Kemi Nekvapil

[1:26]: Kemi shares her incredible story growing up as a foster child in England. From 2 weeks to 13 she had 5 primary carers growing up. Her childhood felt unstable and powerless. When she was 13, her world came to a standstill when her foster mother asked her to choose between colours of clothing. She never had a choice before and has been choosing ever since.

[4:56]: Kemi went to a bakery college. She worked as a chef on and off for 17 years. She went to a Drama school and loved method acting. After leaving drama school she had 3 auditions.

[6:12]: She got the TV series job. She was on British TV for 3 and a half years in a lead role, by the end of the series she was writing her own role. She worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company. She then did a film with Colin Firth in the South of France and went on to the National Theatre.

[6:56]: She didn’t have any idea of what she was supposed to do, but she knew it wasn’t acting. She was pulled into the idea that she should be grateful for what she had accomplished and the opportunities awarded to her but she knew there was something else for her.

[7:42]: Her final acting opportunity was for ‘Four Non-Blondes’. She progressed through the audition process and in the end, would have been one of the first black actors to have a writing, directing, and performing contract.

[8:28]: She met a man through a contact who wanted a chef to work in Thailand. The role had no pay but provided accommodation. He needed someone to teach Thai chefs how to cook European food to a high standard. She decided to take this opportunity over the acting contract. She knew that was her crossroad.

[9:29]: Kemi then met her husband in Thailand.

[9:40]: She calls trusting in herself a ‘Divine download’. When she was 16 she was incredibly unhappy and overweight. She was in a PE class in school and felt a Divine Download that told her ‘if you compare yourself to anyone else, you’re never going to be happy’. This was one of the most powerful messages in her life.

[11:02]: She had suffered so much from comparing herself and she just let it go after this moment.

[11:23]: Kemi applied to the Dare to Lead website for a training opportunity to facilitate this work. She was selected to train in Texas. It was an incredible program with Dr Brene Brown.

[13:47]: When Kemi read the Dare to Lead book, she felt validated that the way she led was enough. Kemi can show up as who she is and not fit into the patriarchal, white male model.

[14:49]: Within the pandemic, Kemi felt incredibly low 2 and a half months ago. She went into the garden, saw the first cherry blossoms, and felt that spring is coming. She knew things are going to change. She has a deep connection with nature.

[15:39]: She started the ‘Delight Diaries’ within her community. You can have low days but remember to take a moment of delight when you see something beautiful, for eg. a butterfly, taking shoes off on the grass.

[16:09]: We are connected to nature. We go through seasons and transformations. Women do a disservice to us if we ignore them.

[16:50]: Kemi discusses how intuition has been trained out of us. She decided with her husband to not train their children in stranger danger. They didn’t buy a car so they could use public transport and talk to strangers. She encouraged her children to tap into their own intuition with people.

[17:43]: We think with our gut, we think with our heart, and we think with our head.

[18:12]: When Kemi works with people that are very mind-focused, she asks them what does your heart say? When we have a physiological sign from our gut, our head can often get in the way. Sit with that feeling for longer before your head takes over.

[19:01]: Kemi’s next steps include being very excited to launch her 3rd book about women in power. She is also thrilled to start her micro-organic flower farm in Victoria. The world can never have enough beauty.