this really unusual moment in history , we do things that had scared us before ? Why let fear be the determining factor ? All the things that scare us and challenge us about these moments have built into them opportunities to do things more powerfully with less fear .
P : There ’ s a line from one of your speeches that jumps out in the context of thinking about the spa industry : “ Your purpose is not what you do ; it ’ s what happens to other people when you do what you do .” Can you explain that distinction and why you think it ’ s important ? S : I don ’ t know what the official statistic would be for people searching for purpose , but I would say most people think that purpose is a thing you do , and that ’ s where we get tripped up . If my purpose is to play the piano , well , that ’ s got to be a zillion other people ’ s purposes then . So who gets to have purpose ? The one who plays the quickest or knows the most music ? But then , whenever I missed a note , I would feel awful about myself — I can ’ t be all hung up on this instrument . That ’ s when I looked around and saw that everybody was defining purpose by their positions , their titles and the jobs they had .
When I started speaking from stage , I realized people were coming for the music , but something else was happening within them , and that ’ s
something I was sparking . What if my purpose was that thing that was being sparked ? What if I decide to intentionally offer that every single time ? That one question changed my entire life and career . Having true purpose means I rarely feel anything like exhaustion . What I feel is spent , which is very different than depletion . Being spent means that you exchange something and you get something back . It ’ s self-fulfilling ; it refuels you , whereas jobs without purpose can take from you and leave you feeling exhausted and bewildered . Purpose is a life-giving substance , so I love helping people uncover what it truly is because I feel like it gives us more life , no matter what we ’ re doing . ■
What are your favorite hobbies ? I love working out ; I really do . I like kind of a bootcamp style workout . To me , it ’ s not a workout unless there ’ s at least a little bit of fear that you might not make it through the workout alive ! And if I ’ m not working out , I love reading and listening to books .
How would you spend your ideal day off ? It ’ ll sound like I ’ m pandering to your audience , but I promise it ’ s true : I would go to a spa ! You can ’ t go wrong with that .
What have you read and enjoyed lately ? Right now , maybe because of everything that happened in Afghanistan earlier in the fall , I have been devouring all things Middle East History and CIA-type spy reading . If I could come back in another life , I ’ d like to be Jade Bond , undercover spy .
What is your favorite piece to perform ? Rachmaninoff ’ s “ C Sharp Minor Prelude .” I ’ ve probably played it onstage since at least 2016 , and I have not fallen out of love with it yet . I ’ ve always been drawn to minor keys . I don ’ t play much that ’ s happy and bright — I always like fast , furious , dark and dramatic . That ’ s more my style .
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2022 ■ PULSE 15