What does it take to lead from a place of true center, especially when the world around you feels reactive and overwhelming? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Pennie Wilson, mental fitness trainer and creator of the Kokoro Calm Repatterning Method.

Whether you’re a visionary creating into the "void" or a leader that’s navigating the "messy middle," this episode offers a practical framework for self-leadership, emotional regulation, and building the self-trust necessary to say yes to your biggest calling.

What You Will Learn

How to receive and recognize a calling as it gradually rises like a sunrise.

Why nature is an essential co-creative partner in the visionary journey.

How to embrace "self-leadership" as the necessary foundation for all true leadership.

Why comparing your present self to your future visionary self is a gap trap and how to shift to the gain.

The importance of dynamic balance and accepting that wobbling is a natural part of growth.

Why the most important answers are found from the inside out, not the outside in.

How to cultivate the courage to take your next big leap, whether it’s a first video or a keynote stage.

FAQ:

What is the Kokoro Calm Repatterning Method?

It is a synthesis of trauma care patterns and mental fitness. It uses the "Four Rs” to help leaders shift emotional patterns from what they don't want to what they do desire.

What is Self-Leadership?

Self-leadership is the practice of grounding yourself in self-trust and emotional regulation. It requires moving from a place of feeling incapable to believing in your identity as a leader, one step at a time.

What is the Messy Middle?

The messy middle is the space between your present self and your future vision. It is where dynamic balance occurs, but trusting your core to keep you moving forward.

Connect with Pennie Wilson

Kokoro Creators

Leading Visionaries Podcast

Join the Leading Visionaries Community

Make a Donation to Support the Show

Creative Age Consulting Group

LVP 143 Pennie

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Now, here's your host, Anjel B. Hartwell

Anjel: Welcome to another episode of the Leading Visionaries podcast, where we celebrate the ingenious, insightful, innovative, and inspired leading visionaries of our time and provide our listeners with world-class examples of the kind of courage, clarity, and confidence it takes to bring visions into reality.

Her work is rooted in lived experience, not theory. After years of functioning well on the outside while feeling overwhelmed and reactive on the inside, Penny discovered that lasting change doesn't come from more information, but from training the mind and body to feel safe and steady first. Today she teaches simple, practical mental fitness skills that build emotional regulation, self-trust, and calm leadership in everyday life.

I'm excited to have you here. Welcome to the show, Penny.

Pennie: Thanks so much, Anjel. I'm excited to have this conversation.

So, were you always visionary or did your visionary capacity come online as a result of some kind of divine intervention or life rupture or, uh, training or some other way? How did, how did you actually begin to understand your own role as a visionary here on this planet?

Pennie: I love that question because it does definitely require one to tap into the heart of exactly why we're here on the planet.

So my experience began by looking at the problems in my own life, and then it rippled out, what are the big problems in the world, and then coming into what can I do about it? When my vision began, it felt way bigger than what I felt I was capable of doing. So my journey has been one of figuring out how to create that belief in myself and growing into that little by little.

Anjel: Great. So let's talk about getting the calling. Like- Yeah ... uh, it sounds to me like you got the calling, right? I did,

Pennie: yes.

Anjel: And the calling can feel overwhelming.

So- Very ... can you talk about maybe... I hesitate to use the word mechanics, but that's the word that's coming to mind- Mm-hmm ... right now. Can you talk about the mechanics of res- receiving the calling, how you received it? Yeah. Was it like a shot to the heart? Was it like a, boom, I just had this massive, like, vision that came in?

Was it you know, auditory? Like, how did the calling show up for you, number one? Mm-hmm. And number two- What things did you have to do to get the courage to say yes to that calling? Mm. I

to figure out who I am, what gifts I have, what problems I see, and seeing that in a way that's unique to me and how I see the world. I think that came slowly for me, like the sunrise. You know how it gradually rises- Mm ... and you don't even know it's coming. I was called out to my garden, of all things, so that I could find those answers inside of myself.

I was in a very heavy place. I call it my momzilla stage. Of depression and not knowing exactly what to do with my life. But through that process, little by little, I gained my unique perspective and the way that answers come to me, so learning intuitively has been a huge gift.

Anjel: Mm-hmm.

Pennie: Remind me the second part of your question.

Anjel: Yeah, so what did you do to g- have the courage to say yes- Yes ... to the

Pennie: calling? Yeah.

Anjel: Right.

And then the third stage of that strategy was looking out to the world. What impact do I want to have? How do I want to see things becoming different and shift? And really looking at the desires behind that.

Anjel: Mm. Beautiful. I love that. So listeners, looking in, looking up, looking out. I love that you were sent to the garden.

because I am sure that anything that you're doing to help people with the mental body- Yeah ... it's working with the brain, it's working with the central nervous system. It is, w- we are a part of nature.

Pennie: Mm-hmm.

Anjel: Right?

Pennie: Yes.

Anjel: So if you could speak a little bit about how you have, you know, co-created not just- Yeah

with the divine- Sure ... looking up-

Pennie: Mm-hmm ...

Anjel: but also with nature, which supported you in your s- slow sunrise awakening.

Pennie: Yeah, I love it. So I am a kinesthetic learner, which means- Mm ... I learn by moving my body, and I think that's one of the reasons I was called out to the garden because if as it... Like, just for example, in grade school, if I coulda done handstands or something while I was learning my times tables, woulda got it so much faster, right?

What am I learning for me in my own journey? How am I applying it in my life? And what does that look like as I share? I never wanna come across as a guru or someone better than other people- Mm-hmm ... because I felt so inferior for so much of my life. Mm-hmm. And I really wanna just come from a place of lived experience so that other people can see their own journey.

Pennie: Yeah. Yeah, so it's coming back to that calling of actually- Mm ... being able to say yes, right? Mm-hmm.

Anjel: Mm. So

Pennie: that moment of feeling something big inside of me, this impact that I was feeling called to make in the world, I think it came down... Let me just pause for a moment and think so I can be honest and true.

Mm-hmm. So having the courage to step into that, and then over the last several years of being able to own the identity of a leader- Mm-hmm ... coming from that place of feeling incapable when I was young and moving into believing in myself, taking those action steps. I, I remember one of the things that felt so daunting was looking toward that future vision of that big, huge possibility of what I might become or what I might create, and comparing my s- present self to my future self.

And the thing that reali- I realized was I don't have to be that person now, but every step that I take, it creates more capacity within me to be stronger- Mm-hmm ... and become that person. So it's really unfair for me to judge the person that I am now, saying I can't do it, because that's in the future.

So- Mm ... that feels huge. So it's just finding out where you are in your present moment and- Mm ... having courage to take that s- leap of faith, have courage and say yes.

Mm-hmm. That's what I like to call it. Yeah. The you that you are becoming.

Pennie: Yeah.

Anjel: Well, I love also that you are talking about not comparing the you that you are now to the you that you are becoming when you look at that bigger vision, because I think comparison is such a killer. Yeah. So w- like, what did you do when you caught yourself comparing yourself to your future self?

Pennie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So there is that part that as you imagine and visualize your future self, it's so empowering for the first time. If you've never had that experience, to see that future you and connect with that on an emotional, spiritual level, to see and vision, like look into their eyes, what are they wearing, what do they believe- Mm

We have those chemical needs inside of us to grow, to contribute, to learn. And looking at the gain, as The Gap and the Gain, if you've heard of that book. Mm. I'm reading it right now, so it's prevalent on my mind. Looking at the gain of what I am learning right now in my life- Mm ... so that that really becomes the win and the empowerment and that feeling of growth inside of me.

Anjel: Mm. Yeah, and I think an important thing to add to this is that our future is not necessarily on a timeline that our- Yeah ... present can lay out- Mm-hmm ... uh, logically.

Pennie: Yes.

Anjel: Our future is just not on... it, it comes when it comes, and it's always exactly on time. Mm. So we're gonna take, speaking of on time, we're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, we're gonna let our listeners know more about Kokoro Calm Repatterning Method and where they can find out more about you.

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Anjel: And we are back with Penny Wilson. You can find out more about Penny at kokorocreators.com. That's kokorocreators.com. We will have that for you in the show notes. So let's talk about Kokoro Kalm Repatterning Method. Where did this come from, Penny? Tell us a little bit more about it, and what will our listeners find when they get to kokorocreators.com?

Then I went to hypnotherapy school, which was amazing. I also went for the 12- 12-step program and, and all of those things, but what came out of it was the accumulation or the condensed version of the Kokoro four Rs method. So if you look at, deeply at the 12-step program, it includes the first three Rs, which is recognize, remove, and replace.

Anjel: What was the last R again? I wrote down-

Pennie: Reimagine ... reimagine.

Anjel: Oh,

Pennie: reimagine. Reimagine. Thank you. Yes. Okay. Her book is called Visualize, but yeah. Okay Reimagining is, is really the pattern of taking what's in your mind and using the power of your mind, because so many people don't even know- Yeah ... about the power that you can use as you visualize things and create that emotion.

So you wanna visualize creating emotion in your body and recognizing what you want to create, seeing that desired outcome, and that is so powerful, visionaries.

Anjel: Beautiful. Well, we have a lot of leading visionaries that are listening to this show. Many of them are coming into our audience and into the world with entirely new, never been done before beliefs, patterns- Yes

you know, ideas, systems, formulas, solutions, whatever you'd like to call it. Mm-hmm. And so they're literally creating in a void.

Pennie: Yes.

Pennie: Mm-hmm ...

Anjel: um, from, from pure inspiration. Yeah. And so for our listeners who are doing that, what I'd love to hear from you is, you know, obviously you created your own business- Mm-hmm

and you've created your own method, and it sounds to me like your method is a synthesis. Mm-hmm. Which often, you know, often people come up with ingenious ideas by synthesizing. When you got to that place where you synthesized this- Mm-hmm ... what made you decide you wanted to p- to start a business? You know, like because some people get ideas and innovations, and they keep it to themselves.

Mm. But you made the decision to start a business, so tell us a little bit about that part of your process.

That could be you. And at first, I completely rejected it. I'm like, "No, I couldn't. Yeah, I, I... That's impossible. I couldn't do that." But just f- putting that somewhere out in the future without, like you were saying, without trying to control how or when or all of the details, putting that out there, that was, I believe, the seed behind why I would wanna start a business.

Because I just felt like there was that calling inside of me to be that person.

Anjel: Yeah, beautiful. Let's talk about time.

Pennie: Hmm.

Anjel: Right? Yeah. So when you start your own business, and you have that vision, and you see yourself as potentially, you know, being on stages and serving people, and you've created your method, and you're...

You know, we, we wanna make money, right? Mm-hmm.

Pennie: Yeah.

Can you talk a little bit about that, like, time, money thing that sometimes becomes very stretched and thin- Mm-hmm ... and stress-inducing?

Pennie: Mm-hmm. So the thing that comes to mind with time is holding the space for belief. When we're trying to think about creating that vision, our brain will automatically go to the fears of, "What if it doesn't happen?

We let go of, "It has to be X, Y, Z," and then we can open up our mind to the possibility, the innovation. What could be possible if I didn't demand that it was within this narrow two-inch gap? Just what else might be possible? So that's where the innovation of the brain really helps to open up when you believe that, when you create that space.

Mm-hmm. One other principle that comes to mind really quick when it comes to money is the three Ps of priority that came to me. First, to teach principles Second, to align f- with people and then third, allow the profit. Ooh. So it's never one above the other, but allowing the principles, then the people, then the profit.

Pennie: Yeah, absolutely. So I think the biggest challenge for me, and it comes from the default wirings, the belief that I had as a child, right?

Feeling incapable and not believing in myself. That's really what it boils down to, not feeling enough in some form or another. But being able to take the one next step, like I just started my own podcast, Conquering FUD through Mental Fitness. So, so I'm stepping into that space of believing and having courage, and every step that I take, I prove that old belief wrong.

Mm. I don't allow it to stop me or control me, and literally point my mind and believe I am capable, I am moving forward, I am all of the identity words around creating that belief.

Anjel: Beautiful. And so in addition to taking steps, like you doing your own step taking, like why would somebody want to hire you?

Pennie: Pressure

Anjel: so to speak. Mm-hmm.

Pennie: Yeah.

Anjel: Yeah. We're cooking with gas now instead of... Mm-hmm. Right?

Pennie: Yeah.

Anjel: So talk a little bit about in your own journey, have you invested? Have you worked with people who've supported you to build what you've built? You know, and how do you work with people to support them to be able to, you know, be calm in their leadership?

So it's not just imaginary. It's not just in the theoretical sense. But it's looking at the track record, looking at the skills. I think one reason why people would hire me is because of the way that I see the world, because it is unique through that garden experience. I train people to believe through their own experience, like I said, not being the guru, but actually empowering them to create those beliefs in their own mind, and there's very unique ways that I do that through teaching, through embodied experience, and also through helping them to experience the power.

Who are you? Why are you here? What are you born to do? No one can tell us those answers from the outside, but what I can do is help them to hold that space, and they can find those answers inside.

Anjel: Beautiful. And so for the listeners out there who are resonating with what you're speaking about here, who are the best fit people to come work with you?

Pennie: So parents, teachers, and leaders. Mm-hmm. Those ones that are under pressure, they're leading other people, and at the same time they feel some kind of, something's out of alignment, and most the time they honestly don't know what it is. They feel something... I, like imagine a straight line going down from my head down to my toes.

We're accepting that it's not gonna be perfect, and at the same time finding that core that's inside of you that you can hold onto, go back to, find the mental fitness practices that are gonna help ground you if you feel like something's off center, finding that alignment truly that helps you to feel, "This is what I'm going for.

This is why I'm doing it," and feeling that desire.

Anjel: Beautiful. Well, I l- I've now got the thing, "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down," in my head. That's funny. All right, last question before we close. Explain Kokoro. What, what does that mean? Help me to understand where that came from.

Pennie: Well, first of all, congratulations for saying it right.

Anjel: Beautiful. I love that. It's almost like k- I think it's Kintsugi, which is the Japanese art of putting- The gold ... the gold in the broken pot. Yeah. Exactly. So this is similar, similar thing. Yes. Very much. Okay, beautiful. All right, in the last minute that we have, Penny, what would you like our listeners to know?

Pennie: Look inside and recognize that you have the power to create what you desire. Your mind is expandable belon- beyond belief, so find the ways to tap in to what you truly want. Focus your mind on that desire and let go of the fear.

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