I always knew I would work with the Four Seasons Hotels.
My prior career was in hospitality and travel, so I knew the brand well. I was inspired by the founder’s story and the company’s history, both paralleling my personal and professional life. When I traveled – and I traveled a lot – I’d stay at a Four Seasons. It was the luxury, elegance and beauty that kept me a long-time returning customer – but also this inner knowing that there was more there…I bought bedsheets and pillowcases from the hotel’s website. I furnished my Parisian apartment with Four Seasons beds, pillows and duvets. I celebrated birthdays and special occasions at the Four Seasons George V. I became friends with the staff at the hotels I frequented – not forcing any of it. It just happened. I was all in. It looked crazy on the outside and people would ask, “What is it with you and the Four Seasons?” But soon friends were asking me to help choose among Four Seasons properties for an upcoming stay: I was already being associated with the brand. This was evidence to me.
I knew I was on the right path and I started noticing the many synchronicities and “chance” encounters at Four Seasons hotels. I trusted this knowing. I trusted myself. I stayed open, believing the details would come – the how, the when and the where. Not on my timeline, but one in alignment with my soul and my bigger purpose. In the meantime, I just kept putting myself in the FS environment and engulfing myself in its ambiance.
I started manifesting being a Four Seasons Wellness Ambassador a couple of years ago. I meditated and visualized myself already there, already doing it. I felt the excitement and the energy of already being the one bringing holistic wellness to one of the most prestigious luxury hotel brands in the world. But I didn’t push. I didn’t effort. I didn’t go hard after making it happen. It wasn’t a thing of the will, determination or mindset alone.
Yes, action and beliefs matter. But if the soul isn’t leading the way, the results often don’t follow. In order for miracles to happen and desires to manifest, we need to come from the place which already knows full abundance; remembering each of us is already sacred, already whole, already complete and full of what we desire to call in. It’s already there and our job is to get out of our own way, recognize the truth of who we are, and lead from within. Manifesting for me, is about identity work – its about the “being” and not the “doing.”
About a year later, I made a formal commitment to myself and to living a soul-led life – leading myself from within in all I do and who I am being. I was living in the Caribbean at the time, surrounded by nature and in one of the places on Earth where I feel deeply connected to my heart and in love with life. I focused on loving the person I was becoming – all parts of her. I was overflowing with gratitude, remembering who I really was more often than than forgetting it. What helped me stay so centered and aligned was my spiritual self-care practice. I had been relying on it in my decade-long trauma-healing and midlife-awakening journey and started teaching it to others during the pandemic. I called it “SoulCare.” The more I practiced, the clearer the details of my vision became. This was my mission, I soon realized, to bring spirituality to luxury hospitality – merging my two passions and fields of expertise.
Spring 2022, I visited my daughter, and stayed at the Four Seasons New York Downtown. When I immigrated to America from Poland at the age of 13, New York City broke my heart with its harsh and brutal reception. But the city made me the person I am today and became home. I loved living and working there for nealy two decades, including during 9/11. The fact that the hotel sat three blocks from Ground Zero made it sacred to me and I felt deeply connected to the energy of the property. I caught glimpses of the bigger picture, things coming full circle, and felt a sense of purpose there. It felt like magic. When I met the management team at the hotel and felt an instant connection. At the end of my stay, I planted a seed.
“What do you think of bringing SoulCare to luxury hospitality?”
“That’s a great idea!” they responded.
I left delighted and fully ready to get started.
Over the next few months, I witnessed myself thinking nothing was happening, focusing on the lack and labeling any progress “slow”. I watched myself wanting to control, take charge and to force… and had to continually remind myself that it was all on divine timing, not mine. Commitment to living soul-led means trust and patience. I was frustrated and uncomfortable but knew that my only job was to stay connected with my soul and to keep showing up already full, already sacred, grateful for the gift that my life was. I stumbled my way through it remembering that while I am already sacred, I am also fully human. My job was to welcome it all with grace and love myself through it. And to wait.
That fall, back in the Big Apple, I asked for a meeting. I went in certain that this dream and vision were already mine. I didn’t bring my resume or credentials. I meditated and trusted that my soul would lead me, that who I was enough – I just needed to be fully connected to my own essence and spirit. I was qualified. I had done my research. I could present, market and package my product and hard-sell pitch it. But I was asking my ego to step aside and let the soul lead in this important meeting too. Because this is my commitment in life.
I opened my heart wide and told my story. I spoke of my struggles as a businesswoman, living in a busy city, the burnout and depression I experienced and the anxiety, stress, pressure and loneliness of being a successful leader. I shared how SoulCare reminds me of who I am at my core which allows me to come as a grounded, centered leader filled with inner peace – the sense of calm for others amidst the constant storm and chaos of living and working in fast-paced environments.
I didn’t leave there with “Let’s see” or “Let’s keep in touch”. I left there with a “YES” because I embodied my purpose as a result of leading myself from within.
Manifesting SoulCare Sessions at the Four Seasons New York Downtown was a major test for me. Could I walk the talk? Could I stay grounded and rooted in my true identity and let the soul lead me? Could I live out what I’m teaching others, even when the pull towards the old ways of operating and defining success was so strong?
I could, and I did.
If you are looking to manifest the wildest of your dreams, this is your work too. It is your commitment and discipline in coming back to who you are – a soul having a human experience – because this identity truly does reveal your limitlessness and boundlessness, which makes anything possible. And then manifesting becomes about sitting back and receiving that which was always meant for you.
So, lead from within, beautiful one.
And watch the magic unfold.