We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lydia Knorr a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lydia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea for becoming a Motivational Speaker and Coach was born from a deep rooted desire I had from a very young age, to use my voice to inspire, empower and create positive impact. Admittedly, speaking in front of an audience made me nervous, but I was always able to hold people’s attention and receive positive feedback on my speaking, so it made me equally happy and excited to keep doing it.

Later in my career as a Registered Dietitian, I had the opportunity to use my voice as a professor in the School of Nutrition at Toronto Metropolitan University and later as a Media Dietitian, representing different brands in the food industry. I loved being able to educate and inspire a captive audience, be it students, clients, or the general population.

But somewhere in my early forties, I began to feel an inner restlessness that was rooted in a desire to be doing more with my life: specifically, speaking a more important message. I jokingly called it my “midlife wife” phase because on the outside, I had everything anyone could ever want: a happy marriage, 3 healthy and thriving daughters, a beautiful home, financial security, the choice to work (or not). Yet still somehow, I felt that there was something missing from my life and I knew it had to do with using my voice for greater impact.

The idea for my business came on the heels of some very pivotal life events where I had no control over the outcomes and therefore could only turn inward for clarity and direction.

The deep dive inward involved bringing a lot of nourishing self care practices into my life and resulted in many moments of wisdom, growth, learning. awareness and a much deeper sense of who I was and what I wanted to do next.

Combining my “self discovery” journey with my passion for “speaking for impact”, led me to move toward a career as a Motivational Speaker and Coach.

I knew it was a worthwhile endeavour because I knew that there were countless others out there, just like me, looking to create more meaning from their lives and find a way in which to move forward with a sense of purpose, fulfillment and joy.

Whether or not the decision was a logical one or not, I didn’t really think about that. I simply knew that there was nothing that filled my cup more than using my voice to engage, inspire and create a positive impact in the lives of others.

What excited me most about my idea is that it has a universal appeal. There are so many people I come across in everyday conversations who really want to understand themselves better and live their lives from a place of confidence and purpose.

Would my speaking solve a problem people were having? I believe so because sharing stories has the power to create connections. And by sharing my own stories of lived experiences coupled with tangible tips, taken from literature and research, I knew I had the opportunity to create real impact.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For over half of my life, I was in the business of helping people achieve health and wellness in my profession as a Registered Dietitian.

I loved my work and I walked the talk. Nutrition and fitness were at the cornerstone of my personal health and well-being.

But, two decades into my career, my life came to a screeching halt when I was widowed without warning and became the sole parent to three young daughters. That experience alone was enough to turn my life upside down, but in addition to that, I received a cancer diagnosis, just eighteen months later.

My family, friends and fitness were critical to my healing but in the quietness of the nights, I turned to some unhealthy coping practices to numb my pain. After a long period of being steady by day but unsteady by night, I decided to incorporate a more holistic approach to well-being that included body, mind and soul work. It was a journey into a new area of wellness and self-discovery and it’s where the magic happened.

The journey brought forward many moments of wisdom, growth, learning and awareness and led me to align with the things I value most and step into the truest version of myself: the little girl who had a desire to use her voice and is now doing so, to create meaningful impact.

Living in alignment with the things you value most will give you the most out of living – period.

Today, I offer speaking and workshops that help people create agency for themselves by offering strategies to help them gain a sense of control over their lives, and have faith in their ability to handle a wide range of experiences and situations.

Through my speaking and workshops, I inspire individuals, groups and organizations to discover and align with their truest selves so they can experience life in a confident, fulfilling and authentic way!

In terms of why I thought this would work….it’s simple. My personal journey inspired my own evolution in such profoundly meaningful ways, that I knew it needed to be shared so that others could experience the same for themselves.

To paraphrase Jeremy Donovan, author of How to Write a Ted Talk “If your ideas can change just one life for the better, even if that life is only your own, then you have the seeds of an idea worth spreading”.

As soon as I read that, it was all the encouragement and validation I needed to set about on a journey to becoming a motivational speaker and coach.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Being widowed without warning was the biggest pivot I had to make in my life, adapting to running a home, a family and a life, solo.

Besides the obvious emotional impact this had on myself and my daughters, there was also the lost executive income from my late husband’s career which created a need to plan for the future with the resources I had available to me.

While I had my career as a dietitian to fall back on, the learnings from my grief and personal growth journey, prompted me to consider a new path where I could be of service to others on their respective life altering journeys and where I could hone in on my strongest skills which were communication and connection.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn saying yes to the asks of others. Where in the past, I was more amenable to the wants of others, after navigating some really tough life experiences,  I learned to give myself permission to do what served me best, even if it meant saying NO. We often hear this referred to as ‘setting boundaries’ which I now know is essential to preserving and maintaining a healthy physical, mental and emotional balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.lydiaknorr.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discovering_y.o.u._/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydia-knorr-3ab1489/
• LinkTree: https://www.linktr.ee/lydiaknorr