Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anik Cockroft. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Anik thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
I gathered the courage to say what I knew needed to move through, “What if I turn it down?”
We were on a sunset walk through our neighborhood park after an ‘Ohana surf session. As we meandered back to our little yellow bungalow, the one next to the community garden, we walked the same grass we had sprinted across to reach our rental car and hustle home to Florida on our flight 4+ years earlier. We had known Hawai’i was our next chapter even if we didn’t know all (or really any) of the details. That little surf Hale in the shadow of Diamond Head. Where I became a Doctor and JD sent me off with shakas for each shift at the hospital. In time, paws joined his shakas— our FURst baby Kai Kai, the Hawaiian husky boy. Eventually her chubby little baby hands joined in. It’s where I played “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid soundtrack on the piano through blurry tears — grieving at the thought of leaving her the next morning to plunge back into what felt impossible to sustain hours per week away caring for other babies.
I had diligently worked for 15+ years to illuminate the path for my clinical career ahead. Except that wasn’t what illuminated my heart and motivated me through the day anymore. Having to sacrifice nights, holidays and bedtimes where I wouldn’t get to sing (probably slightly off key), read stories (in all the voices, obviously) and watch her drift into her dreams… it no longer aligned with my dreams.
And turn it down I did. Saying no was a defining moment in my career in clinical medicine. It was saying yes to my deeply held values of time and geographical freedom. Of defining my wealth and health in a way that allowed my creative endeavors to bloom and for me to cultivate new and exciting ways to offer my energy as a Physician and Healer— outside the walls and halls of traditional clinical medicine.
As the golden hour illuminated the evening light that September Honolulu night, the words I had just surfed out lingered in the air between us and our now wobbling toddler as we made our way home. It was all about to change. The completion of this chapter. The start of the next. Paddling out into new party waves and embracing a new trajectory. One that required surrender, the deep quiet and trusting my Inner Knowing. The wild abundance of honoring the empath who had thrived in clinical medicine…. but who could truly come alive when she believed in herself and became the SHEro of her own story.
This defining moment…. It would allow me the space to create Mama Mindset®. I would get to become an us-schooling/world-schooling Mama to that beautiful little mermaid who is now in 2nd grade, nourish and delight in my next 2 babies who would come from the magical chapter on Maui. This moment of definition would be a path to Healing Her, and to validating my career turned existence as a Healer, Physician, Author, Entrepreneur, Creative, sometimes on the yoga mat Mama, and Artist. It would spark her curiosity and ignite her passion to claim this unique blend as my true profession.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Aloha! I’m Anik.
Inspired by my own life experiences as a Hawai’i based Mama of 3 and as a Pediatrician, I created Mama Mindset® to empower expectant & postpartum Mamas.
Here, vulnerability is the path to prosperity. This commUNITY is a space to honor her story, heal her, and overcome the overwhelm.
In this sacred space, I embrace the role of Moula — a Mama life doula to reflect back all the brilliance that illuminates the crown a Mama wears. My role is showing up in that sacred space where she boldly claims who she is destined to become as a Mama, reborn.
At the core of Motherhood is our Intuition- our Mamatuition®. This superpower is woven into our DNA. An instrument that harmonizes our role(s), we’re offered fascination and fulfillment amidst all the colorful chaos. Playfulness, peace and resourcefulness are plentiful in the midst of the messy magical. It is accessible when she believes in her own power, worth and authenticity.
Delivery Room Energy is the dance with the divine that has fueled me in delivering all 3 of my miracles of Aloha into this world. I now live into the wild abundance of my own transcending Delivery Room Energy in the daily delight of Motherhood.
The sacred space of witnessing other Mamas harness and allow her Delivery Room energy to guide her forward fuels me. This Mamamentum is a powerful force in this world.
My own serendipitous path as a Board Certified Pediatrician, Sports Medicine Physician (Mamas are my favorite athletes!), and holistic grounding with a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling focusing on play therapy and family dynamics perpetuates my passion for connecting on a deeply meaningful level with Mamas.
I’m so honored to hold space for your story & your magnificence!
Lean into your Mamatuition at
www.mamamindset.com or
anikcockroft.com
or surf me an email:
aloha@mamamindset.com
To Mamas and all Rebels coloring your own unique canvas!
Have you ever had to pivot?
Who is Dr. Nini? She’s published two children’s books.
The pages of these stories are soaked in the life pivot that came when I fully embraced the life storyline of rejection as redirection.
That Florida sunshine-infused girl wrote her own books and fresh squeezed her creativity into poetry parties with her stuffed animals late at night. My favorite accessory in my white coat pocket has always been a book to sit and read with my patients. Adventuring together into a story that transcends the hospital halls and walls.
I dreamed of being able to read books I birthed into the world to my children. To delight in seeing them surf into the outstretched shakes of the three entrusted to me. My book release party was messy magical sandy pages playing at the beach with just us, jumping in the waves and signing their slightly salted copies onto our home bookshelf.
Once upon many all nighters and after bedtime creative time cushions, my canine co-author and FURst baby Kai Kai sat up reminding me to sniff the outside night air and plumeria trees overhead as I wrote, designed, collaborated, and plunged into the world of self-publishing.
Oceans of Aloha
The ‘Āina That Is Lāhainā
The above titles are written and designed by Dr. Nini. Me!
The real life chapters unfolding were years of reverently written, personalized in the hundreds, probably thousands of emails to literary agents. Following the prescribed path and pitching my story ideas in pursuit of perfecting the query letter. So they could believe in me. So I could gain the industry access to become an Author. I did this from the time my son was a newborn until…… I realized that all of this rejection. Each email. Each no. Wasn’t an end point. It was an invitation. A redirection. A portal further into my own creativity and innovation. An until I believed in the pivot of signing my own permission slip to become an Author. To write my own story.
Once I RSVP’d to that redirection, my curiosity and playfulness flourished. I followed divine nudges to reach out, hire and collaborate with two phenomenal artists and female creatives who illustrated the books into life. We paddled out page by page harmonizing our genius zones and party-wave surfing into gaining soul sisters in one another along the way.
Without a willingness to pivot and embody that rejection is redirection, Oceans of Aloha and The ‘Āina That Is Lāhainā would not have surged into the wild bathed in vibes of artistic Aloha which is infused into all design elements.
The power of the pivot. Surrendering to my own unique story. It has been the key to unlocking the depth of my resilience. And to believe, truly believe, that everything (especially the adversity things) are happening for my highest good.
Inviting you to paddle out into the ‘Ohana at:
https://oceans-of-aloha.com/
https://www.theainalahaina.com
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
To dive deeper into the backstory of a lesson I got to unlearn….. I’ll venture thousands of feet up into a, “Is there a Doctor on board?” scenario.
I slid back into my seat after a stretch-my-legs break. My husband JD nudged me that they had just called overhead for a Doctor. I hesitated to check it out. The thoughts of inner turbulence started: “Who am I to answer this call? (You’re an actual Doctor!) What if there is someone more qualified? (Again, You literally are who they are asking for?!) What if I don’t know exactly what to do?” (What if you show up and offer your energy in alignment with your integrity and training?)
The pace of our adventure and fun-but-not-relaxing trip vibes (we tend to do that) combined with my cumulative pre-trip hospital schedule felt like my exhaustion would be best supported by dozing above the cumulus clouds suspended beneath us. I had chatted with my Mom a few weeks earlier that despite the long plane ride, sitting and leisurely reading with some delicious snacks swirled in and pager turned off sounded like a vacation to me already after the colorful chaos of hospital life.
I did meander up the aisles of the A380 double decker plane early in its roughly 15+ hour flight path. When I arrived, it became clear it was a young passenger. As a Pediatrician, the few medical professionals who had gathered deferred to my expertise in caring for a Pediatric passenger.
As I began to assess the situation, it was clear our dialogue would be complicated by language barriers. Pouring myself into triaging the situation, and choosing to heed the call of the Hippocratic oath at cruising altitude, the head purser approaches me. Although I’ve just arrived, it is imperative I make a swift decision. At that moment, the pilot is on the phone with officials on the ground, and we could land the plane out of medical necessity. However, once we passed over this air space and landing opportunity, we would not have the capability to land for the next 10+ hours as we proceeded along the polar route.
Oh, and if the plane did land, all 300+ passengers on board would be stranded due to runway constraints.
Is this real life?! It was very much real life at 35,000+ feet. Passenger requires my assistance. Flight crew and pilot awaiting my decision.
New level of Unlearning Unlocked: Cue inner turmoil and inflammation and low key panic steadily growing. OR.
Calm my fight or flight with thoughts of safety and nourishing breaths. Slow it all down. Feel and validate the intensity. Acknowledge my ability and willingness to serve in this moment. Flush out doubt which isn’t serving. (Does anyone else hustle out of the stall secondary to the unsettling loud flush of airplane toilets?!) Anyway, we’re unlearning here. Trust. Go within. Tune out to tune in. Harmonize with my Inner Knowing. Believe my Intuition can guide me.
I remember closing my eyes and imagining myself evaluating the passenger in a space and place where all the resources were available. I envisioned being in the emergency room where I practiced medicine back in Hawai’i and what I would do in a disposition situation with a similarly presenting patient.
Moments after indicating we could pursue our original flight path, the situation became a little more medically turbulent…. I buckled my seatbelt as a Physician and cared for that passenger with every ounce of Aloha and reverence I could offer until things smoothed out. When the wheels touched down 10+ hours later, the passenger had stabilized, was doing well and could pursue further care.
Shedding limiting beliefs, speaking my fears into existence so they no longer hold power over me, and getting comfortable embracing loving confrontation have become the flavors of my unlearning.
Releasing myself from those constraints allows the me the capacity to learn from each passenger in life I’m privileged to serve. The invitation is to dive deeper into my fascination with the simultaneous vulnerability and resiliency of the pediatric population. That flight was part of a continuing runway to land more securely within, trusting myself, about the sacred calling of medicine and the horizon of being a Healer, the privilege of parents and shining gems of humans placing their trust in me in moments of uncertainty.
And the conviction that I would show up in a plane or on a train. In the rain or Here or there. I would and I get to show up anywhere.
As I’ve unpacked and unlearned, I’ve grown deeply connected to my own intuition, my Mamatuition®.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mamamindset.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dranikcockroft/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anik.cockroft
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikcockroft/
- Twitter: https://x.com/dranikcockroft
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mama.mindset
- Other: www.anikcockroft.com
Website commUNITIES for my children’s Books!
Oceans of Aloha
https://oceans-of-aloha.com/The ‘Āina That Is Lāhainā
https://www.theainalahaina.com/
Image Credits
Photographer for Underwater Hapai (pregnant image) & Hands on Belly + Heart Image: Tracy Leboe
https://tracyleboe.com/
Photographer for Delivery Room Photo, Underwater ‘Ohana Photo, and Keiki (Children) around Mama: Sophia Costa
https://www.thesophiaco.com/