Come Alive With Me!

A warm welcome to the ALIVE podcast! In this first episode, I will unravel the magic + deep connection rooted in how I was inspired to step away from six-figures in venture capital in Silicon Valley to start my own venture...all inspired from listening to a podcast. Uncover the catalyst of how this whole journey unfolded, going back to my Israeli roots, and connecting the dots to how my deep depression and battle with mental and physical toxicity led me to live a life devoted to coming ALIVE.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Jessica Schiller-Silverman and I want to warmly welcome you to the Alive Podcast where wellness and business come to life.

I stepped away from a six-figure career in venture capital in San Francisco to start my own venture,

All inspired initially from a podcast.

Learn how in this powerful show full of golden nuggets that will help you learn how you can come alive in your creative prowess while creating financial and energetic flow.

Each episode will uncover my secrets to debunking the starving artist myth.

Come on,

Enjoy the ride and come alive with me.

Hello listeners.

Welcome to the very first episode of the Alive Podcast.

This has been a long time coming and I am beyond ecstatic.

I can't even think of the right words to explain how excited I am that this is finally coming to life.

I have guessed it on podcasts for years and now this is the brand new and first episode of my very own Alive Podcast and I am honored to have you here with me.

Podcasting to me is very passionate and that's why I've guessed it on many podcasts for years.

It's a huge piece of my story and I can't wait to really unravel all the magic for you as this episode unfolds.

So welcome,

Welcome,

Welcome to the very first episode.

Again,

The last time I'll invite you to the Alive Podcast.

I am Jessica Schiller-Silverman,

Founder of Mohs & Wellness and this Alive Podcast and also the Alive Group.

If you have been following me for years on social media,

Alive with Jessica Silverman on Facebook.

A.

L.

I.

V.

E with Jessica Silverman on Facebook.

Now you're probably sitting here wondering what does Alive stand for since it's an acronym in this podcast and my Facebook group.

And that's really where I want to kind of rewind and begin and really share a bit about myself in this very first episode as to who I am,

Right?

Whether you're brand new to me and this is the very first exposure that you have to my Alive movement or you've been following me for years,

You probably don't know all the intricacies of what even led me to this acronym.

What led me to the work that I do in the world?

Where did I come from?

And what inspired me to not only start this podcast,

But what are you going to get out of it as a listener?

What are you going to expect going forward as you listen to this podcast?

Because something that I value tremendously more than anything.

And I always say there's kind of three main values that we have in this life,

Three things that are so precious.

Number one is time.

Number two is energy.

And number three is money.

Now you may be sitting here thinking money is so valuable and it is,

But what is money without time and energy,

Right?

And so I really want to,

Again,

Bring all of those three elements into all of these episodes and really the whole spirit of this podcast.

But I mentioned time as number one for a reason because you're spending time right now listening to this podcast when there is a million and one other things to do,

Especially in the wild world that we live on.

There's a million distractions.

So whether you're listening in your car or at home or while doing chores around the house,

I value your time.

And something that I personally enjoy when I listen to podcasts is knowing that this 20 minutes,

25 minutes,

30 minutes,

However long the episode is,

Is going to be worth every second of my time.

And I don't take that lightly.

So I really want to make this jam packed full of golden nuggets of little hidden gems,

At least one,

Two or three that you can take into your day where it feels expansive energetically,

But it also feels productive where you're like,

Yes,

I have these takeaways.

I'm now inspired.

And why is this called alive?

Because I'm going to bring that to life,

Right?

In the wellness and personal space and in business.

That's exactly my story.

So without further delay,

I want to tell you a little bit about who I am,

Jessica Schiller-Silverman,

Where I came from.

Again,

What inspired me to start this podcast and what are you going to expect kind of going forward from this episode?

I know this kind of first solo episode is about me and my story because again,

I really want to welcome you,

Right?

Think of this as our private party and you are my guest.

And this is the first time that we've met in this medium.

So whether you've been following me for years,

We're brand new,

You haven't heard me,

Right,

In this particular fashion.

So I really want to welcome you with open arms.

Feel free to grab a cup of tea.

I've got my cup of coffee right here and a little bit of water to stay hydrated.

Grab a glass of wine,

Rosé,

Some bubbles,

Cup of hot tea and tune in.

So where my journey started,

And it's very intricate.

So that's why at first thought like,

Wow,

Where should I really begin?

And I really want to start with sharing with you that as a child and a lot of what we learn about ourselves comes from our childhood.

It comes from the behaviors that we took on either from our parents or from our environment,

Right?

That's 50% of our journey.

Again,

I love neuroscience and stats and basically how our habits and the existence of our life became what it is today.

And that's 50% environmental and circumstantial,

But that other 50%,

That's free will.

And if you think about ourselves in existence,

Right,

In terms of the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom and humans,

We are the only form of life that has free will.

So that being said,

That is really the cornerstone of coming alive is knowing that in every moment you have that free will to make a choice,

Right?

To make a choice,

To make a change,

To live your life differently.

And so again,

Going back to when I was a child,

I always thought that there was more to life.

It's like I would go to school and just so you know,

I was a straight A student,

Still a huge student of life,

Just why I love listening to podcasts and really soaking in all this knowledge.

I'm a huge self-development nerd.

I'm a book nerd.

I'm currently writing my book as well,

Which will again,

Bring the spirit of all this show to life.

So I'm really excited for that because writing really is my first passion,

Speaking not so much.

So if you're sitting there thinking,

Wow,

Like she speaks so well,

And I've been thinking of starting a podcast or getting my online business up and going,

But being in front of the camera,

Not so confident.

Confidence on camera is not my MO.

I just want to let you know right now that if you'd watch my videos when I started my entrepreneurial past six years ago,

Very different,

Right,

Than it is today.

But funny enough as a child,

Again,

Going back to my childhood,

I was a child actress,

You know,

From the age of three.

My family is actually from Israel and we used to go every summer to visit my grandmother and my father and mother actually grew up there.

So I'll kind of tell you a fun little story.

My mother and father emigrated to the United States in the early sixties.

My mom was 12.

My dad was 16.

See,

Even if you've known me for years,

I've never revealed that anywhere on social media.

So fun little fact,

They met at the age of 12 and 16 on an immigrant ship all the way from Haifa,

Israel,

The port of Haifa to Ellis Island in New York and actually met their families became friends on the ship.

And that was the first time that my parents had ever met and they were so young.

So obviously they weren't going to get married then,

But they stayed connected through all of those years.

And of course back then,

You know,

You got married at a much younger age and was thinking about being a mother and establishing a family.

So at the age of 19 and my dad was 21,

They got married.

They stayed in touch from those 70 years when they met on the immigrant boat that took two weeks from Ellis Island on an immigrant ship.

And my parents tell me stories all the time.

It was not,

It was not beautiful.

It was not a beautiful experience.

It was not a cruise ship by any means.

More like kind of like a slave boat.

You slept in really tight quarters.

Not much food or water.

I mean,

It was just imagine,

You know,

Thousands and thousands of immigrants shoved on a ship from Haifa,

Israel,

Which is very far all the way to Ellis Island,

New York.

And so both my parents met then on that ship and stayed connected.

And it's just a beautiful story because my love story started online.

So some of you may not have had this as well.

Not necessarily this,

You know,

Very romantic story to tell about being an immigrant and meeting on a ship.

And,

You know,

We just met on a website.

I'm not sure if they actually use it anymore these days.

It's called OKCupid.

No shame at all.

I really do love the online space and hence why I got passionate to start this journey.

But as a child,

I was an actress and in my mind,

An actress.

That's what I wanted to be.

That's what I envisioned myself when I grow up.

And so we'd go to Israel every summer and my father would have these huge reunions with all of the friends that he left behind.

Right.

He was 16 when he left and my mother was 12 and I'd have these huge parties.

We would stay at my grandmother's house and she had a beautiful three bedroom condo in the middle of a town called Ramat Aviv,

Which is right outside of Tel Aviv.

And he had all of his friends.

You know,

My father actually grew up in a really small town inside or kind of outside Tel Aviv.

But it was almost like and I can't envision this because I grew up in South Florida here,

Which is very metropolitan and built up.

But where he would go pick,

You know,

What they call in Hebrew Sabras,

Which is cactus fruit off the trees and fresh lemons and avocados and all these exotic fruits.

And they would just play in the fields.

Right.

And play all kinds of games outside all day and ride their bikes everywhere.

I grew up more in the digital age,

Not quite millennial,

Where I was online.

The internet was not around when I was a child,

But it was more board games and kind of sitting inside and I was sort of an antisocial child.

I call myself an introverted extrovert.

But when we used to go to Israel in those summers,

I found myself just come alive.

I used to find it my mission to teach everyone their English and to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Sometimes it starts being a banner,

But I thought,

Hey,

They're not American.

And I have pride in being the firstborn and mind you,

Me,

My brother and I are the first American born children in my family.

And so I always found the sense of pride,

You know,

At the age of three and four when we used to go to recite that.

And that actually continued on through childhood with again,

This this passion,

This desire to become an actress.

And so I was in a special performing arts school for middle school,

Where I sang and danced in fifth grade.

I was the lead in my school play and just never had a problem being in front of people.

It's that's when I most felt alive.

It's when I was speaking on stage when I was performing in different roles.

I sang as well.

I sang the lead.

And that's why sometimes maybe you'll get to hear a bit of my voice,

Although it's probably a bit rusty because I haven't really been singing since I was in middle school.

So ideally about 30 years.

Not to give away my age,

But if it is your birthday,

By the way,

I do just as a side note,

If you join my text list,

So if you text the number 954-245-0178,

You'll receive my regular text.

So those are all kinds of tips and tricks to coming alive,

Right,

Both in the spirit of your wellness and in your business.

And if it's your birthday,

I've started a brand new ritual where I sing to you.

So I sing happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you.

Definitely needs a little bit of work,

But never had a problem with that,

But it was weird.

It was like after,

So I was performing arts middle school,

Then through high school and kind of those later years,

Maybe between the age of like 13 to 18,

I found myself in sort of a depressive state and I didn't feel comfortable in front of the camera.

And I didn't feel comfortable meeting new friends and really being social.

That was a lot more of that introverted personality of mine really took over and really took charge.

And it was almost like I reverted backwards from that outgoing bubbly child that wanted to teach everyone to sing the pledge of allegiance and the star spangled banner.

And I reverted inwards.

And I,

Looking back actually,

As I'm saying this now,

I don't even know what caused that particularly I feel some of it was ingrained from the way I grew up.

It was always a focus of studying and getting good grades and making sure you get into a good university so you can get that six figure job.

So you can buy the house with the white picket fence and have children and travel,

Right.

And live this beautiful life.

But there was always something within me that said,

There's gotta be more to life that that just didn't,

That didn't make me come alive.

Thinking about all of that conventional lifestyle.

I never even wanted to be like anybody else.

I always thought of myself as a misfit.

I always felt like I was on the outside looking in.

And just thinking about that kind of a life really made me feel,

And freedom is another one of my words,

If you've been following me for a while.

I can think of anything that really makes me come alive.

It's feeling free.

It's just having that freedom,

That unbridled sense of joy to just do what you want,

When you want without reservations,

Right,

Without limitations,

Right,

Of your mind.

And I always say life kind of gives us layers as you went along the way.

That's what I experienced as a child.

It was all these layers of expectation.

And you must do this because society says so.

And I love my parents deeply.

And I value their opinions more than anybody.

And so I said,

Okay,

Like,

This is what I'm going to do.

And you know,

I studied four languages,

And I was in an accelerated program in high school.

I graduated high school,

Which was nuts now that I think of at the time.

I graduated high school in three years,

And went to college at the age of 17.

Yeah,

17,

Actually just turned 17.

It was my 16th birthday in May.

And by that July,

Sorry,

June,

I was packing up and ready to go to college where I went to school at the University of Florida.

Go Gators!

Doo doo doo doo doo!

Go Gators!

If you're in Florida,

And I'm sure people are listening from all over the world,

Hopefully you appreciate that.

But yeah,

So I went to college.

And I kind of continued this path of not really knowing and finding my way,

Not really feeling in my own skin,

Right?

So physically that transpired by gaining not just the freshman 15,

More like freshman 40,

But five at my highest.

I was almost,

And you can see me if you're watching this video,

But if you can't see me,

I'm about 5'2".

And so I was almost about 200 pounds,

So extremely overweight,

Because that's how I found comfort.

I found solace in food,

And not really knowing how to express myself and my emotions.

And at first,

Not really even understanding what's going on,

Right?

You're a kid,

You're in college,

You're trying to fit in.

Grades,

Of course,

I love studying.

So actually remember in my notebook my freshman year,

Writing mom and dad are paying for this,

So you better not disappoint them,

Right?

You better get good grades.

So I always had really high expectations of myself in terms of academia,

In terms of success,

In terms of getting that six-figure job and succeeding and always having these accolades that the outside world can determine as success.

These performance metrics,

So to speak.

But internally,

I was dying inside.

Internally,

I didn't do anything for myself mentally and obviously physically,

Because I was continuing to gain the weight,

Continuing to indulge,

Right?

Whether that was indulging,

Whatever my guilty pleasure was.

So sweets is kind of my thing,

But also indulging in any sort of pleasures.

Luckily,

Never really got much into alcohol or drugs,

But food was that for me.

And I always say food as a drug is something that you can't hide,

Right?

Alcoholism and drugs,

It's a very serious addiction,

But you can hide that,

Right?

But the mental wellness,

The depression,

The mental health,

And obviously the physical,

You can't really hide that,

Right?

Over time,

I mean,

You can get to know someone and they can put on a happy face,

But you'll start to see that mental health deteriorating.

You'll start to see those episodes where somebody is very anxious or very depressed.

And that was me coupled with the physical element where you can't hide,

Right?

When you're in physical pain,

Right?

Because you're gaining weight and obviously feeding your emotions.

So fast forward to,

Okay,

Then I graduated college,

Of course got stellar grades,

Went into the corporate life,

Graduated with a bachelor's in finance.

Then I did four years of a master's,

Again,

Just continued on that path and always found very good jobs.

I started kind of at an entry level in financial services and then moved my way up.

Fast forward,

Right?

15 years,

I'm going to keep this brief and I promise this is all important and it will all come together and you'll be like,

Woo,

Now I see where all the stars align is that I spent 15 years in corporate finance thinking there was something wrong with me when really it was just,

I was doing and living and embodying a life that wasn't for me,

Right?

It was,

I was living the script that my parents and that they inherited from their parents,

Right?

Because they're post-war children that you have to work hard and I'm sure you've heard the old adage,

Money doesn't go on trees and you have to work hard for every dollar.

And they taught me the value of a dollar.

And to this day,

I value that experience because again,

I bring and find the magic and the passion and all of that pain,

Right?

But fast forward to the 15 years in corporate finance and more recently to six years ago when I was in San Francisco with my then boyfriend,

Now husband,

And that was my breaking point.

Again,

I had gained,

So I'd yo-yoed,

Right?

Because then I lost the weight and I gained it back and I lost the weight and I gained it back.

And at that point I was probably about 60 pounds overweight.

And my husband said,

I just,

I can't stand to see you so unhappy.

It's like during the week,

You are this whole other person that is depressed.

You barely get out of bed.

A lot of mornings I would just wake up and cry because I was in this deep depression of my gosh,

I have to get up and go to this corporate job that yes,

Caveat made six figures,

But I was completely miserable in my life.

I was just completely miserable thinking there's got to be more than this.

So the means to an end of this corporate job is okay,

Yes,

The accolades and to say,

You know,

I'm a finance manager in venture capital.

That was my last corporate position for our company in San Francisco in Silicon Valley.

So to a lot of people,

That's the dream,

Right?

You're living in California,

California dreaming in the heart of Silicon Valley.

I was a finance manager for a top venture capital fund that funded a lot of companies that you know,

Right?

Like Google and Waze and Facebook and all of the techie companies that you now know that became,

You know,

Started as startups.

And I was ingrained in that world.

And at that point after the 15 year mark was just so miserable.

I used to sit with a notebook and I remember clearly at my desk,

Just journaling all of my emotions.

And that was at the time the only release that I had.

And it finally just clicked to me that I just can't,

I can't do this anymore.

My husband said,

I can't see you miserable like this.

And I thank God he is an angel.

He is such a blessing.

And again,

Caveat financially,

We didn't have the money for me to just quit,

Right?

And living in the most expensive city,

San Francisco in the United States,

Having rent that's astronomical,

Having expenses that are astronomical.

Before that we lived in Chicago and actually moved cross country.

Okay,

So follow me here.

I was born in Florida.

I moved to Chicago in 2008.

Lived there for six years,

Met my husband and had this vision and dream.

And you know me,

What I want to do,

I get done.

You know,

Freedom.

To me freedom is,

Hey,

I have this vision of moving to Chicago,

I did that.

I have this vision of living in California because at the time,

In my auditor job in Chicago,

I used to travel for two weeks out of the year to San Francisco.

And that was my vision.

I had pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and paintings that I got from local artists and all my travelers and I just dreamed of living in the Bay Area.

And so there I was making,

You know,

$110,

000 a year working in venture capital.

So you would think that is the dream.

And I was completely miserable,

Extremely depressed,

Very anxious,

And at that point 60 pounds overweight.

And I really knew things had to change when I actually saw scars on my belly from my underwear being too tight.

This is something I'm not always very comfortable speaking about,

But it was a mark to me and a reminder of all of the yo-yo times that I'd gained weight and lost weight and gained weight and lost weight.

And continuing to ride this roller coaster of emotions that I was wearing clothes too tight because I was in denial.

It was like,

Gosh,

How did this happen to me again?

And maybe it's not weight for you,

But maybe there's another aspect of your life that you're kind of stuck in the spiral,

I like to call it,

Of the same habit repeating over and over.

And you're like,

Why is this happening to me?

I thought I elevated past that.

And I've been doing all the self-development work.

And why is this?

Or I've started my own business and I finally felt like I was in a good groove.

And I realized that is when it becomes crippling,

When you expect things to be different than they are.

If you think about it energetically or even use nature as an example,

I always use nature.

There are 12 hours of sunshine,

Just like there are 12 hours of darkness.

And to expect that every day is going to be sunny and 24 hours of that is completely insane.

Because that's just not how it is.

But what is also insane is to continue to go back to a job that is absolutely making you miserable just because you want a paycheck.

So if you're in that scenario right now,

I want to empower you to know that this podcast and my entire business that I've been doing for the six years it took me to get this podcast off the ground was inspired from my travels to San Francisco.

So I used to be in the car,

My husband,

I commuted,

Did not ride the BART.

Oh my God,

What a nightmare in San Francisco.

We didn't ride the train,

So we commuted and it was three hours a day in the car.

And finally,

After enough is enough,

I gained the 60 pounds,

Started taking back my life.

So started eating food,

Fitness,

Mindset.

I would say those are kind of the three keys to wellness,

Food,

Movement,

And mindset.

So eating the right foods.

We don't need to know what to eat.

Surely there's enough information out there on Google as to what proper nutrition is.

Think whole foods.

If the universe created it and it comes from the earth,

It's probably healthy.

That's a little trick.

Movement,

Moving your body in a way that feels good to you and obviously mindset.

It's knowing what to do.

So it's not even just about having the motivation because motivation waxes and wanes.

Just like the moon,

Just like the sunshine so many hours.

And then the moon comes out at night.

But what does continue is your will.

Again,

That free will.

And so that is what carried me through that journey where I had this will to do something different.

And so again,

I started eating the right foods and I started moving my body.

And then there was that mindset piece.

I'm like,

What can I do for my mind?

I'm sitting in the car three hours a day.

And if you're thinking what I'm thinking,

You're absolutely right.

Podcasts.

Yes.

So I was,

I got into the magical world of podcasts.

Someone actually told me that they're like,

You're sitting in the car all this time.

This is about six years ago before podcasting was really what it is today.

And I popped one on and I think I Googled exactly what I envisioned this podcast to be.

I think I Googled spirituality and business or wellness and business because I really wanted to do something different with my life,

But I also wanted to continue to work on myself,

You know,

To lose that weight,

Not just the physical weight,

But the emotional weight,

Right?

All that stress,

All that anxiety that was continuing to eat me inside from when I was even a child and finally work through those emotions and finally put them to bed and create a vision for myself that can help other women do the same.

And that's exactly what inspired me to do all of this.

I remember I was listening to a podcast and I wish I remember who or what it was.

It was six years ago and she said something that changed my life forever.

And my vision is,

Is I hope it changes your life when you hear this,

If you're in dire straits or you're just kind of at that crossroads and you're like,

Something has to change,

Whether that's in my marriage,

Whether that's in my career,

Right?

I'm doing something because I feel like I need a paycheck,

Whether that's your own physical wellness and you're like,

Gosh,

I'm just tired of this or the house is dirty.

Any anything that you are like,

I'm sick and tired of this.

Excuse my French BS in my life,

Something needs to change.

Ask yourself this question,

Right?

I can continue doing what I'm doing and continue to get the same result,

Or I could try something different.

I can absolutely fail,

But guess what?

You always have that option to go back to what you were doing before,

Right?

You always have that.

So why hold onto that experience and why not give yourself the opportunity to do something different?

And that podcast and many podcasts that I listened to on my journey,

And I'll give a shout out right now,

The bottle health show with Shawn Stevenson was one of the very first ones I listened to get gutsy with Jenny Fenig.

A lot of these podcasts really opened my eyes to know that there is another way to live your life.

And I heard all these stories of entrepreneurs stepping away again from that conventional life that I thought as a child was the way and found my own way and found my own path and was continuing to challenge,

Right?

And test these rules and make them my own.

And so what did I do after listening to all these podcasts and finally having that breaking moment?

I did it.

I quit my job,

Cold turkey without a plan,

Without knowing how I would pay the rent in San Francisco in the most expensive city.

And I'm not going to lie.

I was financially extremely challenging.

Mind you,

It was the same year that my husband and I were planning our wedding.

We had recently got engaged as soon as we moved to San Francisco.

So imagine trying to finance a wedding,

Quitting your job,

Trying to make rent,

My back against the wall almost every single month to make it,

Squeezing by every dollar.

And that's why I don't take anybody's time,

Money or energy lightly,

Because those are your three most precious resources.

And I did it and I stepped away cold turkey and my husband said,

If I have faith that anyone can do this,

It's you.

You have that will and that desire to push through anything and make it no matter the cost,

Right?

Something else you may or may not know about me is right before I met my husband,

And I met my husband in 2013,

I ran the Chicago Marathon.

And it's not even so much the physical aspect of it that I found challenging.

It's 26.

2 miles,

Yes,

It took me six hours.

Okay,

No shame,

Because that is a very hard accomplishment to about 0.

002% of the population ever run a marathon.

But I remember at that time,

Going into job interviews and really carrying the spirit of that lesson through my life is that running a marathon is like going through any challenge in life.

You continue to feel defeated,

The pain starts to permeate your body.

You don't know how you're going to make it to the other side.

How are you going to cross that finish line?

And you know what,

To me,

That was a challenge for not just the marathon,

But for life.

And forever to this day,

And that's exactly what ran through my mind when I became an entrepreneur.

It was like,

If you can do that,

You can do this.

If you can see a dollar on your bank account and make that $100,

You can continue on this path,

Right?

And I proved to myself and I had the time I quit my job,

I only had three months of income as a base,

That's it.

And it was like,

This is the three months,

You've got to make this work.

I had a little tiny,

Tiny savings account that I invested honestly,

All of it into my business,

Took my wedding money.

Sorry if it came to my wedding,

That's where your money went to,

Not to a KitchenAid or to fancy dishes.

It went into putting this into my business.

I literally put everything emotionally,

Financially,

And physically into this.

And now I'm inspired to tell you that six years later,

And you know what,

I believe that this podcast came out today in your life and in my life for releasing this final first,

Not final,

This first episode for a reason,

Because I had to go through,

And I want you to take this lesson with you as well.

You had to go through those moments to realize what you needed to continue in your life.

So I don't regret the fact that I spent 15 years of corporate finance because I wouldn't be here today motivating other women to do the same.

And maybe you're not going to do it my way.

You don't have to quit cold turkey and have only three months of money to live off of and have your back against the wall.

I almost,

I told my husband on time,

It felt like I had a gun to my head and it was like,

You better make this work.

Not always the best way to work.

I do work well under pressure,

But I'm here to tell you it only gets better from there.

But the first step,

Right?

I mean,

Obviously the first step to anything is awareness,

Right?

You have to know what's going on.

You have to know that there is more out there,

Right?

And for me,

That was that podcast.

I was listening to all these stories of all of these entrepreneurs who stepped away,

Right?

Who took control of their life physically,

Emotionally,

Right?

Because you can't do this work if you're not in a good place,

Right?

But it doesn't have to be perfect,

Right?

It doesn't have to be perfect.

It just has to happen and you have to continue at it consistently,

Right?

So number one,

If you're looking to change anything in your life,

I want to give you this takeaway.

And I promise in future episodes,

I will continue to unravel little pieces of my story,

But for the sake of time and because I value so much,

I'm going to wrap all this episode up right now in a beautiful bow and share with you if you're struggling in any moment of your life,

Because that was a lot of what inspired this whole journey of coming alive.

It was,

I didn't feel alive.

I couldn't get out of bed.

I felt dead inside.

I was depressed.

I was anxious.

I spent so many moments,

Not only crying when I woke up in bed,

But I used to go to the bathroom,

My corporate job and just cry,

Just cry.

Because that's the only place where I felt like I could be alone and I could express my emotions.

I would sit there with my journal.

I want to give you hope that number one,

You have to have that awareness that there is more out there,

Right?

So that's,

You've heard this story right now.

You've already accomplished step one,

Right?

Step two is having an outlet to express those emotions,

Right?

So once you have that awareness piece,

How are you going to express that creatively,

Right?

So for me,

That was writing.

I had to let it out.

You have to feel your feelings.

You cannot stuff them away.

I always like to use the analogy of a rug full of dust,

Right?

You can continue to hide that dust and you can sweep it all under the rug.

But guess what?

As soon as you lift that rug,

Poof,

Right?

That dust is going to fly right in your face and smack you and shower you with dust,

Right?

So it all eventually,

Right?

It all comes out in the wash.

I love that expression.

So give yourself an outlet to feel that.

So I actually evolved from journaling in my corporate life to then sharing my story on social media,

Right?

So if you feel comfortable and if you feel called and you don't have to share every element of your life,

Just what you feel comfortable,

Start sharing your story on social media,

Right?

So number one,

Awareness.

Number two,

Expression,

Right?

And number three is consistency,

Right?

Because a lot of us,

Right,

We have that motivation.

You're going to listen to the show.

You're going to be so motivated.

Yes,

Jessica,

I'm going to quit my job.

Okay.

I'm not saying you have to do that.

Or yes,

I'm going to have that talk with my husband.

Or yes,

I'm finally going to go get off my ass and start walking every day because I am tired of feeling sorry for myself,

Right?

Take that first step,

1%,

Right?

1%.

Don't expect to go.

That's what keeps you motivated,

Right?

See there's the secret because to be motivated when you're a good place,

That's the easy part.

But to be motivated when you feel like complete,

You know what,

I'm not going to say it because I don't want to curse on camera,

Right?

When you feel like that,

How are you going to continue?

And that's having a ritual that is 1%,

Right?

So that could just be,

Hey,

I can't walk for an hour today.

I'm going to walk for five minutes.

Hey,

I want to start this online business.

I have no idea where to begin,

But I'm going to start building my platform on social media with a post,

Right?

And that's honestly how I started.

When I used to sit in the bathroom,

I didn't just cry.

I also posted on social media every single day,

About five days a week to start building my audience as I was losing the weight,

As I was coming alive,

As I was taking control back of my life,

Right?

So those are really those three steps and these three takeaways that I want you to get.

I mean,

Number one,

Of course,

You know my story.

I want to welcome you here to this first episode of coming alive.

What are you going to expect going forward is this.

It's an immersion of personal stories,

But in a way to enlighten you.

And it's not always going to be about me.

We're going to have tons of episodes with lots of guest speakers,

Hopefully all of the podcasts that I spoke on,

They want to come speak on mine and share their stories as well,

Right?

So it's going to be an immersion of story and science,

Right?

So you actually learn it.

You're not just going to be inspired,

But you're going to have tangible steps to take into your life after this episode and feel alive,

Right?

Bring it to life to feel alive.

And really that's the whole spirit of this live podcast is where wellness and business come to life or your relationships or whatever it is that you're working on,

Right?

Whatever intentions you have for your life,

Right?

Whether it's personal,

Emotional,

Spiritual,

Entrepreneurial,

I am going to teach you on each episode ways to make that come to life.

A stands for alignment,

L of love,

I inspiration,

V vitality and E is energy because as the great Einstein says,

Energy is everything.

And I will leave you with that.

So again,

Thank you so much for hanging out today.

Have a gorgeous,

Gorgeous day.

And remember what makes you come alive.

Do that today.

One percent infinity,

Right?

If you take one percent today,

365 days,

You're 365% better tomorrow.

And I'll see you on the next episode.

Have a gorgeous day.

Bye.

Reviews

Your story is inspirational! Thank you for making the big changes in your life so you can now help others, as well as live a happier, more fulfilling life. 🙏❤️

Love this . So much of what you said resonated . Can’t wait to see you live on Insight Timer ! 🤗

Jessica is pure Light & Love. Looking forward to more from this beautiful soul💫💫