GiGi Diaz is a woman of many talents having worked in TV, Radio and podcasting and she’s not afraid to take chances. She now uses her many talents to help people on their own journeys to success as a life coach. GiGi works closely with her clients to build their brands holistically, making sure her clients understand that their brand was more than just their product. 

MR: What does a Mindset & Social Media Branding Coach do?

GD: I guess the easiest way to explain what a mindset coach does is to imagine that when you're born, you are given a plot of land, which becomes your special garden and you have to learn how to look after it. Your parents, grandparents and teachers put the seeds that they have in your garden. Then you get older and you have to start taking care of your own garden but a lot of the time we don’t stop to look at our garden and ask ourselves how much of it we actually need because you’ve got to make room for your own seeds. So a mindset coach teaches you how to take a look at your garden to reevaluate what you want out of your garden.  

The beliefs that we are given from our parents and the people who influence us in our lives can sometimes hold us back because their beliefs may be outdated or not align with what you want to do with your life. But by making space in your garden and letting these things go you can grow a bigger, brighter garden.  

So that's what I do on the side of mindset, I help my clients work through their “gardens'' and locate what triggers them, what their ambitions are, their self-doubt to create actions that will help them flourish. 

When it comes to my Social Media Branding work I began by looking at my own brand. I come from a television and radio background and have been growing my brand for about 20 years now and I realised that I’m an “umbrella person'' because my background is so varied. I have a background in business, TV, Radio, Podcasting and I have my coaching certification, so I had to figure out how to put all of these things into a single brand. 

I work with a lot of multi-passionate women like myself and I teach them how to incorporate the different parts of their life and business that they want to showcase on social media in a way that establishes them as an authority figure in their niche, creating a true, honest and authentic connection with their followers and potential clients, making sure to do it in a way that does not take up all their time.

Let's be honest, nobody has three hours a day to spend on Instagram or Facebook. So I see as a Social Media Branding Coach, I teach my clients how to create 20 to 30 days of content in about three hours, I also help them to work their way into the influencer space.

So they’re two completely different services, but they're closely connected because if you don't have the confidence, clarity and the courage to work through your mindset blocks to show up in your most authentic self on social media, then you probably won't do it successfully. So they complement each other, despite being completely different.

MR: That reminds me of something you said in an interview with VoyageMIA Magazine, about how a lot of people don't look at the woman behind the brand, they just look at it as an economical thing, rather than looking at it as a whole thing. I found this rather interesting because I do think when people are creating brands, they don't think about it as a whole, they just think about it economically and don't think that you are a person representing this brand as well. So your actions in a way have an effect on how well your brand does.

GD: One hundred per cent! Our businesses and our brands are an extension of ourselves. 

MR: Yeah, when you think about it in that sense, it really makes sense about the choices we make and what attracts us to a brand. 

GD: Yeah, well, that's the main goal of my coaching organisation, Seizing Happy. We nurture the business and the woman behind the business equally because it's an extension of you, it's a part of you. So if you're not well, that extension of you can't do well either.

MR: What inspired you to start your coaching organisation, Seizing Happy?

I love the name by the way. 

GD: Oh, thank you. So what inspired Seizing Happy was my total breakdown. I'm a very high achiever and my parents and I are immigrants as well, so there's like this constant pressure to succeed. You don’t want your parents' sacrifices to have been for nothing, they didn’t leave their country and family so that you could come to the States and fail. You have to be amazing, you have to work hard, so I've always had a really strong drive to do well which is why right out of high school, I opened my first business, a dance studio named GiGi's Academy, which is still open today. We actually just got the news yesterday that we got ranked in the top three dance studios in our city again for the fifth consecutive year, which is a true honour. I was going to college while I was running the business for my bachelor's degree, then I started working in media, which was always my passion. The business was just a way to be able to pay for food and gas while I was in college. So, I then got into media and I was doing television and then radio at the same time, then I eventually got into sports media. I started travelling for my sports reporting while also doing morning radio. I was covering sports and finishing work at around 10:45  - 11:00 PM and then working mornings on the radio, so I was waking up at 4: 45 AM to be on air by 6:00 AM. 

I then decided I needed my master's degree because that was another definition of success. So now I'm doing TV, radio, running my first business, getting my master's degree on three and a half hours of sleep, protein bars and energy drinks. And one of those days, while I was driving to whatever I had to do next, I lost my vision while driving and it was the most terrifying experience of my life. Thankfully I didn't hurt anybody else or myself, but, you know, I gathered myself and I drove myself to an ER and I was told I was suffering from exhaustion. My body was telling me that I needed to slow down, I was losing all my hair, I had terrible breakouts on my back and I finally realised that I was doing it wrong. Why was I even doing all those things? And then it hit me, it was because I wanted to be “successful” because I was following everybody else's definition of success. When I was sitting in that ER, and I saw myself in there, I realised my TV ratings couldn't do anything for me, my listeners didn't mean anything at that moment.

They couldn't help me. I realised that with all the money that I was making and how amazing my life looked on paper I didn’t get to enjoy any of it, none of it. And so that changed my life, I walked away from that ER room saying, I have to figure out a smarter, better way to do this. And it started with finding my own definition of success.

I got a lot of coaching, I learned to say no to shiny objects and I learned to create my own personal customised blueprint for my goals and my definition of success. And when I healed from all that, and when I learned how to do that, how to achieve success with less stress, I made it my mission to help other women do the same and that's where Seizing Happy comes from, teaching and helping women to be the best strongest, most bad-ass version of themselves in business. It’s also important for them to remember to nurture themselves, their needs, emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual so that they can continue to grow and take care of themselves in that process.

MR: Wow. No, I love that. I feel like, especially as women, we have to do it all. We can’t say no because we're seen as the nurturers. 

GD: And we feel guilty when we say no. I work with a lot of mums and you know, there's a lot of guilt also with putting yourself first. A lot of mums choose to put their children first and then their husband, home and business often putting themselves last on the list. You have to think about how you react to a difficult situation when you're exhausted versus how you react to a difficult situation when you are well? 

There are ways to be well while wearing multiple hats, we just don't pause to figure them out and honour our strength and our abilities as women to do so much. We don't stop to honour that by giving ourselves grace in a process, like giving ourselves rest and making ourselves a priority to enable us to show up while still looking after our health.

MR: No, absolutely. You can't do anything in life if you're falling apart, you have to look after yourself first. Can you tell me a little bit about the coaching you offer and how it has evolved over the years?

GD: Oh my gosh. Yes, absolutely. So, there are multiple coaching styles that we offer such as coaching, Seizing Happy and exclusive one-on-one coaching, which is for people who want long-term coaching. I also offer a signature programme called The 3 R System that helps my clients to Reevaluate, Restructure and Reset their life for success with less stress. It’s a deep dive, 90-day one-on-one and group coaching programme that really helps you to overcome the mindset by overcoming mind blocks, overcoming self-sabotage in order to increase your confidence and gain clarity, confidence and courage to be able to take on your goals.

The program is so much fun and it has evolved over the years as trends change and added learning experiences from myself or previous clients. So each year I always add new modules as well as additional resources to the programme which is a great addon for past clients who have lifetime access to the digital parts of the programme. 

MR: I love the fact your former clients have access to your digital platform.

So, our morning rituals were disrupted immensely because of COVID-19 and the lockdown. What advice would you give to someone who is trying to get back into a set routine again?

GD: I think the most important thing is to remember that you are different now than you were before COVID-19, I think all of us are. And so I would invite anyone who's trying to go back to a routine to not do that but to instead take a moment in the morning and ask themselves what do I need to do today to make my morning slow and empowered? It may not be the things that you needed from your previous routine and that previous life before COVID, that we all know was very different. I think people's priorities have changed, people's interests have changed and some people have changed jobs so I would encourage people not to go back, but to allow themselves to create a new routine that works for who they are now. 

And by using the flow of meditation every day you might find time to stop and have coffee, read a book or take 20 minutes out of your day to workout until you build a routine that works for where you are in your life right now. 

MR: Yeah, definitely. I've always said it takes at least two weeks for you to become accustomed to change, it takes time.

GD: Absolutely. 

MR: There are now more women in business in the UK with 32% of businesses being run by women. What do you think caused this influx of businesses and the rise in entrepreneurial spirit? 

GD: There are two sides to this, one is that it's part of the inevitable evolution of women becoming part of the workforce. We became part of the workforce a lot later than men obviously and it was inevitable that we would eventually want more and want to build something for ourselves. And the truth is that for the most part in most industries, things are still male-dominated and so when you can breakthrough that it's easy to say, I will create my own space.

The other side of it is the beautiful awakening happening right now, or rather the reawakening of the divine feminine energy. And the natural ability that women have to lead with love, to lead with kindness and how we’re often made to feel like we have to always keep it together and I’ve learnt that it’s better to feel your emotions, to just live and learn from it all and to use it as power and fuel for growth in every way, personal, emotional, spiritual, and professional, just living in that divine, feminine energy.

I feel like a lot of industries still haven’t caught up yet and made space for women in leadership roles, a lot of businesses are still led by men, meaning their companies have a very male energy. A lot of women who I have spoken to have said that they want to do business from a female-led space. 

I know I don't want to do business like a man, I don’t want to have to be in my power Wonder Woman pose all the damn time, it's exhausting. I want to be able to be soft, I want to be able to be empathetic, it doesn't make me weak. For a long time, we've been told that feeling our emotions and being in a space of love instead of constant strength and authority makes us weak and takes away our authority but it actually makes us powerful. We have a different power and I think a lot of women have realised it's time to step into it and to do business your own way and it's beautiful.

MR: I think it is so important for women to support each other and build each other up especially in competitive environments like a business. What women have inspired you the most and who right now would you say is killing it in their field?

GD: Oh my goodness. There are so many women that inspire me and support me. I think women who are building a community are the women who inspire me the most. Like one of my very dear friends, Lauren Marsicano, she's the founder of an organisation called Women For Success which is a not-for-profit organisation that helps women launch businesses. Lauren’s an attorney with her own law firm and an entrepreneur as well and she decided to start this organisation to help women launch businesses and help them take a look at the legal side of things. She has created a community of connections. So that's one person that I truly admire.

Another woman that I think is a trailblazer is Kayla Hodges, she's a total powerhouse. She is now the President of the Miami chapter of an organisation called The Boss Talks which is a global organisation dedicated to creating sisterhood through mentorship for women entrepreneurs. What's so great about Kayla is that she prioritises collaboration over competition. We don't need to compete against each other. There is enough for all of us and we're stronger together, especially when we support each other. Our magic is amplified when we extend a helping hand to another woman.

MR: Absolutely. I think it's so important we support each other, celebrate our wins and support each other during our losses. 

What are your thoughts on The Great Resignation?

GD: My thoughts about the great resignation is that it's about damn time. It's about damn time that people everywhere put themselves and their desires and their wellbeing first above all things, be it money, career and business, your wellbeing comes first. And I am just so proud to see people putting themselves first and I think that the main cause of this was 2020.

I think people realised that spending time at home while difficult at times meant more time with your partner, your kids and your parents. It also gave you more time to breathe, having more time to think and it reminded people of how good it feels to feel good and not feel rushed, actually taking the time to take care of yourself. We finally had time to have breakfast with our family in the morning, to start new hobbies and take yoga classes. We no longer had to deal with the morning commute, traffic or the daily hustle and bustle. After experiencing life with that sort of stress we didn’t want to go back to that pressure.

I want to work from home because I can be with my children while I'm here and have the same level of productivity. And a lot of people who discovered that their companies weren't going to allow them to work from home, decided to leave. 

I'm part of this great resignation, I quit my job and I'm very happy with my decision because I needed the freedom. There were parts of my career that no longer aligned with my vision of how I wanted to feel and that was my priority and I think that that should be everyone's priority. 

And this is a time in history where the ability to create and make money is everywhere. I know people who travel the world playing video games and make a hundred thousand dollars a month playing video games and it's a real career. I don't care what you tell me if you’re legally making money to take care of yourself and your family, that is a job and career.

MR: No, absolutely. And I think in the last couple of years a lot of people started to look inwardly and thought about what they wanted and what they valued. They also thought about how their company treated them, how they treated the planet and they really thought about whether this was what they wanted to do with their lives.  And then you make changes because there's no point I feel, in doing something that doesn't serve you in any way. And I think a lot of people realised that.

GD: Yeah and a lot of people also spent a lot of time complaining about their job before these global changes and they realised how good it felt not to be in that space. So once they had the opportunity to have more time they kind of liked it and then chose not to go back to being miserable in a space that they didn't like. 

MR: Working late and constantly hustling used to equate to having a successful career, do you feel like the lockdown helped people realise that mindfulness was more important than hustling? 

GD: A hundred per cent. That's actually one of the things that I coach on, I call myself a recovering hustler because hustling is in fact what drove me into that ER. Now I just want to feel like I am living in my purpose. I want to feel like I am in alignment with my beliefs. That is to me the most important thing in my life. I can finally sleep at night and sleep is the second most important thing to me. And I think that people have realised that it's more important than anything else to be living in your purpose and just be able to peacefully sleep at night.

MR: No, definitely. I think that's something I've also learnt because I’ve always been that person who has to do everything. Always running myself ragged doing the most. I had to learn to put my health and myself first without feeling guilty. 

GD: Absolutely. And you deserve that, right? I mean, don't we deserve to live our best lives, don't we deserve to be happy. It's part of what Seizing Happy also presents, we're not always going to be happy all the time and that's all right. Even visually our logo is a broken circle because you're going to feel unhappy sometimes and it’s ok to feel bad, to feel broken and in pain when you need to but you also deserve to continue Seizing Happy. 

MR: What advice would you give to businesses who want to change the culture and create a more mindful space for their employees?

GD: I really do believe that there are many industries that have realised that people need to be better-taken care of and need to be treated better. They realised that they need to do better for their employees. There are many companies out there that have realised a little too late and are looking to make a change. And to those organisations, I would say, ask your employees, so you can give them what they need, not what you think they want. It’s important to have open conversations with your employees and ask them how best to serve them. What would help your mental health? What would help your emotional health? How can we help you be a better person, a happier person, a stronger person? In the end, it will only benefit your company because I know that I work differently when I show up happy than when I show up pissed off. I give more to people who appreciate me than I do when I'm in a situation where I feel like what I'm doing is taken for granted. 

MR: Absolutely. And I feel like it's not just about mindfulness, it's also about being empathetic and understanding and not gestural. You see it all the time especially in larger businesses, they tend to be very gestural, they appear one way to the public but internally they mistreat their employees. 

GD: Yes. Lots of companies are shiny on the outside and rotten on the inside. 

MR: In your podcast Chats with GiGi you cover an array of topics such as periods, money and grief. What have been some of your most favourite topics to cover and why?

GD: Oh my God, you can't ask me that, I don't know if I can choose because a lot of the time my podcast episode topics are chosen by my clients and my listeners. I usually have people DMing me with suggestions. A lot of my coaching clients were suffering through grief, not just from having lost a loved one to COVID, but to having lost parts of their life, like their job, career or marriage.

I had a lot of clients whose marriages ended when they had to actually spend a lot of time together, they realised they didn't like each other anymore and that marriage ended in grief too. That is grieving as well. And so when I saw that there were so many of my clients struggling with grief I knew that was an episode that had to get done. I've also had clients ask me about fundraising so I arranged for a fundraising expert to come onto my show to help them and share tips on how to get the most out of fundraising. So, it's hard for me to choose one particular topic because so many of them are requested by the listeners, I can't possibly choose.

I'll tell you this, the ones that I like talking about the most and the ones that I'm most curious about are the episodes about spiritual stuff because I don’t work or teach in that space. I can teach about mental health spaces like mindset and empowering your brain to work for you or having better control of your thoughts. Right? All of that falls into mental health and mental wellness, so I can teach in all of those spaces but I love interviewing experts in areas I’m unfamiliar with. I have a very good understanding of the subject of spirituality, but I certainly am in no way a teacher, instructor or guide. So the interviews that I probably enjoyed doing the most are the ones in that space.

MR: I love that you allow your listeners to contribute so much to your show.

So, your podcast has evolved since its conception, where do you hope to take it next?

GD: Thank you. I don't know, I haven't thought about that. I really enjoy the way that it is now. My podcast is kind of like a pleasure project for me. I love to talk, I love to learn and I love the opportunity to ask questions. I'm so curious. I haven't really thought about a change but if I can tell you one thing, I have been thinking of doing a feature series where I would like to feature new entrepreneurs. I usually feature experts in specific areas but I would like to launch a series that just focuses on new entrepreneurs each episode, to help spread the word of their businesses and to help get their brand out there. But it's something that's in the works. 

MR: Yeah, that sounds awesome. 

GD: Thank you.

MR: So, what does success mean to you?

GD: Success to me means being in your purpose and doing it with joy and just living in your purpose.

MR: Name three things you can’t do without?

GD: Um, ok. Time by the ocean, I absolutely can not be away from the ocean. I need the ocean. Meditation because it helps to centre, calm and understand, you know, it helps me in every way and lastly, I cannot be without soup, it’s my most favourite food in the whole world. 

MR: No way! I love soup too. My sister doesn’t think it’s a real meal but it totally is.

GD: Amazing! Soup is my favourite food. It's my favourite meal. I will eat all the soups, ramen, hotpot, miso… I think the only one I don't love is chicken soup, just because I know I could be eating any other really awesome elaborate soup right now but I'll still take a bowl of chicken soup if there are no other options. 

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Mary Raftopoulos started This is Impt during lockdown as a way to help highlight the racism we face everyday in the UK. She wanted to continue the conversation that the Black Lives Matter movement started and the discussion about racism in the UK. Speaking up and being vulnerable is something she has always shied away from on social media but she hopes these conversations help people understand the Black British experience. Mary is also an Editor at The C Word Magazine.