WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.510 --> 00:00:01.920 Welcome to Unmasked. 00:00:02.340 --> 00:00:06.780 I'm Olga Kaman and this is the show about what lies beneath. 00:00:09.510 --> 00:00:15.720 Welcome to the very first episode of a show that's been over six years in the 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:24.660 making, and I'll tell you why in a moment before we begin, I just have to stop 00:00:25.290 --> 00:00:28.740 and thank you for finding this space. 00:00:30.240 --> 00:00:35.640 The space that you and me created, not randomly. 00:00:38.070 --> 00:00:40.080 Maybe right now you're in transition. 00:00:40.680 --> 00:00:47.040 Maybe right now you're experiencing the shift in your career, in your life, 00:00:47.190 --> 00:00:49.379 in your health, in your relationship. 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:53.640 Maybe nothing dramatic happened in your life. 00:00:54.690 --> 00:01:01.170 Maybe opposite everything did, and for the past year or two, you probably 00:01:01.170 --> 00:01:05.640 experienced a lifetime of a journey 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:13.145 or maybe everything looks pretty, pretty good on the outside on paper. 00:01:15.205 --> 00:01:17.520 By good standards, 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:23.220 maybe you have an amazing career, great spouse. 00:01:24.490 --> 00:01:30.160 Awesome kids who achieved a lot or on the path to achieve a lot. 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:38.920 Everything looks perfect on paper or opposite everything already falling 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:42.550 apart, and you have no idea why. 00:01:43.090 --> 00:01:43.840 And when 00:01:47.110 --> 00:01:50.980 maybe you kind of person who built things and you figured things 00:01:50.980 --> 00:01:54.910 out, you held a lot together over the years, you became stronger, 00:01:54.970 --> 00:01:58.480 more capable, someone to rely on. 00:01:59.950 --> 00:02:04.175 Still something feels very different now. 00:02:06.595 --> 00:02:12.745 Something that's like a tiny whisper that's not even obvious to other people 00:02:14.335 --> 00:02:18.445 and everything looks fine on surface, and you would say, yes, I'm fine. 00:02:18.445 --> 00:02:19.255 I'm fine. 00:02:21.385 --> 00:02:28.945 But maybe you wake up at night and something in your soul is steering 00:02:29.605 --> 00:02:35.125 that soul wrenching feeling that keeps you up many, many nights. 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:42.680 As if the life that you've built does not fit anymore and you don't understand why. 00:02:47.660 --> 00:02:49.550 If this is you, welcome home. 00:02:53.930 --> 00:03:00.440 I'm Olga Carman, and together we create the space where 00:03:00.440 --> 00:03:02.705 we just gonna be and listen. 00:03:03.160 --> 00:03:11.440 And take masks off and see what's beneath the surface, and listen to that 00:03:11.440 --> 00:03:19.420 tiny voice of your own spirit, of your own soul that wants to come through 00:03:21.730 --> 00:03:23.350 and want you to hear it. 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:27.190 Welcome to Unmasked. 00:03:37.990 --> 00:03:38.920 Welcome home. 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:46.240 I'm really, really happy that we found each other and this 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.300 space is becoming only ours. 00:03:52.359 --> 00:03:54.220 You see, I'm just like you. 00:03:54.850 --> 00:04:03.010 I went through a lot, a lot in my 40 plus years, and I've experienced. 00:04:03.780 --> 00:04:09.870 The systems around me and the voices and the people, they were not the right 00:04:09.870 --> 00:04:17.970 match anymore, not the right match for what my soul was craving, and I felt 00:04:17.970 --> 00:04:22.470 it louder and louder every single day. 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:28.620 I don't know if you can relate to that, but it was like a whisper in my soul. 00:04:29.595 --> 00:04:33.705 Like a sound of a bee in the forest, like the crack of fire by the 00:04:33.705 --> 00:04:41.775 fireplace, like the snow in my hometown underneath my feet, like silence. 00:04:42.105 --> 00:04:43.185 That wasn't empty. 00:04:44.265 --> 00:04:45.105 It was alive. 00:04:47.445 --> 00:04:51.885 And that tiny voice, that's intuition. 00:04:53.715 --> 00:04:55.125 That was my spirit. 00:04:56.354 --> 00:05:04.335 Calling me for something way bigger than me, way scarier than I could ever imagine. 00:05:05.325 --> 00:05:11.414 And that voice, it doesn't care about your titles, doesn't care about your 00:05:11.414 --> 00:05:17.354 achievements, the money, the roles that you play, something inside of you 00:05:17.354 --> 00:05:20.565 just doesn't sit the same way anymore. 00:05:21.495 --> 00:05:26.955 The way you've been living, the way you've been showing up, even the 00:05:26.955 --> 00:05:29.295 way you've been seeing yourself, 00:05:32.445 --> 00:05:37.725 and the life that you built became way too small 00:05:39.915 --> 00:05:41.475 and you can't explain it. 00:05:44.145 --> 00:05:47.595 And sometimes you get those. 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:53.460 Random thoughts and you think you're crazy for feeling this way, for 00:05:53.460 --> 00:05:55.500 experiencing the life this way. 00:05:56.640 --> 00:05:59.850 And the worst part you feel alone. 00:06:01.500 --> 00:06:04.920 You definitely feel that you are the only one going through all 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:09.570 these changes, all these shifts, everything is perfect on paper. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:10.260 We're opposite. 00:06:10.260 --> 00:06:11.760 Everything fell apart, right? 00:06:14.130 --> 00:06:16.050 And you feel lonely. 00:06:19.485 --> 00:06:20.775 And no one understands you 00:06:23.685 --> 00:06:31.095 well, that's why we created this space, this podcast 00:06:33.435 --> 00:06:35.325 for people like me and you 00:06:38.205 --> 00:06:39.465 for this kind of moment. 00:06:41.640 --> 00:06:47.010 Where we can feel each other, we can hear conversations, we can see the mask fall. 00:06:50.370 --> 00:06:56.580 And for that moment when you feel like no one understands you, when nothing is 00:06:56.580 --> 00:07:02.730 clear, when it's all in your head and you are over analyzing and thinking, and 00:07:05.070 --> 00:07:06.655 don't even see the way out of it. 00:07:08.055 --> 00:07:11.685 Not in your soul, not in your life, not on paper. 00:07:13.395 --> 00:07:18.345 That moment when you just exhale and you let it be, 00:07:20.985 --> 00:07:27.405 and this podcast is the space not for when you have all the answers in your 00:07:27.405 --> 00:07:31.695 life, but for that in between moment. 00:07:33.150 --> 00:07:39.300 That next level you feel, and you know it's there, but you can't name it yet. 00:07:41.310 --> 00:07:43.050 You know, something is shifting. 00:07:43.350 --> 00:07:45.150 You know you are still growing. 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:50.250 You know you are tired of doing it from the outside in. 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:58.290 You are tired of authorities, gurus, teachers, and everyone else around 00:07:58.290 --> 00:08:00.810 you telling how to live your life. 00:08:01.110 --> 00:08:02.820 What's the right thing to do? 00:08:04.140 --> 00:08:07.620 You feel it's time to reverse it. 00:08:08.940 --> 00:08:16.050 And start hearing your own voice that comes straight from your 00:08:16.050 --> 00:08:18.870 soul, straight from your spirit, 00:08:20.880 --> 00:08:29.250 and it's time to stop listening to authorities, gurus, and everyone 00:08:29.250 --> 00:08:35.400 telling you how to leave your life better, more successful, more fulfilled. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:40.680 That era is gone and you know it. 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:43.050 You feel it in your core, 00:08:45.870 --> 00:08:47.040 but that's in between. 00:08:48.180 --> 00:08:49.350 There is nothing new yet. 00:08:50.280 --> 00:08:55.440 You don't know where to go, and the question comes, how 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:57.600 do you trust your own voice? 00:08:58.590 --> 00:09:00.810 How do you know you are not crazy? 00:09:02.850 --> 00:09:06.990 Well, this podcast is exactly for that. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:14.640 I'm not here to teach you my guess who I interview are not here to teach you, 00:09:15.300 --> 00:09:21.090 even though they're the most amazing, smartest, coolest people in the world. 00:09:22.350 --> 00:09:26.490 I was fortunate enough to interview in my past projects Kobe 00:09:26.490 --> 00:09:29.520 Bryant, Mel Robbins, Simon Sinek. 00:09:31.305 --> 00:09:38.955 Many, many other billionaires, astronauts, Olympians, and regular people just like 00:09:38.955 --> 00:09:42.675 me and you, but that's not the point. 00:09:45.225 --> 00:09:47.595 That's not the point for their titles. 00:09:49.005 --> 00:09:56.595 This podcast is for people, big souls, big spirits. 00:09:58.245 --> 00:10:00.765 Who know that they're here 00:10:03.135 --> 00:10:05.985 to be the vessel to deliver the message. 00:10:07.935 --> 00:10:13.965 And when the masks fall, and you'll see it on the podcast, the 00:10:13.965 --> 00:10:15.824 conversation just becomes deeper, 00:10:18.370 --> 00:10:18.860 more real. 00:10:21.194 --> 00:10:24.915 You'll see it, you'll experience it, and you'll see. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.070 The creator's magic in it, and you'll hear exactly what you need to hear in 00:10:32.070 --> 00:10:34.980 this podcast just for your next step. 00:10:36.630 --> 00:10:44.460 And you always, always be guided to look back inside to 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:48.210 what your own voice tells you. 00:10:49.800 --> 00:10:51.450 No one knows better than you. 00:10:52.470 --> 00:10:56.040 What to do, how to do, and what's best for you. 00:10:57.210 --> 00:11:03.750 And this podcast is exactly for that to give you and me and 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:07.530 people who will surround us space, 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:15.840 space to be, space to feel, space to experience. 00:11:17.640 --> 00:11:20.220 I didn't create it because I had everything figured out. 00:11:21.045 --> 00:11:27.555 I created because I didn't, I did not have a space to go. 00:11:27.915 --> 00:11:32.025 I did not have people to talk to when I was going through my own 00:11:32.025 --> 00:11:35.625 shift for the past six, seven years. 00:11:37.035 --> 00:11:42.104 And because I needed this space for myself, I needed people around me where 00:11:42.104 --> 00:11:46.814 I can share what I'm going through without having to explain it perfectly. 00:11:48.045 --> 00:11:49.635 And I needed support group. 00:11:50.685 --> 00:11:52.035 They're just gonna be there for me. 00:11:53.505 --> 00:11:55.215 I created this podcast 00:11:57.735 --> 00:11:59.055 for the past six years. 00:11:59.055 --> 00:12:03.495 I've been in a process where the outside, nothing really changed. 00:12:03.645 --> 00:12:09.015 My life, looked amazing and better and better Every single year. 00:12:10.575 --> 00:12:15.645 I have an amazing husband, beautiful family, great kids. 00:12:16.950 --> 00:12:22.560 My husband Alex, we've been married for almost 14 years. 00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:29.820 I have a almost 17-year-old at this moment and almost 11-year-old. 00:12:30.420 --> 00:12:33.540 Eva is my older one, and SFI is younger. 00:12:34.590 --> 00:12:38.700 They both are co-creators of the Dream Big podcast. 00:12:40.170 --> 00:12:42.300 They are the ones who interviewed Kobe Bryant. 00:12:44.964 --> 00:12:52.500 Simon Sinek and our family is just a loving, beautiful, awesome family 00:12:53.550 --> 00:12:56.040 that we created from nothing. 00:12:56.520 --> 00:12:57.209 I would say. 00:12:57.599 --> 00:12:59.969 I came here to this country as an immigrant. 00:13:00.209 --> 00:13:06.300 At the age of 21, I had $300 in my pocket, barely spoken English. 00:13:06.300 --> 00:13:07.020 No job. 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:10.770 As a matter of fact, my first job, very first job was here 00:13:11.010 --> 00:13:15.300 selling, selling ice cream in Los Angeles at the Dodger Stadium. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:21.600 All I could say is $3 ice cream, and I was smiling, 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:31.140 and Nana became single mom at the age of 28, Nana got married. 00:13:32.130 --> 00:13:34.530 With my best friend Alex. 00:13:34.860 --> 00:13:41.610 I met him on the airplane actually when we were 23, but Divine has its own timing 00:13:42.390 --> 00:13:44.400 and everything happened for a reason. 00:13:45.959 --> 00:13:47.220 I became single mom. 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:48.150 I opened up. 00:13:48.585 --> 00:13:52.395 Great business and, uh, for the Russian speaking community. 00:13:52.395 --> 00:13:57.255 I led seminars, events, thousands of people's events. 00:13:57.795 --> 00:13:59.835 I communicated with the best speakers. 00:13:59.835 --> 00:14:05.295 I brought them to the new markets, created online products for them, podcasts, 00:14:05.295 --> 00:14:10.245 media communication, traveling, speaking on stages, everything, you name it. 00:14:10.275 --> 00:14:17.265 My career was amazing, and yet I had a calling to close my business. 00:14:20.925 --> 00:14:26.985 I closed it in 2022 and it was the best decision ever and the highlight of my 00:14:26.985 --> 00:14:31.965 career when everything was great, when I had thousands of people going through 00:14:31.965 --> 00:14:37.845 my courses and, but something inside of me was shifting, changing rapidly, 00:14:38.295 --> 00:14:41.505 layers after layers after layers so fast. 00:14:41.805 --> 00:14:43.635 I couldn't comprehend it. 00:14:45.075 --> 00:14:46.365 It was so strange. 00:14:47.594 --> 00:14:50.564 At some point I stopped even trying to understand it. 00:14:51.464 --> 00:14:53.265 I stopped trying to control it. 00:14:53.265 --> 00:14:56.324 I stopped trying to name it, label it. 00:14:56.895 --> 00:15:03.494 I, I just exhaled, put my hands down and said, creator, if this 00:15:03.494 --> 00:15:06.074 is your plan, I'm up for it. 00:15:06.795 --> 00:15:10.395 Take me to the best place, you know, is for me. 00:15:12.015 --> 00:15:18.915 So many nights, so many days, and I tears were just streaming down my face. 00:15:18.915 --> 00:15:22.485 I had no idea why something was shifting and changing. 00:15:24.225 --> 00:15:26.595 Again, on the outside, everything looked fine. 00:15:26.595 --> 00:15:29.025 My husband didn't even understand half of it. 00:15:29.385 --> 00:15:32.835 I was sharing partially because he, he was busy. 00:15:33.465 --> 00:15:36.975 Someone has to work right while someone else who going through 00:15:36.975 --> 00:15:40.155 such a huge shift and I just. 00:15:41.425 --> 00:15:44.965 Chose not to bother him because I thought he would not understand. 00:15:45.175 --> 00:15:48.745 Only after I started opening up, and I knew it wasn't depression, but I could 00:15:49.285 --> 00:15:54.625 just lay in bed for hours and hours and days, and my husband's like, are you okay? 00:15:54.685 --> 00:15:55.585 I, I'm worried. 00:15:55.585 --> 00:15:57.295 Do we need to take you to the hospital? 00:15:57.295 --> 00:15:58.345 I was like, no, it's fine. 00:15:59.005 --> 00:16:01.435 But I felt like a huge. 00:16:03.630 --> 00:16:09.240 Energy just like pined me down to bed in bed and I couldn't move. 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:11.460 I couldn't get up at night. 00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:14.970 I would wake up at 3:00 AM in the morning and I would cry, and my 00:16:14.970 --> 00:16:21.780 soul was just like, it was the weirdest, soul wrenching feeling 00:16:21.780 --> 00:16:24.840 as if I was, my breath was closing. 00:16:26.250 --> 00:16:28.320 Some people labeled the panic attacks. 00:16:28.350 --> 00:16:28.740 It wasn't it. 00:16:31.425 --> 00:16:33.735 Something was moving through me. 00:16:36.015 --> 00:16:36.975 I just allowed it. 00:16:37.515 --> 00:16:44.505 I just became observer, and that's when everything started changing. 00:16:47.265 --> 00:16:51.930 Masks started falling away quietly, one after another. 00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:56.085 All of a sudden, I wasn't perfect wife anymore. 00:16:56.085 --> 00:16:56.890 I stayed in bed. 00:16:58.755 --> 00:17:04.034 I wasn't a such a shiny, bright person that I used to know 00:17:04.034 --> 00:17:05.744 myself and everyone around me. 00:17:06.135 --> 00:17:08.474 I was always light, I was always positive. 00:17:08.474 --> 00:17:12.915 I was always happy and great and everything else ev, 00:17:12.915 --> 00:17:14.264 everything looked great. 00:17:14.625 --> 00:17:15.795 I wasn't that anymore. 00:17:15.944 --> 00:17:17.085 Darl came off. 00:17:17.744 --> 00:17:19.244 I wasn't good mom anymore. 00:17:19.575 --> 00:17:23.325 I was missing kids' pickup time at school. 00:17:23.805 --> 00:17:25.155 I was not showing up on time. 00:17:25.155 --> 00:17:27.105 I was not showing up for my friends anymore. 00:17:28.365 --> 00:17:34.635 I was snappy, I was mean, and I could not understand what was happening. 00:17:37.605 --> 00:17:40.545 Thank God for people around me who just stayed. 00:17:42.045 --> 00:17:43.395 My husband was one of them. 00:17:44.415 --> 00:17:49.995 My friends later showed up and when I was trying to say, oh my God, 00:17:49.995 --> 00:17:51.945 you have no idea what's happening. 00:17:52.305 --> 00:17:54.675 They're like, yeah, we know, and. 00:17:55.260 --> 00:17:58.920 People who I didn't even expect to be there for me. 00:18:00.450 --> 00:18:06.210 Old friends started falling off, old friendships, betrayals coming in. 00:18:07.020 --> 00:18:08.910 It was so weird. 00:18:11.070 --> 00:18:14.100 It wasn't like a dramatic on the outside, but for me it was. 00:18:16.260 --> 00:18:19.800 Thank God I didn't destroy my life because I know a lot of people did. 00:18:20.100 --> 00:18:22.919 They start, these energies are coming through and they start 00:18:22.919 --> 00:18:28.020 just really destroying their life, thinking that someone else is 00:18:28.020 --> 00:18:30.145 the reason for the way they feel. 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.800 Something higher than me gave me the wisdom. 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:41.850 Thank all the energies around us. 00:18:43.095 --> 00:18:47.264 But my relationship actually became deeper through this. 00:18:48.075 --> 00:18:50.385 First of all, relationship with myself. 00:18:51.045 --> 00:18:52.725 I started listening myself. 00:18:54.405 --> 00:19:01.545 My connection with God became deeper, more clear, and I'm not even 00:19:01.545 --> 00:19:03.254 talking about religion right now. 00:19:05.745 --> 00:19:07.290 I'm not such a religious person. 00:19:08.895 --> 00:19:13.095 I hear a lot of wisdom in every religion, but I believe in something 00:19:13.095 --> 00:19:15.254 greater and something bigger than us. 00:19:16.725 --> 00:19:21.885 My relationship with my kids became stronger, not through forcing. 00:19:21.885 --> 00:19:26.445 There's such a powerhouse, both of them, especially my older one, Eva. 00:19:28.215 --> 00:19:29.775 She didn't come for me. 00:19:29.805 --> 00:19:33.225 She came through me as a powerhouse. 00:19:34.155 --> 00:19:37.575 You listen to her interviews at the Dream Big podcast at the age of six 00:19:37.575 --> 00:19:38.985 and seven, you know what I mean? 00:19:40.425 --> 00:19:41.955 There was a time of separation. 00:19:41.955 --> 00:19:43.875 She was like 14, 15. 00:19:43.965 --> 00:19:45.255 Now she's almost 17, 00:19:47.415 --> 00:19:52.155 and something inside of me was completely transforming and I 00:19:52.155 --> 00:19:53.445 couldn't understand what it was. 00:19:55.050 --> 00:20:00.660 It was so hard to explain because from the outside, again, everything looked 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:07.500 fine and beautiful, and that made it even harder because no one understood. 00:20:08.159 --> 00:20:09.449 What is she struggling with? 00:20:09.600 --> 00:20:10.740 What's wrong with her? 00:20:11.040 --> 00:20:11.820 Look at her. 00:20:12.449 --> 00:20:13.470 Is she crazy? 00:20:13.679 --> 00:20:16.889 Like she has a beautiful house, amazing family. 00:20:17.520 --> 00:20:19.500 Every career, everything. 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:21.960 Traveling nonstop every single month. 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:23.370 Somewhere in a new country. 00:20:23.370 --> 00:20:28.260 From Alaska to Siberia to Hawaii, everywhere in between, 00:20:31.470 --> 00:20:32.730 but I kept showing up. 00:20:33.585 --> 00:20:39.555 Every single day, and I'm sure you, if you listening to this, you've 00:20:39.555 --> 00:20:46.215 experienced some, some of it or maybe some more to come and you're still 00:20:46.215 --> 00:20:52.875 functioning and you still live your life, but something is deeper happening. 00:20:54.780 --> 00:20:56.610 I personally couldn't hold it anymore. 00:20:57.870 --> 00:21:03.030 I started sharing with those friends who came along, one person and another, 00:21:05.280 --> 00:21:10.770 and unexpectedly, and very quietly I heard the voice. 00:21:11.490 --> 00:21:12.180 It's time. 00:21:12.990 --> 00:21:16.980 It's time to launch something bigger, start sharing it wider. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:20.010 More people need to hear it. 00:21:21.659 --> 00:21:22.230 And I did. 00:21:23.399 --> 00:21:25.470 I recorded very first interview. 00:21:25.530 --> 00:21:30.300 It wasn't even under this name of the podcast, different podcast, 00:21:30.419 --> 00:21:33.270 almost, almost a year ago actually. 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:37.830 But the name didn't sit right, the concept didn't sit right. 00:21:37.889 --> 00:21:39.419 I, I don't know, I just couldn't. 00:21:39.854 --> 00:21:45.405 And the time passed and the summer came, and it was very, very transformative. 00:21:45.495 --> 00:21:48.854 Very like nothing that I've ever experienced before. 00:21:49.514 --> 00:21:55.544 I went to so many different places as, as if each place had some key for me, 00:21:55.544 --> 00:21:59.475 some, some code that I was experiencing. 00:22:00.270 --> 00:22:04.920 Tolum in Mexico, Siberia, my roots. 00:22:05.220 --> 00:22:08.460 That's where my family is from and where they still live. 00:22:09.570 --> 00:22:14.070 I went to the mountains a lot, rivers Nature. 00:22:15.510 --> 00:22:24.420 Met amazing new people, uk, Italy, and my journey and this. 00:22:27.390 --> 00:22:33.660 Came from one very, very special place, not by accident, but 00:22:33.660 --> 00:22:36.540 in meant to be from Venice. 00:22:38.730 --> 00:22:43.770 That's where this original mask, that's the symbol of unmask came from. 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:51.420 You see, sometimes things happen not to punish you. 00:22:53.205 --> 00:22:56.655 Not to steer you away from something more important, 00:22:59.324 --> 00:23:03.885 but to lead you step by step, guide you step by step. 00:23:06.105 --> 00:23:07.155 And I believe 00:23:09.615 --> 00:23:14.834 something bigger than me wants this podcast to be alive 00:23:17.834 --> 00:23:20.084 quietly, unexpectedly. 00:23:20.865 --> 00:23:25.004 Even if this space is just for me and you, that's all what matters. 00:23:27.645 --> 00:23:34.425 I know that together we are gonna create the space, a space where we're gonna 00:23:34.425 --> 00:23:43.545 feel safe to speak, to be understood, to listen, and to be very, very real. 00:23:46.395 --> 00:23:48.915 As you know, nothing is by accident. 00:23:49.950 --> 00:23:53.370 We, me and you did not meet by accident. 00:23:54.060 --> 00:23:58.080 You did not click on this podcast by accident. 00:23:59.100 --> 00:24:01.980 We didn't hear each other stories by accident. 00:24:02.100 --> 00:24:06.120 We're not gonna hear any stories on this podcast from 00:24:06.180 --> 00:24:08.820 any of our guests by accidents. 00:24:09.840 --> 00:24:11.520 It was already preplanned. 00:24:12.540 --> 00:24:13.920 We just needed to show up 00:24:16.320 --> 00:24:16.920 and I knew. 00:24:18.750 --> 00:24:23.460 At the time where this idea came through me, I didn't create it. 00:24:23.550 --> 00:24:24.420 It came through me. 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:28.530 I wasn't only one going through this. 00:24:31.050 --> 00:24:35.730 There's so many people right now who have done the work, build the life, 00:24:36.120 --> 00:24:40.920 reach certain level, and suddenly feel that it doesn't fully match anymore. 00:24:42.930 --> 00:24:47.040 Not because something's wrong or maybe opposite, everything fell apart. 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:50.790 But because something is evolving, something is 00:24:50.790 --> 00:24:52.710 moving, something is shifting. 00:24:54.750 --> 00:24:59.010 And I saw so many stories like that already through so many people 00:24:59.010 --> 00:25:04.440 that I communicated with and openly shared my real story, my truth, 00:25:04.770 --> 00:25:06.390 everything that I was going through. 00:25:07.275 --> 00:25:16.965 So many people opened up and finally said, wow, thank you for sharing. 00:25:17.685 --> 00:25:22.095 I was going through the same thing or similar thing, and 00:25:22.095 --> 00:25:24.045 I had no idea what it was. 00:25:24.135 --> 00:25:24.615 I was alone. 00:25:27.795 --> 00:25:30.855 I knew we needed a space. 00:25:32.925 --> 00:25:34.395 We're not gonna fix anyone. 00:25:35.280 --> 00:25:37.110 We are not gonna teach anyone. 00:25:37.650 --> 00:25:39.570 We're not gonna be guru for anyone. 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:43.050 We can't even rush this process. 00:25:43.770 --> 00:25:44.940 It's so individual. 00:25:47.280 --> 00:25:53.850 But because this process cannot be manufactured, rushed, predicted, 00:25:55.740 --> 00:25:57.870 it's very, very personal. 00:25:58.140 --> 00:25:59.640 It's deeply personal. 00:26:01.845 --> 00:26:04.935 'cause of that, you're gonna feel your own pace. 00:26:05.595 --> 00:26:07.455 You're gonna feel your own frequency. 00:26:08.175 --> 00:26:13.065 You'll feel what resonates on this podcast for you from each guest 00:26:16.155 --> 00:26:22.095 and through these conversations, through listening, through being present, you'll 00:26:22.095 --> 00:26:24.524 start hearing your own voice again. 00:26:28.665 --> 00:26:32.415 This podcast has a story. 00:26:33.675 --> 00:26:34.845 How this came about. 00:26:36.585 --> 00:26:42.855 Uh, as I mentioned, I was in Venice and it was my last stop before I was 00:26:42.855 --> 00:26:48.195 returning to Los Angeles, where we live, to California, and I was supposed 00:26:48.195 --> 00:26:49.815 to be there only for a couple of days. 00:26:49.815 --> 00:26:51.165 I was traveling with sfi. 00:26:51.165 --> 00:26:54.015 I took her to see my parents in Siberia. 00:26:55.169 --> 00:26:59.970 And I was supposed to be there for just two days exploring, seeing the touristy 00:26:59.970 --> 00:27:02.550 things and just go somewhere else. 00:27:03.090 --> 00:27:08.669 But I had that extra time and plans changed, and I decided to stay in 00:27:08.669 --> 00:27:11.010 Venice and decided to slow it down. 00:27:11.820 --> 00:27:13.830 We moved from the hotel to Airbnb. 00:27:14.760 --> 00:27:15.990 We took it slow. 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:17.429 We explored. 00:27:18.284 --> 00:27:24.254 I ran every morning and experienced Venice, um, in a very beautiful local way. 00:27:25.245 --> 00:27:30.614 And then there were couple days before we left, there was this mask making workshop. 00:27:31.814 --> 00:27:33.764 Nothing serious, nothing crazy. 00:27:33.764 --> 00:27:37.514 I thought it would be fun for me and Sophia to go to, but because I was at 00:27:37.514 --> 00:27:44.834 the end of my very, very big, big, big shift, um, and so many things happened 00:27:44.834 --> 00:27:46.995 at the same time and so many levels. 00:27:48.345 --> 00:27:49.544 I thought, you know what? 00:27:49.905 --> 00:27:54.435 It would be great to just go and take my mind off everything that's 00:27:54.435 --> 00:27:58.215 happening, and that was the final point. 00:28:00.615 --> 00:28:05.655 At that workshop, I created a mask that you see on the thumbnail of this 00:28:05.655 --> 00:28:14.475 podcast, black and white, but not in the way you would expect dark became light. 00:28:15.420 --> 00:28:21.210 Light became dark, and in the center you'll see consciousness. 00:28:23.310 --> 00:28:28.230 When I took the mask, I placed the objects and it was supposed to be the 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:32.610 owl and the wing and the heart on one side, and was supposed to be white. 00:28:34.260 --> 00:28:38.040 And on the other side, the dark was supposed to be the devil. 00:28:38.040 --> 00:28:42.330 The sculpt, the everything that usually represents dark. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:46.050 But as soon as I took the paint, I could not do it. 00:28:48.360 --> 00:28:50.790 And the phrase came to me, one phrase. 00:28:52.230 --> 00:28:56.850 Not everything is as it seems. 00:28:58.889 --> 00:29:06.915 You see so many times in life we think that what we think is dark. 00:29:09.840 --> 00:29:10.709 It's actually light. 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:12.389 It brings us back to light. 00:29:12.810 --> 00:29:18.419 And when we think what's light has actually shadows, not accepted 00:29:18.419 --> 00:29:24.270 shadows, but shadows and might not be as light as we think. 00:29:26.415 --> 00:29:26.495 Hmm. 00:29:29.550 --> 00:29:36.330 That's when everything clicked for me in my own life and in this podcast. 00:29:38.325 --> 00:29:43.305 'cause we live through layers, through roles, through identities, 00:29:43.665 --> 00:29:47.925 through expectations, through versions of ourselves that were once 00:29:47.925 --> 00:29:51.915 true, but not fully true anymore. 00:29:53.565 --> 00:29:55.845 And that's where Unmask was born. 00:29:57.225 --> 00:30:03.225 Not as a concept, not as a pretty idea, but as a deep, deep knowing. 00:30:07.034 --> 00:30:10.665 To see what's beneath the surface. 00:30:11.685 --> 00:30:15.375 What happens if all the mask fall? 00:30:16.155 --> 00:30:16.905 Who do we see? 00:30:18.405 --> 00:30:25.395 Who is that beautiful spirit, beautiful soul looking at us in the mirror? 00:30:28.965 --> 00:30:32.925 This podcast is not about me. 00:30:33.824 --> 00:30:37.034 It's not about my guests, and I'm sure they're gonna be amazing. 00:30:38.115 --> 00:30:39.554 At the time of this recording. 00:30:40.004 --> 00:30:44.895 I already interviewed four people and you'll see them on a podcast 00:30:45.225 --> 00:30:53.145 and I can tell you nothing on the show happens without any reason. 00:30:55.274 --> 00:30:56.804 You'll see the flow of energy. 00:30:57.254 --> 00:30:59.865 None of these conversations were scripted. 00:31:01.034 --> 00:31:06.465 None of these conversations were pre, um, pre discuss. 00:31:08.475 --> 00:31:11.895 The guests come and chooses the mask, or the mask chooses the 00:31:11.895 --> 00:31:17.655 guest Before the interview, I should say each guest looks at 00:31:19.725 --> 00:31:25.274 12 masks or less, depending who was there before the guest and chooses one. 00:31:26.385 --> 00:31:27.885 And we ask the question. 00:31:28.485 --> 00:31:30.885 What this mask wants to tell us, 00:31:32.895 --> 00:31:34.485 why did you choose this mask? 00:31:35.985 --> 00:31:39.825 And our guests open up in very unexpected ways. 00:31:39.825 --> 00:31:42.405 From the very beginning, you'll see, 00:31:44.745 --> 00:31:46.725 and you'll see that we are mirrors for each other. 00:31:48.300 --> 00:31:53.280 Sometimes I sit at the interview and it just, the flow of energy going through me 00:31:53.280 --> 00:31:59.130 and, uh, I, I see a lot of reflection of myself in it, and I have to stay strong. 00:31:59.130 --> 00:32:03.690 You'll see me sometimes like getting out of the, uh, host mode right into 00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:06.270 the shift that mask is taking us on. 00:32:06.270 --> 00:32:09.150 It's, it's, I, I don't know, I dunno how to explain it. 00:32:09.150 --> 00:32:17.160 It just, it just happens for people who are more grounded, like a lot of. 00:32:18.495 --> 00:32:21.855 Uh, leaders, entrepreneurs, they'll see just a great 00:32:21.855 --> 00:32:24.524 conversation with a symbol of mask. 00:32:24.735 --> 00:32:25.995 Nothing unusual. 00:32:27.074 --> 00:32:29.264 Someone who sees deeper will see deeper. 00:32:29.294 --> 00:32:32.834 It's, it's a very multi-layered, um, podcast 00:32:35.024 --> 00:32:36.764 and, um, I'm honored. 00:32:37.125 --> 00:32:41.145 I'm really honored to be the vessel for it, to be the channel for it. 00:32:41.955 --> 00:32:46.580 And, um, I'm very honored and happy that you found us. 00:32:47.564 --> 00:32:51.764 And I hope you'll subscribe and I hope you'll share if you feel it resonates 00:32:51.764 --> 00:32:56.475 with you and other people who are, um, going through shifts right now. 00:32:57.554 --> 00:33:06.074 Because we together building a big, hopefully community support, support 00:33:06.074 --> 00:33:10.844 group that can hold the space for each other and for others who are still going 00:33:10.844 --> 00:33:13.574 through transition and through shift. 00:33:16.035 --> 00:33:19.125 And there is nothing good or bad in this experience. 00:33:19.395 --> 00:33:20.535 No right or wrong. 00:33:20.625 --> 00:33:21.405 It just is. 00:33:22.695 --> 00:33:27.345 And the only way out of where you are is through your own 00:33:27.345 --> 00:33:30.375 voice, through that tiny whisper. 00:33:31.035 --> 00:33:35.715 When you choose to take off the mask, when you see people for who they 00:33:35.715 --> 00:33:42.285 are, not the roles they play, and you start seeing what's underneath. 00:33:44.355 --> 00:33:45.825 You see it in myself. 00:33:47.175 --> 00:33:49.875 You see it in people around you. 00:33:49.875 --> 00:33:51.195 You see it in our guest. 00:33:51.585 --> 00:33:53.745 I see it in myself every single day. 00:33:54.345 --> 00:33:58.695 Everything that triggers me shows me something about myself. 00:34:01.455 --> 00:34:02.715 And it's not pleasant. 00:34:03.105 --> 00:34:03.825 Mm-hmm. 00:34:04.245 --> 00:34:05.685 Sometimes it's so ugly. 00:34:05.685 --> 00:34:08.505 I'm like, oh my gosh, how is this real? 00:34:08.805 --> 00:34:14.595 But if it's showing it to me, I have to look, I wanna look, I wanna look deeper. 00:34:14.595 --> 00:34:17.955 Even if it's scary, if it, even if it's unpleasant. 00:34:19.560 --> 00:34:26.715 'cause life is a reflection, all of it, good and bad, and whatever we label. 00:34:27.509 --> 00:34:31.739 But it just is light and dark and everything in between. 00:34:31.830 --> 00:34:39.150 Everything, absolutely everything is our reflection, and this is not the 00:34:39.150 --> 00:34:41.130 place where I tell you who to be. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:46.739 And don't let anyone, not my guests, doesn't matter if they're the biggest 00:34:46.739 --> 00:34:53.429 authorities, don't let them tell you who to be, why to be and what to do. 00:34:55.694 --> 00:35:01.455 You only, you know better than anyone else 00:35:03.645 --> 00:35:04.274 who to be. 00:35:06.075 --> 00:35:08.924 It's not the place where people come to perform. 00:35:09.555 --> 00:35:14.115 Maybe at the beginning a little bit, you'll see when the ice breaks, right? 00:35:15.855 --> 00:35:18.105 Um, it's a place 00:35:20.745 --> 00:35:21.225 to be. 00:35:24.464 --> 00:35:28.845 We have enough of performances around us already, through social media, 00:35:28.904 --> 00:35:33.404 through politics, through governments, through everything what happens in 00:35:33.404 --> 00:35:35.444 the world through family members. 00:35:36.314 --> 00:35:42.855 This is the space where we get more honest, more honest with ourselves, 00:35:44.535 --> 00:35:51.404 and conversations will go deeper where things can get messier. 00:35:53.025 --> 00:35:55.245 Unclear, uncertain. 00:35:57.165 --> 00:36:01.575 Something will steer your soul, but it's gonna be all real. 00:36:03.585 --> 00:36:04.125 One thing. 00:36:04.125 --> 00:36:06.435 I promise you it's gonna be real 00:36:08.955 --> 00:36:11.835 because that's what your soul is craving for right now. 00:36:13.155 --> 00:36:16.905 To be real, very real. 00:36:18.045 --> 00:36:19.005 Feel life. 00:36:22.245 --> 00:36:24.285 Raw fully. 00:36:26.685 --> 00:36:30.254 It's like you standing by the ocean or watching the sunset and 00:36:30.525 --> 00:36:33.075 feeling something move through you, 00:36:35.924 --> 00:36:40.845 and sometimes it will show up in tears and you don't even understand why. 00:36:41.745 --> 00:36:44.595 You wouldn't even know why, but let it happen. 00:36:46.125 --> 00:36:47.595 Something wants to come through you. 00:36:48.300 --> 00:36:53.310 Not because you are sad, not because you are broken, not because you 00:36:53.310 --> 00:36:56.940 are happy, because you are alive. 00:36:58.260 --> 00:37:04.110 This space is for you to feel alive again. 00:37:06.510 --> 00:37:12.030 You're just allowing it to be you just remembering, allowing 00:37:12.030 --> 00:37:13.410 something to come through you. 00:37:13.410 --> 00:37:15.150 You're remembering who you really are. 00:37:17.475 --> 00:37:22.065 In the voice, in my voice, in guest voice. 00:37:22.845 --> 00:37:23.565 But it's so you. 00:37:24.045 --> 00:37:25.155 You hear yourself. 00:37:26.775 --> 00:37:30.615 You might hear it later after this podcast, in the wind and the moment, 00:37:30.705 --> 00:37:33.045 and a smile, and that's all real. 00:37:35.565 --> 00:37:39.825 And even in the argument at the grocery store, this is all real 00:37:42.435 --> 00:37:44.025 and there is already enough. 00:37:44.819 --> 00:37:51.509 A fake around us and it's already enough of artificial around us, 00:37:56.100 --> 00:37:58.049 but we want something very real. 00:37:59.460 --> 00:38:02.654 You, your soul, your spirit is craving something real. 00:38:06.120 --> 00:38:09.720 Because very often the things we try to avoid, the things we call 00:38:09.720 --> 00:38:14.040 uncomfortable or dark, are exactly where something real begins. 00:38:16.214 --> 00:38:18.134 And I invite you not to be scared of that. 00:38:18.674 --> 00:38:19.455 Look into it. 00:38:20.475 --> 00:38:24.015 See you on shadows, and you'll see through our podcast, something 00:38:24.015 --> 00:38:25.665 will trigger you for sure. 00:38:26.205 --> 00:38:26.895 Stay with it 00:38:29.415 --> 00:38:33.915 if you feel you on transition, and if you can explain it, stay with it. 00:38:35.160 --> 00:38:36.104 It will pass, 00:38:38.205 --> 00:38:41.384 but it's much easier to do it in a space. 00:38:43.080 --> 00:38:44.850 That's been created just for that. 00:38:50.339 --> 00:38:54.330 And if you feel you're shifting and the version of you that worked 00:38:54.330 --> 00:39:00.060 for years suddenly feels too small, just know you are not alone. 00:39:01.410 --> 00:39:03.210 Me and you 00:39:05.549 --> 00:39:09.210 and many, many, many others around us going through the same thing. 00:39:10.350 --> 00:39:11.160 You are not alone. 00:39:11.880 --> 00:39:16.860 My best friend who actually you'll hear on this podcast says, you are 00:39:16.860 --> 00:39:19.020 not alone and you're not crazy. 00:39:22.590 --> 00:39:25.560 Join, join our space 00:39:28.890 --> 00:39:31.770 and maybe you don't need another answer right now. 00:39:32.550 --> 00:39:36.360 Maybe you just need a space where you can hear. 00:39:37.305 --> 00:39:40.004 Your own voice again, yourself, 00:39:42.285 --> 00:39:47.774 just, uh, like me and you sitting by the fireplace one day. 00:39:50.294 --> 00:39:55.200 Just exhale and we just don't even say anything. 00:39:57.015 --> 00:39:59.774 Maybe we should create a podcast where we don't even say anything. 00:39:59.774 --> 00:40:02.174 We just sit there and we just be. 00:40:03.105 --> 00:40:04.634 Maybe I'll do that one episode. 00:40:07.425 --> 00:40:09.495 That's gonna be the space to hear each other. 00:40:09.945 --> 00:40:13.905 But for now, you'll hear me on this podcast. 00:40:13.905 --> 00:40:15.795 You'll hear my friends. 00:40:17.325 --> 00:40:18.795 You'll hear amazing people. 00:40:18.795 --> 00:40:20.595 My guests, some of them will be known. 00:40:20.595 --> 00:40:24.765 Some of them you'll hear from the very first time. 00:40:24.765 --> 00:40:28.875 But I know for sure if they're on this podcast, it meant to be. 00:40:30.299 --> 00:40:33.600 They need to deliver the message or something needs to come through 00:40:33.600 --> 00:40:37.440 them, through the mask that they chose, or the mask chose them. 00:40:40.049 --> 00:40:41.490 It's a very exciting journey. 00:40:41.490 --> 00:40:45.000 I don't have specific plans for it. 00:40:45.029 --> 00:40:48.210 I just see it unfolding in a very beautiful way. 00:40:49.109 --> 00:40:53.790 Uh, and I know that me and you are co-creating this space, and I'm really, 00:40:53.790 --> 00:40:57.000 really, really grateful for that. 00:40:59.190 --> 00:41:00.150 Thank you so much 00:41:02.250 --> 00:41:04.109 for being here, for being you. 00:41:05.759 --> 00:41:06.509 Welcome home. 00:41:08.009 --> 00:41:14.435 Welcome to Unmasked the Show about what lies beneath.