0:03

What happens when you refuse to succumb to your circumstances and instead choose to reinvent and rise in glory? That is the story of Dr. Naeema Olatunji from a secret imposed on her in childhood to seasons of healing, from heartbreak to a disruption that unlocked new possibility, her journey is a living example of resilience, courage, and expansion. This episode is for anyone who's ever felt stuck in the roles or stories handed to them yet can sense the possibility of something greater.

Caroline: 0:44

This is the Your Next Success podcast, and I'm your host, Dr. Caroline Sangal. I'm a life first career coach and strategist on a mission to normalize questioning your career because I believe each of us is made on purpose for a purpose only we can fulfill. The longer we live out of alignment with who we are, what we do best, and why we're here, the more we miss out. And the more the world misses out on what only we can give. The Your Next Success Podcast is where we explore how to build a career that truly fuels your life. We talk about self-discovery, smart job, search strategies, professional growth, and you'll hear stories from people who've navigated big career transitions themselves so you can see what it's really like to make bold changes and feel inspired to create your own version of authentic success, one that is aligned, meaningful, and truly yours.

1:50

Dr. Naeema Olatunji is a reinvention coach, speaker, and an author of Raised as a Lie. Her story begins with a childhood wrapped in secrets. Truths, unspoken yet felt in every room. Even then, she carried visions of a bigger life. Over the years, she created new paths, built a thriving healing practice, and raised her family with intention, then came heartbreak and a cycling accident that changed everything instead of shrinking. Dr. Naeema embraced the disruption, sold nearly everything, and traveled through 13 countries discovering new layers of who she is and the life she was meant to live. Today she radiates joy, possibility, and expansion. She coaches women over 40 to reclaim their power, rewrite their stories, and rise into bold lives of purpose and freedom. Alongside her memoir, she is writing two new books, Your Possibility Era, and Every Damn Thing, Your Disruption Manual. In this episode you'll find the hidden truth that reshaped Naeema's identity and future, the turning points that open her path to healing and reinvention, how she embodies joy, possibility, and expansion through disruption. Her vision of authentic success and a glimpse into her upcoming books.

Caroline: 3:26

Welcome Dr. Naeema to Your Next Success. I am thrilled to be having this conversation with you this morning and I know it's gonna be such a delight and our listeners are going to love it and love the beautiful person that you are.

Dr. Naeema: 3:42

Thank you. It is such an honor to be here. I'm excited about what is going to come of this conversation.

Caroline: 3:49

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure where we're gonna go, but I know it's gonna be amazing. So thank you. Thank you. I would love to start I know that you're super successful. And you help people a lot through transitions, particularly women over 40. So that's where we're gonna get to. But I'd love to dial it way, way, way back. Can you share a little bit of the beginning parts of your story, particularly your childhood, and in those days, what did you think you wanted to do, with your life and your career?

Dr. Naeema: 4:31

You know, it's so interesting that you asked this because I just had this conversation with a good friend not that long ago. And what we were talking about is like some of our earliest memories and how far back can you remember, and what was the feeling tone of those memories? And for anybody who has not read my memoir, Raised as a Lie, my life begins on a farm, in rural Utah, and I remember being out in the fields and, you know, out on the land, and there was a lot of time to just play and explore just really safe. And I grew to just love, love, love, love nature. And I spent a lot of time alone outside, alone with farm animals because we lived on a farm and

Caroline: 5:27

kind of animals? What, what?

Dr. Naeema: 5:29

Everything. So it was a traditional farm, so there were horses, cows, chickens, geese. There was, so this is, you know, rural, very white Utah. And I say that to say that I think this is so funny. One of the games that would be played is when it was time for, like entertainment. Saturday night, fun, fun, would be chopping the heads off of chickens and seeing how far they would run down the road.

Caroline: 6:05

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.

Dr. Naeema: 6:07

Who does

Caroline: 6:08

Well,

Dr. Naeema: 6:08

Farmers are

Caroline: 6:09

farmers do that and if that was your, you know, environment that you were in the midst of, you probably didn't even question it.'Cause that's just what happened. yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 6:21

I mean, the chicken's head was gonna have to come off one way or another. And it wasn't until, you know, fast forward into relocating and living in city life that I was like, wow, that's a different type of entertainment. And so the farm was really just this symbol for me of like how far out in nature could I go? Because there was

Caroline: 6:44

Okay.

Dr. Naeema: 6:45

a lot of very tumultuous things that were happening inside the home, but out in nature, especially with animals. My very favorite animal on the farm was my horse, and his name was Jughead. And he was this very, very old, like Palomino that he was super gentle and he didn't move around a lot, and my mother could trust him. And I started riding when I was two. And

Caroline: 7:10

Oh wow. My

Dr. Naeema: 7:11

earliest memories are some of the pleasant ones are me being out in the fields and just talking to Jughead and just walking around. I had this sense that I could not describe, but in talking to my friend earlier last week, it was really this sense that my life was going to be so big and I was going to have such an expansive reach. And I saw these images of myself standing on stages and speaking to tens of thousands of women. And I was like, and you know, when you're four.

Caroline: 7:58

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 7:59

have a place for this. And so I remember like these visions and this feeling tone of just really feeling joyful. and then, you know, you spend a lot of your years growing up forgetting those memories. And what I am a true believer in, is that we once upon a time before we ever took our first breath, as we sat with God and co-created the life that we were going to live and the lessons that we were gonna come up against and how we were gonna grow and expand, and to the degree that I think that life life's, we can easily forget those visions. And so it's nice to revisit them and re-remember and then sort of connect the dots, like where those moments have really come to fruition.

Caroline: 8:54

Absolutely, because I think we go through a period of learning and experiencing and then unlearning and re sorting and reshifting. Okay. So sounds like some of your earliest memories were within this beauty of nature and the farm and connecting with such a beautiful creature on a soul level, even though you couldn't communicate outwardly that people would see and expect. And then what happened? Because I know a bit of your story has a whole big deep ball of fun now.

Dr. Naeema: 9:28

that. I like

Caroline: 9:29

Yeah, yeah. So you're on this farm, you're having these experiences that are in many, many ways beautiful. And this escape out to nature and to the beauty outside the home is giving you just a piece and visions of a grand future. And then what happened when you went to school? Were there certain subjects that you particularly were drawn to or tell us a little bit about that.

Dr. Naeema: 9:58

That's interesting. So I'm the little brown girl who was raised in an all white family and went to all white schools. And when we moved away from the rural farm in Utah, lived in California and we lived in all white communities and my family was perpetuating a lie that my mother had started and that was that I too was white. And for anybody who was watching this video, never one day, never 1, 1, 1 day were these curls ever blonde, straight, and never were my eyes blue-eyed. And that's what my family looked like, right? My siblings were blonde hair, blue eyed, and the man who was on my birth certificate also blonde hair, blue eyed. And so I grew up always knowing, you know, I had this conversation actually yesterday with somebody who read my book and yesterday was the very first time we actually met in person. We share a friend in common. And so she said, I just didn't understand how could you not have known? And the thing is, is that I didn't not know that I didn't look like anybody, and I speak a lot about that in the beginning of the book. I was always aware, and I had an older sister who was going through her own trauma and turmoil, who was laser focused at reminding me at every opportunity that I not only did not look like anybody, but I didn't fit in and I was not wanted. And so there was this vast difference of my experience of being out in nature and it being a place of peace and connectivity and being inside the home where there was a lot of turmoil. And unfortunately, my mother was married to a very violent, alcoholic. And so those two realities were vastly contrasted in how they showed up. And when she finally had the courage to leave and we relocated and came to Southern California. The perpetuation of me being othered and on the outside always existed. My family loved me dearly. And they were a typical Italian family that was extremely racist. And so there was this big elephant that sat in the middle of the room and that was me. But nobody ever talked about it. Nobody ever spoke. Never one word about this very obvious elephant that everybody had to move around and be careful not to, you know, interact and engage and really have this deep conversation that was right there present. And it wasn't until I was 18, and so I say that I found out the truth. And so I say all that to say that my growing up, my adolescence, my experience, even in the classrooms and all the many schools, because we moved around quite a bit, It weren't centered around me falling in love with learning because I didn't and I wasn't. I always felt on the outside and I had a lot of angst about being in close proximity to other kids. They weren't nice and they weren't kind. And I didn't make, you know, friends. And it wasn't until I was in high school where I had actually developed some friends and we stayed stationary for a little while, but it was always. I was the little chocolate drop in the middle of a sea that folks that didn't look like me. And so I say that to say that, you know, I didn't gain a love for knowledge and really developing our intellect until college, until I really sort of dove into the things that I wanted to study. And I enjoyed it later on. But in the beginning, not too much.

Caroline: 14:15

So around the time when you were 18, you finally got a bit of confirmation of what your inner knowing was trying to tell you and your mom admits to you. Well, actually, this is such an important part of your story though, and it's terrifying and beautiful what came afterward. But would you mind sharing what prompted this revelation from your mother? Yeah,

Dr. Naeema: 14:49

yeah,

Caroline: 14:49

yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 14:50

So he had moved to a really small town in Arizona. The town boasted of its one stoplight. And

Caroline: 14:58

Hmm. While

Dr. Naeema: 14:59

we had lived in other places that were rural, it was, we lived on a farm. And so this was a very different experience because it was a small town, but people lived in pretty close proximity. There was zero diversity in this little tiny town. And I was a senior in high school. We moved right before a couple weeks before school started my senior year.

Caroline: 15:21

Oh wow.

Dr. Naeema: 15:21

And I was expecting the same as always. By that point, I think I had maybe, I think there was like maybe four or five elementary schools, one middle school and three high schools. Right? So I had been very familiarized with being the new kid and always being on the outside. And that was not new to me and I was not expecting anything other than being the new kid and being sort of shunned or on the outside or having all those awkward or, you know, moments of,

Caroline: 15:59

Yeah. can

Dr. Naeema: 15:59

I sit here and, and really just not being accepted. But this high school was very different and I not only felt othered and not really desired to be included, but there was an animosity that I couldn't put my finger on because I really hadn't experienced that before. There was sort of an indifference or maybe like, who are you? And sort of, you know,

Caroline: 16:28

Hmm.

Dr. Naeema: 16:28

turning away from me, but not this level of aggressive intolerance and I got cornered one day. This was a highly second month into school, and a couple of the senior boys had cornered me in the cafeteria because I used to try to get there. I used to try to make an excuse to get outta class so I could get into the cafeteria, get the food, and find a table so there wouldn't be then like, Hmm, can I sit at your table? Sort of moment. I tried to avoid that to just stay by myself and these boys cornered me and they were very aggressive football, you know, big corn fed looking dudes, and they threatened to take me out. We lived in the desert and so the kids, the high school kids would go really far out into the desert and they would build these bonfires and drink and do whatever. Stupid things that high schoolers do, and they threatened to take me out there and lynch me. And I didn't know what lynching meant. I had had a very whitewashed education and I didn't know what lynching meant. I knew it wasn't good, and I knew enough to be afraid. And I left and I went home and I called my older sister who didn't live with us anymore, and we were not close, but I did not know who else to ask. And I called her and I said, I made her promise, Don't tell mom. I really had been a self-appointed protector of my mother since the violent years, and she never asked me to, but I did a very good job of trying to buffer her from anything.

Caroline: 18:11

Hmm.

Dr. Naeema: 18:11

And I didn't want her to be burdened with my turmoil. And my sister did exactly what any loving person would do for another. She did tell my mom, and my mom was afraid for my safety. And in that moment she had

Caroline: 18:29

Hmm.

Dr. Naeema: 18:30

to reveal that the man on my birth certificate, this nice blonde-haired, blue-eyed man that when he drank, became an awful human being, was not my biological father. And when she revealed that my biological father was black and I knew that my family, have been racist for all of this time. There was a sense of ah, like of course, right? But also there was this internal conflict of what does that mean? If my family doesn't love black people, can they still love me? And that sort of sent me down a big spiral. But also, in time, it encouraged and inspired me to really dig in. And when I figured out here I am, I'm 19 at this point, then I fully embrace this. And I was like, the world doesn't see me as this white woman. They just don't. And so what would it be if I just fully embraced who I am and how the world sees me? And I decided when I went to college, to the University of Southern California that I was going to make up for lost time as I thought, and

Caroline: 19:51

Oh. I

Dr. Naeema: 19:52

became blackety black. So I turned this very sort of like heavy, what felt burdensome, revelation into how can it empower me? And it was freeing and liberating in a way that I just hadn't imagined and it was a beautiful experience, a bit tumultuous at times as well.

Caroline: 20:22

Okay. There's so much that could, that could be said. Firstly, thank you for sharing that part of your story. That had to be absolutely, There just are no words. Terrifying is not a good, you know, disappointing, heartbreaking. I don't think there's a word that exists to capture the experience that you went through and I'm so, so sorry that those children didn't see the amazing, beautiful, but it wasn't for them, right? Like rejection is God's protection. Jamie Kern Lima, who says that. So you have this freeing experience around 18. See, I study career careers and career transitions. And there are many times throughout somebody's lives that we go through this questioning of, is this really what I wanna do? You know, who am I? What do I wanna become? And around 18 is one of the first ones. So you have this now looking back, a bit liberating moment of there is more to you. You are so beautiful while also then getting to leave and become in college. And so when you were going to get to the University of Southern California, what did you choose to study? Now that you got to make all your own choices and you're realizing even more the beauty of who you are.

Dr. Naeema: 21:48

I originally went as a poli sci major because I was going to be an attorney and I loved the idea, I was gonna finish at USC go to NYU, I was gonna study law and I was gonna join one of the corporate global practices and really just embrace this idealized life of an attorney. And then I attended

Caroline: 22:19

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 22:20

course called The Awake Lecture Series and it blew my mind. And it was an awakening of consciousness for black people to realize that we did not come from enslaved humans. We were not the regrettable humans that lived in this country, but that we hailed from the original people, and I was floored. There was this expansion that I never imagined was even possible. And so when that revelation happened, and the only reason it could have happened is because of that terrible thing that happens in high school. And so these realizations that as life is unfolding, it is happening for you. And so seeing is this unfoldment of life happening for me, and what I did was turned everything upside down. And I went to the board, essentially it was through a lot of meetings, college advisor, and I just had to keep, you know, escalating my requests because there was no division of USC that had any level of ethnic studies on any level, save the Holocaust classes that they offered, the Jewish Holocaust classes that they offered in literature outside of that it didn't exist. And this was in 1992. So you have to remember, this is also on the heels of the uprising after the Rodney King

Caroline: 24:13

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 24:14

verdict for the police officers who were acquitted. And so there's this uprising in LA. The city is on fire and there is this beckoning that we cannot return once we came with this un acknowledgement, I think I just made up that word. and just disregard of, you know, what was the contribution of Africans in this world and, and how are we showing up in this particular country? And so all of this awakening is happening at this time. And I am feeling called to make a difference and wanting to desperately be a beneficial presence on the planet. And I could not see in the legal system that would acquit these men who clearly committed this heinous crime that I could participate in it. I never, for once considered civil rights, being a civil rights attorney and had I, I would've made a different choice, but I turned it all upside down, escalated as far as I could up to the board of USC and demanded that I be able to study what I wanted to study which was African American history. They granted me the opportunity to make my major called Ethnic Studies. And so, because they had no curriculum in place, no structure, there was no strategy around it. I just essentially went around to the university, found all the black professors, and I was like, I wanna take your class. Now there weren't that many and there was only 3 percent of black students on campus, but I

Caroline: 25:59

Yeah. I looked it up yesterday. I was like, yeah, I'm thinking, how did this work out? Because I don't know that that was a very diverse campus and diverse school, but here you are trying to understand even more of who you are. And this was the environment you're in. So now you're gonna bloom where you're planted. That's amazing. I did not know this part. I'm seeing themes here though. Like, so there's one theme of you had this desire even to maybe draw you into thinking about law. There's an underpinning of right and wrong and justice and letting the truth prevail. That's the holistic ideal, right? And then the reality of, oh, that's not actually what we see. And then your desire even more of where did I come from? What are the beautiful histories of all those who came before me and how can I take it and excel and, and move forward? So you make your own version of your major. You study what comes to you and then what happened? Because I'm not clear on getting to USC, going and finding your major and then finding yourself X time from now, marrying somebody, having multiple children. And then so what happened in between there? What happened in, how did that all unfold?

Dr. Naeema: 27:20

I actually met my husband, then husband at The Awake Lecture Series at

Caroline: 27:27

Oh,

Dr. Naeema: 27:29

I just thought we were gonna be friends. And I had found out actually on our first date that he leaned over to his best friend when I walked in the room and he said, that's the woman I'm gonna marry. And he tells me this on our first date. And I was like, boy, you

Caroline: 27:45

that's too much.

Dr. Naeema: 27:45

are out of your mind.

Caroline: 27:46

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 27:47

I am not getting married.

Caroline: 27:49

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 27:50

I mean, I was too busy enjoying myself and my freedom and you know, being a 23-year-old and just fully for the first time stepping into who I was

Caroline: 28:02

Yeah. maybe with that viewpoint back in the day of the marriage that you saw was scary.

Dr. Naeema: 28:11

Well, not only did I think about like what does it mean to be in partnership. My mother, after she divorced the man on my birth certificate, my mother was, I think her picker got really good.'cause before it wasn't good. And she met and married my stepfather, who we all called dad. So I was in third grade and he was probably one of the greatest human beings I've ever had the blessing to know, to know Art was to know that you saw God. He was gentle and kind and compassionate and generous to a fault. He take his shirt off to wrap nicely up his last dollar and hand it to you and bless you. And make sure that you were laughing as you walked along your merry way. Just an incredible human being. And we got blessed to have him in our life until he shuffled off of the mortal coil right before I turned 40. And so he had a chance to love and embrace and be this incredible grandfather to my three children and father-in-law to my husband. And it was such a blessing. So I had this experience of knowing what it was to be such a great man, but I was 23 and I was uninterested in being married. And you know, they say when you meet a man who was very clear about what it is that he desires, watch out.

Caroline: 29:57

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 29:58

'Cause we were married 6 months later and experiencing becoming parents and really just embracing this African centered lifestyle. So all three of our children were born at home with a midwife. They all bear African names that have meanings. We chose the meanings before the actual name, and we did not name them until observing an African tradition until they arrive here. And we did not reveal the name until seven days after they came because it's time to meet this little spirit and know who they are and really just get to know this being that is coming through you, but not for you. Right? And how

Caroline: 30:46

Absolutely.

Dr. Naeema: 30:46

you know, desire for them to live in the world. And so we live this very centered lifestyle. And so what I think also is a thing, to go back to what you said is what I have been doing my entire life has been reinventing. So it is no strange, you know, coincidence, if you will. That I am a reinvention coach now, you know? because I think that that's the thing, that you really observe that something you said earlier that the thing that I became really good at is blooming where I was planted. But more than that, I think that my stepfather that we call dad really taught and instilled in me, is you don't only bloom because how you bloom is evidenced in the people that you are closest to. Like, how do you bless other people that you don't only look for self gratification, but the meaning and the purpose in your life really is demonstrated in how you serve. And that really has been also a real central theme for me. I mean, I went through my selfish years. Don't get it twisted. my

Caroline: 31:55

We, we,

Dr. Naeema: 31:57

that is

Caroline: 31:57

That's a whole nother episode. I wanna bring it a little bit to this, the beauty of a name and seeing the child and what they're becoming and choosing the right name and having that meaning. I was very intentional with my children and their names. My husband is originally from India, and I wanted to have names that were beautiful and that my side of the family could try to pronounce nicely, and that meant something deep. And yet also were not contradictory with my faith and my traditions because they're different than my husband's faith and his traditions. Would you mind sharing, when did you become this beautiful name of Naeema?

Dr. Naeema: 33:25

I think that I always knew I was born given my grandmother's name, my mother's mother, who was just this, she was a really soul who had a really, really hard life and she did the best that she could with what she was given. And she was an incredible human and I was honored that I was given her name, I was given her name as a second thought. My mom knew she was having a boy. Never imagined she was having a girl. And when I came out as a girl, I think that she was very shocked. And so there was no girl name, and it became the default like. And while it is honorable because she was such a beautiful human, it never fit, ever. And I could stare into my grandmother's blue eyes until there were no more sunsets and it would never have fit. It was always the thing that I was wearing, but never truly inhabiting. And so when my husband and I were married, one of the things that we decided is that we were going to give each other our given chosen name

Caroline: 35:01

Oh, so beautiful.

Dr. Naeema: 35:03

we were going to change our names, and so he gave me my name. We were supposed to just do first, but I'm an overachiever, so I gave him his first and middle name, and when I heard the name standing facing him, it was this revelation and I get goosebumps to this day, like telling this story. I knew that he understood and he saw me for the very first time I felt seen. And so here I am, I'm 24, and for the very first time in my life, I know that the energy that is called, right, every word has energy. The energy that is evoked every time my name will be uttered will be something that I could truly embody. And that was a reflection of who I am and how I want to show up and who I aspire to be and to whom I belong. And so it was this beautiful moment. And so he told me the meaning before the name. And it transcends many languages, like many words. But it is kindhearted and compassionate in Hebrew, it's the God of all good things. It's the things that people remind you of when you forget to, you know, when you have a temporary lapse. It's when you're being human and less spiritual. and so to be compassionate and kindhearted and a beneficial presence on the planet to embody those descriptions and to know that that's where my heart resides. And then when he finally said, Naeema. I had to giggle'cause it's the name of the song that he would play over and over when I was pregnant. And we would put, my belly next to these big giant speakers. cause it was the early nineties.

Caroline: 37:10

Yeah. Yeah. So

Dr. Naeema: 37:11

that, you know, our unborn son could listen to the beautiful sounds of John Coltrane. And he wrote this ballad. my then husband was a huge fan of jazz and I became to love it because of him. And so John Coltrane, this very soulful jazz musician that was a horn player far before his time, wrote this ballad to his wife called Naeema. And it was such a beautiful moment.

Caroline: 37:44

Oh, thank you so much for sharing that. And he saw you, he loved you even from the first moment of seeing you if he's, you know, whispering over to his friend that he's gonna marry you, and of course you weren't quite sure of that plan yet. But then you became and had a quite a great brought in three beautiful children into the world. How did that change your trajectory from what you thought you wanted to do? Work-wise to then becoming a wife, becoming a mother. What did you choose to do in that? What did you feel called to do after having your children?

Dr. Naeema: 38:21

My experience with having my children at home with the midwife, the very first one I was like, this is it. This is what I wanna do. I want to empower other women to birth in a way that they choose, not in the way that, you know, a medical provider chooses, not in a way that is, orchestrated by a building of sick people that are being treated, in a medical model, which is a sick care model.

Caroline: 38:53

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 38:54

and where it removes and deafens women's voices and it eliminates choice and puts in front of women, you know, to do lists that have to be checked off.

Caroline: 39:11

Hmm.

Dr. Naeema: 39:12

And really treats this, you know, amazing time this childbearing year into, you know, some sickness that must be medicated and managed.

Caroline: 39:26

instead of experienced and

Dr. Naeema: 39:29

Yes. And so that was my calling. And I loved the opportunity to help other women envision how that they truly, intuitively believed that they should bring their children into the world.

Caroline: 39:44

That's so beautiful. So you're assisting people with their birth experience, birth plan, even before that, bringing this child to have the best beginnings of just experiencing the beauty of the world in whatever environment that mother chose. And then you're helping other women with that, your mom to your children. And then there was a transition that kind of happened as well. Tell us that. what then happened to help you have another chapter.

Dr. Naeema: 40:18

When my oldest was 13, he fell off of a five foot cinder block wall directly onto his back on a concrete sidewalk. And, he paralyzed himself. and we didn't know at the time that it was temporary, but it was, my husband, was working, on a work trip in New York and we lived in Southern California and I was home with the kids, alone. And I spent three hours pacing the emergency room, believing, that the worst had just happened. And through just this amazing grace, the doctors come out and they say, there's no internal damage, there's no broken bones, there's no internal bleeding. We don't see any reason why your son will not make a full recovery. And within a few weeks he did, and that was amazing and incredible. And several months later, he starts developing migraine headaches that we don't associate with the fall, because why would we? It's been months. He's a 13-year-old boy. He does crazy things. And when we relocated to Georgia from Southern California, it has started with these migraines. They were headaches and then they turned to migraines and we went the route, the typical route like, you know, trying to really isolate and determine like, what is this and, and to get it properly diagnosed and we just never were able to. And it was just months and I watched this very, you know, vibrant, extroverted, really gregarious, child of mine really start to become withdrawn. And I spent a lot of time praying over him and just asking and pleading and finally, a chiropractor introduced herself to me and through this wonderful experience, at this new school that I did not like. And I didn't want to want my kids to be there. And I was disillusioned about my desire for us to move here to Georgia. And I felt like I had made a grave mistake. Life happens for you. And through these events that happen very quickly, um, were introduced, my husband and I were introduced into the world of chiropractic. And what does it mean to heal from the inside out? And what does it mean to restore the brain body, connection and the communication when something is off and your body is demonstrating some sort of dis-ease? And we already knew that. We lived very holistically. We vegetarian, we were vegan than vegetarian. We lived very holistically. My kids were born at home with the midwife. We had an herbalist. They didn't have a traditional pediatrician, right? Like we took herbs and supplements and, you know, talk to energy healers and naturopaths, but none of that was helping migraines until we discovered chiropractic and watched through, you know, a series of visits that not only did my son completely recover, the migraines disappeared. But like he just began thriving again. And all I thought in this moment, having been, you know, a mother for 13 years and had these three kids, that if somebody like that could give us back health, restore, remove the interference that helped and allowed his body to restore his health because our healing just physically and physiologically is also the same that we all know to be true about emotionally and spiritually

Caroline: 44:14

Okay. Yes.

Dr. Naeema: 44:15

like our answers are within, we live in a world from that sort of thrives on this outside in approach, but truly everything comes from within. And after watching what I felt was a miraculous healing, I was like sign me up. I wanna do that. I wanna sit kneecap to kneecap with families and tell them I know that you have been given this diagnosis. I know that you know another provider has taken away your help, your hope. I know that you have stopped trusting in your body. I know that your fears and what keeps you up at night. And I am here to tell you that if we remove the interference, your body will do what it is naturally designed to do, which is to heal. And so I went on to become a chiropractor and helped thousands of people over my decade of practice watching them regain and restore their own health.

Caroline: 45:23

Oh, that is so beautiful. Thank you. So you become Dr. Naeema, you have a very successful practice and you're helping countless lives and then what? Because there's still a gap between then and now. So then what happened to kind of couple events kind of happened to kind of, you know, make a new chapter or couple chapters. Reinvention

Dr. Naeema: 45:48

is calling again. by this point, sadly, and unfortunately after 22 years, my marriage does end. And I am out in the world as this, you know, successful doctor, you know, practice owner. I've got a team that I love and treasure. I've got amazing patients. I have a good life. My kids are, you know, two are already out of the house. The last one, you know, is finishing high school his senior year, and I get my heart broken. I fall in desperate love with somebody who was only ever designed to break my heart open so that I would step into the thing that I had been running from my entire adult life. And that was shoving all of the shame that I felt and carried of my childhood under as many rugs as possible until that rug just decided it was no longer willing to do my bidding. And I began the year long journey of healing and going to therapy and really looking within and doing that work and that true capital W, inner work meant that I was not the same woman that I was when I began that journey. And so what came from that year long journey was this amazing memoir, that I was able to pour everything into. And so here's this beautiful book that I now have and I can hold, and it's this baby that I have birthed. It's really like my fifth baby, right? Like I have three children. I birthed this practice that I love, and now I have this, this book of this story that is now a representative, a symbol that's representing all of my healing and I feel incredible and amazing. And I then try to stuff myself back into the version of me before I wrote the book, before I went on the healing journey, and I no longer want the same things only, I don't wanna admit that out loud. Because chiropractic school was hard. We relocated to Georgia, which was impossible. Both of my parents die suddenly halfway through, through the practice. I have this divorce that I've survived. Like the last thing I want is another fucking reinvention.

Caroline: 48:26

Yes.

Dr. Naeema: 48:26

I just want continue to go back into my life. Only that's not gonna work. And God knows that's not gonna work. And I try really hard and God sends me little messages and he

Caroline: 48:38

yes,

Dr. Naeema: 48:39

whispers. And then the taping gets a little bit harder and a little bit harder. All these things are happening and I just keep ignoring it. And then I crashed my bike. I Where were you riding? Yeah. Where? I was riding on the Silver Comet Trail here in Atlanta, and I'm just moseying along and I'm thinking all is well and it's not.'cause while I love cycling and I love being outdoors, and it was beautiful and it was wonderful and all of the things, God was like, you ain't listening.

Caroline: 49:12

So gonna sit you down.

Dr. Naeema: 49:14

Yeah. And I tore all the hamstrings off of the bone that you sit on and I can no longer practice because guess what? Chiropractic is a physical job.

Caroline: 49:24

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 49:25

During those very long, horrible, emotionally gut wrenching nights, laying in my bed after that surgery. And feeling vulnerable in a way that I never had. I'd gone on this year of healing journey like I'm arrived, I'm good now. What I had forgotten is that everything that I could do, I'm a doer and I become this doer. And I had done all of these things except that God and I had co-created this vision that I had saw when I was four years old. That I would be standing on stages and I would be speaking into and over women who were needing to bridge the chasm that was between what their vision was, but where they were currently, and how do they bridge that? And I can't do that from within my chiropractic practice. And so God said, you no longer are going to have this option. And I was bitter and resentful and I was like, you could have sent me a text message'cause this is some bullshit. And I finally just released, I finally let go and did the thing that I do not love, which is to surrender. And when I surrender, sold the practice in nearly everything I owned. And I picked up an empty passport and went on a travel journey to figure out who is Naeema without the titles, without the labels, because my kids are now out of the house. Like, who are you when you are not identified with all the things that you have picked up along the way? Who are you in countries you've never been in, in languages you do not speak. Who are you? And most importantly, the question I began to ask myself is, what's possible now?

Caroline: 51:33

Yes. Oh, this is so just expansive and glorious. And we talked a week or so ago, and we could tell in our initial conversation, we could tell each of us has done a little bit of work to get to the version that we are now and now seeing how life was happening for us. Even if in the moment, it sure as heck didn't feel like that. And I used to be like, come on, God. Like seriously, I need another character building thing? Like are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Why this? All right, I guess I'm gonna do this now. Oh wow. Okay. This is glorious. Okay, so now we go from you are just becoming and blossoming each challenge, each opportunity, each everything just keeps growing your amazingness and also uncovering who you were made to be and those things that you saw. And so now, how do you help people? Now let's help.

Dr. Naeema: 52:32

So I have reinvented one more time, and I am now fully embraced in being a reinvention coach. Like I help other women who were or are where I was

Caroline: 52:53

Yes.

Dr. Naeema: 52:53

have this dream and or this idea, or maybe just a little tickle. There's just a little tingle. There's a little something that they know that is inside that is beckoning them forward, and I help you bridge the gap. I help bring those two pieces together. I help in a way that is meaningful and not surface. And I get blessed by the opportunity to stand in the gap with you. Because I think this is the thing we have all become enamored with. And it is simply this. I wanna get over, I wanna get to, I want to be on the other side of this, but what none of us are pursuing and all of us desperately need is how do we get through, how do you get through the that just landed on your doorstep or what you created or how life is happening for you? And you know that. And still it isn't easy. You're struggling. You might be cussing like I was. You might feel some resentment or for some bitterness or fatigue and this level of exhaustion that all you could hope for is somebody just to partner with you, somebody to help lift some of the burden with you. Because while nobody can carry something for you, they can link arms with you. And they can see what you have created veils and you no longer can see. Because what I believe our jobs are from one human to another is to continuously reveal and reflect the divinity that is in all of us. And if I can re remind you of who it is that you are, to me that's priceless. That's invaluable because for the women and men, because God love my therapist, Earnest, shout out to Earnest,'cause that man got me through an entire year and Raised as a Lie exists because he stood in the gap for me, I think the greatest blessing that we can give each other is to highlight and re remind us of our brilliance. And now that's the thing that I get to do on small stages, in one-on-one, on small group sessions and on large stages where I get to speak to thousands of people at a time. And that's so freaking dope.

Caroline: 55:54

I love it and it's fun how God in my path and in yours too kind of puts people and you're like, here you go. And I was like, you popped up in my inbox. I'm like, absolutely. I'd love to have you again as a guest. This sounds great. And we saw it a little bit last week and I'm seeing it so much even more now that the mission that we are on is parallel journeys, similar focus, definitely similar words and intentions that we have in helping people become and remember, and also bridge that gap and have a massive action plan to get there. And what do they want for their life? How can the career fuel it. I love it. I love it. I love it. Now, are you writing another book or is that one already done?

Dr. Naeema: 56:37

I am in the process. You know when you imagine like getting back into this thing, right? Like writing that first book was arduous and I'm like, I was not a writer. I was about to claim something that is not true. I was not a writer. I am now. And it was tough. It was really tough. And there were moments where I was like, I'm just kidding. I'm closing the laptop. I was just kidding. I don't wanna, I don't want it. And there were times that I would come into my therapist's office and I was like, I'm not going to, I'm not doing it. And he was like, first of all, who are you yelling at?

Caroline: 57:18

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 57:18

of all. So don't do it. But I wanna do it right? Like the moment somebody like what, what story are you telling yourself, right? Like,

Caroline: 57:28

Yeah.

Dr. Naeema: 57:28

story are you telling yourself? And so that's always the blessing and the beauty of, you know, somebody who can stand on the other side of whatever, meaning that you are giving your story, and call that out for you. I think accountability is a beautiful thing. And it comes in all forms. And so when I raised my hand again to say, yes, I want to, I wanna write another book, and I want this to come from the perspective of not a memoir, but to use storytelling. To use these stories because I believe that that's where we are all connected. We connected our stories, we connected the broken parts, we connected the imperfections, we connected the things that we're like, oh shit, what did I do? But then that's the beauty, because we see each other there. So to use the stories in a way that is empowering, not just to tell my story because that's what the memoir was to tell my story, but this book, this opportunity is for me to connect not only my stories, but to tell the stories of other women that I have had the blessing to come into contact with. So that more women and men, right, conceive themselves in this variety of stories, right? And really truly understand that you can connect the dots and that you can create a place. So there's two books. One of it is called Your Possibility Era, and the other one is Every Damn Thing,

Caroline: 59:05

Yeah. I love it.

Dr. Naeema: 59:07

your Disruption Manual. Like why would we want anything less than every damn thing? so I love this idea. And they're both competing with like, which one is going to come first? I'm not sure. Right. We'll see. But I love the idea that both exist. it's an and also not an either or. And I love that. I love that we get to decide, right? Like, you wanna write multiple books at a time, go for it. You wanna multiple career

Caroline: 59:37

Uh,

Dr. Naeema: 59:38

Go for it. You wanna like leap out of a plane, which I just did a few months ago.

Caroline: 59:44

Ooh.

Dr. Naeema: 59:45

I go for it. Like, do it

Caroline: 59:47

That's on my list.

Dr. Naeema: 59:48

54 and do it. Like, why not? Right? Like, so I truly believe that this season in, for me and maybe other women come to it earlier, but this season for me, it really is what's possible now.

Caroline: 1:00:05

I love it. A couple questions. How do people find you? How do they work with you and then I'll have one more.

Dr. Naeema: 1:00:10

Absolutely. So you can always, find me on these internet streets, at, let's see, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. I am Dr. Naeema is the Handle, and also my website, DrNaeema.com. So it's D-R-N-A-E-E-M-A.com

Caroline: 1:00:32

Awesome, and I will have those linked in the show notes. I'm big on authentic success, and to me authentic success is however you define it. So how do you define authentic success for you in this moment?

Dr. Naeema: 1:00:48

So when I asked the question, who are you without the labels and the titles, who are you in places that you have not already mastered? I believe it is releasing the things and the stories you have told about yourself and your successes and or your quote unquote failures and really getting to who is the essence of you and how are you choosing to walk in the world? Because we have all lied to ourselves and to others at one point in our lives, I believe that to the degree that we are willing to be vulnerable enough to break us down to just our essence and then tell people who you are from that perspective. I think that that success all day long, because that's where we truly see each other. That's where I see you and you see me. Why wouldn't we wanna dance on that level?

Caroline: 1:02:02

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Dr. Naeema, thank you so much for sharing more of your story and the beauty, and I highly encourage people to go check out the books Raised as a Lie and the ones that are coming, we will have links in the show notes and we'll update those as those books come out. But thank you so much for sharing your story and the time with you this morning.

Dr. Naeema: 1:02:27

Such an honor to be here. Thank you.

Caroline: 1:02:30

Thank you.

1:02:31

Start your own reinvention with Dr. Naeema's free Before the RISE mini journal. In just five reflective prompts, you'll gain clarity, release what no longer serves you, and reconnect with your deepest desires. You can download it. From the link in the show notes, you can also connect with her at EveryDamnThing.org and follow her on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Remember, links are in the show notes. when you refuse to succumb to your circumstances and choose to reinvent and rise in glory, you unlock the kind of success that is true, powerful, and yours alone. Dr. Naeema thank you for sharing your courage, your story, and your joy with us today. And to our listeners, be inspired and take action. Download her journal, connect with her work, and step into your own possibility era. Here's to your next success.

Caroline: 1:03:35

Thanks for listening to Your Next Success with Dr. Caroline Sangal. Remember, authentic success is yours to define and includes aligning your career to support the life you want.