Soft Leadership: How Women Lead, Heal and Grow Sustainably w/Erica Valenzuela and LaKisha Mosley

Leadership that ignores mental and emotional health is expensive -personally and professionally. 

In this episode, I’m joined by two 2025 PWR Impact Award winners who are redefining what strength, resilience and sustainable growth look like for women in busness.

Erica Valenzuela, winner of the Resilience Award, is the creator of E-Motion, a space that blends rage, release, movement, and reflection to support emotional health.  

LaKisha Mosely, PWR Podcast Guest of the Year, is known as the Soft Simple CEO and helps women build profitable businesses without sacrificing their mental health. 

We discuss:

• How emotional healing creates the resilience and clarity required to succeed in business.
• Why mental health is the blueprint for execution, not an afterthought, and rest is a strategy, not a reward.
• Rest as a strategy, not a reward.
• "High-functioning burnout" and the warning signs most women ignore
• Building your network before you need it, taking your own advice, setting boundaries, and more...

Together, we explore the long game of business growth and how capacity, community, and trust create momentum no shortcut ever will.

If you want growth that feels steady instead of exhausting, this conversation offers practical tools and a more sustainable way to lead.

Links and References:

• Learn more about all the 2025 Powerful Women Rising Impact Award winners 
• Connect with other female entrepreneurs inside the PWR Connection Network
• Learn more about LaKisha Mosley and connect with her on Instagram
• Protect Your Peace - Why Mental Health is Your Business's Competetive Advantage - LaKisha's award-winning episode on Powerful Women Rising
• Learn more about E-Motion Fitness and connect with Erica on Instagram

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello, ladies. Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hello. Hello.

Erica’s Intentional Rage Room Concept

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hi. So excited to talk to the two of you today. I know this is going to be a fun interview. Um, but also I know we're going to touch on some really important topics too. So I, as I was saying before we started recording, I'm actually really glad the two of you ended up on an interview together because I mean, you're both hilarious and so am I. So that's good. But also, the topics that we're going to be talking about, I think, are very relevant to both of you. So let's start by just having you guys introduce yourselves. I'll start with Erica. Erica was the winner of the 2025 Powerful Women Rising Resilience Award. So Erica, tell everybody a little bit about you and what you do.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Yeah, so um happy to be on the show. My name is Erica, and um I own Emotion. And what it is, it's a different concept to rage. Um, I allow people to come in and uh break shit, uh, work out and chill. And um, I just find it important for people to um have intention when they rage. So I spray paint bottles, you get to um set your intentions on them, write it down, uh, all the things you need to let go of. Uh, following that, uh, it puts you in the rage room where you can just throw a ton of bottles against the wall. Um, and then I follow that up. It's optional, but I try to encourage a workout. Um I think fitness is incredibly important to your mental health as well. Um, and then after that, you go into my chill room and kind of just relax, come down from that forward thinking, um, manifestations, all of that, and just just kind of be present within your body and reflect. So, yeah, that's a little bit what I do. I'm a mom of a 17-year-old, she's a senior, about to graduate this year, so super excited. So I'm just trying to find my way after she leaves the nest.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

So yeah, that's awesome. How long have you been doing the rage room? Uh it's been five years. Okay, where did that idea come from?

Origin Story And Ancestral Dream

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Um, I apologize about my dog. Um, the idea for me came from a dream. I had the most um vivid dream that I've ever had. I woke up and I was like, oh my god, that was a dream from um from something else from my ancestors, uh, is what I believe in. And so I wrote it down and um I was in motion two years later.

Lakeisha’s Soft Simple CEO Philosophy

SPEAKER_01 2:19

So that's so awesome. We're gonna talk a little bit more about your story later on in the podcast, but let me go to Lakeisha, have her introduce herself and tell everybody about you.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Hey, y'all. Hey, so I'm Lakeisha Mosley. I am the soft simple CEO. And what that is, is where I really help women entrepreneurs redefine what thought leadership looks like. We don't always have to be raging in the room. There's a softness that can precede us and also abound us when we're in these spaces. And so I really want to teach us how to build profitable business that will that are sustainable because everything is at the core of mental health. And I don't think we recognize or realize that. But if you don't operate from a place of where you're not sacrificing your mental health, then a lot of things go awry. And then you're wondering why your business is not sustaining, why you're not growing, why you're not getting profits. And so I really want to teach us how to just do business differently.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yeah, I love that. So you were the winner of the 2025 Powerful Women Rising Podcast Guest of the Year award. And so for those of them who are listening who did not listen to your episode, I will link that in the show notes. But I can't imagine there's very many people out there who didn't hear it because it was definitely one of our most popular episodes. Talk a little bit about, we were talking on that um podcast episode about mental health and mental wellness and how that relates to business owners. So, how does that play into what you do in your work as the soft simple CEO?

Mental Health As A Business Blueprint

SPEAKER_00 3:54

It is actually the basis, it is the core, the blueprint of what I do. We all have mental health. We all do, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent. Some of us live with a mental health condition, which is slightly different. If we want to get to a place of mental wellness, then we have to understand the pieces and the core parts of us that do not operate at optimal levels. So, for instance, I have high functioning depression. I know that if I overschedule myself, you will not get the best part of me. So there I have to decide or look at my schedule and say, okay, I can't overschedule myself. Otherwise, I won't be in the wellness piece. We try to separate the two, Melissa, to be honest. But they're not inseparable. You have to have one and the other. It's not one or the other. You have to have them both. And I love what Erica talked about about having a place to release some things, which gets you into a place of mental wellness. And so when I started looking at what I felt like women entrepreneurs, even myself, even high level, let's talk C-suite and above entrepreneurs who um, you know, deal with a lot of stresses. How do we get to a place where I can still show up and be the boss? But I don't have to be the other word. You know what I'm saying? Like I can do both. I can be soft and I can be very feminine and still own and command the room without sacrificing my mental wellness, and then I can be the perfect leader, not really perfect, I can be the best leader for my team.

Erica’s Adoption Story And Anger

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah, that's really good. Erica, I want to read a little bit about uh you. I don't know if you've heard this or not, but this is what people we had for the awards. People wrote in their nominations. They told us a little bit about why they were nominating you, and then we had people vote. We took the top three from each category, and then there was a panel of judges that chose the winner. So I want to read just a little part about you that was written in by the people that nominated you. And what they said is Erica's story is resilience in motion. They talked a little bit about the things that you have gone through in your life with being adopted, um, your own struggles with mental health, uh, your own struggles with physical health. And they said, instead of breaking her, these experiences became the foundation of her life's work, creating a space where people can process emotion, release stress, and reconnect with themselves through movement and healing, which is a lot of what Lakeisha's talking about too. And there was a quote that they shared that you said that was, I've learned that healing isn't about reaching a finish line, but about returning to yourself over and over. They said her ability to rise and transform her pain into purpose makes her a powerful example of resilience. And I would love to hear from you just a little bit about your own experience with mental health and how that relates to your business as well.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Yeah, absolutely. I think um it really is the foundation of me. And I encourage people to, you know, be confident in who they are within their mental health journey because we all have a journey, and it's important though, to not run away from it and really face it. And it took me a long time um to face it. It my my adoption story is actually um probably the catalyst. I uh was adopted as a as a baby, um, and I was the bud of a um a family secret. So um my entire family knew who my biological mom was. I did not. I thought I was, you know, um from a completely different family. Who knows, you know, when you're adopted, you get to have the the best imagination, right, of where you're where you're coming from, you know. So I used to tell people Janet Jackson was my biological mom. Literally. I was like, yeah, you know, she's on tour, you know, Uncle Mike, uh, they they can't take care of me. So and so for me, um that imagination was taken from me when I found out uh when I was 13 that my biological mom is actually my aunt and my most favorite aunt. Um it still is, um, but it was really hard to find that out because I was just so confused. At 13, who wants to find out anything heavy like that? We're all, you know, assholes at that age. So can I cuss on this podcast? Uh yeah. Have we met? Right? Um, so yeah, uh 13 is a terrible age to find anything like that out. It was too, it was really heavy, you know. I'm in my own bubble and going through puberty, all those that fun stuff. And so I that was the beginning of um a an angry version of Erica because the abandonment led to confusion and then to loneliness and then to sadness and then to, you know, we're not talking about it. Uh, this is big news. Are we not gonna face this? No, of course not. We're gonna brush it under the rug, um, like most families do. And so it really turned me into um, even though I could still operate, I'm still happy. No one would know, but I was really angry inside. And um, I think that was just uh what created uh the beginning of all this anger and this wonderful uh rage room of emotion.

Illness, Fitness, And Recovery

SPEAKER_01 9:14

So yeah, that's interesting. It's interesting too how your relationship with sports and movement and exercise has kind of come full circle too, right? Like I know when you were young, basketball was a really important part of your life. And um you lost your full ride scholarship during these struggles with your mental health. Um, and now here you are back again in this place where you are encouraging movement and exercise as part of the healing process, which I think is super cool.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

Yeah, yeah. Fitness absolutely saved my life. Uh, basketball was my um my love, uh, one of the great loves of my life. And um going to college and getting as uh I got very, very sick. And I do attribute that to keeping my emotions inside my body. Um, I truly believe that by not being able to talk to someone in a safe space, I trapped emotions. I got very sick with pneumonia, and I also have a pre-existing um disease called sickle cell. And so the pneumonia and the sickle cell combined, uh, I was in a coma for six weeks uh in the hospital for three months and um had to completely restart uh my my everything, my entire life, not just my body. Um, but I'll tell you, had I not been as fit as I was going into the hospital and enduring all that I did, there's no way I would have survived. And that's how I truly believe that fitness has to be a part of our um regime. And the biggest part of emotion is I bring all sorts of fitness in. I don't just, you know, do the boot camps and um the strength training. You have to try what works for you. So we have dance with Pilates, we have anything from yoga, and then we do have the strength training stuff because it it's all what's relevant to each individual person um and what what gets them to move and inspires them. So, but yeah, that that fitness piece is what also got me to strengthen me on the other side as well. Um, I weighed 113 pounds when I got out of the hospital, and I'm a I'm a happy 160, whether I'm in shape, out of shape, I'm 160 all the time. So um I had to get back in the gym. Um, I had to strengthen my body and uh strengthen my mind. That's really all I had, and all I really knew at that time in such a dark time.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Yeah. So you can see why she won the resilience award.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Absolutely.

Pushing Through Pain And Burnout

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Yeah, it's interesting what you said about your your illness coming from everything that you were storing inside. I've noticed with myself, anytime I get sick, it comes on the tail end of like me pushing and pushing and pushing, right? Like I've got so much to do, I've got so much to get done. I can't stop and take a nap. I gotta do this. Now I'm doing this, now I'm doing this. And eventually my body is just like, listen, if you're not gonna stop, we're gonna make you stop. And so now you're sick, have fun in bed. How do you see that in your work, Lakeisha? With how do you see these emotions that people hold inside and the struggles that they're having with their mental health, that they're just like, it's fine, I'll push past it, I'm good. And then how does that show up in their business?

Rest As Strategy And Real Talk

SPEAKER_00 12:22

For one, it's a matter of life or death. And I really hate to be that that lethal, that downer. It's a matter of life or freaking death when you do not have a safe space or find a safe space in order to talk about things. I think what we try to do is we try to trick our minds and our bodies into what it really isn't happening. So I'm a girl that I love affirmations, but they just ain't for me. I'm a tough girl. You gotta say more than that. I can't say, oh, today I will be this. No, ma'am. I need you in my face. Like, hey, girlfriend, get it together. So we use affirmations and all these other pretty flowery things to trick our minds and our bodies into what really it's not going to adapt. Your body is not going to go against you. You are going against it when you don't do the things that you're supposed to be doing. But society tells us, oh, your body's attacking you or your no, honey. Uh-uh. You were attacking your body by not paying attention. Our body gives us warnings, just like a car. I mean, we all probably guilty of the check engine light. We all probably guilty of the you know, gas light. And you know, from my black folks out there, we hear the beep on the smoke detector. Wait, wait, nobody's telling us the battery is out. Like, wait out. Your back is beeping, honey. It's beeping. Change the battery. So when we hear that, we tell our bodies to keep going. We tell our minds to keep going. And if you're a high-level, high achieving woman, you're going to crash and burn. You will, you're going to crash and burn at the least moment you expect it. It's going to be a big presentation that you need to be in the room for. That your body is going to say, uh-uh-huh, girl, gonna lay it down. You're not gonna be able to do that. Because our body knows to some extent if this happens, then there's gonna be more of this. It needs to rest and rejuvenate, it needs to be able to recycle those things. People laugh at me all the time when I say, baby, rest is a strategy, it is a business strategy, and not only that, honey, it's biblical. Jesus took a nap in the boat. So why you up? Why you up? I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

I just had this vision that you need to record and then sell like your own affirmations. Like, if I could wake up every day to Lakeisha Mosley being like, uh-uh, girl, don't go back to sleep. It's time to get up. You know it is. Get up. And then I need my like midday alarm. That's Lakeisha again. That's like, hey, why are you still awake? Lay down. I see you. Lay down. I would pay money for that. I really would. You're welcome for that brilliant business.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

I love that idea, actually.

Entrepreneur Advice: Network First

SPEAKER_01 15:18

I do. It's pretty good. Um, I love you both. We could sit here and talk forever. I want to ask one question that I've been asking to all of the people who have won the uh Powerful Women Rising Impact Awards this year. And that is if you have one piece of advice to give to a female entrepreneur who is listening to this podcast, what would that be?

SPEAKER_02 15:40

One? And I was just saying, like, I haven't.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

I mean, you can pick it.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Well, mental health experts, Erica. Like, she knows we got more than one.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Listen, I know both of you. You probably have like 19. Maybe two.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

I'll be honest. I I think um I I I hired a business coach before I started. The one thing that I collected on my way um that was never said to me, and still I don't think it's talked about. I wish I had networked for a year prior to ever opening. That is so damn important. I wish I got into so many rooms to say this is what I'm about to do. It's coming on this date, and I don't care if it's a year out, I need every single one of you there. That's what I would done because I feel like I've just been trying to catch up on my networking. And so that's that's did you all hear that?

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Because I've been saying that for years.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Network for a year. I'm telling you, seriously, network, get in those rooms before, even if you just have an idea right now, because even rooms where you'll just continue to get inspired, like you're just sitting on that idea and you're like, okay, I'm in these rooms with these other women, and you'll feel that spark, but you're also getting your name out there, your vision, your personality. People are starting to fall in love with you. That's truly what I wish I would have done.

Take Your Own Advice And Nap

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Yeah. I love that you said that. I just did a launch recently of um a new virtual networking group for women. And my goal was uh 35 founding members, and I ended up signing up 46, and now we have 80. Um in a week. And somebody was asking me yesterday, like, how did you do that? Like, teach me. Like, was it, you know, because we want to believe that it's like the funnel, or it's, you know, I hired a copywriter for my sales page, or it's this, or it's this, or it's I'm like, the only reason I was able to do that is because I've been networking like a fool for the last seven years, right? Like I have so many people that know me and like me and trust me and will tell other people about my thing who wanna there. I have people who are like, I don't even know what your thing is, but I like you, so I'll be in it. Like that really is the way a hundred percent, and so much more important than so much of that other stuff that we like to spend time and money on when we start a business.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

That part, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

I'm like, how about just go talk to people? Yes, not sexy, but it sure is gonna work. Yeah, for them, let them see you. Yeah, I love that. What about you, Lakeisha?

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Mine's very unconventional, as y'all know. I'm a disruptor. That's shocking. My advice is take your own advice. You don't have to listen to me or any other experts to do what the hell you know that you need to be doing. Basically, it's what has that still small voice been telling you to do? What are you doing? I'm a church girl, although I cuss, but I'm a church girl, I'm a PK. You know, that still small voice tells you, it guides you. What are you doing in your alone time? What are you asking God for? What are you believing for? Erica says something, and Melissa said something very key about networking. Get in the rooms. Your next partner, your next collaborator, your next investor is in the room. What is the voice inside of your heads? Not the ones that I fight daily because I have high functioning depression, but the good voices that are like, hey, Erica, go do this idea. You can help other women with their rage. What is that voice telling you? Because you ain't gotta listen to us. Listen to yourself.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Especially when yourself says it's time to take a nap.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Baby, go to sleep. Because I'm I'm gonna go to sleep. They asked me, What are you doing this weekend enjoying my rant?

SPEAKER_01 19:20

I'm going to sleep.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

I'm going to sleep. I will take a nap in the middle of the day. I'm sorry.

How To Connect With Erica And Lakeisha

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Yeah, that's what I'm fixing to do right after this interview. Yeah. Go to sleep. All this talk about nap is making me want to take a nap. Yeah. Uh, before I go take a nap, let's talk a little bit about how people can connect with you too. I know um there are people locally in Colorado who would love to check out Erica, your facility. Uh, we're gonna fly Lakeisha out here so she can release some rage. I mean, I'm not gonna fly her out here, but somebody's gonna. Somebody will. Uh, what is the best way for people to connect with you guys to learn more about what you do, Erica?

SPEAKER_02 20:01

Yeah, um, you can find me at Erica V at emotionfitness.net if you want to send me an email. Um, but definitely visit www.emotionfitness.net. So check that out. Uh, we have so many events, so come through.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Awesome. I will put that link in the show notes. And what about you, Lakeisha?

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Do not email me because I probably will not get it unless you are flagged as important. So don't email me. I'm always in email help. But I am Instagram DM friendly. Drop me a DM at Lakeisha M Mosley. I am the funniest person on there. Like, I will respond. I do respond to DMs. It's me, it is not anyone on my team. I respond to my DMs. So Instagram is the best way to get to me. Also, check out my website. You can hear more about the Soft Simple CEO and the framework that's coming out soon at lakeisha mosley.com.

The Power Of Referrals And Rooms

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Love that. Can confirm she will respond to your DMs. In fact, that's how you and I got hooked up was through networking because I know. Listen, I know I had someone on my podcast, Suzanne Kohlberg. She was talking about how to set boundaries without being a bitch. Suzanne said, You got to have Deanna Seymour on your podcast. I had Deanna Seymour on my podcast talking about using gifts in your marketing. She said, Let me introduce you to Liz Wilcox. I said, Great. Talked to Liz Wilcox, joined her membership, signed up for some summit she had, heard Lakeisha talking on the summit. I said, Liz, I gotta talk to Lakeisha. Sent Lakeisha a DM on Instagram, and here she is on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Right. I love it. People don't get how serious connections are and what they do for your business. You're right. The sales copy means nothing. What if I can't see or read? But I can drink it. You know? I mean, it's highly unlikely, but I mean, just what but what if I can hear? What if I feel your vibe and your energy? You know what I'm saying? Like it's amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah. And even before I know your vibe and your energy, I meet somebody else and I love her vibe and energy. And she's like, you gotta talk to Lakeisha. Well, of course I'm gonna trust that, right? Because if I like her and she likes you, then for sure I'm gonna like you.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

And that's right, exactly. The beauty of now. Stuck with me now. I know ultimately.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

I know. I can't get away.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Erica, now you stuck the in.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

How could you not want you around?

Gratitude And Closing Appreciation

SPEAKER_01 22:41

I know, right? She's the best. All right. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast, for sharing your bits of wisdom with our listeners. But mostly thank you for being you. Thank you for who both of you who have been in the world, for how you guys show up every day. You're both doing such important work. And you have a thousand reasons to not do it. You have a thousand reasons to say, this is too hard. This is not for me. I'm depressed. I had a hard life. I'm just gonna go back to bed and the world can fix itself. But you both are showing up every day in the best ways that you know how to create a positive impact in the world. And I hope that these awards are a little reflection of that, a little boost for you guys that people see you, people hear you, the work that you're doing is important to them. And um, we just appreciate it so much. So thank you both.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Thank you.