Christiane [00:00:08]: Welcome back to the happy, Healthy Hustle Podcast. We are so glad we are back for another episode because we have a special guest here today. And today's guest Lisa Kowalski, she's going to introduce herself in a little while. We'll be really ultra hearing to all of us. So why don't we hear it from Lisa. Lisa, tell us a little bit about yourself. Lisa [00:00:30]: Well, first of all, thank you for having me on because this is very cool. I am personal trainer, head coach at an Orange Theory here locally in San Luis Obispo. Was an athlete my whole life and got into personal training after having an injury, season ending injury with soccer, playing semi pro and decided I just wanted to give back to the fitness industry that had know part of my life for so, so long. And so going through physical therapy I realized wow, there are a lot of people that come through physical therapy who don't know what to do after they get out of physical therapy. And so I found my niche that way, but along the road decided I really wanted to give back to the game as well. And so became a women's university soccer coach for quite a few years and then moved back to San Luis Obispo after many, many years. I went to college here and got married and had a son and so here I am, but now a single mom, now I'm a widow. So lots has happened. Christiane [00:01:34]: Well, it sounds like this is going to be a deep podcast. So we're certainly excited to have you here. And Lisa is also the interesting connection of course is that sometimes I don't know people on my podcast at all the guests and sometimes I've never met them and I'm not even sure that we will ever meet. But Lisa actually I know you quite well from in person meetings so it's extra special to have her here on the podcast. And because I do know her in person, I'm certainly looking forward to her response to that. First question, what is your superpower? How would you describe that? Lisa [00:02:12]: Oh my gosh, I think the people around me are my superpower. I surround myself with amazing people. There's so many amazing people in my life that I just Christiana as you. Just having people in my life that love to level up. I feel like my superpower then becomes empowering others to do the same. Don't just wait for life to happen, you make it happen. And so I just recently got a tattoo on my arm that says make it happen. And it reminds me sometimes when I'm not quite sure that I can make the thing happen, I remind myself, yeah, it's totally possible. So I think being mindful in the big scheme of things that everyone has a choice and you can do what you set your mind to, you just got to do it. Christiane [00:03:05]: Yeah, we were brainstorming titles for this particular podcast. And we kind of like, thinking, what should be the theme? What should be a good and catchy title for this? Lisa, what did you decide your title should be here for this podcast? Lisa [00:03:20]: Well, we talked about making it, like make a choice, but then we kind of threw around the idea. Embrace the sock. Christiane [00:03:28]: Yeah. Lisa [00:03:28]: And that's been something I say to myself and I say to my teams, who I mentor in the studio, is that you have to embrace being a beginner. You have to embrace that when you do something for the first time, it's not going to be pretty, and it's okay. You can absolutely embrace the suck. Embrace it, learn from it, and have that be your motivation to become better. Having some feedback from people who have been in the same shoes as you have or maybe just having some feedback, whether someone videos you or anything like that. I think having a mindset that it might not be pretty, it won't be pretty the first time. And in the same vein, not being a perfectionist, because being a perfectionist will either freeze you in your place or you will never achieve what you want to achieve because you'll expect it to be perfect. I think being new at something is okay. Christiane [00:04:34]: And it's kind of nice to actually laugh about yourself, too, because that really keeps us human. We are, as teachers, frequently leaving the room and thinking about things that we could do things next time, but also things we could do better. And it's just maybe, like a momental situation to where you're, like, thinking, all right, if I were to teach this again, I would do it this way. And that's really, I think, the beauty of it, that you have these thoughts that you're not aiming for perfection, but you rather think, what could I do next time? Learning from that experience, and then maybe next time you think about a little bit something different. I always say it's kind of like a Rubik's Cube. The colors will never perfectly line up, but they will maybe move in different ways, and you're changing something that might trigger another situation. So that's the beautiful thing about this. And let's maybe talk a little bit about this challenge that we kind of, like, strive in our life or different things that have shaped us. What would you say was a really challenge situation you overcame, and why was that challenging in your oh, wow. Lisa [00:05:54]: So when I moved back to San Luis Obispo, I moved back to get married. Longtime love that. I just felt like, gosh, I have to try to make this work. We had done a long distance relationship for so long and so moved back and then realized that he needed a kidney transplant, and I knew that going in. That may be our path. Well, long story short, he ended up having a massive heart attack when we were in Italy riding our bicycles. And I attempted to save him, but could not. So I had to come home to my four year old and my stepchildren and tell them, I'm coming home alone. And we had to sort through that, like, what's that going to look like now for us without him in our lives? And a lot of people had asked me like, gosh, that's horrible. How did you make that through that? And you really just don't have a choice at that point. You have people in your life that are counting on you to show up. And my four year old was expecting me to show up. And so overcoming that, but then also overcoming an identity that I had created with my husband, of being his wife and overcoming and trying to decide, okay, now who am I going to be? And so that was kind of a Phoenix type moment for me as rising from the ashes and becoming me, becoming a better version of me, not standing in the shadows of someone else and standing in the shadows of my grief. So I started teaching cycling. I was training to teach cycling at the time. I was teaching group exercise and realized that that was still going to be part of me. But I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted to stand up and make sure that a tragic situation didn't define me. So now I'm here. So long road. But it's been a path. Yeah. Christiane [00:08:00]: The beautiful thing about situations like that, which sounds it was, and it still is, probably trauma, is that it will never go away. You will always have that in your life. There's maybe it's like a dark spot. There's maybe colors you paint around it. If you're thinking of making this a painting and maybe you're adding more and more layers and more experiences, you are adding around this dot. But that point of pain will always be there and you will always remember it. It's just that around it there is other support systems that you create by being strong and by layering more on top. Lisa [00:08:44]: Yeah. Christiane [00:08:45]: In general, I think it's very good that you went to the point of exercise because that's something that frequently will relay hope, movement and mindset to get over challenging situations. Lisa [00:08:59]: Yeah. And I think there was a balance for me too, because I went from using that as something to numb my emotional pain. I was over exercising. I mean, truth be told, I was over exercising. I wasn't eating. I was just making myself so physically tired that I didn't have to live the life that now was my reality, which was really scary to me. But in the same time, I had to remind myself that I was a single, independent woman prior to moving back to San Luis Obispo and becoming someone's wife. And so I had to remind myself that that situation for me, yes, it was tragic. And yes, there was a lot of trauma behind it. I mean, just graphic details around the event itself still haunted me for a long time, but I had to choose whether that was going to define me or I was going to define who I wanted to be. And after watching my grandmother with her husband passing away and her trying to save him from a massive heart attack, my mother trying to save my father while they were on vacation from a massive heart attack, and then me, the three generations of us living that exact same thing, which is so strange to me. Watching my mom become the victim instead of and letting that define her, letting a widow mentality define her made me realize that will never be me. That will never be me because I don't want that for my kids. I don't want that to be me. So I think that overall became the motivation for me to stand up and change lives. Like, there are people out there that need women like us to show them what's possible coming from dark places, that it's still possible. Yeah. Christiane [00:10:56]: I sometimes hear from cancer survivors saying it was horrible that I had cancer. However, I feel that I'm a different and a better person because I know now how precious life is. And I appreciate different things that I maybe took for granted immediately before and then after. Now, looking back, I have a different perspective, and it really changed how I lead my life, the choices that I make, because I know how quickly things can change. So it's not necessarily that they appreciate that they had cancer, but they more appreciate the perspective that challenging situation gave to them because it really puts things a little bit more into. These are all first world problems and these are things I maybe need to deal with. So it's kind of don't sweat the small stuff because this is so much other things that we have to deal with that are way bigger. Right? Lisa [00:12:00]: Yes. I so agree. I so agree. Yeah. In that sense, it makes you realize when someone dies right in front of you, someone very close to you dies in front of you, you realize, okay, life can change that fast. I have to make sure I live every single moment because my world changed in a span of a very short time. Christiane [00:12:27]: I agree that's to us, inspiring how we know you now as being this upbeat and positive person and how you are changing lives by making people healthier and stronger with all the strength that you have now. So we certainly always appreciate that. And it's amazing that you're sharing your story. So maybe looking at your support system, what or who helped you, what were influencer that really helped you become who you are right now and why were they so crucial to your life? Lisa [00:13:02]: Oh, gosh, my sister stood there for me. I had some really close friends that are there with me as well my son, I mean, we grieved together. He's 19 now, so we kind of helped each other through the messy stuff. And times were hard in the beginning. He didn't understand, so those were hard. But I really dug deep into personal development. And I know that sounds really quirky, but I found some people who had been through hard times and I listened to podcasts of things that I could level up from. There's a bunch of them out there, but just ones that made me realize that I'm not alone. But it's also time for me to walk through the fire and make it happen. Sitting around on my rear wasn't going to make the hard stuff go away. And so just immersing myself in personal development, immersing myself and surrounding myself with strong women and just making sure that there was never a time where I was in a place where I didn't feel supported, but mostly my family, my really close friends. I have a wonderful man in my life now who was a friend at the time who stood up for me, and so lots of that. But I think really just making a conscious effort every day to be a better person for my son, for my kids, and not letting it define me. Right? So lots of great podcasts out know Jim Rohn and there's a book called you're a Badass. I read that two or three times and listen to her narrate the book, too. There's so much out there, so many great books, but just learning know, Darren Hardy does a book called The Compound Effect. Just the changes over know, little little changes maybe move my body a little bit more each day or drink a little bit more water or get a little bit more sleep. Those things add up to big changes. And it made me realize I didn't have to change all the things all at once. Right. I could just take little bite sized pieces of things I needed to change and go from there. I think that in the grand scheme was what helped me the most. And listening to inspirational music, picking a I call it my Badass Playlist and Carrie Underwood's Champion and I'm Not Afraid by Eminem and songs that really fire me up when I'm upset about stuff people go through hard stuff. I'm not alone in that. I love that. Christiane [00:16:03]: You're actually the second person that talks about the Kick Ass book. Lisa [00:16:09]: Yeah. You are a Bad Ass. Christiane [00:16:13]: I have the whole series sitting here, so I turned around to look at my series. It is right behind me. Lisa [00:16:18]: Yes. Christiane [00:16:21]: Great. Lisa [00:16:22]: Yeah. There's definitely books out there that are know, pat you in the butt get you moving kind of things, and then there's other ones, you know you stop messing around. Let's make it real know? No more playing. But definitely the compound effect by Darren Hardy. The you're a Badass by Jen Sinceiro, Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis she went through some really hard times too, and I know there's some controversy around her right now, but overall I think a great. Christiane [00:16:54]: I actually love that you bring up the books because it's something that is a very simple solution. Sometimes people are afraid and seem psychologist or they don't have the money to seek professional help or there might be long wait lists. That's actually a really big issue as well. And it's so easy to go to the library and check out a book, whether that's an audiobook or an ebook or a physical copy, and start reading because alone the fact that you're reading is already self help in itself. But then of course, information is helping too and I always appreciate that. I sometimes tell my students when they ask me these questions and I want the answer for it, I just say GTS and I say what is that? Because I don't know everything and I'm sure Google will know. So if you have some issue in your life, well then just Google it and there's probably a response out there for you somewhere. But if you're maybe running into controversial information, maybe just check out one book and see what this author says and then check out another one and get that author. It's just like with our support system. It's a patchwork. You pick a little bit from there, pick a little bit from there and at the end of the day you are you and you will basically just become stronger by getting this different advice and different perspectives about it. I really that. And then of course now you're on your journey to influencer people even worldwide as a fitness instructor. So maybe tell us a little bit about what your future plans are. Lisa [00:18:39]: Well, being the head coach at Orange Theory is definitely a gift. I love it there. I love mentoring my team and surrounding myself with amazing people. We brainstorm all the time. But I am a Lululemon ambassador and had an opportunity to apply to be a mirror instructor and I've been selected to be a guest. Lululemon Studio Mirror Instructor so I'll be leaving for New York the 20 June and I'll be there for just a few days for a photo shoot and then going back sometime between July and September to do some filming for the platform, which is right there. You can see it right there. There's my mirror. And being able to share workouts with people nationwide, worldwide who have a mirror or even just have the app for studio, my workouts will be on the platform for two years. Christiane [00:19:34]: Pretty exciting. Lisa [00:19:36]: It's again reminding myself make it happen, embrace the suck. I've never done anything like this before, so I think a lot of people are like, well you're so confident. There's definitely parts that I feel like I'm absolutely made for this. I have a vision board that I have a lot of things that are coming to fruition, but at the same time, there's a little bit of me that's like, what did I just get myself into? But I'm excited. Christiane [00:20:03]: I'm super thrilled to see you, of course, nationwide. And if you are listening to this podcast, the mirror is not a requirement to actually to watch the classes. You could even like in the future download the app and it's a subscription based system and then follow along with a workout. There's usually no or very little equipment needed. So it's a really quick and easy way, speaking about the compound effect, to just get started and then see how great this feels and keep going maybe 510 minutes at the beginning and then just move it on from there. So very inspirational. And certainly if anybody here has any questions or they are curious about this, I would encourage them to reach out. We're also going to put Lisa's contact information in the show notes so they can see where her journey takes her and follow along and cheer her on as she's going to do her video recording. And we always appreciate it and kind of like seeing you are here now. Where are you going? And cheering each other on and empowering us. The goal of this. Yeah. Thank you so much for being here today. Certainly a true inspiration for being a happy, Healthy Hustler. We are always looking at examples of people that we feel inspired by on a daily basis. And I so appreciate that you made the time here today. Good luck with everything, your trip to New York and to all the audience here, please feel free to reach out and keep hustling along. Thank you so much. Lisa [00:21:49]: Thank you. Christiane [00:21:50]: I would like to read the podcast Fan of the Week. It comes from eight five mark 1975. The title of the review is Incredible Podcast and Eight Five Mark 75 writes, looking forward to new episodes. Thank you so much for the amazing feedback. If you haven't left the review yet, I would love to get your feedback. I'm going to give you a shout out on the next episode. Lisa [00:22:16]: Thank you. Christiane [00:22:17]: All right, that's it for today's episode of the Happy, Healthy Hustle podcast. If you have any suggestions for future content or any feedback, please let me know. I would also love to share with you that I'm about to launch my Journey to Wellness program. And I'm sure that you, as a happy, Healthy Hustler, would love to be part of this wonderful 21 day transformational program. It gives you some quick and easy tools that you can use at home to get your health journey started. Stay tuned and until then, we'll catch you next time you.