We recently connected with Donna Carlson and have shared our conversation below.

Donna, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I just wrote my eulogy. Don’t worry, I’m not sick, but we’ve lost two grandparents in the past year and in discussing their memories, my daughter asked what I want at my end of life celebration. “Dancing,” I said. “And good wine. Not the cheap stuff.” The celebration is not about me but about all the people who have learned to live a whole life, 100% free of the monkeys that sabotage our mental acuity. I hope that not only will my three daughters exceed me in every way, but that my coaching clients and collaborators will have a richer more satisfying life as a result of working with me.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My whole career has been all about connecting people and building networks that help business owners thrive. I’ve collected a lot of stories along the way. The inspiration for the book, Crazy, as Usual, was my mother — a talented woman who sabotaged her success because the monkeys in her head drove her to addiction. As I wrote the book, I uncovered how the lies she believed are no different from the lies that many of us believe at all levels of leadership.

Every time I hold a conversation with readers about the monkeys that hold their brilliance at bay, I realize that freedom is accessible for everyone! We’re entering a time when women need more than ever to exercise tremendous resilience, cognitive resonance, and positive intelligence. We all need to realize that’s we’re all a bit crazy, as usual. And we all have access to our brilliance.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was driving to a book launch, early on a Saturday, after a very challenging week. Several groups had rejected my keynote promoting the book and I was feeling silenced. I’d started to wonder if I was really on the right path. Was I doing good or wasting time? On route to the book launch, with a case of books in my back seat, I was listening to an inspiring audio book feeling encouraged, inspired, at ease. My feet were grounded and my hands at 10 and 2 as I drove at full speed on cruise control in the fast lane when I felt a sudden rush of wind…coming through my windshield!

In spite of a hole the size of a human head, gaping and flapping in the wind, I was steady as a rock. My executive function was beyond anything I could fabricate. As I drove the mile between my car and the exit, I realized that something large came about 10 inches from crushing my head and I started laughing! All my thoughts about being used up and worthless just got crushed under the weight of a near death experience. My box of books was covered in shattered glass and it became a badge of honor for me, a visceral reminder that my purpose has more significance than I know … and that resilience in times of stress is a divine gift.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Most of growth is a process of unlearning. That was a lesson I learned from one of my mentors — Father Richard Rohr. We spend half our life trying to prove ourselves and the other half actually living. That first half can take 25 years or 75, depending on our teachability. I started the process of learning how to unlearn my first half of life when I turned 38. I still remember telling friends on that birthday I’m 38 and feeling great. I felt at ease in my skin, confident that I was not the white trash that I felt like as the kid of two alcoholics, who didn’t do much parenting. I entered life feeling unprepared, but as I started figuring out my way, I realized that most people are orphaned in one way or another.

I was orphaned by alcohol, abandonment, and ultimately death, but many people with living parents have been orphaned emotionally. It took me to 38 years to start unlearning that I was disadvantaged because I was parentless. I started to see the opportunities I had as an orphan to have many amazing people who wanted to pour in to my life. I had to unlearn that I was an orphan. I’m the daughter of the King, on a first name basis with the Creator of the Universe. And my childhood trauma does not define who I am, it just makes me stronger and more determined to win.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.donnacarlsoncxo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crazyasusual
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558114434398
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/crazy-as-usual-7082399313737252864/

Image Credits

Leading CEO retreats, Crazy as Usual book signing at a local book store, my WPO Chapter at Women Presidents Forum.