Every Friday I am going to feature a woman that I adore. They exude all the qualities of an Alpha Female and I want to dig into their lives to get some nuggets of knowledge to help us all live happier, healthier lives balancing life & work.
Definition of an Alpha Female
An Alpha Female is a powerful and assertive woman. Her confidence is due to being an intelligent and intellectual problem-solver. Being an Alpha Female is a State of Mind based on choosing ambition and being proud of it. She strives for a happy and healthy work/life harmony.
She is the brightest star in her constellation. When an Alpha Female stays true to their authentic selves and their missions they shine. An Alpha Female puts herself first so that she can fill up her cup and then have more energy for her friends, family, and coworkers. She strives for synergy with the world around her. She knows that work/life harmony is found by staying true to your priorities and what makes you happy. She is never complacent about striving for better and nurtures relationships with all the people in her life.
Meet Lisa Simone Richards!
Lisa Simone Richards is a visibility strategist for fitpros and wellness-preneurs who want to see themselves and their businesses featured in magazines, on TV and around the web. As the principal of PR agency Vitality PR & Communications in Toronto, she coaches health, fitness and wellness entrepreneurs how to connect with the right media personalities and use the power of publicity to get seen and get clients. When she’s not shooting national TV segments or working with editors on magazine features, you can find her swinging a kettlebell, getting her zen on at hot yoga, or shopping at her local farmer’s market. Meet Lisa Simone and get ready to get noticed and get clients at www.vitalitypr.com.
What do you think of the definition and how are you an Alpha Female?
I define an Alpha Female as a woman who’s clear on what she wants and the value she brings to the world and the people around her while still being comfortable in her femininity. She can comfortably stand up for herself and take care of herself and is also able to receive from others without seeing that as a weakness, but rather embracing that as much as she wants to serve others, others (hopefully) want to serve her too.
I consider myself to be an Alpha Female because I’m a total Type A personality – I’m clear on what I want and the movement I want to create in the world with zero apologies about it. I work to balance my strength and self-confidence with grace, poise, and compassion.
What are you most passionate about?
I am SO passionate about serving health, fitness and wellness entrepreneurs. I was lucky enough to escape boring beige cubicle life and I know there are so many other entrepreneurs who’ve done the same thing. But they’re struggling to get seen and get clients and that’s how I want to help them. And it truly does have a pay it forward effect – my serving them helps them serve their clients who can embrace a life full of vitality. Everyone benefits!
What does work/life harmony look like for you?
This is something I’m working on. I have a tendency to work seven days a week (only about 5 or 6 hours a day on average, though) and I need to learn to truly disconnect a few days a week. I did it for the first time this past weekend and it was glorious!
It’s a challenge to balance work and life because I’ve taken my personal passion for health and fitness and turned it into a career so the two are really intertwined.
Share with us a time when work/life balance was out of whack? What was your aha moment that taught you it was ok to take care of yourself first.
I can remember my first real job in PR, some ten years ago as a coordinator at a PR agency, I was working so hard to prove myself. And I made some pretty bad mistakes on a client-facing project, despite working on it all weekend. The president of the agency passively aggressively tore me a new one in front of the ENTIRE agency and I realized why am I working SO hard and giving up my time for a job that pays pretty poorly and shows literally zero gratitude? That’s when I realized (without sounding cold) that nobody cares about me as much as I do so screw it, my well-being is priority number one and everything else comes after.
How do you nourish yourself?
I’ve been a trainer and competitor so I know what it’s like to be regimented with my food. My approach now is to ensure that everything I bring in my house is healthy – organic, hormone-free and good for me. But when I go out anything goes. It’s my way of being healthy without denying myself of foods I still love.
What is your weekly fitness routine like?
I’ve actually just become a runner this year! So it’s been just under a month and I’d love to do a half-marathon by August. Otherwise, I love flirting with different studios and workouts around Toronto – barre, kettlebell, gravity, kickboxing, spin classes, Pilates, hot yoga – it’s important to me to maintain a balance of cardio and strength training with flexibility practices as well.
What are your daily habits for winding down at night and reducing stress?
I have become the biggest fan of the app Headspace – I haven’t used it for a few days admittedly but I try to squeeze in a ten-minute meditation every day and make an effort to take those practices and bring them into real life. It makes me a calmer, nicer person.
What are some pain points of being an Alpha Female that you have to problem solve for? (Whether it be how people perceive your personality or managing ourselves – for example, the amount of things we do, etc.)
Omigoodness HANDS DOWN my biggest pain point of being an Alpha Female is managing that in my dating life. I love an alpha male but you can’t have two alphas. I’ve spent the last year really examining and understanding masculine and feminine energies. I’m continually learning how to leave my more masculine, doer qualities at the door when it comes time to date and really embrace my feminine. I want to be true to who I am though so it’s something I’m really working on.
What is your definition of happiness?
Being happy in the here and now. Taking each moment to truly embrace where you are at this specific time. One you get wrapped up in the past or the future, you rob yourself of the beauty of now!