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She thought intuition was just a feeling until it became the compass that shaped every major turning point in her life. Today, intuition mentor Anna Quigley shows us how to hear it, trust it, and follow it. This is the Your Next Success podcast, and I am your host, Dr. Caroline Sangal. I am 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 are 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 will hear stories from people who have navigated big career transitions themselves. So you can create a life, first career and become your own version of authentic success, one that is aligned, meaningful, and truly yours. For more than 30 years, Anna Quigley has studied how intuition works and how it guides us through the most meaningful turning points in our lives. She blends neuroscience, mind body work, and inner wisdom to help women recognize their intuitive signals and move toward their next chapter with clarity and confidence. Anna's story is a powerful example of what happens when you start listening to the inner cues you've been brushing aside. We explore how intuition speaks through your senses, why midlife often feels like a calling, not a crisis. How early interests and natural abilities point towards purpose. And simple ways to strengthen intuition in daily decisions. If you felt a quiet pool towards something more. This episode will help you understand that signal and take your next step with confidence.

Caroline 2:22

Welcome Anna to Your Next Success. I'm super excited for our conversation today.

Anna Quigley 2:29

As am I.

Caroline 2:30

Awesome. So as you know, I love talking about careers, career transitions, kind of the fun journey that got us from what we thought we were gonna do into what we're actually doing and serving today. So, I'd love to kind of get into your story a little bit. Would you mind telling us like, where did you grow up? What was childhood like, what kind of things did you think were fun and fascinating?

Anna Quigley 2:56

I have a very traditional Midwest background. I was born in Cleveland, lived there until about nine when my family moved out to, Southern California. So I'm essentially been a West Coast girl for most of my life. But the fundamental Midwest work ethic, work hard, you know, independent, do things you know on your own. Don't ask for help. That's been, that's been a lesson I've had to overcome, is learning that it's okay to ask for help. So, dad was, in sales and management and mom, you know, mostly was a homemaker. So very, very fundamental kind of upbringings, three other siblings. I was the baby.

Caroline 3:37

Wow.

Anna Quigley 3:38

Baby for a while. So, yeah, all of those, all of those different levels. So.

Caroline 3:44

Hmm. Yeah. So something about your dad's career made it so that this West Coast move was a good a thing or were there, were there other family members there? What was the driving factor?

Anna Quigley 3:54

No, they were my dad, came out for a job situation, but loved it because,

Caroline 4:00

Wow.

Anna Quigley 4:00

They liked getting away from the snow in the cold. And, you know, he bragged to, he called the relatives back in Ohio, you know, Christmas and Thanksgiving and say, oh yeah, I just played nine holes this morning. You know, while they're digging about 3 feet of snow. So, some of the others moved out to the West coast as well, but, he was, a little bit of a pioneer, my dad.

Caroline 4:22

That's awesome. And so now for you, what kind of things did you enjoy in school? What subjects were fascinating, or what kind of activities did you love doing outside of school?

Anna Quigley 4:32

I loved swimming. I was always on a swim team. Can't keep me away from the water. So it was nice. Even in Ohio, we lived right on Lake Erie. So, I did grow up in the water. My mom loved the water too, so I think she, she kind of coordinated that, but grew up at the beaches in Southern California. Loved that. I've always loved writing. That's been something, I wrote a lot of poetry when I was younger. Haven't been doing much of that lately, but, did a lot of writing. Loved that. I love movies that stayed with me. Actually. I was a film major for a brief period. In college, but, arts and entertainment, art, arts in all forms really, I love.

Caroline 5:15

Hmm. Yeah. And so then as you kind of went through high school and decided to even go on to college, how did you pick what to study and how did that evolve?

Anna Quigley 5:26

I had several different majors because I was finding myself, that's the fun of college is you get to explore different things. So I started, I believe I started as a theater major actually, because I loved movies, so I was studying radio, tv, film. Did that for a bit, and that really wasn't the direction I wanted to go. I ultimately ended up with a degree in journalism and public relations. toward the end of my college career, I was very, very tempted to shift to architecture, which is another passion. But, you know, I didn't want to do another two years of college. It was like, okay, I'm, I'm ready to be done. I'm ready to be out of there. So journalism and public relations served me in every job I've ever had. And architecture, interestingly, I'm an amateur photographer and most of what I love shooting are buildings.

Caroline 6:20

Oh, nice. Yeah.

Anna Quigley 6:21

So it all, it all works together. You know, you find these, these interests that we have, and the more you can use them, the more joy you bring into your life.

Caroline 6:31

And so then as you left college, how did that evolve into, you know, what, what was the work world? Looking like for you for different chapters?

Anna Quigley 6:42

I left California right after college. I kind of missed seasons. I had enough of that growing up in in Ohio. I missed weather. We get,

Caroline 6:53

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 6:53

More than just one season or mild variations of two. And I packed up and I have a bit of my dad's rolling stone kind of, feeling. And I moved to Colorado. Didn't know anybody, found a great place there and just needed a job and ended up in sales. Actually, my dad had been in sales and so I was doing promotional work. And selling and, for, working for a liquor wholesaler, which is the job that I found so my big feminist claim to fame is that I was the first woman to sell hard liquor in the state of Colorado. Such as it nobody had done that before. So that was my, that was my feminist barrier break, which is funny but it was a great experience and it helped me come outta my shell a little bit. I was really very shy having to be out and interact with people that I didn't know and put myself out there was really a valuable experience.

Caroline 7:55

And then what happened, I guess, you know, and.

Anna Quigley 7:57

well, it is been a bit of a roller coaster. The next job was, a friend encouraged me to get a job with a large corporation for, she was working for, for one, and I ended up with a job with Hunt Wesson as a sales rep and sales manager. It's now Conagra. I ended up in the grocery industry on the retail side. Later in my life I ended up doing food service, but that was a great job. I had like five states and I got to travel around. And again, it was really instrumental in helping me come out of my shell and really get comfortable talking to, to people and sharing experiences and learning more about them. You know, you got to be very, curious about people in different parts of the country and how they lived and what was important, what their priorities were. So it's that interest has continued through my life.

Caroline 8:54

And I guess maybe this is the right time to ask. So in this youngish view, what did you think it meant to be successful? What did you think you were wanting to have a successful life or a successful career from? From that vantage point? We'll get to what it is now, but yeah.

Anna Quigley 9:15

Wow. having a decent income, you know, having a, honestly, back in those days, it was about a social life. connection. You know, I had a wonderful time in my twenties and my thirties and, you know, interacting, actually working for the liquor wholesaler, I knew every pub, every great place to go. So I, you know, when I'm out in my twenties, I knew every bartender, I knew everything, you know, I didn't drink much, but you know, it was a fun connection when you're out with your single girlfriends in your twenties. So

Caroline 9:48

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 9:48

Fun. So that, that was that. But I wanted to do something more. And I didn't know what that was. So as I got to kind of the end of my twenties, this stirring started coming up and I remember my mom was visiting from California at one point, and we just got into this wonderful deep connection and I was just, I burst into tears just. I know there's something I'm supposed to be doing, mom, and I don't know what it is. It just really started building up to where it's like, okay, this, it was quite emotional and you know, she was so sweet. She was like, oh, I hope I get to see what it is. not sure she did entirely, but, you know, she was always supportive with that. And it started in my late twenties where I just there was more. Just knew it,

Caroline 10:44

And so how did that come up? Was it a feeling? Was it recurring thoughts? Was it a dream? What, what,

Anna Quigley 10:50

it definitely came as a feeling. It came with levels of, I happened to be really good at sales, but I wasn't happy doing it. It wasn't fulfilling. At all.. And I interestingly connected with one of our other salespeople and we were driving from, you know, a distance and started a conversation and he told me about, an aptitude test. A company that did aptitude testing, Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation and Human Engineering Lab is what the old name used to be.

Caroline 11:25

Mm-hmm.

Anna Quigley 11:25

for, you know, what do you love? They tested for what

Caroline 11:29

Yep.

Anna Quigley 11:29

aptitudes were. It was

Caroline 11:32

Yep.

Anna Quigley 11:32

A day and a half of wiggly block tests since. Auditory cues and that sort of thing. And at the end, the first question that you get an assessment with the, professional. And the first question he said was, what are you doing in sales? And they said, thank you. Yes. You know, that's what's been haunting me. It's like, I know it's not the right fit. So he, we went through all of the aptitudes that I was strongest in and he helped me understand that more of the aptitudes that I have, that I use, the more fulfilled I will be and the happier I will, be and that was very critical because I had some tangible things. One of my math abilities and I, I'm not great with, you know, certain parts of math, I'm good. Certain parts I'm not, but it ties in with photography and I loved photography. When I was a, a journalism student, I started, you know, learning how to develop film and working with camels, and that continues. I am back now doing a lot of amateur photography and entering contests and whatnot that uses. Several of the aptitudes that I have, and that brings me a lot of joy, a lot of creativity. So that was one thing. And then it helped me guide me in career. I needed to do a variety of things, not just one focus. So it it was very helpful, and I referred to that for, several, several years to help kind of guide me if I wasn't sure.

Caroline 13:05

Yeah. And that's the thing. And so, I do believe Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation is still out there. The same, philosophy underneath Johnson O'Connor also became what I offer now as the Highlands Ability Battery. the difference is that now, Highlands has taken a lot of that, instead of being a couple day event that you had to be somewhere. Now it can be done online to make it much more accessible and then there still is a very detailed debrief. But yes, I think that's amazing that that was offered to you so you could come to know. Just because we live as us doesn't mean we actually understand all

Anna Quigley 13:41

Yeah.

Caroline 13:42

the gifts and talents that have been poured into us for a reason. And yes, and, and that, yeah, those natural abilities or aptitudes, they're poured in, they kind of solidify around age 14 or 15 and they stay. That starting point stays stable unless somebody has a traumatic brain injury or dementia. But other than that, then you build skills on top. And yes, when you're building skills and things on top of how you're naturally wired. It does make things more energizing, exciting. And then if you pair interest into that as well, then now you've got three factors. so

Anna Quigley 14:22

Absolutely, I think everyone should be able to do that. I would love to see kids in school have that as, as an option. And, another thing that I found along those same lines of recognizing those innate abilities, and I think this is more true with women. I don't wanna be, you know, make it exclusive, but so often we don't value the things that come easiest to us. If we didn't work really hard for it, then oh yeah. You know, I, I asked some friends and family at one point to get some clarity. Said, okay, what do you think I'm really good at? some of their answers were just, you know, oh, you're good at accessorizing. Oh, you're good at this. I'm, and I really. was polite, but I dismissed it. I said, what? Thank you, but give me something I can use. And I was looking for tangible, something, you know, more structured. ultimately started an import business, and what was interesting is I, didn't know what exactly I was going to import on when I did my first buying trip, but every stall, every store, every street vendor that was selling accessories, handbags, and scarves and jewelry and small furniture. I would make a beeline to and after about the third time, I'm like the light bulb. It's like, this is how it all ties together, this thing that I love just naturally, I'm good at putting things together. This is how that works. So I started importing those items because I had an affinity for them it, you know, I had dismissed that like as, it's not important, but those things that come easily as easiest to us. Those are the gifts we were born to use. Those are the gifts we were born to share.

Caroline 16:12

Absolutely. Absolutely. And interestingly, I think we talked a little bit prior to this recording that a lot of that import and then you got to actually help people. So you're making a big impact.

Anna Quigley 16:23

Yeah,

Caroline 16:23

You're helping other families to have. You know, good lives other women to to market their wares beyond the reach that they normally have. Then your sales capabilities, all of these are kind of like coming together that those foundational elements and still build to create the version of you, the next version of you. So that's amazing.

Anna Quigley 16:45

It did. It all came together. It brought in the travel, which is one of my major passions, so I got to do that. I was helping, local women provide jobs for the community. Most of my imports were from India and Nepal, south America, so it just benefited on so many different levels. the fact that I had products that I was interested, that I loved, it was easy for me to share that and, you help others. As you say, everything kind of came together with that.

Caroline 17:16

Yes.

Anna Quigley 17:16

Yeah.

Caroline 17:17

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 17:18

Was great.

Caroline 17:18

Now, tell me a little bit about this intuition. I know this is something that you have studied quite a bit about and that you help people a lot with now. H how has your intuition developed, sharpened over time? How did you even learn to listen? Yeah.

Anna Quigley 17:36

It, it that, that also happened early on in my life. I, I started doing more spiritual studies when I was in college, studied world religions and just was, was a question, you know, that was my period of time to just question everything. I still have a bent for that, but anything and everything I could explore and try and that's when I first learned about that intuition. That, that word, I mean, of course I've all had, we've all had the feelings, the gut feeling and those things, but recognizing what it is and how you could use it, was the key. And the more I studied. I realized that not only is this just something that comes up that guides us, but that we can learn to use it. It's built into every single human being. This is a divine gift that we have, just like those abilities that just come naturally to us that we tend not to value. That's exactly how intuition works. It is always. And I tested it because I, I can be a little bit of a skeptic and I had some amazing results with, it's like, okay, alright, I get this, this is real, this is real. And in my work, I've really delved into the science behind it. And science now has documented that, these impulses are respond. Responses to our environment, to what's going on in our environment and coming through our senses. So our intuition makes itself known to us through that gut feeling or that little quiet voice. all of those things. And it's, there's this, there's science behind this. This is legit. This is no longer considered woo woo. We know now how it works and why it works, and we can reverse engineer. By working with our senses and creating, creating what it is that we want. So using our intuition can guide us in and out of situations, but we can also use it to create the life that we want.

Caroline 19:48

So what are some examples of like how you tested it and what happened through your testing, how you saw some real life examples of your intuition working for you?

Anna Quigley 20:00

the, the first aha one that I did, I thought, okay, you know, all right, let's, let's see. And it, it was the silliest test. I, there was particular belt, a particular color that I wanted, and I thought, well, okay, if it can help me find, you know, again, I like accessories, we can help me find that, you know, let's, let's see. And so I kind of got quiet and I thought, okay, where can I go? know, where should I go to find this? And it happened to be a popular item at the time. This was like eighties, late eighties. And, so I, a store I knew had a lot of accessories across town. Is okay. That's where you go. I thought, well, you know, all these other places have it too. So I thought, I'm stopping everywhere. I stopped at every little boutique, every shop that might have it. Nobody had it. They had 'em, but they didn't have the right color. And,

Caroline 20:52

Hmm.

Anna Quigley 20:53

I finally got to the store that my intuition had said, yes, they will have it. And I walked around and no, they didn't have it. I thought, all right. is a test look again, really go through the nooks and crannies. And they had other similar items, but they didn't have the one I wanted. And I thought, all right, well, you know, I tried, I, I, I tried and I started walking out the door. And that little voice is like, just ask. Just ask. And I thought, well, no, I already know. They're gonna say if it's not on the floor, we don't have it. Right. And I took another step toward the door, and again, it was like, just ask. And I thought, all right, this is a test, so let's take the test To the full extent, I walked up to the counter and showed I had a picture, here's the color, this is exactly what I want. And the clerk behind the counter said, oh yeah, that came in this morning. We just haven't had a chance to put it out. I thought it was on to

Caroline 21:48

Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Anna Quigley 21:51

Yeah, and I'm like, okay, this, this, this. We're gonna work with this. And that was really the first launch. Now, do I always listen? No, I'm human and I, I recent, well actually a few months ago, just was in his own and relaxed and wanted to take this, this back roads home. And my intuition said, take the freeway. Take the freeway. And it kind of startled me. And I thought, no, no, no. I want the relaxed road. I ignored it. And a couple of blocks later it was like, turn around, turn around. And I hate turning around. I hate double backing. I hate redoing anything. It's a pet peeve of mine. And I thought, no, you know, my rational mind was like, no, we had a plan. We're gonna stick with the plan. I ran into construction, I turned the corner, I ran into construction, and I ended up being about a half an hour delayed going home. Nothing major, but I had to laugh at myself because I know my intuition has never failed me. I know

Caroline 22:54

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 22:54

always guiding me, but it was such a good lesson a good reminder because that's what happens most of the time when we listen to it. Nothing, the earth doesn't move, you know, there's no major event that happens, but we don't know what we might have avoided, which is exactly what the situation was for me in that I, you know, I still got home safely. I probably would've been home faster the other way. I will never know. And that's the part where faith comes in. You just, when you practice and you start really working with your intuition, the more you get familiar with it and learn to trust it. Then it's like, okay, I'm not questioning it because it's never failed me, I, I don't have to know why. So there's kind of a surrender to, it's like, okay, alright, I'm gonna, I'm gonna trust it. It's always worked, so I'm gonna continue to trust. But

Caroline 23:51

And what are some ways to kind of develop that or test it safely? I would like, 'cause I'd like to think, I'm kind of glad I didn't get some of the things I thought I wanted when I was younger or that some of the relationships that I thought would be great, weren't, you know, in hindsight. But how do you, how do you test that out?

Anna Quigley 24:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, it's, it, it got me, it kept me out of a relationship. you know, the red flags were there, and I'm still, no, no. You know, I'm going through with this. but the red flags were strong enough and the intuition was strong enough. I walked away from a, a wedding not too far in front of the actual ceremony, you know, it was, it was absolutely the right thing to do. Difficult, difficult. but I had so many friends at that time that came up and said, oh, I wouldn't be divorced if I, you know, had the nerve to do that. And don't know that it was nerve, but there were enough. Signals that were telling me something's not right here. It was, you know, the gut feeling, the intuition. It's like just it. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel

Caroline 24:59

Hmm.

Anna Quigley 24:59

it's not always an easy decision follow

Caroline 25:03

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 25:04

But again, it comes with getting familiar with it, really getting to know how your intuition speaks to you, what that feels like, what that little voice sounds like. And it can come in. after every one of your senses, and the more you are with it, and the more you pay attention to it and test it, that's, you know, that's really the best, the best way. Keep keep trying and seeing. It makes it easier

Caroline 25:35

Are there certain times, of day that are better than others for trying to listen or test your intuition?

Anna Quigley 25:42

you know, life gets so busy. Our days are busy and hectic. First thing in the morning is good because your, your rational mind, your is quieted down from sleep. So quite often, and I think we've all had this, you wake up in the morning and it's like, oh, that's the solution to the situation. The problem that I've been thinking about because you've given, given your mind a chance to. Breathe, if you will, without,

Caroline 26:10

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 26:10

gotta fix dinner, I gotta get the kids off to school. I gotta do, you know this, I have an appointment at whatever time. You know, get myself to work. Any opportunity that we can find some quiet time, some space. You know, I say even if you know, you sit for two minutes in your car before you go in the house, at the end of the day.

Caroline 26:31

Hmm.

Anna Quigley 26:32

Taking a breath, going in nature. Ugh. Nature's my, my go-to water. I, I joke, I call it the power of the shower. You know, you get in the shower and you just forget about all the things, the warmth and the water hitting. There have been so many people that have come up with inventions and songs and all kinds of great things when they relax and let go

Caroline 26:54

Yes.

Anna Quigley 26:54

focusing on the, on the to-dos and allow the what can be.

Caroline 27:01

Oh, I love that. Yes. Yes. And that's the thing, I think COVID for me kind of took, you know, that a, a bit of a forced break. where in North Carolina, it, the place shut down for almost, you know, two solid years, but all of a sudden then removing that, you know, this kid's got eight or nine different activities, so does that kid, then the other things and all, and then it was just like silence. Allowing things to be and appreciating and noticing each other a little bit more, even though we were, you know, in the early phases, quite terrified. But that there was a beauty that came from that, you know? And that's, I think that's the other thing too. Like every single thing in life, every challenge is an opportunity to grow into something more beautiful. If you look beyond the surface level effect.

Anna Quigley 27:51

And so many people came up with creative things during COVID because they had an opening. They had this space where they weren't, I gotta run to the market, I gotta run here, I gotta get to the, no. We had, you will, extra time. We didn't

Caroline 28:09

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 28:09

we didn't have to worry about the commute. You could sit in your sweats and have a meeting, you know? And it was just

Caroline 28:15

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 28:15

lot of, extra little moments that we all had in that, and so many. Creative ideas came with just making room. You know, our rational mind keeps us on track. It's, it is critical for living, intuition's where it, it's the source of our creativity. It's a source of our inspiration. It's what moves us forward and brings passion really to us. Those you, your purpose lives in your intuition. I totally believe that.

Caroline 28:50

Imagine what your life would be like if your career aligned with who you are, what you do best, and actually fueled the life you want. At Next Success, we support all ages and stages through career transitions from students exploring majors or careers to job seekers actively searching or re-imagining their next move to professionals committed to self-awareness and leadership growth. Stay connected and explore what's possible at nextsuccesscareers.com and follow @nextsuccessmethod on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. And so you had this career in sales, you had, do you still have the export, import export business or the import business. Okay.

Anna Quigley 29:35

yeah. Ran its course.

Caroline 29:38

And, and so then what happened? And so then what was the next chapter for you?

Anna Quigley 29:43

Well, I, I had, at that point, I had been living up in Washington State and felt the calling with. and friends all moving back to Southern California. My parents were elderly. They were getting to the point where I really kind of wanted to be them as much as I could, in that period of time. And so I moved back to Southern California something. I said, you know, never say never. I swore I would never move back here 'cause I, again, I liked the seasons and I like a little bit of the weather.

Caroline 30:14

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 30:14

duh. Yeah, just. just go with it, you know? it was absolutely the right, the right thing to do, and I started again. It, it, you know, shifts those open periods in our lives that can be scary in between jobs or whatever. Are also such great opportunities for reassessing. Self-assessing what's working, what, what do I love about what I've done? What are the things that I love doing, and how can I incorporate, again, back to the aptitudes, how can I incorporate more of that and what

Caroline 30:52

Mm.

Anna Quigley 30:53

And I, I went back to, I, I love, I've done events. I love events. I love. You know, journalism and, you know, public relations and all of that. I'm like, it's marketing. It's it's marketing and marketing has so many different aspects to it. I also needed to do a lot of different things, so my focus was on. I'm gonna find, I'm going to get into a full-time marketing position because that,

Caroline 31:19

Hmm.

Anna Quigley 31:19

just kind of been dancing around that for a long time and I just was not having a whole lot of luck and I saw an ad for a part-time. Marketing position and I, I'm like, ah, part-time. I need full-time. I need full-time. that intuition is like, go interview. Go interview. Just explore it, go interview. And I almost didn't go. And I finally, I finally booked the interview. I was heading outta town for, for the holidays, and I'm okay, I'll go, I'll go. It. It turned to be one of the best jobs I've ever had. they, they hadn't had a marketing person at this corporation and, small international, engineering company. So they didn't really know how many hours it was gonna take to do the job. So a lot of people that were fixed on full-time said, no, no, no, not interested. Not

Caroline 32:12

Ah.

Anna Quigley 32:13

And I was open to, okay, I can always get a second job. I need to with, you know, for the income. So, I took the job and within a month was working full time and I went to my boss, who happened to be the CEO and I said, you know, I got all of these projects done that, that you wanted. I said, but it's been taking, I've been working 40 hours a week, and then some. And he goes, oh, okay. If that's what it takes, that's what it takes. And

Caroline 32:44

Ah,

Anna Quigley 32:45

it was full time. And

Caroline 32:48

that's awesome.

Anna Quigley 32:49

great because I got to do events and I was doing advertising and I was working with the salespeople 'cause I do have an affinity and an understanding of how salespeople think and work. And it was technical so that satisfied. Another one of my aptitudes, I was taking photographs of. Plants, so I, you know, not,

Caroline 33:09

Oh, cool.

Anna Quigley 33:10

green plants, but factories and facilities, and so that satisfied, that structural thing. So it was really, it was really a nice culmination of all of these elements. So it was creative and structural and, and, yeah, just, and I almost walked away from it because it wasn't, didn't look like. Exactly,

Caroline 33:32

What you thought you wanted? Yes.

Anna Quigley 33:34

I needed. And I listened to and trusted

Caroline 33:37

Okay.

Anna Quigley 33:37

intuition and thought, okay, we'll, we'll figure out how to make it work. And

Caroline 33:43

Hmm.

Anna Quigley 33:44

it just, yeah. Yeah, it was great.

Caroline 33:48

And so then, and so then what happened? Because I know that today you're doing something

Anna Quigley 33:53

doing

Caroline 33:53

really impactful, and how did that possibility open up from seemingly having a. Safe, stable job that got to use a lot of talents and, and things that you're interested in.

Anna Quigley 34:06

I was with

Caroline 34:07

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 34:08

for like nine and a half years with that job. So, and grew in it. that time, again, another one of these passions was popping up and I was al I love biographies and I love learning. How did you do that? How did you get from A to B? And passion again I was still like, is this really, is this my passion? Is this what I'm supposed to be doing? And I started, okay, I'm gonna interview people. I'm gonna interview these amazing women that I know and that people have introduced me to, and ask them, how did you find your purpose? That they were living their purpose? How did you

Caroline 34:48

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 34:49

What were the steps that you took? What were the signs that that you listened to that got you to that? So I, I interviewed about, I think a dozen women and was still doing my job full time. COVID came, I had a health adventure. There were, you know, life happened and there were some things that kind of pushed me back away from, from that. And, and then the job kind of turned in a direction that I, I needed to go for my own

Caroline 35:20

Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Anna Quigley 35:21

health. And then I'm at the precipice again, and it's like, now what? Now what? I took the opportunity and, took off and went traveling. For me, that's, that's always a bliss and it clears my mind stepping away from my every day. Help

Caroline 35:41

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 35:42

Whatever that looks like. And we all have our own ways of, you know, getting away, but stepping away from the everyday. So I traveled a lot, I took a lot of pictures, went to medieval cities in Europe and went to places I hadn't been, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and just gave myself some time to get clear. And I thought, what, what keeps coming up in your life? It's passion. It's passion, it's how do you find it? What is it? it going? And was my answer. That was my answer. It's like, alright, learned, you've gone through this, you've, you, you've found. Things that keep coming up. You found these callings, these breadcrumbs throughout my life. It's all, I mean, even back in my early thirties, it was all about, oh, I'm gonna write a book about finding your passion, about living your passion. So it's been there consistently, and I, I work with my clients to look at those bread crumbs. In their life because they're very significant. I made the decision that I'm going to use my writing skills and my, you know, training skills and my psychology. 'cause I was working on a, a doctorate in psychology at one point and use all of these skills. How can I do that and help people, women particularly, but not exclusively, figure out what their purpose is for the next part of their life. of course. Some of the tools that I'm using are using

Caroline 37:16

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 37:17

to find and clarify what that is, and then quantum mind body techniques, to make it happen.

Caroline 37:24

What is that? Explain that a little bit more. for those that aren't, aren't sure, and I don't even know that I'm sure what is a quantum mind body technique? Yeah.

Anna Quigley 37:32

I know it sounds fancy, but it's

Caroline 37:34

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 37:35

Everything in her body is energy, everything, every cell in our body talks to every other cell in our body by, you know, electrically, basically,

Caroline 37:46

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 37:47

energetically. And you can use that. You can. We engineer, basically. I mean, people talk about visualization. Oh, we want to, let's picture what we want. I like the term sensory imagination better because every sense is involved. It's not just like imagining what I want, but this is such an interesting thing. The mind does not know the difference between what is real and what we can. Very specifically imagine, and by

Caroline 38:29

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 38:30

I'm, I'm also saying what's it feel like? does

Caroline 38:34

Mm.

Anna Quigley 38:35

is the, you, if you think about, moving into a house, buying a house, what does it feel like when you walk in the door? What's it feel like when you're cooking in your, this wonderful kitchen or the your feet? On the grass in the backyard or the flowers that you smell when you come in the house. Incorporating every sense. That's where we start getting to the, to the, you know, quantum level. But every sense that you can bring to it, the more real you make it. Your brain, your mind is like, oh, okay, that's what we want. And will, everything will rise up to help you move in that direction and move more quickly. It's literally re-engineering reprograming

Caroline 39:19

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 39:21

Yeah.

Caroline 39:21

By defining more clearly beyond just the what, but the how you feel in that situation, in that experience. Defining all of those allows your mind to then use the reticular activating system to find it and associate it and be like, that's it.

Anna Quigley 39:38

and it's energy. It's, it's shifting that vibration.

Caroline 39:42

Hmm.

Anna Quigley 39:43

When you've got, you, you've run into someone at some point and you just, your whole body shakes you just, or you feel this rush of energy throughout your body. 'cause it's like someone, you, you, I, I've known you, how do I know you? But I've never met you. But we, you know, we feel connected. it's elevating that energy. To make it re it's real. Again, the brain doesn't know the difference, recognize the difference between what we clearly, create, but every level needs to be incorporated. But you're just, you're raising your frequency. You're, you're

Caroline 40:20

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 40:21

a dial on a, you know, on a radio. It's like, okay, you know, you get this static and when you get really clear. That's when the signal comes through. That's when you, that's when you hear the message. That's when you get the results you're looking for

Caroline 40:35

Ah. So what are some of the first things that you ask people to do when they come to you and they're not sure you know, what it is they want to do and how they can even sort that out?

Anna Quigley 40:49

It has to start with some self-assessment. We work on looking at the breadcrumbs. Throughout their life. What are the, similar to what you asked me? What, what do, what were you good at? What did you love when you were younger? what were the things? And still are things that bring you joy, that make you just the energy in your, in your body and your mind and get excited. You can feel that. the, the electricity almost running through. We look at, at those things, look at what's not working, what are the areas conversely that just seem to be stagnant or that aren't, flowing easily. You know, they old saying, go with the flow. Well, that's, it's the same, it's the same thing. Get with in that energy things. When you are aligned, you'll feel that things move more fluidly. I, you know, when I listen to my intuition, my errands run, get, run faster and oh yeah, I

Caroline 41:55

Yeah.

Anna Quigley 41:55

didn't, I forgot to grab that before I run out the door. Well, that wasn't rational mine. That wasn't planning, that was the intuition. Oh, yep. Okay. And just it's can streamlined. Same thing with back at our, at, at the things and experiences in our life that call us, there is a calling. There is something that we're meant to do, and there are signs throughout our lives. So we start unraveling. We start unraveling with that.

Caroline 42:26

And how do people find you now, if they are struggling with this? If they're not served by my voice, they might be served by your voice. So how, how can we direct them to contact you? What's the best way?

Anna Quigley 42:42

I would, one of the things that I do suggest is if you're not listening to your intuition to tracking it, if you will, paying attention to it. You know, something may happen on Monday where you, you go, oh yeah, I don't know why I turned right, or I turned left, but this happened, or, or, you know, I got home faster than I expected. Write it down. Because two days from, you know, two days from that experience, you're gonna not even remember what it was. And it, it helps to note those. And so I, I like a tracking sheet. I have a tracking sheet. If, if your, listeners go to intuition gift.com, they can download free Intuition guide and tracking sheet. Maybe they have a special jar or a special, some container or box or something. When those things happen, you, you don't have to track it, just write it down. But what happened and how did it come? Did it come through an auditory clue? Did it come from that gut feeling? And just put it in? And they, they'll be surprised at how fast that jar fills or that or that box fills with these moments of intuition, and it's a good way to start going. Oh, okay, okay, I saw that that happened. I'm getting a similar feeling. That's what's going on again.

Caroline 44:09

Gotcha. Gotcha. And so now, how is your definition of success changed? Like for you, what does authentic success mean now? Because we both spent time being externally successful by somebody else's measure, internally not fulfilled.

Anna Quigley 44:26

Yeah,

Caroline 44:26

Now, how is that for you? How do you define that?

Anna Quigley 44:28

It's, it's on such a different level. It is such a different level, but I'm using all of those tools that I've garnered throughout my life. Right now, I, I am, I'm saying a thousand, but I, I'd love for it to be more, if I can help a thousand people recognize what their purpose is and find a way to do it, create that and live their purpose. I am, the world will shift. The world will

Caroline 45:02

Absolutely.

Anna Quigley 45:04

But that's, that's my immediate goal is to just,

Caroline 45:07

I love it.

Anna Quigley 45:08

I can do that, I've, I've, I've done what I'm here for, I came here

Caroline 45:13

I love. I love it so much. well, I, I think we talked from the, from the beginning that we met, we could tell we are on similar, similar missions. Uh, just fun, you know, different coasts of the, of the US but, definitely on this really driven. Goal to help, you know, people realize who they are, what they do best, what they're here to do, help that person's life to be better, their families, their communities around and yeah.

Anna Quigley 45:47

Exactly. what we're here to do. The gifts that only each of us, I absolutely know in my heart and my soul, every one of us has something unique to give in some unique way, some variation of what you know, may think. Uh, you know, 20 other people are doing that. Why should I? But nobody's gonna do it the way they are, it's never too late. It is. I am perfect example of that. For midlife, I'm, I've done three new things, you know, shifting and following, and I'm finally to the, the one that I know I'm here. I'm here to do it is never, ever, ever too late to find your purpose and live your purpose. Absolutely guarantee that.

Caroline 46:32

Well, I love it. Thank you so much for sharing all of this beautiful wisdom, experience, insight with our listeners. I encourage everyone to go to the intuition gift.com so that she could learn more about Anna and get her beautiful tracking sheet and all of those things as part of your journey, to move forward. But. Anna, thank you so much for all of your time today and for sharing so much of yourself and your story.

Anna Quigley 46:59

Love our conversation. So yeah. Yeah. And, and find, find your aptitudes, you know, however that

Caroline 47:06

Yes, yes.

Anna Quigley 47:08

gifts. Pay

Caroline 47:09

I,

Anna Quigley 47:09

to what just comes effortlessly to you.

Caroline 47:14

I love it. Thank you so much, Anna.

Anna Quigley 47:16

Thank you.

47:20

Anna, thank you for sharing your wisdom, your warmth, and the lived experience behind everything you teach. Your clarity around intuition and the way you translate it into everyday guidance is such a gift for those listening. If today's conversation sparked something in you, a nudge, a sense of recognition, or a quiet pool towards your next chapter, All of her links are in the show notes. Your inner guidance is active, present, and ready to support your next step. Thank you for spending time with us today.

Tara 47:51

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.