Business Innovators Radio - Louise Slattery – The Mind Lady – Mark Stephen Pooler

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

Louise Slattery — The Mind Lady — a globally recognised mind expert, multi award-winning therapist, Mindvalley-trained life coach, and international speaker. My mission is bold and simple: to redefine the mind of humankind.https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-slattery-848216228?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_apphttps://Louiseslatterycoaching.comSource: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/louise-slattery-the-mind-lady-mark-stephen-pooler

Welcome to Business Innovators Radio, featuring industry influencers and trendsetters, sharing proven strategies to help you build a better life right now. Welcome to Brilliant Business TV, conversations with leading experts in business. I am your host, Mark Stephen Pula. We have an incredible guest on the show today, Louise Slattery, all about mindset, which is so, so important. I know in the past I've struggled with my mindset and fear. overcoming obstacles. So I think it's so important that we look after the health of our minds. So I'm really looking forward to a conversation with Louise. Today we're streaming live on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube.

We're on the E-360V network. We're on Business Innovators Radio Network, Android Fire, Roku, and many, many more. Let's bring in our incredible guest, Louise Slattery. Louise, welcome to Brilliant Business TV. Thank you so much. having me. So nice to be here with you. I'm really looking forward to a conversation with you today, Louise, and I got to come to your amazing event in London just a few days ago, which was absolutely incredible. I loved it for the launch of your book, The Spider-Mind, so we can chat a bit about that as well later. So let's get started with the show. Your journey is incredibly powerful. What

experiences in your own life led you to explore how the mind shapes our reality and a great question as well. Yeah. So now I'm called like the mind lady, but it wasn't always the case. Like you said, we all struggle with mental health and mindset. So back in 2018, I was attacked and I lay in hospital bed and I just remember my whole mind just broke down and I was suffering from PTSD, which I didn't really know much about at the time. And it made me become fascinated with how the mind works and how much it could be broken. But then again, that you can also change it and fix it.

So the journey went from the depths of trauma to becoming so fascinated with the mind that I retrained, I left my jobs, I left my businesses and focused solely on the power of the mind because once we have the mind on board, we can do anything. That's so true, Louise. I mean, I went through a big stage of fear and also I started believing it

because the fears got so bad I was reacting to the thoughts so my fear grew and grew because you can either go one way or the other and if you're growing fear, panicking and reacting to thoughts and believing them, it just makes them get worse and worse and worse

and I went down a real spiral with that and I've also suffered with PTSD SD through trauma as well and fatigue, sleeping, really getting depressed. So I really, really understand. But I think as well, sometimes these things can happen to us to push us to see the light and start improving and start going on that journey of self-development and self-improvement as well. So I think it's very inspiring. You're sharing that with others to go on to. Thank you so much. It's very common actually.

So many people are the same that we go through the fears and we listen to the stories that we're telling ourselves. Especially after trauma, we tell ourselves a lot like you know. But it's knowing that what we're saying to ourselves, the thoughts in our head are not actually true and that we can change it. Is that what you found hard in it? Yes. I think it's about not trying to rush the journey as well. I think sometimes you can't just have a miracle the next day be completely healed. You have to send yourself on that journey of taking those steps every day

and just celebrating the small wins along the way, knowing that the work that you're doing is adding up. And like if I look to where I was a year ago or the year before that, my mindset is totally different now. But also as well, when you're changing your mindset, I struggled because you have extinction bursts in the mind. So if you're changing certain beliefs and you have thoughts that you're not very happy with, sometimes when you're creating a new belief,

you still have the old identity and the old thoughts that are still there. So I got to a point where I didn't want them there. So you kind of fight them or resist them, which only keeps them alive. So I found that if you think, okay, I accept that this thought is here, but I accept that it's just a thought and it's not true. So I'm going to allow it to be there

and just not fight it anymore whilst also knowing my new identity and my new truth, but also being okay with the existence of this old thought from an old identity, because it's just an extinction burst. So when you are actually making progress, it's a sign when that old thought is showing up and really fighting you. It's actually a sign that it's fighting because you are making progress

and you are winning. Sometimes you think, oh, I get so frustrated. But it's actually because you're making progress. It's an extinction burst. Yeah. The old identity trying to hold on. Does that make sense, Louise? Yes, it really does, Mark. And it's very important. I'm very glad you said that actually, because

a lot of people, when they're trying to change, they do exactly what you do. What you're saying there, that you try to fight every kind of thought. But the thoughts are not bad, you know, even the bad ones were there for a reason. But when you do try and change it, it is. You get this wall, I call it like the wall of fears. Like this whole wall comes up in front of you and you have to keep repeating the new thing again and again. But knowing that, you know, even when you're doing it, that it's going to be moments when it feels like you have to climb that wall, almost. So a lot of clients that come work with me when we're doing their beliefs in reprogramming, they find the exact same thing. They get to this wall and they're trying to fight

the forts, but then it's not. It's about taking it back, like you said, about taking it back and being okay with what you're thinking and allowing them to be there, but knowing that they're not you, that they're an old identity and that you can spin a new story. The problem with the beliefs is that you have when you're redoing it and you're changing, you're trying to change, but then the other part of your mind that tries to keep you safe is bringing you back to your old programming. See, whatever your program is in mind will actually resist. So you can say like when you want to go on a diet to get better, you will go on a diet

and you know what you've got to do and you're doing it, but then you'll fall back. Because your programming will always outwin your thoughts. So I'm very glad you shared that. But it's very easy to do once you know, but you're really right with that. It's about accepting who you are now, accepting who you've been. And that's what a lot of people find hard is accepting where they've come from and don't resist who they actually are. I've got a great word, Louise, which I use quite a lot.

Because as well, you shouldn't really label thoughts good or bad they're just neutral. So as soon as like the old identity or the old thoughts come in, You just say neutral. I may say it a few times. I may say neutral, neutral. So what that does, it stops me from reacting because it allows me to stay in an awareness of neutrality. So just by saying neutral, it interrupts the thought pattern. That's a good tip.

And then I can watch it. Then it's just like stay neutral to me. Watch it for 20 seconds. If you watch it for 20 seconds, if you watch it for 20 seconds, most thoughts dissolve as well. So you just watch them for 20 seconds saying neutral. So I found that really good for me. If you panic and give it fear or the fight or flight response,

you're fighting it, giving it energy. So I'll just watch them now and say neutral, neutral. And that works really well. Not giving it, the energy is a good one. Because I do something similar when I was going through my stuff when I say it to clients all the time, imagine like you're in the park and you're just looking up with the sky and you've got the clouds going by. And you're not judging the clouds, you're just watching them. Like there's different shapes ones. There's a bad cloud that looks like an alien.

And then there's like an angel going by. But you're not like giving them a name or anything. You're just sitting there watching them go by. And they tend to fall away the power that they hold over you when you just observe them. So it's about being in awareness mainly, just observing it and not reacting to it. Oh, definitely. I think the sky metaphor is really, really good. And seeing them as clouds as well, dark clouds, light clouds, you just let them go. So I love that. You often say that events themselves don't define us. The meaning our mind attaches to them, does. Can you explain what you mean by that? Yeah, it's kind of like it's not who you think you are. It's who your mind has practiced you are. So we have so many stories about our lives. And in our mind, we program, we keep that there, and that's who we are. So we're actually only ever telling stories. But these stories can be

unhelpful, because when I was going through trauma, I was telling a story, if I'm a victim, I'm a victim. And then it can keep you stuck. But the problem that your mind is actually can work the opposite way too. So once you know how stories are attached, you can unattach them are using the same elements that attach them in the first place. So I talk about in my book the spider mind that you, you've got a copy of it, but I talk about the free elements. Yeah. There's free elements in any belief systems or stories that you can change, change one of them elements and you change all of your life. And it's so simple. But I think with stories, it's really important to think about how you look at it because a story is not actually true.

Like we've had stories like a Santa and we believe it's true we act like we've got to get presents on Christmas morning doesn't mean it's true and if we could be so happy and excited on Christmas morning for something that is not true what else are we holding that is not true about us

due to a story Yeah I agree totally we're the ones that gives meaning to things and it's not easy because sometimes we give that meaning and we've played that story so many times. I felt what was very useful for me was writing out the true meaning

or a more healthy perspective of seeing it. Sometimes it takes someone like you to be their present to give their perspective as well because you can't always see it yourself but doing like a CBT read of where you take the story but you give it a healthy perspective. And then when you start reading it, you kind of realize, oh my word, the perspective, the healthy perspective is actually the real way of looking at it.

And all of this time, you've been giving something false meaning. So I think that's very relevant to what you're saying here, Louise. Yeah, your words, the written word is actually really powerful. It's really powerful to rewrite everything. So I really like that you do that. That is really important. And it's really a point to share to everyone that the written words. word actually brings up a lot of meaning in your life. I get people to write the written word

with the other hand. So you know if you're right-handed, you write a written word with the left and it brings more attention from your mind into the page. So if anyone's listening, try that today. Try and write the written word with the other hand and give yourself more focus on your dreams and desires when you're doing it. I love it. Absolutely love it. Many people believe the voice in their head is telling them the truth. From your perspective, is that voice actually truth? Yes. I think we know the answer to us. Yeah. I kind of give, I give the voice a name. So I've got, my voice name is Karen. But sorry, if there's any Karen listening, but I like to give it a voice just to detach it from yourself, to give it a different name to yourself. That really helps me,

and it helps a lot of other people, because when the voice comes in and it's actually saying, why you're so bad why you're not good at this you say not today Karen not today come back a different day so yes it's not true but it is the perception of it being true so I would say you know like um in perception it's like looking at a glass where it's half full or half empty it just depends on the observer the glass don't change the whole time so it's about your perception and perception is so important and I've got a whole chapter about perception in my book because it's a really important thing to study. Yeah, I think as well, staying neutral to it. I think if you react, it's so easy to fall into spirals or believe in the thought loops, whereas if you just breathe calmly, just watch it go by.

It's just like a storm, it will pass and stay neutral. That's why I use that word neutral, because it just allows me to remember to stay neutral rather than to panic. as well. Yeah. And I know you have so many great tours. Like hypnotherapy is great for working on the subconscious side of things as well because what we're talking about at the moment is like the conscious mind is like reading out things, CBT.

That's like working with your analytical. School mind. Yes. But then you can go in and do things with hypnosis. We can really make transformation as well. Carnie, Louise. Yes. Hypnosis is really, really strong to change things that are stored in your subconscious.

So we normally, like 90% of our behaviours and actions actually come from our subconscious, but we're only aware of like 5% in our brain that we work with on a daily basis. So you could be going on a logical mind all day saying, I want to do this, I want to do that. But the 90% below that will win. So it's really important to be able to reach that, which is why I combine hypnosis NLP to bring it all together, because you can reprogram all these beliefs quicker than if you do, trying to just do it with yourself, like saying, empty affirmations all day long. So it's really,

it's really powerful. Oh, yes. And I mean, having NLP is really powerful as well. Like, I don't do it as much now. I used to have an anchor, so I'd push my anchor together. Yeah, because I'm fun together, yeah. Well, I think I needed that in the beginning, but then I was like, I don't feel I need that anymore. So you can you also develop on and change things? Yeah, we still use this when I'm back to go on stage or do a speech. I use that and a lot of people do. Like you see a lot of public speakers before they get on stage and if you notice now that they've got the hand behind their back just before and they're doing these anchors

because there is so many tools out there. And the thing is it's just to decide which one works for you because there's so many that you can choose from. Right? I agree. I agree totally. And I think it's an ongoing journey. I don't want to ever tell anyone, oh, this is something that you do and then you finish because I think. what you realize is, I've got people in my network so successful and they're still doing inner work and they're in the 80s.

I think it's just something that you're doing to on an ongoing journey. Life long. I think it's lifelong, but you don't want to see yourself as your healing because you can send yourself on a never-ending journey of needing to be healed, which some people fall in that trap. A lot of people fall in it. I think it's about thinking, okay, I'm perfect now, I'm healed now, and I'm doing these things to place in my awareness who I am now, to place this in my awareness, this is who I'm being now. And just to improve, it's okay to improve, but you're already perfect and amazing. You don't need healing if that makes sense as well. Yeah, it does, definitely, because that is what I wrote at the end, like the last part of my book, that I'm not going to promise you you're healed now because you're not.

because you didn't need healing. Like you were perfect already. You were born perfect. You wasn't born searching for stuff. And it's just to remember that, to come back to that. And life will give you ups and downs. And you will change as you're growing along. Like Mark said about it speaking and doing things.

But it's like it's a never-ending journey because life doesn't end because it carries on and you get a different level every time in your mind. So it's really important. So thanks for sharing all that. Mark. Forgiveness is something you speak about deeply. your book, what role does forgiveness play in freeing the mind and allowing someone to move forward? Okay, this one has been really hard and it's a real challenge. So when I was 17, my dad was murdered

and it was really hard time for me because obviously I was young and didn't know how to process all these emotions. But I Who was stuck in that stories of why me, the anger, and then you hold yourself in this state. So knowing that you have to learn how to forgive, and it's hard because people don't want to to forgive people who've done bad to them. But it's not about forgiving the person. It's about forgiving yourself so that you feel free. Because when you are stuck in a state of not forgiving people who have done you wrong, you hold onto that energy and then you can't move forward. So forgiveness is never about the other person. It's about freeing yourself to move on.

See, a lot of the time when people go through trauma and stuff, they feel like they shouldn't move on because of how they're feeling. But if they release it, then you can move forward. And it's one of the most powerful tools that I talk about that I work with a lot of clients from. Because everybody has had an experience in life that has been bad for them and that they have struggled to let go.

But once we remember who we are and then say, it's not even like you have to say it. You say it out loud. You don't say it to the person. So the tool that I use is like just put your hand in your heart, take your breath. And then say they name out loud, followed by the words, I forgive you and set you free.

And when I did that, yeah, I did that with my dad, like people who killed him, and I finally did it. And as I said it, I forgive you and set you free. My shoulders dropped down and my stomach felt better. You can literally feel your body releasing it. Yeah. And it helps you get on the stuck. I mean, that's a very, very hard journey what you was on there.

And I can imagine how hard that was. I had some swans that I used to go and see at my lake. They'd been there 20-something years. They were a couple. I'd feed them every day. They'd come up out of the pond. One day, the one had been shot in the next six times. Her male partner was killed in the pond.

Just kids with pelig guns. And the female survived. That really, really upset me. Nothing like your father, I know. But I got to know these swans. They were like real friends to me and give me so much pleasure. And I had to forgive the people that did that because I was resenting them and feeling so much anger. And that's poisoning me and my mindset.

But then you kind of realise a person that does that must be going through so much in their own life to go and do that. So you do also see the perspective of someone that's going to hurt someone. He's obviously hurting. There are obviously things that they're going through. through and it does also allow you to have some empathy and sympathy for the person that has done it which I know in your case that must have been so hard but I'm sure you experience that as well yeah but a lot of people experience it and even what you said about you know being the swan it still means something to us it

doesn't matter if it's like someone got killed or something small like that even just the little things that can affect you yeah so it's important to do it for all these things because it is and you're right because then after the forgiveness moves to the perception. So that is also a big part of how I forgave because I forgave and then looked at it from their perspective, what they went through, like you said, like the person who shot the swans must have been struggling as well. So it, and it just brings back a love in the world. You know, knowing that there's love in the world as well, not anger. We're not putting out anger anymore. Definitely, definitely, definitely. For someone listening who feels stuck in their life right now,

is the most important thing they should understand about how their mind really works. How about something? Yeah. Ignore me there. Yeah. But also, I do want to add this, Louise, you really can support people who are struggling. So share how people can, how you can support them as well, because I know you're just the perfect fit for this.

Thank you. So, yeah, I guess the first step in, it's asking for help because too many people don't ask for help. It doesn't have to be me. It can be anybody. But just speak to somebody because speaking to somebody is the first step to helping you in your mind. So you can come work with me in one-on-one coaching where I combine hypnosis, the mind-splider technique that I'm talking about in my book. I also do public speaking on stage to help reprogram the audience, which is really fun. And also workshop. So you can connect with me and louishtarycoaching.com. But also that may change to louis slattery.com and i'm on linkedin everywhere but remember that your mind is not broken that is

doing exactly what is meant to do keep you safe and use the least amount of energy doing it this is why it could be your best friend or your worst enemy so let's become best friends of it oh yes i love it i would encourage everyone to go to louise slatterycoaching.com that's louise slatterycoaching.com and if you're catching this on a replay down the line in the future, go to louise slattery.com. That's louise slattery.com. Louise, I could, I honestly could talk all day about it. I know I can as well.

Because I've been through the journey and also I can say to people, if I can change my mindset, I believe anyone can do it because I think I've, been through the worst of the worst. I've been through trauma. I've been through the hugest fears, intrusive thoughts. Oh yes. Being in bed for days just so depressed and just taking those small steps every day, doing like a daily meditation, doing my diagnosis on a morning. That changed my life. tape tapes and reading a little bit through the day, just taking those little steps every single day,

also doing the work of conscious work of just being the observer, relaxing and accepting what does come up and not reacting to it. Over time, you make so much progress. And I know people out there need your support, Louise, so I really would encourage people to go to Louise Slattery Coaching. Louise, thank you, thank you for being my guest today. Thank you so much, Mark. It's been lovely to be on and thank you for all your insights as well.

It's been great. I've really enjoyed having a conversation with you. Thank you everyone for joining us for Brilliant Business TV. Conversations with leading experts in business. Thanks for listening to Business Innovators Radio. To hear all episodes featuring leading industry influencers and trendsetters, visit us online at Business Innovators. Radio.com today.