Are you on your Hero's journey?

This article breaks down the stages of Joseph Campbell's hero journey and how it relates to you.

I believe every significant person has a moment in their life where they experience what I have termed, the call of the Icon. The call to rise out of ordinary success to extraordinary significance.

And then they go on their Iconic woman journey. (This happens across genders of course but because I work with women (especially black women across the Diaspora), I'm going to center them in this conversation).?I'm going to explain the Iconic Woman's journey using Joseph Campbell's Iconic framework - The Hero's journey. Joseph Campbell was a comparative mythology professor, he discovered a universal pattern surrounding heroes in every culture.

Whenever you see a pattern occurring over and over again across cultures, I believe that it is illuminating some of the intangible principles that run the world. Intangible or spiritual laws exist, they are much like the physical laws that run the world, no matter what part you are in - Like gravity.

In the Iconic Woman's journey, the first stage is The Ordinary world: This is where many women are.

Here we meet the undiscovered icon, living a relatable professional working life. There are two ways women show up here though.

1. The woman who is content (read complacent) with her life. She is comfortable with her finances, community, lifestyle and sees herself as successful but ordinary.?She has her career path mapped out and it's the same path many have tread before her. Her focus is putting money away for retirement and making sure her kids are good. There is an occasional tug or niggle in her soul, and every so often she catches herself wondering...is this all there is? But she quickly silences the call and carries on with life.
2. Then you have the woman who on the surface fits the same profile, but she has always felt strange. Like she didn't quite fit in. Some thing has always felt out of sorts. She typically finds an outlet, to express her need to stand out. Maybe it's art, fashion, cooking or some other hobby but while that feeds her soul for a short time, the gnawing continues and it feels impossible to ignore. This is the beginning of the iconic woman's story.

Let's take a minute here and reflect. Do you see yourself in the story? Are you like woman number one, who if she accepts the icon's Journey, becomes the unlikely Icon/the unlikely hero? Or maybe you find number 2, more resonant, you've had a yearning inside of you for many years, but you haven't figured out what exactly it is and how to bring it forth. Well, I have good news, keep reading, I'm going to help you figure out your next steps!

The next step on the journey is what Joseph Campbell refers to as the call to adventure. This is where a challenge occurs, or a quest is proposed. Something happens to shift you out of your place of comfort or complacency. Suddenly the comfort zone is not so comfortable. For some people it is adversity, like the loss of a job, the loss of a spouse or provider, some external pressure that forces you to find a new way to be successful. For others, it is recognizing a challenge and pain points for other people in the community, and feeling a need to be part of the solution. For some icons these two come together at the same time. For some icons it's almost a little bit more spiritual with that. It's like they get a vision of the possibility of a different life that they can't stop thinking about. A "what if" question settles in them and makes them unsettled.

This is the beginning of the call of the Icon (The call to adventure), and you have to decide whether to answer it or not.

And now we are at the next part of the journey, the refusal of the call. Despite what the beautiful, grand", dramatic movies show us, most people refuse the call. Because of inner insecurities, fears, a mindset of limitation, feelings of inadequacy, and feeling as if you don't have the necessary tools and support, most people say actually say no to rising out of ordinary success and no to extraordinary significance. Particularly in today's world, where a person can choose to become a keyboard warrior in the comments section. This can distract the unwilling hero or icon as the case may be, and make them feel relevant, by antagonizing and proselytizing, in the comment section, but in their life nothing really changes.

But here's the good news, while the call is usually rejected initially by most, the icon comes back after rejecting it the first time, and answers it again and this time she says yes! She says an inner yes in her soul. And this takes her to the next stage of her journey.

Meeting the mentor/coach. This is the next stage of the heroes journey. There is an adage or proverb, that says when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I meet many women right here. They have been yearning to answer the call. They have been looking to figure out how, and when we connect, I resonate with them as a coach. You see, I'm not everyone's coach, but I am the right coach for women, particularly who describe themselves as soulful, spiritual and who enjoy being feminine. Women who want to rise without sacrificing elements of their womanhood and peace of mind. For those women, I can be their Gandalf.

The mentor helps you understand the journey that you are about to go on, prepares you for success, and supports you in navigating the challenges, the fears, the obstacles that you may encounter. Some times the mentor is not someone who is with you for long, but someone who says something that stays with you for long and challenges you. Sometimes they awaken your inner coach. Now I find this sometimes happens when a woman has done a lot of personal growth work, where her inner coach can be revealed and is developed enough to support her through her journey - many of the women who have taken my initial course, the Iconic Womanhood course fall into this category.?Because if you deep dive into the course and allow yourself to experience the fullness of it, your inner mentor, becomes powerful and when you hear the call and say yes to the call, your inner mentor can lead you.?

However even then, you may need some leadership development and coaching support, because the journey of the hero, usually requires an elevation, and during that elevation, the path will be unfamiliar and the tools are you will need, someone may need to show you how to use them.

Let me pause here and share with you my story. I was living my life as a pharmacist. I was married, I owned a home, I had a child, I had ticked all the boxes and I was living my life. But I was like woman number two the beginning of the story, I never felt like I quite fit in, and my life never felt like it quite fit, my life was humdrum and I had settled for less in many areas. Finally I had enough.?Anais Nin has a saying that puts it perfectly, "And the day came, that the pain of remaining in the bud, was more than it took to blossom!"

So I started & soon enough I realized women like me were craving support in that area, & so Refresh with Ekene was born. Starting my business was not about answering the call. It was about finally owning that I wanted a different life. But my goals were similar to many women who have been socialized to shrink and play small.

I simply wanted to replace my salary.

About 5 years ago, I was making some money in my business but quite frankly I was getting tired of entrepreneurship and I decided I was going to explore getting a job, but not just any job...it had to be a job that was a perfect fit. I discovered this little known multi million dollar company. Well, they are not known by everyone, but the top C-suite leaders and luminaries in the world know who they are. I was intrigued. They had a job offering that was right up my alley and the pay was good. I thought why not.

I applied. 4 interviews later, I was sitting with the CEO. He said, "everyone wants to hire you but I'm not sure. Are you ambitious enough for our company?" I said yes. Then he asked "So then why isn't your company making millions? You are smart, savvy and clearly have an entrepreneurial mind...what's the issue?"

In that moment, I saw my own inner glass ceiling. My own upper limit. Until then, I had never envisioned running a million dollar company. Later, I realized part of me was even unwilling, I feared being forced to sacrifice too much.

"I'm not going to give you this job. Go run your business."

I got home and prayed. I asked the Holy Spirit why I went through all of that for nothing. Spirit said, it was not for nothing, it was for everything. Now you have seen the inner workings of a boutique hundred million dollar firm. Now you have seen it, you too can achieve it. Are you ready?"

I finally heard and answered the call of the Icon.

It required some radical mindset restructuring & inner growth work - This became the curriculum for the Iconic Woman Mastermind. This is why we can boast TED fellows & million dollar CEOs among our alumni. This is why my client come to me & leave ?? no longer accepting less & playing small. I'm changing so I can help others change.

I’m going to stop here for now and I’d like to ask you to consider, if you have heard the call of the Icon? Did you refuse it at first? Do you know why? What was or is holding you back?

Take a moment and imagine what life could be like if you answered YES?

Say YES with me. Yes, I can be the Iconic Woman you were called to be without sacrificing your femininity, culture, fun, relationships...womanhood!

YES, I can create a successful life that I love every aspect of living!

YES, I am worthy and deserving of more.?

YES, I have what it takes.?

If all this resonates with you and you are ready and want to explore working with me…I want to invite you to set up a call with us today. DM me and I’ll get you started or you can?

learn more & apply today to our signature feminine leadership program at?Iconicwomanmastermind.com