Keynote
Waking Up Your True Ambitions with Rha Goddess | Global Conference 2025
- On August 6, 2016, the speaker experienced a traumatic blackout while driving 50 minutes down the Taconic Parkway after leaving a New York veterans' care facility; the event occurred immediately following a three-day ultimatum from a rehabilitation center to secure new housing for her father.
- The speaker's father passed away two weeks later while she was in Los Angeles, marking the end of 21 years of caregiving and triggering a period of intense grief and logistical management regarding his funeral and estate.
- Following her father's death, the speaker's workload escalated to an unsustainable level; she simultaneously managed a rapidly growing company, family estate drama, marital obligations, and payroll deadlines.
- On August 12, 2017, during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the speaker's team fractured due to conflicting views on the violence, resulting in a communication breakdown where the team split into two non-communicating factions.
- By October 10, 2017, the speaker suffered a complete physical and mental collapse, describing herself as unable to rise from her couch despite threats or challenges.
- The speaker's breakdown was rooted in inherited narratives of obligation: her mother's belief that rest was unaffordable, the historical "unfinished business" of her father as a Black man in the mid-20th century, and the pressure to honor her family name despite generational mental health challenges.
- The speaker initiated a fundamental restructuring of her work ethic based on three core shifts designed to create sustained inspiration: reclaim, realign, and reimagine.
- Under the "reclaim" shift, the speaker identified the need to discard narratives that challenge the right to rest, arguing that rest restores humanity and enables responsive rather than reactive decision-making.
- Under the "realign" shift, the speaker established that rest must respect energy to align with personal truth, values, and authenticity, citing Bronnie Ware's research that the primary regret of the dying is living a life expected by others rather than one's own.
- Under the "reimagine" shift, the speaker advocates for redefining the relationship with work to prioritize happiness, creativity, and a culture that expands the circle of care to include the self.
- The speaker distinguishes "sustainability" from "stability," asserting that while certainty is unavailable in the current global climate, regenerative work practices that fuel rather than deplete individuals are essential for longevity.
- The speaker defines "thriving" as the new ambition, characterized by the pursuit of joy, freedom, autonomy, and fulfillment over traditional markers of success.
- The speaker concludes with a commitment to helping others identify and live by their truth to maximize their contribution to the world.