In this episode of The Sensitive CEO Show, I’m thrillecd to chat with previous podcast guest Josh Speraneo. Josh is the organiser of the much-awaited HSP Awakening Summit, along with co-host Jen Corcoran.
The summit, scheduled for the first week of October, brings together a diverse group of highly sensitive people from all over the world to share their insights and expertise.
The event aims to raise awareness, foster understanding, and encourage an awakening to the power and potential of high sensitivity.
💝 Key Takeaways
- The HSP Awakening Summit is for everyone, catering to highly sensitive individuals and those interested in learning more about high sensitivity.
- The summit features around 24 HSP speakers, renowned leaders and experts in various fields.
- Daily themes include Learn (understanding high sensitivity), Grow (conscious parenting and supporting children), Sell (marketing and entrepreneurship for HSPs), Lead (embracing leadership as highly sensitive individuals), and Thrive (finding success and fulfilment as HSPs).
- The intention is to awaken participants to the gifts of high sensitivity, offering a positive perspective and empowering self-discovery.
- The event aims to create a supportive community, connecting attendees with like-minded individuals and experts in various fields.
- The summit hopes to impact younger generations, empowering them to embrace their high sensitivity from an early age and thrive in all aspects of life.
📚 Resources Mentioned
- The HSP Awakening Summit
- Episode 041: Success and Survival Skills for HSPs, Empaths, and Introverts with Josh Speraneo
- Episode 027: Linked in for HSPs with Jen Corcoran
🔗 Where You Can Find Josh
- Website: https://thesuccesscycle.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-speraneo-thesuccesscycle
🌹 Rose’s Resources
📖 (Imperfect) Transcript
We use Descript to provide this transcript which isn’t always perfect but wonderful all the same. (affiliate link 😃)
[00:00:00] Rose: Hey, it’s Rose and welcome to another episode of the Sensitive CEO Show, and this week I’m thrilled to have another conversation with our return guest. Josh Speraneo. Welcome Josh. It’s great to talk with you again today.
[00:00:17] Josh: Yeah, it’s great to be back. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:20] Rose: You are most welcome and I know last time we were chatting, it was episode 41 and we talked about success and survival skills for HSPs, empaths and introverts.
And I’ll pop the link in the show notes, for that. But today we’re talking about the HSP Awakening Summit that you are hosting with another previous podcast guest, Jen Corcoran. And this much awaited summit is gonna be in the first week of October, and it features many of my favorite HSPs from all over the world.
But I know you’re going to share a lot more about this today, Josh. So the, I guess the first question I wanted to ask you is, who is this event specifically for?
[00:01:12] Josh: So the interesting thing about this event is that it’s really for everyone. And so obviously for people who know that they’re highly sensitive, that’s our, our main audience or the main people that we have in mind.
And so, but it’s also something that would be helpful for people who feel like they might be highly sensitive, but maybe have never taken a test to find out whether or not they’re highly sensitive. And the other great thing is that if you think about it, the percentage varies a little bit from study to study, but the overall, the, belief is that between 20 and 30% of the population is highly sensitive.
And so, and that means that they have the genetic trait of sensory processing sensitivity. And so with that in mind, statistically that would make it, what one in every four people is highly sensitive at least. And so with that in mind, it’s one of those things where you realize, well, somebody in your family probably is highly sensitive.
Some of your best friends are probably highly sensitive. Your coworkers, the people you work with, your clients, your customers, no matter where you look, you’re, you’re bound to find someone who is highly sensitive. And so the great thing about this event is that it’s for everyone, because we’re all connected in that way. We all know someone who is highly sensitive or we’re highly sensitive ourselves, and so it can benefit anybody who wants to tune in.
[00:02:39] Rose: Brilliant. I love that. I’m so excited for it. And, and as I mentioned, you are hosting it with Jen Corcoran. Can you share with us, what, I guess, what prompted you to organize it together and, Yeah, why, why you are actually hosting it?
[00:02:56] Josh: Yeah, so basically, Jen and I had a conversation after a post that I had put up on LinkedIn and the goal of the post was basically to thank and to recognize several of the leaders in the highly sensitive person movement that I respect and whose content that I follow on LinkedIn and who I’ve just learned so much from on my own journey as a highly sensitive person and an empath.
And I had put that post up and a couple of days later, Jen had reached out to me. And said, Hey, you know, I was just part of this National Introvert Week summit and I was thinking about putting together a summit for highly sensitive people. What do you think? And so we had a conversation. We looked up and we found out that October 6th is World HSP Day.
And we thought, well, why don’t we do it that first week of October? And Jen really has spearheaded the whole effort and, you know, recruited me to help out and, and to fill in and, and, and journey alongside her. But, so much of this has been her brainchild and, and her hard work that’s, that’s brought it together.
And she just, basically after that conversation, took the ideas that we had and she ran with it and she reached out to all the list of potential speakers that we had brainstormed together, and we’ve had even more people join since then. And so it’s just grown from this little seed of an idea to this incredible event that’s coming at the beginning of October.
And I’m, I’m definitely excited as well. There are just so many amazing people who are going to be speaking and participating, and so it’s gonna be incredible.
[00:04:33] Rose: So how many speakers have you got and can you share with us who, who some of the speakers are or all of them?
[00:04:39] Josh: Yeah, so let me get my notes ’cause they’re too many for me to think of off the top of my head.
But yeah, I, I’d be happy to, list some of those out and to talk through it. So we, we have right around 24 speakers, I believe, and. I will probably not get some of these names quite right because, there, there, there, like you said, there are people from all around the world who will be speaking. But, there is Esther Bergsma, Phillipa Robinson and Robbie Lee, Elisha May, Barbara Shean, William Allen, or Bill, Dr. Genevieve Von Lob, Sam Shepherd, Kate Hunter, Andy Mort, Sarah Santacroce. Kirsten Beske. Rose Cix, you, let’s see, Wesley Reese, Tracy Cooper, Linda Bins, Sinead Rafferty, Bonnie Casamessima, Willow Macintosh, Tammy Goen, Denise Morrison, Catherine Wood, and, Michelle Mercer is, is the list, and I apologize for any names that I butchered during that, but yeah, I mean, basically these are, in my mind some, so many of them are leaders in the highly sensitive person movement and also just incredible experts in their own right, in their fields. I mean, they’re people that I look to for advice on everything from marketing to personal development and people who have been incredible guides for me on my own journey, but also people who are, who have been part of.
Products, projects that are known worldwide, like Dr. Cooper, who just recently was a part of the Sensitive Men Rising movie and putting that together. I believe he was a producer. And, but also people who do weekly podcasts that I tune into every week, like Philipa and Robbie Lee, Catherine Wood, and yourself.
Elisha May. And so it’s just, I honestly, we couldn’t ask for a better lineup of speakers or people who are more viewed, more recognized, more as authorities in their own right. It’s just incredible. And we’re, we’re blessed to have everybody on board.
[00:06:50] Rose: Yeah, it’s a wonderful lineup and I can’t wait to hear from all the other speakers as well.
S lot of them, were on, I’ve hosted three of my own summits previously and, yeah, many of them were in my last two summits, which were specifically for HSP entrepreneurs. So I know what wonderful speakers you have there. It’s very exciting.
[00:07:15] Josh: It is, it’s great. And so, yeah, we’re just super thankful for all of them.
And like you, I just, I’m excited for, on behalf of our attendees and everyone who will participate in the event, but I know that I’ll be tuned in and on the edge of my seat for every session as well, just because there’s so much value, so many incredible topics that’ll be covered. And, it definitely is something that will benefit everyone who participates.
[00:07:40] Rose: Definitely. And can you share with us what the overall intention of the summit is, Josh?
[00:07:48] Josh: Yeah, absolutely. So with when we were coming up with the name for the event, the word that kept popping into my head was awakening. And so we went with HSP Awakening Summit because I think the world’s ready for an awakening, and I think it’s ready for those who identify as highly sensitive people to awaken into the gifts that they have, that the trait provides and that they have to share with the world.
I think it’s also an awakening for the world itself to realize. The power of highly sensitive people and the way that we can contribute to society wherever we’re in the world. And then I think it’s also hopefully a wake up call for those people who are highly sensitive but might not realize it yet, you know, that maybe it’ll raise awareness to the point where they’ll look into the subject and realize, oh wait, there, there’s so much more to this than the little bits and pieces that I’ve heard.
And there are so many boxes that this trait takes off for me. And it’s a way for me to understand myself better and really grow into self-awareness and my potential, because now that I know this about myself and I know that this trait fits me, I can dig deeper into understanding how I’m wired and I.
What that means and what my potential is in this world based on this trait and these gifts that come with it.
[00:09:12] Rose: I love that. And I think it gives a lot of HSPs the validation as well, that they’re not alone. That there’s so many of us out there doing different things in our businesses.
Or our careers, or our personal lives. So I think that validation is a huge part of it, isn’t it?
[00:09:31] Josh: Yeah, absolutely. I think. For you and I and for so many other people I’ve spoken with. That journey of awakening is something that has transformed our lives from the inside out. Going from maybe not even knowing that we were highly sensitive to coming to know, coming to be aware of that term and, and what some of what it entails, and then really diving into the process of understanding what, what does this mean?
How, how does it affect how I’m wired? How does it affect my relationships? And then really, again, awakening into, okay, now that I know what this trait means and what it is, how can I harness the potential that comes with it and use that to build the vision that I have for my life and my future and to impact the lives of the people around me based on the desires that I have for my heart and for the life that I want to create.
And so it really is, for many of us, I think, has created this positive ripple effect where after discovering for ourselves that we were highly sensitive people and empaths, we have this passion to share that message with other people so that whether they’re highly sensitive or their friends and family are, maybe their children are, they can get a fuller understanding and really lean into the gifts that come with high sensitivity.
And also, you know, there are. There are sometimes struggles that people have been dealing with for years based on their high sensitivity, maybe you know, the overstimulation side of things. And they’ve always wondered why they felt different, why they felt alone, why they felt, why they felt somewhat outcast or like they didn’t quite fit in.
So one of the benefits of learning about high sensitivity is to realize, oh, this is a genetic trait. It’s not that I’m weird or broken or there’s something wrong with me. It’s that I’m literally wired differently on a genetic level. But once I understand that, Not only does it help me to, you know, like you said, find that I am part of this huge community of people around the world and find this sense of belonging.
But it also enables us to dive down the rabbit hole and learn more and say, okay, well now that I know this about myself, how can I dive into this and study this subject more and realize? That there is so much to be gained from high sensitivity and that it’s not a curse and it’s not a weakness, and that it’s not something to be feared.
And that’s something that I run into with a lot of my coaching clients is, we’ll, you know, we’ll talk through that and we’ll look at whether or not they’re highly sensitive. And for many of ’em that are, they say, well, this is kind of scary. I don’t know what to make of this. And you know, they, I definitely understand that because, For me, it provoked, provoked a lot of curiosity.
Like, okay, well that’s, that’s interesting. What does that mean for me? And for a lot of them, you know, it brings up that initial fear. And I always just tried to, to let them know like, Hey, this is, this isn’t something to be scared of. This isn’t something to be worried about. It’s not a curse of any sort and actually there’s a whole world waiting for you now and a whole, whole different lens to see the world through. Now that, you know, you’re highly sensitive. And so, you know, walking alongside them on a one-to-one basis is incredible. But I think with this event, we’re going to be able to amplify that same sense of belonging and understanding and compassion to people all around the world.
And so I think that’s one of the most thrilling aspects of this event, is just having that megaphone to, you know, amplify our voices and amplify the message that they’re. There is an incredible gift in being a highly sensitive person or high sensory person depending on what perspective you prefer and that there is so much waiting for those who will take the time to learn about this trait and, and explore the gifts that it provides.
[00:13:17] Rose: And so many gifts. As we both know, we tend to focus. I guess the challenges sometimes. But when we focus on the gifts, we have so much to share and offer. So I know this summit will really help with that. I’d love you to share some of the themes and topics that will be covered please, Josh.
[00:13:43] Josh: Yeah, absolutely. So we’ve got daily themes and I’ll, I’ll list some of the themes and, maybe one or two of them, the different sessions that’ll be taking place that day. So Monday we have the theme of learn, and one of the topics will be the strength and sensitivity. Tuesday we have the topic of grow, and we’ll be covering topics like conscious parenting, raising the next generation of highly sensitive children.
Wednesday, we’ll look at the word sell. We’ll look at LinkedIn for highly sensitive people and marketing the HSP friendly way. Thursday, the theme is lead, and one of the, the topics from that day is fostering your heart-led leadership through honing your intuition. And Friday’s theme is thrive. So we’ll be looking at the power of rest and resistance for HSPs, but really each day, we’ll, we’ll dive into each of those themes.
We’ll dive into really, with Learn. The whole idea is learning more about high sensitivity. We’ll talk about the highly sensitive brain. I. We’ll talk through several subjects just related to learning. What does it mean to be highly sensitive and, and what are the gifts that come with sensitivity. we’ll talk about grow, which a lot of the themes that day or a lot of the topics that day actually are around parenting, raising highly sensitive children, and also just how to best support children in general whether they’re highly sensitive or whether the person raising the child is highly sensitive themselves, and so that one I’m super excited about. The sell day on Wednesday is all about marketing for highly sensitive people. And so we have incredible speakers who will be sharing, topics on sales, on marketing.
On being in business as a highly sensitive person and what are some of the challenges, but also how do we overcome those? Thursday as we get into lead is just, that’s gonna be a deep dive into leading as a highly sensitive person, which I. I’m super excited for that day because I think so often there is this misnomer that highly sensitive people aren’t leaders.
And I think because of our deep empathy, we’re actually some of the best leaders out there because we care about everyone involved. We want win-win situations for everyone involved. If we see someone who isn’t participating, we want to cheerlead them on and bring their gifts out to the surface and give them a voice if they feel like they haven’t had one before.
So that day especially, I think is gonna be amazing and we’ll end on that note of thriving on Friday. And that I think also will be an incredible day just to explore that topic of not just how do we survive as highly sensitive people, but how do we really thrive and bring the best of ourselves out, especially the aspects of ourselves that come with the gifts that we get, with high sensitivity.
And that comes, you know, the element of really creating our best lives and really living to our potential and, not just getting by, not just, you know, surviving, but really thriving in so many different ways. And so, every single day is going to be a treat. Every single day there are going to be phenomenal sessions and it really will be worthwhile tuning in each day to see those.
[00:16:58] Rose: Sounds amazing. And are people able to register now?
[00:17:04] Josh: Yes. So we have a link, that we can share hopefully in the show notes Yeah. Where people can register their interest. And by the time this airs, they may be able even to, get access to the summit platform. It just depends on how far we are along in the process, but one way or another we’ll have.
A link in the notes where they can, can register interest and just follow along up until that day. And I would also encourage them, if they are on LinkedIn, I know especially we’ll have a lot of posts that Jen and I and others who are speaking will be sharing. And so they can follow along up until the day of and just see, you know, the momentum that’s building and, stay in touch as far as what’s coming up and, and when things will be launching.
[00:17:50] Rose: Wonderful. And I will definitely be popping the links in the show notes for that. I guess the one final question I wanted to ask, how are you hoping the event will impact and encourage people who will be attending?
[00:18:06] Josh: That’s a great question and I think. It goes back to those three points we talked about in our first interview, but also in this conversation as well.
I think the first thing I hope it will do is really raise awareness around the subject of what it means to be a highly sensitive person, and hopefully we’ll give people an opportunity to figure out whether or not they are highly sensitive. And so that awareness is the first key. I think understanding is the second for those who know that they are a highly sensitive person.
It’s a chance to understand themselves better and learn more about the trait and, and how it manifests in their lives and the potential gifts that come with the trait. And then that awakening part is probably the most exciting part in my mind, and that’s where people can really understand. Okay, now that I know that I’m highly sensitive and what that means, I can begin to dive into topics like, The depth of processing and the sensitivity to stimuli and the incredible emotional responsivity and empathy that’s wired into us.
So it’s really like, okay, now I thought, I know I have these gifts. How can I share them with the world? And so to me that’s at the heart of the whole summit is a group of people who’ve come together, who’ve. Discovered these gifts in themselves and are sharing them actively with the world every single day.
And now with this summit, it’s a chance for all of us to come together and unite that incredible energy that we have and use it to awaken the entire world to what it means to be a highly sensitive person. And the. Missions that each of us as individuals, but also all of us as a whole, are on to transform the world through our sensitivity, through our innate compassion, and, hopefully elevate the consciousness of those who tune in to see that there is.
So much potential that lies in this trait, but also that we’re here, that it’s mutual. That really the idea of high sensitivity is that the percentage of us that are highly sensitive are there to support those who are not. But they also have incredible gifts that are huge, incredibly important for us in terms of supporting one another.
And that’s through society, through the ages that we’ve had this symbiotic relationship working one with another. And so through this awakening process, we can amplify our message so that we all learn more about each other and work together in an even more incredible way. And like we had talked about a little bit more, a little bit on the, the first episode to me, It’s incredibly important that we get this message out to people who are younger.
So many of us are discovering what it means to be highly sensitive in, you know, our middle age or, you know, many people, thirties, forties, fifties. And that’s, and that’s still amazing. It’s awesome that people are finding that out. But what if we could get this message into schools where children are learning at the age of 13, 14, that they’re highly sensitive and learning how to harness these gifts from, from an earlier age.
How incredible would that be if they could skip that chapter of struggling with their identity, struggling to understand themselves, struggling with feeling different, and instead realize that they have this trait that it is, it’s innate, that it’s built into them, that there’s nothing wrong with them, and that they have gifts to offer the world that, you know, that the world desperately needs.
And so that’s, that’s, that’s my hope with, with the awakening part of it, especially, but just with the event as a whole is, you know, let’s raise awareness around this. Let’s get this message out into every home we can. And, you know, especially let’s. The, I think the other aspect of the, the summit, and I’m sure it’s been the same with your summits as well, is let’s all get connected, you know, through LinkedIn, through social media, especially as people tune into the sessions and resonate with certain speakers, follow along with them, get to know them.
These are all incredible people to connect with and do life with, and who want to journey alongside and help you. Their area of expertise, but also just in life in general. And so it’s an incredible opportunity for us to come together as a community and build relationships and move together and cheerlead one another through life.
So that’s, to me, that positive ripple effect is one of the most amazing things to dream about and to imagine. And I know it’s gonna be absolutely incredible when the event comes around.
[00:22:28] Rose: I know it will be too, and I know the impact will be amazing with you and Jen at the helm and all the amazing speakers and yeah, you, you’re totally right.
The connection is huge. And I know from, from my summits, I’ve, I’ve connected with so many wonderful people around the world, but not just me as the host, but I know a lot of the attendees have personally emailed me and, and just thanked me for. Enlightening them to what this trait’s all about, and they’ve connected with each other through different groups and social media.
So I know that the impact is far and wide when one of these events is hosted. So I think what you and Jen are doing is amazing and I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart because I know it’s. A big undertaking and it’s, yeah, it’s gonna be amazing. I’m so looking forward to it.
[00:23:25] Josh: Absolutely. Me too.
And you know, and I just, I appreciate all your support and encouragement and for, allowing me to come back on the show and talk about this more. And, yeah, you’re right. It’s gonna be phenomenal. And it, you know, again, it’s just so much about that connection and about. People having the support and encouragement they need to create the vibrant and fulfilling lives they desire.
And I know for each of us as coaches and highly sensitive business people, that that’s, that’s part of our wiring, that’s part of what we show up for each day on LinkedIn and in life with our clients. But again, just the idea of getting the message spread further out to more people and impacting more lives is incredible.
And, and, yeah, I just. I keep dreaming real big with this event because I know the potential is huge and. But at the end of the day, even if just a handful of people were to walk away from this understanding themselves better with more self-acceptance, more self-love, a deeper sense of self-worth, it’ll absolutely be worth it.
But again, why not aim for thousands instead of just a handful if we can. I.
[00:24:29] Rose: Yeah. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Josh. As always, it’s been wonderful talking with you and everyone tuning in. Please go to the show notes and check out the link if the summit resonates with you and if you want to come along.