How to Build an Authentic Personal Brand Using Astrology with Jackie Zavalza & Daniela West

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What we cover:

• Discovering Daniela West’s unique approach to branding

• From religious cult to finding your suppressed voice

• How self-taught design led to a spiritual awakening

• Overcoming societal oppression to discover your true self

• How corporate burnout led to astrological branding and self-discovery

• Branding your soul’s essence with astrology and human design

• Using your astrological blueprint for authentic brand communication

• Discovering your deepest wound and greatest gift through healing your Chiron wound

• Branding as a spiritual initiation for your digital identity

• Cultivating self-empowerment to escape the “sea of sameness”

• Embracing your originality: The magnetic power of authenticity

• Resonating your true frequency to attract your authentic tribe

• Explore Daniela’s astrological branding resources and coaching

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The following is a direct transcript from the episode, edited for readability without ChatGPT to preserve the speaker’s original voice, authentic phrasing and emotional storytelling.

During this conversation on This Sacred Journey Podcast, Daniela West and host Jackie Zavalza discuss the journey of finding your unique and authentic voice and expression in a world where we are trained to live in the “Sea of Sameness”.

Through tools like astrology, web design, and coaching, Daniela helps you find the perfect branding that is aligned with your soul’s true essence.

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Jackie:

Hello everybody. Welcome back to the Sacred Journey Podcast. I am your host, Jackie Zavalza, and today I am very excited to introduce you to Daniela West. I just want to tell a little background story of how I found you because I found you recently when I was working on my website. And somehow, I ended up finding your website which is fascinating. Daniela supports people in creating their websites, but in a very mindful way. I wrote down actually some of the things that I found there that describe it better than I could about your mission and your branding.

So Daniela West is on a mission is to create sites with soul for founders, conscious creators, visionaries, coaches, and healers of the world. And when I was researching your website, I was so excited. It was like a journey. It was so engaging. I spent hours just in your website going everywhere because it was so much fun going there. You have all these and I was like, "Wow, this is so fascinating." And I'll let people go there and figure out for themselves.

But on top of that, I want to also use the description that you use to describe yourself in the website because I thought it was so beautiful and so fascinating and it actually adds to your work, which is you support people to create their brands in alignment with their soul. And the way you describe yourself, I feel like it's so unique. So I'm going to read it.

So Daniela—she's a personal brand expert, also known as your fairy brand mother, which I love. Her goal is to help transform spiritual brands into spiritual magnets. She describes herself as a design witch, coach, astrology junkie, creative force, artist, singer, intuitive empath, very possibly an alien, but most importantly, your brand's new secret weapon.

Daniela, welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Daniela:

Thank you so much. Oh my gosh, I've never heard anybody introduce me like that and that was really fun. Thank you.

Jackie:

Honestly, I was just reintroducing you—how you branded yourself—because I think this already says a lot about your work, like the way that you're able to express who you are and what your brand is about in such a beautiful, clear, and fun way. And it's engaging, right? I read that and I get fired up. I feel fire inside. I'm like, "Yes, I want to get to know this person."

So, I feel like we're going to get to speak a lot more about what this is, which is your passion to help people find their signature branding and how you came to be. And I feel like this is a perfect example of who how you're already doing it. So, yeah.

Daniela:

Oh, thank you so much. I'm so honored to be here. I had no idea you spent so much time on my website. So, that's always nice to hear. I appreciate that.

Jackie:

Yeah, it's a journey and what you've created is just such an art form. I really can see that it, and I know the time and energy that it takes to do the marketing because I've had to do it for myself. So I really want to honor your work and really highlight how amazing it is.

So, now I want to get to speak about you and for you to tell us about your story. Like I'm really curious. We've already gotten to know each other a little bit more, but I feel like there's so much for us to unpack and I already feel like I just want to be friends with this person. You know, you're so cool. And I want to you to tell us about who you are, your background, what's your story, and how you even begun this journey.

Daniela:

Oh man, so many juicy great questions. I like to go back to childhood when I tell my story, as many of us maybe do.

For me, I think what led to the creation of my brand and being so self-expressive and helping other people translate who they are and how they express themselves into their brands—it really goes back to childhood trauma. From a young age, well, ever since I can remember, I was raised in a religious cult.

And this ended up being a very suppressive, restrictive environment where, from a from a young age when I was a little girl, I was just a sponge absorbing everything around me. And so much of what I absorbed was messaging around how I'm supposed to dress, how I'm supposed to talk, you know, I have to be this perfect child. I have to be the good girl. I have to get straight A's, otherwise I'm not worth anything.

The only attention I really received in the family, positive attention, had to do with achievements, accomplishments, status, anything related to that—school and getting a good job. And so I think growing up in this kind of environment that really praised status and accomplishment over expression was a really big part of my journey because my mom she said when I was born, I could sing before I could talk, for example. Yeah, she said when when I was a baby I was singing even before I was speaking.

And I think that's just such a good example of how, as children, we are born with special gifts. Every child has a different set of gifts. And I think so much of what happens in the future depends on whether those gifts are recognized when you're a child, and whether those gifts are praised and encouraged to develop. And unfortunately for me, my family did not really praise those gifts.

I was born with a lot of creativity and a lot of sensitivity—I’m very emotionally and energetically sensitive and all these things, but these just weren't things that were recognized in my family as valuable. And so I really grew up with this deep wound. I grew up with this very clear message in my mind that my voice was not worthy of being heard. That was a message I had on repeat over and over.

And I discovered it honestly just a few years ago. I identified this limiting belief that's literally been running my life ever since I can remember. And I think a lot of that came from growing up in a religious cult that didn't encourage any self-expression. It just encouraged conforming, fitting in, being like everybody else, being like a sheep, basically a sheep in the herd.

So, I think long story short, I've been on—probably the last seven years—a spiritual awakening journey, which I'm sure you can relate to. I've been on my personal and spiritual development journey along the way. And a big part of that actually was starting this business back in in 2019. It was early in my spiritual journey when I started the business. But really for me, it was my way of expressing myself. It was my way of leaving my own unique mark in the digital digital world. And I loved it so much. I loved creating my own website and branding myself that I ended up just starting to do it naturally for other people.

And in the process, it's so weird to say, but starting a business as a web designer, brand strategist, and coach actually led me into spirituality. Believe it or not.

Jackie:

Yeah, that's that's fascinating. So I'm assuming you went to school to become a web designer.

Daniela:

No.

Jackie:

How did you even get into it?

Daniela:

I'm completely self-taught as a web designer with branding. I would say I never went to school for anything artistic. This was all completely self-taught. Just hours and hours and hours of practicing and experimenting and tinkering and just making things beautiful, because it brought me joy.

But I actually did a master's program in Jerusalem many years ago, which was a fascinating and wild place to study. Yeah, there's so much we could talk about there, but it was an amazing cultural experience in terms of learning—I studied nonprofit management. I studied social impact. I studied a lot about humanitarianism and basically how to make the world a better place by collaborating with people of diverse backgrounds. So I know it seems like this has nothing to do with design, but while I was doing this program I started to learn about entrepreneurship and about this idea of social impact.

And about a year after I graduated, I just started to build a website for myself. I wanted to brand myself as a coach—a life coach and a career coach. And yeah, the masters planted the seed for entrepreneurship, but it was sort of this delayed effect. It took maybe a year after going through that academic program before I realized I just want to work for myself, and I had built the confidence and the skills through doing a master's to just get in there and experiment, even if it was something I had no experience in.

I think just going through that program and doing it in another country built my confidence up a lot to just try new things and experiment and have fun with it and just flow, and see what feels good and aligned from there. So long story short, that, in a strange way led me into building my own website, starting my own business, wanting to try my own thing. And I loved building my own website so much I just started doing it for other people.

Jackie:

Yeah, I love it. This is a great story. I already know and we have so much to talk about because I've shared with you a little bit about my Magdalene connection and now you were like you studied in Jerusalem, like what? This is fascinating to me and so many things that you already shared, I feel like I can relate to and maybe a lot of our listeners my listeners and readers will relate, too.

Growing up, you mentioned you grew up in a cult. And I mean—this is sensitive subject and maybe some people will be offended if I said this but—I feel like all religions are a form of a cult, to some degree. And some of them are better, or less damaging than others, but at the end of the day I feel that in society—and sadly, a lot of the times it comes from religion—we've been repressed in so many ways and we've been actually disconnected from our creative nature and and our unique voice and way of expressing ourselves.

It's almost like society wants to keep us, like you said, like a sheep following the crowd and having the courage to stand up and even beginning of the journey to get to know who actually am I beyond all these beliefs that I got or these teachings—beyond all of these constrictions that I've received and imprinted from society. Who actually is underneath that? And that takes so much courage. And I feel like when we decide to do this, it's intense. It is the beginning of the spiritual path.

Everybody finally decides like, “Okay I'm tired of this. I'm ready to figure out who I am.” It is the opening of the spiritual path because the spiritual path is about getting to know yourself. It's about discovering who you are and then on top of that, building the courage to go against the crowd and stand up for yourself and find that voice in a society where we've been so repressed.

I just had another podcast with a friend where we were speaking about creativity and I was telling him that I've been reading a lot about studies about the number one fear in humans. There are so many studies around this, and they've discovered that people are more afraid of public speaking and being seen than they are of death. You would think that the number one fear is death and it's actually not. It is public speaking and being seen. And that says a lot. That says so much about the state of society.

And when we look through the history of humanity, people that were willing to stand up for themselves will, a lot of the times, end up being burned at the stake—like killed heretics—just because you were brave enough to go against the status quo. So, thank you for sharing all of that.

And obviously I have so many more questions but, I'm curious how you mentioned you started your spiritual path and how it was your own path of branding yourself that ended up initiating you deeper into this journey.

So how was it exactly? I just want to know the moment—what opened you into this spiritual path.

Daniela:

I love how you just framed that question, too. Like my personal branding journey as a business owner ended up being my spiritual initiation actually. Yeah, this was an initiation. I would say how I started off as a business owner, I started off as a coach, a personal brand and career coach. And so much of that came from my background in corporate.

So the beginning of my career was about seven years in corporate. And I can tell you I hated every step of the way. Oh my God. I hated every every minute I had to sit in that cubicle because, as I got over the initial honeymoon phase like, "Yay, I graduated college. I have an adult job. I have a stable paycheck. This is what I'm supposed to do, right? This is what society has told me I'm supposed to do to be an acceptable human being. So, I'm doing it."

And it didn't take long before I felt like my soul was absolutely being sucked away. And at first I was like, maybe it's just this job, you know? Maybe I just need to find another job and I'll feel a lot better. Well, I probably switched jobs every single year for five or six years thinking that would solve the problem. It was the same pattern every single job I had in corporate where I just felt so misaligned. Life felt dull and gray and monotonous and honestly pointless. Life felt completely pointless in this type of lifestyle, in these types of roles, in these types of environments.

And honestly, I really got to a point of a nervous breakdown one day. I woke up. I was supposed to go into work that day, and literally my body was shutting down. I had horrible acid reflux that whole year. I was so stressed out. And one day I woke up and my body shut down. I could not get out of bed. I couldn't walk. And I just started crying the whole day. And out of that, I literally just grabbed a pen and paper and I started writing poetry about how much pain I was feeling, how wrong life was feeling.

And all of a sudden, I reconnected with my inner child who used to write poetry.

I wrote poetry when I was a kid, and the words just started flowing out, and and all of a sudden I had this remembering. I had this moment of realizing, “Oh my god, I forgot about this person inside of me. I forgot about this version of me who is so expressive, who has so much creativity. She has so much to tell the world, so many feelings to express, and nowhere to do it.”

And that was the day where I started to remember that I am an artist, that I am this very creative person who's extremely expressive and just has to find the right outlets for it. And that was the start. That was when I really woke up from realizing that if I expect society to hand me alignment on a platter, it's never going to happen.

And this really set me on the path to where I started to crave entrepreneurship. I started to realize that I could not continue in corporate. I have to do my own thing. I have to discover what brings me joy. I have to discover the impact that I'm here to have on the world. I had to discover my voice. And I think creating my own business, my own website, really set me on that journey because suddenly I didn't have anybody around me bossing me around. I didn't have any rules. I didn't have anything to follow except what I wanted to do.

And that was so scary in the beginning, from growing up in a religious cult where everyone was always telling me what to do and say at every minute, and going through school and working in corporate, everyone is telling you how you're supposed to be or say or dress. And I finally started to ask myself at this point, well, "How do I like to dress? What makes me feel good? Do I want to wear like corporate suits every single day? Does that feel like me?”

Sometimes I love a good blazer, don't get me wrong, but I just started finding little ways to style my jewelry, my hat, my accessories, you know. I started this process of experimenting with style in person and online and, I mean it took several years to really get clarity, but I would say that this was the initiation into self-discovery for me.

And honestly, the same thing that happened in corporate then happened in my business. It was the same pattern where, probably by year two in my business of brand coaching and making websites, I really started feeling like something was missing again. And I actually went through burnout in the business. I had to step away at a certain point because I was going through that same pattern.

And little by little, astrology found me on Instagram. I got to this point where nothing felt right. I was so burned out. I was getting really bitter about my business as well. I was overworked. I felt I was meant to be doing more, or that making pretty websites and pretty branding wasn't all that I meant to do, if that makes sense. I felt that there was depth missing in my life. There was spiritual meaning missing at that point.

This was a few years ago. And, little by little, on YouTube and Instagram, I was seeking guidance. You know those inspirational quotes and where do you turn when you need guidance? Social media has always been a place of inspiration for me and I started getting into astrology naturally. And that's how it started—I started following that curiosity about, oh, I'm an Aries, right? I'm an Aries sun. So, I started just diving down the rabbit hole of learning.

And after a few years of learning astrology on my own just because I loved it, one morning I woke up and literally just started creating new websites for fun, just for me. And I started thinking, "Oh my gosh, this is so cool." Like, if I were an Aries, let's say the sign of Aries were a website or a brand, what would that look like? That's how it started. I just started playing and before I knew it, I created this whole website template collection all inspired by a different zodiac sign and I made it within two weeks.

Jackie:

Yeah, that's fascinating. I'm glad that you went into this subject because that's what I really wanted to talk about. Because I haven't seen this—it’s one of the main things that I was so excited about—your website and exploring it and I went and saw everything you have in there, everything. Because you also have little gifts that you give people and quizzes and things like that and I did it all. I was like this is cool and I've never seen anybody help people brand themselves according to their astrology.

I think that's so brilliant. That's so so amazing because I feel like this is a beautiful way to merge both. Every human is so different and so unique and we all have such a specific signature and such a flavor of what we bring to the world that we cannot put everything in one box, like you said. The world now—it's thirsty. It's craving authenticity, and we're more and more ready for it.

And it's almost like now, that's becoming the norm of finding who you are and then showing that in the world. At least in the communities that I move in and that I navigate in, which I surround myself with spiritual conscious communities wherever I go. And I feel like that's the new way.

But as a spiritual entrepreneur, if you hire a web designer that doesn't get you, that doesn't understand you, that cannot translate your soul's essence and frequency and mission into this, because they don't get it. Like, they come more from a corporate space. I think this is so beautiful that you can do that—that you can translate that into digital identity.

Yeah. I love it.

Daniela:

Oh, thank you so much.

Jackie:

Yeah, that really excites me. And obviously from here, I want to dive deeper into that because I have so many questions on this. You offer astrology branding sessions and you did one for me that I was like, “Well, we had never met, and that's how we started connecting, but I was like you're describing me to the tea, you know?”

It's like everything that you said is exactly like you already knew my mission just by seeing my astrology chart, you already knew what my purpose was, what is my voice, how I'm supposed to show up in the world. And I was like, "Wow, you're confirming everything I know about myself, but also amplifying it. And I think hearing it from someone else sometimes just anchors it more."

And it's like, "Okay, this is how branding gets confusing." Because not everyone out there is a coach. And some people have very bold, loud voices and sometimes I'm not like that. I'm the opposite. I'm more soft and everything, but sometimes I wonder, am I doing it wrong? Should I be more loud? Should I be more bold and strong?

And then when I spoke to you, I was like, "No, actually, I should just stay true to me, which is like my softness and the way that I share is how I'm supposed to put my energy out there, and that's how my tribe is going to find me.

If you go to another brand expert, they're probably going to be like, "No, be loud. Use red colors. Use this." Because that's what's going to stand out. And it's true for some people, but not for everybody. So, I'll let you speak more about this:

What are the main things that you see in someone's chart that can help them translate into into their branding?

Daniela:

Such a good question. And, by the way, it was so fun. It's so crazy how we met as two complete strangers. We just hopped on a Zoom call together, and we did this reading and I read your chart, and I'm just so happy to hear that it was so accurate, you know?

Jackie:

Yeah, it was super accurate. Like crazy accurate.

Daniela:

And that, to me, that's why I'm so passionate about astrology because literally looking at someone's chart, I can instantly see the story of their life. It's so wild.

And so I would say some of the the main placements that I focus on in terms of guiding people for their branding and their messaging—I love to look at your rising sign. Most people just go straight for your sun sign, which is sort of the dominant. Like when someone asks, "What's your sign?" They're actually referring just to your sun sign.

But I love to focus on your rising sign because your it represents your physical vessel. It's the first impression that someone gets just by looking at you. So, the rising sign can offer a lot of inspiration as to how to actually dress up your brand. So, for visuals, for imagery, for colors, the overall look and feel, it's a really good idea to look at your rising sign to get some ideas.

Another placement I really like to look at is the moon sign, because the moon sign can offer so much insight into your ideal clients. And this is what so many people come to me for help clarifying is—who are my ideal clients, and what can I do to attract them better?

So when I look at the moon sign, it will tell you both: what are the qualities in other people that make you feel safe to interact with them and vice versa. What are the qualities that you naturally give off that help others feel safe with you? Because it's those moon sign qualities that someone is subconsciously magnetized towards you.

So essentially, your moon sign indicates your dream clients, your collective that you're here to serve. That's a really powerful placement.

I wonder if you remember what we what we mentioned in your session? That would be fun to explore.

Jackie:

Yes, I actually have notes. Speaking of the moon sign, like everything you were sharing, I have notes from our reading that we did together that you guided me into. And I think there was one that spoke about your messaging, how you're communicating your message. And I can't remember if it was the the sun, moon, or the rising sign—how your websites look, the feel of it, but I'll let you speak more on that.

Daniela:

So I also love to look at your Mercury placement as well, because Mercury is the planet of communication. You can get a lot of insight as to your brand voice when you look at your Mercury placement. You can look at the sign it's in as well as the house, which represents the area of life that your communication will focus on most.

So for example, my Mercury is in Pisces and it's in the first house, which that is the house of self. So, my natural way of speaking and also the most potent, powerful, effective way of speaking for me is going to be leaning into my Pisces energies in the way I communicate. And this was really surprising to me because I spent so long in corporat and academic environments where I got conditioned into thinking that I always had to be super professional and that I had to speak really formal and really maybe more Capricorn kind of style, which is not a bad thing.

Jackie:

It's just so funny that you said that—a Capricorn—because I feel like society wants all of us to be Capricorns and maybe Aries. Like that energy of “go for it.” Whatever, we have like 12 zodiac signs, you know? But I wanted to highlight that like.

Daniela:

That's a really good point. I talk all the time about conditioning as well.

This is a huge thing that I've realized about myself in the world is how deeply we all get conditioned by our direct communities, our families, our friends, our schools, our communities, and society as a whole. We're always getting messages about how we should be and look and act and show up, even how we should brand ourselves. But the power of astrology or human design or any other tool that gives you insight into what makes you unique and different—that's why I'm so passionate about these things.

So going back to your Mercury placement, for example—your voice, your most authentic potent voice—mine is in Pisces. And it's the complete opposite of what I learned about how to speak in corporate. Pisces is the poet. Pisces is the dreamer, Pisces is the mystic of the zodiac. Even my hand movements. I have even noticed this in myself like when I sing, when I speak, like look how fluid my hand movements are. It's like water. It's fluid. It's soft. It's flowing. It's soft and beautiful and delicate.

And so learning about these Pisces energies, which I had no idea about years ago—God, I wish I had known this when I was a kid. Can you imagine if someone told me that the way you're meant to communicate is through these Pisces energies? Lean into your poetry. Lean into your artistry. Lean into this fluidity and the sensitivity.

And speak in that way, because that's what is most natural to you. That is what people will gravitate to you for. People will be so responsive the more you lean into how you are designed to authentically communicate and express yourself. So that's the Mercury placement.

Jackie:

You just made me have this dream. I dream of a a school that's created for kids now with all of this new understanding. Imagine if, from the get-go, the systems are supporting individual beings. How can we highlight your uniqueness and how can we use your astrology and your human design to learn how to teach you better and support you in your own specific growth? Epic.

Daniela:

Oh my goodness, that would be life-changing. I share a similar dream, honestly. I hope someone here listening or reading is ready to start a school like this—it would be so incredible.

Jackie:

I dream that if I ever have children, obviously even if the school system doesn't or the school that I send them to doesn't have that, I will incorporate that. And I feel like as parents, maybe we're the primordial guides. So this—everything you're giving us—is gold. We want to support our kids to be more of themselves, but how do we do that? And these are technical tools that we can take for ourselves, but also for our children and future generations.

So I don't have to struggle and spend, in my case, 20 plus years of being indoctrinated into something that I'm not, and then realizing, “Oh, that's not what I am.” So I'm doing all that I learned, and then recreating a whole new way of being that is actually in alignment. It's so much work that our generation is doing. It's like, oh my God, God bless our hearts. Hopefully the new generations won't have this enormous struggle that we've had to go through.

I love this. I love this all of it. But one of the main things that I was so excited to hear more about and that we wanted to speak about in this podcast is you mentioned something about how your Chiron—which is the wounded healer in the astrology —can really point you towards your medicine, your mission in this world, right? Let’s speak more on that.

Daniela:

Yeah, the Chiron placement for me has been absolutely life-changing when I discovered it in my chart. I discovered it about myself and now I help my clients discover it as well. This is really a life-changing placement because so much about Chiron reveals our our deepest wounds. As you said, it's often I would say like 99% of the time linked to our main childhood trauma. In a way, it's like our our birth chart is the journey that our soul signed up to experience in this incarnation. That's how I like to look at it.

And so, my soul signed up to go through this early childhood trauma that resulted in a very deep wound, my Chiron placement. This deep wound has been running my internal programming, the main thoughts that I have in my subconscious that are deeply holding me back from tapping into my fullest potential. But the blessing of learning about Chiron and going on the spiritual journey and learning to to heal ourselves, is that we are meant to heal our Chiron. We're meant to heal this deepest wound and use it as a catalyst for sharing what we've learned, what we've learned through this healing. This deepest wound then becomes our greatest gift, our greatest medicine to share with the world.

And can you guess what my Chiron is in? I forget if I told you.

Jackie:

I mean, yeah, hearing your story and you also told me it has to do with your expression, right? Like you're speaking your truth. So, yeah. Where is it? Gemini or where do you have it, Leo?

Daniela:

Yeah. Wow. I don't remember if I told you. Yes. My Chiron is in Leo, but it's in the third house, which is the house of communication. So, that's pretty similar to the Gemini energy. So you could think of Leo and Gemini combined energies in a sense.

My Chiron placement is completely related to the voice, to communication, to self-expression, and to being seen, which is a very Leo thing, feeling safe to be seen in the spotlight. Literally the biggest message that I had on repeat in my subconscious before I discovered this was that no one cares what I have to say, and I'm not meant to be in the spotlight. I told myself this as a child and teenager many times. I remember saying it out loud.

Jackie:

Wow. Even saying it out loud, that's that's intense.

Daniela:

Yeah. And you know what's even crazier? I was thinking back on like the journey of my brand recently. The very first version of the website I created for my brand. My tagline was, “Your voice is worthy of being heard. You deserve to be seen. And the whole world is waiting to find you.”

Jackie:

Yeah, I feel that. I feel that transmission because I feel like even you saying that, was you healing yourself and simultaneously sharing that healing with others. Because honestly, it's so interesting how that was such a specific wound that is in your chart that you're meant to target and support people.

But to some degree, I feel like all humans, a lot of us have it specifically. We're on this path of spirituality and healing ourselves and all of this in mysticism specifically, we're a mystic, like yo, thousands of years of witch hunt, right?

So I feel like this is probably also a collective wound that we have. But knowing that, for you, specifically it's part of your mission to help alleviate some of that collective pain in the world by helping others find their voice and their courage to be seen, which is everything, and I love it.

Daniela:

Oh, thank you. And it goes back to what you asked me earlier about the initiation. I would say discovering my Chiron placement and how that has expressed itself throughout my life—that was a huge part of how this branding journey led me more into spirituality.

Because, to go back to that original tagline, that original mission—that was literally 100% my Chiron placement expressing itself in this mission. And I didn't even know anything about astrology when I came up with that phrase. But my I think my soul knew that this is what we have struggled with our whole lives, and this is what we're going to give back to the world to help other people with that pain.

Jackie:

Love it. So cool. So when you have a client, when a person hires you to help them with that, I think these are some of the primordial things that you go through before even beginning to work on their website, right?

And I think that's so profound because I I feel like even hiring you to support anybody in that is already a part of a spiritual initiation for the person to get to know themselves even better, and really anchor down into their mission—but from a very solid background.

And sometimes, I've had other brand people support me in the past to find myself and it was beautiful and powerful but I think it took so long to even try to find because I had to go in deep inquiry within myself and I found similar answers to what you helped me found.

But to have someone that like who, just based on their gut, can just go in and read you—and it's like here is the answer, and you either resonate or not—it saves so much time. That’s it. It saves so much time, because the answers are already there—the blueprint is there—and all you have to do is really plug yourself into it and potentialize your innate gifts that you're meant to share.

So I love it. Yeah. So exciting. Anything else you want to share for now?

Daniela:

I'd love to leave some perspective for people who have been struggling with branding or self-expression and not really sure how to get unstuck or get the clarity they're looking for to fully express themselves online.

Jackie:

That's huge. And I feel like right now, the era that we're living in, is also so interesting because even when we were young there was no internet, there was no social media, none of that stuff, and we're experiencing the shift now. Everything is moving into that—like we have our personal identity but also an internet identity that’s how we portray ourselves in social media and everything. And now we have to navigate this part—it's part of reality, we cannot disconnect from it, and we want to be participating in this world. And especially if you're an entrepreneur, I feel like you cannot fully escape having to deal with the internet or having an online presence. So yeah, please go ahead.

Daniela:

That’s such a good point. There is the in-person persona and the online persona now. And I would say so much of what I've heard from clients over the years, one of the biggest things they struggle with is how do I get my digital presence to feel like me? How do I allow visitors, potential clients, people who land on my website or my social media, how do I get it to just feel like me?

So even if they don't get ever get to meet me in person, because many times we don't ever meet the people we hire—it's all online, or a lot of it's —and so I think that is one of the biggest challenges for people. And it's also one of the biggest reasons I find that a lot of people are reluctant to sharing their work online is that they don't feel that they're expressing themselves clearly as their authentic selves. It doesn't feel like them, or they've copied someone else's style.

And it's not attracting their dream clients. It's not resonating with people because—I'll tell you why—it's not authentic to who they are. It doesn't come from a deeply rooted, deeply embodied sense of self.

So, one of the things I've realized, and one of the reasons I'm so passionate about tools like astrology and human design, is that it's truly a lens that you can follow to quickly get a great sense of, okay, here are my strengths, here is my authentic voice, here are the keywords that I naturally use anyway in my natural language, here are the keywords to focus on. Here are the authentic ways that I am meant to market myself because these are the things I do anyway.

One of my biggest frustrations in the online space over the years became seeing so many cookie cutter brands. I don't know if you've seen this yourself, but I was like, why does everything look the same?

Jackie:

Yeah, it does. Right.

Daniela:

Yeah. I sort of see the same fonts and the same colors and everyone was hopping on the same trends. And the same thing happens in real life too, with fashion, or products or specific like reels and certain content. It's like everyone just hops on the bandwagon of copying each other and trying to go viral and doing all these cookie cutter things.

And honestly, I started getting really angry because I was like, "What is everyone doing? We are completely losing ourselves in, what I call, the sea of sameness. We're in a sea of sameness.”

(That's my Pisces in Mercury placement expressing itself, by the way.)

Jackie:

I love that.

Daniela:

Thank you. We're in the sea of sameness, especially with AI making it even easier to replicate things.

And so I just want to leave people with this perspective—that no matter what happens in the online space, we never want technology to take away our humanity—the true essence of who we are—our souls.

I think the more that everyone can equip themselves with self-knowledge, self-awareness, self leadership, self- autonomy by understanding yourself so deeply and so intimately—using tools like astrology and human design is a great way.

But the more that you know yourself, the more self-empowered you are. And once you're in that state of self-empowerment, like, “I know myself, I love myself so truly and deeply.”

No one can control you at that point.

Jackie:

I just got chills. I feel a fire. The Aries energy is moving. I love that message specifically. It's so important to remember that especially right now, with all the AI technology that is happening, it needs to be emphasized of how much coming back to our humanity—this is our biggest gift. This is what's going to make us stand out, by not following the AI trends.

And I see that in everything, even in the spiritual community—now all of a sudden everyone's doing the same cacao ceremonies, the same sharing in the same way, the same yoga classes, the same meditations. And it's beautiful because we do inspire one another—like this is how humans learn, by being inspired—and then there's a level where we imitate in order to to learn something. But eventually, we need to find our own voice. We need to find our own way and stay out of the state of imitation.

And I feel like right now, everyone's trying to figure it out. So their way is imitation. And I love what you said—the sea of sameness. We need to break away from the sea of sameness and find our unique blueprint, because it is true—we are all one—but at the same time, there's a reason why the universe created just you the way you are.

It blows my mind that in the entire history of humanity, of all the billions of people that exist right now—if we add all the humans that have ever existed, no one has ever been like you, specifically. Your specific DNA blueprint, how you are, your spirit, the way you communicate. It's a such a gift that we carry just by inherently existing that, by dismissing it, by trying to be like everybody else, we're doing a disservice to the world. But also to who we came here to be.

I love it. Yes. This is exactly how I feel.

Daniela:

Oh my God. Yes. And that's one of the gifts that I came here to share with the world—helping other people just give yourself permission to be yourself because—you're right, what you just said—there is no one like you. There will never be another person 100% like you who expresses exactly as you do. And that's why I think the power of self-expression and understanding what makes you so original in how you self-express. There will never be another yoga teacher just like you. You know what I mean?

So that's exactly how you can pour your originality and uniqueness into your work, into your brand. It's who you are, and no one can ever 100% replicate that once you understand your unique magic. So that's powerful.

Jackie:

Yeah. And I mean, people may try at the beginning to replicate you. When someone has found their originality that oozes out, it’s like it becomes honey. And everybody wants it. It can become an inspiration and people want to replicate it initially. Maybe not with that intent, but you're right, no one can actually fully replicate it, and everyone needs to find their own medicine. Go within, find your own medicine, and then allow that to be transmitted.

People can feel when something is being replicated, when something is being copied. This is why it doesn't attract. This is why, like you were saying, the brands don't magnetize. They don't sell. They don't connect with people because it's a replica. It's not coming from true authenticity. The heart of the message, the heart of what you're sharing is what carries that uniqueness that people are looking for. It’s that light, that honey that people want, not necessarily even the message.

Even spirituality, which is the industry I work in, there's nothing you can say—there's no spiritual teaching you can say—that hasn't already been taught by hundreds of thousands of teachers before by so many religions, so many sacred books, everything is already there and it has been.

But what makes it different? Why is it even important that you share it? It’s because it's how you have found that teaching, how you have embodied that teaching, how it has resonated with your own frequency that requires that transmission. And for the people that are ready to receive the message and that can only receive the message how you are here to share it.

I've heard many messages from other people that I haven't resonated with, and then I find the one person that goes straight to my soul. And it's a frequency, it's a resonance that is beyond comprehension. It can be the same words, but it's the energy behind it that is actually the transmission.

Daniela:

I totally agree. It is so much about frequency. It's literally like you're searching on a radio for the channel that is the most clear—where you can clearly hear the message being transmitted. And you keep twisting the knobs and you hear all the static, and it sometimes it's a little clearer. You catch certain words and then you land on that one station where every word is crystal clear. Everything is being transmitted straight to the soul. That's the power of your unique expression.

Jackie:

Yes, straight to your unique soul. Because maybe for someone else, they would listen and be like, “I don't resonate.” But I think it was you who recently posted a story or you reposted or it was another friend. I don't know if it was you or someone else, but I ended up reposting it because it was so powerful. It was this experiment that was being done with sound of like different frequencies.

Daniela:

Oh, right. It was me. Yeah.

Jackie:

Can you tell us about it because maybe you'll remember it better.

Daniela:

Yeah. They were using a tuning fork or something, and one was at a specific frequency. It was two metal balls placed next to each other and they were hitting these these instruments, but they were hitting them at different frequencies.

Jackie:

Yeah. I think one was like they they were hitting the 420 and then over here they they were holding a a 440 and when they were resonating the 420. This one was doing nothing, right? And then they shifted this one and they put another 440 and they resonated, and this one started singing along the other one.

Daniela:

Yes, yes, there was no movement. There was no movement, there was no attraction at the different frequencies, there was nothing.

Jackie:

So the way we were speaking earlier about Chiron, mine is in the fourth house about home, community, and belonging. I feel like my whole life has been a search for belonging and finding community.

But this is how we find our community—by resonating at our frequency so that we can magnetize and the right people can find us. And those who don't resonate, they can go with peace, you know? This is not my vibe, and go away. The right people can come to you and then the true tribe can be born and true community can grow.

Daniela:

Yeah totally.

It's like you become a lighthouse. The more you harness and use your true frequency, your true inner blueprint, the more powerful and magnetic you become.

The only thing that I used to be afraid of with that—with being my true self and letting others see me and hear me as my true true artist self—I used to be afraid of losing people in the process. And over this journey, I've come to realize that, yes, you'll become very magnetic, but you also become very polarizing.

And it does comes with the territory doesn't it? Yes, it's polarizing where the wrong people who don't resonate get repelled. But then you can make space for the people that really really vibe with you, which is so much more fulfilling and satisfying in the long-run. Why would I want to be connected or surrounded by people who actually don't really value and accept me at my truest self, right? Yeah. Where you still need to hide or like like hide your light or dim yourself or or tiptoe around?

Jackie:

I've lived that life, you know? I also had the corporate job. I also grew up in a family where I was never understood. I also had the people pleaser in me until recently, until the last couple of years, where I wanted everybody to like me. I wanted to everybody to resonate with me because I wanted to feel like I belonged. I didn't want to feel abandoned by my tribe or disconnected.

And I've had to realize that, actually, the more authentic that you're willing to be, the more—like you said—you will attract some people, but you will completely repel others. And you have to be okay with that, and make peace with that, and realize it's actually a blessing in disguise. Because it's purifying your field, it’s purifying the people that are really meant to be here, to elevate and exalt you, but also so you can elevate and exalt them. It becomes a reciprocity thing where there's no dissonance. It's more like a mutual support for everyone's evolution.

Daniela:

Yeah. Oh, that's really beautiful. Yes. Yes. To attracting the right people. I love that. Love it.

Jackie:

Yeah. I love it so much. Thank you so much, Daniela. Such a pleasure to see you again. So, before we we end the conversation, I want you to share more about your offerings and how can people find you?

Daniela:

Yeah. So, I'm the host of The Sacred Style Podcast. It’s an amazing podcast. It's a safe space for healers, artists, coaches, and empaths. We explore the intersection of spirituality and entrepreneurship and, I like to say, the the fine art and journey of being human. So yeah, that's another great place to check out for inspiration.

Jackie:

Yeah. And you will have more offerings you were sharing. I don't know if you want to speak about that here or in the future, but they're connected to astrology, right?

Daniela:

Yeah. So I am a brand coach as well as a designer. People can work with me for brand blueprint coaching if they're looking for tailored strategy for their brand. I use the lens of astrology to help you get really laser focused advice for how to grow your brand, how to communicate more clearly, how to use your innate blueprint to attract your ideal clients and market yourself in a way that feels really aligned and natural and gives you energy instead of drains you. So, I'm a big believer of helping people identify their unique strategies to build their businesses in their own unique special way, because we're all different.

And if you’d like to take your brand a step further with a custom website, you can work with me in my signature design service, The Soul Site Service. It’s a semi-custom, express design service where I’ll create your new digital identity and website in literally under a week. You also have the option to add a 1-1 Brand Blueprint live intensive session with me so that we can harness the power of your own astrology to anchor a deeply rooted digital identity that will evolve long-term as you do, and get it launched fast so that you don’t overthink it or procrastinate any longer.

You’ll walk away with an iconic brand identity that is masterfully magnetic and unmistakeably you.

Jackie:

I love this. Well, thank you so much again for being here and I hope people listening can become inspired by everything or some of the things that we shared. And if you're building your brand, please reach out to Daniela and and check her website. You're going to be so inspired by just navigating through that. And yeah, so many blessings to everyone listening. Thank you, Daniela. And we will be in touch. Thank you. Bye bye.

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About Daniela West

Daniela West is a heart-led thought leader, storyteller, entrepreneur, survivor, personal brand expert and designer, intuitive artist, singer-songwriter, poet, coach, creative director, educator, emerging author, and host of The Sacred Style Podcast.

With an international master's degree in Nonprofit Management & Organizational Leadership, her work sits at the intersection of identity, artistry, healing, and systemic transformation—guiding individuals and communities to reclaim their power, transform trauma into purpose, and become more whole, healed, and human along the way.

❤︎ LET'S CONNECT ❤︎

• ✨Website: https://danielawest.com/

• ✨YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ItsDanielaWest

• ✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdanielawest

• ✨Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bydanielawest/

• ✨Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/itsdanielawest/

• ✨LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-west/

To work with me 1-1, I offer semi-custom web design in under one week with my signature service, The Soul Site Service.

I also offer 1:1 brand blueprint coaching harnessing the power of astrology to clarify how to brand and market yourself using your unique natural blueprint.

On my Substack, you’ll find all the raw, vulnerable, emotional content that I don’t share anywhere else. Poetry, personal essays, channeled messages, diary letters and musings on spirituality, shadow work, transformation. I write about self, soul, & society to help you rewrite your script on being human.

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