S02E10 - Jessa de la Morena - Encuentra tu propósito

Luis Carvajal: 0:01

Welcome to Talent Pills, a podcast of about 30 minutes per episode to talk about talent and leadership, with figures highlighted in different areas. Together, we will share ideas and fresh perspectives that can be useful to you in your daily life and maybe make you reflect. Shall we start. Have you ever felt at that moment that you need a change of direction or feel that your work is not enough? All of us face this situation at some point in our lives. Today, I would like to explore how to identify those moments of change, differentiate a punctual frustration with a need for change, learn to face that fear or uncertainty that often accompanies us, and how to redefine our purpose to align with what makes us really happy.

Luis Carvajal: 0:56

A lucky story with Yesa de la Morena, an executive with a long career in companies such as Madeus and KPMG, who had a very hard time living a radical career. Today, she is a super-signal writer, founder and CEO of a global platform that supports people in the adversity process you Are the Hero and also directs a consultant creating the Animatch-en-Moe, focusing on the transformational leadership, collaborating with companies like Expedia or Amazon. Yesa is an relevant and internationally recognized voice in the world of transformational leadership. Her focus is on finding a purpose that has inspired thousands of people. I think that her professional and vital experiences will give us a unique perspective on how to turn adversities into opportunities that transform your life forever. Yesa, millions of thanks for being with us in Talent Pills Flores how much.

Jessa de la Morena: 1:49

How much do you think we have?

Luis Carvajal: 1:50

to give you, to invite me. I'm happy to have you among us. For those who don't know you, tell us a little about your process of transformation. I think it was like that. I met you in your past life. You tell me that you don't know me anymore because you were a different person and you decided to make a radical change in your life. Tell us a little about that process and what you dedicate yourself to. What process of?

Jessa de la Morena: 2:17

transformation. It has been a process that lasted five years. Really, I think I'm still in the process of evolution. I mean, don't be surprised that we have spent another five years and be another. But yes, one of the worst things in my life happened to me, which was also one of the best things in my life, which was that I had an aggressive cancer that stopped my life the worst and the best you say yes, because I had a very agitated life.

Jessa de la Morena: 2:56

I was a very restless person. I still was restless at the level of wanting to learn and do, but it was very active.

Jessa de la Morena: 3:08

Yes, and I got into all the problems because everything seemed interesting to me. I had a very intense job, I traveled a lot, I worked in an international company with an international charge, with a huge team that I loved. I thought I was living my dream life. And then this happens, and of course, it helps you get along well. What happens is that during that process, as you have the possibility of maybe not being here for a long time, you start questioning everything, and then you go through a process of every time you think I have to, you say who says I have to. So it's a process of questioning A liberator right.

Jessa de la Morena: 4:07

A very liberator. It's like having the license to do what you want, because first you say I don't care because I don't know if I'm going to be here the next month. I want every second to count. In our profession or in what we spend so many hours a day, there has to be a cross between our values, our passions and our strengths. And that's when I started to think what am I passionate about when I have free time? What do I dedicate to? What do I find interesting? And that's not what I was dedicated to.

Jessa de la Morena: 4:42

So when you start to say I would like to dedicate myself to something that is more aligned, and well, when I had my story it's a bit long, but let's say that over the last three years I had a metastasis, several operations, and when I had to say well, it seems that all this is stabilized, we're going to return to the charge. They offer me a very similar job to the one I was doing before, but with more responsibility. I keep it bigger, etc. And I decide that no that, no that many more, thank you.

Luis Carvajal: 5:21

Did you surprise yourself, or was it easy for you?

Jessa de la Morena: 5:24

You know, I took it as if, like you, make an internal statement, right? I don't know if you ever happen when you think of doing something, and until you don't say it in a loud voice, and if you start saying it to people, it seems that it's not real right.

Jessa de la Morena: 5:39

Exactly, you make an internal statement of what I want to do and suddenly it seems that everything around you starts to show you things you had before or what you would have wanted to have before. So it seemed to me like this opportunity that they offered me was like the other me had said thank you, this is what I want, and so on. It was like a test. It was like they're putting me to a test. Where is the hidden camera that they're putting me to a test? And I said no, and the question was what do you want to do? And then I proposed to them that I wanted to lead a program of the company's transformation leadership. I had been doing a previous program where I participated during my free time I mean my work with the whole team of the company's leadership, where I was, and I had stopped during the Covid. So my proposal was to start it again and start it myself to be the director of the program. So they said, well, we're going to talk. They came back and said, yes, I was happy. So I came back to the company with that, but meanwhile I was cooking something else at the same time, which was that, given what I had experienced, I had noticed a series of deficiencies in the world of health and well-being as a patient and also as a family, because I was also a little girl. My mother was sick and well. Unfortunately, I also had close relatives, so I had a very clear vision of what I thought could be lacking in people who are going through these things. I realized that the health and well-being market is very fragmented, that health and well-being are new together, that health is the cure but it's not really the health. I read a book by a doctor from the United States, from Harvard, called Kelly Turner, called the nine factors of radical emissions, and she talked about what she had seen of all the radical emissions, that there were nine factors in common. So well, they included nutrition, even mindfulness, sports, being in a positive environment, having a purpose, etc.

Jessa de la Morena: 8:06

And then, after the first three weeks of being in shock, I started to make an executive plan for those nine areas and decided to take the reins of those nine areas myself. But well, I don't know, I have the ability to say I'm going to do this. I was so scared that I wouldn't survive this and I wouldn't put everything in my part and the whole greenhouse that I wouldn't be able to overcome this. And then, of course, that was the trigger of a whole process, because, of course, when you start working, your mental health, your emotional health and a lot of other things that's where you give the opportunity to start asking yourself and if this is a belief and I don't really want to do this or if they took me this way, or if they took me here, or if we all do this.

Jessa de la Morena: 9:04

And that's where I started doing what I wanted to do. And, of course, when I saw this, these caresses, I decided that I wanted to create an environment that would help people find the help they needed, but through the prism of the lens of inspiring stories from others, because that's a catalyst for others to realize that they also have that internal strength, or that inner hero, as I call him. And then, in parallel, I started giving the form to what is today the platform of you Are the Hero. And then I left the corporate world and I created two companies Do you have two platforms.

Luis Carvajal: 9:43

One is you Are the Hero.

Jessa de la Morena: 9:44

I have a platform you Are the Hero, which is a health and well-being platform which, through the inspiring stories of people that are built in a challenging question, people who are facing any problem and the family members of those people, can find the expert of health and well-being that helped other people.

Luis Carvajal: 10:06

the most Not only physical health, but also mental health, emotional health.

Jessa de la Morena: 10:10

Indeed. So one enters there and it's the mouth of the best of the best, of what helped you the most, of the person that you, luis, would recommend to your sister. This is what you would recommend the most. So what you see is that people start telling their story, which is also very healthy. And how do I get people to have a positive focus when they tell their story? Is that the app has a narrative guide where I help them tell their story with a perspective, asking them questions so that they can see what has happened with a different lens and look at it from a point of view of what they have learned, what they have taught me. What can I tell someone who is going through this to help them? What would I tell them about the past? And well, I am working now with a lot of hospitals in the United States and here in Spain. It is a global app it is in Spanish, english and Portuguese.

Jessa de la Morena: 11:12

And then there are even companies that are coming to me and are interested in the routines that are in the app because they want to use it as a program of well-being for their employees.

Luis Carvajal: 11:28

Wonderful. That's the initiative. The most important thing is to know stories of others to inspire you. Not only is it worth for emotional issues, but when you want to challenge yourself, to seek stories of successful references in your life that help you, to inspire you to make changes in your direction Exactly and Creating the Unimaginable, which is the other platform you have, which is the professional part you know.

Jessa de la Morena: 11:54

Yes, that was born a bit because, of course, at my departure they started calling me. I also did a lot of. I set up the network of professional women in the company where I was. I did some ponences related to that, empowerment etc. And then they started calling me to do sessions in companies and I said, well, I'm going to create a place where we can establish a methodology with a series of values and that we wanted to work to help in the transformation of companies and to help professionals in the corporate world to create the Unimaginable.

Jessa de la Morena: 12:40

So for that you need to make a paradigm change. You need to start to determine your reality by the commitments you take and not the other way around, that your reality is based on the commitments. You know how to do it because you know you can do it. So in the end, I started working with these partners, we started making projects and in the end it became a consulting where we supported innovation projects, these transversals in super complex companies that need the typical static organization. They don't need everyone from different areas to be involved in a collective goal of something they don't know how to do.

Luis Carvajal: 13:35

And going back to that process of transformation, it's very well known the fact that people really change when they go through a difficult time. Sometimes it's family loss, sometimes it's serious illness, sometimes it's a radical change. But I do think there must be a way to get that kind of reflection without going through a. You said it's the best thing, but what happens to you in your life? I don't know. I don't see it, but it's the worst that has happened in your life too right, and for those of you who don't listen, what do you think you can do to try to find that changing catalyst and to make that reflection in your life without having to go through what's the worst? That many times you're linked to that you lose a family, a radical change in your life or a disease.

Jessa de la Morena: 14:20

Yes, well, I think that, on the one hand, to listen to people's stories or read them and that's why you Are the Hero is also a power platform and, on the other hand, it seems very complex, but it's very simple. It's to get off the wheel of the hamster. I mean, get off the wheel of the hamster and really take a time, if it can be. Many times we say that we don't have time to stop, to stop the weekend, but I feel myself every month with myself I have an executive meeting with myself and I evaluate everything, I dedicate my time and my behaviors and I evaluate if they are aligned with my values that we have to pause repeatedly to make sure that we go on a walk. Now, if we've never done that hamster, you're going to find many surprises, right? So the thing is to really decide to do that hamster and that reflection. I'm going to remove the agenda completely, erase it, and I'm going to say, okay, if one of my values is family and I want to have a very deep relationship and well with my family, with my children, etc. I'm going to fill in the calendar and things that lead me to that and then you're creating a new calendar that is.

Jessa de la Morena: 15:40

It's not the other way around. It's not, I'm going to fit things. Now it's to remove everything and put it from the base up. Now it's time to maybe defraud someone, and you have to tell someone that you're not going to do it, that you want them to do it, or that you've always done it, and now that you don't want it. And then here you can also learn new tools or practices, and you can learn how to maybe set limits, how to tell someone in a very loving way and respect them right, but to tell them that you can't do this, but to ask them what they need and what they can do, that they can do for you, right and well, is this a whole process?

Luis Carvajal: 16:27

It's hard because I meet a lot of people in that situation where they are dissatisfied with their work. You say that part of revaluation of who you are and what your essence requires. It's not obvious to find that essence and to differentiate between a temporary dissatisfaction, a frustration, I don't know, because you're angry with your boss, or you're angry with your surroundings or with your team, or with the situation of the company, with what it means to be a deep reflection of your essence. I don't know how you identify those signs and differentiate between.

Jessa de la Morena: 17:02

Yes, I think that in the end it's a process. We are like a big onion with many layers. So behind each discomfort, or like in English, the jest is there is a track behind each discomfort that tells us that something is wrong. So the question is to listen to them. I often go to classes at the company institute of the transformational leadership and there is always a part where we talk about managing your humor, because, as a leader, your responsibility is to manage your humor, because I'm influenced by your team. Of course, how one relates to circumstances is totally in your hands.

Luis Carvajal: 17:58

Of course, the attitude is fundamental, and how one takes life and humor is not valued in the direct world. I think it's fundamental. What you say requires that pause, that reflection, that self-evaluation, that moment of putting yourself in the mirror. How do you do it? The people who are in the executive world you have lived them. It's intense, it's hard, it's difficult. You get home and you don't want to see a movie, disconnect or be with the kids and sleep. Life takes us to a hamster wheel or a very complicated day where, in the end, that dissatisfaction is replicated and you don't notice it. You turn it on but you don't stop. How do you break that cycle? Can you do it?

Jessa de la Morena: 18:57

I think so. I think breaking is not present. But the question is, I'm living the happiest life I could live, and the first point is to really take the awareness that there is a problem, or not a problem, but an opportunity to change in an area. And then the second thing is to take the income and make that change. So there, of course, many times people think we don't have the capacity to make changes, but it's not like that. I've had 20,000 things in my life where you think there are things in your life that are unmovable pillars and they're not. Nothing is unmovable. And I think that's where I might be at the moment, because with what I've lived, I've already lived the thing that's most afraid of you. So I don't care. I say it a lot and people look at me with a Martian face, but it's that nothing matters, nothing matters. So to me it's that I can go through whatever it is and I'll take it and say, okay, it's like you're in a movie and the script has changed and now we change.

Luis Carvajal: 20:16

Yes, it's true that breaking beliefs established or pre-established is one of what it means to have success or to have had a positive professional career, or to have a personal legacy. There are many facets of how you do that. What importance do you give to your friends or family in this process of reflection? Is it important or can you lead more?

Jessa de la Morena: 20:48

Generally speaking, they are a great part of those who are perhaps reinforcing beliefs in your life. There is a moment when you have to separate yourself from this and say it's your belief and I respect it, but it doesn't necessarily have to be good for me. So that's where you have to get rid of yourself and say these people want the best for me your parents, your brothers, your friends but sometimes there is a it's like moving around in the world of beliefs what is right and what is not, Of course, of course.

Jessa de la Morena: 21:32

So there the thing is. You really have to do a lot of introspection, I think, and a lot of realizing what makes you happy. For me, the litmus test is always is that said in Spanish the test of?

Luis Carvajal: 21:52

Test of acid.

Jessa de la Morena: 21:53

Yes, the test of acid is does this make me happy or not? And what we all want is to be happy, right? So of course, I am super selective in what I dedicate my time to, in what I spend all my money, in what I do every day, because every second I don't see it, I'm going to recover it again.

Luis Carvajal: 22:19

And in your case, you have become this transformative situation. You are now a recognized person in these leaders and you are among the 100 most influential women in Spain with which you have really allowed yourself to have a voice that you would not have imagined before.

Jessa de la Morena: 22:41

Totally totally.

Luis Carvajal: 22:43

That freedom of saying what you think, because there is an additional part, of course. A lot of people say, well, it's not just that I'm unhappy, but here the counterweight is responsibility, economic art, what's going to be of me? How I'm going to educate my children, how my wife, husband, parents, children are going to think that they have an additional connotation of that fear, almost overwhelming, that paralyzes you to take decisions. Even if you have it identified, you have it very clear how do you break it afterwards?

Jessa de la Morena: 23:18

Of course, then you have to have an action plan. Once you have determined where you are going, you have to have your bridge, which is going to be your gold bridge that will take you there, and sometimes it depends on my case, of course, I turned on it, it was a change, I got into it, it was a transition that was developing in a very organic way.

Luis Carvajal: 23:40

And you accompanied many people or directors in that change, trying to help them in the change of purpose. What are the common mistakes that you see in people who say I'm thinking about this? What are the indications of the mistakes that you have seen in third parties?

Jessa de la Morena: 23:59

Well, a very common thing is not to prepare that bridge well and to realize that sometimes the bridge can take longer than what one expects, and it depends on what you are doing. For example, a platform like what you Are, the Hero takes much longer than what it can be. Maybe start a consultation where they are already calling you to do things in an organic way, so planning that in a way not conservative but very realistic. And then I think that sometimes we also idealize certain things. Maybe we have to try certain things and see, because maybe we think that there is a topic that we are very passionate about and maybe we have to do some tests. Try the things that you are doing that you think you will like, but put it into practice and then think I'm going to like doing this all day long.

Luis Carvajal: 25:01

And there is a topic that I those who follow the podcast have said it before I am especially worried that it is because of a certain age executives who have been wonderful, wonderful, who have had a fantastic career for the reason that they stop working or because they are being overwhelmed or because they have lost their job and then they can't work again for a while and that they stop being useful to society because they start to dedicate themselves to go to the theater or play golf or get on a bike. And for me it is a loss of competitiveness of the country and even of people with a lot of talent who are not dedicated to varied topics and who have not been able to control that new vital purpose. What could you say to those people who are coming to that age, or have come to that age or are at that moment where they have lost their job?

Jessa de la Morena: 25:55

they think they are very varied and feel a little Well, part of my aspiration is to build a foundation that is called the Non-Reconexion, that is like an accelerator and a foundation where we have a lot of funds for those people who are working and dedicated to social impact projects and where we can say, hey, these people like the ones you've described can be some great mentors in that kind of environment. And then, well, I want to create that in the future, but today, for example, there are a lot of accelerators who do that kind of thing. They do mentoring and that mentoring I think, well, they've offered me to do that kind of thing, and I'm sure that a person who has 30 years of experience than me can bring even more experience right. So, well, I think that all those people have a brutal way out of the process and maybe they do it alone or together in an organization, but I think it's a very good opportunity and also that they would enjoy a lot, because the world of startups is very exciting and fun.

Luis Carvajal: 27:17

No doubt, no doubt. I advise you to stay in that process. I feel unsatisfied. I'm doubtful, I'm afraid I'm a gold-gathered cage, but I think that my being calls me in another direction. There's something I can read where I can start, which I've already talked about. Many things like the reflection of self-knowledge. But what's the next step? Where do I start?

Jessa de la Morena: 27:46

Well, a step, doesn't matter where, but taking a step Just.

Luis Carvajal: 27:53

At least steps.

Jessa de la Morena: 27:56

Yes, just start by saying, well, I'm going to do some research, I'm going to look for some information about this topic that interests me, I'm going to see what's missing. In my case, I found for me the issue of saying let's see, something happened to me in my life so heavy that you say what is this? Why did it happen to me, luis? I mean, I'm left with the thing that this has happened. It's been a lottery, it happened to me and that's it and that's it, but I've learned a lot from it and I can help a lot of people. I'm going to make this a purpose and I've decided it and that's it.

Jessa de la Morena: 28:30

Many people say, okay, I'm very dedicated to this now, but how am I going to really focus my career on something totally different? And there I talk a lot with people about what our personal image is and about, for example, social networks, especially like LinkedIn, where we can maybe have the opportunity to do that thought leadership, to give that information of things we know and are interested in. Well, you can start publishing things LinkedIn, maybe, or on some network, or create a blog about an area that interests you, which is an area that you have knowledge of for some reason, and start there, you know, and that takes you and you suddenly say, well, there's an event. I've learned that I'm going to look online to see what events there are. Look, the other day I took it. I said, well, this year, I like all the women's issues. I have two daughters, so I'm also very much of the kind of people who want them to be in that affan and who can decide what they want to do and so on, and I like participating in women's empowerment issues.

Jessa de la Morena: 29:43

Well, I looked on the internet and said, well, in 2024, what events are there in Madrid? Well, the case is that in June, there is the Global Women's Summit event and I presided over it by Mrs Leticia. And well, this is something that is moving around. I'm an entrepreneur who loves everything that has to do with that. Tomorrow, I'm going to Vienna to an event of the Drucker Society. You know who Peter Drucker is, right? Well, there is a society that sets up a spectacular event every year and I've been seeing it for two years saying, well, I would love to go. And I wrote it to them. I mean, of course, since I don't care, I have nothing to lose. I wrote to the president for LinkedIn. I said hello, I like this, I do this, I do the other thing that I can do. How can I help? I want to be part of this and well, personal invitation, miss, come here and well, there I go.

Luis Carvajal: 30:40

I think we don't remember you as Drucker, but yes, yes, yes, yes, but of course.

Jessa de la Morena: 30:45

So what I want to tell you is that when you start, it's like when your wife gets pregnant you suddenly see pregnant women everywhere, right? Well, it's the same, because as soon as you start paying attention to something that interests you, doors will open.

Luis Carvajal: 31:01

It's very important what you just said. I think people don't realize that the exposure beyond your usual network is so important to find that new purpose Totally In the topics that you are interested in the moment. You start looking at other topics, you will find a lot of people aligned with you, with you, and that will help you. And not only that, but that will help you grow. You will tell me that you write to Pirate Rocker and then he will answer you and I'm delighted that you have, but you have to dare. That part of daring and not having fear is what you have achieved.

Jessa de la Morena: 31:33

Yes, well, you have to lose the shame.

Luis Carvajal: 31:37

Yes, millions, millions thank you it happens to me very well, and the truth is that I met you five years ago and today I am much happier, my eyes shine much more and with which I am delighted, with that transformation that you have experienced.

Jessa de la Morena: 31:51

Great well, thank you very much. It happens to me very well too, and I love to see you again.

Luis Carvajal: 31:56

And in the good hour.

Jessa de la Morena: 31:57

Thank you.

Luis Carvajal: 32:09

There are many things that don't remind us of Yesa, that seem common sense but that we forget in the day to day, and that are really the essence of our happiness. It reminded us that the many hours we invest in our working life should be a reflection in our values, passions and strengths. On the contrary, it's time to reflect In the search for a new purpose. It is crucial to take some time to reflect away from the frenetic wheel of hamster demand, self-valuation, a honest look at the mirror and a will to challenge and rethink beliefs arraigned in oneself, many times self-imposed, that dictate our decisions because it really means having success, or which legacy I want to leave to my family. This can require reviewing our agenda from scratch, prioritizing what is really important for us, and this often leads to fraud and requires learning to tell them that, no, to tell them what you can do for them, but within your priorities.

Luis Carvajal: 33:09

It reminds us of the importance of positive stories and how these stories can have a real impact on oneself that incite us to find change within ourselves. Lastly, it leaves us with a call to action. Once we identify what really motivates us, we must create a clear action plan and, above all, we must dare to take that first step, because by doing so, we open the door to new opportunities, many times unspoken, and a path that is waiting to be discovered. If you are on the right path, you will learn to be much more selective with your time. You will discover the art of valuing each moment, choosing wisely with whom you invest it, forcing it into a place that resounds and enriches your purpose of life and fills you with happiness. If you like talent pills, remember to subscribe to any of my platforms now. We are also on YouTube, and see you in the next episode.