Cassidy Beck 0:00
There we go. Welcome to the podcast versus envision Creative Conversations. I'm your host, Cassidy Beck, in this podcast, we will delve into the personal stories of individuals who have achieved success, gaining insights into the experiences that shape their journey and the visions of themselves. And today, I am honored to be welcoming Leisa Wallace as an experienced author business owner and business advisor with women's business center of Utah. Lisa has spent the last 15 years honing her craft as an author entrepreneur at the Women's Business Center. She plays a crucial role in mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs, helping them navigate the challenge of starting and growing their businesses. Lisa loves telling stories. Her first youth adult trilogy, their mere Chronicles, launched her career with rave reviews. Her latest book, firefighter Michael and the Titan last bell, written for her nephew, born with a life threatening medical condition called neonatal Marfan Syndrome made it to Amazon's bestseller list in 2019 after being diagnosed with aggressive onset multiple sclerosis, Lisa made it her mission to inspire others battling the unknowns, providing them with the courage and resources to conquer their dreams. She has since been recognized for her advocates, for her advocacy work and has received several rewards for her contributions to literary and entrepreneurial communities. Lisa draws inspiration from her personal experience and the resilience of those around her when she's not working or writing. You can find her outside trying to resurrect the flowers she forgot to water, or playing with her baby goats. You can find her resources at author Lisa wallace.com or follow her on Instagram at author dot Lisa Wallace. Lisa loves connecting with her readers and fellow entrepreneurs, so feel free to reach out and share your own stories. Lisa again, I'm so honored. Thank you so much for being here. I have been really looking forward to talking to you.
leisa wallace 1:59
Thank you so much for having me on I love being on podcast, and I love speaking about hope and resilience. So I'm excited to be here
Cassidy Beck 2:08
today so so many things that I want to dive into. I think the first I was deeply touched when I looked into your the firefighter series. Tell us more about that. Oh,
leisa wallace 2:23
yeah. So my I come from a family of six siblings, five girls and a boy, but my younger sister had had a son, and he was born with something called neonatal Marfan syndrome, which affects all your connective tissue, notably like the heart and lungs and anything that connects your body parts together. And when he was born, we just did not know how long he was going to live, but he lived like such a beautiful, beautiful life, um, and early on in his life, he couldn't have like normal friends, like you go to play dates with other kids, right? Because if he got knocked over, it would affect him critically, and then there was covid going on too. So he made friends with the firefighters who lived down the street on their morning walks. One day, they were walking out, and the fire chief came out. Her name was chief Heather Marquis, and they formed this relationship with this firefighter team, and it was so beautiful. They just took him into their lives and made him like a little firefighter with them. They like pimped out his little Walker with lights, and they were so amazing. I mean, they gave him a parade for his second birthday, right? I didn't have a parade on my second birthday, but they were like helicopters and fire trucks, and they got up. They just had such a beautiful friendship, and they made his life magical. And so at his funeral, he passed away last August at four and a half years old, and at his funeral, Chief Marquis was she spoke about Michael and how he was a Titan and brave and strong, and I'm going to get teary eyed talking about this, they made him a part of their crew. So on the day of his funeral, they took they rang a bell. Anytime a fallen hero passes away, they ring a bell three times in honor of their life, and so they did that for him on the day of his funeral, and drove out to Colorado, it's Colorado city, and put his picture on the wall of fallen heroes for him. But So the story is just about their friendship, and how like love and resilience through everyday actions. Can I mean they made his life magical in those cute little four and a half years? And so at the funeral, I had already written one story about him. And so at the funeral, everyone's like, Lisa, you have got to write the story about him and these firefighter friends. And so I. Um, I took the words from Chief Marquis and made it into a children's book and dedicated it to them all the firefighters who made his life so beautiful and magical and that there's the hope and the love that can come from everyday actions.
Cassidy Beck 5:18
So it's such a remarkable story. Thank you so much for sharing that. I want to hear more about your story. I feel like there's just so many like, remarkable, beautiful things about your story. So tell us about your journey.
leisa wallace 5:31
Oh my gosh. I feel like my journey has so many little puzzle pieces that all fit together in different ways. So the Michael Michael story goes right along in everything. So, you know, I was just raised in a pretty amazing family, and but from a young age, I was a little bit of, uh, accident prone. I broke my legs early on, and then I fell 30 feet and shattered everything when I was a teenager. And like from an early age, I really learned how to navigate resilience and figuring things out and independence when you're going through hard things, right? And so when I was in my 30s, I started getting this little tingling in my feet, and within 24 hours, I had lost the ability to walk. I was diagnosed with aggressive onset multiple sclerosis, and it was it has been really a crazy journey, but kind of beautiful as well, because in all of this hard things, I mean, the last time I was in the hospital was a couple years ago, and multiple sclerosis, I don't know if a lot of people know a lot about it, but it affects the nerves in your central nervous system, and it makes it so, like, your connections don't get to the right places, right, correctly. And so you can have a lot of problems or little problems. It depends on which nerves are affected, right? But I was pretty last time I was in the hospital, I was pretty discouraged, so I got online and was trying to find hope. And there was nothing, nothing I got on to, like multiple sclerosis forums and everyone hoping like somebody would lift me out of the hopelessness I was feeling. And instead, I felt like I was just being pulled down further and further and further. But by this time, I'd already published several books, and so I was kind of, you're gonna laugh at me. I was kind of whining to the Savior about it, because that's what I do, as I whine to the Lord. And I was like, this is really, really hard. I know, I know there's hope out there. I know there is. Where do I find it? And it was just very clear, like Lisa, you are an author. You find the stories and you write them. And I was like, Oh, I am an author. I can find these stories and I can write them. So that really started expanding my approach. I got out of the hospital and spent the next several months, reaching out individually to people who had multiple sclerosis, just to hear their stories and ask them, What did you do to find hope? And it like has spiraled into this, like it's more than just living a life of hope. You have to have this actions, and you have to know your value, and you have to like, there's so many simple, basic things that we have forgot in our busy day and age to help live a life of hope and resilience, and so now is kind of my mission to show that you might not get over the hard thing you're going through. I probably never will. Well, I won't, I won't ever totally get over it, right? It's not a curable disease, so how do you navigate it? How do you navigate life? Where are the tools and the resources so you can live a life of hope and happiness and still feel like you are contributing to the world and everything everything around you, right? And so that is what I have spent the last few years of my life in my I call it my it's not a hobby. It is a business. But that's what I'm doing right now, is writing stories of and educating and researching how to live a high life of hope and how to turn your heart into hope and your passion into purpose. So that's kind of where I am right now.
Cassidy Beck 9:25
I find it so touching, and I can only imagine being in that moment of just, I guess, the goal of bitterness, and how did you find the courage to like, look towards the light and to try and find hope, like, how, how did you find the bravery and courage to choose this path?
leisa wallace 9:46
You know, I was actually really, really blessed early in my multiple sclerosis journey. So I live in a little town called Vernal, Utah. It's tiny. Not very many people live here, but the hospital I was at originally, when I originally. Got diagnosed, the pharmacist came in one day and was talking to me, and he was smiling and he was happy, and he said, I've had multiple sclerosis for 20 years. He's like and it's hard, and there is hope. And just seeing him, I knew there was light and I knew there was happiness. So it was when I went to another hospital that I actually was so depressed, is because he wasn't there, right? He wasn't there to remind me that there was light and there was hope. And I am so grateful for him. Dave is his name. We are still really good friends. He's the one that showed me that there was light and there is hope, and there his like, my favorite line from the very first day I met him was, can't feel my feet, but life is good, and I think about that all the time. And so if I was to say who gave me the courage, it was him. He gave me the courage that there's hope, to look for it, to live for it. He was working still full time, and it's hard, it's hard to work full time and battling the unknowns. So he absolutely gave me the courage.
Cassidy Beck 11:08
I love that so much, and I love that you get to be that Dave was there for you, and just the power of the one and what impact he made on your life. And I feel like you're taking that I'm going to pay it forward, and hopefully there's someone that you're going to touch in the same way that he touched your life.
leisa wallace 11:26
I really hope so I always feel so good. I call him my best friend with Ms. And I really hope, I know it sounds funny, but I really hope that I can be that for somebody. Sometimes you just need someone to reach out to and be like, Hey, this is really hard. And for them to go, yeah, it is really hard. Not offer any suggestions of what to do to fix it, not try and like, tell you, Oh, but look for the positives. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but just be like, Yeah, this is hard. This is hard, and I get it and right.
Cassidy Beck 12:01
This is hard period, yes, and to have someone that's on that road with you, or that has, like, I mean, maybe not taking your exact road, but knows the challenges that you fake face with multiple sclerosis, and to have, I feel like that's such a more meaningful impact that you can have to that community of people, and I think it's so wonderful that you're building. I don't know that like a community is quite the right word, but you're just building. I guess we'll go with community. You're just building something,
hoping and resiliency around the very difficult thing that impacts you.
leisa wallace 12:47
Thank you. Yeah, it's that that is my goal is to just show Hey, there's hope if you want it. Here are the actions you take. You know, I used to think if I could find somebody with hope and just like, sit around them long enough, I would naturally feel hopeful. So it's been really eye opening to me during my last few years researching for the book I'm doing, that hope isn't a feeling at all. It's actually actions, actions you implement into your life every day, and they're basic actions that we've known through the eternities of like gratitude and prayer and goals and like feeling your emotions, just things like that, sharing the hope, the all these little, tiny things that you can implement so that you can continually feel hopeful, even on these even while you're navigating rapids that are never going to go away. Right?
Cassidy Beck 13:43
I like that imagery of navigating the rapids, because your goal isn't to remove the rapids, because they're just to come at like a piece with the rapids and to learn how to navigate. And you know to to not capsize,
leisa wallace 13:57
absolutely right? And when you capsize, what do you do? Yes, also
Cassidy Beck 14:01
that's yeah, also that Yeah, right. So tell me your experience with imposterism.
leisa wallace 14:07
Oh my gosh. Imposter syndrome is like my favorite thing to hate, right? I call up my little doubt demon that sits here on my left shoulder, and he is there pretty often, but I am so grateful when I very first started my author journey, because my very first book series I wrote, well, the very first book I wrote, right? I got my edits back and was horrified at how horrible they were, and I was like, I can't do this. This is awful. And the worst author evered, and like the doubt demon was huge and loud, but right at that same time, it was like, 1314, 15 years ago. I can't remember when I published my first book, but it was right when Brene Brown was coming out with her Man in the Arena speech on TED talk. And I had found it, and I was like, oh, oh. And so I listened to it over and over and over. Again, like there's going to be criticisms that you know the man in the arena, like they're brave and strong, and at the same time, Lindsay Sterling, who I also love, shout out to, Lindsay, came up with a music video for The Man in the Arena. And so I would listen to those all the time. I'd listen to brene's talk. I would listen to the music, and then I would just go through the battle and just tell my little doubt demon, you are not part of this conversation. I hear you. I know the fears, but I'm gonna do this anyway. So and that, and then once you get over those first doubts and criticisms, the imposter syndrome. I don't feel like it goes away ever, but it's you gain more resilience in being like, Okay, I'm still gonna do this. It's scary. There's gonna be criticisms. I probably am not the best person to do it, but the best person to do it isn't doing it, so it might as well be me, right?
Cassidy Beck 16:05
So in so dr Stoddard, Dr Jill Stoddard had wrote this book, and one of the things that she talks about is to one of the things that has done that has worked for her is that she names her imposter syndrome and that she will talk back to it. And I kind of hear you saying the same thing. Absolutely, this is something that you acknowledge, that you address. And I love I am a big fan of Brene Brown myself. I also like Lindsay Sterling. I didn't know that she did something for the Man in the Arena, I'm gonna have to look that up. Oh,
leisa wallace 16:43
her and Derek Huff, did. It's great. You look at it. It's awesome. That's
Cassidy Beck 16:47
very neat. And I also think the one thing I would say about like, you know that you might not be the most qualified. I don't think that that's true, because I think that no one else could tell your story, therefore you are the most qualified person to say it, and no one else could reach out to people the way that you can. Thus you are the right person for that job. No one can touch the people's lives around you the way that you can in your sphere of influence, the way that you can. So that makes you exclusively perfect for the place that you're in and love that
leisa wallace 17:25
thought actually, thank you. Yeah, that is a powerful thing to think about that way. Yeah. And
Cassidy Beck 17:34
that's not to say that we can't be influenced by others and to help others on their way, but I think that I don't need to tell you that that's like what you're living right now.
leisa wallace 17:45
You tell it to me Tom sometimes you just need to rehear things over and over again, right? Yeah.
Cassidy Beck 17:51
So tell me how you find inspiration for your creative projects.
leisa wallace 17:58
Oh my gosh. This is so funny. I from my mind. Really. I look at things I love to look at. So I do, I do, do a lot of writing in my you know, because I love it. But I also creative projects. I love to turn old things into new things, or to just have projects, and they just come from my brain. And I always tell myself, let it start out messy. It does not have to be pretty to begin with, and it does not have to be 100% even your your finished product can have like imperfections in it. That's fine, just and so that's where I come up with my ideas for my creative processes, just my brain. I don't know where else to say they come from. So
Cassidy Beck 18:50
I love Dawn, one of my guests that I had had on as dawn Stratford came on, and she had talked about how like your ideas, the first thing is, like putting sand in the sandbox, and then the editing process, you get to, like, mold and build into something, but you have to at least get sand in the sandbox. And I have thought about that so many times. And you know, we were talking before about how I have difficulties sometimes, like articulating the things in the exact banner, and you just got to get it out. And it's okay if it's messy, hopefully it, you know, gets crossed.
leisa wallace 19:26
She says a lot prettier than I do when it comes to writing. I call it my brain vomit, where you just vomit out everything that you want onto paper and then start like, navigating through it, which is a horrible image. Her. Sand in the Sandbox is much more beautiful. Well, I
Cassidy Beck 19:45
think either one works, but I also feel like it's difficult, because I have a hard time like that editing, like turning that editing off, and just like letting it go, letting it loose, I have a hard time being like, oh, but that's not that. That's not right. And just like, you gotta start somewhere. Just get it out
leisa wallace 20:00
absolutely. I have a manuscript sitting right right here, actually, that is just sitting there because it's not perfect yet. So you you saying you just have to let it out that is so applicable to my life right now, I might have the little doubt demon still, still just being like, it's not perfect yet. It's not perfect yet. Yeah, that's absolutely true. You do have to just let it out. Taking the action to do that is an entirely different step, right?
Cassidy Beck 20:29
Oh, it's so much easier said than done. Just like, turn it off, like it's just a switch. You could do that is so much easier said. And I feel like that one of the reasons that I am so interested in imposterism, because I feel like it's something that I battle all the time as well. And so I like if other people had these tools, I have not thought about using, like a soundtrack and inspiration thing to kind of combat that, but I love that idea, so I'm gonna have to add that to my tool belt,
leisa wallace 20:57
absolutely. And I also, I grew up in a family where there was three kids in three years, and I always knew I wasn't going to be good enough. And so I also have this, of course, you're not good enough, but just do it anyway. Because I was raised with that, of course, I'm not going to be as good as them, but I'm going to do it anyway. And so I think I have that as well, a little bit of that courage, a little bit
of you're right. My sister, a year older than me, is going to be a year better than me. I'm going to do it anyway.
Cassidy Beck 21:36
I totally hear you. I'm number five of six, and so I you are speaking my language right now. I have felt that very strongly in my life as well. Yeah. Um, so I feel like you've had a lot of discipline in your life to come to the achieve the amount of success that where you are. How? How do you make yourself be disciplined?
leisa wallace 21:58
That is so interesting, the word discipline, for whatever reason, discipline sounds like a negative thing to me. How do you find myself? So I don't know why. That's total side note, but how do I get where I want to go? If I just I enjoy it. I enjoy doing the things I'm doing, and so it's almost it's not a chore. I really enjoy editing. I really enjoy going through critiques and making things better. I really enjoy creating content for like, my business and so when you enjoy something and have a goal to do it, you just do it. That's how I do it. Yeah,
Cassidy Beck 22:49
yeah. I think one of my, I think kind of one of the things that I have been noticing is that almost the opposite of imposterism is like or, or the definition of success is someone that lives courageously in the spirit that they feel like God wants them to work in. And I think maybe what I hear you saying is that this is like your love, and so that it doesn't take a lot of discipline, because this is like you're choosing to and you're loving to. And so it isn't like, because of your grit and determination, although you have grit and determination, but it doesn't take like, Okay, I'm gonna get through this, but it just is okay now I have to stop because it's time to do something else which that's great way to live. It
leisa wallace 23:36
is a great way to live. And honestly, it has been great, and it's great to be a writer when you have a chronic illness, because there are a lot of days that I cannot physically think straight, and so also having the discipline to be like, Oh, it's okay. I'm just going to let myself have the day off and not necessarily beating myself up for not getting something done, like it'll get done when it gets done.
Cassidy Beck 24:05
So that's wonderful, just letting yourself have grace and knowing this is today, my body needs rest, and that's what we're going to do today, and that's living my best life means rest for today, so that maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, living my best life might look a little bit different, yeah, but absolutely, but to get there, this is what it's needed today.
leisa wallace 24:30
Yeah, absolutely. And I do trudge away at things my own pace. They don't get done necessarily as quickly as maybe an idealistic business person would want it done, but they get done on my timeline. That's what I need. Nobody else needs that but me. So
Cassidy Beck 24:49
what tools do you feel like you use to get a clear vision of yourself?
leisa wallace 24:54
Oh, that's such a good one. So I journal. I journal a lot, and I. I read the scriptures a lot, and when I have an idea about something, I really focus in on research and tools and journaling like tools like, Okay, this is gonna sound funny. I create courses that I never put anywhere, but if I know I'm teaching something, I can get a clearer vision of how it I need to understand it. So I do that a lot. Yeah,
Cassidy Beck 25:28
so that's so interesting that you mentioned that because I just finished the book hidden potential by Adam Grant, and it talks about, like, just the difference of like, when you are teaching, when you are learning something to teach it versus and I feel like we've all experienced that, like it is a different it is a different dynamic, and you are learning at a different level. And that's I've never thought about doing that. If it's something like a concept that you really want to grasp to write a course about it interesting.
leisa wallace 26:01
It's really fun for me. And I love teaching. I love presenting. And so for me, it's almost like, you know, my husband, he goes hunting for fun and to get adrenaline rushes, I create course content for myself, but it's really helps me grow and navigate, especially knowing my values and what I can give the world, and what I can give the world, no matter the highs and lows I'm going through, it's unchanging, right? And I don't think I ever would, would have understood that, had I not consistently been creating courses. So,
Cassidy Beck 26:38
um, have you taught some of the courses that you create or they're just for like, specific for you? Yeah,
leisa wallace 26:43
I do. I Yes, I have taught some of them in different ways. So I teach a lot of courses for the Women's Business Center of Utah. So, but business transforms into like, real life so easily. So you talk a lot about, like business values and like what you're giving to the world, and so teaching those courses, then I start thinking about, okay, if in a business, I have a product that needs to help somebody, somehow, how am I as a person, if I was a product helping somebody, how would I be improving their lives? Right? And so for me, I think a lot about that we're all born with these internal truths about us, right? And that value is unchanging. Doesn't matter the negatives or positives you're going through. It's always you, it's always absolute. And when you know that value and the impact it has on others, that's something you learn in business, but that's something that translates into your life. When you know your purpose, it gives you so much courage. It helps you get a better understanding of how you can help those around you, even when you're struggling. It helps you know how to navigate the highs and lows honestly with grace and with love and to know that you still have something to give the world, even though you may feel like you have nothing left,
Cassidy Beck 28:27
that's incredible. I I feel like I just resonate with that so much. I'm taking a course right now that I really am enjoying, and it is talking about how, you know, the if we look at what we're providing as a service, then we're going to approach it differently. And the way that we talk about it is going to be different than, like, buy this thing, buy this thing, buy this thing. This is kind of like annoying,
leisa wallace 28:50
so annoying.
Cassidy Beck 28:53
But if you have something that you feel like you are offering and that is providing a service to someone, I feel like you're going to handle it, and your approach is going to be different. And so I totally hear what you're saying.
leisa wallace 29:08
I'm going to tell a story. Oh, tell me a story. No, okay, so once, I love talking about like your value, and finding your value, and finding your purpose, or finding your why people call it a lot of different things, right? And so my friend and I were talking one day, and she's like, Hey, what is your purpose? Because who doesn't have crazy friends who that's what they talk about, right? They don't talk about their kids. They talk about your life purpose. Those are the best kind of friends, really. She's like, if you were in heaven before you were born, what Job did God give you. I was like, what? But that really made me start thinking, oh, what job would God give me before I came to Earth? And it took me a couple days, but I was like, You know what? I think I was an encourager. I think I encouraged people, encouraged people, and who you were. Premortally is still who you are now. And so when I started looking at what I loved to do now, and when I was living my best life and when I was the happiest, those are the things I was doing as I was encouraging people. I was being a missionary, I was being a teacher, I was uplifting those around me and and I think when you can find what that what makes you tick and what brings you the most happiness, then you can start realizing, like, oh, I can actually impact the world around me too with the same thing. So that's the story of how I started on my journey of finding, like, what's my value? What can I give? And sometimes it's one thing. I think people have a lot of things sometimes, but that was how that little creative process started. It was a friend just talking about, if you had a job in heaven, what would it have been
Part 2
Cassidy Beck 0:00
Your approach is going to be different. And so I totally hear what you're saying.
Leisa Wallace 0:06
I'm going to tell a story. Oh, tell me a story. No, okay, so once, I love talking about, like your value and finding your value and finding your purpose, or finding your why people call a lot of different things, right?
And so my friend and I were talking one day, and she's like, Hey, what is your purpose? Because who doesn't have crazy friends who? That's what they talk about, right? They don't talk about their kids. They talk about your life purpose. Those are the best kind of friends, really. She's like, if you were in heaven before you were born, what Job did God give you? Like? What? But that really made me start thinking, oh, what job would God give me before I came to Earth? And it took me a couple days, but I was like, You know what? I think I was an encourager. I think I encouraged people, encouraged people, and who you were premortally is still who you are now. And so when I started looking at what I loved to do now and when I was living my best life and when I was the happiest, those are the things I was doing as I was encouraging people. I was being a missionary, I was being a teacher, I was uplifting those around me and and I think when you can find what that what makes you tick and what brings you the most happiness, then you can start realizing, like, oh, I can actually impact the world around me too with the same thing. So that's the story of how I started on my journey of finding, like, what's my value? What can I give? And sometimes it's one thing. I think people have a lot of things sometimes, but that was how that little creative process started. It was a friend just talking about, if you had a job in heaven, what would it have been
Cassidy Beck 1:56
that's really neat. And I definitely feel like that's consistent with what you were saying earlier about the you don't necessarily need determination, because this is like your gift. Yeah, absolutely. And I I wonder if like our purpose coincides with like gifts that we have,
Leisa Wallace 2:15
ooh, that would be fun to dive into. I think so absolutely. And I think, you know, just like the parable of the talent, sometimes, talent, sometimes you have one talent or one gift or one value or one thing, and sometimes you have more than one, and either way, figure out what they are and give them to the world, use them, benefit others with them. So
Cassidy Beck 2:36
I feel like that parable has kind of been transformational for me, because it was, you know, I was just kind of like dinking around, you know, just kind of playing a business until I, like, really thought about that parable, and it was, to me, I feel like, what changed my mind about that is that, like God has given us this, The these things and not like to not hide it, but to share it, and to help and to lift and to serve others around us, and that God wants us to use our talents, and I think, in the ways that like it doesn't matter if you have 10 or five or one that they can be multiplied, but that, but they, they can only be multiplied if you try and you use them, you can't multiply them by burying them and like pretending they're not there, but by trying and applying and like courageously going out and trying, is how We're going to get like further and possibly like more, right? Yeah,
Leisa Wallace 3:45
I think so absolutely. And I feel like, as I have expanded like, I don't actually feel like I have very many talents, but I feel like the ones I do have that God has given me lots of different vehicles, how I can use it like so I can be a business advisor with my talent, and I can be a writer with my talent, and I can teach Sunday school with my talent, or I can go ministry with my talent, and it's all the same. Thing is to like, uplift and share and encourage people all with one talent. But I can do it in so many different ways, and I feel like, when you know what your gift or talent or value or your why is, then the Lord gives you so many different opportunities and vehicles to use it.
Cassidy Beck 4:34
I see what you're saying, and I'm with you. I would offer that. I think you have multiple talents. I think, like, just from what I've seen, seen in you today, I think like your ability connect and lift can be understated. Yeah, absolutely. And I think like writing and leading, I think that you are have given a lot of opportunity. And and I see you living like a service oriented life as well.
Leisa Wallace 5:06
Oh, thank you for saying that. Okay. So, funnily enough, is when you said that. Okay. So I really started diving into what my cores values were like, to live, to inspire, to cheer people on. Like, those are the things I love to do, and they all actually come down to the word hearten, because I love to hearten people, and that's what hearten means, is to like, connect and cheer and inspire and like all in one cute little heart Oh,
Cassidy Beck 5:34
well, thank you for saying that. Yeah, um, is there a question that you wished that I had asked today, or if there's a message that you're like, everyone needs to hear, yeah,
Leisa Wallace 5:49
but it's a story. This story comes Yes, so one day, yep, I'm bringing it. So I, like I said before in this podcast, I kind of whine a lot to to Heavenly Father. We are on very friendly speaking terms, and I have such a strong relationship with him. And one day, I was just, I am in a lot of pain a lot, but I really try and get out and exercise. I lose the ability to walk really fast if I don't consistently walk every day, right? And so I'm out walking, I'm with my dog, and I just hurt every step. I just was crying, and so I was praying, and I was like, please just help me. Like, please just take it away. Just take it away. Just for a minute. And all sudden I had this vision of the Savior walking with me, and he didn't say anything, and I still felt the pain, and he just walked with me silently all the way home. And I was a little bit perturbed, right? Like, oh my gosh, why couldn't you just help me get over this pain? It's so awful. And as I was pondering this, like, imagery and this little vision I had over the next couple hours, I just realized, you know what? Sometimes the Savior can't take the pain away from you. I mean, he can, but maybe he won't, but he will be with you every step of the way, and he'll be with you just acknowledge that you are not alone, that I am not alone. You are not alone. Things can be really, really hard. I but the Savior is walking with you the whole time. That's what I would tell people.
Cassidy Beck 7:30
Well, okay, there are, yeah, I feel like there's been so many moments in this podcast I've gotten so emotional, and that is just so profound. Thank you for sharing. Okay, let's get into some rapid fire questions. Yeah, let's see. Where are we going to start today? What's the piece the best piece of advice that you've ever been given? I
Leisa Wallace 8:04
um, so good. Do it anyway. Tell me more. Just do it anyway. Doesn't have to be perfect. Do it anyway. You don't have to be the best person to have that job. Do it anyway. Doesn't have to be pretty do it anyway. If you enjoy it, do it anyway.
Cassidy Beck 8:33
I like that. Like that a lot, and I think and so a book by Valerie young about imposterism, she talks about there's different competencies, like the one of the things about imposterism is that we envision our ourself the way that we show competence, and one of those is perfectionism. And I think if we're waiting for something to be perfect, we're never going to launch it right, or we're never going to release it. We're never going to share it, because so I like that. Just do it anyway, because the thing that you're working on isn't isn't going to be perfect Exactly. Do you have a favorite quote or mantra? Ooh,
Leisa Wallace 9:16
courage. And onto the victory. It's been my favorite since college, a friend pointed it's a scripture. A friend pointed it out to me in college, and it's been, it's been with me ever since, just courage onto the victory. Just, you know, let your hearts rejoice.
Cassidy Beck 9:37
You know, in looking through, I don't think we mentioned the title of your book that I love so much, chronically hopeful and, oh yeah, what a clever name.
Leisa Wallace 9:48
Thank you. So chronically hopeful is a free resource you can get anyone can get from my website that just has like steps about how to be chronically hopeful, so that you can chronically through. Thrive. I love that chronically thriving, being chronically hopeful, of because a lot of us, we want to say we're chronically ill, which is a truth, but you're also can be chronically hopeful. You can also be chronically thriving. You can also have these hard things that aren't going away, and live a life of happiness.
Cassidy Beck 10:22
Okay, speak to your other title that you have is dream with purpose, right?
Leisa Wallace 10:27
So that is a planner that I made. It is in its beta version right now, but I just feel like so many times people put too heavy emphasis on timelines and goals like that. You have to have a SMART goal, and it has to be relevant, and it has to be you have to meet your deadlines and stuff. But when you have a chronic illness, sometimes it doesn't work that way. And so I created this planner. It's called Dream with purpose, and it's for people who are chronically thriving, and it's about like writing down your to do's then ranking your energy levels, arranging the order of importance of things. Sometimes all you can do that day is breathe, then do that. So that's the most important, right? Sometimes, all you can do is the little things, um, so don't rate don't measure dreams by deadlines. Measure them by progress. And so that's what chronically let's dream with purpose is. Is how to plan your days with your plan your dreams with purpose, and still have steps to take. Still track your progress, but not beat yourself up that it's not on everybody else's so called timelines.
Cassidy Beck 11:48
So tell us about project. Ms, blessed. Oh,
Leisa Wallace 11:51
that was a fun one. So that's when I started interviewing people with multiple sclerosis and how they found hope. And it's just a tiny little book has about 20 stories in it of people who really It started out hard and their life is not easy and it they're true stories of how they found hope living with multiple sclerosis. So they're just little, short, cute stories showing that everyone's ms journey is different. Everybody with a chronic illness is different, but you can still find hope.
Cassidy Beck 12:26
And I think what a wonderful resource for those that have been diagnosed with MS, or those that love someone that have been diagnosed with MS, and so that they can have these stories of people that relate to them, but that are also hope filled and encouraging. What a gift to find it. I
Leisa Wallace 12:48
feel like that is what I needed when I was in the hospital and went to the internet to find something, and all I found was horror. I just needed someone to tell me, yeah, this is hard, and there is hope, yeah, and so that's what that book is.
Cassidy Beck 13:06
Do you know what's interesting? Because in the story you were telling about like Jesus walking with you, and that you're not taking the pain away, I feel like that's your role right now, is that you're walking with someone that you're you can't take their pain away, but that you have been in similar steps with them, and that you can give them the encouragement to keep going.
Leisa Wallace 13:30
Oh, now you're making me cry. Thank you for saying that.
Cassidy Beck 13:34
Yeah,
Leisa Wallace 13:34
I hadn't really thought about it that way, but yeah, absolutely i i hope i can be a strength to somebody I want to be. There's so many hard things and there's so much goodness all at the same time. Both are true, yeah. Oh, now I'm crying
Cassidy Beck 14:01
that. Thank you. I don't. Is there anything else that you want to add before we close?
Leisa Wallace 14:10
Just that I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful that you contacted me to be on your podcast so but I love speaking, which is I am grateful for life. I am grateful for the people who have showed me there's hope. And I hope, if you're battling something hard, you reach out. Reach out to me, reach out to just reach out to reach up. There are people willing and waiting to help pull you where you need to go, and it's not down, it is up.
Cassidy Beck 14:44
Yeah, yeah, I love it. Lisa, thank you so much for joining I had just absolutely loved chatting with you today.
Leisa Wallace 14:51
I have loved this, and I hope we stay in touch. Likewise,
Cassidy Beck 14:55
let's do it. Okay. This is Cassidy Beck. Signing off for today, reminding you to embrace the art of Self refinement by aligning yourself with the divine, to keep sculpting your vision until next time, keep crafting your masterpiece.
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