DIVINE DIVA INTERVIEW WITH ADRIAN LEEDS

When you were starting out in your career how did you know you were making the right choice as far as pursuing that career for yourself? 

I didn’t know. I started out on the career of fashion design and was educated at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, but I never used that training, nor worked in that industry. My “career” has been an organic and natural path that has led me from those original goals to the field of advertising and marketing and now to the industry of real estate. What I discovered along that path, was that natural talents can be applied in a variety of ways. We must be open to the opportunities rather than paving the way for ourselves without allowing it to flow naturally.

Who influenced you the most growing up?

My mother was perhaps my guiding light, not because she necessarily encouraged me, but because she allowed me to be me by giving me as free a reign as she could allow herself to give me. She was also someone who taught me many basic skills, behaved more like a friend than a mother and was someone I had always adored and admired. (She died just before her 98^th birthday, with the spirit of someone much younger thanks to her “laisser-faire” attitude, something I hope to perpetuate in myself.)

When you faced obstacles or fears along the way how did you overcome them, and move beyond them? 

Many years ago I adopted the philosophies of Eckhart Tolle who wrote The Power of Now, and other books which teach the value of living in the present, seeing the future as illusory and accepting the past as unchangeable. By fully embodying these basic ideas, it has been intensely empowering by removing all fears and anxieties while allowing me to focus on the here and now. I recommend it to everyone as a way of ensuring a happy life.

What or who inspires you and why?

I am inspired by people who are open-minded, creative, intelligent and who fearlessly express themselves regardless of adversaries and opposing opinions.  I am particularly in awe of women who have overcome the obstacles of their gender, such as Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

If you could go back in time and change anything about your life would you change anything? If so what would you change and why?

I regret nothing. There is no point in regretting anything that happened in the past. Any decisions I made were based on the situation at the time. “Regret” is a total waste of time and energy.

What do you feel is your greatest achievement?

The creation of my daughter, Erica Simone Leeds, who has surpassed every hope and anticipation I could have had as a daughter and as a formidable woman of the world.

What are the most important lessons you have learned along the way? 

* Live in the present.
* Have hopes, but never expectations.
* Take professional advice.
* Think positively.
* Pay attention to synchronistic events –– acausal meaningful coincidences.
* Use both your head and your heart making decisions.
* Remove your ego from the situation and empower yourself.
* There is more pleasure in giving than in receiving.

What do you hope others will remember most about you and your life?

I hope I will be remembered for having worked hard, lived life to its fullest, been open-minded and non-judgmental and cared more about people than possessions.

What is the best advice you would give other women who are not sure what path to choose in their life?

Live in the now. Let the path find you, rather than you find the path. There is a grand plan for all of us if we allow it to be discovered. 

What does success mean to you?

The ability to wake up every day feeling proud for some accomplishment, even if small and insignificant to most, but important to me.

Adrian is a French property consultant and licensed real estate agent in France, a writer and publisher, event coordinator as well as a TV personality which you can see on HGTV's House Hunters International. She is the lovely lady who helps people find their dream homes in beautiful Paris and all over France.

She is also the author and editor of the Parler Paris and Parler Nice Nouvellettres®, of French Property Insider, and in years past, was the author of the first online restaurant guide to Paris, Adrian Leeds' Top 100 Cheap Insider Paris Restaurants.

You can find her at www.adrianleeds.com or at

https://www.facebook.com/AdrianLeedsGroup/

I hope you enjoyed this interview with the Inspirational Adrian and you can see how Fabulous she is on House Hunters International helping make the dream of owning a home is Paris possible.