Hello dear, I am extremely grateful that you ended up here to get to know more about me.
Spoiler alert, what you are about to read has most likely changed or will change ?
My name is Ludo Gabriele and I would like to welcome you to my personal space. When I say personal space I really mean it. Woke Daddy is the platform where I share my experiences, my learnings, my mistakes and my vision of the world. I will go deep. I promise you authenticity and critical thinking around the themes of fatherhood, manhood, personal development, modern society and the universe.
I am the happy husband of the love of my life, partner in business and in life, Diana, and father of two beautiful children Enzo and Sofia: these three people are the loves of my life. I am an entrepreneur, writer and creator at large. I am fluent in French, English and Spanish. I also identify as an empath: I have a great ability to feel people’s feelings which is a blessing and also a curse at times.
I am the Co-founder and CEO of DLG Media, a family of platforms where we share experiences, stories and knowledge that challenge the status quo. Our goal is to make the world a better place for ourselves and our children. We are currently revamping the organization at this time.
Life path
Born in France, on November 9th 1983, I grew in the south of France from two beautiful beings. I am extremely grateful for my parents who raised me with so much love. They showered me with love. While growing up in the projects in a blue color environment, I have never felt that I ever needed anything. My parents are the best thing that could have happened to me. They are my rock. They taught me the importance of being an empathetic human being, the values of hard-work and respect. They thought me the importance of generosity and compassion. They are the ones that gave me a great sense of responsibility as it comes to parenting. I owe them everything.
I lived in Avignon for the first seventeen years of my life and then moved to Aix-en-Provence after graduating high school. I followed a 2-year preparation course for national French Military Officer Exam. This was a Classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles with a concentration in literature, philosophy and languages, coupled with intensive military school training. The two-year program made me realize that military was not for me. I then went to college for a year. I got a B.A, then moved on to studying business.
I pursued a Master degree in management with a concentration in Communications. It was a three-year program that was combining 3 days a week of corporate internship and 2 days a week at school. This was in the Paris area. I was 20 years old at the time. While moving to Paris was a big change for me, it was a rich period of my life. I met great friends, I partied, I got to know the corporate world. I started to live with who will become my life partner. My wife and I then decided to get married and live in New York City. So we did. I quit my job. We got married in the south of France and I said au revoir to everyone. I graduated and then flew with my bride to the big apple with two suitcases. I was 24 years old.
New York City always felt magical. From my first visit in 2006 until today. I applied for a green card and started to work in the agency world. Then we started to build our life here. With a lot of joy and a lot of hard work we eventually bought a two family home with my in-laws. My son Enzo was born four years after we moved to New York. The day he was born was the most beautiful day of my life. Then slowly but surely, a deep sense of unfulfillment grew in my life: this feeling picked at age 31 while I was, on paper, on top of my game: a director position, a wife, a house, a kid but somehow I was miserable. I was overweight, exhausted with no sense of purpose and motivation.
I quit my job on July 13th 2014, with no idea of what would be next. I started to rest, realizing that I had ran and rushed most of my life to accomplish goals that were not necessarily mine. I spent a lot of time with my son catching up for all of the time I spent away from home. I understood that I was not the father I really wanted to be; which ultimately lead me to leave the corporate world. This period started a long journey of introspection and self discovery; a painful one for the most part. In my quest of finding my next step in life, I started to question everything, making difficult realizations and happy ones. All of this lead to one huge spiritual awakening that changed my life forever in 2015.
After one year of consulting work to pay the bills, I created my company in 2016. I started to write and create again. This love of writing date back from my teenage years but somehow got buried by practicalities of everyday life. My creativity has blossomed ever since I embraced myself. 2017, is an important year for me, probably the most important of my entire life. This is the year I decided to love myself unconditionally. I became a father of a little girl. As I am evolving personally, professionally and spiritually, the need to share has become urgent.
Milestones
There have been defining moments in my life’s journey. Don’t expect the standard resume, graduations dates, and society’s labels for accomplishments here.
- November 12th, 2005: the day I started to date my wife.
- October 27th, 2007: the day I married my wife.
- December 9th, 2007: the day I moved to New York City.
- March 30th, 2011: the day my son Enzo was born.
- July 13th, 2014: the day I left corporate America.
- January 30th, 2015: the day I experienced my first spiritual awakening.
- March 1st, 2017: the day my daughter Sofia was born.
- May 7th, 2017: the day Woke Daddy was born.
Influences
Here are ten of the people that most influenced my life. Not all of them are spiritual but they all contributed in my growth in a major way.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti
If I had to pick one spiritual mentor, he will be the one. Krishnamurti is the one being that made me connect it all together. It was through the readings of Freedom from the known or the Light in oneself, that I was able to intellectually grasp the notion of “oneness” and to make peace with the illusion of separation between beings and things. He was the one that best expressed through words the discomfort I so often felt when contemplating the world. One particular quote changed my life forever: “it is no measure of heath to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
- Paulo Coelho
The man needs no introduction. The author of The alchemist drops truth every time he writes. He is an incredible inspiration to me and to the world. I often feel like the universe is expressing itself through his writing. He is beautiful channel of wisdom, I highly recommend you follow his blog and follow him on Facebook too.
- Don Miguel Ruiz
The universal wisdom captured in The four agreements resonated deeply with my soul. I am coming back to this book periodically to remind myself to apply its powerful principles into my daily life, especially the one that consist in being impeccable with my word. This is an ideal that I am working towards every day as I strongly believe that we create the world by the way we speak to each other.
- Joe Dispenza
Saying that I will be grateful forever for stumbling upon Joe Dispenza‘s material would be an understatement. He was the one that really helped me understand the power of the main through thoughts and intentions. He made me embrace the idea, or the ideal, to express myself at the crossroad of quantum physics, neuroplasticity, epigenetic to create my own reality. The world would truly benefits from accessing and grasping his wisdom. You should get acquainted with his content immediately.
- Ralph Smart
When I came across Ralph Smart’s youtube channel, I was at the lowest point of my life. I had just experienced a spiritual awakening yet had no idea what to make of it. I was completely lost and had no sense of myself and of my place and purpose in the world. I felt foreign on this planet, but this beautiful soul made me realize that I was, in fact, in the process of reconnecting to my through nature. He was the one that truly made me question my diet. He is one of the main catalyst for pushing me to become the greatest version of myself.
- George Carlin:
The very first time I watched George Carlin performed, I knew I was exposed to pure genius. Incredible truth exposer, enlightened being, master of words, I am incredibly grateful for this man who played a vital role in opening my eyes to the reality of the matrix. He definitely taught me that satire is one of the best medium to provoke awakening and critical thinking.
- Gary Vaynerchuck:
What can I say about Garyvee? Other that he basically changed my life. At a time when I was wondering my next step in life, I came across his youtube channel. I have learned SO MUCH from watching his videos about marketing, social media, life, and self awareness. I would not have had the courage to have started my company and this blog if it was not for him. Thank you so much Gary. You are truly unique.
- Seth Godin:
Another one that really impacted me on a business perspective. He introduced to me several concepts that deeply resonated with me, namely the notions of tribes and permission marketing. He was one of my main eye opener as of how broken many organizations are. He comforted me in the idea of being generous and remarkable. He made me realize that everybody is an artist. You should follow his blog.
- Sylvester Stallone
Ludo Gabriele would not be who he is today without Rocky Balboa. This movie impacted me very profoundly and inspired me at age 7 to come live in the United States. It also inspired to follow my dream no matter what. Studying the path of Sylvester Stallone later in life made me relate even more with all underdogs.
- Marie-Thérèse Falzone:
Do not google her because you will never find her. Yet she is the wisest person I know. Marie-Thérèse Falzone, aka Nanette, is my grandmother. She is everything to me. She is my friend, my spiritual mentor, my guide. She was always been there for me and always held my hand without judgement through all moments of life from great happiness to unspeakable hardship. Her teachings and her love are invaluable to me. Je t’aime de tout mon coeur ?
World vision
Yes, Ludo Gabriele has a world vision ? I believe in oneness. I believe that all humans are actually one living being from which we are all an individual divine expression. I believe that our planet is one living being. I believe that the universe is alive. I am extremely spiritual while not affiliated to any religion. I believe that money has no place in most areas of our life mainly in politics, healthcare and education. I believe that being free is our birth right and that we have been placed here on earth to thrive; not to be enslaved by consumerism and money. I believe that kindness is very sexy ? I believe in the abundance of mother earth and of the universe. I believe that we should respect all humans and living forms. Separation is an illusion. We are one.