Your intuition is your biggest career weapon—are you using it? In this episode, Dana Shamas, an executive wellness and leadership coach, joins Rosie Zilinskas to explore how learning to trust your inner voice can help you thrive in today’s chaotic world. Dana shares her insights on breaking old patterns, embracing authenticity, and expanding your emotional bandwidth to find calm amid the hustle. She also highlights the importance of wellness practices in managing stress and balancing a demanding career. Discover how tuning into your intuition can guide you through career challenges, help you make better decisions, and ultimately lead to a more empowered and joyful professional life.

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Boost Your Corporate Career: How Intuition And Wellness Drive Success with Dana Shamas

Your intuition is your biggest career weapon, but here’s a question. Are you using it? If not, you’re not alone. Our guest is here to show us how to break that cycle and tap into our intuition to thrive, especially in our careers. Welcome back to the show. We are here to help you get unstuck and push your career forward with confidence. I’m so glad that you’re here hanging out with us.

We will dive deep into how to stop feeling like you are spinning your wheels, and then start tapping into your intuition. I know tapping into my intuition is important and I’m excited to have this with you. We will talk about why learning to trust yourself is your career’s secret weapon, how to cut through the noise of the daily grind, and what it needs to expand your emotional bandwidth. That’s so critically important these days. You’ll leave with tips to calm the chaos in your career and life all while bringing more joy and clarity to your workday.

Our guest is Dana Shamas. She is an executive wellness and leadership coach. She has mastered the art of helping people tune into their intuition to find balance in their hectic lives. Here’s a fun fact about Dana. She did not start in the wellness industry. She was more in the financial sector. She knows what it’s like to be in that high-pressure corporate environment. Today, she helps leaders not only manage their energy but also thrive. I can’t wait for you to hear her wisdom. Stick around because we’re about to get into some serious career magic. Let’s dive in.

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Dana, thank you so much for being here on the show. How are you doing?

I’m great. Thank you for having me. How are you doing?

An Ever-Changing World

I’m doing wonderful. I’m excited about our conversation. I’m going to get right into it. As you all know, we talk to women in the corporate space who are feeling stuck in their careers. I know that the world is in great transition. Everything seems like there are fires all over the world. Talk to me a little bit about how you are with your intuition. I know you are an executive wellness and leadership coach. What is your perspective of the world when it comes to so much change and everybody seems to be fighting with everybody?

That does seem very true and I know that’s very present. I will tell you that I am super positive about the change. I am particularly excited for women because of the systems that essentially are starting to break down. Where we see the fighting is where people are trying to hang on to those old systems of control. This new energy, new awareness, and new truths are coming forward. That supports women and the way women work, the energy that women have, and the brilliance that women come to the forefront with.

There is a lot of conflict. That is true. There is a lot of change. That brings opportunity. For a lot of women, especially in the corporate world, it’s hard because those practices and habits that got us to a certain level of success weren’t authentic but it’s what needed to happen so that you could succeed and get to the place that you wanted to be. Now you have an opportunity to transition and change into your authentic leadership style and step forward with your voice, power, insight, and perspective in a new way.

It’s a remembrance of what you’ve always known. Many women are tuning in to this who could point out several situations where they were like, “I knew that was coming,” “I knew that was going to happen,” “I told them about that and they didn’t listen,” or “I could see that that situation was not going to go as they thought it was going to go.” It is learning how to now speak up so that that’s heard and received, and change happens.

What’s super fun for me is I see that with my clients on a regular basis now. Things that I didn’t see ten years ago, I see now. I see change happening. I see shifts happening and opportunities opening up. We will go through a period of another 5 to 10 years of struggle. That is like holding on to the old and the new coming up. Everybody has to find their unique way through that. That’s why I focus on having people step into their intuition because there is no road map for this unknown volatile world that we’re currently in. Nobody has seen weather like this in our lifetime.

Tapping Into Your Intuition

I want to go back to the very beginning of what you said, systems are breaking down. When systems break down, that’s when the opportunity comes up, especially with AI. AI is disrupting the entire world, interestingly enough. I found out that AI has been around since the 1950s, but it’s only since ChatGPT changed the algorithm so that the layperson can get in there and start playing around with it that they’ve disrupted the whole world. I was surprised to know. If I think about it years back, I would go on my health apps and I could do chats and stuff like that. I’m like, “Okay.”

If I think about it, I can think back to years ago when I could do that and I never thought about it as artificial intelligence per se. Systems are breaking down. All these different technology systems are being implemented and now is the time. You’re right as far as the energy. I feel that so many women and so many of us coaches, leaders, and influencers are all pushing together collectively to make sure that women’s and minorities’ voices are heard. It’s not just the patriarchy that’s making all the decisions for all of us.

When it comes to creating your new vision of being, that’s a good topic for us to delve into. With artificial intelligence, I was reading some statistics. One in four people are using AI for their job search. If you’re a person out there or a woman out there and you’re in a job search and you are not actively using AI, you will be holding yourself back. Let’s talk a little bit about creating that new vision of being and letting go of those fears of the unknown.

That’s a big one, letting go of the fears of the unknown. That comes with developing a trust of self. The more that you can tap into your intuition, the more that you can listen to that inner voice and that inner guidance that you have. You start to play with it. Most women I know have had experiences of intuition. They often have experiences of not listening to their intuition and being regretful that they didn’t.

To build that muscle or build that tool, I look at it as a skillset. Learn to hear and listen to how your inner voice talks to you. Do you feel things? Do you know things? Do you hear things? Do you see things? What is it? What’s the way that you receive information? You have to learn to trust and act on that information. The more that you can do that, the more you build confidence that is like, “When I get information in this way and when the information feels like this, I act on it and it’s always right.” That level of confidence is amazing. You never have to doubt it.

When we’re so busy, we’re living unconsciously all day long. We’re not paying attention to our emotions, feelings, desires, and dreams. We’re very much in the physical world where you’re busy in your day-to-day. I know everybody has intuition but can anybody hone their intuition?

Everyone can hone their intuition. It’s about developing expanded awareness. When we go, go, go all the time, our bandwidth of awareness is very limited. We become siloed or myopic in our viewpoint because we have to get this thing done. We have to get to the next thing and get through the day. We have to block a lot of things out to barrel through. The process is softening and paying attention. The more you start to do that, the more awareness you develop.

I am a huge proponent of working with nature and softening it moment by moment. If you don’t have ten minutes to meditate in the morning or evening or during the day, just a moment before you get in the car or a moment as you walk out the door. Pause, take a breath, and notice. How does the wind feel? How does the sun feel? How does the air feel? Is there a flower? Is there a plant? Is there a tree that is particularly vivid? Begin to expand that awareness. The more you can begin to do that, the easier it becomes to hear that inner voice.

How does that help the busy female that is a working mom or even if they don’t have kids, they’re working and busy? More employers are asking people to go back into the office at least 1 to 2 days a week. The commute and trying to put dinner on the table if you do have kids. Carting kids to all of the millions of activities that kids have nowadays. How does becoming aware of your intuition help the woman in the corporate world?

It cuts out a lot of noise. When you trust your intuition, you know what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to. When we’re in go mode or when we’re in do, do, do, we look at the to-do list and try to get everything on the to-do list done. That’s usually impossible. You can work with your intuition and say, “What has to get done today? What do I have to do? What are the top three priorities?” Those may not be the top three things on your list. That may not be the answer.

You also ask yourself, “What can I let go of? What is mine? What’s not my responsibility?” That can take off a chunk of the list as well. Now, we have the top things we need to focus on and we’ve shortened the list quite a bit. That usually gives you more time and more space because then you have to do the things that are necessary. Listening to your intuition will also help you cut through the chaos.

In the world today, there are a lot of changes. Even in the scenario that you described, the commute to work now can be chaotic. The more you listen to your intuition, the more you begin to cultivate a life that’s more in alignment and less in chaos. That means that your energy is calmer. You’re less frenetic. You are more focused, clear, and able to get all those things done that you need to get done peacefully. Not stressed, hurried, and hustled. It’s like, “Cool. We’re good.” Things flow easier. It’s a different way to walk through life, versus focused on taking everything off.

That sounds to me a lot like bringing joy. I’m part of Brendon Burchard’s world, where I’m a certified high-performance coach. We talk about bringing joy all the time. As you are working through your day, regardless of what you’re doing, notice little things around you that can bring that joy, whether it’s music in your ear pods as you’re working or even as easy as washing your hands.

Power And Authenticity

Instead of rushing, feel the warm water in your hands and be grateful that you have two hands, two eyes, and two feet. You talked a little bit about power and authenticity. How does intuition align with figuring out your power and authenticity? If I’m trying to get a promotion or trying to talk to my manager about a new opportunity and I’m not confident, how do I find that power and authenticity within me to go and have those conversations?

Listening to your intuition, we’re very supportive of that because when you trust your intuition, your level of confidence is so high because you know it to be true. You’re not presenting your idea to get approval from somebody else. You’re presenting the idea as truth to be seen and accepted. It’s a very different energy to walk into a room saying, “I am valuable. I am adding value. This is what you need to be looking at,” versus, “I had this idea and I think you should consider it. I think it’s important.” It’s a different energy. One is asking for validation and recognition. The other already have inner validation and recognition.

You said to trust your truth to be seen. That’s huge. A little light bulb went on for me because you’re right. In years past, I would go and try to prove that my idea is correct when I know it’s correct or it’s a good one. Now I have to communicate it with that authenticity and power. I like that. When we are trying to expand our emotional bandwidth, to experience more in life because of everything that we’re doing. We’re doing it so fast. We’re not noticing what’s happening around me.

I want to share with you that I went to a TED Talk in 2023. The presenter was saying that the reason why time goes by so fast these days for everyone is because we are living unconsciously, meaning that we’re in that automatic program. You’re not noticing the sun, trees, grass, and flowers. The presenter was saying that if you want to slow down time, you need to create new experiences that are different from your day-to-day.

He even went on to say that’s why when we’re eight years old, for example, in the summer, the year goes so long because that’s when you start noticing that you’re an individual person and you do a lot of new things. By doing a lot of new things, time elongates for the person. From your perspective, tell me a little bit about expanding that emotional bandwidth to experience more of life and not be like, “Another day.”

That feeling of just another day, no one wants that. What I find with my clients is that usually happens when we don’t take the time to process all the energy and emotion that we’ve experienced. As we’ve said already multiple times, there’s a lot of life happening. There’s a lot of chaos, change, transition, and activity. Everybody’s lives are very full, especially if you have kids. The number of activities and the demands are very high.

That takes a lot of energy at the end of the day. You’re bombarded with energy every day. You are bombarded by emotion. If all you can do is get through the day, you don’t have space for your system to process that emotion and that energy. Creating a practice and stillness is a huge practice that allows your body and your nervous system to reset.

When you’re on the hamster wheel, it’s hard to do that. It’s hard to settle into that place. Finding those practices for you that allow you to soften and settle into the stillness and allow your nervous system to rest allows that processing to happen. With my clients, I usually teach them breathwork because I have found that as the fastest way to process energy. A fifteen-minute breath session in the day or the evening usually moves through those big emotions and keeps your emotional bandwidth wide.

It could be walking, singing, or dancing. Whatever it is that allows that energy to process and move and for your nervous system to decompress is going to allow that bandwidth to widen. That allows you to be present. As you are present, time expands. That’s because if you look, time is linear. The presence is a point. This moment is a point. A point is infinite. That’s a mathematical situation if you think about it. If you allow and practice presence, then those moments and those experiences allow you to move into the infinite space. That is the experience of time expanding. Does that make sense?

Meditation

Yes, that makes sense. I’m thinking of Eckhart Tolle and The Power of Now. It’s the same thing. He recommends sitting, meditating, and being still. I’ve run into 2 or 3 people lately because I’m doing a lot of meditation lately. I’m going to a meditation retreat with Joe Dispenza. I’m doing their advanced meditation retreat. I’m excited about that. As I’m talking to people and sharing this with people, people are like, “I can never meditate. My mind never turns off. I could never do that.” I said, “You could if you wanted to, but you’re not prioritizing it. You’re not making it the thing that you want to work on, which is fine.” For those people who think that they could never meditate or meditation is not for them, what would you say to them about that?

I would dispel the myth that meditation is about turning off the mind. Your muscles’ jobs are contracting and releasing. Your mind’s job is thinking. That’s what it does. We want your mind to think. Those of us who have very sharp minds think all the time. That’s not the problem. The problem is that we let our minds drive our situations and our belief structures. Meditation is the practice of training your mind.

Most people who are go, go, go and thinkers get training. They learn how to run a marathon and how to learn a new skill. If you think about the idea of meditation as teaching your mind how to focus on one thing, 9 times out of 10, most people already do that. They just don’t consider it meditation. If you sew, knit, run, or sing, everybody has a practice that they have that pointed attention and they feel like they get in the zone. I would tell them, that is where you start the practice and enhance that practice of training the mind. Most of the time when you have a busy mind and you can’t shut it down, you have a lot of unprocessed emotion and energy. That is why people can’t turn off their minds.

I’m going to stop you right there and please say that again.

The number one reason why you can’t stop your mind or shut down your mind is because you have a lot of unprocessed emotion and energy.

“The number one reason why you can’t stop your mind or shut down your mind is because you have a lot of unprocessed emotion and energy.” – Dana Shamas Share on X

That is incredible. I’ve never heard of that and it makes so much sense. Let’s dive into that a little bit more. Tell us more about that.

It goes back to the emotional bandwidth that when you go, go, go, that means that your mind cannot shut down and your energetic system or your physical nervous system has not moved into rest and relax. If you are not processing your emotions, you have a lot you’re thinking about. You can’t get to the present. You’re worried about what you said in a meeting and about how people will look at you when you walk into work the next day or what the party coming up is going to be like. You’re always in that place because you have a lot of emotion wrapped around all of those things. There are a lot of judgments, belief structures, and frameworks that drive all of those judgments.

That keeps this in that cycle. If you can start to process your energy on a regular basis, breathwork is my number one tool to do that. You start a practice of reflection. That is why training the mind and meditation is so important because the ego is sneaky and tricky. If you try and hone in on that emotion, belief structure, or framework that is causing you distress, it is a practice to keep getting curious.

It’s a practice to keep coming back to that. What is that about? What is that emotion about? What’s underneath that? What’s driving that? Why is it such a hook for me? All of those bits come together. You have to have enough ability to stay with it, stay present, get curious, and feel to resolve and understand what is underneath.

That’s incredible. That’s mind-blowing because I know some people who are not able to sleep. They can’t shut their minds off. I never connected the emotional aspect to it. That’s very interesting. I know you said breathwork is fantastic, but someone may be in a position where they can’t meditate. If you are in a situation where you’re busy, working all the time, and doing all the things, you don’t get good sleep because of all of the stuff that’s happening in your brain. It’s almost like you’re living a second life because you’re always thinking. At night, you’re living this other life and whatever is happening in your brain, and you don’t let your body rest. How do you clear that judgment? How do you clear that charge so that you can get into that present moment?

For people who are new, they don’t have any tools. They don’t have a breathwork practice. It’s all new to them. Meditation seems unattainable. Yoga class is torture for them. I get it. I would turn to technology. I would turn to brain entrainment meditation and brain entrainment music that physically makes the nervous system turn off. I would consider doing hypnosis also. It moves the brain into a different place.

I would consider frequency and KMF devices, brain entrainment, and cell entrainment technologies that are frequency-based. All of those use technology and frequency to help your nervous system physically move into a rested and relaxed state. If doing it all on your own seems unattainable, I tell people to go to that because people need to rest and relax. If that’s what you need to do, start doing it because the more you get your system trained to go there, the easier it becomes to start the other practices on your own or with support.

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for sharing that.

The question is, how do they unwind it?

How do they take the charge from the judgment, whether it’s their judgment or worrying? I can imagine someone in the corporate space worried about what everybody else thinks about them, and then having the charge of the emotions of like, “I’m going to get fired,” laid off, or whatever the situation is. How do you deal with that energy that is so draining?

With my clients, I walk them through staying with that emotion of what being fired would feel like. Where does the fear of being fired live in your body? How does that feel? It takes the emotion out of the head and brings it into the body. It’s much easier to work with it in the body than staying in the hamster wheel in the head.

Once they can bring it and notice how their body feels, then they become in the present moment. In that present moment, you can work with them and they can work with it themselves to feel what that is. Even that is enough to start to quiet the mind. Be more curious. Is that fear real? Probably not. Where does that fear come from? How long has that fear been there? What does it feel like? Does it have a color? Does it have a texture? Does it change? Is there anything underneath the fear? Is there anything next to the fear? Keep getting curious. It’s amazing what comes forward.

“Keep getting curious. It’s amazing what comes forward.” – Dana Shamas Share on X

Executive Wellness Coach

I love all that. Especially, recognizing the emotional charts that you might be carrying without even knowing that you’re carrying it. No wonder why people are so exhausted these days. I want to shift a little bit to hear more about you. How did you become an executive wellness coach? You have a lot of knowledge and expertise in this particular area. Tell us about your story. How did you get to where you are?

It’s a very long story and one that I never thought I would end up here. After college, I worked in investment banking and international development. I went to business school for social entrepreneurship. I worked with many entrepreneurs in the field of healthy eating and health and wellness. It has always been a passion of mine. I’ve always been a champion for health, but life took me in a direction where I had to go back into being in the health and wellness industry full-time.

I ended up opening my own boutique yoga studio and wellness center in Houston. What I found is that most of my clients were professionals. Most of my clients were lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives. What I discovered is that they came to me for the insight and the guidance that I had and this expertise.

COVID helped me transition fully into acknowledging that and bringing all of these fits together. My understanding of business and my background in business paired with this physical understanding of how to manage your energy and how to manage your health and wellness from a holistic perspective. It’s paired very well together and provides very special kinds of insights that support where people are right now.

When I was in business school, this never was a concept that I thought the world would need. I could have never predicted that. Now I’m like, “This is why I’ve spent years studying intuition. This is why I understand the energy so deeply.” It’s because it is what leaders need now. It is that missing link that they’re like, “This makes it easier.” The world is transitioning, so having people and that expanded state of awareness that can support that transition is important.

It’s so interesting that you said, “I spent years studying intuition.” I don’t know anybody else who has studied intuition for years. That’s so interesting because intuition is our guiding light. Intuition is our North Star. Without having a good guiding light or North Star, you may feel lost. That’s why a lot of people, especially nowadays, feel like they’re being pulled in so many different directions because we let the external world manage our emotions or pull on our emotions.

I don’t watch the news at all and people say, “That’s ignorant.” That’s okay because I visualize when I watch the news. I don’t actively watch the news but sometimes my husband is watching the news in the kitchen and I’m walking in to get my coffee. I’m hearing something negative. I almost picture my life being sucked out of my soul because of all the negativity. I walk out as quickly as I can. I can’t handle it.

Another example is I used to love the show Criminal Minds. I think they’re starting a new Criminal Minds evolution. As time went on, I couldn’t take the evilness that was going on in the show. I know it’s fiction, but it still messes with your mind, so much so that one of the actors had to leave the show because of his mental health. All the cases in that show are so evil. They go deep into the mind of the person who’s committing all the crimes and whatever. I can’t surround myself with things like that because I feel like it’s sucking my life.

Final Tip

When something big happens, either my husband tells me. Maybe I’ll get a notification on my phone, but it’s online and I’ll delete it. My sisters or my daughter will tell me things like that, but I try to protect my energy so that it’s not being emotionally pulled like a marionette with all the things that are happening in the world. I don’t allow that. I protect my energy very much. Do you have any final tip that you can leave our audience with? We have talked about a lot of amazing information.

The final tip that I have is to plan out downtime for yourself. One of the biggest indicators of success or practices that lead to success for my clients is that on a 3 to 6-month basis, I make sure that they look at their schedule and plan downtime in accordance with what is required of them. Most people know that big events, big meetings, and big projects that are happening will take a lot of your energy.

Plan downtime before that and after that so that you have time to process all of that. If the daily thing seems hard to you, then this is a way to strategically look at your schedule and plan an afternoon off. Plan a whole day off. Do some self-care. Book a massage or a vacation. Make sure that happens in your schedule so that you have processing time.

The biggest thing here is the processing time, the processing of those emotions, a lot of breathwork. Let your mind rest for a little bit so that you can feel all of the emotions and start getting them all out of your body. Dana, this was wonderful. Thank you very much. If someone wanted to work with you, how would they find you?

My website, DanaShamas.com, is probably the easiest way. I am on Instagram and LinkedIn. Those are the two biggest social media platforms that I look at on a regular basis. You can set up a free call and we can chat about what is going to work for you. I do one-on-one sessions and group coaching sessions, and I have a retreat in Costa Rica. There are lots of opportunities and lots of different ways to work it into your schedule and budget.

That sounds wonderful. Dana, thank you so much for your time. I much appreciate it.

Thank you for having me. It was a great conversation. I appreciate it.

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That was such an insightful conversation with Dana. I am going to quickly break down my top takeaways and you can let me know what your top takeaways were. First, learning to trust our intuition can cut through that daily chaos, but more importantly, it can help us prioritize what matters. Second, Dana’s advice on expanding our emotional bandwidth through stillness and awareness is key to managing stress. This is where you don’t even have to meditate. You can sit still and quiet for a few minutes every single day.

Finally, the idea of trusting your truth to be seen. Walking into a room knowing your value is so powerful. If you believe that you’re going to walk in there confident, then you’re likely to walk in there confident. I cannot emphasize how important it is to feel confident so that others can see you as confident. One of Dana’s best tips is to plan downtime before and after big events or projects to give yourself space to process the emotions and the energy. It sounds very simple and it is but it is impactful.

Before you go, please don’t forget to take the Promotion Readiness Quiz to see how close you are to landing that next big promotion. If you’re ready to connect with other like-minded women, check out the Unlock the Leader Within Membership. Trust me, you won’t want to miss out. We have some incredible women in the membership. You are walking away with some practical steps to manage the chaos, tap into your intuition, and build your confidence at work. That’s why we’re here. It’s to build confidence so that you can continue to advance in your career with intention and confidence. It’s all about trusting yourself and making space for what matters in your life. Thanks for tuning in and I hope this was helpful to you. Leave a comment and a review. As always, remember to be brave, be bold, and take action.

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About Dana Shamas

Dana Shamas is a coach, author, MBA, and cosmic midwife. After years of doubting herself, believing she was an oddball, and feeling like she was never on the right path, Dana learned how to connect to her inner self and find the path that felt true and meaningful. Dana guides professionals and business leaders in expanding their awareness and developing intuition as a skill. She uses the cycles of nature to harmonize your frequency and up-leveling your ability to create the joyful life you desire.