also crucial for equipping ourselves to successfully chart the dark and dangerous waters of the Journey of Soul Initiation.Jonny and I discuss the journey he’s been on since 2017, what it’s been like for him to build what he’s built, some key choices he’s made that have helped make him successful, and what he envisions for the future of his work.—Links & Resources* Follow Brooks on YouTube, Instagram, or LinkedIn* Soulful Impact: soulfulimpact.co* Follow Jonny on Substack or X* Nervous System Mastery—Chapters00:04:13 Exploring the Concept of Soul00:16:35 The Journey of Grief and Transformation00:27:28 Connecting Emotions and the Nervous System00:28:20 The Nervous System as a Bridge00:33:14 Creating a Course: The Journey of Expression00:43:47 Future Visions: Expanding the Curriculum00:53:52 Navigating Intensity: Growth and Balance00:56:27 Navigating Thresholds: Living in Stasis vs. Breakthroughs00:57:37 The Dance of Beauty and Terror: Embracing Obliteration01:00:18 Chaos and Nervous System Work: A Path Forward01:05:20 Envisioning a Future of Nervous System Mastery01:09:18 Partnerships and Soul Growth: The Alchemical Container01:16:32 Practical Steps to Nervous System Literacy: Starting Your Journey—Get newsletter updates & future episodes delivered to your inbox: Subscribe to Soulful Impact on Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog

Watch this episode on YouTube.I’ve loved recording all the podcast episodes I’ve done so far. But I have to say, this one left me feeling incredibly alive.Rebecca Wildbear is a Senior Soul Guide at the Animas Valley Institute, a psychotherapist, and the founder and creator of Wild Yoga, an organization that leads programs and retreats to help people connect with their bodies, dreams, and wild nature as gateways to creating soulful impact. Rebecca is also the author of the book Wild Yoga.Rebecca and I first met over 10 years ago, when she guided me on my very first vision quest. We reconnected 7 years later when I went back to Animas for a quest guiding apprenticeship, in which Rebecca and I guided a group of 10 questers in the same desert canyon where I’d quested with her 7 years before. I then convinced her to be my co-guide on the first couple of quests that I offered through Soulful Impact. She's a close mentor and a dear friend.In this conversation, Rebecca and I discuss how to build and deepen our connection to soul through the relationships we create with several very potent portals and gateways to soul, including:* Wild nature* Dreams* Our bodies* Our hearts* Our traumaTurns out that as human beings, we all come fully equipped with “soul hardware.” Meaning that we innately have everything we need to establish a profoundly deep, expansive, and powerful connection to soul. We don’t need anything outside of ourselves and our own natural wholeness to illuminate our life’s highest purpose and bring us fully alive.But in our modern day culture, we’ve distanced ourselves from the knowledge and understanding of how to put that God-given hardware to good use. The necessary skills are still out there and available to all of us, but thanks to centuries of censorship and oppression, we have lost the cultural infrastructure that could guarantee we all learn these things.The good news is that we are the lucky souls who get to turn this trend around. We get to remember and rediscover these ancient, deeply human pathways for ourselves, and then share them with others. We get to rebuild a new cultural fabric that is deeply rooted in soul and sings in harmony with the benefits of modern life.This conversation with Rebecca is a roadmap to that future, one human being and one human soul at a time.I hope you enjoy it!--- Links & Resources ---* Follow Brooks on YouTube, Instagram, or LinkedIn* Soulful Impact: soulfulimpact.co* Rebecca’s website: rebeccawildbear.com* Follow Rebecca on YouTube, Instagram or Substack* Wild Yoga Book* Check out Rebecca’s TedX Talk: The Visionary Power of Dreams & NatureGet newsletter updates & future episodes delivered to your inbox: Subscribe to Soulful Impact on Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog

Watch this episode on YouTube.Our bodies might be the most powerful and important tool we have as human beings when it comes to the journey of remembering our deeper truth and living in alignment with our souls.In modern culture, which is still largely dominated by the ego, we are often conditioned to create a really unhealthy relationship with our bodies. We see our bodies as limited, we criticize them and wish they were different. We experience their needs as inconvenient and contrary to what we need to get done or how we think we should be. We get confused between the genuine needs of our bodies, which can be met the vast majority of the time, and the insatiable needs of our egos.It’s not our bodies that drive us into unhealthy behavior like overeating and addiction. Those are the ego’s doing — and then our bodies get stuck in habit and inertia as they attempt to adapt.Learning to listen to and follow the genuine needs and deeper knowing of our bodies can be a long road when we’ve spent most or all of our lives ignoring or working against them. But it is so incredibly worth it.Because a clear relationship with a healthy body is a dynamite connection to our intuition.When we learn to listen and develop healthy relationship, our bodies become divine tuning forks that we can use to navigate everything from practical decisions in everyday life to the mysterious calling of our souls.My guest on today’s episode is a master of this terrain.Franziska Gonder is an executive and somatic leadership coach to high-performing founders, CEOs, investors and elite political operatives. She is recognized around the world as a leading voice on the intersection between somatics and leadership.Like just about anyone I know who has developed a strong connection to soul and a genuine capacity for somatically-attuned leadership, Franzi’s wisdom was initially earned the hard way.In her particular case, it was the unexpected death of her father that interrupted her unrelenting young-professional achievement drive, forced her to face how burned out she really was, and ultimately gave her the opportunity to connect fully with her body and begin a deep healing journey.In this episode, Franzi and I unpack what that experience was really like for her, and how it informs the powerful leader, coach and mentor she is today. Franzi offers the compelling reflection that Soulful Impact creates success on a wholistic level, while narrower versions of impact are likely to include negative side effects.One of the most inspiring moments in this episode for me was the opportunity to talk to Franzi about the journey of parenting. Her level of attunement to her kids — a natural outcome of her own somatic journey and awareness — is nothing short of remarkable. She shares how that has allowed her family to navigate a journey of healing that goes beyond what is currently explainable by science.—Links & Resources* Follow Brooks on Instagram or LinkedIn* Soulful Impact: soulfulimpact.co* Franzi’s website: franziskagonder.com* Franzi’s Substack: Leadership That Heals The World* Follow Franzi on LinkedIn or Twitter/X* Forbes Article* If you like this episode and want to hear more from these two, check out Franzi’s interview with Brooks on her podcast from last year—Get newsletter updates & future episodes delivered to your inbox: Subscribe to Soulful Impact on Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog

Alex Olshonsky is the philosopher and writer behind the popular Substack newsletter Deep Fix. He’s also the Co-Founder of Natura Care Programs (a novel non-profit harnessing psychedelics to support addiction recovery), a somatic therapist, and an executive coach.Most recently, Alex is the creator of Life Not Wasted, an awesome online course which charts a path for all of us to enjoy a fulfilling life free from modern addictions.Alex (known by his friends as “Olo”) knows a thing or two about addiction. As an ambitious and anxious twenty-something pursuing a sexy tech career in San Francisco, he fell into severe drug addiction that nearly cost him his life.In this episode, Olo and I dig deep into what that experience was like for him, how he found his way through, and how — somewhat incredibly — that harrowing journey ultimately bore the fruits of what I now see as his soul’s incredible gifts.Olo reflects at the end of the interview that it was one of the deepest conversations he’s ever had about the intricacies of his story.Through the lens of Alex’s story, he and I explore the seemingly innate human longing for initiation, what makes a true initiation, and how our souls can find their way into initiation even in the absence of support and guidance from our mainstream culture.We discuss Alex’s view on the phenomenon he calls “modern addiction” — essentially, the somewhat ubiquitous experience in modern life of losing ourselves into any number of (often tech-enabled) distractions and dopamine loops that pull us into a negative cycle of reciprocally narrowing our experience and ourselves.Alex points out the reality that in this day in age, it’s much less of a question of whether or not you are an addict, and more of a question of where you fall on the addiction spectrum.He also offers his take on how we can find our way out of the negative cycle of modern addiction — a path he calls “awakened recovery.” In essence, by adopting ways of seeing and being that bring us deeper into the present moment and a fuller experience of our truest selves, we can unfold into a positive cycle of reciprocal opening that leads us to a profoundly fulfilling, clear, and beautiful experience of modern life.Last but not least, this episode was recorded on the eve of Alex crossing the threshold into becoming a father. The serendipity of that timing was not lost on either of us, and I'm so excited to welcome him — and all his hard-earned wisdom and love — into the family of fathers across the globe.I deeply enjoyed this conversation, and found it enlightening and expansive. I hope you do, too.--Links & Resources* Watch this episode on YouTube* Connect with Brooks on LinkedIn, Instagram and X* Soulful Impact: soulfulimpact.co* Alex’s website: deepfix.co* Alex’s Substack: deepfix.substack.com* Life Not Wasted online course: lifenotwasted.org* Natura Care Programs: naturacareprograms.org--Get newsletter updates & future episodes delivered to your inbox: Subscribe to Soulful Impact on Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog

In this introductory episode, I share about the philosophical orientation and purpose of this podcast: To explore a new definition of impact.Perhaps our greatest potential for making positive impact comes not by focusing exclusively on external results and trying to control ourselves and the world to be a certain way, but instead from paying close attention to the place within ourselves from which our actions arise — holding clear and uncompromising intention while simultaneously trusting and surrendering to whatever emerges from the deepest truth within ourselves.I suggest that Soulful Impact is what we create when we remember, embody and trust that deeper truth inside. This episode lays the groundwork for the podcast as an ongoing exploration of that possibility.In the second half of the episode, I share my own personal story in vulnerable and rich detail. My hopes in sharing my story in this way are:* Help you get to know me on a soul level* Share the context and motivation behind my passion for Soulful Impact* Offer an example that you might relate to in some way, thereby inspiring your own deeper exploration of connecting with soul and pursuing Soulful Impact.Enjoy!-BrooksLinks & ResourcesWatch this episode on YouTubeConnect with Brooks on LinkedIn, Instagram and XSoulful Impact: www.soulfulimpact.co* Get newsletter updates & future episodes delivered to your inbox: Subscribe to Soulful Impact on Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog