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We Built This Brand explores the origins, evolution, and impact of brands through conversations with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and marketing experts. Hosted by Chris Hill, the podcast offers insights into brand development, storytelling, and strategies for growth. Each episode provides actionable takeaways, highlighting challenges, lessons learned, and diverse career paths. With a focus on authenticity and reputation, it’s a valuable resource for anyone passionate about branding and business.
Bonnie Casamassima: As we're tuning in more fully to our intuition or those gut feelings or those inner knowings, often we have lived in a society for so long that has placed the answer outside of us.
Chris Hill: Welcome to We Built This Brand, the podcast where we talk to the creators and collaborators that help build brands and provide you with practical insight that you can use to help you grow your business.
Today I'm talking with Bonnie Casamassima, founder of Intuitive by Nature. Also host of the podcast, Intuitive by Nature. I met Bonnie last year, and we actually consulted with her on her podcast and helped her get it launched. And that's been a really fun experience helping see it go from just a concept through to the actual execution.
Normally we work more on the editing production side. So just being a part of the creative, being part of the marketing and the strategy piece was a lot of fun. And I really enjoyed this time with Bonnie. In this episode, we're going to talk about her business. We're going to talk about what Intuitive by Nature is, and more importantly, we're going to talk about what intuition is, how it works and how it affects business professionals.
Now, unfortunately, I will say we did have to stop this episode a little short, and I wish we could have gone longer with her, but it's a really good conversation. A lot of depth, and I definitely want to have her back on for future episodes so that we can continue to talk about intuition and its impact on people and business.
So, if you're interested in that, please let us know in the comments, please let us know anywhere online, we'd love to get feedback and hear from you on that. But, honestly, without further ado, here's my conversation with Bonnie of Intuitive by Nature.
Well, Bonnie, welcome to We Built This Brand.
Bonnie Casamassima: Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's great being here.
Chris Hill: Yeah, we met, I guess, what, last year through some random connections. I can't even remember the person who introduced us, but yeah, it just kind of happened by happenstance.
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah. I think my good friend, JD Sizemore, um, mentioned your name.
And then I think if I'm trying to remember correctly, we knew each other. I spoke on a different topic when you were with the Marketing Association. So like back during the pandemic. So it was years ago.
Chris Hill: Oh yes, you did. I remember that now. I know.
Bonnie Casamassima: It's like a whole different world. It almost feels like.
Chris Hill: Yeah.
And a whole different time. It's like, did that actually happen? Or was that just a fever dream you went through?
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah. Yeah. It's so great being here. Yeah. Thanks so much for having me on.
Chris Hill: Yeah, yeah, absolutely thrilled to have you with us today to talk about Intuitive by Nature, your business, but also the podcast that you're doing too.
I'm going to dig into that a little bit today. I want to talk about the business, how you got there. This is a really unique business. It's not something you see a lot of other people doing. So I'm really curious to learn more about that and then learn more about the podcast that you have now too, so...
With that said, let's,
let's dive into it and let's just start back at the beginning. How did this business come about?
Bonnie Casamassima: I think the, in a nutshell, I had spent the last decade in the corporate world and in research within academia as a professor of interior architecture, but focusing on the research side of things.
And along the journey, I started meditating for stress reduction and was working 60, 70 hours a week. And long story short, something about the meditation just felt really right to me, and I kept showing up to it. And the more that I deepened into a meditation practice where I was slowing everything else down, um, I had my own intuitive awakening experience. And being from the analytical realm of research and corporate America before that, it was quite the conflict for me.
And it just, you know, trying to kind of understand what this was and what is intuition, what's Are other people experiencing this? Etc. So that led me down my own personal journey of intuition and trying to understand what this awakening was, and for me, I started receiving really strong visuals in my mind's eye in a meditative state, um, which turns out a lot of people experience, which is really exciting to be in that community.
But, all of this to say, I was at this crossroads in my life. Am I a researcher and professor or am I a highly sensitive intuitive? And a good friend of mine said, well, "Bonnie, why not both?" [laughs] And I led a research project where I had the honor of interviewing 50 highly sensitive intuitives, empaths, and mediums from around the world on their journey, connecting with their intuition. And the findings from that, which I know we'll get into a little bit, were really, they were really life changing for me, and it created a pretty big pivot for me and the work that I'm honored to do. It's supporting people in connecting with their own intuition for their everyday lives.
It's, had you asked me 10 years ago, this is where I'd be today. I might not have believed you, but it's so aligned, and it's incredible being here. So that's why I'm honored to be here today with it. And what's really neat about intuition is that, you know, we had, I had people that were doctors and CPAs and nurses and therapists and psychiatrists who all had a deep connection with their intuition throughout the research. And I guess what the fire on my belly is today is how do we bring this really, um, powerful inner knowing into our everyday experiences? And our leadership and our parenting and our friendships, you name it.
So that's a little bit about the journey so far.
Chris Hill: That's really fascinating. One of the things that really interested me in what you're doing is that fact that it's not just intuition that you're focused on. You actually have data to back it up. You have research, you have a bit of a background on it. As someone who would consider themselves probably on that, I don't know if there's a scale or whatever, but probably somewhere on that intuition scale, like personally, I, I just, I'm fascinated by learning more about it.
You know, how could I use it better? How could I leverage my own instincts? If that's all it is, I'm sure it's more than that, but all those things I want to learn more about. So I'm excited that, that we get to have this conversation today.
So when you created Intuitive by Nature, like what problem does the business exactly solve?
Like what, who are you helping through this company?
Bonnie Casamassima: A wide range of people, often those that are starting to come in a deeper way into their inner knowing or their intuition. Maybe they're receiving visuals in their mind's eye or having incredibly vivid dreams or have this deep, deep gut knowing that can't explain why, it's often people that are wanting to understand that more fully and how can they tune into that into their everyday. I want to pause here. I realize we're using a word that you and I talk about a lot, but intuition might be a newer one for some people. And a way I like to explain intuition is, you know, that, that gut feeling that you feel when you meet somebody for the first time, and you can't explain why, but you're just really drawn to them and you just want to be around them and maybe you're supposed to partner with them on a business or date them, whatever, right?
There's that feeling. Like, have you ever felt that feeling before? It was like, Yeah, you can't explain why, but you just know. Or on the flip side of that, where you meet someone and maybe they have all these, um, red flags that you feel, and you're just like, "Oh, I just shouldn't be around them." So maybe, I mean, I definitely have experienced this, you go ahead and just date them for five years anyway.
Chris Hill: I was about to say, most of those are ones I look back on and I'm like, I knew it. I felt it the whole time. Why didn't I act on that?
Bonnie Casamassima: Absolutely. So that is such a beautiful example of our intuition. We can look at it as our inner knowing, our internal guidance system, a deeply sacred connection that there's a lot of research around this within quantum physics.
We could dive into all that, but really, I think many of us have probably felt these moments. I can't explain why, but your intuition knew all along, right? A lot of learnings in those multiple years of partnerships, but maybe we'll trust that intuition so we can. We can pivot a little bit more quickly.
Chris Hill: So then your company is helping people hone these skills and figure this stuff out.
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah. Yeah. Helping to create a community around it and have conversations around it. No, I'm honored to work with professionals from all walks of life. So absolutely. Supporting people through workshops. through one-on-one mentoring and through sharing the research through the podcast really to help to bring this out into the world.
Chris Hill: Yeah. So question for you, how does, how do you help? Like, or do you help businesses directly or is it mostly just individuals you work with?
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah, both. For example, with businesses, most often we would align through speaking engagements. So for example, I shared a conversation with the Let Her Speak community.
It's a local phenomenal community by Catherine Porth here in Knoxville, and went in and talked about how are you tuning into intuition for your heart led leadership. Another example is sharing a similar conversation with a large organization for their, um, for their team building and community building activities.
So, um, so that would be an example. We can go into many, but that's one of them.
Chris Hill: I stumbled across an author a few years ago called Carol, named Carol Sanford. I don't know if you've heard of her or not.
Bonnie Casamassima: Yep.
Chris Hill: And I was fascinated by the work that she had done because the book I had read was No More Feedback.
And there, very briefly, I kind of went through this phase of like, maybe I don't need to give feedback to my team anymore. Maybe we can all just, you know, learn, learn these processes and improve as a team and that'll actually make, you know, the team's mental health better. And I, I think that, uh, I learned that's not the way to do it.
I had a lot of pushback from the team, and a lot of people got frustrated because they were like, not giving me enough feedback. And I was like, well, we're supposed to be trying this and they're like, no. [laughs] I do think I took from that, you know, like the, and she talks more about like the collective conscious and some other stuff that, you know, that I, um, I understand, but it also takes everybody being on board with that, which can be its own journey to begin with, because you've got to find those people to do it. But when I think about intuition, I guess that's what comes to mind is that's kind of where my journey started with all this and how I got curious about the work that you're doing and everything else.
So, so yeah, I just found that fascinating. Didn't know if you'd heard it or not. So
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah, super fascinating, yet familiar with her work and it's beautiful, beautiful work. One of the things that's really interesting, you know, when we're starting to tune into our intuition and maybe deepen our connection with our intuition, because again, what we found in the research, um, and I want to have a huge shout out to Celeste Page Sample.
She is pivotal on helping with the data analysis and the co-host on the podcast. So hello, Celeste. So grateful for her, and as we're tuning in more fully to our intuition or those gut feelings or those inner-knowings, right? Often we have lived in a society for so long that has placed the answer outside of us.
So maybe parent to child, teacher to students, boss to employee, right? So there's a lot of social conditioning and a lot of kind of often unpacking that we work through as we're tuning in and trusting those knowings a little more fully. You know, maybe when you're going and you're hiring people, obviously we always want to check our biases.
We always want to tune into that, but really learning to trust. That inner-decision making can be a little bit of a journey. And often we see balancing it with more of a kind of gradual approach versus, okay, all the feedback to no feedback. Let's start with all the feedback. Okay. Now a little bit more self-trust and then kind of weaning off of that tends to be a really successful model.
Chris Hill: More successful than what I was doing.
Bonnie Casamassima: But I think that's our opportunities. We get to try it out. You know, it feels aligned. Let's do that. Okay. Let's learn from that. Let's pivot a little bit and. Keep growing.
Chris Hill: Yeah. It's definitely an interesting concept, and I'd love to continue to explore it because I think even if you're not like full in on all of what Sanford talks about or even the stuff about intuition, like there's something to people being responsible for themselves and making decisions for themselves and being able to understand and come to the conclusions on their own that helps build a stronger business and stronger team.
So... that's, that's what I found that was really powerful about it and why I was hoping that I could do better with it, but you know, we all live and learn.
So you've mentioned the podcast, and I'm really curious to know what, what is the purpose of your podcast, Intuitive by Nature?
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah. Well Chris, I'm so glad you asked.
[laughs] The podcast, uh, we're so excited to share it with the world, and it's a one season, it's six episodes, and it's all around unpacking the findings from the research projects where I interviewed 50 highly sensitive intuitives and mediums from around the world. So we're, we're breaking in bite-sized pieces, Celeste Page Sample and I are talking through it, sharing some of our own personal experiences, and really pulling out the patterns that we found.
One thing that's really, I think, helpful to note for the research project is it followed what's called a "Review Board Approved Protocol," and it used what's called Grounded Theory Research, which is basically, it's a very rigorous approach, and we're looking at people's lived experiences first by asking them open-ended questions.
And then from that, we look and see, you know, of these 50, 50 interviews, lots and lots of pages, scripts, are there any patterns that are emerging? Um, and obviously we're talking about the podcast, so plot twists, patterns did emerge, but that's what the podcast is all about.
Chris Hill: What might some of those patterns be?
I don't want to ruin the podcast. You know, I want people to go listen to that, but like, what, what are some highlights from that that you found really interesting?
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah, absolutely. So these were open-ended questions. And the first one that really stood out to us was that, I'm going to say it was 96% of people,
so almost everybody, which is very rare in the research world, shared that they felt strongly that we all are intuitive. It comes in many different ways for people, but they felt very strongly that we all have the opportunity to connect with this more fully should it feel aligned. The second thing that was really powerful is how people shared over and over and over again the more they developed an intentional relationship with their intuition. So these are people that are like, okay, I have these intuitive abilities, I can tune into them more fully. Let me build a relationship with them. They shared over and over how it added immeasurably to their quality of life. They shared how it reduced their stress.
It helped them to be stronger, more aligned parents. It helped them to be more confident in their decision making as leaders, just like over and over and over again. That was something that, again, was one of those like life changes, like, wow, we need to start talking about this more and more. And then the third thing that came through that was really powerful was how people shared that intuition comes in many forms.
And we talk about this a lot in the first episode. So intuition can come through those gut feelings. People described really vivid dreams. People described having visuals either in meditation or with their eyes open, maybe seeing ancestors that have passed away. For example. Um, people explained experiences where they would hear audible information that wasn't quote unquote physically in the room.
So again, a wide range. So this was just a sampling of them. What was really important with that is that when people felt deeply connected with that intuitive information or those downloads or that additional insight, sensory information, They felt incredibly grounded in their body. They felt incredibly present in their body.
We always want to hold so much space for mental well being. So yeah, it was really, it was really powerful. Those are some of the top ones.
Chris Hill: That's, that's really cool.
You mentioned people finding out about intuition in their own way, and I was curious. Listening to the podcast and one of the things that struck me was talking about like the religious aspect because I, I come from a Christian background.
I'm, I would consider myself still a Christian today. And through that, a lot of people, like if you just talk about intuition, they're going to go, "Oh, that's all the woo stuff," and everything. But the minute you say, "Well, God's really been speaking to me," they go, "Oh yeah. Yeah, God's been speaking to me too."
And I'm not, I'm not trying to conflate the two for those listening [laughs] per se, but there is something to like, listening to what you've been told. Listening to what you're feeling. Listening to those things that's really powerful, and it's just interesting how people interpret it differently in their own lives.
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah, absolutely. And, and that's another thing that came through, and I personally really resonate with is, follow what feels aligned and true for you. If it feels deeply grounded, if it feels very safe to you. I don't have it in front of me, but there's a saying that was going around, it was, um, "Intuition:
Those that follow a religion call it God. Spiritualists, maybe call it the universe. Scientists call it the placebo effects." And it went down this whole list. And then it says, "but everybody's talking about what the, what the title is, but nobody's arguing its existence." [unitelligble] And for me, I love that so much because it holds so much space for, you know, whatever this, use the language that resonates for you, and trust that deep knowing and inner wisdom. It's powerfully within us and through us is what we found in the research. So I love that you're bringing that up.
Chris Hill: Yeah. I just find that interesting. And I know being in the South, we've got a lot of folks out there that are church-goers and go, "Oh, what's the importance of this to me?"
And you know, all that. So I think it's, it's interesting to see how speaking for my own life, like there are times where I'm like, well, I should have. Listen to God. I should have followed these things, and I would have been on this better path. Or you know, I heard these things, and I acted on it, and things happened as a result. And it's, it's a hard thing, and this is probably getting a little bit off topic, but it's a hard thing like knowing what's really like something say God is telling you to do versus something that your own mind and your own brain is telling you to do, if that makes sense.
So I think there might be a difference there, but that's a whole other conversation. But, but there's, there's a lot Being able to find and listen to that small, still voice, if you will.
Bonnie Casamassima: Absolutely. And Chris, you just hit the nail on the head. What we found in the research is that's one of the biggest questions is like, how do I decipher?
Is this my intuition speaking or my organization of religion and faith? Or is it my ego talking, right? And, or is it my stress or anxiety symptoms talking? And one of the ways that came out of the research, and people shared over and over again is, when it was an intuitive information, intuitive insight, intuitive download, a clear knowing, it felt very calm, very grounded, very serene, almost, in their bodies. When it was maybe a more stress response or anxiety symptom response, it felt very tight, very, very rapid. It was repeating the message over and over and over again, which can often happen in our beautiful analytical minds, but sometimes that can take the lead when we put so much priority on it as a society.
So it's a way that we can start to really tune into the stillness that you mentioned, that kind of that knowing. And how does it feel in our body? Um, we found in the research that people often talked about using their body almost as that antenna. Do I feel grounded? Does my heart rate start to slow? Does it start to feel much calmer with it?
It connects with our neurological pathways as well, which we can get into, but the, I guess the synthesis of it is the more that we're able to find those moments of stillness, maybe it comes in meditation or gardening or creating art, the more we're really allowing ourselves, our nervous systems to downregulate, to drop into those moments of presence.
And what's happening on a neurological level often is we're shifting out of those beta brainwaves, which is what we're using when we're looking at spreadsheets often, and shifting into our alpha or theta, uh, the deepest level brainwaves, what we're seeing with other research, not the research that we conducted, well, in addition to the research that we conducted, is that when we're in those alpha and theta brainwaves, so we can think about it, those moments where we feel really present, we feel really calm and grounded. That's when our intuitive information can be understood much more clearly. So, it's really exciting.
We can start to really kind of peel back and decipher, okay, what is this? How do we tune into it? And then how do we start to use it in our everyday lives? It's, it's amazing. I think it's amazing.
Chris Hill: I, I think that's really cool and you know, I was a part of a ministry for about three years where it was kind of like a three year journey that you committed to, and it was the Christian version of what you're talking about.
It was learning to listen to God. Get out in nature or do, do what, what you can to find space, to find peace, to be able to listen and to find those quiet moments. So that's, as you're saying that, I'm kind of like, I've done that. Like, [laughs] that's, that's kind of cool.
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah, it is. I think what's so exciting about the research findings is how these were everyday experiences.
And most often, I mean, very profound experiences that people shared. And most often I'm like, wait a second, I- plot twist, I'm also intuitive, right? Like, how could we tune it out more fully? What a beautiful experience.
Chris Hill: Thank you. Yeah, it truly was on so many levels and I'd be remiss if I didn't say HumblePod probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for that.
So I'll, I'll leave it at that.
Bonnie Casamassima: Can I speak to that? And Chris, I think that, I think that in here, I'm like getting so giddy about it. I think that is the why of all this. Whatever language resonates with you, use it. If it's God, if it's universe, if it's intuition. Use that. And I feel like it's, it's our opportunity to tune into this deep guidance that we have to follow our heart led purpose.
And I feel very strongly that we as humans are unlimited if we let ourselves be. I get in my own way all the time. And I feel like our intuition is such a powerful guide in staying in that alignment or expanding into that alignment. It's really energizing. Yeah. So thanks for
Chris Hill: Your welcome. Thank you.
Well, what, what is next?
So you've got six episodes, which by the way, if you haven't already, you should go listen to the podcast. I think you've got four or three, three live right now, plus the trailer. So you, everybody should go listen to that. Uh, by the time this is out, there's a good chance that y'all will have, um, released everything.
But yeah, go listen, check it out. We'll have links in the show notes to that. But what's the future of Intuitive by Nature? You said this is just one season for the podcast. What about the business? You've done the research. Are you doing more research? Are you expanding into other areas? What's, what's next for you?
Bonnie Casamassima: Um, now that we have the foundation with the research, we're really excited to share this with the world, [laughs] right? So we're looking at a second season for Intuitive by Nature. And that's going to be, now that we have the research foundation laid, um, the second season is going to focus more on conversations like this.
Like, how are people using this sometimes ethereal concept in their everyday world, right? Leadership, parenting, et cetera. That's one piece. And the other piece is really sharing this through, um, through workshops, through speaking engagements, through immersive experiences to bring this to people, um, wherever they are in their journey and to, to create a really strong sense of community and conversation around it.
Just like this one right here.
Chris Hill: Well, that's, that's great.
We always wrap up. I mean, this is a marketing branding podcast. We always wrap up with asking the question, what brand do you admire the most right now? So what does that for you?
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah, I love this question. And to come to mind, I'm a huge fan of Brené Brown which I can, I can see her as a brand, but she's a social scientist who's researched around vulnerability, and her blend of bringing humanness to this rigor of research is phenomenal.
And then a second one is Dr. Joe Dispenza, who talks a lot about what's happening on a neurological level with meditative states and connecting into our expanded consciousness, our expanded potential. So those two, I think what I'm inspired by both of those is their ability to take this Intense amount of data and pull it into really accessible conversations with that.
So very inspired by that and ultimately to support people in their life journey to be the most amazing version of themselves that they can be. And it's already inside of them.
Chris Hill: That's great. Yeah. Brené Brown. We've- I've definitely heard her be an inspiration for folks, um, throughout the years that we've been doing podcast production work because she has a good podcast and obviously the content she creates has inspired some of the shows that we've produced.
So, Bonnie, thank you so much for coming on. I feel like we could keep talking for forever. Um, unfortunately today, as you know, I have a hard stop, but, you know, where can people connect with you and find out more about Intuitive by Nature?
Bonnie Casamassima: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, Chris, it's been so wonderful being here with you and hello to all of your listeners.
It's been wonderful being together. You can check out the podcast, it's intuitivebynature.com/podcast. You can also find us on Instagram, but intuitivebynature.com is gonna be where the main landing page of everything is.
Chris Hill: Great. Well, Bonnie, thank you so much for coming on today.
Bonnie Casamassima: Of course. Thanks so much for having me.
Chris Hill: Thanks for checking out this episode of We Build This Brand. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe on your player of choice. And also check out our website at webuildthisbrand.com. If you liked this episode, please give it a five star review and be sure to share it with your friends so that we can continue to build this brand.