“Go explore and find your way back to your own heart, because you can do it.” - Dom Farnan

Dom Farnan joins Scott Mason on this episode of Webdelics to discuss her journey from self-described “toxic boss” to compassionate, conscious leader. Through the use of plant medicines like psilocybin and ayahuasca coupled with intensive personal development work, Dom found the keys to unlocking her reactive patterns and hardcore outer shell, and transformed how she leads others and how she relates to herself. Now the CEO of a successful recruiting firm and passionate advocate for conscious business practices, Dom opens up about internal shadows, triggers and wounds that can compel even good-hearted leaders to resort to toxic behaviors. She also shares advice for those curious about how plant medicine combined with self-work can uncover more heart-centered, authentic ways of leading.

Dom Farnan is a dynamic leader with over two decades of experience in high-growth environments. As the founder of DotConnect, she brings radical change to the talent industry through mindfulness and compassion. She uses a holistic approach to connect talented individuals with dynamic companies. Her empowered leadership propelled DotConnect to $3M in its first year and earned her a spot on the Inc5000 list in 2022. 

Highlights from the conversation:

• "There have been times in my life in which I have practically defined the term toxic," Scott shares. He and Dom explore what it means to be toxic in the workplace and interpersonal situations. You may exhibit toxic behavior at times, but that does not necessarily define you as a person. Rather than labeling yourself, it's important to recognize toxic behaviors you may exhibit due to triggers or lack of self-awareness. 
• Dom reflects on her past as a toxic boss, describing her lack of awareness and the transformative journey she undertook. "How it showed up for me was a complete lack of awareness around how the language I chose to use with my team …manifesting in this form of micromanagement, distrust, control and very much command and control style of leadership," she says.
• “When I started to commit to my personal development work,” Dom tells Scott, “then I started getting a fresh perspective … maybe it's not everybody else, maybe it's me. … So it was a tough realization, but it also gave me something to anchor me. Like, I'm not going to go sit and try and change a bunch of people. I'm going to focus on my journey and what I need to do.” The work of personal evolution never truly ends.
• While Dom and Scott hope that the “psychedelic renaissance” will “penetrate corporate America”, the likelihood of this happening is low for many reasons.
• It is easy to conform to the "avatar" or persona demanded by corporate culture and strict hierarchies. Psychedelics can help strip away those hardened layers to reconnect with your true essence. 
• Before her first ayahuasca journey, Dom mentally prepared by pushing herself to personal growth edges, so she could handle what the medicine revealed. "I knew that no matter what was shown to me in my journey I could and would handle it and be able to face off with it,” she says.
• Dom explains how returning with more lightness and self-love positively impacted her team culture. This positive culture shift also correlated with tremendous business growth during an uncertain time. Her journey clearly had ripple effects.
• “I was the hardest of all hard people out there and I'm still not fully there, but I've really made such significant progress and so I just want to inspire people to tap into your own power and take control and responsibility and go do it. Go explore and find your way back to your own heart, because you can do it,” Dom tells listeners. 

Resources

Dom Farnan on the web | LinkedIn | Instagram

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