A Spark Of Awareness

Entrepreneurship is the most direct path to self-mastery

In our fast-paced world driven by algorithms and constant stimuli, the journey of self-mastery is an often overlooked yet crucial path. This episode distills the key learnings from the insightful teachings of Sophie Vo, conscious leadership coach, on how to let go and embark on a journey of self-awareness. We explore the signals that reveal shadows in leadership, offer options to practice self-awareness, and provide actionable insights to guide you toward mastering yourself, and ultimately, your endeavors.Conscious leadership begins from within. The path to self-mastery is not through external validation but through internal reflection and understanding. By engaging in deep inner work, you are invited to peel back layers that are not inherently ours and connect to our true selves.What are the signals of shadows in your leadership?🔸 Emotional Fluctuations: If your emotional state is heavily influenced by the performance of your business, it may indicate over-identification or attachment to external outcomes. Reflect on whether your self-worth is entangled with the success of your business.🔸 Self-Sabotage Behaviors: Recognizing patterns where you might intentionally or unintentionally undermine your progress can signal underlying beliefs or fears that need addressing.🔸 Lack of Center / Integrity anchor: Feeling ungrounded and swayed by external validations may suggest a need for a more profound self-connection. What are the parts that any successful entrepreneur should master?🔹Boundary Mastery: Reflect on what is genuinely yours versus what has been externally influenced. Journal daily on the origins of your beliefs and whether they serve your true self.🔹Energy Mastery: Observe your energy levels and what activities or thoughts either deplete or replenish them. Create a routine that prioritizes regenerative practices.🔹Self-Talk: Monitor your inner dialogue. How you think, how you talk to yourself, shapes your reality and actions. Are you caught in negative thoughts spirals where you sabotage yourself?🔹 Self-Knowledge: Be your own historian. Understanding your background will reveal why certain patterns persist and highlight what truly resonates with you. So you can make decision with speed and sharp clarity.Mastering the inner self equates to mastering the outer world. Self-awareness, when practiced diligently, serves as the foundation for effective leadership. By confronting shadows, refining self-talk, and embracing our energy, you can move closer to a more aligned and purposeful existence. Your business is just the mirror of you. Thanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly reflection.Next Monday, I am teaching the 3 mindset shifts required 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 6-𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, in a 90-min FREE masterclass:🗓️ Monday May 4, Online, 18:00 CET / 9:00 PST / 12:00 EST️For women who are ready to build a business with purpose, with a new playbook. Limited to 15 spots. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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Boundaries clarity: What is mine, what is not mine

Apr 2800:19:31Tap to summarize

Welcome to a Spark of Awareness, a weekly 15-minute reflection for leaders to reclaim inner authority in a world shaped by algorithms and constant stimulation.Setting boundaries is a recurring theme in Sophie Vo’s coaching sessions, reflecting a widespread challenge many leaders face. While the concept of boundaries is broadly understood, the application is often lacking. A boundary, in its simplest form, is a clear “yes-no” delineation, a determination of what we allow into our lives and what we keep out. Healthy boundaries are crucial to defining our relationships, shaping our professional life, and managing our energyThis episode focuses on boundaries as the foundation of self-mastery: a clear yes/no that determines what comes into your life and what doesn’t: shaping relationships, money, work, time, energy, thoughts, and space. Sophie explores how default yeses leak energy and put you on other people’s agendas, and why practicing “no” can mean disappointment, lost invitations, or changing connections (sharing her own boundaries around alcohol and certain networking environments). The episode invites listeners to curate inputs—news, conversations, environments—and offers a 28-day practice: write boundaries across life areas, track where they’re honored or broken, and iterate daily. 01:39 Why Boundaries Matter03:35 Yes No Clarity05:26 The Cost of Saying No07:51 Energy Relationship Space11:16 My Boundary Rules14:09 28-Day Boundary Practice: Start Now15:30 Closing Meditation18:55 Wrap Up and Next Series on the 6 Human NeedsThanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly reflection. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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Love in Leadership

Apr 2100:20:00Tap to summarize

Welcome to a Spark of Awareness, a weekly 15-minute reflection for leaders to reclaim inner authority in a world shaped by algorithms and constant stimulation.Sophie Vo closes her series on emotions in leadership by naming what’s often missing in business settings: love, expressed as the courage of the heart. We mean by that self-love, and compassion, not boundaryless attachment. Sophie explains that when love isn’t given space, fear, mistrust, and control take over, and leadership becomes rigid and less human. Through the example of a key team member leaving, she contrasts ego-driven reactions (betrayal, blame, guilt) with a compassionate approach that centers the other person’s needs, keeps the situation factual, and protects the leader’s nervous system from rumination. She shares how choosing compassion in her own departures and client work freed energy for what’s next. A daily practice is offered at the end of the episode, to cultivate love from within with morning meditation, gratitude, prayer, movement, or music. Follow this practice for 28 days to bring your human-centered leadership to the next level.01:39 Emotions Series Recap02:55 Why Love Matters04:02 Defining Healthy Love05:32 Compassion When People Leave07:54 Protect Your Nervous System09:11 Personal Lessons and Letting Go11:48 Daily Rituals to Cultivate Love14:26 28-Day Love Leadership Activation15:32 Heart Centered Meditation18:42 Next Series Human NeedsThanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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From Building Game Studios To Healing In The Jungle

Apr 1400:21:34Tap to summarize

Welcome to ’s Spark of Awareness, a weekly 15-minute reflection for leaders to reclaim inner authority in a world shaped by algorithms and constant stimulation.Recording from Coppet on the Switzerland–France border while finishing training in energetic healing and family system constellation, Sophie Vo reflects on a two-and-a-half-year transformation from gaming executive (Head of Studio at Voodoo, GM at PlayStation) to leadership and transformative Coach. After two abrupt corporate cutbacks and dismissals, Sophie took a break to pursue self-mastery and sat with plant medicine (Yagé) in Colombia, which deepened her understanding of human nature, distraction, and the roots of conflict, which helped her reconnect with her Vietnamese ancestral and shamanic roots. Returning recently to sit again with the medicine in the jungle, she feels she has closed a chapter of recalibrating career and relationships, leaving games to prioritize nature and connection. With the space cleared, Sophie is now expanding a bigger, scarier decade-long vision: building a sanctuary in nature for healing, education, and community. She explains plant medicine as a way to face truth, release stuck emotions, and integrate change through ongoing group support, and previews upcoming episodes on emotions (love) and human needs.01:00 Self Mastery Focus02:54 Career Peak to Wake Up Call05:01 Life breakthrough Plant Medicine Retreat06:45 Colombia Insights and Roots10:09 Closing An Old Chapter11:19 Dreaming a Nature Sanctuary13:11 Why Plant Medicine17:05 Integration and Sisterhood19:42 Building the Nature Temple VisionThanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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Fear-driven Leadership: Moving From Urgency to Quiet Intuition

Apr 700:17:48Tap to summarize

Welcome to ’s Spark of Awareness, a weekly 15-minute reflection for leaders to reclaim inner authority in a world shaped by algorithms and constant stimulation.In this episode on fear, as the most dominant emotion at work and the polar opposite of love, Sophie Vo explores how fear is amplified by news, media, and marketing and how unexamined fear drives high-stakes decisions, damages teams and products, and fuels stress and burnout. Sophie distinguishes fear from intuition: fear is urgent, immediate, and often felt as bodily contraction (chest, lungs, belly), while intuition is quieter and still present over time. She shares personal examples of fear around scaling her coaching business and pursuing a long-term vision to build a nature-based school of consciousness, emphasizing breaking “big monster” fears into first steps. We close this episode with coaching practices of fear-setting journaling (map, prevent/mitigate, test what’s true) and closes with a grounding breath meditation, previewing a next episode on love.01:39 Why Fear Runs Work04:54 Fear Versus Intuition06:21 Feel Fear in Body07:48 Fear as Growth Compass08:40 Scaling Vision Example10:44 Nature School Vision12:00 Fear Setting Practice13:00 Closing Meditation15:38 Next Episode Love16:26 Final Reflection InviteThanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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Grief Is The Threshold For Leadership Transformation

Mar 3100:22:07Tap to summarize

Welcome to ’s Spark of Awareness, a weekly 15-minute reflection for leaders to reclaim inner authority in a world shaped by algorithms and constant stimulation.In this episode on suppressed emotions at work, Sophie Vo focuses on Sadness as the process of something that used to be and is no more, an inevitable companion to transformation, endings, and rebirth in teams, projects, and leadership identities.Unprocessed grief creates organizational inconsistency, broken trust, cultural erosion, and a backlog of sadness that can turn into anger and toxic behavior in team cultures.Sophie shares her own grieving in shifting from tech executive work to deeper transformative and somatic leadership spaces, including letting go of misaligned clients and identities, tolerating the void that follows, and making space for what is aligned. Practices include noticing sadness in the body (heart contraction), tracing what’s being released, allowing tears, asking what must be closed, and creating gratitude-based closing rituals such as burning paper, starting a new journal page, followed by a short heart-centered breathing meditation.01:39 Why Sadness Matters at Work02:46 Defining Sadness and Loss03:44 Workplace Change and Grief05:03 When Grief Turns Toxic06:34 Personal Grieving Story11:16 Making Space for the New12:19 Somatic Signs and Awareness13:34 Inner Child and Abandonment15:00 Reflection Questions and Letting Go16:11 Rituals for Closure and Gratitude18:33 Closing Meditation and FarewellThanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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The Shame You Carry In Your Leadership

Mar 2400:20:25Tap to summarize

Welcome to Sophie Vo’s Spark of Awareness, a weekly 15-minute reflection for leaders to reclaim inner authority in a world shaped by algorithms and constant stimulation. Continuing her series on unconscious emotions at work, Sophie examines shame and guilt as a sneaky, damaging force that breaks trust when hidden: in women it often shows up as self-blame, harsh inner critique, idea-killing, and over-apologizing.In men it often appears as burying wrongdoing, blaming others, and over-justifying harmful actions. Sophie traces shame to an unconscious belief of being unlovable and unsafe, shares her own shame around immigration, difference, and womanhood, and offers repair through self-forgiveness, compassionate self-talk, and clean apology: “I am sorry.”without justification.We close each episode with grounding meditation and will tackle next week’s emotion: sadness.02:10 What Shame Looks Like03:02 Women and Self Shame04:22 Men and Hidden Shame05:37 Root Beliefs and Fear06:28 Shame Breaks Trust08:48 My Personal Shame Story10:14 Repair Through Forgiveness13:26 Apology That Heals15:52 Resources and Practices16:50 Grounding and ClosingAdditional Resources:* Non-Violent Communication Framework (by Marshall Rosenberg)Thanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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Healthy Anger At Work

Mar 1700:22:25Tap to summarize

Welcome to Sophie Vo’s Spark of Awareness, a weekly 15-minute reflection for leaders to reclaim inner authority in a world shaped by algorithms and constant stimulation. We begin a special series on emotions in leadership—often discouraged publicly yet present in private—because self-awareness supports integrity, nervous system regulation, and healthier workplaces. This episode focuses on Anger, commonly labeled as negative or violent, and reframes it as life force and a boundary-setting compass. Suppressed anger can surface as passive-aggression, conflict, burnout, or chronic tension and symptoms, and may be passed through transgenerational patterns. Sophie shares her own experience of suppressing anger in a disciplined Vietnamese upbringing and learning to release it somatically. She offers practical steps to let anger move through you: locate anger in the body, acknowledge the boundary crossed, release safely (movement, gym, screaming), then assert boundaries calmly.01:39 Why Emotions Matter at Work03:03 The Emotion Spectrum Series04:18 Anger Misunderstood05:28 Suppressed Anger at Work06:39 How Emotions Live in Body07:17 Anger as Boundary Signal08:36 Personal Anger Story11:01 Release Then Assert Boundaries12:29 Anger Bucket and Blowups13:30 Four Step Anger Practice14:45 Resources and Regulation15:24 Guided Body Check In17:03 Closing and Next Episode💡Additional Resources:* When The Body Says No (by Gabor Maté)* Heal Your Trauma & Finally Break Free (by Gabor Maté)Thanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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🔥 Live From ORIN Fire Gathering: Shame Session

Mar 1000:12:21Tap to summarize

Shame often hides in the parts of ourselves we try the hardest to avoid.Judgment.Self-criticism.The quiet inner voice telling us we are not enough.But what if the practice isn’t to fight those parts…What if the practice is to meet them with love?In this live session from the ORIN Fire Gathering, Sophie Vo shares a simple yet powerful mirror practice: learning to speak to ourselves with compassion instead of judgment.A small shift — but one that can change how we relate to every part of who we are.Try the practice:“I love every part of myself.I accept them.I integrate them.I forgive myself.”Notice where resistance appears.Because often, the part of us we try to hide the most…is the part asking to be loved.✍️ Journaling prompts: * Which parts of myself feel hardest to love right now? * Where do I still hold shame? * What would acceptance look like in my thoughts, words, and actions today? * What might integration mean for this part of me?Thanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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Energy Is The New Currency

Mar 300:18:56Tap to summarize

In this episode of Spark of Awareness, Sophie Vo Vo explores energy as the primary currency behind execution, leadership, and business growth—more foundational than money or time. She shares how she sees low energy as a core challenge in her coaching clients, often showing up as feeling frozen, overthinking, and lacking movement, and connects this to the idea of leading from an “empty cup.” Sophie frames energy in a grounded way: the felt presence someone carries that creates warmth, trust, inspiration, and momentum. She invites listeners to assess their “cup” of energy each morning and redesign routines to support it—especially the night before (going to bed earlier, reducing late screens, using blue-light glasses after 8pm). She emphasizes protecting the first part of the day from emails/messages and creating a non-negotiable morning ritual tailored to what energizes you (silence, breakfast, movement, meditation, reading). Sophie shares her own 30-minute routine: music, singing, tea, lemon and coconut oil, connecting with her cat Lio, light movement/dancing, and a short grounding meditation before starting work. She also highlights that energy is shaped by exchanges with others, encouraging listeners to check how they feel after meetings—energized or drained—and to adjust boundaries, frequency, and timing of interactions (especially triggering conversations). She cautions against relying on stimulants like excessive caffeine or drugs to sustain performance, suggesting instead a restructuring of days and weeks around what nurtures energy. Finally, she explains how her business is built on energy through consistency, discipline, clarity, warmth, and regulated presence—allowing her to convert clients without overselling. The episode ends with a short guided grounding meditation focused on breathing, body sensation, and gentle movement to integrate the topic.00:00 Energy Is the New Currency (Not Money or Time)01:12 What “Energy” Really Means: Presence, Trust & Vibe01:54 Why Most People Get Stuck: Empty Cup, Self‑Sabotage & Frozen Action03:06 Morning Energy Audit: How You Wake Up Sets the Whole Day03:55 Build a Non‑Negotiable Routine: Sleep, Screens & Starting Right05:21 My 30‑Minute Morning Ritual (Music, Movement, Meditation)07:41 Social Energy: Who Drains You vs. Who Fuels You09:29 Protect Your Energy with Boundaries & Strategic Scheduling10:21 Stop Relying on Stimulants—Restructure Your Week Around What Nourishes You11:46 How My Business Runs on Energy: Calm Presence Over Hustle13:50 Grounding Meditation to Integrate the Episode17:02 Closing: Keep Working on Your Energy FlowThanks for tuning in to a Spark of Awareness. Subscribe for free to receive your weekly dose of consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

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Entrepreneurship is the most direct path to self-mastery