In this interview with Yvonne Winkler, the CEO of Lotus Consulting, we hear an uncommon story of a young girl who fled from oppression to freedom. Then, as a young woman, how she left a highly regarded job to discover true fulfilment on her own terms and to become the woman she is today. We talked about how "starting over" requires courage, trust and the ability to let go of the securities we believe in. A common thread we found in our stories is that when you trust your heart and act from your inner feminine wisdom, the rest will work out the way it needs to. 

She said, “Freedom is found within, not outside of yourself.” This is so true. You can travel the entire world, but you can still feel trapped from within.

I love doing podcast interviews because I see the value in sharing these conversations about hope, courage and inspiration. I also believe in collaborations with other women. As Yvonne mentioned, women really understand the value of collaboration, and this is how we can move forward as a society.

Yvonne Winkler is the CEO of Lotus Consulting, Founder of the Freedom Seeker Community and Former Managing Director Alberta Chapters with one of the largest and widely recognised premier business networking organisations, eWomen Network. With over 18 years of business development, consulting and marketing experience, Yvonne coaches women to find the clarity they want and harness the strength they already have to live a life they choose.

You can find out more about Yvonne Winkler, her work and coaching programs on http://www.yvonnewinkler.com/

Interview Highlights

From oppression to freedom - Leaving communist East Germany to the West Germany in 1989 

Starting over in a new world twice- adjusting to capitalism, different mindset and a whole new circumstance in West Germany and then Canada 5 years later

The experience of different oppressions and how to use that experience to build a business and support women on their journey

Why it is so important to discover what our heart really wants, not what others want for us or expect of us

How common it is to feel something is missing or unfulfilled despite having a great job and all 

No one else is going to find out what will fulfil us, we have to find out what they are ourselves 

The idea of the Lotus Wellness was born in Spain during a year-long trip, to create a sacred space where people can recover from their trauma, to unpack their stories and to heal. It may not be what it is today, but that was the start of the idea and vision. 

The reason why women tend to play safe, the fear of not being good enough or losing what they have

Why it is easy to forget the connection we have with our inner feminine wisdom, and how we need to re-connect to that source of power

No one is broken and we don’t need to be fixed, but it may be a call for change and courage 

When we change nothing, nothing changes

There is no over night success, we all need to start somewhere, just start from where you are 

Freedom Seeker Community is a place for women to feel we belong, to feel safe, to open up from their vulnerability and to share experiences. 

Video

https://youtu.be/pri0G2qMAUg

Transcript

Sze Wing (00:03):

Hi everyone today, I have a new guest. Her name is Yvonne Winkler, and she is all the way from Canada, British Columbia. And so again, we have this across time zone love affair, and finally, we got connected and we are doing this podcast. So a little background about Yvonne and first of all, she's the CEO of Lotus consulting, founder of the Freedom Secret Community and managing director of Alberta chapter of one of the largest, widely recognized premier business network organization, E Women Network. She used to be the managing director, but now she has moved on to her next chapter, which is lovely. We will find out more next. Anyways, so she had over 18 years of business development consulting and marketing experience.