Interview: ROCKRGRL Carla De Santis Black's new MEOW

One of my favorite events during my time at SXSW 2012 was the WIMPS (Women in Professional Music Society) and MEOW (Musicians for Equal Opportunities for Women) High Tea Ladies Luncheon. One hundred and twenty women in music assembled for the tea — a spin-off of a monthly WIMPS gathering in Austin and a collaborative effort with MEOW founder Carla De Santis Black — and all of us got a chance on the mic to briefly introduce ourselves and work. The result was a pretty mind-blowing and motivating demonstration of musical accomplishment. The event also gave me a chance to catch up on the work of De Santis Black who I'd lost track of in 2005 when she published the final issue of the pioneering magazine for women, ROCKRGRL. Now relocated to Austin, she was once again leading and building the music community under the auspices of MEOW, with a mission to "to level the playing field for women in music through networking, education, outreach and advocacy." De Santis Black graciously answered my questions about her work.

Q: You published the last issue of ROCKRGRL in 2005 and founded MEOW in 2011.  Did you take some downtime or did you always know you’d start something new? Can you discuss how different (or similar) it was starting ROCKRGRL compared to MEOW?  

CDB: Well, when I started ROCKRGRL it was 1995 and the Internet was just starting to catch on. Now, because of the Internet, print is struggling but nobody really knows how to monetize content on the Internet yet so it's still like the wild, Wild West out there. 

When I stopped doing ROCKRGRL Magazine at the end of 2005 I was completely burned out. I could see the writing on the wall as far as drop in subscription numbers went, but the conferences were still well attended - although it was also a challenge to find sponsorship money to sustain that as well. I didn't really have a plan when I folded the magazine other than I wanted to do something new. I just wasn't sure what that was. Within a year I realized that I was ready to move on and leave Seattle. I got my condo ready to sell and then the economy hit the skids and selling was not a possibility. It took until the end of 2010 to finally sell it. I wasn't exactly sure how to continue the mission I had in ROCKRGRL — to create a strong community of like-minded women in music to GROW the number of successful women — at the top. I had come up with the name MEOW (Musicians for Equal Opportunities for Women) a few years earlier but not sure what to do with it. When I finally moved to Austin at the end of 2010, I took a year to get my bearings and meet people to see if there was a need in the local community where I could be useful. 

The web site — MEOWgazine (www.meowonline.org) — was a very recent decision I made at the end of last year. I want that to be a hub for female musicians to learn about the business, opportunities and ways they can succeed in an industry that is, quite frankly, still a boy's club. It's updated every day and is very much in the style of ROCKRGRL Magazine — which I hope is smart but also entertaining. 

Q: You’ve pioneered so much for women in music.   Who were/are your role models for both playing music and leading change in the industry?  Was activism a natural choice for you?

CDB: Great question. I was really raised to believe you need to be the change you want to see in the world. The early '80s was the time frame when I was playing music and the Go-Go's were so influential to me. I wanted to hear songs in my own voice that I could relate to. At that time there were also so many other women coming up - Pat Benatar, The Pretenders, Heart, the B 52's, Cyndi Lauper - so many cool women playing so many different styles of music. That age of women in music was quickly followed by the less female-friendly hair bands. I was offended that so many people regarded women playing music as simply a "trend." So odd!

Q: You’ve lived (and led) in (at least) two strong music communities (Austin & Seattle) Why Austin now? And was it hard to leave Seattle after having accomplished so much there?

CDB: My family moved at pivotal times in my childhood, so I guess that has always made me feel that I am destined to play out different chapters of my life in different locations. I really enjoy creating events for women in music. I can see how much women enjoy the opportunity to meet and talk about what is important to them. Because SXSW is such an enormous event, I thought Austin would be a great place to do more conferences from. I have already done one in November and have another MEOW Conference scheduled for May 26th. They are starting out small, but I am hoping to grow them into large, national events - SXSW for girls!!

Q: How do you think the obstacles and opportunities for women in music have changed over the past 20 years? Are there more or less?

CDB: I don't think people hear "you're good for a girl" as much any more, but there are still areas where women are not as prevalent: as drummers and behind the scenes. I wonder why there is not a woman who is famous as a guitar player - and just as a guitar player. I wonder why all-female bands are still a rarity in mainstream culture. These are still questions that keep me up at night.

Q: Your clearly very busy with coaching, writing, advocacy and all that is MEOW— how do you take care of you?  

CDB: Ha! Good question!  I collapse in front of the television and fall asleep to something brain-numbing like Judge Judy or Real Housewives of Wherever. I could definitely do a lot better in that department!

 For more information about Carla and MEOW, visit http://carladesantisblack.com/ and http://meowonline.org

Interview: Jenny Clevidence on Yoga & Leadership

When an email from Future Women Leaders alerted me to the work yoga teacher Jenny Clevidence does combining principles of the practice with business leadership, I was intrigued. Jenny, who is an integral coach as well as yoga instructor at The Yoga Loft and Sun Room studios in San Francisco, answered some questions about her work.
Q How were you introduced to Yoga?
JC: I was living in Charlotte, NC working in Talent Management for a large retail organization, stressed out, and looking for something more than a gym workout. A friend took me to Yoga One for a Baptiste Power Yoga class, and I fell in love with the practice. At first it was a physical practice for me, and has over the years grown into my spiritual and life practice. Yoga found me at a point in my life when I felt the desire to connect back to my body, my truth, and to the world around me. It has been an exploration for me ever since that first class.

Q Why did you decide to leave your previous career?

JC: Once I started to really tune in to my body, a sense of peace, and greater awareness, I found that I no longer felt that my life was in alignment with my career. I felt compelled to do something different, and ultimately it ended up feeling like I had no choice. I had found my path as a Integral Life Coach and Yoga Instructor, and there was no turning back. I had to honor and recognize that this was now the way I was to serve those around me. I gave up my position in Talent Management and Change Management Consulting, and pursued what felt unknown, scary, and at the same time right.

Q What's a typical exercise or prompt you might use in an asana class to connect concepts of leadership with yoga practice?

JC: If we strip a way the typical language that we use to describe leadership, and we get to the naturalness of what it is to be a leader, we can begin to connect the practice of yoga to leadership. In the Baptiste tradition of yoga, we often use the word equanimity to describe calmness of mind in difficult situations. In leadership, we often talk about the need to be calm under pressure, in other words, equanimity. During an asana class, we can observe our tendencies in difficult situations by creating one on the mat. An example of this would be to hold a pose for an extended period of time, and to observe how we tend to show up. Some normal tendencies are to distract ourselves, fight, or flee the situation. None of these reactions will benefit us as leaders at work or in our lives. The alternative is to engage in a practice of equanimity, to have calmness of mind, and the ability to be with what is happening while it is happening, no matter how difficult. From equanimity, we can take appropriate actions, instead of engaging in our reactions. Often times we don't have the luxury of observing ourselves in difficult situations while facing them at work or in our lives, so the physical practice of yoga, becomes our way to explore, observe, and cultivate change. This exploration is grounded in the philosophy that we are who we are, everywhere we are. It doesn't matter if we observe ourselves on our yoga mats or in the board room, our tendencies or the way we show up, will be the same.

Q: What can attendees expect at the Future Women Leaders workshop?
JC: Attendees can expect to engage in the physical practice of yoga to explore leadership, observe their own tendencies, and to cultivate a new way of leading with greater presence for clearer actions, a sense of vitality for balanced and sustainable effort, equanimity for appropriate action under pressure, and an understanding of restoration to balance taking care of self and others. All of these principles of yoga, support leading at work and in life with greater ease and effectiveness.

To find out more about Jenny's classes, please go to http://rorencollective.com/. Her workshop Yoga and Leadership takes place March 24 in San Francisco. Please contact Future Women Leaders for more information. http://www.futurewomenleaders.net/

Interview: Rosy Moon on Identity Yoga

After reconnecting with Albany-based yoga teacher, actress and personal coach Rosy Moon Schlussel, she invited me to an intro to the coaching and yoga instruction she does, a part of which she calls "Identity Yoga." Rosy's instruction was encouraging, precise and inspiring and I found the work to be effective at getting to the core of what's going on. I asked her more about her approach to yoga, coaching and the Identity Yoga workshops she teaches with her husband David Schlussel.

Q: What is "Identity Yoga?"
RM: Essentially it's a playful moniker for what we're up to with this combination of yoga and coaching. Identity is that which we relate to ourselves as. The way that hatha yoga practices give you more freedom in your body. Identity Yoga gives you more freedom to be yourself.

Q: How did you first come to yoga? Was it through acting?

RM: When I was 15 years old, I would go to Iyengar classes taught by Franciose Barbira
Freedman with my mother. I had danced since the age of 10, and by 14 I had discovered "new
circus," that was characterized by an emphasis on human skills with a more theatrical element, as opposed to relying on traditional spectacle and animals. Physical training and performance had become a joy and a necessity in my life, so you could say it was through the circus, although what I remember about those classes was feeling cold, rather bored and hungry! It wasn't until moving back to London in 1999, after briefly living in a beautiful Australian beach town, that I committed to yoga as a practice. I felt drawn to the flow and challenge of Ashtanga and I knew that I could not survive the London winter without this joy-drenching and spirit-strengthening infusion on a daily basis.

Q: Can you talk about how you arrived at your current approach to practice? You have a background in vinyasa/Ashtanga and I noticed you [often] emphasise longer held poses?

RM: Before I had the good fortune to be introduced to my teacher Sofia Diaz, I had given up teaching. In a twist of fate that was as surprising to me as how I began teaching, it slowly dawned on me that it was no longer right for me to be teaching and I dropped the pre and post natal classes that had been my niche for a while. Then on the invitation of a dear friend I went to Sofia's class. Part-way through the rigorous practice she had us in a deep half squat for almost a minute and she asked the question, "Are you satisfied with this moment, right now?" It was one of the many things that cracked me open that night. I realized that I had been living in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction or withheld appreciation of each moment. In the moment of her asking that question I was struggling to simply stay standing and I felt able to choose, not only satisfaction with that moment, but celebration of every flavor of my experience. This re-ignited my passion for teaching—now I knew a whole other level of what yoga could offer. Through longer holding of poses and a real-time, deep inquiry into our emotional reactivity, we can access that which is greater than simply our own effort—the union with that which is greater than you, that yoga is named for.

Q: How would you describe the intersection of teaching yoga and personal coaching? Are they really that different? Any common themes?

RM: They are very complimentary and distinct. The style of coaching that I practice could be called "being" coaching. We have ways of being that govern our actions in life. Awareness of these ways of being are often buried deep under layers of habits and assumptions. Thus we may believe the way we see the world is not just our perspective, it is "the way it is." Through coaching we distinguish habits from assumptions, from what is actually so. One of the wonderful aspects of yoga is that it can bypass the confusion and certainty of the mind. If you are confused and lost in some way, a deep asana, held for long enough will have you get pretty clear in a relatively short time. It will energize you and propel you beyond your small problem so that you can tackle the larger problems of your life without fear. If you are convinced of your limitations (certainty), with asana you get to feel your limitations and nuzzle into them while cultivating an appreciation for your limits. In this process, over time, without fail, your limitations shift. Yoga is a practice of feeling, with coaching we can also learn to feel and articulate feeling, which in our mind-oriented culture, is harder than it sounds and, in my opinion, is deeply necessary for our evolution/survival.

Q: How do you balance being a mom, working with your husband (also a yoga teacher) and your own work? What, or who, keeps you inspired?

RM: I find the work that I do inspiring. As a coach I am working with people who trust me enough to share what is vulnerable for them so that they can change their lives and understand themselves and fulfill their desires. As a yoga teacher what keeps me inspired is my teacher, and yoga itself. As well as a regular practice, I take class with Sofia over the internet (she's based in Colorado & comes to the Bay Area every six weeks). I am also a practicing Buddhist in the Nichiren Daishonin tradition. By making time for these practices it not only informs what I teach, but also gives a radiant and peaceful light to my life and a greater capacity for trusting life as it unfolds. My husband and I do the same work so we are constantly sharing what we learn and teach. We inspire each other.

Q: What does a 'typical' Identity Yoga Workshop?
RM: We [usually] have two days from noon to 6pm where we teach Yoga asana practices to explore freedom in your body, and relational games and practices to facilitate more freedom to love being who you really are, in any circumstance.

Rosy teaches Tues. & Thurs. & Sat. at Vara Healing Arts in Albany, CA. David Schlussel and Rosy Moon Schlussel teach Identity Yoga Workshops at AuthenticSF, & other studios in the Bay Area. Contact for more information contact rosymoon1@gmail.com.