Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Before we dive in today's episode, I want to take a moment to share something that's been on my heart, something I've been working on behind the scenes for a while now. I'm officially writing a book. This book is called let's Be A Practical Guide to Leading Through Change. And it's deeply personal to me. It's built from real experiences. The uncertainty, the challenges, the moments where I didn't have the answers but had to lead. This isn't just a leadership book filled with theory. It's about navigating uncertainty when there's no clear direction, building internal clarity when everything around us feels unclear, having courageous conversations, even when they're uncomfortable, and leading with value, especially when it's the hardest to do so. I'm also going into topics that don't get talked about enough, like what it feels like to be challenged, overlooked, and even bullied as an adult in the workplace. And how those moments shape the kind of leader you become. This book is for anyone who's ever thought, how do I lead when I don't feel ready? How do I show up when I don't have all the answers? And how do I stay true to myself in environments that challenge me? If this is you, this book is for you. I'll be sharing more about the journey behind the scenes moments, and opportunities for you to be part of it as we go. So stay tuned, because this is more than just a book. It's a movement around how we lead through change together. All right, let's get to today's episode.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Opinions expressed in this episode are personal. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this streaming platform.
[00:01:34] Speaker A: Good day, wonderful people, and welcome to another edition of let's Be Diverse. I am your host, Andrew Stout. This episode is dedicated to all my loved ones who supported me through this journey. Those who have left us will always be in our hearts and will never be forgotten. Today, our topic is the sacred feminine in leadership. Power beyond control. Our guest today is one fantastic human. Human. Her name is Andrea Menard. Andrea, welcome to the show. I am so thankful and honored to
[00:02:05] Speaker B: have you on here today, Andrew. I'm honored to be here on let's Be Diverse.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: I appreciate you coming on. How are things with you, Andrea? What's going on in your world? Give me the tea, give me the deets. Give me it all. What's going on?
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Well, we got stuff rolling. I'm. I'm. You actually caught me right before I catch a flight to Winnipeg tomorrow. So. I'm based in Vancouver in the UNCEDED traditional territory of the Squamish, the Slave Tooth, and the Musqueam people. But I'm, I'm heading to Treaty One. I'm going to Winnipeg for my theater show called Rubaboo. So you caught me right before I left. And of course, as you know, Sullivan's Crossing Season 4 is on CTV and Crave. So there's, you know, there's some stuff happening.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I can see that. You're, you're rolling, you're. You're busy lady, and that's okay. Sometimes it keeps us out of trouble or. Andrea, sometimes I love what I do.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: I'm very blessed.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I can imagine. You do some amazing stuff and I love your work. I love what you do. I love how you are out there. I've listened to you speaking. Not just watching your show, but I listen to you speaking. And I just love all the work that you do. So super honored to be having this conversation with you today.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Thank you. I'm honored to be here, Andrew.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: So before we begin, Andrea, I always have a fun, thought provoking question that, that I ask all my guests before we get things going. Are you ready for yours today?
Okay, so my question to you, Andrea, is what is one life lesson you've learned the hard way?
[00:03:35] Speaker B: One lesson. One really important lesson is feel your feelings in the moment they happen. That is the single most incredible wisdom that I now have in my body. I have a body that's clean now. Like, it's clean of the debris of years of trauma. So in many ways, for me, cleaning all that stuff out means that we're returning to the baby, like, or the childlike way of operating in the world, which means there's no backed up emotions, you know, coming in and taking over my life. It's like whatever's happening to me in the moment, if I get hurt today, I want to be hurt today. I want to feel it or cry or yell today and maybe, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, but. But sooner than, you know, 10 years later. Because I think our health and wellness really, really depend on that. And I think humanity would thrive as a species instead of, oh, I don't know, survive like we are. So many people are surviving instead of thriving. So that, to me is a big life lesson that I would. And of course, I've made it sort of my life purpose.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: I love that. And what I love about that, Andrea, is that you're a lot of us, when we're dealing with something, we try to get past that feeling before we're ready to move Forward. And I think when we do that, then we're not ready. So, like you said. You're absolutely right.
Get mad. Let the tears come. Let your feelings go deep, breathe, but let it happen. Let those feelings get through you. And then when you feel like you're ready to move on, then move forward.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Well, the whole point of moving on is that you have to go through it or you won't move on. I think that's the whole lesson, is that we think we can move on without going there, but we always have to go there at some point in our lives. And it'd be better if it was today than 10 years from now. We're on my deathbed.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: I love that. I love that. So, Andrea, to get us started here, who are you and what really drives you to do the work that you do?
[00:05:34] Speaker B: Well, okay, I'll do my traditional introduction.
Andrea Menard.
My name is Andrea Menard. Hello, everyone. I'm a Metis woman from Treaty 1 territory in the homeland of the Metis, currently living in the unceded traditional territory story of the Squamish, the Slavutooth, and the Musqueam people. So I am a Mete woman from the prairies, and I am an actor, I am a singer, I am a writer, and I'm a speaker. And so I consider myself a medicine wheel, where I'm all four of these parts equally. But at the center of my medicine wheel of actor, singer, writer, speaker, I am a facilitator of the rise of the sacred feminine. And when I discovered that center point is when all of the work that I did finally made sense, I went and, oh, that's what I've been doing this whole time. So that's who I am. And what was your second question?
[00:06:23] Speaker A: Who are you and what really drives you to do that? What do you do?
[00:06:27] Speaker B: What drives me? What drives me. Well, honestly, it is to become a better human being than when I came in, to leave this planet a little happier, a little joyful, or a little cleaner, a little healthier than when I arrived. And it has been a long time of giving over my career and literally asking my life to be of purpose, to be of service to humanity, to the earth, to others. And I don't mean. I've always understood what that meant, but I did desperately want everything I do to matter, to be. To matter to others, to. To have purpose. So I've always had a very, very deep, deep calling, and that's what makes me tick. So everything that all the success you see, you know, on TV or whatever, it's all because I've given away my career and said, okay, creator. Okay, grandmothers, use me. Use me where I'm needed most. And if I end up on a TV series, surprises me. Trust me. I'm like, really? This is how I'm helping. Okay. This new album. Okay, this, These new songs. Okay. I listen very well.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: I think we have to follow. Yes, we do have to follow. I guess people, most people will call it their intuition or their path or.
I know a lot of people talk about, you know, following the process.
So I think you do have to do that. And most of the time when you do or say, when you do, it usually falls into place. So I love that you. When you say, I want to be a better human than when I arrived, that is to me, especially as a leader. We try to be a better leader when we. From when we first started and continue to build on that because I think if we become stagnant, then we're not continuously learning, which means that a lot of things fall to the waist. And we don't want that. We want things to continue to grow. And we want the people that we're working with or that we're leading, we want them to grow as well. And that's the most important thing.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: And it's an invitation for leaders to say, I want to leave beauty in my legacy. Like, I want goodness. I want people, health and wellness to follow me after I'm gone. You know, my leadership created wellness in my community instead of dragging everybody down.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: So, Andrea, what is the rise of the sacred feminine that you talk about?
[00:08:51] Speaker B: Ah, thank you for asking. Ah, see, this helps set up everything that I do.
So as I said in my medicine wheel, I. I am a facilitator of the rise of the sacred Feminine. And to me, how I have been taught. I heard this term from an elder. There was a gathering of elders that took place in. I think it was 2012.
That took place on the Sagging First Nation in the Turtle Lodge in Sagging First Nation, they talked about there was the wisdom in this, in the feminine that has been missing on this planet. And I've known this for a while. But when this particular elder talked about the rise of the sacred Feminine, a bomb like, it's like a gong went off in my head because I had been told different prophecies from people coming out of ceremony for years. And they all talked about, I was told, you know, people coming out of fasts, people coming out of ceremonies, and these men saying to me, I was told that we're entering into the time of woman or I'm, we're entering into a time of returning to the circle, or it's a time where our teachings have to come forward. So all these different prophecies. But when this man in 2012, Elder Dave Krishan, the late Dave Krishan, said these words, we're in a time of the rise of the sacred feminine. It's like all of those prophecies all of a sudden just went boom and they made sense. So to me this is what it, it means that everything feminine on this planet which has been devalued, most feminine qualities have been devalued in comparison to masculine aspects of life. And so if for instance, we treat Mother Earth because we devalue her, or we mistreat women because we devalue all things feminine, it's a time where those things are changing, but not just women. Yes, it's a time where women's voices are meant to be heard and growing, but also all things feminine. So nurturing, nurturing men have been silenced in this world. Nurturing men are finding their voice and finding respect and value. The animals, the voiceless ones, indigenous peoples, land based peoples all over the globe, people of color, two spirited trans non binary people are finding their voice. What else? The voice of Mother Earth. All of these things that have been left out of the systems that exist right now are coming home to the circle because the circle never left. It's just the hierarchies have been built on top of these circle and the circle is holistic. The circle is who we really are as a species and a planet. We live on a living being and we've forgotten that in the western system. So the rise of the sacred feminine is a time of prophecy where all of these missing pieces of, you know, the hierarchy is meant to fall away and return to the circle. So every single person alive is part of this. And that means I've missed one thing that is also deep valued is our emotional wellness. We're not like, we're not allowed to feel. Men are certainly not allowed to feel. You know, emotions are, are considered weak and are considered messy and convenient, something to be repressed. But as I said earlier, that is the key to our wellness.
So the rise of the sacred feminine is about bringing wholeness to our.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: Wow, I love everything that you just, that you said there. It just so amazing. Every single word you said. And when you're talking about women's voices are meant to be heard. There are a lot of people or a lot of women in organizations who don't feel that they have a seat at the table because for whatever reason it is that they don't have a think, they have a voice and I'm not allowed. They think they have to speak louder. They don't feel like their thoughts or their ideas are creative enough. When you're absolutely right in the circle. Everyone's ideas should, should be important and everyone's ideas are of value and should be of value and should be brought to the attention of everyone and be important as well. Because it is important.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And in a way, the systems that are, we're all operating in were built to exclude. They were built for men and, and, and not even really of men of color like it was. They were made for white men. And so there's a huge reason why it doesn't work for all people. Although all people have been shoved into it. We've all tried to thrive within it, but we've had to over use and develop and over develop our masculine natures in order to fit in and succeed in the systems that exist and in most workplaces and all that stuff. So leadership of the past was all about keeping this hierarchy in place. But that is crumbling a slow, agonizing death. You know, leaders of that ilk are just not having the success they used to have because there's way too many voices knowing their worth. It's like voices are rising. So they're not, they're not giving over all their power to the one leader. That's old, that's old school and it's
[00:13:48] Speaker A: dying out, ex dying out. So where has traditional leadership over emphasized control, dominance and certainty?
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Well, I think all old leadership was like that. I think our governments are still, I mean even though we say there's democratic, I still think that it's still created from an old system. As much as we've tried to expand and grow and evolve it, the system that it's been created from was definitely, it didn't come from our wisest selves. I think parts of it were, I think parts of it have been trying to be born, you know, for years. But indigenous, that's where indigenous wisdom is to me, the key. Because again, we're coming back from Earth based wisdom where that, where we are together. Because the old way of control, the old way of. You had a few words there. Control, domination, maybe. What was the other one?
[00:14:39] Speaker A: Control, dominance and certainty or certainty and certainty.
[00:14:43] Speaker B: Yeah. So to me those are, that's, that's a system of fear. That's a system of fear. And to me that is where we can have pity for humanity. Because if we're living in that much fear, then we obviously feel we have to control everything so that we don't feel the fear. But in another way is to say, fear is here, and why don't we play with it? Why don't we embrace it, soothe it, and realize that we're actually in this together. Because the circle means you. Like, no one in the circle has power over the other. Everyone sitting in a circle has equal power.
And if you look at the circle of life, you know, my enemy sits right beside me, and they also have no power, more power or less power than me. So it's a humbling way to look at, too, when we can feel superior to someone. Nope, they're actually equal to me on the circle too. Just like that buffalo is just like that little COVID virus is just like that. You know, Star being is, you know, like we are all. All living life is equal to each other. And when we change that perspective, then our leadership changes.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: When you talk about the system of fear, it.
It's amazing to me that you. That you said that, because that is what most people. They won't admit it, but that's what it is. Fear of not feeling important, feeling that someone is going to take over my job. Fear of them seeing that I can't do the job. There's all kinds of fear out there, and. But nobody talks about that. No one mentions it. No one mentions that word. They all, you know, it's everything about, I got to. I got to do it. No matter what, I got to do that. But I think the fear part is vulnerable to me because it just shows how real we are, and it allows us to.
To ask for help when we need it, rather than dealing with that fear, Andrea. And trying to do it when we know that we need the help or we know we were struggling.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Well, yeah. Yeah. Does not. And instead of this, when we act in ways that are fearful but don't admit it because this society is built on that, this actually is power. This is what control looks like. This is what leadership looks like. But to me, when you have a wounded humanity who are not looking at their fears, their traumas. Humans have been traumatized by Earth events, by wars, by colonization all over the globe. We are a traumatized people. And when you realize that most systems are based on trying to control the uncontrollable, the only thing we can control is our own bodies, our own feelings. Like, if we actually knew that our vulnerability is the key to our True freedom, our true power. Humanity would be very, very different because. Because the leaders, well, not the leaders of today, okay, there's many leaders of today, but also many burgeoning leaders who are not operating in the old system, which is why the old one, we're seeing it die before our eyes. We're seeing it crumble because it's pitiful. And when you've done the work, when you've looked at your own fear, then you can see the fear of others very, very, very clearly. And it's sad more than anything.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Andrea, do you believe the strongest leaders balance both masculine and feminine energies? And what does that look like?
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Oh, I 100% believe that because, you know, in order to thrive in the present system, we have to have our masculine skills intact. So we're all very good at, you know, goal orientation, you know, at completing tasks, at keeping on time. All of that stuff is like, go, go, go, go, go. Action, action, action, action. So that's. Those are great skills, but without the sacred feminine aspects of life tempering that go, go, go. Then we end up basically where we are. We can go ourselves. We can action ourselves off a cliff, and we can. So to me, things like a planetary global pandemic, for instance, is a way of showing ourselves, ourselves, like a little mirror up to ourselves to say, hmm, maybe things are out of balance. So to me, the sacred feminine aspects of life, which is nurturing, which is listening, which is receiving, which is emotional wellness and emotional expression, all of these things have been devalued as. That's not business. That's not business. That's not. That's for the home that's over there. Whereas we're walking around as broken people because that part of us has been devalued. So for leaders, if we're talking about leaders, someone that, okay, let's just look at the present day leaders. Most, most leaders are making decisions and action first without having any idea of the consequences. So to me, like, indigenous people would never create or of the past especially, I don't know if, you know, people are, you know, politicians are still, you know, connected to the present Western system, but indigenous people who follow the older ways is that you would never make decisions for a community or a population or a part of the earth without ceremony, without listening, without asking, and opening up to the spirit realm to guide us. Because from our perspective, we don't see what the fish might want to say. We don't see what Mother Earth might be trying to tell us.
We may not know what seven generations down the line will say about us. So we try and invite those voices into ceremony to say speak so that. So if we were to look. Be leaders of today through an indigenous lens, it would be that we. We come up with an idea of what we want to do. Then we would pray about it and do ceremony and then listen and receive for wisdom, and then we would act. Whereas today it's like, act first and then oops, oops, oops, oops. Gotta clean that up. Oops. Didn't think about that. Oops, oops, oops. So if the generations ahead of us learn to do it differently, where we actually value the feminine part, where we ask and then listen and receive wisdom, when we start doing that as a species, then we will finally be in relationship with the earth and with each other.
[00:20:52] Speaker A: Andrea, I'm smiling from ear to ear when you're saying listen, Talk to your people and listen. Because I think that a lot of leaders don't do that.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: They.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: You're absolutely right. They think that they have.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: They think they have to come up with all the answers.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: Well, yeah. And then. And they. They assume that what they're doing is correct. But in, you know, if they just took the time to have a conversation and, and ask. Now, I know that, you know, all the listeners out there are leaders. I know you can't talk about everything. We get that. But if you just had a conversation with people, especially the ones that are doing the grunt work in the organization, if you just had a conversation with them and just listen. I always had a rule. I've always had a rule growing up. And even as I've gotten older, I will take advice from anyone, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to use that advice or take it. But I will never shut anybody out from giving me advice or giving me their thoughts. Now, again, I won't agree with it, but that's what I do. So they can do that. And if you're taking the time to listen, I guarantee there's going to be two things. One, there it. You're going to get some probably real good feedback. And the other thing, too, is that those people that you're asking are going to feel a little bit more important because they're going to say, hey, wow, Andrea took the time to ask me something or my opinion on something that's really. I. Makes me really feel good about what I do here.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: And not. That's gonna make me move a little bit forward. Is it gonna make me want to do more work? That's not what I'M saying, but it's gonna make me feel a little bit better about all the stuff that I'm doing in the organization.
[00:22:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And just the fact of asking someone else's opinion or being. Or just being in a state of receptivity to receive wisdom from someone, some place where you didn't expect. Because a good leader knows they don't have all the answers and they shouldn't. One person doesn't hold all the answers. The circle does.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: The circle does, Absolutely. Andrea, can secret feminine help leaders better recognize and honor different lie, different lived experiences within their teams? And if so, how?
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Well, I think. I think we've sort of been touching on that is if we think of the circle being the magic symbol of the sacred feminine, or the way of thinking through the sacred feminine eyes, where it's valued. I would say that again, if we fit in the circle or we even imagine ourselves in this circle, that means that all those diverse voices, all those diverse ways of looking at the world are sitting in circle with you. And their way of looking at the world is as valid as yours. And that's a huge difference in this polarization that's being encouraged right now, because polarization is the opposite of sitting in circle and honoring the one beside you. It's very hard. I mean, it takes a bit of, you know, consciousness, evolution, really. But if one by one by one, each leader starts to recognize, wow, everyone here is a source of wisdom for me, then I will be in a receptive state to receive all that wisdom, all those diverse voices, because nobody can say, can go from the outside, go into an indigenous community and think they know what's going on.
It can't happen. It's absolutely impossible. Leaders of old, especially, you know, the white leaders that came to this land, right. They thought they had the way the leadership of the. Of the realm, of the height, height, highest order. And the truth is, they knew nothing compared to what was here. If they looked around, they could see, oh, there's no damage to the planet here.
Maybe I should have listened to that.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: And I love your answer. And the reason why I asked that is because.
So in, like, most organizations, like I know, throughout my career, I've noticed as time went on, you had a lot of people of different. Of diverse groups, right? So you could have a team of four, and you could have somebody from India, somebody from Greece, somebody from Italy, and somebody from Canada all in that four. But they're all diverse, but they all have different backgrounds. And you're absolutely right. In the circle, if they're all in a circle, you're going to come up with the similar ideas. But if you're assuming of what they're going to be thinking or what's going to motivate them or what's going to push them or what's going to keep them happy or engaged in the organization, we can't assume that we have to understand each person's different culture. And also because their background, you talk a lot about, you know, indigenous people. We don't know what fight wasn't talking to somebody who was indigenous. I wouldn't know how they grew up. I don't know what their culture was like. So by then that's going to tell. That's going to be how that person is, which is going to give me a good idea of what is going to be. It's what it's going to be like to work with them. So you're going to, you need to get to know people is where I'm going.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: Absolutely. And being in. So even, even if just adopting that philosophy is I am one person in the circle and if I'm in a receptive state, I will be open to receiving wisdom from all the different people in this or all beings in this circle. It's a very different model of leadership, isn't it?
[00:26:20] Speaker A: It certainly is. Certainly is. Andrea, before we wrap up here, what is one key takeaway you'd like our listeners to remember from this episode?
[00:26:28] Speaker B: Well, that every single person has value and that as a leader, you have value.
So if you're operating from a place of fear, that probably means that you need to do some inner work because, you know, this world is definitely addicted to creating fear and encouraging fear and encouraging division and encouraging polarization. So we're not living in an easy time. But in order to combat, using a very masculine term, in order to combat this division, this polarization that we can evolve ourselves, which means we will can't help but evolve the systems. The systems will start to crumble in a way and make room for one that values everyone. So if we work. So the main thing, like just like I started this whole podcast with is, is that if you're living a leader that works through fear, if you start looking at that fear, look at the not enough, that there's not enough time, there's not enough money, there's not enough jobs, there's not enough. If you at that fear that's underneath that, this feeling of lack, this feeling of not enoughness, if we all did our work expressing that fear, we would be able to see clearly. And so the leaders that do that are going to be way ahead of the curve.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: And for those who are listening today, my call to action is to like, share and follow this episode. Andrea, I want to take the time to thank you for coming on today. The things that I admire about you is your vulnerability, your strength, your grit and your compassion. I admire you to the fullest. You are a remarkable human and I can say for myself to those listening here, I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to connect with you and to have had the opportunity to have a conversation with you a second time counting today.
And I look forward to further conversations with you and further connections and collaboration collaborations with you.
[00:28:37] Speaker B: Well, Marci, my friend, and in the spirit of what we talked about, I received those words with grace and I'm very, very grateful for your words. I'm honored.
[00:28:48] Speaker A: Well, you're very, very welcome. On behalf of myself and my guest today, Andrea, I would like to thank you all for listening today. And until next time, be safe and remember everyone that if we all work together, we can accomplish anything you have been listening to.
[00:29:05] Speaker B: Let's Be Diverse with Andrew Stout to stay up to date with future content, Hit Subscribe.
