Shivani Gupta

Welcome to the Shivani podcast. I am so excited to have our guest today. Our guest today is Shana Pereira and she is normally based in San Diego in California. But today is joining us and happens to be a little bit closer to me, me in Australia and Darwin. And we will dive into what she's doing in Darwin. But she has quite an extraordinary CV. So let me do, let me see if I can do it some justice, and read you a little bit about her.

She is a natural leader in work and life, and she has a beautiful ability to be able to bring people together and make the impossible possible. She's got 20 years of experience in marketing and media. She helps guide large scale systems, operating systems, she drives cultural engagement and growth so that the business can have impact. She is a storyteller. She has been called the modern-day apostle, and an unrelenting optimist. She is a very sought out speaker and thought leader, particularly around to lessons around organ transplantation and importance of partnership with your medical team. And again, we will dive into a little bit of that. And she is also served as the executive director at resolution agency in the position of global lead for the Virgin voyages account. And anyway, she has won over 50 industry awards, the list is really long. I am so excited to have you on this podcast, Shanna, thank you for joining me.

Shana Pereira

Thank you so much. Shivani, it's so great to be here with you. It's such a pleasure.

Shivani Gupta

And when I read this extraordinary CV and even just connecting with you today, one of the questions that I always have is what have been some of the highlights and the lowlights of your life. What have been the things that have really transformed you into who you are, would you share with us? And sometimes I don't mean a lot for anybody else. But for you there have been those really those transformative moments. So, tell us a little bit about that.

Shana Pereira

Yeah, for sure. So, I was born here in Darwin, Australia. And I do have to say that it was very much a highlight. I was born into a Portuguese in East Henry's family, that were refugees to Australia from East Timor. And having them come from a war-torn country, upgraded, and emigrated to Australia really gave me the resilience and the attitude. And I think the grit that I have been known to exert. And so, it really is the starting point. So, it's such a pleasure to be speaking to you. Brom Darwin, in that same breath. I would say the other part that was a highlight for me was immigrating myself to the US. And so having moved from little Odawa, and straight into Los Angeles, where millions of people more people than I've ever seen in my entire life in one place, more cars, and more everything was definitely a highlight for me in being able to do that.

And the reason I moved over was to market northern territory with the Northern Territory tourist commission. So having the privilege of being able to merge the two worlds, speak about where I was born in a country that was so excited to see and experience that was really, really a major highlight for me. I then had kidney failure. So, my kidneys actually failed Christmas Eve 2015. in Darwin, it happened to be on a holiday that I was home. And with that kidney failure, I think it was a low light as many can appreciate. But I grew so much out of that. And so, so much development happened in who I am, and how the authentic life lessons that you are ness is that are necessary in those moments to bring forth really emerged. So now I look back on it as a highlight but in a moment was definitely a low light. And that experience led me through to having a heart and kidney transplant, Christmas 2020 which was very synergistic, having had my kidneys fail on Christmas Eve. And the experience of going through that was a low light with probably three low lights back-to-back and then a highlight that emerged out of that, which then completely brings me back to being here at home this last couple of weeks in just regrouting and regrouping.

Shivani Gupta

Wow, that's incredible. And not many people Shana go through that much. And I just loved how quickly you're able to frame that in highlights and lowlights. And what did you say three back-to-back low lights that then, you know, turned into a highlight.

And so, you know, obviously, I look at, you know, we all have these challenges showrunner in our business life in our personal life, you've just alluded to some of them. And some people deal with challenges. You know, through philosophies, some people have a process some people, like we all, I guess, address the challenges that come our way differently. I'm really curious in terms of how you address challenges. And so, do you have a methodology or a process or a ritual at what do you do? And obviously, you've gone through a lot of things physically over the last seven years, let alone before that, that you've shared just with me to tell me a bit about the challenges when they come your way? And how you go about navigating through them?

Shana Pereira

Yeah, thank you, Shivani. It's a really amazing question. This is where, this is why I say it was a highlight because I've had the privilege to practice. The first thing I'll say is, I remember that I'm human. And then what comes along with our humanity, is the entire range of emotions. And I truly give myself this space to have them. If I'm angry, people say to me, I do everything at 100%. If I'm hangry, angry, I'm really angry, if I'm happy, I'm really happy, right? Like I really let myself experience whatever is in the moment. And that for me, what's right there for me to share is how I deal with those crisis. And those challenges is by being present, is so much of us that want to escape that moment, we want to run through it, we want to get past it, we're doing everything we can do to move it behind us. That it's almost like a car, that the more you resist, the more you're coming up against it. And what I found was the surrender, of being present. And what that means in practice is, I acknowledge what is happening, if it hurts physically, I'll say this physically hurts. I've had moments where I've been with a nurse and the nurse has to give me an IV. And we would take a pause and say, okay, just give me one second, this is gonna hurt, I know it's going to hurt, I'm not going to pretend like it's going to be anything different. Let me just get ready for it by embracing it.

And being present in that moment, I think was the hardest thing. In vividly present, feeling the feeling, hearing the noises, feeling the smells, you not like actually really being there. Which, counterintuitively, helped me get through it so much faster, because I wasn't trying to run away from it or trying to push through it. I just was like, okay, if this is what we're doing, for the next five minutes, five hours, 10 days, this is what we're doing. We're okay, it's all gonna work out. But right now, I get it, it hurts, you know. And so I really bring myself back into the present, and consciously and if that means I need to pause, to be able to just be there with it. That's the biggest thing I try and do is to really be in the moment. And it does feel and sound counterintuitive. But I found that it helped me go through it a lot faster.

Shivani Gupta

That's really beautiful. You know, I, I get that at a theoretical level in my head about being present. And I think I try and be present, particularly with my kids, but I think your example of you know, knowing that that IV was going to hurt and feeling and smelling and like really almost all of your senses coming in doing that. And yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? I think there's certainly some feelings I avoid shuttler being completely vulnerable anonymous because some of it is really difficult to embrace and so yeah, as you said that you know, if you can embrace that and be staying the anger then that's so important too. That's really beautiful. I'm gonna think about that a bit more after after our conversation, you know, is finished and so when I look at your read your CV that I shared with the audience, Shana and I, you know here in conversation with you, there are so many things that you have done you felt you'd have achieved when you look In the future for you, and sometimes people only look, you know, a little bit out and you know, maybe a month or a year, but other times people look out 20, 30, 50 years, like legacies, etc. So whatever timeframe that you look out, what are some of the things in the future? Like, what are some of your future aspirations that you want to do for you want to do, whether it's in your work or for yourself, personally? Tell me about some of that about your future things that you want to do.

Shana Pereira

Yeah. So, when I had my heart and kidney transplant funny if I can take a little bit of a flashback to answer the future question. The experience that I had in that moment was I my kidneys were failing, I finally found a donor, I just had to do two tests. And in doing those two tests, they found out that first they found out what my kidneys could have had cancer, then they found out two days later, my heart was failing as well. So, I thought I was going to die. Any future anything that I had disappeared in an instant. I thought, That's it. I'm going to die. No one survives these two things that have come back-to-back. I very much believe in signs; I very much believe in synchronicities in the universe. I very much believe in that. And so, for me, that was like the years three signs back-to-back that I'm done like this is a wrap.

Fast forward. I was put on the kidney and heart transplant list on Christmas Eve by a bunch of synergies that you would just not believe could even come together in time for that. And the very next day, on Christmas day, I receive a call that says we have a heart and a kidney for you. The doctors said that is on believable, completely miraculous that it never happens in one day. They were predicting two months at the fastest. So just that was a huge miracle. I flatlined three hours before surgery. And that's when it became even more prevalent. Now, picture this, at that point, I've got no future at all. I was thinking if I just make it to next week, I'm winning. So, I really didn't have any plan for the future. When I flatlined, I had what culture calls in NDA. Now, I was never particularly religious. I was born into a Catholic family. So, we've kind of had to be right like he just it's just expected. I was never particularly religious at all. And when I flatline I had the NDA, and I saw the hallway, like God, Jesus, the entire thing. In that moment, God says to me, you are to start a church with your best friend, all denomination, not with the intention to convert, but to demonstrate that we are all united simply because we are religious. I never intended religion to divide, only to unite.

So, when you ask me the question about what is it my future? I honestly don't necessarily plan on one of my friends said, you've got a minor problem. You hate going to church. I don't know how. She said, FYI, you're hate it.

And so I'm like, it's clearly not my plan, clearly me left to my own devices that is not in the plan. But what I am really great at is bringing people together and bringing people together around a vision and to what has come from those experiences. So many people have said to me, that I give them hope I'm an answered prayer. I represent manifestation. The universe is on your side, all the cliches that we say in theory and philosophy in a person. And so, what has been my game plan has completely rearranged itself. And so, what I've learned from that in the future is what I know that I am here to do is to bring people together. And what I know that there is for me, is to share a story about a girl from the Outback. That is normal. I don't have a college degree, student have particularly well I cure like nothing extra ordinary that would say, you know, I wasn't a master at any particular thing, other than I think really just connecting and understanding authentically with someone else was coming from. And so, what I save for the future is really building a community where people feel comfortable and completely at peace of being themselves and believing in something larger than themselves, whatever it is, because I think that if we're reliant solely on our own two hands to get us through everything, then we're naturally limited because we are one person, you know, human experience. And so that's what I see for the future is I now am to share my story in occasions like this with you. And continue to listen and feel out what feels right as the next step. Knowing this context that I've been shared that has been a sacredly shared with me that that is what I meant to do. I didn't even know the definition of it yet. Other than to know that I am to continue to share because every time I do people share back to me that it impacts them in real life immediately, that following my story along they've had better relationships with their children, that they have more authentic conversations that aren't surface level, that even when they go grocery shopping, they do it with just a little bit more of a sensory experience in the moment of recognizing that life is precious.

And every minute that we spend everywhere we spend every minute intentionally, it really does matter. Because it's all of the minutes. And when we spend that create, what is next for us. So, me coming back to Darwin, as part of that is to really discover, to really discover what is the next evolution of me? What does that look like? I've had the privilege by flatlining and coming back of truly having a completely fresh start. And so, I think there's sort of like a, an end point, if you will, that has been given to me. And then I'm still discovering the steps in the middle. So yeah, that's really what I what I say. It's not as clear cut, if you will, as most, but I think that truly is what it means when you're on the plan that you were born for, versus the one that is my design. Because left up to me, I would be, you know, C suite in a fortune 50 company and continue my marketing and advertising career in that trajectory, that is very traditional trajectory of where you would go. So, this has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works of giving me a fresh start. So, I think that's probably the biggest thing that has changed about me as well is I was very planned out and intentional prior to this. And now there's more of a listening for what feels genuinely right as the next step.

Shivani Gupta

Wow, there was so much in that shot, there was so much in there. And, you know, I've spoken to people that have had a MD or near-death experience, and they've often had those really profound things that have come out of it. And it's always like, you know, these are my words, you know, not yours, but it's almost like they have an accelerated path to where they're meant to be, rather than the end for a bit longer. Like It almost brings them a little bit closer, in a more accelerated way that we're going to eventually get there. But they just get there a little bit faster through that NDA. That's amazing. And, when it comes to your wellness, I know that you're now helping so many others. And sometimes I know for me with a mom of young kids and running a business and you know, we run out of space and time for our own wellness. You certainly spoke about really feeling through the moment not just you know, hear in your head, but really living through the present moment, or the other thing, Shanna that you do for your wellness. You know, whether it's daily or weekly or even yearly, like do you have certain things that you go well, I need that and I've now built that into my life in terms of your own wellness.

Shana Pereira

Yes, absolutely. One of the main things is the pause is what I call it. I could be in the middle of giving a talk in front of 1000 people. And if I feel I really need to pause, and I really need to take five, I do it. That is very, very sacred for me is if I just feel like things are moving way too quickly. Previously, I would grit my teeth and just go just get it done. And you know, it's all happening. And this is all here and you've got to just keep pushing through, I don't anymore, I pause. And I don't care what that means for anything else. If I need that, that's what I need. And it's very, very sacred for me.

The other thing is I flatlined on December 26, the 26th of the month is my planning day. So that's the day in which I take my time, I am a lot more cognizant of everything I've done, I reflect on that month, I take a moment to really kind of think about where do I feel like I'm not enough where I feel like I haven't done enough and put it to bed, remind myself of the things in which I have, and really have that sort of internal dialogue check on the 26th of every month. And the two biggest things I think I learned is, what's there for me to do, and everything else tends to work itself out. But what's there for me to do is strengthen my relationship with my higher power. For me, it is God given my NDA. So, I take time, daily, to really present myself to what it is to be human, is what I think is quite a miracle. It's a practice that my aunt taught me when I was sick. And it's really about stopping looking at something like a flower. And beginning to ask yourself, how did it get there, looking at the actual details of it, starting to look at the leaves, and looking at all of the infrastructure that makes this little flower be, and all the things that have to come together in the universe, just for this flower to be there for the moment for you to see it. And in reminding that there's so much thing, there's so much more happening outside of us that I'm like one piece of this greater process, right? I take a moment every day to do that.

The other thing is that I really prioritized my wellbeing. It's very, very easy. It was very easy for me before, to say to myself, I'm hungry, but I'm in a meeting, I'll lead into hours when these two meetings are done. I'm really, really thirsty. But but the time I go over there, and then have to come back. Let me just finish this phone call, then I'll go and take care of what I need to that has completely flipped for me. So now I eat when I'm hungry. I sleep when I'm tired. I wake up when I'm not tired anymore. Whatever that is, in whatever time that is, I drink when I'm thirsty. I really, really listen to my body truly like a toddler. You know, when you have a toddler if they're hungry, they eat in that moment. They're not waiting for an hour or two until you're ready to feed them right and they won't stop until they're satisfied. And so that's been the biggest thing that I've flipped around in that ritual is really taking care of my relationship with my higher power. When I tend to find the answers of whatever I'm dealing with, by focusing on something that is as small as like, outside of me. And then I really listened to my body. I don't have any alarms. I don't put an alarm on my phone to wake up. Nothing like that. And I don't eat at lunch because it's lunchtime. I eat when I'm hungry. And I drink water when I'm thirsty. And you know, I really do listen to my body from that standpoint.

I think those are the two things that have probably changed the most. The third is the pause. And the last one is the 26th of the month. That's just my special day that I might not do anything different. externally, but I'm hyper aware of my inner dialogue. And I'm hyper aware of checking in, of how have I been speaking to myself this month? Where do I feel like, I'm not enough? Let me check in and remind whoever is telling me that I'm not enough that I am. And put that month away. Those are probably the four things. So, I try and keep it super simple, and really listening to myself.

Shivani Gupta

Beautiful, beautiful share. And thank you for sharing those experiences. And I love the fact that some of them are daily and some of them a yearly like the 20 sets, then really building that into your ritual, knowing that that's happened for a reason. And Shana, if people want to find out more about you and your story and the work that you do, where are the best places for people to find you?

Shana Pereira

Yeah, for sure. So you can find me on https://shanapereira.com/. So, on my websites, probably the easiest way, is a contact form, I answer all of the inquiries that come through. Personally, I really love to hear about people's stories, as well as if I can help in any way, I'm more than happy to. A lot of the work that I do with people, as you mentioned earlier, is really around how to harness your medical team in going through this, or going through a chronic illness or surgery, which doesn't even have to be major. But you know, anything hospital related is a level of anxiety and vulnerability that is hard to deal with. It's hard to manage and no one really teaches you how to advocate for yourself. People say that, but they don't actually teach you how. And so that's where I come in, that's where my executive training comes in. And I can take in and what I do a lot of the time is teach people how to be the CLO of their medical team, how to bring the medical team together, have a more focused on the same goal and really have yourself represented in the way in which you want to be and then hence treat it how you want to be. So that's the best spot and then took follow my story along as really my Instagram, which is @shana_pereira.

And on Instagram I share sometimes its daily thoughts. Other times, it's different lessons I've learned that month. Other times says things that I'm curious about. And I'm wondering if anyone else is having the same experience because all of this is still a learning journey for me as well. Christmas 2020 was only you know, 18 months ago. And so, I'm still on my own journey. And that's why definitely sharing and hearing from other people who have experienced anything that they'd like to share with me. I'm so open to it.

Shivani Gupta

That's beautiful. And we'll put all of those details in at the bottom of the podcast. I'll stay in a moment and hang with you for a minute. But I'm so grateful for your journey and so grateful for your sharing. It's been such a pleasure having you on Thank you.

Shana Pereira

Thank you so much Shivani thank you so much.