What does it really look like to respect yourself, but through all the mess and changes of real life? In this episode, I sit down with Gaby, owner of the finest Miami French Restaurant ( and my favourite), Frenchie's. I ask him questions what it means to make choices for yourself, even when the path is unclear or unconventional.

Drawing from Gabriel’s story of moving countries, failing, starting over, and learning hard truths about honesty and self-care, I’m looking at how our work, our families, and our sense of risk all shape how we show up for ourselves and others. If you’ve ever felt torn between responsibility and authenticity, or wondered what it takes to rebuild your own sense of purpose, this one’s for you.

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CHAPTERS

• 00:00 — Getting Comfortable: Starting the Conversation

• 01:08 — Leaving Home and Searching for Place

• 02:09 — What Living in a Cave Taught Me

• 04:14 — Army Lessons and Learning Respect

• 07:02 — Work, Restlessness, and Searching for Meaning

• 16:12 — Why Human Connection Matters

• 25:50 — Selfishness, Divorce, and Discovering Self-Respect

• 33:01 — The Leap: Moving, Starting Again, and Taking Risks

• 40:09 — Money, Investments, and Chasing Challenge

• 46:48 — Failure, Success, and Defining Both

• 51:21 — Making Choices: France, Miami, and a Coin Flip

• 58:00 — Reinventing Work, Living the Mix

• 01:04:10 — Looking Back: What Really Shapes a Life

• 01:07:31 — The Real Question: Do You Respect Yourself?

Money you can lose and make again. Time, you can't.

In part two with Camila, one strand showed up that neither of us planned… time. Not time as money, but time as seasons, as ageing, as culture. She lives in a country with no seasons, so nothing outside the window marks time passing. I'd never thought about how much that shapes the way a whole culture moves, plans, and even shows up late.

We talk about dressing for the body you have now rather than the one in your head, why "I'm coming" means something completely different depending on where you're from, and the one thing she wants her daughters to remember: be true to yourself, whatever anyone thinks.

If you've ever felt at war with time… your age, your calendar, other people's version of "on time"… this one will shift something.

In this episode:

• You've moved more inside your body than across any border (00:00)
• Dressing for who you are now, not who you were at 26 (02:00)
• Blending the entrepreneur back into corporate life (08:00)
• What each of six countries taught her about communicating (12:00)
• "I'm coming"… the same words, two cultures, one clash (15:00)
• Why countries without seasons feel time differently (19:00)
• The one thing she'd leave her daughters (22:00)

If this made you rethink your own relationship with time, I'd love to hear it. More of my thoughts live on my Substack… link in the description.

Do you want to kow more about us: https://link.kirtana168.com/podcast

Camila is a Colombian-born brand and retail leader whose life and career have been shaped by movement, culture, and reinvention. She spent over ten years living and working across Europe before building a strong chapter of her life in the Middle East, where she has spent a total of seven years across different periods.With a career rooted in fashion and retail, Camila has built and led brands across multiple markets in Europe and the GCC, working at the intersection of creativity, commercial strategy, and cultural relevance. Her global experience has given her a deep sensitivity to how identity, femininity, and self-expression evolve across cultures.Alongside her professional journey, Camila is also a mother—an experience that has deeply reshaped her perspective on leadership, balance, and purpose. Today, she brings a human-centered approach to her work, guided by storytelling, inclusivity, and the belief that fashion, like life, is about growth, belonging, and becoming

You don't change. You expand.

Camila has lived in six countries… Colombia, Argentina, Italy, Qatar, London, Dubai… and somewhere along the way she stopped believing she had to reinvent herself every time she moved. In this conversation she reframes reinvention as expansion, and it shifts how I think about every fresh start since.

We talk about what home actually is when it isn't a place, what migration costs children, the grief of losing the version of your life you were in control of, and how positivity works as a real skill rather than a slogan. If you have ever felt the pressure to become someone new for a new city, a new job, or a new chapter, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• Why moving expands you instead of changing you (00:00)
• Six countries, five languages, one thirst to explore (03:00)
• "Home is not a place" and what it is instead (10:00)
• The grief no one warns you about when you migrate with kids (14:00)
• Positivity as a survival skill, not a personality trait (21:00)
• How to ask for help, build a network, and lower your risk (26:00)
• Imposter syndrome, and seeing the greatness others already see in you (30:00)

If this made you look at your own life differently, I share more of these thoughts on my Substack. Link in the description.

Camila is a Colombian-born brand and retail leader whose life and career have been shaped by movement, culture, and reinvention. She spent over ten years living and working across Europe before building a strong chapter of her life in the Middle East, where she has spent a total of seven years across different periods.With a career rooted in fashion and retail, Camila has built and led brands across multiple markets in Europe and the GCC, working at the intersection of creativity, commercial strategy, and cultural relevance. Her global experience has given her a deep sensitivity to how identity, femininity, and self-expression evolve across cultures.Alongside her professional journey, Camila is also a mother—an experience that has deeply reshaped her perspective on leadership, balance, and purpose. Today, she brings a human-centered approach to her work, guided by storytelling, inclusivity, and the belief that fashion, like life, is about growth, belonging, and becoming.