Photo: Debbie Gisonni: Illuminating Paths to Happiness and Self-Empowerment
Author, Wellness Expert, and Empowerer of Self-Discovery
Debbie Gisonni shares her journey from corporate leadership to author, highlighting happiness, resilience, and empowerment through personal experiences and insightful works.
Debbie Gisonni is a beacon of wisdom, resilience, and inspiration, whose remarkable life journey and professional achievements have left an indelible mark on the worlds of wellness, leadership, and self-development. Whether through her enlightening books like The Goddess of Happiness and Note to Self: Love, her powerful online courses, or her globally recognised speaking engagements, Debbie has dedicated her life to empowering others to embrace happiness, balance, and success. Her work transcends genres, blending humour, spirituality, and profound personal insights to craft stories and lessons that speak to the heart of the human experience.
As the founder of SELF POWER NOW!, Debbie champions a holistic approach to growth, offering tools and strategies that address mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. Her work encourages us all to pause, reflect, and tap into our inner strength to navigate life’s challenges with grace and resilience. A testament to her impact, Debbie was inducted into the prestigious Happiness Hall of Fame—a celebration of her contributions to advancing the cause of joy and fulfilment across the globe.
In this special feature, Reader’s House Magazine is honoured to present a candid and heartfelt conversation with Debbie Gisonni, delving into her extraordinary journey from a Bronx upbringing to Silicon Valley success, her transition from corporate leadership to touching lives through writing and consulting, and the deeply personal experiences that have shaped her perspective on life, death, and the transformative power of laughter. Join us as we explore the insights, humour, and inspiration behind Debbie’s celebrated works and her unwavering commitment to helping others lead happy, meaningful lives.
Your career has spanned multiple industries, from high-tech publishing to personal growth and consulting. What inspired your transition into writing and self-development?
Real-life experience. While I was climbing the executive ranks and running multi-million-dollar businesses, my family was crumbling. First, my mother got a brain tumor. Then, my twenty-three-year-old sister committed suicide. A few months later, my father got bone cancer and my close aunt got breast cancer. All four of them died in four consecutive years. After that, I left my corporate job. I wanted to help others overcome challenges like I had. Death actually gave me a rebirth into writing and self-development. My first book was a memoir about life, death and moving on titled, Vita’s Will, after my mother.
In The Goddess of Happiness, you emphasize that happiness is a choice. What’s one simple daily habit you recommend for cultivating happiness?
Laugh every day! Growing up in an Italian-American immigrant family was like living in a sitcom. We always found something to laugh about even when tragedy struck. When my mother was in the hospital on a respirator, she communicated by pointing to letters on a board. The combination of her Sicilian, Brooklynese and broken English was a hysterical guessing game, even though we didn’t know if she’d ever get off that respirator.
Humor can be found in failure, challenges and even death, and it’s precisely at the worst of times when it helps the most. It takes strength to choose laughter over despair, but it’s just as much a release as crying. Given a choice, I’d certainly rather laugh than cry!
Your novel Note to Self: Love blends humor, spirituality, and self-discovery. What inspired the story, and how much of it reflects your own experiences?
Note to Self: Love is about a struggling NYC waitress/actress with a cynical wit who grapples with life and death when her suicide is interrupted by a handsome stranger, and the only person she can talk to while she’s in a coma is a sassy spirit guide.
I lost my sister to suicide and have always wondered, what if. What if she waited one more day? What if someone was there to save her? I based the book on that concept and my own life experiences. I made the protagonist a NYC Italian foodie (like me) and included other Italian characters and ethnicities I was familiar with growing up. A lot of the scenes take place in a hospital. Having spent the last decade of my mother’s life visiting her in hospitals, I witnessed some pretty juicy dramas going on there amongst the staff, visitors and patients. Lastly, I always incorporate humor and self-empowerment in all my writing. That’s my brand.
Having been a CEO, consultant, and motivational speaker, what’s the most valuable leadership lesson you’ve learned?
People should always be treated with compassion and empathy. Any kind of relationship –personal or professional – works best when people feel valued and understood. I’ve always given precedence to the employee as a person rather than a number because I know the job is only one aspect of their life. Events such as a death in the family, divorce, break-ups, moves, caring for children or aging parents all spill into work and need to be acknowledged with solutions that work for both the employee and employer.
You’ve worked extensively with women’s organizations. What do you see as the biggest challenge for women in leadership today?
Besides the obvious wage gap, three big challenges come to mind:
- Emphasis on youth and appearance. Call it ageism or beauty culture, but men are considered wiser and more experienced as they age, while women tend to be cast aside.
- Necessity to prove value. Men’s qualifications are taken at face value, but women often need to prove their worth before being taken seriously. This is most common in upper management or in traditionally male-dominated industries.
- Different standards. Leaders need to make unfavorable decisions, take charge and be tough. These traits are acceptable for men, but women who exhibit them are often labeled difficult to work with or bitchy.
From the Bronx to Silicon Valley, your journey has been remarkable. How has your background shaped your approach to business, writing, and life?
Growing up in “Da Bronx” (as we call it), I learned how to assess people and situations quickly, stay safe, and stand up for myself. That “don’t mess with me” attitude has stayed with me my entire life, and served me well in business. For example, I always asked for a higher compensation package than what I was offered. I valued my worth and was willing to walk away if necessary. Most times, I got exactly what I wanted.
My strong work ethic came from my Italian immigrant parents who worked in low-paying blue-collar jobs. Money was always tight so if I wanted anything beyond the bare necessities, I had to earn my own money to get it. By the time I was ten, I was already babysitting for neighbors and tutoring their young children. During my full-time college schedule, I worked three part-time jobs totally full-time hours to pay for my tuition and expenses. Growing up poor gave me a sense of responsibility early on and a belief that I had the power to do anything I wanted in life if I worked for it. And for that, I’m grateful.
Debbie Gisonni is a best-selling author, wellness expert, media host and corporate advisor who inspires people to make simple changes that radically improve their self-awareness, well-being and success.
