Being a Young Leader

Neva Recla:

Hello, everyone, welcome back to the Leave it to Neva Show. I’m your host, Neva Recla. And today we’re going to be talking all about being a young leader. And I think that this is a really important topic for so many people. Because at least from my experience, there’s always been this kind of concept in the society of being too young to do something or being too young to change the world or have goals or start businesses or whatever. And I remember when I was a kid, people would ask me, What do I want to be when I grow up? And that question always bothered me so much, because I was so focused on what I wanted to do now. And our guest today is actually perfect for this topic because she’s very similar to me as a young leader like me. Hanalei is correct if I’m wrong, you’re 15. Now?. And you’ve been in the dare I say, changing the world kind of concept from a very young age as well. And, in your bio, I read that you also kind of went through the system of asking, like, what do you want to be when you grow up? Instead of asking, What do you want to be now? And I love that concept so much because I think it gives us so much. I think flipping that question gives people, especially kids and youth, the shift in mindset to see that it is possible to start doing what you’re passionate about, no matter your age. And you’ve done a lot of really cool things for the world. And we’ve been in touch for a little while now. And we finally just got able to connect in, you’ve been doing a lot of stuff around being unstoppable. And you’re an author, and you’ve done so many amazing, inspiring things. So I’m so excited to have you on the show. So welcome. And thank you for being willing to talk with me today.

Hanalei Swan:

Yeah, of course. I think that I think it’s really important to have a good support system and have good people around you. As for me, I remember when the reason why I wanted to start doing fashion and why I started speaking and kind of moving towards a more creatively driven pathway. I remember when my mom asked me when I was about seven years old, she asked, What do you want to be now instead of what you wanted to be when you grew up? And that single question really stuck with me. And I felt so excited to be able to like What can I do now? Like I was so young, but thinking of all the possibilities and not shunting my mind towards what I think others want me to do. I think that was a huge moment for me and really empowered me towards finding out what makes me happiest, you know?

Neva Recla:

Yeah, that’s awesome. I think sometimes, especially as youth, we underestimate ourselves, or we’ve been taught to underestimate ourselves, because of our age. And at least for me, like getting into the business world from a really young age, and then starting to public speaking stuff like that and do things that some adults haven’t done yet. And I think I was able to see there’s this whole new world outside of just being a kid because we’re able to do so much more if we just put our minds to it. So

Hanalei Swan:

Of course, yeah, and I think, really, like, the most important thing is having that little spark of inspiration, it can either come from people around you, it can come from your social situation, or even online. And I think that, for me, I want to be able to inspire other kids my age, who may not have that support system, who may not have that inspiration in their family, or who may not have grown up the same way. So being able to like, be that one kick of inspiration to have someone do what they love would be the most important thing to me. Yeah,

Neva Recla:

I love that. And I think it’s so important to have that inspiration and empowerment, even if it’s just one person saying it to you, or using it to yourself to encourage you to see that you can do anything you want to do, and there’s so much more we can do. And I think it also comes down to just believing in yourself. Because sometimes the world around us is very encouraging. And you might be in difficult situations or whatever. But I think when you believe in yourself, then that helps, you know, not necessarily be as impacted by perhaps some of the negativity.

Hanalei Swan:

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I feel like, especially when you mentioned, a lot of the world doesn’t believe in us or wants to put out negativity, which makes us feel self-conscious, that makes us feel like we’re not good enough. And we try setting ourselves up for the expectations of the world around us when really all that we need to strive for is to be the better version of ourselves, not be this mold that people want us to fit into. And, yeah, I think it’s something that’s a really big problem, especially with our younger generation, and especially just with a lot of kids, like in the past, I dealt with like, and even to this day, like a lot of self-confidence issues of not feeling good enough for others not being the best version of myself and feeling like I was an annoyance in a way and having to actually reflect and see that these were just the expectations that others have that I put onto myself and realizing that has made me more confident to just accept myself for who I am, instead of trying to achieve this unreal expectation or unreal goal. Others may have for me, you know? 

Neva Recla:

Yeah, absolutely, I love that. I think that’s a great place to pause. So after the break, we can come back and talk about this more, because I think it’s a great expanding point for our topic today. So before our break, can you let our listeners know where they can go to find out more about you and where they can connect with you?

Hanalei Swan:

Yeah, like a list of my website or like

Neva Recla:

website or your social media wherever you want them to go.

Hanalei Swan:

Okay, shall I like do a little introduction? All right. Um, hi, my name is Hanalei Swan. You can find me anywhere online at Hanalei Swan. That’s also my website, as well as my Instagram. So you can find me there.

Neva Recla:

Awesome. Great. Thank you so much. And to our listeners. Definitely go check that out. Because I don’t know this just going to be such a fun conversation. I already feel like it’s so powerful to be able to just have this discussion, I think with someone who’s in the same age range as I am. See? Because there are not that many people doing this work at this age. And I think seeing other people doing it for you is just a great reminder like anything is possible.

Hanalei Swan:

Yeah, of course.

Neva Recla:

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. And we’ll we’ve been talking all about being a young leader and for those listening, please come check out our community, you can go to superpowerexperts.com. And come check out our CEFA Meditations and everything like that. We would love to have you as a part of our team, and just be able to connect with you and have these types of conversations. Awesome. We’ll be right back after the break.

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