943 Nona Djavid:

Melinda Wittstock:

Coming up on Wings of Inspired Business:

I walked into the closet, and I shut down the door. I put my son to sleep, I shut down the lights and I sat there against the wall, and I held onto my knees, and I started sobbing because I had followed what everyone had told me. The world, the consciousness of the world, the media, the culture, everything has told me this was the definition of success. This is how you can be happy. And I had worked so hard and hung on to every little bit of struggle to make myself worthy of some level of success. And here I was, completely unhappy in my marriage, unfulfilled and burnt out in my business. And I remember thinking during that period of time, as I walked out of the closet and had my sort of God moment, was that I had to build things differently. 

Melinda Wittstock:

Many of us fall into the trap of confusing success with hard work, and worse, thinking we don’t deserve success unless we’re struggling and suffering. Serial entrepreneur Nona Djavid figured out that if she wanted to play a big game and successfully scale her businesses, she had to let go of the idea of hustle and grind. And today she talks about the transformational process of learning to make your nervous system feel comfortable in abundance, no guilt, no tradeoff, no apology – just daring to be your unreasonable free self.

Melinda Wittstock:

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m all about paying it forward as a five-time serial entrepreneur, so I started this podcast to catalyze an ecosystem where women entrepreneurs mentor, promote, buy from, and invest in each other. Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together and lift as we climb.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we meet an inspiring serial entrepreneur who has built three weight loss companies to exit, as well as pediatric and chiropractic clinics, and along the way of her transformational Journey became a transformational leader and author committed to helping business owners and entrepreneurs break through limiting beliefs around time, money, and success. Dr. Nona Djavid is the founder of eLIVate Club and the Part Time Million Dollar Business coaching platform, where she empowers women to create businesses that align with their dream lifestyles while working less and achieving more. With a background in neurology and chiropractic care, Dr. Nona blends science, philosophy, and universal truths to teach her clients how to master the energetics and mechanics of abundance. 

Melinda Wittstock:

Nona will be here in a moment, and first:

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Melinda Wittstock:

Are you addicted to struggle? Sounds like a weird question maybe, but most of us are. We’ve been taught that success only comes to those who work hard, and that somehow we don’t deserve success unless we’re suffering. It’s the scarcity myth that you can’t have it all, and today we’re busting that all down and learning how to take quantum leaps in our lives and businesses by daring to be… unreasonable… in daring to play by new rules of abundance.

Transformational leader and serial entrepreneur Dr Nona Djavid is here in a few seconds to talk about her journey and a fascinating 4-step framework for living what she calls an “unreasonable life”. We talk how to break out of scarcity mindset, how to make your nervous system feel comfortable in abundance and freedom, and how all that helps us scale great businesses. 

Melinda Wittstock:

So, let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Nona Djavid.

[INTERVIEW]

Melinda Wittstock:

Nona, welcome to Wings.

Nona Djavid:

Yes, thank you for having me. I’m excited.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, you, like me, are serial entrepreneurs and we share a mission around helping entrepreneurs, and particularly women kind of succeed, you know, without the trade off, guilt, apology, burnout, you know, all these sorts of things. And, you know, anyone who’s a familiar listener on this podcast knows we talk about mindset all the time. So, like, what was the big transitional moment in your entrepreneurial career where you said, okay, look, you know what? I. I want to help others figure out this transformation business?

Nona Djavid:

That actually came to me naturally since I was a child. So, it didn’t come in within my entrepreneurial journey. I had a couple of really pivotal moments in my, which is the earliest childhood memory that I have when I was two and a half. My mom was pregnant with a little boy at the time, and I was the only child, so I was super excited. She, he was gonna come into this world and I was gonna have somebody to play with. And none of this I remember. But the moment I do remember and have a very vivid memo memory of this is when my dad sort of lifted me up in the hospital and through the glass, showed me where my little brother was laying in the.

Nona Djavid:

In this little crib. I remember what the hospital smelled like, what it looked like, what my brother looked like, and all of that. And the reason this is pivotal and it’s the tr. It’s, you know, ingrained in my memory is because my brother actually never made it home from the hospital. So, he passed away in the hospital. We come home days later. I’m not sure about the timeline, but then I remember my parents sort of going through the grieving process. And here I am, a two-and-a-half-year-old, watching my mom just uncontrollably cry all of a sudden, out of nowhere in the kitchen.

Nona Djavid:

And my mom shares stories about how I would try to sort of fix her, if you would, or fix the problem. So, I’d take my toys to her, I’d bring her my snacks and things like that. So, I do think in some ways not to get super ‘woo woo’, but my soul came here to experience that. And really, since I remember, I have always wanted to help people. Now that journey has evolved. Right. First I was, you know, I was tutoring. So, I was teaching kids and mentoring kids when I was in high school.

Nona Djavid:

Then I became a chiropractor. I studied neurology. I wanted to become a doctor. Then, you know, in that process, you know, married someone who I felt like I had to fix them, which was, you know, deceptive thinking. This idea of helping others has always been there. It’s just evolved from one business idea to another, from one relationship to another.

Nona Djavid:

And now I feel really settled in this idea of why I’m here and sort of what’s next or what I’d like to experience as I create impact.

Melinda Wittstock:

Amazing. I mean, so a lot of people start out in life and even into business, not really knowing what their true purpose is, but how blessed to know that from the beginning.

Nona Djavid:

Well, you know, now that you’re saying that, like, it’s not like I was 5-year-old, 5 years old, and I was like, I’m gonna help people. It was more like I was led initially as an example; it led to chiropractic. And then it was like, looking back, I could go, oh, I did that because I wanted to help people heal. Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

You know, it’s something that Steve Jobs famously said. It’s very easy to. to connect all the dots, looking backwards.

Nona Djavid:

Totally.

Melinda Wittstock:

You know, because it all starts to make sense. Oh, that’s why I was doing that. Okay. That’s why. Right. And it. And it. It sort of makes sense.

Melinda Wittstock:

And looking forward, sometimes we do things that we are, you know, we zig and zag a little bit I guess it’s hard to know are you going off course or is that course that you’re supposed to be on? Right.

Nona Djavid:

Yeah. And I think struggle, right, is what pivots you. I mean, look at what people have done and entrepreneurs and women and men, everybody, really, what we have done during the pandemic, the struggle of the pandemic, or for me, I was a few years into my first business, which was the pediatric chiropractic business that I had here in Southern California. I completely burnt out, Melinda, from the quote, unquote purpose of helping others and become. I’d become a mom and a wife and all of these different roles that I was playing. I had 13 employees and just pretty much lost it all in my head.

Nona Djavid:

Of course, not in. In reality, but when I went through that struggle, the pivot that came from that struggle, or any other struggle that I think about in my life, the pivot that has come has always served me right.

Melinda Wittstock:

The struggle is everything in entrepreneurship isn’t it, because I mean, we all fail forward. And those struggles, the challenges, the setbacks, all those things are course corrections. They’re opportunities for growth and for learning. But of course, while you’re walking through it, it doesn’t feel good. So, it can be hard to in the moment think, oh, good for me. Yay.

Nona Djavid:

I wish we could get someplace in our evolution where that would be a reality where you, you know, you sort of seek challenges and you’re like, all right, this is my initiation into my quantum leap or into my transformation or into my exit for my company or into this big thing in my relationship. That would be amazing.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, exactly. I, I think the older you get and the more you’ve been through this, you know, we’re both serial entrepreneurs, so, you know, you become familiar. That’s like, oh yeah, this is just part of the thing. Right. And so, it’s not as earth shattering. And, and also you have a confidence or a muscle of knowing that you can get through it. Like you think of all the other times, I’m old enough now. And I think of all the other like heart stopping challenges that I’ve been through. But I always made it. So, it’s kind of like, okay, there’ll be others, but I’ll be fine.

Nona Djavid:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, the nervous system constantly thinks it’s life and death, except it’s none of. Majority of the challenges we go through on day-to-day basis are not life and death, you know. Right, of course. When, when they are in those rare cases.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, exactly. So, one of the things that you specialize in is the one-week slash month lifestyle. And this is all about scaling without burnout. This is a big issue because so many women and I, it, it seems like your first business like was like this or we, you know, trade time for money. Yeah. And, and it’s impossible to scale that way. You need points of leverage, you need something scalable in your business to, to not do that, to sell value rather than time. So, tell me a little bit about that and how you arrived at that.

Nona Djavid:

Yeah, so you’re right. In my first business, first few years, I got into it, built a really massive practice and I had, even though I had other working for me, I, and I was on maternity actually when I burnt out. So, in reality I wasn’t technically working, I was just doing training calls. You know, I was truly stepped into the CEO of the company. I was no longer the operator, I was no longer the sort of, you know, practitioner in the business, which I think where most people burn out in a brick and mortar or any kind of brand. And yet, while I was working part time, the stress and the struggle and all the thoughts and the energies that the business was taking away from me had left me with nothing. And then, of course, my marriage wasn’t working and I had a child. And so, the responsibilities of life.

Nona Djavid:

And oftentimes, I mean, I had a moment where, Melinda, I walked into the closet, and I shut down the door. I put my son to sleep, I shut down the lights and I sat there against the wall, and I held onto my knees, and I started sobbing because I had followed what everyone had told me. The world, the consciousness of the world, the media, the culture, everything has told me this was the definition of success. This is how you can be happy. And I had worked so hard and hung on to every little bit of struggle to make myself worthy of some level of success. And here I was, completely unhappy in my marriage, unfulfilled and burnt out in my business. And I remember thinking during that period of time, as I walked out of the closet and had my sort of God moment, was that I had to build things differently. And one of the ideas that came to me was, how can I create part time, million dollar or seven figure business? Okay, so one, I needed it to be part time, and two, I needed it to not depend on me.

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Melinda Wittstock:

And we’re back with Nona Djavid, serial entrepreneur and founder of the eLIVate Club and Part Time Million Dollar coaching platform.

[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Nona Djavid:

Like, you’re talking totally scaled runs without me, profitable with. With good percentages and I’m not there. And I could be with my children, and I could go to Spain for a month if I wanted to. So that was the initial idea where I started to learn how to collapse time. I started to learn some of what I learned in that process were success principles that helped me scale not just that business, but then I ended up with three other businesses or one business, three locations. Then I took that virtually. So, the success principles I learned in that process were time and money related, like how do I collapse time and generate more? So, part of it was mechanics of scaling properly, but the other part of it, and most importantly was the energetics of scaling. I mean, you know, at that time, the idea of freedom of time, of sitting somewhere and not doing something for a relatively quote, unquote long period of time, gave me a panic attack.

Nona Djavid:

Like I would tell you, if you knew me back then, I would tell you, Melinda, I cannot sit still. I do not have time to meditate. I can only go on vacation for maybe a week at max, and then I have to do some work or answer some emails and whatever the case. So, I had to actually overcome this idea or this, this energetic of, or this pattern or this addiction to struggle in order to experience more freedom, whether it was financially, time or energetically. And so that was the first idea. So fast forward to sort of answer your question. Fast forward. I continued to do that, and I created three other businesses, like I said, that generated seven figures, multiple seven figures between the three of them.

Nona Djavid:

And then a few years ago, I had this vision for a one week a month lifestyle. Now this idea came to me, like, what if you tap into what it means to have your business generate what it’s generating or more in one week of work and then you take off to the next three weeks? Right. One, the systems have to be in place in such a way that that’s a possibility. But two, and more importantly, as this idea came to me, I went through the same kind of panic attack I experienced the first time, because now I had to, I had to get my nervous system even more comfortable and stretch it to the edge of discomfort of what it means to, to feel safe in that level of freedom, in that level of abundance and that level of ease. Right. Because we’re conditioned to think that struggle will make something worthy.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, we’re not valuable or we don’t deserve it unless it’s hard, unless we’re working hard. Right, right. That, that mentality. And like, we’ve all been educated in that. Like, you know, is he going to work hard? You got to hustle; you got to do all this kind of stuff. And for women in particular, I think it translates as, okay, I, I don’t deserve this unless I’m working really hard or unless I’m suffering or inherent in that, that there is some sort of trade off when there doesn’t actually have to be.

Nona Djavid:

Absolutely. And for me personally, and you know, now I teach the energetics of living, you know, your version of, whoever’s listening, of the one week a month lifestyle. For some people, it’s literally taking Fridays off. For some people, it’s, I’m gonna go home in an hour earlier, or for some reason is I’m gonna be present with my children when I’m not at work. So, the definition of it is different, but to me, it, it was this idea of how do I embody this level of freedom and ease before I even have it. Right. Because I’m used to the struggle. I mean, and by struggle, I don’t necessarily mean, oh my gosh, it’s such hard work and it’s miserable.

Nona Djavid:

It is my purpose, and I love to do the things. But this idea that we have to exchange struggle for worthiness and so long story short, in the past few years I have tapped into that. I now live between Italy and Southern California, which was part of the equation world school my kids and have created way more freedom financially and time and energetically than I ever dreamed of. And it had less to do with the mechanics of moving my business in that direction and it had way more to do with helping my nervous system feel safe in experiencing that level of freedom.

Melinda Wittstock:

Tell me a little bit more about that in practice. This idea of making your nervous system feel comfortable in abundance.

Nona Djavid:

Yes. So yeah, that process, okay, so I, and I, I’ll give you the summary of it because I know we’re obviously limited on time here. They’re four step framework that I have done every time I have created something that felt unreasonable in my life. Right. So, when I first came up with the idea of one week a month, it was like, that is insane. How are you going to do that? That’s not possible. You don’t know anyone who done it. So, it certainly activated part of my nervous system that was like, this is just crazy.

Nona Djavid:

And so, the very first step in the process was to actually sit down and contemplate on what this unreasonable vision would look like and feel like. Right. So, what would I do with the three weeks of freedom? You know, how would I contribute with the additional abundance coming in? What kind of fact checks would I write? How would I, how would that impact the world or my community or my students or my children or my husband? So really defining and scripting out this unreasonable life that my nervous system has never experienced in the past. If anything, it’s experienced the opposite of it. You know, watched my parents struggle, I watch everybody around me struggle. Especially if you’re an entrepreneur. It seems like it’s, it’s a packaged deal. This is the very first step of the process.

Nona Djavid:

And as I was saying that the four step framework that I go through with my students and I teach is what I have done every time I have done anything that was unreasonable. So, second step in the process is expanding your identity. Right. When I was looking to bring about more of this freedom in my business, I was not the kind of CEO that had the kinds of habits and the kinds of decision making and the kinds of systems and the kinds. I just was not the kind of CEO that had this life available to her. I was not making decisions that way. My habits were not that way, My communication was not that way. I had to kind of sit in and define the version of myself as a CEO that had access to that life that I described in step one.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, give me specific of what that looked like, like a before and after.

Nona Djavid:

On that particular step two for you, expanded identity. Okay. Give you a great example of this. My, the very. And kind of a continuation of the conversation too. Before this process, I identified with hyper independent go getter type A entrepreneur. And that had served me to that point. Right.

Nona Djavid:

But what. It also came with that particular part of my personality or identity. It also came with a lot of struggle. It also came with feeling unsupported even though I had a team and still do. It also came with this idea that nobody does it as good as I do. You know, there were a lot of limiting things that came with just that part of the identity that happened to also serve me to some degree. So, I had to move into a different direction. In order for me to have a one week a month lifestyle, I had to become the kind of CEO that generates business profitability, puts in the systems, hires and fires and delegates with ease.

Nona Djavid:

Mine, not the straw. Instead of the struggle. I, I let go of especially the, the sort of negative aspects of a type A personality because I’ve, I was wearing that on my sleeve like, like this is, I was wearing it like a badge of honor. Right, Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

You’re like, look at me, I’m working so hard.

Nona Djavid:

Like me, I’m working so hard. And now I had to get really comfortable with ease. So, who is the version of me that’s actually comfortable in ease? Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And this is where you no longer think you have to do it all or do it all perfectly, that you’re useful in terms of attracting the right people, you know, when they have the resources and support they need, but like letting them get on with it. Right. Like it’s, it’s that, I mean, you know, we can sum it up in, in delegation, but it’s a little bit more than that. Like a successful team is, is a really, it’s, it’s a hard thing to do.

Nona Djavid:

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, the old version of me was actually like, it’s hard to find the right people version of me is like they come to me and it’s, it’s, you know, because it’s part of identity are the thoughts and belief systems that you hold as an individual. Right. If I believe I, if I see myself as a fit individual, that identity piece is going to drive my behavior. So, I’m going to show up to the gym. I mean, I have friends, I’m not a big gym person, but I have friends that identify with being a gym rat or they’re, you know, they, they kind of joke about it and they, they are, they identify with being fit and strong and you know, addicted to working out. So, they never write down every January like I do, that I want to go to the gym three times a week this year. They just find time, and they go because their identity is driving their behavior.

Nona Djavid:

So, if my identity is a hyper independent type A, all the things that have brought me success, that I’m going to behave a certain way and the world is going to reflect that back onto me. And if I identify with, just like if I identify with being a good wife or a feminine partner or whatever, that’s how I’m going to show up. So that’s no different in a CEO, where in a new version you’re really defining utilizing the left part of the brain, which is who is the version of you that has access to that life? Like if there is a version of me that has a one week a month lifestyle, how is she showing up? What are her thoughts? What are her belief systems and patterns and habits?

Melinda Wittstock:

So, in steps one and two, it sounds like there’s a lot of visualization, but it’s also the, it’s more than that, it’s actually feeling it.

Nona Djavid:

Thank you for bringing that up. And the step three. So far, we’re actually a sort of a left-brain process. Right. Left brain is where your logic lives. Right brain is more creativity, which is linked to the limbic system, which is where we feel things, our emotions. So, none of this means anything unless you have embodied, which in, in my definition of embodiment is can I feel her? The new version of myself? Can I feel her in my body? Can I show up to this podcast? The next version of myself, Can I show up to the date with my husband acts as the next version of a partner, the kind of partner I want to become to that dates. Can I feel her in every cell in my body? So, step three is embodiment.

Nona Djavid:

When it comes down to visualization, you can visualize just using the left brain. You can also visualize when you use both the left and the right brain and you’re including your limbic system and your emotions. The most effective way of doing this, as I think we all know, is incorporating both. And the reason I have this as a step three is because I want my students to engage the limbic system, engage the right part of the brain as they do, you know, as they’re looking to quantum leap and step one, two, and then of course, moving on.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And so then, so say you’re feeling it, and it can take a while for people to actually feel it because your subconscious mind will talk you out of it. You know, all the reasons why.

Melinda Wittstock:

So easier said than done. But what’s step four?

Nona Djavid:

Okay, yes, just to make a point on what you said, because I don’t want this to sound like an overnight success story or process or anything. This takes time. Because the addictions that we have to struggle, to stressed out, to overwhelm, to working hard, those addictions are, are, I mean, they are addictions. They come with a set of emotions, come with a set of thought processes and belief systems, and they are hardwired into our nervous system. So, this is definitely a lifetime journey. And you know, I continue to work on myself every single day to make sure that I pick up new patterns and new addict are helpful and easeful and joyful and not, you know, wired in struggle. And then the, the fourth step in the process. And this is where systems come into play.

Nona Djavid:

You cannot scale a company, and you cannot create freedom in your business. How small or big, it doesn’t matter. You cannot do that with just having a vision. You have to put things in place. But oftentimes we’re putting in place or we’re taking the kind of action that the old version of us would take with all the old patterns of struggle, with all the old patterns of, you know, sacrifice and hard, hard work. So, if you’re taking action from the place that you are sitting right now, then you’re going to get more of what you have gotten. And you know, at best you might have 10% incremental growth in your business year after year. And I’m talking a successful business.

Nona Djavid:

This would be industry specific and industry standard. Typically, across the board’s about 10% improvement, right? 10 to 30%, I guess. Now you could have that, you could have that if you were to take action from where you are, from your current identity. But if you go through these three steps and you tap into the next version of yourself like I did and I continue to do, then you could actually take actions that you didn’t have access to. So now your consciousness has access to the kinds of actions I call these unreasonable actions because they’re unreasonable for the current identity, but for the, the future self. And there’s tons of neurological research around this, by the way, but for the Future self. These actions are actually easy peasy. She would take them no matter what, and they, she would just blink of an eye, make investment, do the launch, you know, hire the person, fire the person, whatever they have to do.

Nona Djavid:

So, step four is really taking unreasonable actions from the energy of the new identity.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, that’s, you know, it’s so interesting. That’s why I really, I love this, this idea of unreasonableness, especially for women, because we’re taught to be reasonable, we’re taught to fit in, we’d like, know our place, you know, all these sorts of things that are so deeply embedded. Right. And, and being a successful entrepreneur requires total unreasonableness.

Melinda Wittstock:

Just the ability to go in the opposite direction of conventional wisdom even. Right. Or think about something that no one else has thought about before or just have the. Just, I don’t know, a little bit of delusion maybe just to go out and.

Nona Djavid:

Absolutely, absolutely something.

Melinda Wittstock:

And I just even think that, oh yeah, like I’m the one to go do that. Right. Like it takes.

Nona Djavid:

Well, it’s. And it’s only delusional for this version of me. Right? It’s only delusional for this version of you. Another version of you has already done it. Like, it is available to us if we can expand our consciousness to think about. I mean, I have clients who, you know, have had major exits. They started out by thinking that that’s where they were gonna head. And they started in.

Nona Djavid:

You know, I have a client who started a brick and mortar out of her garage and recently had a hundred-million-dollar exit. The version of her opening up a brick-and-mortar business out of her garage did not have. It was not, you know, was not a. Did not have access to, from a 3D perspective, to $100 million exit. But in her mind’s eye, she did. In her mind’s eye, she already knew this as an outcome and a possibility.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. Yes, exactly. This is why whenever I, I mean, I don’t know, I’ve had so many conversations with women in the past where I’ve said things like, you know, we should all, you know, dream bigger. Like let’s, let’s think big. And there’s this, I, I would notice a little flicker of fear…

Nona Djavid:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

… in saying that. Because you don’t see very many women say, yeah, I’m building a billion-dollar business, or yeah, exit out at 500 million. Or I’m, you know, this or this or that. Because it’s almost like the people around them are kind of shocked by that. Like it’s Sort of, you know, the people around us don’t necessarily, or maybe perhaps they’re threatened by it. And we’re such people pleasers. Generally, women even say that. Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, there’s that social construct that we’re in as well.

Nona Djavid:

Well, I think the deepest fear for the feminine, for women, is being too much.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right?

Nona Djavid:

How we grow up, right. How we are raised, how we are spoken to. The construct of culture in general, no matter what country you live in, is the.

Nona Djavid:

…he deepest fear of the feminine is being too much, and the deepest fear of the masculine is not being enough. So, they’re constantly proving that deep fear by claiming the hundred-million-dollar exit. And then women are constantly, you know, proving or sort of, you know, like living that fear in doing in. In not dreaming as big and doing less because God forbid, we are, quote, unquote, too much.

Melinda Wittstock:

Mm. Right. This sets us back so much in. In entrepreneurship. Right. This constant kind of minimizing. Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s just that fear. And I think underlying that fear is if we’re too much, what, like we won’t get a date, we won’t get a husband. I don’t know, our girlfriend?

Nona Djavid:

Yes.

Nona Djavid:

I mean, yes, all of that.

Nona Djavid:

You know, Melinda, I just had a conversation with somebody and one of my students. I. We did this. I do this process where I take people through, like, what would happen if your biggest dream actually manifested in real life, if you had the hundred million dollar exit or your business was seven figures or, you know, specifically when it comes down to building wealth and entrepreneurship. And I took, I don’t know, however many women through this process. And then I took a very select, I think maybe about 10 of them, and did some private coaching with them. And every single one of those women, as I questioned what the fear would be around this life. So first I had them design the life and.

Nona Djavid:

And sort of embody the life as we have been describing. Then I said, what are the things that would go wrong and what are the fears that you would experience in this particular life? 10 layers deep. Not to make this conversation too long, but like 10 layers deep in the conversation, it turns out every single one of those women was afraid of losing connection, oftentimes to their spouse and some other times their family members or, you know, friends or tribe. If you think about it, it makes absolute sense. We are, you know, aside from shelter and food and the things, our biggest need is actually connection.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah.

Nona Djavid:

We’re not wealthy, we’re not delusional, and we’re not unreasonable because were afraid to lose connection. One way or another. And Again, this is 10 layers deep in the subconscious. But I found it absolutely fascinating in the work that I did.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, this is so. I mean, I think this is one of the reasons why I’ve always believed that women will really succeed at that level in business. You know, creating the billion-dollar unicorns and all this sort of stuff. Moment. We can all support each other in it because as long as we’re in scarcity or women are feeling like they’re kind of this fear, and then that sometimes translates into competing with each other or keeping each other down, or there’s only one that can do well or just all this kind of scarcity around that and come from a place of abundance where we’re really lifting each other up. That I think is critical because it speaks to that connection that we all need.

Nona Djavid:

Yeah, absolutely.

Melinda Wittstock:

Connect with. You know, I’ll call them regular civilians. That’s right. Not to be snooty about it, but you know what I mean, like, there’s a big difference between, you know, a true entrepreneur. Right. If we connect with those people or like, or even in. Within our own family, we need some sort of business family. We need that kind of community.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, it’s vital for us, I think maybe, I mean, it’s very helpful for men too. That’s why they mastermind or do deals on the golf course. They do all that stuff. They. They create those connections in business. But women, I think we’re getting better at it, but more work to be done.

Nona Djavid:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look at this conversation. And my hope and my intention is that it brings awareness to the possibility of what you are doing. Melinda, what I am doing, what is possible for a woman that’s possibly listening to this in, in a space of struggle or in a space of. Of a challenge to just go a little bit bigger, to just continue to say yes to the vision that perhaps you have had since you were a little girl. I feel like most of the things we want to experience in life, I mean, we didn’t define them when we were seven years old and some of us did, but the freedom, the love, the joy, the adventure, the ease that we would dream about as a seven-year-old are the things that we just. They were beaten out of us over time. So perhaps creating some space to go back to dreaming again and.

Nona Djavid:

Or uncovering what those dreams were really.

Melinda Wittstock:

Literally daring to dream. I mean, I’ve been in different masterminds or different groups with women where the ambitions seem very modest and, and when you stretch it out like, it’s almost really hard sometimes for people to actually say what they really want. Like they, they, maybe they’ve lost touch with that, or they’ve just convinced themselves they’re not allowed to want it, or it’s, they feel guilty for wanting something. Like they think they’re being greedy or. I don’t know what that is, but I do feel that from a lot of.

Nona Djavid:

Yeah, I agree, I agree. And I do think there’s a list of, there’s a percentage of women that are claiming that. And so, the idea is to find who those women are, those masterminds, those communities, and become part of, surround yourself with them. And if you don’t have them available to you in your hometown or you’ve never come across them, listen, oftentimes I surround myself with people who have done, you know, quote unquote unreasonable things on social media, on, in, in books that you would read, in documentaries that you would watch. Right. It’s like, however, in whatever way I can give my brain and nervous system this possibility of anything unreasonable, then I’m gonna seek that.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right? Yeah, 100%. So, tell me about the clients that you work with and what the process is. I mean, you’ve sort of outlined it in, in the, in the steps, but what’s it like to work with you?

Nona Djavid:

You know, most of my students are inside of a coaching container. So, it’s a group setting. And I teach on weekly basis, so we release a lesson every week. They’re more, mostly entrepreneurs, business owners, and oftentimes their teams. Entrepreneurs signing up their teams for this. And the idea is to help people quantum leap. So, this is what the coaching container is about. Quantum leap in three areas.

Nona Djavid:

Wealth, slash lifestyle, slash, contribution, if you would, and area of health, and then of course, area of connection. So really quantum leaping in those three areas. That would be the coaching container. And then I also have a mastermind. That one is a higher-level mastermind. I, you know, I open enrollment a couple times a year for that one and on weekly basis those are live calls. And every single week. And we have higher level entrepreneurs in there.

Nona Djavid:

Probably we average, we don’t have a requirement quote unquote, but we probably they’re in the seven figures mostly. And those entrepreneurs, we get together on weekly basis. And all we talk about, and by the way, it’s called the one week a month mastermind. And so, all we talk about is the energetics of creating freedom and ease in our businesses and in our lives. And it’s probably about 20% mechanics or, you know, systems, if you would of scaling a freedom-based business or having a freedom-based life. And 80% of it is who do I need to show up as? How do I get over my addiction to anxiety or stressed out or overwhelmed? And you know, they’re already successful in their own definition. They just want to experience more ease and freedom. And then that’s the, that’s the mastermind.

Nona Djavid:

And then I take on handful of people as private.

Melinda Wittstock:

Amazing. Well, I can imagine listening to you that there’d be a lot of people listening to this podcast. I think, oh my God, I need some of what, what Nona has here. What’s the best way to work with you and find you?

Nona Djavid:

Yeah, thank you, Melinda. I. I love a good personal connect. So, if you are listening to this and some of this resonated with you, just connect with me on Instagram and let me know that this is where you heard this conversation. And I actually have a 90-minute training on the four steps that I sort of briefly broke down here. And I’m happy to send that over to anyone that comes through and mentions this podcast. And it’s absolutely free. You just have to mention it, tell me what you got, or say, hey, that free thing you mentioned on this podcast and I’m happy to send it over.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Nona, for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yes, thank you, Melinda, for having me.

[INTERVIEW ENDS]

Melinda Wittstock:

Nona Djavid is a serial entrepreneur and transformational leader, and author committed to helping business owners and entrepreneurs break through limiting beliefs around time, money, and success. As the founder of eLIVate Club and the Part Time Million Dollar Business coaching platform, she empowers women to create businesses that

Melinda Wittstock:

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Melinda Wittstock:

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