Libby Moore
Life Coach & Founder of LoveXGlobal
IG: @loveXglobal
Personal IG: @libbymooregypsytour
About Libby
Libby Moore is a Certified Life Coach, international speaker and founder of LoveXGlobal; bringing the energy of love back into business. She is passionate about helping people and companies align with their higher selves, in order to achieve their higher purposes. As the former Chief of Staff to Oprah Winfrey, Libby spent over a decade supporting Ms. Winfrey, while being mentored by her. Now Moore travels the world, sharing her work/life experiences, and lessons learned, as she helps corporations reimagine what corporate culture can be from a higher consciousness.
Given where we are in the world, a lot of people are searching for that “next thing” in their lives; whether it’s a project they’re passionate about, a change of career, spending more time with family, or re-prioritizing. Your website mentions that you’re living an inspired and creative life. How have you approached this time?
To me, living an inspired and creative life means being in alignment with “God/the Universe,” and allowing that energy to flow through you.
But I realize a lot of people don’t call it “God.” Some people say, “I don’t know what I believe in, but I believe in something.” I think we’re all talking about the same thing, the Universe, an energy source, or something higher, and we’re arguing over what to call it. Therefore, we’re missing the whole power, magic, and the flow of “it.”
Each morning, my daily routine is to meditate for twenty minutes, prayer/intentional thought and journal writing. One morning, something in me said, “Write down the word COVID.” I wrote out “C-O-V-I-D.” The next thought that popped into my head was, if COVID were an acronym for something good, what would it be? It came immediately: Creating Opportunities Via Inspirational Divinity.
As a life coach and speaker, one of the bigger parts of my business is traveling around the world doing speaking engagements. COVID completely wiped all of that off the table. Suddenly, my income was not just slashed in half, but more than half really. It brought me back to that acronym, Creating Opportunities Via Inspirational Divinity. I thought, “Well, why don’t I start doing my talks on-line, and I can reach more people with no travel.”
So, I decided to host Zoom conversations called LoveXGlobal Talks. It started in December and it’s an open forum to share ideas, answer questions and have conversations with people all around the world.
Truly devastating things are happening as a result of COVID, and at the same time, innovative and creative opportunities are being birthed right now that were not even considered prior to COVID.
What challenges have you encountered, and how have you overcome them?
For about 6 months before launching LoveXGlobal Talks, I was procrastinating and experiencing road blocks from my own fears and self-sabotaging inner dialogue with thoughts such as, “How will people react, what will they say, what if I am not good enough?”
I had to take baby steps and push through it with the help of my partner and people around me that kept encouraging me to just do it! So, I finally launched it. Even though I am fifty-four years old, and have had a successful career, I still have these mental hurdles to navigate now and then.
Even as evolved, experienced and successful as many high profile people are, they are still human beings that are working on themselves. There is no finish line, it’s constant tweaking and refining.
How would you define your coaching style?
My coaching style is organic and intuitive. I lean on my thirty year career experiences and the lessons I’ve learned to help guide the conversation.
In my early twenties, I walked dogs, cleaned houses, and worked as a receptionist. I later sold radio and newspaper advertising, and wrote radio commercials. Then I spent three years with Maury Povich in talk television, 4 years with Jann Wenner in magazine publishing, and eleven years with Oprah Winfrey in television, film, philanthropy, and everything else that came into her world.
I help my clients get back into the habit of listening to their gut and intuition. Every conversation begins with a breathing technique to get them out of their heads and into alignment with a higher energy/higher vibration.
I say to every single person that I work with, “I’m not teaching you anything new, I’m reminding you what you already know.” The knowledge is there, it simply gets lost in the chaos and swirl of life.
Was there a defining moment or turning point in your career?
There were three or four major turning points. At twenty-three, I moved to Boulder, Colorado. I stayed there for two years, and during those two years I was skiing, cleaning houses, walking dogs, working as a receptionist and also working at a local movie theater. The whole time, I thought to myself, “I’m going to be a writer for Saturday Night Live some day.” That was my dream.
On my twenty-fifth birthday, I bungee jumped out of a hot air balloon over a cornfield in Boulder, Colorado. After the jump, I had this moment of realization; “I’m twenty-five and it’s time to go after my dream.” I moved to New York City, which was an amazingly positive decision for me. Soon after my move, I got a job with Maury Povich as his personal assistant, which is when a major turning point happened.
I knew I was gay my entire life, as early as I can remember. I thought I would go to my grave with this secret. By the time I was twenty years old, I thought I should end my life in a drunk driving accident because I was so lonely and sad, thinking, “I’m gay and I can’t tell anyone. No one will accept me as a gay person.”
About seven years later, while working as Maury Povich’s personal assistant, he did a talk show called Coming Out Strong. I went into his office, locked the door and watched the in-studio feed. After the show, I thought to myself, “Ninety-eight percent of what those women just said is how I’ve felt my whole life… I am gay.” I allowed those words to be said in my mind for the first time in my life at twenty-seven years old. Soon after I came out to my best friend, friends and family, and to my surprise everybody embraced me. At that time, I discovered what I had been telling myself in my head wasn’t true at all.
The Maury Povich show led me to find another job in television as an associate producer. I was terrible at that job, and I ended up getting fired after three months. At the time I was really upset about it, and I was also scared because I thought, “How am I going to survive in New York City without a job?”
In hindsight, I look back and think that was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I was on the wrong path. During this pandemic, I’m sure many people reading this could be working at a job that they hate but need for the money, or were recently laid off – I promise you, there is something better waiting for you. I did random jobs for two years to make ends meet. Then, I found a job at Rolling Stone and worked there for four years.
The other big turning point in my career was when I was hoping to get a job as a writer at Saturday Night Live. I got an interview with the head writer, but left that interview knowing I was never going to work there, because I didn’t have enough writing experience. So, I started sending writing submissions of monologues, jokes and ideas to the head writer at The Rosie O’Donnell Show every month for ten months. I never got a reply. One day on the subway, I said a prayer, “Ok God, clearly you do not want me to write for Saturday Night Live or The Rosie O’Donnell Show. So whatever I am meant to do, every atom, cell and molecule in my body, mind, soul and spirit is open to it. Show me what it is. Put a big, fat spotlight on it, so that it’s clear this is what I’m meant to do, and I will do it.” I just released that prayer/intention to the Universe.
Five or six weeks later, a recruiter reached out for a position as a chief of staff and executive assistant to a high-profile person in Chicago. Once I read the job responsibilities, I immediately knew that this was a position with Oprah Winfrey. In that moment, I understood, “This is why I didn’t get the job at Saturday Night Live or The Rosie O’Donnell Show, because I’m meant to do this.” I ended up getting that job and staying for eleven years. Even now, nine years later, it continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.
What would you say to someone that wants to chase after a dream or a goal, but is struggling with the fear of failure?
Oprah would always say, “Do all that you can do toward your dreams and goals, and then release it to the Universe.” It’s either going to happen or something else is going to happen that’s even better than you can imagine. It’s about knowing when it’s time to release that dream and be open to something else.
I was sending those writing submissions to The Rosie O’Donnell Show, taking stand-up comedy, sketch comedy, and improv classes, and I was super networking. Despite doing everything I could, I never really got anywhere. So, I did what Oprah would say, and I released it to the Universe.
Six months before I got the job with Oprah, my mom had said, “Elizabeth, why don’t you send your resume to Oprah, because you’re sending all this writing stuff to The Rosie O’Donnell Show and no one is answering you. Her new magazine came out on your birthday a month ago. You love the magazine. You love the show. Why don’t you just send your resume over? What do you have to lose?” I said, “Mom, why would Oprah’s assistant ever leave that job? Plus, I live in New York City, my friends are here, I love my apartment, I don’t want to move to Chicago.” When I later got the job with Oprah, I asked, “What happened to the person before me?” It turns out, the person had left exactly one month before my mom suggested I apply for that job. The Universe spoke through my mom, but I shut her down and closed the door to that possibility, because I wasn’t ready to release the dream that wasn’t coming, and be open to something new.
It was five o’clock on a Friday when I received that email for the position with Oprah. I was in the process of shutting down my computer, which took forever because this was back in 2000 when you had to close out of a bunch of applications. In that moment, an AOL notification popped up – “You’ve got mail.” I couldn’t wait to get out of the office and meet my friends for drinks, but something told me that I should really check that email.
I opened everything back up, and there was the email with a job description for Chief of Staff, Executive Assistant to a high profile person in Chicago. It put me in a whole different frame of mind.
How has your frame of mind contributed to your success?
The positive thoughts in my mind were seeds planted early by my mother and her encouragement that we could do anything we wanted in the world. There have also been negative thoughts based on my experience from my early childhood thinking that I was not good enough to be myself, gay. I recognize when I’m in a place of not feeling worthy or good enough, those thoughts have hindered my career. When I’m in a positive place with encouraging thoughts in my head, opportunities come to me more easily.
Thoughts are the core of everything. If the thoughts in our head are negative and self destructive like, “You idiot, why did you say that? That’s stupid.” Or, “I could never do that. I’m not smart enough. I’m not good enough. I’m not worthy enough.” Those thoughts pull us down and hold us back.
When we say to ourselves, “I’ve got this. I know I can do this. I’m a good person. I’m a loving person. I’m a generous person. I’m a creative person.” …These positive statements lift us up and encourage us to keep going.
I love the quote, “Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.” Of course you’re valuable. Of course you’re worthy. Of course you have something to offer to the world, it’s for you. Move through life from that place, and watch what will happen.
Is there an exercise that you practice with your coaching clients to help them get into flow?
There’s a simple exercise I call “catch and release” that will help you mitigate stressful and negative thoughts.
Step one is to catch yourself when you’re in a negative thought loop. Step two, is to take three deep breaths and slow exhales. Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a few seconds and then release a very slow exhale through your nose, while relaxing your shoulders on the exhale. Step three, is to tell yourself what you know to be true, factual and positive about yourself and your current situation. Or, picture where you want to see yourself in the future, and envision the best possible outcome for your life and/or career.
Repeat that exercise as much as you need to. Don’t let your head take you down a negative path that is just not healthy or beneficial.
When you’re stressed, your brain releases the chemical Cortisol. The moment you take that deep breath and slow exhale, your body tells your mind that you’re safe, so the brain turns off the release of Cortisol, and you’ll start to feel better immediately.
If you were to leave us with something to think about, what would it be?
At the core, you are love, and when you align with that energy, that is when you will always feel at your best. The deep breaths/slow exhales combined with positive thoughts will help keep you in that energy of love.
To learn more about Libby Moore, click here.
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