Ep 98 Reclaiming Your Power — Camilla Calberg on Self-Respect, Leadership & Emotional Intelligence

Welcome back to Morning Cup of Brand Spark, the Mirror Conversations. This is where we talk about the moments that don't just change our path, they change our identity. The moments that force us to take the mask off, to stop performing, and to finally ask ourselves the real questions. Today I'm sitting with Camilla Kahlberg, award-winning executive coach, keynote speaker, and founder of She Leads, the authentic leadership movement.

She has spent more than 20 years in companies like BP, Shell, and IBM building a powerful career on the outside while feeling, well, empty, lost, and disconnected on the inside. Her mirror moment came when she realized, why do I keep giving my power away to people who just don't care about me? And that moment cracked something open inside of her.

And that became the beginning of a new life, a new identity, and a new way of leading. This conversation is about self-respect, emotional intelligence, nervous system mastery, and learning to build a life that actually belongs to you. So let's get started.

Hello Camilla! Welcome, thank you for joining me today.

Thank you, Gina, and good morning.

And you know, it's funny, I'm usually not recording in the mornings, usually it's in the evenings, so we're having a nice weekend morning cup together. What's in your cup this morning?

that's good. have tea. The label says tea is always a good idea. That's black tea and have water with an orange.

that's nice, a little bit refreshing in the morning too. And where are you joining me from?

Mmm, it's nice.

I am joining you from Copenhagen, Denmark.

I have never been ever to Denmark and it's funny it's so close. I think I need to visit. I'm calling you.

Yeah, you should come!

You need to. Yeah. We are only

12 hours drive or 10. So yeah. Good. Yeah, exactly.

See? Perfect, I'm coming. Don't worry, I know who to call.

we just had the holidays. if you could describe 2025 in one word, what would that be?

transformation.

Transformation, yeah, for you? ⁓ that's, ⁓ now I'm curious.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. It was just a

really first download transformation.

Yeah, that just came instantly to your mind. Awesome.

It did. And actually writing

a newsletter just about that is going out later today. So may I just share why that transformation? Yeah. So when I, this time of year, last year, my dad was just diagnosed with cancer brain tumors going from two to six brain tumors in his brain. Yeah.

Of course, yes please.

Jesus.

So, and I've been on this personal development journey for a while, but that was a season where I was feeling, it's okay to feel your feelings. But I knew that I could feel my feelings, but I was not able to regulate myself in the moment. And I'm not saying that we should stop feelings, but I was...

kind of surviving in this, holding the space for my dad and my sister and my daughter and like everyone else and everyone. ⁓ Also including myself, right? And trying to run the business. And then I was reflecting on my year and I connected with that old Camilla who still felt her feeling, who still...

Everyone. Yeah.

reacted a bit too much, when the trigger train came, I still reacted. was definitely not speaking to the power of only what I could talk to. I was still very much talking about the general way of emotional intelligence, general way of being a trusted advisor.

Mm.

been my, my, my word, one of my words for this year has been fearless. And a mentor asked me, okay, how would fearless Camilla show up? That's interesting. So I've been always asking myself this, what would my next version when I was fearless do this? Now, December, 2025, I have, and I'm still learning to only talk about

Mmm.

You

what I can say about being an emotional, intelligent person, but regulating your emotions in the moment. So I stepped out of the shadow, being so vulnerable now and just really say, this is what I see rather than over maybe over explaining too much, but really just beautifully landing that this is what I know to be true. That has taken a lot of deep inner.

Mm-hmm.

deep inner transformation.

Yeah, I can imagine so.

Mmm.

So shall we jump into the mirror moment a little bit? So before we get into your actual mirror moment can you take me to the version of you who was, let's say, outwardly successful, but inside felt slightly different? What was life like for you then, so before?

Yeah.

that's so good a question. And I get very aligned to what I just heard about. ⁓

Yeah, exactly.

So for years when I was in corporate, I looked very successful. I flew first class, I had chauffeurs in UK, everything was just really not glamorous, but I was doing really well in corporate. Inside, I was empty.

Yeah.

I was in a relationship, I was with this guy, I was a mom. But I was surviving at home. There was no, I don't know what to trust, but there was a very unhealthy family environment. But in the outside, we just looked as though we had it all together as this perfect family, the cast of family.

It looked perfect, right? Yeah.

home, like everything. But nobody knew, nobody knew how sad I was. How much I struggled, how much I cried every time I should go to bed, how I didn't dare to, when I was brushing my teeth, I didn't dare to go into the bedroom. I mean, nobody knew that. The mirror moment came and I was so deep. But we get to share to inspire.

Ugh.

So I've been working with a mentor and I got this, this is like where really, this is so vulnerable. It's where you think that growth is just to have another tool. But I was manifesting in my shower this morning is that I am my manifestation. And I learned that phrase from Drieck and Hillier, you are, we all are the manifestation. So I got this.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

mentor on and for tell me how to grow my business. It's not me. It's that thing over there. Help me grow that. I was like, can you relate? It's like, okay. So I filled in what we call an energy leadership index assessment.

is that really? Of course not!

Yeah, of course.

Yeah,

Where do you thrive and what drains your energy? How do you react and when do you respond? And we've been working together for about a year and a half and she couldn't figure out there was something that she didn't dare to name. So she asked me to take this assessment and there was a report back and she asked me what is really going on, Camilla? my body's responding now.

Mmm.

Hmm.

Because out to the outer world, you know, I was had always been lying how happy I was. Always. I faked it. I wore so many masks.

gosh. that had to

Yeah. think,

but don't they say that too? Women, we need to fake it till we make it. How many times have we heard that in our lives? Shoo.

Yeah. Yeah. But it's the wrong way to

That way it's really true. I say you can never put lipstick on a pig because or icing on a cake that is not ready, right? That's so wobble and not complete. Anyway, so that was the first time that I told her how scared I was, how sad I was.

Yeah.

And I cried and I cried and we lived at that time close to a golf course and I went two hours and I just cried because it was the first time I ever told someone how sad I was about life of where I was exactly. That was the mirror moment and say I get to do something. It wasn't a no one night success to turn the ship.

in that life. Yeah.

Of course.

But that was the mirror moment that Who am I living my life for? Myself or for someone else? this is deep.

you

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it

is. That's like, you know, that's chills because that's, that is something that we all need to think about that, actually. It's ingrained in our upbringing.

It is.

We do.

It's ingrained to, we don't, we do not teach, we do not learn about our life purpose, our soul. And my, I just write it, my body's responding, eyes, all over. But what is so important is that if we do not believe that we have a purpose, then we are not living life full out.

You

And then we end up living our life to please someone else. But then we run on empty. So pausing to really say, why am I here? Why should I live my life to please someone else when I am just about not surviving? That is the deep reflective moment. We should all take time.

Yeah.

And it's not to be selfish, but it is. And it's self love to say, why, how would I love my life to be and design it around it. Yeah.

No, it's a gift to ourselves, isn't it?

Yeah, and I always say life is too short, right? It's too short and what sort of legacy do we want to leave behind in the end?

Many people can't even ask that or answer that question.

No, you're right,

you're right. It takes deep work just to even to feel that. But if you don't think about your legacy, then you are indeed living your life for other people. Right?

Yeah.

And if I may turn that legacy, because some people, I said, what is my legacy? That took me a long time to answer that question. What I ask myself and my clients is, what is your big why? Why are you here on this planet? What is it that only you can do? We have so many competitors. You're in marketing, I'm in coaching. We have so many competitors, but when you...

Hopefully.

own your space what you're truly good at there are no competitors.

You're right, because nobody is you.

Exactly. But we have heard it so many times, so we get to really understand what this means and tune in to people who say it in such a way that it awakens us.

Exactly.

And then for you in that moment, so you had the mirror moment and thinking about what do you want your life to be, right? So when that mask came off, the mask of this is how everyone sees my life, but this is not me, this is me, I'm unhappy. When that mask came off, who did you meet underneath?

Mm.

what a powerful question. Who did I meet? I first met a Camilla who was so vulnerable because I have been living my life to make other people happy. Been seen do the right thing so I am liked. But I also met a Camilla.

Mm-hmm.

who was ready to contribute to this world. I was also meeting a Camilla who was deeply proud of what she has accomplished, but she knew she was ready for more. And that kind of ignited my fire to talk about emotional intelligence, teaching, teaching, helping people about.

regulating their emotions, how to navigate a very toxic family divorce and still heal your daughters or your children, still thrive in that journey or on that journey. So that ignited all that emerged as I took the mask off.

Wow. that's tough. and it doesn't happen overnight, right? You take off the mask and you say, okay, this isn't who I want to be. I want to be the real me or this person underneath. And of course it doesn't happen in, it's not like the next day you go, okay, everything's changed and I'm different. I mean, for anyone listening, this isn't something to expect that does happen in a moment, second time. It takes work too. This is part of the journey.

Mm-hmm.

No, no, no!

the destination isn't right in front of you, you have to get there. And you talk a lot about soul-led leadership. What is that? Did that come from this mirror moment too?

Mmm. Mmm.

It's a result of that mirror moment, but it didn't surface in the moment. But what I've come to learn from my own personal development journey, and especially when my dad passed away, I was teaching soul-led leadership before his passing. But you get to be in the room where you see the soul leaving the body.

Mm.

And I've been following Kabbalah for a while, where you learn about the soul, that every soul you meet, you meet that soul for a reason.

So I help women, I work with women who feel small, who play small, who dim the light in corporate. And I've been there. So I started to help them teach. What is that person you are? I help them see the person behind the title. I help them see the person behind the name.

And what I realized is that that is the soul. You are not Gina. You are, your soul is in a beautiful body temple as Michael Beckwith is teaching us. And your soul has a name and it's Gina. But when we are in a room with people who are toxic, then we oftentimes give that toxicity like so much power and let us control how we want to show up. So.

so true. That's so true.

Hmm. But that is sabotaging our success. So what I started helping my clients understand and read in the moment is that why is that person aggressive or sad? What is really triggering and be curious about that. And then what you said earlier on is that be your real me. And that is also soul aligned leadership. Soul aligned living is like when you ask.

who I was when I dropped the mask, that is connecting with my soul. So I started to teach women about how do you really want to lead? How do you want to lead if there was no fear? Who are you in that leadership role? Because I don't believe that any one of us are toxic. That there's a reason. No, by nature. No, exactly. So that's why I said like, when you go into that room and you serve.

No, by nature, no.

Who are you in that room? Why are you in that room? And that's how I arrived to the soul that leadership, let your soul lead, let not your title lead.

I love that concept.

and is so powerful.

Yeah, yeah, it's so positive. There's such a positive frame on it too.

Exactly. And, and understanding that when you're in a room, see the soul behind the title. I think a lot of what I teach in my content comes from working with women who has like me was dimming my light or not speaking power to truth when I was in room with people with higher titles. But when we give power to titles, what happens, Gina, is that maybe you can

Yeah.

share what you have experienced. We happen to give our power away. We happen to end up being the doers, not the advisors. Yeah.

Of course, yes, and we belittle

our own power. We shrink ourselves to conform to that.

Exactly. we,

yeah, and that is so wrong because you are in that team for a reason. But if you then shrink, you don't stand in your power. You don't guide the other person.

I see it often with women, that we don't fully know...

what our soul is or who we are. And we're seeking to create a different version of ourselves even. And it's either we are fake it till you make it and that is the version that we're supposed to be and that's the version I'm gonna go with. Or we're going to find our own soul and our own humanity and put that self forward and then it feels true and then it feels true to you and true to me and the people around us can see that too.

Yeah. And when it feels true, it feels light and effortless.

Yeah.

Yeah. And it's for some people, and maybe this just me, to overthink things and to constantly come back to them later when you are real and true and authentic and yourself and leading with your soul, like you call it. There is nothing to second guess. Actually, it gives you pride. It should give you pride.

Mm-mm.

Exactly. we don't, and then you, you relax into your knowing and not fear of being judged. And most of us are afraid of being judged and not being liked. But what I say to my clients is that, and that's also soul-led leadership. You are not in that room to be liked. We are in that room to guide us and most of us get, and that is my humble opinion.

is that we forget why we have a job.

Yeah, worrying about the wrong things, right?

You're in that room

to do something, you're not in that room to be liked.

You're right, and that's a tough

thing for a lot of people to remember, especially in moments where you might take things personal in that room, because that happens often, right? You take it personal in that room, or somebody gives you a piece of feedback that you're, my goodness, you're so offended by. I've been in that position before, getting feedback that I didn't see as a gift at the moment. Now I do, but then I did not. But yeah, you need to, you're right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

not take it personal and realize that you're there for a reason and you need to step out of that part.

Exactly. It's not easy to do, but I think it's very easy to embrace the concept if you're open to accept, not to know and to embody that you're in that room to set other people up for success.

Very true.

Right, exactly.

And that's also soul led leadership lead from soul because you, when we are here, we love and we just share from our heart. And when you go to work, wherever, set other people up for success. Yeah.

And they might not be leading from soul-led leadership either. So being aware and being aware of who is in front of you, and that's also the emotional intelligence part, of reading the room and reading the people in the room and knowing where they are in that moment too. I think it's such a wonderful way to interconnect it all too.

almost at!

Yeah, it is. it's really beautiful how you, you kind of close the loop, like soul-led leadership and then emotional intelligence, because it's really about if we are coming from soul, that is from highest self and from love. And when we see people who are aggressive or something that's soul-led leadership, I can see you are, you're feeling your feelings right now, right?

Yeah.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

rather than

being aggressive and taking it really personal that I did something wrong. No, it may not.

Right, very much.

And just also to close the loop on the mirror moment, if someone else is feeling lost in a life like you were in at that moment, that looks uber or super successful from the outside, but they don't feel that same success feeling on the inside, where should they begin?

Mmm.

What's the first step? First practical step. What one piece of advice would you give?

Take time out for yourself. Find a place where you can sit and then ask yourself this question. What do really want out of my life? How do I really want my life to unfold? That's even a better question.

Yeah, and how far in advance should they think about? Should they think, okay, what do I want the next year to look like? Or should they think about how do I want the next 20 years to be?

I wouldn't even, if you ask me that question, how would I really love life to be? I would love life to be funny. I would love life to be filled with happiness. I would love to be happy in my life. I would love to be surrounded with people who love me. I love to love myself. I mean, it's from a higher scale around of how life to be.

No time frame.

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm.

and say, okay, then it's the next step. Okay, how can I get there? Who can I, how can I get there? And you cannot do it on your own because otherwise you would have had that life already. That's it. That was the next thing. And then you say, okay, but I don't want to invest. I don't have money to invest in other people. Remember you invest in your own life.

How can I get there?

Yeah, that's so true. You would have done it by now if you were like, I got this.

True, yeah. Yeah, very much.

But really

see how would you love your life to be. That's for me, my body is so responding now. I don't think we take enough time out to tap into that question. Because that was a mirror moment. I had everything on the outside, but I wasn't happy. didn't fill me with happiness. I was walking on eggshells.

That's not the life I wanted.

No,

no. And then you changed it, didn't you?

I changed it. I have a mentor. was a long overnight success. 19 years. And what Dr. Joe, it's worth it. And what Dr. Joe Dispenza says is that it's an overcoming process. It's a process that we get to celebrate. It's not the end result because the end result will keep moving or keep growing.

19 years is a bit of a journey, but hey, but it's worth it.

Change us. Yeah, you're right.

Yeah,

but the overcoming from me not believing in myself, my lower self, that was a mirror moment to where I, I'm proud of who I am. I speak power to truth, what I know to be true, what I know can help other people. But that wasn't me 10 years ago.

Yeah, and you're in a different place now too. And you will be again in five years time or 10 years time. I love it. it's such a great way to put this into perspective. So I thank you so much for that. so where can people find you or your work if they want to go deeper on this journey or contact you about it?

I am indeed, yeah.

Yeah.

Thanks, Gina. So I'm very active on LinkedIn. So you can find me on LinkedIn, Camilla Calberg. I think there's only one or two, but we're just us. And YouTube, have videos in there right now on emotional intelligence and how to find your dream job, because a lot of people are stuck in the tactics again about soul and what you know to be true.

and really own the space. As we talked about today, Gina, so we're very aligned. And my website, Camilla Calberg, has some free courses, some different freebies. And also if you want to have a conversation, you can book time to connect.

Hmm.

Camilla, I really enjoyed this. I thank you so, much for joining me today. Thanks.

Thank you for having me,

Gina. It's been fun. It's been deep. It's been a body responding moment. I appreciate that.

Yeah, and I'm sure it won't be the last time that we speak, that's for sure. Or coffee that we'll have together. Thank

Well, that was Morning Cup of Brand Spark with Camilla Calberg. It's a reminder that power isn't taken from us. We give it away and we can choose to reclaim it too. Her story shows us how easily it is to build a life based on comparison, performance, and external validation, and just how freeing it is to rebuild from self-love, from nervous system wisdom, and authentic soul-led leadership.

If this conversation stirred something in you, share it with someone who might be standing in their very own mirror moment right now. And until next time, keep your coffee warm and your mirror close.