The AIM Project: Putting a Real Face on Global Issues

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. I'm your host,

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Elise Cortes. Joining you live from
Dallas, Texas, which is home

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base for me. This program is
all about helping people more meaningfully and productively

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connect with their work and equipping leaders
to cultivate meaning and purpose in the workplace

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to elicit passion inspired contribution, innovation, and persevering performance. So I seek

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out and bring on guests from a
particular perspective, experience, or expertise that

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I think attributes to or expands this
conversation. And as a management consultant and

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social scientist, I drawn in the
meeting and work and identity research I've been

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doing over the last fifteen years,
as well as my experience consulting, speaking

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and developing workforces across the globe.
I hope you caught the show last week.

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If you missed it live, you
could always catch it via recorded podcast.

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We were on the air with Ronan
Leonard, who is the founder of

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Accountability and teaches niche business owners and
subject matter experts how to leverage their intellectual

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property into additional revenue models and increase
their industry profile, all through the innovative

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concept of virtual Masterminds. We talked
about the need for entrepreneurs and business owners

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to plug into groups of people who
have already faced the challenges or problems they

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currently face and get the support and
accountability check they need to realize their visions.

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He joined us from Melbourne, Australia. It was a great conversation with

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us. This week is Sharon Demattia. She is the founder of the AIM

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Project and also a connection and communication
expert, human re engineer and storyteller.

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She's just come back from a trip
from South Africa in service of her project.

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We'll be talking about that trip,
how the AIM Project was born,

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and why it is critical in addressing
some of today's thornia school problems. She

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joined us today from Reno, Nevada. Sharon, Welcome to Working on Purpose.

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Hello Elise, great to be here. It is so great to have

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you. You know. One of
the greatest things about getting to host the

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show, Sharon, is that I
stumble into people like you who I otherwise

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have no business and meeting, and
I get inspired and turned on by them,

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and I get to share them with
my listeners. It's amazing. It

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is great when you get out there
you meet incredible people. Yeah. Yeah,

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And so we're going to get into
really one of your latest adventures where

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you got to meet some great people. But I really want to get first

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into you your background at how this
thing was really born. So I want

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to dive in. I think you're
you're an interesting person to me, Sharon,

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and that you're a scientist turned artist. And we'll get to your previous

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background and encouraged a little bit later. But I want you to tell us,

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if you will, of how and
why the AIM project came to be.

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Well, let's see, it was
about six years ago, and you

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know, I was forty six at
the time, and much like many of

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my peers, I had lived a
life of kind of predictable and meeting the

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expectations that the system had set for
me. I had a master's degree.

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Well, I still do. It's
not that I had one. It didn't

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go away. Yeah, I'm educated. I worked a corporate job. I

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had a big house on the hill, the gated community, three children that

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went to private school, you know, BMW in the garage, living the

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you know, prescribed American dream,
and yet had that feeling inside me that

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was like, there's something missing,
there's something I'm supposed to be doing.

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I don't know what it is,
and I don't even know how to label

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it. And then it was,
you know, and I was reading,

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you know, to try to find
out. I was reading books and listening

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to podcasts trying to point me in
the direction of this purpose that I didn't

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even know what it was, or
how it existed or how to access it.

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And it was through my divorce that
it really shook me up. It

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was as if my entire operating system
crashed. Every foundational belief upon which I

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based my life. It appeared to
be untrue, and I was lost.

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I was completely lost and groundless,
like had nothing to stand on anymore.

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All the stories that I told myself
were gone. And it was through a

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conversation with the identity crisis right is
where I was the existential crisis of you

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know, I don't think it's an
unusual thing for women in her mid forties

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anymore. And so it was conversation
with my youngest son about identity because someone

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had been calling him names, and
in trying to lead him to a greater

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understanding of who he was, I
asked him because he loved to draw,

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I asked him if he was a
blank canvas and I painted his outline on

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it, how do you feel it? And it led to such an interesting

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conversation that I was able to guide
on just the drive home from school that

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I arrived home last night, and
that was the scientist in me that I

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understand that one of the hardest things
to do is find the right question.

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And this seemed so interesting. And
sat down that night and bored myself a

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big glass of wine, and I
took out a canvas and without overthinking it,

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without allowing my mind to take control, and it was almost like I

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was in such a dark place that
it didn't I had lost the control from

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my mind, and I just drew
this outline. It came from someplace I

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don't know, onto the canvas,
and it looked like the torso and head

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of a human it was just a
single line, and then it came to

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do I put a heart in it. And there was the part of me

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that was like, don't put the
heart there. That seemed so girly and

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the logical and hello kitty, and
you're none of those things. I had

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defined myself very logically through my life
and kind of wore that like a badge

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of honor. You know. I
wasn't ruled by emotion, but I put

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it there. And as I filled
in my own canvas, it started with

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the things that I knew about myself, creative and intelligent and an athlete and

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all these things that I felt very
comfortable with. But when it came to

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my heart, I paused, and
I remember it like it was yesterday,

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the sharpie in my hand, and
inside my head there was a voice that

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said, right, scare and another
voice that said, you're not allowed to

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be that. Don't do that.
And the other voice came back and said,

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I dare you to do it.
You're terrified, write it down.

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The other voice said no, pull
up your bootstraps and move forward. Do

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not be scared. And it was
like my hand was shaking as I overcame

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that internal battle and wrote scared right
over my heart and from there I allowed

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myself every emotion that I had been
denying for forty six years. Out came

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pain, Out came loneliness and brokenness, and vulnerability and fear. And it

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was only after that then the miracle
happened that like flowers suddenly sprouted out of

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the portrait too, and this growth, and it was the best way I

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can describe it is that I exhaled
for the first time in many, many

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years, and I hadn't even known
I was holding my breath, and everything

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that was tight became loose, and
it was so powerful. I wanted to

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share it with the world and started
testing in prototyping my kids, did it,

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friends, did it started to grow? And now there's over. You

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know, we're approaching six thousand of
these portraits, Sharon. That was breathtakingly

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beautiful, and what a great way
to open this conversation. I want to

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say two things if I can.
First, I think it's really important that

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our listeners hear what you said that
here you had what on the outside looks

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like should have been a perfect life, something that everybody aspires to have,

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and yet you were What was lacking
was fulfillment and meaning. And what we

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know in you as a scientist will
get this better than most is that there

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is an inverse relationship relationship between wealth
and well being in the world. So

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the countries that have higher wealth have
lower stand lower well being scores. So

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and then fulfillment comes with that.
So you are illustrating that writ large.

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And then the second thing is,
you know what a beautiful example you are

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of a fifty two year old woman
who has come into her own and in

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part thanks to a divorce. And
you and I spoke about that on the

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phone when we were getting acquainted for
this conversation. I'm fifty three and I

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wouldn't be doing the work that I'm
doing now if I was still married.

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There wouldn't have been a space for
me to create that, and wasn't anything

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my ex husband did. I put
myself in that box. But I'm so

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grateful that I got the chance to
come and play in the sandbox because this

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is where I'm supposed to be.
And it sounds like you're where you're supposed

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to be too. Yeah, And
I like that you called it the sandbox

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because I talked to people about that
in the workshops. Is it's this return

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to the playground. Yes, and
even you know, the playground is where

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we establish trust and relationships and we
don't ask people where they're from and what

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they do. We just arrived together
and we make things. That's right.

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You start playing and making things,
creating things together, that's right. That's

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right. So that's exactly, And
you and I immediately got that about each

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other. And I really appreciate that
you just right out of the gate shared

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that with our listeners and opened this
conversation in and authentic way, which is

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where I want to come to next. By the way, one of the

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things that really struck me about the
way that you write about what you're up

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to there is as you get into
this basic need, this basic human need

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for authenticity in a world where it
somehow gets sacrificed for survival, we say

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more about that for us. Yeah, and you know this is something that

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I absolutely so these portraits. They
are anonymous self portraits of our internal dialogues,

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the things that we're afraid to ourselves, find there to say to ourselves

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and to other people, find their
way out on canvas, and they teach

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me a lot. And we have
this basic human need to be exactly who

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we are, you know, to
be loved and accepted as who we are.

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And yet there comes a time,
and it happens very very early in

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life and often from a place of
love, that a demand is made to

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become something other than who you are
in order to fit in, you know,

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and fitting in isn't belonging, you
know, and in that setse sacrifice

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of authenticity that's like the first break
of our heart. That's, oh,

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you mean, I don't get to
be this thing? And you know,

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and even me as a parent,
we have our fears about how our kids

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are going to be in the world, what does it mean to be successful?

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And that definition is also often based
on their parents, and so we

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keep handing down these stories and expectations
that aren't really necessarily realistic or ideal for

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that child. And so we start
to become who we think we're supposed to

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be instead of who we truly are. And that very active fitting in blocks

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us from what we really want,
which is to belong. And there's no

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we don't trust anymore. You look
at business, you know, we demand

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authenticity and transparency and we want to
work for people that we trust. And

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yet if you run the surveys and
look at them. We don't believe our

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leaders are authentic. We certainly have
huge trust problems in business, and the

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cost of that is productivity, efficiency
and profit, you know, and well

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being. At the end of the
day, you know, we don't feel

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good. We're not engaged in our
lives and relationships. So true, I

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so true. And you know for
me, Sharon and you and I spoke

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about this is part of what I'm
up to in life is to be able

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to help awaken the possibility of what
an amazing life people really can have,

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because I do see a lot of
people walking through like completely dead Monday through

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Friday. The switches off, then
they turn on maybe Friday night at about

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five thirty. And part of what
I'm up to is to help them see

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the magic and wonder and the possibility
and how great their overall life can be,

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including work. Well, it's true
because in that it's like we agree

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to a life of fear, you
know, arguably in today's election day,

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and look at our election campaigns,
you know, their runoff of fear and

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disconnection, yeap. And when fear
rules the narrative, it's quashes our possibility

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because we're afraid to speak. I
mean, yes, shuts down communication.

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And even if you plug in at
five point thirty at night on a Friday

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with your partner, how honest and
trusting is the dialogue even there? Quite

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often some of the loneliest places in
the world are our marriages, and that's

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so true. So I want to
really presence this for our listeners because what

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you're getting at is just really so
important. And that's why one of the

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reasons I wanted to feature you on
the show, Sharon, is because I

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think you're up to some really important
work and addressing some really awful, terrible

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global problems. And so you've written
about this in a way that I can't

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really speak to, so I want
you to help me out here. But

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you talk about this this battle,
this internal battle between craving authenticity but feeling

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driven to be accepted into the tribe
to survive, like you spoke about before,

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and you say that that becomes our
external war as judgment, cynicism,

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and fear that leads to anxiety,
depression, and aggression. Did I get

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that right? Yeah? Pretty much. I mean this disconnect within so when

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from ourselves it doesn't feel good,
it feels really bad. And the portraits.

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What you see is the hearts.
They grow shadows, they get put

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in cages, they become thorny,
they get completely scribbled out, they get

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walls built around them. And this
starts happening in middle school. And so

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it's like if I was to draw
a parallel between like we crave connection,

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right, we design our lives around
digital connections. We go to coffee shops,

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we buy houses, we go on
vacation based on the fact that we

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can connect. And yet we've unplugged
for our own personal power source, you

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know, the heart, and it's
it's all walled in, and our system

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is sluggish and not running and it's
clogged, and yet we tolerate it.

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We tolerate what we wouldn't tolerate from, you know, like our phones.

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Oh my gosh, that sends us
over the edge. So the very connection

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that would define a meaningful life is
missing, and that doesn't feel good.

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The mouths get stitched shut, that's
super common. They're gagged, stitched shut,

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the eyes are closed, they're dripping
tears. In high school, it

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says I'm fine right over a mouth
that is stitched shut with a noose around

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its neck. I mean it's vivid, and it's redefining what is at risk.

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So when you don't feel good inside, you can't feel good outside.

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You're wearing this suit of armor everywhere
that's heavy. You're dragging yourself from place

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to place, trying to put on
this happy face. Susan David calls it.

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She wrote a book called The Emotional
Agility. She calls it the tyranny

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of positivity. And so we do
not allow our authentic voices to speak all

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of them, every emotion, and
in that disconnection, now we judge others

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that do we think they have what
we want, and of course we actually

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have it, everything we need.
We were born with it. We've just

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forgotten. And so like the outward
journey has to turn inwards. We're so

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focused on what we can see outside, and yet there's this infinite wonderland on

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the inside that will set you free. It's nothing on the outside that removes

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the cage. It's all within,
if that makes sense. So yeah,

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it does. And beautiful, beautiful
way for us to be able to presence,

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for you to be able to presence. Really kind of where this came

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from and the suffering that's happening in
the world that you've experienced, that you've

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seen in others. So that's the
first part of our conversation. Let's take

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a quick break, and then after
the conversation, let's get into what you're

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doing at the AIM Project, the
what and the how. I'm your host,

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Alice Cortez. We've were on the
air with Sharon De Mattia. She

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is the founder of the AIM Project
and also a connection and communication expert,

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human re engineer, and storyteller.
She's just come back from a trip to

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South Africa in service of her project
She Knows It Today from Nevada. We've

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been talking a bit about the problem
that she's trying to address. After the

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break, we're going to talk about
her project and how she aims to help

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solve some of those problems. Stay
with us, we'll be right back.

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Alise Cortes is a speaker and engagement
and development catalyst. She designs and delivers

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professional development, leadership and engagement workshops
and can bring her expertise to your organization.

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She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

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performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite Elise to speak to

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00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:45.759
your organization. Please visit her at
www dot Elisecortes dot com. She would

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welcome the opportunity to help get your
employees working on purpose. This is working

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on Purpose with Elise Cortes. To
reach our program today, send an email

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to a lease a l I se
at a lease Coortes dot com. Now

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back to working on Purpose. If
you're just joining us, My guest is

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Sharon Dematia. She's the founder of
the AIM Project and also a connection and

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communication expert, human re engineer,
and storyteller. I'm your host, Elise

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Cortes. So, Sharon, before
the break, we were talking a bit

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about some of the instances, some
of the things that have elicited your your

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drive, your purpose to create the
AIM Project. And I really want to

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help our listeners understand some of the
statistics that you've been able to surface around

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the issues that you're trying to address. Will you share some of that data

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with us? Sure? So,
when we talked about this disconnection from ourselves,

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you know this is in the internal
war, are you know, the

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internal battle becoming the external war?
This is really evidenced in the fact that

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depression has become the number one cause
of global disability. You know shocking.

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You are better off smoking fifteen cigarettes
a day than being lonely. And loneliness

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can be perceived as either real or
you know, I'm alone together kind of

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thing, or perceived loneliness or social
isolation is the scientific term for it.

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But it's an epidemic. SIGNA just
published a study on the epidemic of loneliness

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and that one and only like one
in four people they don't they don't have

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any confidence, they have no one
to talk to, this feeling of being

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alone. Suicide rates have increased by
thirty percent since nineteen ninety nine, and

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shockingly, one of the biggest drivers
is when you look at our teenagers and

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if you just look at high schoolers, so ninth through twelfth grade, if

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it's a total of thirty eight percent, is the total that in the next

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twelve months will seriously consider suicide,
they will make a plan or an attempt.

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So the breakdown goes like seventeen thirteen
and eight percent or an attempt,

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so they'll consider they'll make a concrete
plan or an attempt to end their lives.

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And that doesn't include the cutting and
all the other different negative expressions that

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they experience. And if you translate
that into numbers. Just in California and

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Nevada alone, it's seven hundred and
ninety seven thousand, five hundred and forty

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high school students will feel that disconnected
that they will want to consider ending their

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lives in the next year. And
so part of my thought is if this

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was a virus and a physical virus
in our system and we could see it,

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I mean, look what we do
for the bird flu or mosquitoes.

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Right, We're tracking it all and
we've got our top scientists on it,

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and we're demanding immunizations for things for
cough and such, and yet what are

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we doing. You know, this
is such a scary thing that we push

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it away. I don't know how
to deal with this. I don't want

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to talk about it. This is
emotions, and it's killing us. It's

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killing our kids. The very people
that are responsible for creating our future are

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sick. And if they don't die
from it in high school, it's going

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to affect the rest of their lives, every relationship they have, whether it

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be personal or professional. And we
must act now. We must can't push

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it away anymore. I think that
the way that you have explicated the problem

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is is unfortunately enormous. And I'm
very keenly aware of some of these numbers

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myself, which is part of the
reason that I'm out to help people find

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meaning and purpose and inspiration in their
lives because it helps counterbalance that whole empty

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vacuum of lack of connection, et
cetera. And so the work you're doing

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is all the more hugely important,
Sharon. So let's talk a little bit

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about just quick about your background,
because I want that to be a basis

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of what when we talk about your
project, what you're doing there. So

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looking at you, you are a
beautiful woman. You are very fit,

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You scream vitality, You take good
care of yourself. You clearly are in

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touch with your emotions. You have
this great scientific background, and now we're

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getting into the artists space, and
so will you share just a bit about

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your scientific background and how you made
the switch to become both scientist and artist.

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Sure. So, first off,
my dad is a physicist, and

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you know, I was raised in
logic. You know, everything was very

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logical. And then when I went
to school, I have a master's in

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kinesiology and applied physiology, and I
did I worked in an integrated vascular biology

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lab where we did human subjects research. We did infusion studies in the brachial

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artery infusing different basoactive agents and measured
nitric oxide, bioavailability, vasodilation, aging,

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hormone replacement therapy gender. Basically,
yeah, like how do our arteries

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work? And I spun the blood
down rand the essays did the research for

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the grants that we needed to run
the fund of the projects. So basically,

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and that the life of logic,
prediction and measurement and what I've learned

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and when the scientists came in,
I mean, the artists came in at

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that place where all of that failed
me, where I learned that everything that

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mattered most in the world really was
ill logical, difficult to predict, and

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merely impossible to measure. How do
you measure love? It's infinite? You

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know, we don't even like it. You know, we like to think

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about an infinite universe, but it's
hard to think about infinite love. And

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it is you know, it is, it is that, and it's that

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which matters. Sharon. That's so
beautiful. So to me, the way

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you encapsulated that is you're describing what
I would like to call a full human

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being somebody who is able to tap
into the logic, the rationale, the

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scientific as well as the spirit and
the emotion and still live in the question

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mark that says, I don't have
to have the answers for everything right.

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The freedom for me came in being
wrong. Oh my gosh, you mean

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I get to be wrong. Yes, there is so much freedom in not

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knowing, embracing the mystery. We
love it in our movies and books,

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but when it comes to our lives, it's like we want to read the

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last page. We want to have
the whole story. It's going to end

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before we've even embark on it.
And how boring is that? And that

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is tragic because it's what we've got. Yes, it is tragic. Yes,

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we talk about it differently, not
as fear, but as embracing the

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mystery, living on the edge of
it. You know, like to look

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at that at other people, but
why not ourselves on the other side of

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fear. You've got to walk through
it, not away from it. I

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totally get that. So now now
we've we've surfaced a bit about your background,

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and the reason I wanted to do
that in part, Sharon, is

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because obviously I know you better than
my listeners do. So far, most

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of my listeners and I can see
you, and I want to make sure

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that they understand that we're not just
talking about some fluffy topic here. This

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is really important stuff, and you, as a scientist, are bringing to

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bear that background as well as everything
else you've learned from the emotional, spiritual

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place, and I think that's just
an artistic space. I think it's really

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important that our listeners understand that you're
coming at this from what I've considered to

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be a pretty complete package. So
that's the reason I wanted to have that

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conversation. Yes, for sure,
I think that that's a big part of

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my value is that I've lived both
sides of a lot of different coins,

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and that I bring that all into
what I do now. I've lived a

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lot of worlds, and I'm really
grateful that I have because I can stand

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in front of a lot of different
groups of people and connect where they are.

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I know just how they feel,
and you can speak their language.

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And so now when I look at
the AIM project and mind, you have

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a ton to learn about that,
and I'm learning as we talk in this

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conversation. But it seems to me
and you correct me where I'm wrong that

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the AIM Project is part movement,
part thought leadership, part real world workshops.

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So what's the purpose of the AIM
Project and how do you like to

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talk about it? Yeah, that
took a while because it was so big.

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How do I fit it into a
sentence? And especially what I do?

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So people always want to know where
you're from and what do you do?

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And it was easy to say I
was a scientist, right, but

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now what I realize what I do
is I give people permission and a space

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to be themselves. And the purpose
of the AIM Project is great to break

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down walls that we build within ourselves
between each other and open these dialogues on

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the other side of our fear.
And you know, the global vision is

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to you know, turn the whole
world into this gallery of our shared humanity

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where we are accessing the power within
our diversity, instead of letting fear push

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us away, come together and in
that space, a fearless, courageous space,

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we will create solutions for that are
you know, for this expanding world

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that is arguably really chaotic and confusing
right now? Agreed into agree, I

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certainly agree it's and confusing, and
we're both up to work to try to

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address that. And so to that
end, we've been waiting and waiting.

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I've been waiting and waiting to hear
about your stint in South Africa. You

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and I spoke before you went to
South Africa for the project, So tell

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us about how this visit to South
Africa happened, how it came about,

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and what happened while you were there. Tell us. I went with an

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organization called Amplify Africa, which was
a group in the US that was organized

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by an expat so a woman that
grew up in South Africa that now owned

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a business in Reno, and her
vision was to kind of create this cross

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cultural networking community. And so we
worked with We did a women's summit in

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Stellan Bosh and we worked with,
Oh my gosh, the most incredible people

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from people. Women flew in from
Zimbabwe and we had those from Uganda and

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a transgender entrepreneur from Bella, Bella
township that you know, it was incredible,

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all the people that came together.
We worked at different foundations within Cape

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town, a primary school within a
township in the Northwest Territory, and we

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just they blew my mind. I
had just my mind absolutely blown because you

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know, they are really collaborative.
They have to find solutions. So they're

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only twenty four years post apartheid,
so it's a very new dynamic and in

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order really to survive, they have
to come together, especially women and then

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women of color. They have to
come together and in a way that they

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come up with creative approaches to business
and everything there is about social impact,

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everything is about empowering education so they
can rise above this story that they've been

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living. And they dance, they
sing, they do all the things that

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we It's like we've forgotten how to
do that. You know, we stand

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against walls at our dances, and
these guys are out there dancing and talking

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and hugg and it's not I just
it flips on its end, this idea

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of who's the teacher and who's the
student. You know, they would sit

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there and think that we had everything. We have all these resources, we

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have wealth and education and all of
these things. Yet we are disconnected.

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We've lost community, we've stripped ourselves
of social bonding. We don't dance and

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we don't sing so much, you
know anymore, we're afraid to. So

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they almost have what we want,
and we have what they want, you

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know, and so opening up and
learning from each other, you know,

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sharing these resources is just part of
the vision. They're so inspiring. You

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know. One little girl stood up
in front and told her story and she

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said, I have wings and I
fly. Oh you do, and I

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can be whatever I want and and
she can. She can when you believe

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that you can. And then we
hear stories about that all the time.

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It's absolutely incredible and inspiring. There
was one boy at the school that stood

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up and looked at me and the
women I was with from the US,

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and said, do you like to
be with black people? And it was

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like, this is a dream come
true. It's a dream. I'm so

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inspired by and grateful for the opportunity
to be with everybody in a place beyond

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the judgment that I used to have
because I used to have it. I

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mean I lived it too. I
didn't know. And yeah, they are

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are teachers. They teach me all
the time, and I'm so grateful for

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00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:48.799
that. How beautiful, How absolutely
beautiful? And so what was the format?

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Was it a workshop, was it
a conference? Was it a conversation?

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It was all of those Like at
the Women's Summit, we had speakers

409
00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:04.000
we had. It was two and
a half days really, so different speakers

410
00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:09.799
from both South Africa and the US
spoke on topics. I talked about what

411
00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:17.799
I do, and then and just
storytelling. That's how we connect right here,

412
00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:22.759
this is that's how we connected to
make sense of our world. So

413
00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:30.799
a lot of different entrepreneurs that have
been successful and pushed past their fear.

414
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:37.519
The theme was pushing your boundaries on
the other side of fear. So and

415
00:32:37.559 --> 00:32:43.640
then the next day we did we
did we did portraits and then talked about

416
00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:47.200
them. And that's what happened in
we went to a place called Kids Positive

417
00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:54.240
where the next day where women that
are all HIV positive they create you can

418
00:32:54.279 --> 00:33:00.839
see some of the biedwork here.
They create beaded artwork, including things you

419
00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:04.680
can use like lanyards for a meeting, their meetings and such. They're beautiful

420
00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:07.920
and they do it and it raises
money for their healthcare and to support their

421
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:13.960
families. And then we went to
the Amy Foundation the same thing. It's

422
00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:20.920
teaching women from these townships that don't
have much how to sew and be resourceful

423
00:33:20.920 --> 00:33:24.960
and giving them the tools that they
need to grow and they too. You

424
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:30.640
know, again, we just sat
and we told stories and we used art

425
00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:35.759
as that medium of expressing ourselves and
feeling good about the places that we are

426
00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:44.440
and setting some goals for where we're
going. The school was amazing, amazing,

427
00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:51.160
a classroom of sixty kids, one
teacher, and that was probably the

428
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:57.160
most inspirational. The energy in that
room was amazing. They have their artwork.

429
00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:00.160
I've also done it in Kenyatt has
messages like mouth to the speechless,

430
00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:07.160
I will live a life without regret. Yeah, I want to give back

431
00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:09.639
all that matters. And a human
beings heart is a type of seeds that

432
00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:15.880
are planted. Their hearts aren't in
cages or warning they don't have shoes on

433
00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:19.400
their feet, and many of them
have lost their parents, but they come

434
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:23.960
together in a different way that is
absolutely gorgeous. It's gorgeous. Oh,

435
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:28.280
Sharon. On that note, let's
grab a quick break, our last break

436
00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:30.119
here, and then I want to
get I want to ask you one another

437
00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:32.840
question about your experience there. So
hold on, hold your thought and your

438
00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:37.639
heart for just a moment. I'm
your I'm your host, Alis Cortez on

439
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:39.719
the air with Sharon Dematia, who
is the founder of the AIM Project and

440
00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:45.800
she's also a communication excuse me,
a connection and communication expert, human re

441
00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:50.159
engineer and storytellers. She's just come
back from South Africa in service of her

442
00:34:50.199 --> 00:34:52.280
project. She joined us today from
Reno, Nevada. After the break,

443
00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:55.480
we're going to get more into where
this project is going. How maybe you

444
00:34:55.480 --> 00:35:08.719
can help stay with us. We'll
be right back. Elise Cortes is a

445
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:15.639
speaker and engagement and development catalyst.
She designs and delivers professional development, leadership

446
00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:20.360
and engagement workshops and can bring her
expertise to your organization. She will help

447
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:25.320
ignite meaningful development within your workforce that
will increase employee engagement, performance and retention.

448
00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:30.280
To learn more or to invite Elise
to speak to your organization, please

449
00:35:30.360 --> 00:35:36.039
visit her at www dot Elisecortes dot
com. She would welcome the opportunity to

450
00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:46.320
help get your employees working on purpose. This is working on Purpose with Elise

451
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:52.960
Cortes. To reach our program today, send an email to a lease Alise

452
00:35:52.360 --> 00:36:00.599
at Alisecortes dot com. Now back
to working on Purpose. If you're just

453
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:02.400
tuning in. My guest is Sharon
de Mattia. She's the founder of the

454
00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:07.199
AIM Project and also a connection and
communication expert, human re engineer and storyteller.

455
00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:12.079
I'm your host, Alice Cortes,
So Sharon there, I'm sure so

456
00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:15.400
much more you could tell us about
that trip in South Africa, and I'm

457
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:19.920
quite certain you're going to be processing
that experience for some time, but I'm

458
00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:24.679
really interested to hear what did you
really take away from that experience? Well,

459
00:36:24.760 --> 00:36:32.159
it really confirmed a dream beyond what
I could imagine. You know,

460
00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:38.039
what I've learned is that whatever it
is that we believe about ourselves will determine

461
00:36:38.079 --> 00:36:43.559
how we experience our lives. So
it's really important to know what we believe.

462
00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:49.320
And through this project, you know, I say, there's this shared

463
00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:55.559
humanity, this story that is behind
our skin, that that you know,

464
00:36:55.599 --> 00:36:59.800
we are all connected, we are
all the same. We just want to

465
00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:05.079
be love and belong as exactly who
we are, to be able to become

466
00:37:05.239 --> 00:37:09.679
what we imagine or believe or dream
about, or at least work towards it.

467
00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:19.920
But when we recognize that shared space, and in these portraits, see

468
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:25.320
you just see all the emotions on
the display that make us human, this

469
00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:30.559
integrated human like we talked about,
there is nothing we can't do when the

470
00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:36.920
power held within our diversity and what
we can accomplish from a place of love

471
00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:43.679
and compassion rather than allowing fear to
silence our voice and our possibility is beyond

472
00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:47.239
measure or anything that we can imagine. You know, Like when I say

473
00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:52.239
my mind was blown, my mind
is blown. And I'm so encouraged by

474
00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:57.079
what I saw and what I continue
to see here in the United States.

475
00:37:57.239 --> 00:38:00.119
These kids that I work with here, they want to contribute. They want

476
00:38:00.199 --> 00:38:07.159
to be more than the story that
we're telling. I so appreciate what you're

477
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:08.440
saying, and I do want to
say something. And this is just my

478
00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:12.000
perspective. You sot of you may
not agree with it, but when you

479
00:38:12.039 --> 00:38:15.000
talk about coming into a space and
really navigating it from love and compassion,

480
00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:19.719
I think that generally is more of
a position that more women than men would

481
00:38:19.719 --> 00:38:23.079
take. And I think that's one
of the reasons that women make great leaders

482
00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:28.079
is we bring something to the party
that and men bring great things to the

483
00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:30.159
party to This is not to say
that they don't, we just do it

484
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:32.840
differently. I couldn't help noticing when
I went to go cast my ballot today

485
00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:37.639
at the voting polls that the vast
majority of people running for office today are

486
00:38:37.639 --> 00:38:39.679
women. In my state down here
in Dallas, Texas. I was amazed

487
00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:45.480
by that. So I just really
want to applaud that you're putting out there

488
00:38:45.519 --> 00:38:50.920
into the universe, this whole place
of love and appreciation and seeing what's possible

489
00:38:50.920 --> 00:38:53.719
in people. I am too,
and I think it's really important to help

490
00:38:53.800 --> 00:38:58.599
heal some of the suffering in the
world today. Well, thank you,

491
00:38:58.679 --> 00:39:02.360
Lese. I do agree with you. And one of the things that I've

492
00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:06.880
been told, and one of my
fears, was actually to say the word

493
00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:09.920
love. Yes, like, oh
my gosh, what will people think if

494
00:39:09.960 --> 00:39:13.920
I say love and compassion, oh
my gosh, empathy. They're going to

495
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:20.960
think I'm so emotional and that we
have actually used the emotion as a way

496
00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:27.559
to silence people that want this stripped
down logical world. And yet it's not

497
00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:30.840
serving us. Look at the statistics. It does not serve us. Creativity

498
00:39:30.920 --> 00:39:38.519
and innovation come from the soul and
it's a little messy sometimes, but we

499
00:39:38.559 --> 00:39:43.079
don't have to be afraid of it. You can be confused, you can

500
00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:46.480
have pain, you can have all
those things and love them because that's what

501
00:39:46.519 --> 00:39:52.760
makes us human. That's that's the
experience, you know. Well, And

502
00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:58.760
to your point, I have a
friend who is very much about authenticity,

503
00:39:58.840 --> 00:40:02.000
Kimberly Davis, who wrote Leadership,
and she talks about how, you know,

504
00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:05.639
you do put yourself out there in
the world when you are authentic,

505
00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:08.800
and it does take bravery of sorts
to do that. And I agree with

506
00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:13.159
that and it's so worth it.
It's so worth it, but it does

507
00:40:13.239 --> 00:40:16.480
take something from us. Brene Brown
says, I mean my first portrait when

508
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:20.800
I displayed it, because I displayed
it and I had a party and I

509
00:40:20.840 --> 00:40:23.280
had everyone come look at my fear, and I had a quote from Brene

510
00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:27.800
Brown that said, you know,
and this is six years ago, and

511
00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:35.119
it said, owning your story is
the bravest thing that you could ever do.

512
00:40:37.480 --> 00:40:40.639
And again, you know, you
have to like it's courageous. That

513
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:46.559
is courage is defined by risk,
uncertainty, and vulnerability. You got to

514
00:40:46.599 --> 00:40:50.320
be comfortable with not knowing what's going
to happen, and you have to take

515
00:40:50.360 --> 00:40:54.079
that risk because the reward is your
freedom. The reward for the risk of

516
00:40:54.199 --> 00:40:59.079
letting yourself be seen is freedom.
And that's what all want. We fight

517
00:40:59.159 --> 00:41:02.079
for it, yes, on both
sides of the aisle too, by the

518
00:41:02.079 --> 00:41:07.360
way, both for it and against
it. Well, I want to talk

519
00:41:07.400 --> 00:41:10.400
about where this bus is going?
Right. So you've got some really amazing

520
00:41:10.440 --> 00:41:14.440
strong wind under your sales here already
in the AIM Project, and I know

521
00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:17.800
you care deeply you're in this.
I got that, You've got curiosity,

522
00:41:17.800 --> 00:41:22.119
you're all about really in there,
and the love is totally there. I

523
00:41:22.119 --> 00:41:25.360
can totally see that. I love
that you're all about expanding the field of

524
00:41:25.400 --> 00:41:30.440
human possibility and freedom. So where
do you want to see the AIM Project

525
00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:34.079
go? Well? Okay, So
what I love about it is it doesn't

526
00:41:34.119 --> 00:41:37.599
exist except for the energy and the
participation of being nearly six thousand people now

527
00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:44.079
that have created and shared their stories
in a really wrong way. It's a

528
00:41:44.079 --> 00:41:47.679
lot of energy and I've had a
lot of support, but most of it

529
00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:51.599
has been self funded. You know. I went and I pretty much sold

530
00:41:51.719 --> 00:41:54.119
everything because with each hug it was
like, oh, I can't get this

531
00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:59.320
up, and I keep doing it. So but it's time for us as

532
00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:04.519
communities to step forward. I have
a whole curriculum that I bring into schools.

533
00:42:04.519 --> 00:42:09.559
I just worked with the most incredible
marching band in Phoenix, Arizona,

534
00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:15.320
and they chose for their show theme. Their competition theme was called behind the

535
00:42:15.360 --> 00:42:21.840
mirror and it was all about depression
and it was incredible to work with these

536
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:25.199
kids for three hours to read they
wrote what you know? I asked them

537
00:42:25.239 --> 00:42:31.119
to notice and wonder and what do
you want people to know? And they

538
00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:37.000
talk about like revealing themselves like I've
never said this to people before. I'm

539
00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:38.960
confused. I want you to know. I want help, you know,

540
00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:43.679
and they're begging for it and their
portraits. So it's really important that we

541
00:42:43.719 --> 00:42:47.320
support these kids, let them know
they're not alone, let them keep them

542
00:42:47.320 --> 00:42:52.280
connected to themselves, because that is
the best way to navigate the chaos is

543
00:42:52.400 --> 00:43:00.599
create this self aware, integrated whole
person that despite all the all the pulling

544
00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:04.280
in the different directions, has a
place, a centered place, a compass,

545
00:43:04.320 --> 00:43:07.639
an internal compass with which to navigate
it. So that curriculum is really

546
00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:14.320
important, and so we have to
move energy in that way, bringing me

547
00:43:14.480 --> 00:43:19.800
to organizations and schools. That's great
funding them. I have a Patreon,

548
00:43:20.079 --> 00:43:23.239
a site. We're people for as
little as a dollar a day, five

549
00:43:23.280 --> 00:43:28.159
dollars a dollar a month, I'm
sorry, five dollars a month, A

550
00:43:28.199 --> 00:43:34.800
cup of coffee a month by some
people. Yeah, this is important to

551
00:43:34.840 --> 00:43:37.920
me. I care about everyone's at
risk. Six and a half million high

552
00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:44.400
school students will consider make a plan
or an attempt to kill themselves this year.

553
00:43:44.440 --> 00:43:47.920
Do you have five dollars to put
towards this solution that I'm creating,

554
00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:53.199
this human net that holds itself,
Because if you have to go with an

555
00:43:53.239 --> 00:43:58.159
ad based model or I've got to
look to corporate funding, they're shaping the

556
00:43:58.199 --> 00:44:00.840
project, and I believe that we
should shape the project. I want to

557
00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:07.440
listen to and interact with the people
that the project is. I'm just the

558
00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:12.880
conduit. I'm the spokesperson. So
if you go to my Patreon site,

559
00:44:12.920 --> 00:44:19.000
which is patreon dot com the AIM
Project, you can interact with me there,

560
00:44:19.079 --> 00:44:23.920
send me messages, subscribe. It's
a subscription based model. Please join

561
00:44:24.039 --> 00:44:27.760
me. You can keep living your
life, you can keep doing what you

562
00:44:27.840 --> 00:44:31.760
do, but throw a little energy
this way because it will expand exponentially.

563
00:44:32.920 --> 00:44:37.440
Beautiful. That is so well said
and articulated, Sharon gorgeous. So we're

564
00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:42.440
getting very close to being out of
time here. It's very clear to me

565
00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:45.599
that you are living and working from
purpose. And of course, you know

566
00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:47.800
what I'm trying to do is help
others awaken to that possibility. For themselves

567
00:44:47.800 --> 00:44:52.400
as well. So help our understand, help our listeners understand what is that

568
00:44:52.480 --> 00:44:54.360
experience? Like, what does it
feel like? What's it like to live

569
00:44:54.400 --> 00:45:00.079
and work on purpose? You Know, what I've learned is that everything that

570
00:45:00.119 --> 00:45:04.840
we've ever imagined in our lives lies
on the other side of our fear.

571
00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:09.000
We just have to tell a different
story about it, and continually over.

572
00:45:09.079 --> 00:45:15.199
I would never go back over and
over again. You know, as little

573
00:45:15.239 --> 00:45:17.159
as seven years ago, I never
could imagine this dream that I'm living.

574
00:45:17.199 --> 00:45:20.960
I'm pinching myself, you know,
like, oh my gosh, are you

575
00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:23.599
kidding? Like this exists? And
it does, and it's right next to

576
00:45:23.639 --> 00:45:30.000
you. Like, it's not parallel, it's not this, it's not one

577
00:45:30.119 --> 00:45:34.400
leads to this, to this.
You just have to look that far.

578
00:45:34.519 --> 00:45:37.559
You just have to open the door. Just next to the one that you

579
00:45:37.639 --> 00:45:39.960
keep going through. There's this other
door, and then there's six mores and

580
00:45:40.039 --> 00:45:45.719
so there's kind of like this parallel
existence that is accessible to all if you're

581
00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:52.639
willing to just be courageous and walk
through your fear, not to ignore it,

582
00:45:52.719 --> 00:45:57.719
but through it. And it is
the most incredible experience to feel that

583
00:45:57.760 --> 00:46:01.840
what you do has some sort of
impact on somebody thinking just a little bit

584
00:46:01.880 --> 00:46:07.519
differently about themselves in a way that
it leads them to a better future possibility.

585
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:14.440
There is nothing better in the world, nothing, you know. For

586
00:46:14.559 --> 00:46:15.960
me, it gives me, and
I think you're talking about this, it

587
00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:20.480
gives me courage to do things that
I would just never have done before.

588
00:46:20.599 --> 00:46:25.679
By living and working in purpose,
the energy is totally different. I'm amazed

589
00:46:25.719 --> 00:46:30.119
by how long and hard I can
work and what I go after. And

590
00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:35.119
then there's also this strange confidence that
comes with that. It's just that I

591
00:46:35.199 --> 00:46:37.800
know I'm being governed from a place
of purpose, and I trust that,

592
00:46:38.039 --> 00:46:43.840
and it's incredibly centering. Yeah,
you know, there's this thing about trust

593
00:46:43.880 --> 00:46:45.760
and faith. We talk about it
and yet we don't practice it, and

594
00:46:46.039 --> 00:46:50.599
we are parts of nature, we
are not separate from it. And a

595
00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:54.000
tree just courageously grows wherever it's seed
lands. You know, we have the

596
00:46:54.039 --> 00:47:00.719
greatest of freedom and choice, and
we can be courageous in that expression of

597
00:47:00.800 --> 00:47:06.559
everything that we are. You know, we just have to grow and spread

598
00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:13.639
our wings, fly like metamorphosis,
you know, the kind of cliche caterpillar

599
00:47:13.679 --> 00:47:15.599
to the butterfly doesn't know it's going
to fly the first time. It just

600
00:47:15.639 --> 00:47:21.039
spreads its wings and does it.
And that's what we're meant to do if

601
00:47:21.079 --> 00:47:23.239
we can get out of our own
way. Yes, ma'am, I agree

602
00:47:23.239 --> 00:47:27.719
with that, and here we are. I'd like to give my guests the

603
00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:30.519
last word, if you will,
sharreon. You've said so many wonderful things,

604
00:47:30.800 --> 00:47:32.199
but say, in about thirty seconds, what would you like to leave

605
00:47:32.199 --> 00:47:37.079
our listeners with. I am really
grateful for this moment that I've spent here

606
00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:40.519
with you, Elise, for the
support that I've had, and the connections

607
00:47:42.039 --> 00:47:47.519
and the people that have contributed to
what I've done. And I encourage you

608
00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:52.079
to become a part of something bigger
than yourself because it will lead you to

609
00:47:52.159 --> 00:47:57.159
learn you never could have imagined you
could go. It's incredible. Thank you

610
00:47:57.199 --> 00:48:01.079
for all your support. Thank you
for sharing your beautiful heart, soul and

611
00:48:01.159 --> 00:48:04.800
mind with us today and sharing your
energy, what you're up to with the

612
00:48:04.800 --> 00:48:07.000
AIM Project, letting us know how
we can help and get involved. Sharon,

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thank you for being a guest.
Thank you Elise for having me.

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I really appreciate it. If you
want to learn more about Sharon Amattia or

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00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:21.239
the AIM Project, visit the website
it's the Aimproject dot Net Again the Aimproject

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dot Net. Next week, we'll
be on the air with Phil Sotuk of

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00:48:23.119 --> 00:48:28.360
DPMC North America to learn why companies
and leaders need to pay attention to purpose

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and how some are unleashing it to
produce increased commitment and motivation within the organization

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and to improve financial results. See
you there. Remember that works at least

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a third of our life, So
let's work on purpose. Well you hope

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you've enjoyed this week's program. Be
sure to tune in to Working on Purpose

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00:48:45.840 --> 00:48:51.239
featuring your host Alis Cortes, each
week on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.

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This week, find your life's purpose
at work U