Liya James, Co-founder of CDSD
Liya James is an acclaimed author, serial entrepreneur, inclusive design leader, innovation consultant, certified trauma-informed coach, somatic healer, and Deep Self Designer™.
Liya joined the Center as it was re-incarnating post-pandemic, bringing a welcome set of insight and expertise that is harmonious and complementary to the mission. Due to the breadth and depth of her career, Liya’s role at CDSD is multi-faceted. She manages strategy and operations, as well as customer experience, method design and testing, course architecting, workshop facilitation, and service innovation.
Liya also offers individual Deep Self Design™ sessions. Her signature blend of business and leadership experience, combined with her skills in the healing arts, makes her an effective educator. She helps her clients and students learn time-tested tools for doing Inner Work in a compassionate, judgment-free setting. They learn to work with the internalized fears, beliefs, and thought patterns that no longer serve them. From this deep state of awareness, they learn a life practice of tapping their inner intelligence and attuning to their authentic selves. They learn to take consistent, bold, inspired actions while feeling grounded when it matters most.
Liya’s origin story fueled an intense drive to succeed that was natural and understandable but not sustainable. In her previous life, she was a high-achieving entrepreneur, design leader, and innovation consultant, starting and running multi-million dollar businesses, including Idean, where she was the head of the Austin studio (now Frog Design), and Totally Human, an inclusive design consultancy.
She coached, advised, and consulted with entrepreneurs in various industries, often working with them from the inception of their ventures and leading to exits that total $3+ billion. She also worked for over a decade as an innovation consultant for Fortune 500 companies, facilitating teams to take products from idea to launch and leading innovation and creativity training globally.
Liya’s life motto is…
The way past is through
It is with this belief that Liya gently and safely guides people through a process of being in flow with the river of life, co-creating joy and real success by working compassionately with their Deep Self, their inner Guiding Intelligence. In this state, everything unfolds exactly as it’s meant to be, exactly when it’s meant to be.
Liya’s professional success was notable but ultimately unfulfilling, and it took a huge toll on her body, heart, and mind. Her awakening began when she accidentally found herself walking alongside pilgrims on the road to Lhasa in 2010. She turned toward this invitation by journeying for several years into expanded states of consciousness assisted by Aya, Bufo, Huachuma, skilled facilitators, and her own breath.
From these experiences was born a true passion for inner work and a commitment to techniques that serve human healing and human potential. This lifelong journey of growth and recovery motivates Liya to continue her personal internal work while giving clients and students at CDSD the compassionate support they need to create results. Her certifications in personal development include Trauma-Informed Coaching, Embodied Processing, Root-Cause Therapy from the Centre for Healing, and Certified Somatic Healer from the International Institute for Complementary Therapists.