We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leslie Tagorda. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leslie below.
Hi Leslie, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
I explore brand identity and leadership development from an astrology perspective. You can take personality and strengths finding tests and easily fudge the answers you think the test wants to hear, but your astrology natal (birth) chart always tells the truth your innate gifts.
Leslie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Leslie Tagorda, a podcast host, author, astrologer, and designer, and professional classical clarinetist.
I am a Hawaii-born, Filipino Jewish, third career astrologer coming from classical music (institutionalized oppression), branding and design and now astrology focused on the intersection of identity, how we present and lead in Work.
This journey is rooted from exploring my own identity and worthiness as all I had ever heard growing up, that I wasn’t enough.
I wasn’t Hawaiian enough (as someone not Hawaiian blooded), White enough as someone who is half Filipino, Asian enough as someone who was called “haole” a Hawaiian slang for a white person by members of my Filipino family… thin enough, smart enough, good enough. The list goes on and on.
This primal unworthiness lead me on a path to pursue excellence while at the same time had me doubting my own value. Instead of trying to be myself, I was always looking on the outside, comparing and copying how others were playing music and presenting themselves in the world.
It was a crisis in my own identity after having an ok business in branding and web design for over 12 years that I turned to my astrology chart. My passion for astrology sparked in the 4th grade when I learned that I was an Aquarius. Little did I know that I could turn astrology into a business or a career. Knowing all that I knew about branding and brand archetypes, when I looked at my natal chart, I saw that each of the planets and signs represented parts of a brand and business. It was an instant a-ha in connecting the dots between astrology and brand identity.
Within 3 months of this a-ha, I pivoted my business, attracted the right mentors and coaches, created a new branding framework and found my purpose.
I was able to weave all my experiences into an innovative language of astrology and harmony applies in how we present ourselves in the world and what we need to reframe to dismantle and unlearn societal’s rules of how we see our individual success, Work and leadership.
In a short few years, I have grown my business to serve thousands through my 1:1 consultations, workshops, podcast and books.
Today my mission is to be a spiritual and strategic teacher helping entrepreneurs and changemakers turn their wounds into wisdom to become the luminary leaders they are born to be.
And my purpose is to innovate astrology as a MOVEMENT in leveraging brand and leadership development combining a unique skillset of branding, business and astrology, in what I call the AstroBrand™ Method.
When I work with changemakers, be it a million-dollar business owner, an education thought leader, or a nonprofit director, I am helping them validate their true strengths and reframing their leadership in ways that dismantle the ways society and culture has taught us what a leader “should” look or act like. I’ve seen my clients grow into their highest potential and leadership with ease and impact.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When I was in the middle of running my design business, I had picked up a monthly practice of doing New Moon Rituals where I’d clarify my intentions for my life every New Moon (when the sun and moon meet monthly in the sky). It was incredible what began happening. My intentions would quickly manifest. From finding the perfect apartment, to meeting my now husband. But I hadn’t yet considered bringing this practice out of the closet in my work. One holiday season as a passion project I created a New Moon Ritual kit that helped guide people to crafting their own intentions and working with the moon. I did that on the side as a passion project for 3 years before I finally started using the rituals strategically in my Work life. When I finally gave into bringing astrology into my branding work, the New Moon rituals also came along. Now I write annual books on New Moon rituals and much of my podcast and business revolves around me offering New Moon readings and rituals for changemakers.
On a side story for this story, being half Jewish, I wasn’t raised with the Jewish culture in Hawaii. Just a few years ago I found out that there is a LONG tradition of New Moon rituals practiced by women of the Jewish faith called Rosh Chodesh or head of the month, a time to gather, pray and be inspired.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I’ve pivoted many times in my Work and business life. Always knowing that each experience wasn’t a mistake but learning that I picked up along the way. The one thing that remained constant through all these pivots was the need to be my own boss and call my own shots.
When I was a professional musician right out of college, I had a teaching studio with a few dozen students and played gigs for a living. But I HATED managing all the students and being beholden to students schedules to make my income.
This is when I decided to move to San Francisco to hop into the first dot com and there were so many jobs they were giving anyone with a degree a job. So for a few short years, I did join corporate America, as an instructional designer delivering training to people in India. I learned how to design websites because that is how we were delivering training and how to do instruction design. After a few years of cubicle land I knew I needed to leave. I missed music, was missing work to go to gigs and dreaded showing up to work.
So I decided that I wanted the best of both worlds, I would start my own business designing websites so that I could afford to be a professional musician. I did this for about 10 years living the laptop lifestyle working for web design clients while performing in orchestras and touring with my chamber ensemble.
And then when I unexpectedly had my first child at 41 – I went though an identity crisis. I couldn’t justify all my time consuming music gigs with a young child, and my web design projects were not ideal.
This is when I found astrology and branding and it changed my entire world.
The fact is that the world and business changes so much that we are ALWAYS pivoting. Now that I’ve had my brand and astrology business for over 5 years, it is still pivoting and I relish the ever-changing landscape. It’s fun to keep ahead of the curve and always innovating.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://newmooncreative.co/
- Instagram: @newmooncreativeco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheSavvyLuminary
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NewMoonCreativeCo
- Other: Podcast: The Savvy Luminary
Image Credits
photos by Hillary Ungson IG @hillary_jeanne