Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexia Antoine.
Hi Alexia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
From an early age, I was an observant, “old soul”, so much so that teenagers would tell me their life stories, and I’d listen. Later in graduate school, while working toward a Master of Arts in Counseling, I became intrigued by a phenomenon called Dialectical Thinking, credited to psychologist and researcher Dr. K. Warner Schaie, used to explain the ability to make decisions when presented with two undesirable options. It was the entry point I needed into questioning my own tendencies. Why did I have a mindset so beyond my years? Why did I carry myself the way I did? Is there a measurable cause for this and a way to reproduce it at will? All of these questions occurred to me; little did I know that they were my introduction to examining who I was as a person. Between my love for people, and a honed skill for asking laser-focused, impactful questions, I developed the ability to get beneath the surface, even with some of the most guarded individuals.
Then I took this ability and ran with it. My company name, Upward Anchor, is a two-word testimony about how I weathered and beat a 10-year depression that spanned ages 15 to 25. The name came to me in 2017 while counseling a vibrant woman in her ’60s who was living a fulfilled life in every area but one that she held most deeply. I spoke to her about cooperating with her brain’s structure and “anchoring the mind upward” by giving it inputs that train it to stay on an upward trajectory, through little things she could do in her daily life. It wasn’t until she came back the following week and read the page of notes, she took on her iPad from our previous week’s session and landed upon the exact words I said: “anchor the mind upward”, that the impact of those words hit me.
That was the first time I heard my words said back to me on that level. I saw a big, bold, pop art-style exclamation mark in my imagination and thought “Oh my goodness, that is my brand!” I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but I knew I had stepped into my niche of therapy that day. Years later, I learned that my niche of therapy is more specifically tied to guiding individuals in getting uniquely aligned with their Life Mission and Life Vision, so they can be in place to be the answers in the earth that they were created to be. My niche also includes guiding others in developing and honing their potential in what I’ve coined the “Excellence Incubator” (one of the major areas I cover in Book 2 of my Licensed series, Licensed to Disrupt, and in my one one Coaching). The effects of this are so cyclical its mind blowing. When people are in position to fulfill their purpose, families thrive, confidence soars and self-esteem reflects the true self. This is how I live up to my first name, which I was thrilled to learn means “Defender of Mankind”. I protect people by loading them up with knowledge that empowers them and shrouds them with clarity in today’s world. This is what I was born to do.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Those ten years of depression from age 15 to 25 were ruthless and demeaning! I felt like that hamster in the YouTube video that got its paw caught in its wheel. The poor thing must have made four merciless rotations in that position. Yet, as an INTJ on the Myers-Briggs (Architect type) and an Enneagram 5 (the thought-driven type), I couldn’t be deterred for long. That’s why today I bring my own brand of counseling and coaching because I have to create structure and a system beyond mere discussion. I have to provide takeaways that can stick with the person and have “sticky impact”. When I recognized that the relief, I was waiting for was waiting on me and that nothing was changing without my influence, I went to what I was familiar with: books. I logged into my Dallas Public Library account and started clicking the reserve button like mad. By the time I looked up from my laptop, I had reserved ten books, or close to it.
I still remember the day I lifted the green hardback cover of Staci Eldredge’s book Becoming Myself. It was the first Personal Growth book I’d ever read. I lit into it, and by the time I completed it and closed the back cover, I was refreshed. Still, minutes later the depression crept back in. I repeated this process of completing book after book on my Reserve list and found that the mood dip persisted, though in lessening degrees. Not until I completed reading book number 18 within a month, did my brain feel lighter. I even won the Mayor’s Summer Reading Challenge behind it! But the best prize? No more dip in my mood like before.
From then on, I never again experienced that level of depression. Every day was an adventure and a game to get better at. Today, I shortcut for others the process that took me over four years to master. I talk about the brain’s amazing ability to adapt and be trained (Neuroplasticity), and how to use it to one’s advantage. It led me to create the Rocket-Fueled Affirmations Formula, which is how I make my process reproducible, present it in steps and add a language to it for others to benefit from. This “Formula” uses the long-favored tool we know as affirmations, and takes it beyond hopeful thinking, and packs a lot more strength using neuroscience-backed techniques that wakes the brain up and directs it to problem-solve and overcome distraction, while creating new pathways in the brain so it can be done easier next time until it becomes a habit and a train of thought. With my Formula, the brain begins to rewire itself after the first use. After nine hundred attendees joining my mini course, the results and the feedback are largely the same. I was thrilled to see that there is research that supports the neuroscience behind this process! It has proven to be the solution people have been looking for, along with my “Framing Your Day” course.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
What problem do I solve? Detail-oriented, high-achieving self-starters know that they have goals and a purpose, but don’t know what path to take to align their efforts, abilities and focus to take the necessary steps to identify them, let alone get there. How do I solve this problem? By positioning detail-oriented, high-achieving self-starters by sharpening their mindsets to positively disrupt multiple spheres of influence – on societal levels, corporate levels, and beyond. I do this by providing tools for them to get clear on what they were born to do, what they do like no one else, and how to dynamically present and operate in their giftings. The bulk of the process is us working through the resistance that comes with change and narrowing the focus to the necessities. Old habits die hard, but they don’t have to stop you, nor can they when you’re dogged about fulfilling the reason you were born. Once you’re locked onto that, nobody can tell you a thing.
As an Author, I’ve created a 10-book Personal Development series that is in-progress, called the Licensed series, that addresses the vital questions in Personal Development and Personal Growth. They’re the basis of my branded Courses and journals.
I provide Coaching to individuals looking to specifically grow in the areas of Personal Development and/or Business Vision. Regardless of the track you choose, you will gain the foundational basics over the course of the three (3) intensive, biweekly, 60-minute sessions that are: Purpose discovery, Life Mission development, Life Vision development; and integrating your purpose into vehicles for widespread impact in your sphere of influence.
Beyond this, we branch into track-specific areas. For Business Vision, I guide you in identifying your values that propel your brand and your business approach, because it sets the tone for what you do and how you do it. Then we delve into target niche identification, Vision and Mission Statement development, and business culture creation/reinforcement, and brand loyalty strategies. For Personal Development, I guide you in my own brand of planning called “Framing Your Day”, a technique that can save 40 hours of wasted time and cut out the unnecessary mental clutter by making your virtual calendar your secret weapon, instead of your burden. Then we delve into the inner work and address the Imposter Syndrome that threatens to sabotage the assignment that you feel a strong need to actualize, and much more.
I provide Counseling to individuals who experience significant levels of resistance to the considerations required to gain clarity from Coaching. Therapy forms I use are:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
Integrative Therapy
I offer a series of online Personal Growth & Development courses that include: Framing Your Day (for increased focus and a steady routine, while creating consistency in goal and personal growth pursuits); Becoming a Positive/Active Disruptor; Moving Past Self-Sabotage; Flourishing the Creative Soul (how to combine the hard and soft skills needed to bring your Vision and goals to fruition, even if you’re an Introvert).
Pricing:
- Individual Talk Therapy (50 minutes) ($150)
- 50-min. Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing ($200)
- 90-min. Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing ($300)
- Personal Development OR Business Development Coaching Intensive Package (Your choice of Intensive in one of these areas) ($1500)
- Business Development + Personal Development Coaching Combo (Intensive in both of these areas combined) ($2750)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alexiaantoine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upward_anchor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlexiaAntoineWriter/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/UpwardAnchor
