#629 Inspiring Women to Dream Big: Break Barriers & Lead Boldly with Dona Amelia

What does it really take for a woman to dream big and make it a reality—especially in a world full of barriers?

In this powerfully uplifting episode of Talking with the Experts, host Rose Davidson welcomes the incredible Dona Amelia—a creative visionary turned business leader—whose story is an anthem for bold, fearless women everywhere.

From winning hearts on stage as a singer, actress, and DJ to leading Asia’s largest peer network for C-suite executives, Dona has reinvented success on her own terms. As Co-founder & Member Service Director of EGN Singapore & Malaysia, and Managing Director of EGN Indonesia, Dona now guides high-level entrepreneurs and executives—while continuing to champion women’s empowerment through storytelling, leadership, and coaching.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why resilience and reinvention are the foundations of every empowered woman’s journey
• How Dona transformed personal adversity into purpose-driven leadership
• What it means to truly dream big—and why so many women hesitate to start

Through candid anecdotes and hard-earned wisdom, Dona invites women to reclaim their voice, overcome internal and societal limitations, and create the life they were born to live.

This episode isn’t just inspiration—it’s a call to action for any woman who has ever doubted herself. Whether you're launching a business, rebuilding your life, or simply seeking clarity in your next step, Dona's story will leave you believing that greatness is within your reach.

🎧 Ready to rise? Press play and let this be your turning point.

🔗 CONNECT WITH DONA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/missdonaamelia

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/donaamelia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missdonaamelia/?hl=en

 🌐 Learn more about Dona and EGN: https://www.egnpeernetwork.com/
📩 Want to connect? Reach out to guest@talkingwiththeexperts.com 

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Transcript

Intro | 00:01
Welcome to Talking With The Experts. Here we discuss all things business, by business owners, for business owners. Here is your host, Rose Davidson. 

 Rose | 00:11
Hello and welcome to Talking with the Experts. I'm your host, Rose Davidson from rosedavidson.com.au. It's my very great pleasure to introduce you to Dona Amelia, who's going to be talking to us about inspiring women to dream big. And Dona, what's your take on that? Is the co-founder and member service director at EGN Singapore, Malaysia and the Managing Director of EGN Indonesia. She leads Asia's largest peer network for C-suite executives and entrepreneurs. And before EGN, Dona was an award-winning singer. She was an actress, a DJ, a TV host. Blending artistic talent with entrepreneurial skill. She is a keynote speaker and coach and her passion for making people happy and empowering others makes her a role model for women breaking barriers. Dona, it's lovely to have you. Thank you so much for joining me today. 

 Dona | 01:09
Fantastic to be here as well. Thank you, Rose, for having me. Very grateful indeed. 

 Rose | 01:15
What got you into doing what you're doing? So, you know, how did you progress from doing all the other roles that you're doing to what you're doing now? 

 Dona | 01:24
I think it's all starting with my dreams to really wanted to make my parents happy because I was growing up and even born in a bamboo house, no electricity, dirt floor, I even need to fetch the clean water from outside, right? So then since early age, I know that I wanted to work hard to make my parents happy, to bring them from the poverty, to have a better life. And I see my mom back then helping my father. My father was a teacher and then my mom selling as a merchant in the market. And I see wow, in that area, although it's a rural area in Indonesia where it's more of a male like doing things. But I see my mom like helping my dad to really carry on the family and so on. 
 So with that, I have these big dreams. Of me because when you have nothing, the only thing you have is yourself and your dreams, right? And you hold on into that dream so dearly. And I do everything in my power, basically, to really able to reach my dream, which is to make my parents happy, bring them from the poverty into the better life. 
 And then nowadays, if I look back in my journey of life, right, it's all back to my name. D-O-N-A, to me, it stands for dreams, opportunity, never give up action. The reason is because, again, as I mentioned, when you have nothing, you have a dream. That's what you can have, right? Nobody can take that away from you. And that dreams transform to be a vision that you want to have. And this vision transform to a goal, basically. But dreams can only stay a dream without you try to find the opportunity. 
 So the next step is to find the opportunity. And of course, along the way, in order for you to find the opportunity or reaching your dreams or even reaching all your goals, that will be a turbulence, a storm and everything. 
 That's why the next words coming in Never give up. Because in my whole journey from poverty and then to becoming the singer, actress, TV presenter, I faced many setbacks. Coming from a humble background, when I first joined this competition on TV when I was 15 years old, when I was in the senior high school, I was come with the bus and all with my dad and I was having the imposter syndrome because I see all other girls is like they are pretty. They can sing. They can dance. They're coming from like acting school and whatnot. I'm coming from nothing. I'm coming from the rural area. The only thing I have is my voice and my own talent. 
 So I tell my dad, I'm ashamed. I'm shy. I'm scared and so on. But then this is very profound. My dad told me this. Don't not. 
 You know what? Everyone in here eating rice, nobody eating diamond or steel or like whatever. They are same with you. We're all human. Believe in yourself. 
 And then he said, I know I cannot give you much. Because my circumstances, but I will always give you my prayer, my blessing. And he told me that, "I'm sure with your talent, you will be successful. And one day, you will inspire many women who come from the similar background and more. You can tell your story and inspire them." I still remember that. And that's to me very profound, from the like, small little girl, right, coming from nobody, nothing. To understand that, hey, actually, you know what, Dona? You need to believe in your talent and everyone are the same. You need to be kind to everyone the same, right? It doesn't mean that you are less than others. But of course, it's not as simple. I face many rejections. For example, once I... Graduate from university, I moved to Jakarta in Indonesia, and then I start to do all these movie series, being a TV presenter and all. And just for your information, To be on TV, first of all, you need to always be 48 kilos. You're not allowed to be more than that. That's one thing. Second, to get one role on TV, you might need to do the casting 10 times. And if you get one, you're lucky already. That's how hard it is, especially in Indonesia with back then 250 million people and thousands of girls wanted to be in your position. 
 And then they see me literally on TV every single day for many movie series and this infotainment called C-Lab on RCTI. So my point here is that there will be a lot of setback, a lot of rejection, a lot of failures, and that's why you never give up. 
 And then the next acronym of my name is A stands for Auction. So once you have that mentality of having a dream, turning it into vision, turning it into a goal, try to find the opportunity and not giving up. Once you get that opportunity or once you reach your dream or goal, right, you do it, the action 200%. What I mean with 200% is like this. Let's say I go for a casting. After the 10 casting, I get one that I really wanted, for example. Then you not do it like so-so and all. 
 You know, you need to do it. All the best, all out, 200%. I have this methodology that I use. It's 4PE, very simple. It works for me, and I teach this because I'm a trainer and a speaker. I say this to many leaders and many women across the globe. 
 So what I do is I say... To them, the first P is a prey. 
 And then after pray, meaning that, of course, you can pray whatever your beliefs is. Maybe you do meditations, center yourself before you do things, right? 
 So you have your focus. That is first step. Second P is prepare. You need to prepare from A to Z, including preparation for a backup plan. I'm a bit too much, I guess, in the backup plan. I always have a plan B, C, D, E, because show must go on. For example, if I'm singing, all of a sudden the mic off, what are you going to do? You need to have a plan because shows must go on. Similar to when you are on TV. If the camera off, whatever off power cut, Anything can happen. You need to have a backup plan for that. With those preparations, you will be more feeling secure because you know everything, right? The next step, what you need to do is to practice. 
 So I need to do practice. So before I do on TV or singing or DJing or now leading the meetings or whatever it is, I practice it already in front of the mirror. Or nowadays with Loom, right, you can record it and you can watch yourself. But back then when I was doing TV presenting and all, when people doing my makeup, I keep doing the rehearsal and readings and so on, so forth. 
 So practice is very important. Practice verbally. With all the movement and all, and practice it and visualize it in your brain. How it's going to look like and all. 
 So that's the next P. And then the last P is then perform. Because you already do the pray, the preparation and the practice, normally the performance will be great. Normally, right? 
 So you need to perform your best Now. Even though we all do all these four P's in the action, But again, there is something beyond our control. What is that? It's the result. Because the result is to me is up to God, right? We can only do this 4P. 
 That's why the E coming is the evaluation. So we need to evaluate what went well, what went wrong, what we can improve, what we need to eliminate. However, most important in this E step, evaluation step, is we need to come from the timing or the part of being grateful because you do all your 4Ps, right? And being in the state or accept. Acceptance. Because again, result sometimes beyond our control. It's up to God. What we need to do is just to do our best. Best or 200% means you do the four P's. 
 So that's what is my philosophy in life and what All the things from the purpose of my life and how I do it and how I transform in all my careers in life. Thanks. 

 Rose | 09:32
And that's a good philosophy to have, you know, that I like the four Ps. I think they're really great. I think, you know... You need to have a plan to be successful. It doesn't happen overnight. You need to practise at several different times. Things until you can find the thing that resonates with you and gets you to be where you are and gives you that confidence to move keep moving forward but how can we you know, get better at It, personal and professional growth? How can we find that confidence? 
 You know, that's invaluable to us moving forward. 

 Dona | 10:12
Yeah, I think finding confidence to me, it's back to your why. Why do you need it? Why do you want it? Why do you want to have the confidence for that particular, let's say, events or work or whatever it is you want? 
 So if you know the reason behind it, then you will do everything you can. To find the motivation and so on. 
 So you need to have the biggest why. If you know your purpose in life, Then whatever happened in the way, you will be strong enough to understand that's your path. 
 So that's my first philosophy or first idea. Probably take for me, how to find the confidence Second, confidence comes because you are in the know. Meaning the preparation part needs to be very well. Even until now, I've been on stage of last now almost 20 years, right? But I still have the butterfly all the time. I think you too and everyone too, right? Events, any meeting, small, big, and so on, it's normal, right? What makes us confident is because we understand that, I got this. I already prepared. 
 That's why this 4PE methodology for me is very important. Once you pray, you center yourself, you're already visualizing it, right? You prepare everything and then you already practice. You will be confident by itself. When you perform. But if you lacking those steps, normally something make you less confident. Maybe the last one that's very important to bring up your confidence is that you will fail. And that's okay. And that's normal. Make a failure or rejection and so on and so forth, right? Or things that like make you scared, like slowly becoming your friends. And like having a backup plan if that's happened. Because again, when you have the backup plan, right? For every single possibility that can screw up everything, you will have the confidence as well to deliver the best. Because you know, okay, if this happens, I know what to do. If this happens, I know what to do. Then you will be, very confident in the way you talk, in the way you persuade, because you know you got this all. 
 So that's how it is. Or maybe last one. The power of affirmation Very important to get your self-confidence. You need to tell yourself, I got this, I can do this. 
 And then you visualize it. Very important. Visualize how it's going to be successful. That's what you want to do. 
 And then with that, people will see your persona, your aura, your confidence will be up. 

 Rose | 13:01
Tips, yeah, I like that. I think it's very important to visualise the outcome that you want to have because that will boost your confidence for sure. Dona, how can we enhance our connections and our leadership skills? 

 Dona | 13:17
Okay, so now indeed my company, Executive Global Network, we do peer network for senior executives where they can exchange knowledge, sharing best practices, even sharing failures, and then helping each other out with their challenges. So I think as leaders, as the person, it's very important to be able to be belongs to a professional or a peer network. Who can bring you up to the next level. Let's say, You or I are already the best. In whatever, podcasts or anything else, right? But then how can you grow? Because you're already so high, already in the top of your organization, your company and all. It is to be with the person in the similar level, but in the different industry. 
 So then again, you can learn because trust me, leading this company for the last 10 years, the challenges that the leaders face. Are more or less the same. But the most important is for us to learn how the other industries tackle those similar challenges, because they will see from different lenses. 
 So I think belongs to this kind of professional network or association or clubs or whatever it is. To make you be with the like-minded people And if possible, as diverse background as possible will be very important to enhance your ability, your leadership skill, your network, and so on. 

 Rose | 14:40
Yeah, excellent. Yeah, that's very true. Networking is a very powerful tool in enhancing our connections and, you know, we can learn from other people. It doesn't matter at what level they are within an organisation. I think, you know, there's always something to be learnt. 
 You know, through your own experiences and, you know, your journey through, you know, all your TV presenting and so forth, what advice would you give women to start? To dream bigger. 

 Dona | 15:16
So I think to dream big, first, you need to have the courage. You need to have the purpose. And finding your purpose is, I think, the first thing to do. 
 So I know finding the purpose is not as simple as, you know, like flipping your hands and so on, but. Just ask yourself. What is it that you really want? For you to, let's say, having a legacy. What is it the things that you wanted to have beyond yourself, right? What kind of thing that you want to give impact to the people around you, maybe to your family, maybe to the people, the communities, and so on. 
 So I think that is the very important and fundamental things for the people to have at the beginning, because that's what gave me a going all this long as well. And, Yeah, another thing that is very important if you ask me about more detail in the what they call the purpose in life, I think you can this as something that Maybe. Can make you peacefully sleep at night. That is very important as well. 
 And then, yeah. And actually, Rose, if I can ask you, Do you have or do you know your life purpose? 

 Rose | 16:40
I think my life purpose is to be of service to others. 

 Dona | 16:44
It's wonderful. And that's the key, right? Once you find that, you will then find everything else easily. Because I think that's the core. 
 So for me, it was to make my parents happy, bring them from the poverty to have a better life. And of course it will grow along the way. In your different stages of your life, you will be able to transform bigger and bigger. For me now, I want to make everyone happy. As simple as giving smile to others. Because I remember one story of my grandma. She told me like this. When I was a child, I don't know, maybe four or five years, I still remember. She said to me, "Dona, if you play with your friends and you see your friends, having candy or chocolate, Do not ever ask them. Come back to grandma and ask me. If I have the money, I'll give it to you. If not, don't be sad. Instead, you need to give. Always need to. Of course, I think you'd have liked Should I give? I have nothing. 
 And then my grandma told me, you can always give your beautiful smile. To everyone and make them happy because nobody can take that away from you. And to me, again, as a little girl, right? Knowing that, wow, I have something to give. That is profound, you know? To me, like, yes, now I'm going to do it. I get to smile. I will be nice to everyone because I can give to someone and I can give this to everyone. 
 So to me, making people happy is my purpose in life. Through anything I do. If I do singing, acting, DJing, TV presenting, leading company now, everything I do, it's coming from my heart and I want to make people happy through whatever I do in life. 
 So I think it's very important to find your why. 

 Rose | 18:29
Yes, absolutely. I, I'm always giving to others. I'm always being of service to others, whether it's with, through podcasting or through my passion project of helping domestic and family violence survivors. 
 So that I find that, Yeah, that's what makes me happy and that's what lights me up. If you want to find out more about Dona, you can find her on Facebook at Miss Dona Amelia and on LinkedIn and through her website, EGNPNetwork.com. And she's on Instagram as well. Dona, thank you so much for joining me today and for sharing with us about how we can all dream bigger and make ourselves a success. As women. 

 Dona | 19:12
Thank you so much for having me. I hope it is useful for everyone and thank you for all who are listening. Thank you. Bye-bye. 

 Outro | 19:20
You've been listening to Talking With The Experts, hosted by Rose Davidson. Make sure you have a look at our back catalogue over at talkingwiththeexperts.com. And be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss out on any episode. We look forward to your company next time.