Emily Pereira is an author, love and relationship coach, and mindful mama of two. Based out of Costa Rica, she runs a successful international coaching enterprise and hosts annual wellness retreats that help women call in love and create the wholehearted lives they envision. Emily’s published memoir, The Quest: from the Hollywood Hills to the Amazon Jungle, one woman’s search for enough was released on Nov. 17th, 2020. Her work has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar, The Huffington Post, The Zoe Report, and Mind Body Green amongst others. She’s partnered with leading brands speaking at events with Wanderlust, Spotify, HER Global Network, Lorna Jane, Buti Yoga, and Summit Outside to name a few. More info on www.emilypereira.com.
Welcome everybody, welcome to Spiritual Biz Chat for Spiritual Biz Magazine, and today we have joined Emily Pereira, an author, sought-after teacher, and love and relationship coach. Welcome, Emily, thank you for being with us, and congratulations on your book release, how are you doing today?
EMILY PEREIRA: Doing great! Thank you so much. Lovey to connect with you.
It’s a pleasure to have you here, Emily! Through your work, you share your life story as a beautiful example of the modern heroine’s journey offering a brutally honest account of love, losses, and triumphs that shifts our elusive understanding of what it means to be truly alive. So, could you share with our readers a bit about that journey? And what led you on the path to your current life’s purpose and work?
EMILY: 14 years ago when my book, The Quest opens, my life looked a bit like the world does now. Everything I based my identity on had been stripped away.
Throughout my 20s, I did all the things I thought would bring me happiness, and in the process, I’d unconsciously created a life based mainly on external validation. I was outsourcing my self-worth to my hotshot career, my super successful boyfriend who just sold his start-up for half a billion dollars, my designer clothes that I wore to an endless stream of parties, events, and vacations. In the process became a very fearful and competitive person.
And when it suddenly came crashing down and I lost everything I valued and defined myself by, I found myself on a cliff edge of depression. But just when I thought I’d made horrible mistakes and totally ruined my life, I gained access to a rich inner world that I always had sort of vague awareness of, but no idea how vast and generative it could be. It was then that the Quest began.
I began to lift myself up through a wild ride of intensive and extensive spiritual exploration. My journey took me to the far corners of the earth and deep within myself. I worked with Masterful teachers who have information that’s not in books. I shed so many false beliefs and destructive patterns. I gave myself permission to do and try things that were way outside my comfort zone that led me to passions I didn’t know that I had and rock-solid purpose. This journey cultivated belief in myself and trust in my path. From where I sit today in my beautiful Balinese style villa overlooking Costa Rica’s Pacific coastline, I can say with the utmost certainty, there is nothing like the journey inward. It will lead to the most magical and unexpected places.
I feel like when you claw your way out of a dark cave to find the light of liberation and personal power on the other side, the natural inclination is to shine a light for others. So it was a natural step for me to pass along the wisdom that helped me so much to the beautiful hearts that are ready.
No luck or chance that the book came out in November 2020 right after a seminal election, in the middle of a global pandemic, right when Mars is waking up from retrograde. This book is all about the portal that opens in a time of great contraction.
How inspiring! What was the turning point in taking the steps to make your passion a business? And how have you managed to turn that into a business?
EMILY: About 5 years into my career in the Pharmaceutical Industry, I started to wake up to the understanding that true wellness isn’t going to be found at the prescription counter. My career began to feel misaligned with my beliefs, but I didn’t quite know how to free myself from the golden handcuffs of that cushy role. On the side I was doing an intensive personal spiritual study, I started writing my book, and coaching women 1:1. On my vacations, I led retreats. Finally, after 10 years of wanting to leave, I leap into the world of holistic wellness and have never looked back. I am very grateful for that experience because it gave me a really comprehensive understanding of business and the status quo of what most people consider wellness.
While working on your coaching enterprise and making it so successful, how did you deal with self-doubts and fear if you had any? How did you address your interpersonal conflicts to stay focused on your goals?
EMILY: Whenever I have doubts, I return to my why. The very same wisdom and practices I pass to my clients are what helped me transform, and I shudder to think where I would be without it. A padded room comes to mind. HA! This intel allowed me to free myself from my prison of perfection. It’s what made it possible for me to access my once dormant creativity, and heal my heart. It’s how I was led to this life I love so much with my beautiful family in Costa Rica.
Congratulations again to you on the release of your memoir “The Quest: from the Hollywood Hills to the Amazon Jungle, one woman’s search for enough”! What do you wish to accomplish by putting your life story on those pages? What is the most important thing you hope for the readers to take away after reading your book?
EMILY: Writing this book started out as an experiment. And am I a creative person? At the time I didn’t think I was. I was in a place of apathetic desperation. I had all of the most beautiful things our culture promotes the path to happiness and I felt empty inside. Writing this book literally was a huge catalyst for spiritual transformation. The creative and the spiritual are like happy bedfellows. It helped me reveal my authentic self to myself. It restored a sense of integrity I’d lost along the way. It helped me access passions that were locked away and delivered me to my purpose. It was the vehicle that allowed me to let go of regrets and the idea I’d made painful mistakes. In writing this story, I write myself a new life.
My hope is to offer readers a new (empowering lens) to see themselves and the world. To give a blueprint for healing a broken heart. To pave a path to a radical personal realization. I think the genius of this book is that it offers high-level spiritual constructs hidden in the pages of a highly entertaining story. You get all the self-help intel without doing “work”.
What is your ultimate goal with your work? What is your mission? Your dream? What are some projects that are on your mind and that you are currently working on?
EMILY: My mission is to help women shed the toxic false beliefs that prevent them from knowing their inherent value and magic. I want to show them to access their innate passion, which I have found is like a compass leading you to your purpose. When women are lit up by their own lives and their unique creations this is when competition and comparison fall away and genuine camaraderie and collaboration are possible. And women truly supporting one another–all on the same side– is the beginning of a new earth.
Is there a final message you want to let our readers know? Or just any last little words that you have for them?
EMILY: All of the power, magnificence, and magic that you seek lives inside you. Dare to embark on the inner quest. It does take courage, but on the other side is everything that you desire and more.
Thank you, Emily, very much! It has been such a pleasure chatting with you today!
EMILY: It’s my honor! Thank you for having me.
