Donalee Gastreich

I think it's a combination of lived experience, trusted guidance, and the purpose I've truly brought into this journey of life I'm on right now.

But most importantly? It's about listening to that voice within.

Most of us don't. Especially if we were told we were too much, or too naive, or if people didn't resonate with what we said and we started questioning ourselves. So we try to force ourselves into the mold that other people expect—and we never find our purpose.

I've learned to act on my inner guidance in the moment. Not when it feels good. Not when it's convenient. Not when all my stories finally align. But now. Right now.

That's when my life truly began to turn around.

When you get that nudge to call your son, don't tell yourself the story that he's driving to work, or he's probably in a meeting, or this isn't a good time. Stop. You're making things up. Just act on it.

It all comes back to what's inside us, not outside us. If you're listening to outside forces, you're already creating a reality that's out of touch with your inner self.

Honestly? It's the Nike slogan—"Just Do It."

But not in the way most people think. Not about force, effort, or pushing through. It's about acting upon that inner guidance the moment you receive it.

It's really about creating a deep relationship with your higher self, your soul, your essence—that guiding voice within—and then trusting it enough to act on it immediately.

Here's what I mean: When you get that nudge to call your son, don't tell yourself the story that he's driving, or he's in a meeting, or it's not a good time. Stop. You're making things up. Just act on it.

I started turning my life around when I began acting on my inner guidance in the moment—not when it felt good, not when it was convenient, not when all my stories finally aligned, but now. Right now.

When you act in the moment, you honor the value of that inner guidance. And that changes everything

I'd start with four questions:

What would you love?

What's tugging on your heart?

Where are you out of integrity?

Where are you still playing small—fitting in just to please others?

These simple questions invite real reflection. And reflection is where clarity begins. My job is then to walk alongside them with empathy, compassion, and love—helping them explore what those answers look like and how to take action. Because we have the ability to navigate and act. We just often don't do the reflection to get clear on what's actually calling us.

Let me tell you why this matters to me personally.

I was a sales rep in a male-dominated field in the 80s. Back then, you needed both balls and a bachelor's degree to land that position—and I had neither. I didn't want to appear weak among my peers. I didn't want to shed a tear or show confusion.

But when I left that office and went to call on a client, something shifted. I reached out to the higher power that I believed landed me that position—and asked for guidance. Help me hear what the client needs. Help me serve in ways that meet their needs, not mine. Even if that meant giving them a referral somewhere else, I was going to serve at the highest level possible.

That's what I want young women to know: You don't have to perform to be powerful. Your reflection, your integrity, your willingness to listen inward and serve outward—that's your real edge.

I think the biggest issue is that, up until now, the human element has been put on the back burner. We haven't given enough importance to continually elevating human potential in the workplace.

We've focused on software and the hardware to run it—making systems sync together, delivering reports and data. And now it's AI: cultivating it, grooming it, teaching it, giving it the model we want to succeed.

But here's what we're missing: we need to upgrade our own operating system.

AI is actually showing us a whole new model—if we use it wisely. When you bring curious conversations to AI and say, "Help me see what I can't see. Orient me. Elevate my thinking. Help me integrate this into new structures," you're growing. But until we ask those kinds of questions—until we truly have that dialogue within ourselves—we're not elevating our own growth.

I believe the future belongs to humans who can hold multiple perceptions at once. Not just one way of doing things, but the ability to hear from everyone and hold all of that as part of their reality—because that's what's true. Right now, we're not there yet. That's both our biggest challenge and our greatest opportunity.

The highest value for me today is coherence—being in harmony, with all parts of me operating in sync. Because that's where peace, love, and joy flow fluidly through me, as me, and out into the world in everything I do.

Integrity is equally central to who I am.

I choose a word each year, guided by Spirit. Two years in a row, the word was integrity—and it really grew me. It had me noticing when I was spending time with people who were out of integrity. You don't always spot the depth of someone's integrity until you've been around them long enough to see their true colors in all arenas.

Integrity plays directly into coherence. When you're in coherence, you recognize dissonance the moment it shows up. And how you address that dissonance is a choice—one that changes depending on your level of awareness.