Strong Opinions, Open Hearts (with Iona Holloway)

 In this deeply personal conversation, Iona Holloway, founder and keynote speaker at Brave Thing, joins Chedva to explore how becoming a mother at 35 sharpened her already strong opinions and shortened her bullshit filter. They dive into the transformative power of motherhood, the difference between being special and being precious, and what it really means to be brave. Iona shares her journey from a struggling 29-year-old to finding freedom through inner work, and how pregnancy and motherhood shifted her from deep emotional facilitation to helping others shine through public speaking. The conversation touches on the 5 and 95 rule, time travel within ourselves, and why sometimes our greatest strengths come from accepting we're not coming to save ourselves—we have to do it.

Key Topics:

• How motherhood intensifies both fierceness and vulnerability
• The difference between being special and being precious
• Strong opinions, loosely held—and respecting others who disagree
• The 5 and 95 rule: making your inner child happy and your 95-year-old self proud
• Pivotting in different stages of life
• Moving from Scotland to the US and finding permission to heal
• Bravery as the collision of strength and vulnerability

 

Notable Quotes:

• "I'm operating on the principle that if this is the time I've got, then I may as well be living as true to whatever the current version of Iona exists."
• "None of us are special, but we are all very precious things."
• "At any given time, you have to decide that you are the one that you have been waiting for, looking for, needing. No one is coming to save you."
• "Your body's a scrapbook and it holds the memories of your life in its pages."
• "Bravery is where strength and vulnerability collide—strong with your heart turned on."
• "If someone's giving you 10 minutes of their time, then you better make it worth their attention."

Iona's Powerful Question: "Someone in your life needs a braver version of you to exist. Who is your someone?"

Resources Mentioned:

• Iona Holloway's website
• Star Power - Iona's 5-week speaking intensive program
• Follow Iona on social media @ionaholloway
• Ghost: Why Perfect Women Shrink - Iona’s bestselling book
• CuriosityGPT - Free tool for gateway questions
• The Curiosity Lab - Chedva's concentrated strategy process
• Chedva's newsletter - Weekly questions and musings