

Taught by Kathy Davies, Managing Director of the Stanford Life Design Lab and Susan Burnett, certified DYL Master Instructor and longtime business executive, this innovative digital solution gives you the opportunity to learn and practice ideas and tools contained in the NYT bestselling Designing Your Life, How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life in a life design community.
You will participate in 3 highly interactive virtual workshops where we will work together real-time to reframe dysfunctional beliefs, explore the social and personal narratives that shape us, and dig into design tools to increase your creativity and confidence. We will use breakout discussions, and online ideation tools to share and collaborate. We will heighten a mindful awareness of where you are now, use design tools for balance and energy and improvements, practice ways to frame problems and get unstuck, gain insights into honing your decision making, and design three possible future paths – Odyssey Plans – for your life.
Between virtual workshops, the DYL app will support your journey with additional material and tools, space for reflection, and social features to share and gain insights from your community.
The following items are included in the experience
Please note that the virtual journey requires the use of technology, so before you sign up for the experience, be sure you have:
Session Details:
We look forward to meeting you and to engaging in this journey together!
Designing Your Life Workshop Leader
I am the Managing Director of the Life Design Lab at Stanford University, where I teach Product Design, Mechanical Engineering, and “Designing Your Life”. I have 15 years of experience developing electromechanical and software products, and proudly hold five patents. I consult with Silicon Valley companies, teach design thinking, conduct ethnographic research, and develop product strategies and concepts. My experience includes roles as Sr. Product Manager at Arena Solutions, Sr. Manager of Technical Programs at D2M, Inc, Manager of Mechanical Engineering at nLighten Technologies and Mechanical Engineer at Cardica. I am the co- creator of “Designing Your Life for Women” and a passionate advocate for design thinking as a methodology to empower social change.
Designing Your Life Workshop Leader
I have dedicated the last 35 years of my career to catalyzing individual and business transformation and growth. I have held executive positions at Hewlett Packard, Gap Inc., Deloitte, Yahoo! and BTS, where I have led large scale business changes, cultural renewal, employee engagement, leadership development, and global marketing services in the computer systems industry. I am an adjunct professor at Antioch University, teaching Women and Leadership, and I’ve taught Designing Your Life at Stanford, in companies and women’s retreats. I am a regular speaker, consultant, and author on leadership development. My Odyssey Plan for the next five years is all about empowering women to change the world!
Instructor and Owner Holistic Connections
As the founder of Holistic Connections, Inc., I have designed and taught healing workshops on forgiveness, emotional health, and all aspects of Kundalini Yoga. Through my training with some of the most highly skilled teachers on conscious living, including Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, PhD, of the Kundalini Yoga tradition and Leslie Hershberger, M.A., of the Enneagram of the Narrative Tradition, I’ve learned how to enable true healing to occur. My practice areas include: the Yoga of Authentic Relationships, Mind and Meditation, Stress and Vitality, Somatic Experiencing, the Enneagram, and the Emotional Polarity Technique. I enjoy my role in the Designing Your Life for Women workshop where we create a space for participants to unwind, and reveal a deeper awareness of themselves.
You will find women of all ages, backgrounds and career experiences participating in this workshop. Their common goal is to design a life and career with more joy, purpose and fulfillment. And they are usually at some kind of crossroads in their life, like starting their first job, or making a mid-career change, or deciding whether to leave or re-enter the workforce or designing their retirement. The diverse group of women really brings different perspectives which make the collaboration and community work so well.
Many women who come to our workshops have read Designing Your Life – How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life and want to do the exercises and new designs for their life in collaboration with others. It’s especially effective to be in a room with women you don’t know, as they have no history or preconceptions about you, and they have no stake in your decisions, unlike family and friends. So they can hear you and propose possibilities for you in a new and refreshing way.
Women have told us it’s helpful to read the book in advance, and others have said they like doing the workshop first and then read the book. It’s a personal learning preference, not a requirement to read the book in advance of attending the retreat.
Yes, we provide a 10% discount for alumnae friends and family. Your favorite alum will give you the promotion code. We also provide a 50% discount to students and veterans, as well as a few scholarships. Please contact catherine@designingyour.life for more information.
We do not refund your money if you cancel, so please make sure you are able to make the date you have selected. If something unforeseen happens, please contact Kathy Davies at kathy.h.davies@gmail.com about your situation, and we will see if we can transfer your registration to another workshop if one is available.
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