As a child I loved multiple things–playing games, reading, coloring, building things, swimming, biking, roller skating, playing dress-up, baking, gardening, leading other kids in scavenger hunts, swinging, selling Girl Scout cookies, sewing, creating simulated cities with my friends with all of our Barbies and Legos. We literally took over my friend Kelly’s basement and had an entire town built with roads and houses and restaurants and a spa. Little Leah would try anything, and usually enjoyed it!

While I craved variety, I noticed my friends gravitated toward one or two things they most liked to do, and so when I spent time with them, that’s what we did.

In high school, I felt more pressure to have a few set preferences, and hang out with the group that did those things. However, like a quintessential teenager, I rebelled and had friends across the social structure and from other schools. I extended my friend reach so much that over my four years of high school, I went to 13 different home comings and proms.

I also recall my poor, protective father who was baffled that one night I’d go out with a Canadian with a mohawk who wore a silk screened pink trench coat with combat boots and took me to a punk rock concert in the basement of an abandoned building, and the next night I’d be going to a local play with the Valedictorian from the All-Boys Catholic School, and then the next night, a guy who modeled men’s swimwear would show-up on his motorcycle to take me on a picnic in the mountains. I reveled in the diversity.

College proved a bigger challenge with regards to being friends with multiple groups. Sororities and fraternities, sports, and academic ability segmented the student body, and whether you wanted to be or not, you were put in a box or two. I was a Communications student who was the Feature Editor of the campus newspaper, and an anchor on the cable station we ran, so that dropped me into one box.  My second label came from being a little sister to the edgier fraternity on campus.

Fast forward to owning my own business and the idea you must have a niche, a singular target market, and a unified message was not just pounded into me, but I taught it to others because practically it’s how most of the world operates. Since the confused mind says no, having one focus in business is the easiest, and least expensive, way to market yourself.

Wanting to be successful, I finally caved and choose one focus, and for many years I put lots of my other interests aside to build a solid business as a business and marketing coach.

I got so used to operating that way, that when I did gravitate back to more of my interests, I felt as though I had to compartmentalize myself. And that’s exactly what I did. I shared my business woman self with my coaching clients; my artistic, creative side to my scrapbooking friends; my mystical self with my spiritual friends; my erotic writer self with my romance writer friends and readers; and my soft, sensitive self with my dog rescue crew.

I even went so far as to have different names for some of these parts of myself. I published sexy women’s fiction novels under the name Caitlenn T. Ainnsley, and put out a vibrational singing meditation under the name Lotus. I had multiple websites and FB pages, and there was little to no overlap, and no cross promotion.

For years it made sense. And it felt right.

Then one day, I realized it was just me playing safe. Playing small.

I was hiding.

Here I am this multidimensional being reflecting the limitations programmed by culture. 

I knew that had to change or I wasn’t living authentically.

In late 2018, I began focusing on how to integrate everything I do and everything I am. It took six months of organizing and reorganizing and weaving parts of myself and my various creations together has been confronting, exhilarating, frustrating, and rewarding. I believe that I’ve done the best job I can of pulling everything into a cohesive public-facing package.

As I write this, I’m weeks away from truly facing all the fears of showing my whole self to the world as I launch a newly branded, all-combined website at www.leahgrant.com. 

I have embraced my multidimensional self. Now it’s time to see if the world can too.

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Leah Grant elevates Consciousness as a Certified Medical Intuitive, a Master Certified Coach, a Certified Master Clairvoyant, a metaphysics teacher, and a multi-published author. She is the creator of Ecstatic Meditation™. She combines her skills in a unique transformational program called Way Beyond Coaching. https://www.leahgrant.com

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