DITRLI #1 The OG 11.11.24
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[00:00:00] Welcome to Dreamed It Then Real Lifed It, the podcast where we dive deep into the journey from vision to reality. I'm Kelly Jackson, your guide on this path of self discovery, transformation, and intentional living. Here, we explore everything from mindset shifts and personal growth. To spiritual alignment and entrepreneurship, sharing insights, stories, and actionable wisdom to help you live a life in harmony with your dreams.
Every episode we'll dig into what it means to not only dream big, but to actually consciously create the life you envision. Let's turn your [00:01:00] dreams into real life.
Hey guys, welcome to the very first Dreamed It Then Real Life'd It podcast episode ever, ever. And I so This is being launched. This goes live on 11 11 24, that magical date. I don't know when you may be tuning in and listening, but that is the magical date when it first went live. 11 11 24. And before we dive into this podcast, I want to clarify two things.
One, you're going to hear me say many times, because You're going to see what I do here. And I'm going to reference the original [00:02:00] transcript because the original Dreamed It Then Real Lifed It podcast, the idea, the original idea came to me and I announced it back in 2020. And so I call that the FOSS launch.
And there are several times. here that I talk about the transcript from the initial launch, the false launch. And I keep saying that. I recorded that original episode, original first episode in early 2021, but that's not true guys. I realized I looked at that after recording that for you and realized it was actually recorded in March of 2020.
So it was early 2020, not early 2021. So, keep that in mind when you're listening. And one other thing, giving you a little background [00:03:00] about me, and I tell you that I played football in high school. Guys, I did not play football in high school. I didn't. I, I never played football in high school. So I don't know.
That slipped in there. I do know why. My daughter. Is the water girl for the football team and been spending every week at the football games. It's been amazing taking pictures. I love it. And maybe that's why it slipped in there, but I'm just letting you know, I didn't play football. I really didn't. Other than that, enjoy the show.
Do you even start a podcast, especially one that you originally announced you would be starting three or four years [00:04:00] ago? You know how? I'm going to start with the original episode that I recorded back in like 2021, and this is not the original recording. What I'm going to do, I found the transcript for it though, I, I pulled it up because I had it and I was like, you know what?
I'm in a different place now than I was when I, I'm going to call it the FOSS launch. And we're going to laugh about that and we're going to talk about that later. But if you don't know, let me give you a quick little backstory. I originally announced publicly on social media, dreamed it than real life did that this podcast was happening in early 2020.
Um, some things happened in 2020 and [00:05:00] I realized this doesn't feel like the right time for me to launch this manifestation podcast. I'm gonna, I'm not going to do it right now. Um, and. I revisited it and 2021 felt like the right time and then lots of things happened. I had several guests lined up and each guest that I sat down with either in person or virtually Through a zoom or of some kind, something happened with the recording.
Something happened, either maybe I never even heard the recording because the other person had it. Maybe one person, their smoke detector was going off, like, you know, in the battery. And so like every five minutes, the smoke detector, wherever they were, where it's going off. One person, we had to split it in two.
And [00:06:00] do it two separate days. And the audio for the first day didn't even work. That was on my end. It was like, that's not the only three, but like something like this happened for every guest, other things were happening. I was just like, Um, this isn't the time to do it either. We're going to talk more about that later.
Now is now is the time because here we are, and I am in a totally different place than I was back when I originally recorded this intro in 2021, however, and guys, I haven't even read it yet. I haven't even, I haven't not listened to this podcast episode. The original first episode. And I don't even know how long, probably over a year at least.
And I've not even read this transcript. We're going to be doing this together because I'm kind of interested, to be honest, because I was like, where do you start? What should the first [00:07:00] episode be about? Right? Like, how do I show up? And then I said, relax. Let's go back to the original, original, the original first.
And let's see what I said then. And then we'll go from there. So, guys, I'm about to read you the transcript from my very first Dreamed It Then Real Lifed It podcast episode. So back in 2021, this is what I, this is how I, I would introduce the podcast. Are you ready? Here we go. My name is Kelly and whether this is your first time meeting me, you've known me for a couple years or for a lifetime, hello, welcome.
Thank you. I love you. I want to take the opportunity to take this [00:08:00] first episode and give you a little insight into who I am, where I came from, what I'm all about and where I'm headed. So sit back and relax and we'll dive right in. I'm a creative entrepreneur at heart. I am an artist down to the core and a creator in every sense of the word.
And I am a storyteller for sure. I love to write and I'm very passionate when I speak. There was a version of me that existed five, seven, 10 years ago, that never would have dreamed of doing the things I'm doing today. But here's the thing. My dreams changed and I changed and my life changed and I never looked back.
I went from barely surviving, always in fight or flight mode, mindlessly going through the motions of life, trapped in the rat race, plagued with disease, injury, and [00:09:00] depression, seemingly incapable of setting boundaries or saying no. Continuing to stay in unhealthy relationships. And I was living with a lack mentality without even realizing what that meant.
I was addicted to stress. And my catchphrase was, there's not enough hours in the day. I had no life beyond working and raising my girls, no hobbies, no more sports or fitness, because as the story that I was telling myself went. I had no time, no vacation in over three years, and despite all outward appearances, I was suffering with no end in sight, and I had accepted this as my reality.
But then I journeyed inward and committed myself to a total transformation and I discovered my sole purpose and [00:10:00] life mission as I walked this path. And that is to make shift happen by raising the vibrations of love on earth. And I'm talking major shift, the kind that has people saying, Who the heck does she think she is, right?
And I knew I couldn't rewrite the past, but I realized that I could hold the pen and write a completely new future, a totally new story. It was not too late and I was not too old to start over. So that's exactly what I did. I dreamed of a life where I knew, really knew happiness and joy, where I felt.
Peace and bliss. I dreamed of a life where I had time with my family, time with friends, time with vacations, my interests, hobbies, and traveling a life that was full of [00:11:00] experiences. And I dreamed of doing the inner work and creating the space to one day discover a deep soul connection and healthy, thriving relationship with someone that I grew more and more in love with every single day as we got to experience life together.
And I dreamed of abundance. I dreamed of a calm, simple, clutter free life. I dreamed of a life without medicine or doctors. I dreamed of getting in the best shape of my life and being well and healthy physically, mentally, emotionally. And I also dreamed of rebranding my company to grow and evolve along with me.
And most importantly, I dreamed of raising my girls without raising my voice. I dreamed of a [00:12:00] completely different life, one better than anything I was even imagining that long before. And guess what, friends? The dreams became real life. I created this podcast, dreamed it, then real lifed it because I knew it was time for me to share my story.
I knew that I wasn't the only one. out there going through these things that I was going through and experiencing these feelings that I was feeling. And I knew that if I was willing to dig deep and do the work, study, learn, practice, heal, If I was to channel all my energy on who I was becoming, I could create a brand new life for myself and my family.
And then I could come out on the other side and light the way for others to do the same. [00:13:00] So let me backtrack a little. I was a freshman at LSU and planning on going to a specialty college for computer animation after I finished my graphic design degree. The school was in Florida and it fed into Disney and I always dreamed of how rad that would be to work for Disney or DreamWorks or Pixar.
And the summer before my sophomore year, the entire family went on a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. And it was sensational. It was my first time seeing a place like that. I didn't grow up traveling, so I felt in love with the breathtaking views that,
so in love with the breathtaking views that. I came home with phone numbers and real estate [00:14:00] information, and I was doing bartending at the time, and I had met many college kids who were there working for the summer. So that was it. I was going to move to Jackson Hole the following summer and work, and I was so pumped.
And then I met the girl's dad when I was 19, and my plans changed. Before meeting him, I had only ever had one boyfriend, the second semester of my senior year, and only for a couple months. And I was so confused about relationships, and I had a very distorted concept of love. And absolutely no concept of self love.
And I thought that I had to go to college and get a degree and get a good job and buy a big house and have a family all before I was 25 years old. Oh my gosh. I can't believe that that's how I used to [00:15:00] think, but I did all of that. Plus all of these other absurd ideas and stereotypes that I bought into and felt pressured by and allowed to influence what I thought I was supposed to do.
I was a gymnast from the age of three. I did it competitively until halfway through high school. I say that, but I don't feel like it was that long. I was so sway backed. My coach would always tell me since I was a tiny girl that I was going to have to wear a girdle. When I grew up and I didn't even know what a girdle was, but it terrified me.
And I also danced and cheered and played football. And once I got to high school, I played soccer and tried track. And by this time, I had been diagnosed with IBS and was [00:16:00] taking meds for depression, anxiety, ADD, and I performed well academically, but I was definitely struggling to discover my true self.
And the imbalance was manifesting itself in my physical body in big ways. By the time I reached 19, I had gone through several rounds of Accutane to address what they called depression. Quote adult onset acne, which was a challenging time for me. And I was into kickboxing and weight training, but my rotator cuff was so damaged that I could barely use my right arm as a result of being maybe a lifelong gymnast mixed with a fast hand pitcher for softball until my senior year of high school when I just couldn't do it anymore.
And now I know there's more things to that metaphysically. But we'll come back to that later. My anterior and posterior mobility were shot, and I couldn't [00:17:00] do anything with my arm above my head for very long at all, like screwing in a light bulb or washing and drying my hair or anything like that. And the thought of ever being able to do push ups or dips again seemed impossible.
And the days of reaching behind me from the driver's seat to the back seat were a distant And when I was 20, I had rotator cuff surgery to repair multiple tears and shave off a lot of bone spurs. And the recovery was brutal. Even with PT, I seriously doubted that I would ever regain the strength and mobility that I once had.
And honestly, I didn't. I got well enough to live a day to day life, like light bulbs and hair, but that was it. And one thing That was always for sure was that I was a hustler. [00:18:00] I loved working and having my own money. I got my first job at 14 teaching gymnastics, summer camp, and on to gymnastics coach for the preschoolers, which was precious.
And then a job in retail at the mall. And as a hostess at Hooters, my Senior year in high school. And that was the beginning of a 10 year career in the service industry, waiting tables and bartending. And that was my jam y'all. If there was ever something I was good at, it was taking care of my customers.
And. I am sure that I gave my former bosses and managers more attitude than I'm proud to admit. I'm a different person. I was a different person back then. And thank you to any who are listening. Thank you for seeing the good in me even when I wasn't making my gratitude known. [00:19:00] I worked at some of the best places ever, and man, I loved slinging food and drinks.
And I had so many amazing regulars. Some I am still blessed to have in my life today. And while I was bartending, that's when I got my first taste of entrepreneurship. There was this whole world of people who came in Any time of day or night, stayed as long as they wanted, came and went as they pleased.
They worked from their phones. They vacationed regularly and for extended periods of time, and they pretty much did what they wanted when they wanted. And I knew that I wanted in on that. So my first business was making cigar box purses. The girl's dad, we were dating at the time, he was basically the sales rep.
And [00:20:00] Then he and I started this mobile car wash business and we would go to restaurant salons like my dad's office, right? And we had lots of these different places and they knew the days that we were coming and people would sign up and then we'd clean their cars on site while they worked. And then by the time I graduated LSU, I had started a design company.
What you want. And at first I was doing freelance design work, logos, corporate ID packages and ads, print work, and I always enjoyed copywriting. So I was doing that also. And I was doing murals and kids room design and refinishing furniture and I loved it all. And then I created a line of novelty tees and I outsourced the production from a company I found online.
And I never ended up getting the product. So I lost about 3, 000 and I decided [00:21:00] I should try to print them on my own. And I met a professional. airbrush guy who had a silkscreen machine that he no longer needed. And he was interested in trading it for this heat press that my dad had that he no longer needed.
And so began my career as a screen printer. And in this time, I had started a line called What You Want Baby, and I was making upcycled bibs and garment dyed burque cloths and screen printed gowns and onesies, and I was selling wholesale to retail shops around the state. And then in addition to printing my own lines of tees, I did bulk orders for local schools and restaurants and bars, places like Walk ons that was in the beginning of the walk ons and look at him now [00:22:00] where I had known the owners for a past couple years from working together in the industry and like my mom's school.
She was a teacher and I would do all their clubs and organizations and. Things like that. And back then I was on the scene for working beer carts at golf tournaments, outdoors, events, arenas, events, sporting events, parties, fundraisers, the openings of new bars and restaurant ventures, They would call me in to help with the opening with training, et cetera, until the, they hired a crew and got the kinks worked out.
And sometimes I would even travel out of town to help new places open and train their bar and wait staff. And I loved it. And then I was contacted by a brokerage firm in New Orleans who saw my [00:23:00] resume online and they offered me a position there. It was a quote. Real job. It had benefits and a 401k. And I would be selling stocks and bonds and life insurance.
At the time, I had just gotten married. We were living north of Baton Rouge. It was an hour and 45 minute commute each way. And we were building a house in another city. And I was still in the service industry working in Baton Rouge with my side hustles. But I drove there every weekday, going through my training, studying for the test.
I took my LALAH and NASD Series 6 test and passed both. And as I was preparing for the Series 7 test, my boss told me that no one would take me seriously dressed like legally blonde. Those were his exact words. And now I love Reese Witherspoon. So [00:24:00] the joke's on you, mister. Nevertheless, that was enough for me to realize that this wasn't the path for me.
And yes, I did used to wear. Pink and powder blue little linen suits. And they were adorable friends. They were adorable. They were colorful too. Now, let me go ahead and mention that around this time, in addition to chronic back pain that I did have, I was also going through some major stomach issues.
Having dealt with digestive system irregularities since middle school, I had basically come to accept that this was a part of who I was. And how I'd always have to live it flared up sometimes more than others. And of course I took medicine for it at the time. I wasn't looking at my life as a whole to realize the true root causes of what was going on.[00:25:00]
Like I say, the more, you know, the better you do. I simply didn't know then what I understand now about the connection between the mind, the body, body environments and emotions, and how you can use your body as a medicine cabinet and how the foods we eat impact our health. I'll definitely be going deeper into all of this in future episodes because it's so fascinating and absolutely life changing.
But at the time I was clueless about any of it and the pain and cramping in my stomach was so severe that I had days I either Could not go into work or would have to call someone in to cover my shifts because I couldn't physically stand up and function. Less than a year later, my then husband decided he wanted to start a lawn company.
I had [00:26:00] taken a few landscape architecture classes at LSU and had grown up with my parents being big into landscaping. So, I I decided to open a landscape company to complement the lawn business. I learned everything I could about plants and design, and I got licensed as a landscape contractor. And that was the beginning of a wonderful career designing plans and doing installs and renovations, commercial and residential, new construction, and old landscaping and hardscaping.
And it was magical. And I met some amazing people and worked in some of the most incredible neighborhoods on the most beautiful pieces of property. And I was in my element. And I was in touch with nature each and every day. And I loved it. And this was our first time having workers and crews, [00:27:00] and that's a whole nother ballgame that we did not fully understand before getting into it.
And we learned a lot of lessons along the way with those lawn and landscape companies, to say the least. And somewhere along the way of having the landscape company, I met people and took advantage of opportunities with various direct sale companies, like. Makeup, skincare, jewelry. I was lured in with the appeal of the freedom lifestyle that excelling in companies like these can provide.
We had this regular lawn and landscape client who was at the top of her game with one of those companies. And let me tell you, I saw firsthand what a Testament, she was to the possibility of how far you could go and the freedom lifestyle that you could enjoy. But here again, [00:28:00] I, it, it wasn't aligned. I wasn't aligned because at the time, the story that I was telling myself was, uh, I'm not a salesperson and I don't want to bother people.
They know I sell it. They'll let me know if they want something. I don't want people to feel like they have to come. I'm not going to tell them they'll come to me. Oh my goodness. Some of the things that I used to say and believe were very limiting and I just didn't see it at the time. I might have said I wanted to be a successful at selling those products, but I clearly didn't believe it was possible for me.
And since I know now that you manifest what you believe, And not what you want. I see why it never amounted to more than supporting my own habits. And perhaps there are some of you out there who can relate to that. [00:29:00] And now, being a mom, is by far one of the greatest joys in my life. I always knew I wanted to have children.
I dreamed about being a mom before I was even in elementary school. And I remember this specifically because my own mom ran a daycare out of our house until my younger sister was in kindergarten. And I remember pretending. The Cabbage Patch Kids were my children inside this playhouse we had. So after 11 months of trying, I still remember the overwhelming excitement that I felt the first time I Saw a positive pregnancy test.
And the year leading up to it was so incredibly stressful and full of heartache. Every single month, month after month, taking test after test, just hoping and praying for a [00:30:00] baby, only to be heartbroken and have to repeat the process again the following month. But then it finally happened less than a month before I would return to look into fertility options.
I was ecstatic. I told everyone, and then a couple months later, while we were on vacation in Florida, I lost the baby and I was devastated. Although, even that word feels like an understatement, because at the time, I didn't know anyone who had lost a baby, and I wasn't the same person I am now, and I certainly didn't have the same mindset I have now, so the way that I handled the loss was drastically different than I would today.
And it's a blur for the most part, but I think I spent a couple weeks curled in a fetal position on the bed of the spare room, cuddling this little stuffed [00:31:00] monkey that I had bought for her, and eventually. It was time to face the world though. And so I got this tattoo on my wrist of a cross with angel wings and her name, Faith, because I knew I needed my faith now more than ever.
And for reasons related to losing the baby, I got a job at woman's hospital. and met an amazing woman and we instantly hit it off and within a few months we had started a business together and things were looking up and then it happened again a positive pregnancy test this time with my rainbow baby Ella and I continued to do landscaping throughout my pregnancy with Ella and meanwhile My partner and I were renting retail space for our [00:32:00] boutique and after participating in one market event together, each with our own companies, we decided to bring a market event to our parish, which didn't have one yet.
And it was only six weeks from the day we decided to do it until we hosted our first event in a 25, 000 square foot building with 51 unique vendors. We knew we wanted to give back to the community. So for our first event, we did a raffle and all the proceeds went to a local battered women's shelter that was aligned with my sister's nonprofit at the time.
And we planned all of this from the time Ella was six weeks to three months old. And then we went on to do this together for the next five years. It was a semi annual gift and general merchandise market that more than doubled in size. So in [00:33:00] addition to providing a source of income for hundreds of local businesses twice a year, the event Also sponsored a raffle and silent auction that benefited a local child with a life threatening illness or disease.
And we would ask the community for nominations and there were a few times when the children selected were family of our vendors. And I met so many wonderful and talented people over the years of putting on our market events. And my life is better because of each and every relationship that I've made and each and every lesson that I've learned.
And trust me, We were totally winging it when we started, we had both only ever been vendors ourselves, but that is a far cry from putting on an event of that magnitude, but we had faith that we could do it. And we did, and we operated under the belief that we can build strong relationships within [00:34:00] the community.
We operated under the belief that when we can build strong relationships within the community, we are essentially building a strong community. Then, two weeks before Ella turned two, I had Addie. I chose to have another unmedicated water birth, which I'm so grateful for the experience. We'll talk more about that later though.
And once I'm back home with both my babies, something had changed. I wasn't sure I wanted to return to landscaping. Now it was becoming clear that I may want to consider a new career that provided more flexibility. Because I would bring Ella to landscape jobs with me and she was great. But I realized that having a newborn And a toddler was going to be tougher.
And [00:35:00] when Addie was two weeks old, I painted a Halloween bucket for Ella and posted it to my personal Facebook group. Facebook page, which I had at the time. And suddenly I started getting requests for custom orders. What was this? People wanted to pay me to paint things for them. It's like a light bulb moment.
And I quickly saw the benefits of being able to work from home with two small children. And nine months after painting That first bucket, the design company that I had started eight years prior had been reinvented into this thriving Etsy shop specializing in custom hand painted gifts and hand lettered signs and announcements and upcycled clothing for children.
And it was doing well enough for me to definitively leave my full time career as a [00:36:00] landscape contractor and my landscape company, and then the part time job at the hospital. I let that go. And within a year, I was making a pretty good living as an artist working from home, which was basically a dream come true in and of itself.
And what was even better was that I was getting to be a part of magical moments and milestones in people's lives. I designed and sold thousands of pregnancy announcements, monthly milestone boards, engagement and wedding signage, anniversary signs, first birthday boards, all the way up to 100th birthday boards, and so much more.
And I developed incredible relationships with my customers. And sometimes I was the first one to find out about [00:37:00] someone's pregnancy, which was Always so special and exciting. And sometimes I was the first to get the news that they wouldn't be needing the sign because they had lost the baby. And it was then that I realized that my own experience losing a baby.
allowed me to connect with these grieving families on a much deeper and more personal level. And one of these mamas stands out, and I'll definitely be sharing the story of our hope and faith one day. So stay tuned in for that. And I had some families that I grew with over the years. One, I did an engagement board for, and then a wedding board, and then a pregnancy announcement, a first birthday board, And then a big brother board.
I have children I've made boards for [00:38:00] for each birthday, first through, well I have seventh in this transcript, but I, it's been 11th or 12th at this point, 11th, right? I've painted signs that were used to propose with and have been part of more big days than I can count. I have had the opportunity to work with amazing photographers and event planners, and I've had the honor of having my work published on blogs, websites, and in magazines and print.
I've shipped my art to all 50 states and over two dozen countries across five different continents. And let me tell you, there is something so magnificent about knowing that there is a little piece of your heart and soul scattered all over the world. It's hard to describe. I might not have been traveling the world yet.
[00:39:00] But pieces of me were, a piece of me was, and my favorite part of me was, All was writing love stories. I wrote hundreds and hundreds over the years. And one in particular changed the course of my life. But we'll talk about that a little later. Mind you, the girls, dad and I had fun together. We dated for five years.
We had some great experiences and some really hard times, but we made it through. And then we were married for 10 and somewhere along the way of starting companies and becoming homeowners and having children. We lost our way and little by little, we lost sight of who we were and our identities replaced by labels and trying to live up to the standards set by others or society, or that we had placed on ourselves [00:40:00] expectations, if you will.
And we bought into this idea of consumerism and without realizing it, we were accumulating more and more stuff, trying to fill a void in our relationship, in ourselves and in our life. It was never enough because our happiness was based on external things and people and situations and we lived in a constant state of will be happy when dot, dot, dot.
This business takes off. I get pregnant. We don't have to work weekends anymore. We pay off this debt. We get in shape. She starts purging her clutter. He starts helping out with the kids. It was endless. And we were such veterans of the hustle game and knew nothing about alignment. We didn't realize that happiness is an inside job.
So, [00:41:00] I became a workaholic and wore busy like a badge of honor. I knew there must be a better way though. Yes, I had created this company that provided me the freedom to work from home with my girls, but I was still sending them to daycare because I had so much work to do and always felt stressed. Yes, within the first year, I was netting five figure months, which may sound like a lot to some of you, and it may sound like not a lot to some of you, but regardless of where you fall on that scale, do you know how much painting that calculates out to be when you're Average items are ranging from like 40 to 250.
Yes, I had some people working for me, but it was limited in what they [00:42:00] could do since people were essentially buying my original art. It appeared I had built a job, not a company. company. It wasn't scalable. And I was realizing that something had to change. I was working myself into the ground, burning the candle from both ends.
And my husband complained that I was always on my phone. But I didn't make any adjustments. Instead, I justified the constant working as a means to an end. And we were so out of alignment. I felt like a married single mother. I was barely surviving. I was giving him none of my attention. He was irritated and angry.
Most of the time tired of coming home to a messy house. I cried almost every day, if not every day. And more importantly, my girls were seeing me cry every day. They were being raised in a home with yelling and I knew it was not okay. [00:43:00] We didn't communicate and we didn't commit to growing individually or together.
So we grew up and grew apart. Wounded egos played a big part in all of this. I am sure of it. And no understanding of masculine and feminine energies, no balance, no alignment, a lack of compassion, empathy, or a willingness to do the necessary inner work to become a quote, good person and a quote, good partner.
There was so much tension and not enough love and light. And we both stayed in the relationship, even though it was no longer bringing either of us joy out of fear, really. The fear of, uh,
pardon me, [00:44:00] friends. I lost my place. I checked the monitor to make sure that, uh, We were still the recording still looked good, and then I left my place in the transcript here. Let me find it I'm keeping it real for y'all, and I'm not planning on doing any editing here, and this is gonna be pretty Unplugged so let's see um The fear our kids of our kids quote growing up in a broken home The fear of what others would think the fear of being a failure the fear of letting other people down You The fear of what all was involved in splitting up businesses and taxes in the house and all of the legal stuff.
The fear of the quote, stigma of divorce. The fear of not being with my children all the time. The list of fears is certainly a long one, friends, but when you wake up every day thinking there must be more to life than this, then I assure [00:45:00] you there is. We realized that we were not meant to be together forever, and we both knew what had to happen.
But instead of doing something about it, we found ourselves in this cycle of arguing and blame and feeling mis Misunderstood and unseen and unheard. And he used to say work was my high. And in that sense, I guess he was right. Because like most seekers of a high, it was my way to escape from the reality I found myself in.
The one that I had always wanted to escape from. unintentionally created for myself. I would lose myself in my work and find myself in these beautifully romantic love stories that I wrote for a living. But it would take three years of writing those love stories, dreaming of peace and happiness while simultaneously feeling stuck in a heavy and dark [00:46:00] place before I would get an order that would change everything.
It was a love story board, and it contained two separate references to The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. The first was a reading of an expert, ex skirt.
Excerpt, I had trouble with that word. The first was a reading of an excerpt, and the second was a quote. I wasn't familiar with the book, but I was certainly curious, and so I asked my client to tell me about it. And she explained that it was this phenomenal book, it was wildly popular, and that the quote held great importance to them.
I completed her order on August 12th of 2015 and felt an undeniable [00:47:00] desire to read this book that I discovered was an international bestseller and had been translated into over 70 languages. Why had I never heard of this book before, you know? And the following night I downloaded, I'm pausing because I realize, I see the date here, and I know why I put that date here.
That date is two days off. It doesn't Might not seem like it matters now, but later it will. Let me go back to where I was. So the following night I downloaded the audiobook and listened while I worked and then I understood why I had not heard of it before. Because in that moment, I realized that everything happens as it should, when it should.[00:48:00]
And in that moment, I realized that, quote, When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. And it's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. I felt. Every word when he said tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself and that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.
I listened so intently when he said, When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. And [00:49:00] I got chills when I heard, So, I love you, because the entire universe conspired to help me find you. And I cried, When I heard you will never be able to escape your heart.
So it's best to listen to what it has to say. And when he said people are capable at any time in their lives of doing what they dream of, I just knew mock tube. And if you've read this book, you know what I'm talking about. The following morning I found the strength and courage to walk away from a 15 year relationship that was no longer positively serving me.
My own personal legend was yet to be found, and I was inspired by the words where your treasure is, there will also be your heart. [00:50:00] My own heart, like that of the boy in the story had returned to the soul of the world.
I had taken the first step. In the journey of a thousand miles, we agreed to divorce and we knew we both wanted what was best for the girls. So we worked together through our differences and learned how to communicate effectively and co parent with compassion and kindness. Instead of viewing it as a failed marriage, I saw it as a successful divorce.
When three years after the divorce, I found on my iPad, where my six year old on her own drew a family portrait of me. And we were all together, happy and smiling that we were officially doing something right because that was more important than anything, [00:51:00] any amount of money, any fancy house. Look, I'm an advocate for developing a healthy relationship with your ex and their significant other.
Today. We make much better.
I told you all I didn't read this ahead of time and some things do change I wasn't I didn't know what I was gonna be reading and I'm gonna keep reading it I'm just keeping it real the Emotions that were coming up. So let me read this again because that was more important than anything any amount of money or fancy house Look, I'm an advocate for developing a a healthy relationship with your ex and their significant other.
Today, we make better friends than we ever did husband and wife. And I'm grateful to the wonderful relationship I have with his fiance and [00:52:00] her ex. Young daughter who joins the girls and I for parties, parades, and events. It's truly a blessing. Now, let me take this opportunity to say a few years ago, when I first decided I wanted to help others heal by sharing my own story, I knew that.
That would require a certain level of openness and transparency on my end. I would have to be willing to be vulnerable and talk about some of the difficult times in my past. And because I spent almost half my life with the girl's dad, that was pretty much going to guarantee that a lot of the stories would involve him too.
And look, there are no residual feelings of blame or anger or sadness or any of that. I completely take responsibility for the energy that I brought to the relationship. And we were undoubtedly meant to be together. We have our children as proof [00:53:00] of that. We just weren't meant to be together forever. But I would not be the woman I am today.
Were it not for him, our relationship taught me so much. A lot in hindsight, but also a lot while navigating through the 15 year relationship. And regardless of what happened, I still have respect for him as a human. So we sat down and talked and on more than one occasion, So that I could share with him first how I wanted to share my own story.
So anytime you hear me sharing a story that involves him, please know and understand that I'm always mindful of what I say and that I recognize. The part that I played in our relationship the following year would mark the beginning of an intentional spiritual journey, one that [00:54:00] would alter the course of my life and reveal the secrets to true happiness.
This being the following year after. I left the marriage or we ended the marriage, the floods in Louisiana that synchronistically hit one year to the date of me leaving would prove to be the next big life changing moment, a reminder of how quickly we can lose everything. And then I watched as an entire nation came to the aid of total strangers, and I discovered a renewed faith in humanity.
It really sparked something inside of me. I created some designs and did a fundraiser selling shirts and stickers, and it was my first time giving back since leaving the event promoting business. The year or two before, and I knew from that day forward that giving back would always be a priority in my life.
And I realized that I had become [00:55:00] too focused on the material world and seeing how quickly life can change without warning. It became a catalyst for change within me. And I knew I had to learn to live in the moment because life was passing me by and I wasn't enjoying it. Soon after. I made the choice to separate myself from the material world for a bit in order to connect more deeply to the spiritual world.
And, uh, I began a journey to self love and self discovery and self awareness and self actualization. I was ready to raise my consciousness and live authentically in my truths. I had spent the first year after divorce dating and trying to discover who I was and what I wanted. After being in a faithful relationship for 15 years, since I was just 19, and like I [00:56:00] said, having a confused view of relationships, a distorted concept of love.
And no concept of self love. I was actually in no position to be dating. I didn't realize that at the time, though, without giving myself any room to breathe or time to heal or do the inner work. I just jumped right into this brand new world of online dating. And don't get me wrong. I met some really great men.
But I started to notice the same patterns start to repeat themselves. I was attracting the same types of people and the same types of situations because of the energy that I was putting out. And I was repeating toxic behaviors from my past. And I knew that something had to change, that I had to change.
So I decided that instead of looking for the right person, I was going to become the right person. And I embarked on a path of celibacy, knowing [00:57:00] that I had to heal and learn how to love myself unconditionally before I could love another that way. And this journey has been very enlightening. I recognized that we don't know what we don't know.
And. Open my heart and my mind to wider, more expansive viewpoints. And the idea that when nothing is certain, anything is possible. I knew I had to be willing to step. outside the box of everything I had been taught, trained, and conditioned to believe over my lifetime. It was the beginning of an unbecoming to become.
I began studying things that I had never heard of before. I familiarized myself. With various cultural and spiritual practices and beliefs, reading and learning and immersing myself in as much as I could. And I [00:58:00] dove into the world of metaphysics and holistic health, astronomy, astrology, moon phases, and the universal laws.
And I discovered meditation, life changing mindfulness, intentional living. I began to understand and follow my intuition and studied conscious creation. I learned what it meant to align and manifest and how to do so effectively. And for the first time, I knew what it meant when people said, what you resist persists.
And I finally understood what it meant to flow, not force. I embraced the beautiful and amazing world of synchronicity, numerology, angel numbers, spirit animals, angels, archangels, [00:59:00] ascended masters. I studied abundance, energy, frequency, and vibes. I studied and practiced karma, dharma, pranayama, empathy, psychic abilities, energetic cords, soul connections, the esoteric and mystical, the higher self, eternity and affinity, oneness, cycles and flows.
Discernment, positive affirmations and gratitude, y'all. I learned about masculine and feminine energies. We all have both. And I learned what happens when they're not balanced and when they're not integrated. I learned the importance of forgiveness, and I forgave anyone and everyone, including myself. I became interested in learning everything I could about duality, balance, and creating your own [01:00:00] reality.
And I dove deep into the subconscious mind to understand our power as human creators. I no longer make decisions based out of fear. Today, everything I do say and think intentionally comes from a place of love. Remember when I said that around 19 or 20, I realized that my time as an athlete was over. I believed it too.
And that's why it was my reality because that's how I chose to perceive my life back then. That was until November of 2016, when I found yoga or like, I like to say it found me to say that yoga. Changed my life is the understatement of the century. Since [01:01:00] picking up the first book, I've discovered a strength inside of myself that was asleep, just waiting to be awakened.
And through my daily practice, I'm learning to lean into the darkness, discomfort, and shadows and shine a light and create an openness that I was all too quick to shut off all those years ago. Yoga taught me to shift my mindset. I released those feelings of fear and doubt, those self limiting beliefs, transmuting them with love and replacing them with positive thoughts, which has ushered in positive changes.
I was developing a new relationship with my body, my mind, and my soul. I became in tune with my breath and learned how to use it to go deeper into stretches and into the darkness. And slowly, but surely, I realized [01:02:00] something. I was an athlete again. That wasn't my goal when I started yoga, but it became a product of my consistency and dedication.
And the most important lessons yoga teaches you are the ones within. If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be doing one armed handstands using the same shoulder That I had surgery on, I would have laughed and said, yeah, right. And yet here I stand upside down on one arm or that I'd be doing back flips again, or working with a contortion coach for back flexibility training.
This is the same girl whose back doctor had told her that she wasn't ever going to be able to wear high heels again, least bit do the things I was doing. I'm grateful for the gifts of strength and mobility and grateful to know that despite what I once believed, I was capable of change. [01:03:00] And the willingness to be the change has shifted the entire world within which I live.
Do you hear what I'm saying? Friends that when I changed the world within me, the world around me changed too. I am free to be myself. I am free to move about. As I wish, without pain or discomfort, I am free to learn more, grow more, do more, be more. And here's the thing over the past several years, I have intentionally chosen the path of multi generational living and the celibacy journey in order to, in order to be fully committed to my growth and inner work and healing.
And my intuition has led me to so many new [01:04:00] changes that I never even considered a possibility at one time. They weren't even on my radar. Things like. a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, plant based living, making eco friendly living and sustainability a priority, finding new and exciting ways to give back to the community, tiny living, homeschooling, unschooling, intuitive eating, meditation, life changing.
And guess what? Not only do I have more mobility, flexibility, and strength now, older than I've ever been, With two children, more than I've ever had, right? But I also haven't taken any medication for years. I am healthier than ever. No pains or illnesses or ailments. I've literally changed my entire life, changed my [01:05:00] chemical makeup, my DNA, by changing my thoughts.
I have a new attitude, a new mindset, a new perspective, and a new passion for life. And I've discovered a happiness that comes from within and an inner peace that brings me pure joy. I've learned how to live in the present moment and create my future reality using visualization, intention, elevated emotion, energy, flow.
And I'm here to help you do the same, to learn how to become aware of your ego and honor your shadow. Your ego wants you to feel, wants to keep you safe, but will have you feeling shame and guilt. But your higher self wants you to, wants to see you living your best life. a life without shame, without guilt, without regret.
And you [01:06:00] can totally do this, my friends, no matter where you are on your journey, you start today, right here, right now, you start where you are with what you have, and you commit to doing the best that you can do. And I'm going to be here every step of the way. Guiding you, helping you silence those self limiting beliefs and negative self talk.
Helping you to release those self sabotaging habits and replace them with positive, new, sustainable ones. Ones that are going to have you on track to see major shift happen in your life. Can you feel me? I completely changed the infrastructure of what you want. I redesigned it with new systems in place for scalability and automation.
I learned from my past failures and successes, and I created a lifestyle brand that would provide the time and [01:07:00] economic freedom that I craved while helping others, because as I mentioned earlier, throughout this journey of self discovery and self actualization, I've learned a lot. I revealed my soul mission and life purpose of, of helping shift happen by raising the vibration of love on earth.
And I knew I wanted to create a podcast where I could dive deeper into all of this, the multifaceted career, the life experiences, the highs and lows of my past business ventures, lessons learned. As well as teaching everything I've ever immersed myself in and really dedicated my life to learning and practicing these past years, I wanted to create a place where I could reach more people with this message of positivity, mindset, faith, hope, happy endings, happy healings.
I don't know where the happy ending slip came, [01:08:00] but it does say happy healing here. To lovingly guide them along on their own journeys of self love and self realization. I also knew that while I have lots of stories and plenty that I look forward to, There are some really spectacular humans out there who have some incredible stories, athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, educators, everyday heroes, the people who started with the dream and created the reality, who overcame the doubters, the non believers, adversity, odds.
challenges, the hard times, and they rose above and created something big, a career, a company, a brand, a life, a legacy, people who are inspiring and making a [01:09:00] positive impact in the community and in the lives of others. People who have been there, done that, and are excited to join the show and share their story with you of just what it took to get there.
Some of these people have directly influenced and impacted my own life. And I can't wait to get into all of that with you. So you can count on an eclectic mix of solo and guest conversation shows featuring a wildly diverse group of talented and passionate people. And if you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done.
And the purpose of this podcast Dreamed It Then Real Lifed It is to show you that your dreams are within your reach and it is within your power to achieve them with the right mindset and the right tools, you will begin, Oh, you [01:10:00] will be on your way to living your best life, your most authentic life. A reality that is even better than you realize.
It is possible. I am here to tell you friends because I have been on both sides and today I am living the dream in real life. I am so humbled that you have listened this far and I'm grateful to have you here on this journey with me. I'm new to all this podcasting, and since I know that done is better than perfect, I'm going to put it out there anyway.
I cannot wait to see where this journey leads. Until next time, friends, love, light, and thank you, thank you, thank you. Okay, guys, that was the transcript. Wow. How [01:11:00] was it for you? How was it for you? I wasn't Um, it's again, this was from three years ago. Um, this is, uh, early 2021 is when I recorded this, um, maybe even late 2020.
I'm thinking it's early 2021 and I've not read this. I've not heard it in over a year. I'm sure at least, um, certainly haven't read this transcript and it's interesting. There were a couple places where I caught even my wording, um, that I had here. Uh, I've. I'm more aware, there was one I did just here where I said something about making something happen and I'm like, no, why did I say make it happen?
That's so, err, make, make, that's so forceful. And I, It was what I said at the time, and now that I'm reading the transcript back, I'm able to see, no, I don't want to make it happen, you want to allow it to [01:12:00] happen, or facilitate the happening of it, right? So, it's interesting. I still, this is good, and look, some things have changed, uh, in the time since, uh, I originally recorded this and some things are the same and I still, I think this is a good place to start and at least it's where my heart wanted to start three years ago.
So we're going to leave this here and I am going to tell you this. I decided for when this goes live. When this launches, right? 11, 11. That was the big launch day. Angel numbers. I mentioned them here. I love them. It's a big part of how we got here. So 11, 11 just makes sense. And there's actually going to be, it's going to be going live with five.
episodes so that you can binge a little. Okay. And I think that that's a really [01:13:00] Jenna Kutcher. I did podcast lab with Jenna Kutcher, whom I adore. I look up to, she is amazing. She has a podcast called the gold digger podcast, over a hundred million downloads. She is amazing. is incredible. I've done a couple of her courses and the podcast lab was one of them.
And that's one of the things that she recommended doing. She's like, Hey guys, when you launch, launch with like a handful of episodes live that way they can binge. And I said, I like that, Jenna. I like, I like where you're going with that. That's what I'm going to do. So this is going to be one of the five.
This was the OG one. And you, as we spend time together, you're going to discover what stays the same, what changed. I don't know. Let's see. But, this was a good place to start. And I hope that you enjoyed it. Um, I definitely see several things we can, where, [01:14:00] Roads we can go down from here, but this is a good place to start and Bear with me the fact that I was reading it to you.
So this wasn't me just talking. I was reading it I know there were a couple times in there where I stumbled on my words and you know what? I'm not gonna edit it friends. This is unplugged. This is me. It's real. It's raw This is what you get. Um, thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. I love you. I love you. I love you. And I'm excited about this guys. Here we go. One down. So many more to go.
Thank you for tuning in to Dreamed It Then Real Lifed It. I hope today's episode sparked something powerful within you. Remember, every step you take [01:15:00] towards your vision counts. It's no matter how small. If you enjoyed today's conversation, please take a second to hit that subscribe button or leave a review.
That would be amazing. Or share the podcast with someone who's ready to bring their dreams into reality too. And if you're looking to dive deeper, connect with me on social media at dreamed it then real life did. Or at B E underscore what you want, or visit dreamdithinreallifedit. us for more resources on aligning your life, business, and dreams.
Until next time, keep dreaming and keep manifesting your dreams into real life. Love you [01:16:00] friends.
