In this episode, we speak with Susan Olesek, Founder of the Enneagram Prison Project (EPP). Early in her journey of learning the Enneagram, Susan was invited into a prison in Texas to work with a group of incarcerated individuals. She was both inspired and blown away by the power of the work and the life-changing impact of the participants. She knew she’d found her purpose and she EPP was created to bring the Enneagram teachings into more prisons. Susan shares how the Enneagram provides an opportunity to be more honest and kind with ourselves and to learn how to get out of our own way. We all come into the world with a divine spark, and a beautiful innocence that can get twisted and, at times, shut down. The Enneagram highlights some of our unconscious habits and patterns and invites us to choose, with more consciousness, how we show up in the world. Ultimately, the Enneagram “frees us from the prisons of our own making” and facilitates falling a bit more in love with ourselves. Please join us to hear about Susan’s amazing journey - from the nonprofit she built to finding freedom from the prison of her own making.
“Your definition of who you are is your prison. You can set yourself free at any time.” Cheri Huber
Susan Olesek is an unapologetic “Idealist” and the founder of the Enneagram Prison Project (EPP), a paradigm-shifting model of how to bring self-awareness education to those incarcerated, now scaling across the globe from California’s San Quentin State Prison to Belgium. Born outside of Boston and schooled in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and England, Susan is a “Human Potentialist” - a social entrepreneur in pursuit of what’s possible for people. She runs a consulting practice teaching the Enneagram to Fortune-500 leaders, but her heart is dedicated to helping all people - on both sides of the bars - to realize the “prison of our own making.” She lives in California with her three children, and Rick Olesek, her husband and Executive Director of EPP.
Links:
Enneagram Prison Project: https://enneagramprisonproject.org/
Susan’s website: https://susanolesek.com/
One of the books Susan references, the Wisdom of the Enneagram: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Enneagram-Psychological-Spiritual-Personality/dp/0553378201
Our favorite tool to determine your type: https://integrative9.com/enneagram/