This week Liz interviews coach and author Amberly Lago, who shares an inspiring story of resilience, and shares her tips for rebounding when the odds are against you, the importance of being grateful and why celebrating your wins along the way is so very important.
You can find Amberly on
her website - www.amberlylago.com
Instagram - @amberlylagomotivation
or text (818) 214-7378 for a downloadable, goals, grit and grace playbook.
Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of the Bossy, Brilliant & Badass podcast! We are officially on YouTube, so check out the channel here. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please head over to iTunes and leave us a rating and review to help us reach even more badass women. Don’t forget to visit us on Facebook or join us on Instagram or Twitter.
This week Liz interviews coach and author Amberly Lago, who shares an inspiring story of resilience, and shares her tips for rebounding when the odds are against you, the importance of being grateful and why celebrating your wins along the way is so very important.
You can find Amberly on
her website - www.amberlylago.com
Instagram - @amberlylagomotivation
or text (818) 214-7378 for a downloadable, goals, grit and grace playbook.
Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of the Bossy, Brilliant & Badass podcast! We are officially on YouTube, so check out the channel here. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please head over to iTunes and leave us a rating and review to help us reach even more badass women. Don’t forget to visit us on Facebook or join us on Instagram or Twitter.
Lisa: [00:00:00] Welcome back to another episode of Bossy, Brilliant and Badass, I'm Lisa Lindsey, here with my goal-oriented cohost, Liz Green.
[00:00:06] Hey, Liz
[00:00:07] Liz: [00:00:07] Hey Lisa. So Mercury's in retrograde and I swear to God this day has been just so ass backwards.
[00:00:13] Hasn't it?
[00:00:14] Lisa: [00:00:14] It totally, totally has been. are we sure I'm
[00:00:17] not even sure if Mercury's in
[00:00:19] retrograde, but something is off.
[00:00:21] It's just.
[00:00:21] Liz: [00:00:21] Yes. Something's been off all day. And I wasn't following my instincts about something and I realized later, you know what, that's why I always try and follow my instincts.
[00:00:32] You know what I mean? It's just it's so crazy. And I'm like, of course, it's the day that we have. Well, for me, our big guest Amberly Lago on today, I'm like, Oh my God, all this stuff is going wrong and Amberly's on the show. And I'm so nervous anyway, having her on
[00:00:49] Lisa: [00:00:49] I know, but you know what?
[00:00:50] We're here,
[00:00:52] Liz: [00:00:52] We're here now
[00:00:53] Lisa: [00:00:53] We're recording,
[00:00:54] I believe.
[00:00:56] Liz: [00:00:56] And that's always a good sign
[00:00:58] Lisa: [00:00:58] And, let's do it.
[00:01:01] Liz: [00:01:01] Yeah. Yeah. So let me just first start off by saying that, Amberly Lago is such an amazing person. I discovered her, I think it was on LinkedIn or something. And I started following her on Instagram. I started listening to her podcast and I'm like, this woman is so amazing.
[00:01:18] Like she is the epitome of, have you ever heard the phrase? I'm sure you have, humble and kind. I love that phrase. She's the epitome of humble and kind. And Lisa, when you hear her story and you guys all hear her story, you're going to just be blown away. I, when I first reached out to her, I was like, please, please, please be on our podcast.
[00:01:41] And I think it was a week later, I was like, kept checking, Almost like when I was a teenager, did that, did that guy, get back to me.
[00:01:49] Lisa: [00:01:49] The anticipation, right?
[00:01:50] Liz: [00:01:50] Yeah. And then
[00:01:52] she's like,
[00:01:52] I would love to be on your podcast, Liz, and I'm telling you, I ran out into the living room to my husband. I was like burst into tears.
[00:01:58] I'm like, okay. Amberly Lago agreed to be on our podcast, I'm so excited. So, yeah, so just to let you guys know, she went through something just a life-changing experience about 10 years ago that would have sen, I swear. I swear to God, most people down like could complete downward spiral into depression and just complete depths, but she's turned her situation and her story into a story of such inspiration, such triumph.
[00:02:28] And she is the best-selling book too, or she's the best, best selling author of a book.
[00:02:34] called
[00:02:35] True Grit and Grace. And it's her story, which we're going to hear from her, what her story is. She also has a, a very popular, successful podcast by the same name. And she's been on the The Megan Kelly show, The Doctors, the Today Show and so many different publications, Shape Magazine.
[00:02:55] Fit Pregnancy, Dress for Success. And, you guys also need to check out her Ted talk it's fan tastic. And so she's, I'm just so excited and, we're going to hear her story, and we're also going to talk about how it takes true grit to continue going after your dreams as an entrepreneur, because we know how hard that is, right.
[00:03:20] And to celebrate our milestones. Because oftentimes we don't do that as entrepreneurs. Do you agree, Lisa?
[00:03:26] Lisa: [00:03:26] No. For sure. we, we just kinda achieve a thing and then we move on to the next thing. So yeah, I think I'm excited. I'm excited.
[00:03:35] Are we ready? Are we ready
[00:03:36] yet?
[00:03:37] Liz: [00:03:37] Yeah, we are ready.
[00:03:39] So welcome Amberly. Thank you so much for being on the show. I'm we're so excited to have you.
[00:03:46] Amberly: [00:03:46] Oh my goodness. Thank you. Y'all are the sweetest.
[00:03:51] You made me cry, Liz. I was like, okay. Dry these tears off
[00:03:55] because
[00:03:57] I'm serious.
[00:03:58] You're so sweet. I was sitting there listening and I was going,
[00:04:01] wait a minute. Are they talking about
[00:04:03] me? Oh, because you say all these nice things and, and I saw it so resonates with me. When you say, as an entrepreneur,
[00:04:13] sometimes you forget to celebrate those milestones.
[00:04:17] And, I think, sometimes when you're reading a bio or something, it seems like, Oh, it's easy to do. Or maybe she's lucky or whatever it may be. Or sometimes I don't, I forget to even celebrate. A
[00:04:32] lot of things I get so caught up in the day to day things. And just being able to sit here
[00:04:39] with y'all right now and take a breath.
[00:04:42] It just, it's lifting my
[00:04:44] spirits. It's really spurring me along
[00:04:47] and, gives me that energy to keep moving forward. And I
[00:04:50] think that's what
[00:04:51] we need
[00:04:52] as women. Especially to
[00:04:54] come together and, celebrate our victories along the way. Because before we started this recording, I was telling y'all how I had mascara down my face from running around since six o'clock this morning, I was going to get my daughter's food.
[00:05:09] Cause we're doing the virtual food, I'm the lunch
[00:05:11] lady. I'm the, check a check in to make sure she's doing her PE and
[00:05:16] all and all that stuff. So I'm so happy to be here.
[00:05:20] I just want to hang out with y'all all day.
[00:05:22] Lisa: [00:05:22] All right, well, let's do
[00:05:23] it. Let's do it We like when people come on and want to hang out with us.
[00:05:26] This is the fun of our podcasts.
[00:05:29] Liz: [00:05:29] Yeah. Yeah. And it is fun, but, but before we get into some more stuff, take us back to that day in 2010 when your life changed forever.
[00:05:43] Amberly: [00:05:43] Yeah. It sure did change. Everything changed. if you would've asked me
[00:05:48] 10 years ago, I never
[00:05:50] would have imagined that I would be
[00:05:52] sitting here.
[00:05:54] With you guys. I didn't even own a
[00:05:56] computer back then. I spent my whole
[00:05:58] life, on the dance floor
[00:06:01] and then the gym floor, my whole life was fitness and running. And,
[00:06:06] I was nationally recognized as a fitness coach and
[00:06:09] sponsored by Nike.
[00:06:11] And I
[00:06:12] have two daughters
[00:06:14] and a husband,
[00:06:15] after having two failed marriages, I was like, okay.
[00:06:18] I finally found a good one. And I was living the
[00:06:21] California dream until,
[00:06:24] I
[00:06:25] had a great day at work. I'd also ran 11 miles and my best time ever looking forward to the weekend.
[00:06:32] And I hop
[00:06:34] on my Harley and I'm cruising down Ventura Boulevard. It's
[00:06:39] A sunny California day. And I
[00:06:41] look over
[00:06:42] and I see a guy
[00:06:43] that is in a parking lot.
[00:06:46] And before I
[00:06:47] had time to think about anything else,
[00:06:50] he shot out of the parking lot,
[00:06:52] and I didn't have time to do anything, but let go of the clutch
[00:06:55] of my motorcycle and try to jump off
[00:06:57] of my bike. But it was too late. I was hit.
[00:07:01] I was thrown about 30 feet and then I was sliding across the asphalt.
[00:07:06] And as I was sliding, all I could think about is, please
[00:07:10] just don't let another car hit me because I couldn't
[00:07:13] tell what I was sliding into.
[00:07:16] I was just thinking maybe I'm going to slide into oncoming traffic. And I finally came to a stop and I looked down
[00:07:24] at my leg because I immediately felt pain.
[00:07:27] And. I had on black leggings still from,
[00:07:31] training clients. And I feel like that
[00:07:33] was the only thing, keeping my
[00:07:35] leg together. It was broken into pieces.
[00:07:37] My foot was dangled off and blood was squirting out with every pulse
[00:07:43] and
[00:07:44] it looked like a horror movie and I
[00:07:46] held onto it. And I didn't want
[00:07:48] to try to reach, to grab for my phone because I really felt like if I let go of my leg, maybe it would fall off. And I just started screaming,
[00:07:57] call nine one one.
[00:07:59] And I don't think I even realized just how serious it
[00:08:02] was because,
[00:08:03] and until people started approaching me and they weren't. running over to help me, they were
[00:08:09] walking
[00:08:10] really slow.
[00:08:11] One lady fainted. they were looking at me with a horrified look and I thought, Oh my gosh,
[00:08:18] no, one's coming to help me.
[00:08:19] And finally, someone came over and she said, I'm a nurse. I need you to breathe. And she grabbed my hands and she started breathing with me and I remember one of the first thoughts
[00:08:32] that came into my mind, and I
[00:08:34] think this is maybe a true, just now I realize this talking to y'all a true entrepreneur.
[00:08:40] One of the
[00:08:40] thoughts I had was,
[00:08:42] Oh man, I guess
[00:08:43] I'm probably going to have to train clients on
[00:08:45] crutches for a while. Like I was already thinking about,
[00:08:48] what am I going to do? How am I going to
[00:08:50] train? How am I going to work?
[00:08:52] And that, thought, here
[00:08:55] I was dying.
[00:08:57] I didn't know at the time that
[00:08:58] my femoral artery was severed, I was bleeding out.
[00:09:02] They, rushed me to the hospital on our member, grabbing the paramedics leg and the ambulance.
[00:09:08] And I was
[00:09:08] squeezing his leg as hard as I could
[00:09:11] because of the pain.
[00:09:13] And they were, prepping me and they were trying to cut my
[00:09:16] jacket off and I'm like,
[00:09:18] Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, what are you doing there? I was like, this is a brand new jacket.
[00:09:21] And they were like, looking at me, like I was crazy
[00:09:25] and I said, I
[00:09:26] can get this off, please. Don't cut it.
[00:09:28] I had no idea.
[00:09:29] The backside of my jacket was completely shredded and I had road rash on my back.
[00:09:35] And,
[00:09:37] our member looking at the one paramedic and trying to get some
[00:09:41] kind of eye contact
[00:09:42] to see am I okay?
[00:09:44] Wait, I'm
[00:09:46] going to be okay. And he wouldn't
[00:09:47] look at me and I
[00:09:48] remember thinking.
[00:09:49] Oh,
[00:09:50] wow.
[00:09:50] Am I going to die? He won't even make eye contact with me as this kind of what he doesn't want to look at me cause he knows I'm not going to be around.
[00:09:57] And so the fear started to set in and I
[00:10:00] got to the hospital and, my husband's a cop and he was there.
[00:10:05] And when you're in the police force, news travels fast. And so the emergency room was just filled with cops and it was chaotic
[00:10:12] and I'm taped with my head down and
[00:10:13] strapped to this board. And I hear this, this, screaming and crying and I'm like, what
[00:10:21] is going on? And I look, and my husband's a big man
[00:10:26] and he's tough and he's a first responder and I'd never seen him cry.
[00:10:30] And he was
[00:10:31] not just crying. He was hysterical, running back and forth. And I remember thinking.
[00:10:37] Oh my gosh,
[00:10:39] this may be it for me. And I yelled across the room,
[00:10:43] honey, I
[00:10:44] need you to get over here and be strong for me. And he held my
[00:10:48] hand
[00:10:49] and I remember thinking I needed
[00:10:51] to know
[00:10:52] if I wasn't gonna be around that.
[00:10:54] He was going to be able to take care of our daughters. Like I needed him there. And that's the last thing I remember before they put me,
[00:11:02] an induced coma and I woke up.
[00:11:06] A little over a week later. And the first thing I learned was they were going to have to amputate
[00:11:11] my leg.
[00:11:12] I had a 1% chance of saving it.
[00:11:14] They
[00:11:15] said it's
[00:11:15] basically like a war wound. It's completely crushed. Your femoral artery has been severed. There's nothing we can do.
[00:11:22] And I said, wait,
[00:11:24] you said there's a 1% chance, then there's a chance. So we've got to find a doctor
[00:11:30] that is going to be willing to take that chance with me. And that
[00:11:34] took like an act of God.
[00:11:36] It took a lot
[00:11:37] of, prayers, a lot of, my
[00:11:41] husband calling doctors,
[00:11:42] he actually Googled
[00:11:44] limb salvage
[00:11:45] and he found a doctor by the name of doctor with his
[00:11:48] and this man.
[00:11:50] Saved my leg and it took 34 surgeries.
[00:11:54] And that was really
[00:11:55] the
[00:11:56] beginning of my
[00:11:58] healing journey because soon after. I mean look 34 surgeries.
[00:12:03] And that number seems like a lot and it was a lot and it was hell and it
[00:12:08] would be, a day of
[00:12:09] surgery and a day of recovery and a day of surgery.
[00:12:12] And then they would have to take me back in and, every day I didn't know is today, the
[00:12:17] day they're going to amputate it. And
[00:12:19] I would look down at my leg,
[00:12:21] just held together with these steel rods and.
[00:12:25] That was all really hard. But the hard part was
[00:12:28] when I got home from the
[00:12:29] hospital and reality
[00:12:32] set in,
[00:12:33] and I was diagnosed with a nerve disease called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
[00:12:38] because,
[00:12:39] I, grew up a dancer and a runner and
[00:12:42] I,
[00:12:43] ran track and I
[00:12:44] was used to.
[00:12:46] gritting it out and pulling up my bootstraps.
[00:12:50] And I knew
[00:12:50] that if I
[00:12:51] just worked hard, I could get through it. And this was like a life sentence. When they said that I have a nerve disease that's incurable. So
[00:13:02] the pain that came along with that
[00:13:04] took me down a long dark path
[00:13:07] and what my. I'm so passionate about doing now
[00:13:12] is sharing
[00:13:14] the tools and the
[00:13:15] tips and the strategies that I've learned along the way to climb my way back
[00:13:20] out of that dark place that I was in.
[00:13:24] And,
[00:13:25] it's,
[00:13:25] I think a lot of us are going through some hard times right now, weather. we've lost our job or we're dealing with virtual homeschooling or, having to pivot our business or whatever that
[00:13:39] may be. I hope to share some things
[00:13:43] today
[00:13:43] that can really help you get through some of those hard times.
[00:13:48] Lisa: [00:13:48] Whoa.
[00:13:49] So I had never heard this
[00:13:52] story Amberly, and usually this is on purpose,
[00:13:56] right? Because I like to react in real time
[00:13:59] and everything you just said is unbelievable and all my goodness. wow. Like I almost
[00:14:11] literally
[00:14:12] have
[00:14:13] no words.
[00:14:15] It's unbelievable.
[00:14:16] So thank you for sharing that
[00:14:19] with us, and then I'm going to stop speaking now.
[00:14:23] Amberly: [00:14:23] Ah well,
[00:14:24] no, thanks for, thanks for having me to share. And I know,
[00:14:28] some people go, Oh, well, yeah. She's, been through a lot that was a lot, 34 surgeries or, an incurable nerve disease called
[00:14:39] the suicide disease. and I don't have chronic pain. That's not what I'm
[00:14:44] need to get over.
[00:14:45] I haven't had any,
[00:14:47] physical limitations. That's not what
[00:14:49] I'm trying to
[00:14:49] do, but the truth is we all have pain
[00:14:53] and whether it's emotional or physical
[00:14:56] and.
[00:14:57] Adversity doesn't discriminate. Life throws us things that are so that, we could never imagine or never
[00:15:05] expected what happened. And, it's easy to get in that mindset of, Oh, why, me?
[00:15:13] Why did this happen to me? But we really have to decide
[00:15:17] Are we going to play the victim or are we going to be the Victor of our life? And for me, my children have been my biggest inspiration and I've had to start from, scratch. I lost everything. I had a six-figure business. I had,
[00:15:33] trainers that
[00:15:34] I employed.
[00:15:36] I was, sponsored by companies
[00:15:39] and I didn't just
[00:15:40] lose my career. I lost my self worth. I lost my
[00:15:45] happiness. I lost my
[00:15:47] confidence.
[00:15:48] And I
[00:15:50] was at a point where I was like, you know
[00:15:52] what? My,
[00:15:54] kids deserve better. they could find a different mom.
[00:15:58] My husband did this. I'm not the woman that he
[00:16:01] married.
[00:16:01] I hated the way I
[00:16:02] looked, my
[00:16:04] legs deformed and scarred from
[00:16:06] the hip down. And I used to be
[00:16:08] a model. I did infomercials for fitness videos,
[00:16:13] and now what was I going to do?
[00:16:15] And so for anybody listening, I share this
[00:16:18] because. You might think it, I'm too old. I can't start over or I'm not smart enough or I'm not good enough.
[00:16:27] Ha
[00:16:28] we get that
[00:16:29] imposter syndrome, but I'm here to tell you that doesn't matter. You know who you are,
[00:16:35] what kind of education you have,
[00:16:37] how old you are, you can always achieve your goals if you are passionate enough, if you are willing enough.
[00:16:45] If you have grit, you can
[00:16:47] always achieve your goals and your possibilities are limitless
[00:16:52] because
[00:16:53] I started from scratch.
[00:16:55] And
[00:16:56] in my
[00:16:57] let's see forties, when I
[00:17:00] Lisa: [00:17:00] built my new coaching business, when I launched
[00:17:05] Amberly: [00:17:05] my
[00:17:05] courses, when I launched my podcast,
[00:17:08] In my forties, when I became
[00:17:10] a
[00:17:10] bestselling author in my forties, when
[00:17:13] I was invited to do a TEDx talk. And so
[00:17:17] I share that because it's never too late, you can always reinvent
[00:17:21] yourself and, really listen to your heart and follow your gut
[00:17:27] and
[00:17:27] just keep going after your dreams.
[00:17:30] Liz: [00:17:30] I love that's such an inspiring message. Amberly. It's the same thing happened to me in my late thirties, my company, and what I wanted to do that totally took a turn. And I found myself I'd moved back to Canada. I was living in my mother's house and I thought, you know what? My confidence has gone my self
[00:17:52] identity feels like it's gone. My, all this kind of low self-esteem started flooding in. I thought, where do I go from here? what do I do? And I, it really took a lot of work and self investigation to just take that and reframe it and say, okay, well, you know what, I'm still breathing. I'm still on this planet, I can, find a job.
[00:18:17] I can do that. And I do have an entrepreneurial spirit. So let me see what I can do with this. And I started working on it and I turned it around. And, so when I hear your story, though, yours was, Oh man, just from, The depths of really a situation, especially being as a model and I'm a fitness person and a coach.
[00:18:44] How are you able to, turn this into a triumph? could you walk us through a couple of steps that you
[00:18:52] took?
[00:18:53] Amberly: [00:18:53] Yeah, I remember, when I was at home, I'd
[00:18:58] gotten home from the hospital and we had a hospital bed downstairs because I was completely bedridden.
[00:19:05] And I couldn't
[00:19:05] even stand up to use the bathroom on my own.
[00:19:08] And
[00:19:09] so we had the hospital bed set up downstairs and I had one of my coworkers come visit
[00:19:14] me and she said, Oh,
[00:19:16] well, you can't train anymore. What are you going to do? And I just burst into tears and I was like, what
[00:19:24] do you mean I can't train anymore?
[00:19:26] Of course, I'm going to train anymore.
[00:19:27] I'm going to be out of this bed soon.
[00:19:29] And
[00:19:29] I was like determined
[00:19:31] to do that. And,
[00:19:33] but reality was starting to
[00:19:35] set in like, how
[00:19:36] long was I going to be in this
[00:19:38] bed? And then I got
[00:19:40] bedsores and I would
[00:19:41] had lost 20 pounds of muscle. And.
[00:19:44] Every day was hard and so every single day, I started to set these, little goals for myself.
[00:19:52] And so instead of thinking about the
[00:19:55] big picture of,
[00:19:57] I'm going to be training 12
[00:19:59] clients a day.
[00:19:59] Again, I thought today my goal is to be able to stand up. And now
[00:20:04] that seems like a really. Small goal. But when I first got out of the hospital, the first time the physical therapist came over, she told me to lift my leg up off
[00:20:14] the bed and I couldn't even
[00:20:15] lift my leg up. So I thought maybe I was going to be paralyzed.
[00:20:19] And so
[00:20:20] when I
[00:20:21] did try to stand up, the pain was so severe that I
[00:20:24] would have to lay back down and
[00:20:26] I'll have tears coming down my face.
[00:20:28] My goal for that day was okay.
[00:20:30] Just stand up for three seconds. And if I could stand up for three seconds and I would time
[00:20:34] it one, 1000, two 100
[00:20:36] 3, and I would lay down and the next day I could do it for 10 seconds and I would celebrate those little victories along the way.
[00:20:44] And those were the, physical milestones that I would celebrate, but it really started
[00:20:50] with my thinking. And I think
[00:20:54] so much of our success.
[00:20:56] Comes from
[00:20:58] what mental state we're in. And I think any kind of transformation is,
[00:21:03] comes with mind,
[00:21:04] body, and spirit. And so for me, it wasn't just like a physical thing.
[00:21:08] It was, I really had to get my mind, Because like I said, I was suicidal at one time. I was having those suicidal thoughts. I was in a really dark
[00:21:17] place. And, did, I didn't want to live, but
[00:21:22] I was too. Scared to die.
[00:21:24] And, I
[00:21:27] remember thinking,
[00:21:29] I
[00:21:29] have a choice here. I can. I
[00:21:32] can
[00:21:32] keep going down this road or I can do whatever I can to make my life better.
[00:21:38] And I had started writing
[00:21:40] in this little
[00:21:41] notepad that somebody had brought me in the hospital and I kept that kind of like a journal. I'd always journaled since I was a little kid. And I'd started writing in that
[00:21:50] notepad. reminders of for thank you notes, like to write
[00:21:56] Nancy a thank you note
[00:21:57] for the flowers and
[00:21:59] my
[00:22:00] friend Vinci.
[00:22:01] Thanks for coming over to visit and bringing
[00:22:03] me food. And so I noticed when I would focus on that
[00:22:07] and look at that journal and start writing what I was grateful for,
[00:22:11] it was shifting my mindset from
[00:22:13] stop. I would stop looking at my leg.
[00:22:17] And, thinking and
[00:22:18] worrying and
[00:22:19] having anxiety and wondering if today was still the day yet they were
[00:22:22] going to cut it off.
[00:22:24] And, I started focusing on all the blessings I had in my life. And I think that's one of the quickest ways
[00:22:30] that you can start to shift your perspective is to be really grounded in gratitude.
[00:22:35] And I know some people say, Oh yeah, I get grateful. But
[00:22:39] gratitude really is alchemy.
[00:22:42] And it's something that
[00:22:43] I do every single day.
[00:22:45] And. It's something that it's one thing, if you can say, yes, I'm
[00:22:49] grateful. I have a roof over my head. Yes. I'm grateful. I'm breathing,
[00:22:54] but it's another thing to
[00:22:55] really feel it and to have somebody that you're accountable to for that. And so for me,
[00:23:01] every day I wake up,
[00:23:03] I really believe in
[00:23:05] having daily routines
[00:23:07] and a morning routine, especially.
[00:23:08] And so every morning I wake up and everybody has to adjust. Whatever morning routine works for you. For me, I get up before anybody in the house gets up so I can have my
[00:23:19] moment of
[00:23:21] quiet time. So this morning, I started at 6:00 AM. So I knew I would have to wake up at 4:30 AM to get my morning routine, get a shower, be ready to be
[00:23:33] on, live on camera at 6:00 AM.
[00:23:35] So whatever it
[00:23:36] takes for you to get that morning
[00:23:39] routine,
[00:23:39] maybe you have to wake up earlier. May, hopefully your day doesn't start as early as mine did today,
[00:23:45] but. And some people might think, Whoa, that's a lot
[00:23:48] to do. That's a lot to get up that early,
[00:23:50] but it
[00:23:51] changes the course of my day when
[00:23:53] I can get up
[00:23:54] and have a short
[00:23:55] meditation.
[00:23:57] I write down in my journal, what I'm grateful for. I write down my intentions
[00:24:00] and then I also. Text my accountabil.. my
[00:24:03] Accountability partner, and I'll text her three things that I'm grateful for. I write it out, why I'm grateful for it.
[00:24:11] And then I'll take a screenshot of something
[00:24:13] that I've read either in a spiritual book or a self-development
[00:24:16] book.
[00:24:16] And
[00:24:16] I send that to her and she does the same for me.
[00:24:19] And so it helps me.
[00:24:21] To remind me if I get,
[00:24:25] busy or some
[00:24:26] way, forget it.
[00:24:27] Oh,
[00:24:27] Nope. I've got my accountability partner. I'm texting her and we're going to exchange, words of gratitude and it really sets the tone
[00:24:36] for the day.
[00:24:37] If you can really remember to, if I start
[00:24:41] getting upset,
[00:24:42] Oh, I
[00:24:43] don't feel like
[00:24:43] I'm getting enough done or, or just.
[00:24:46] Getting down on myself or feeling like I'm trapped, here in LA, we're still pretty locked down.
[00:24:53] And so
[00:24:53] sometimes it's.
[00:24:55] It's hard
[00:24:57] because we're doing school from home, we're working from home and we're not getting out. We're not seeing a lot of friends and so it can be hard. And so if are, if I'm grounded with my morning routine
[00:25:09] things that come along during the day that
[00:25:11] might usually derail me or get me off track,
[00:25:15] E it's easier to
[00:25:16] get back on track.
[00:25:18] It's easier to get my mindset, When something like that
[00:25:20] comes along.
[00:25:23] Liz: [00:25:23] Wow. Yeah, that's, great. I believe in that as well, having, a grateful mindset and it does take practice, as you say, it's a, for me, it's a daily practice. And when I stopped, doing that, I just noticed things really changed for me.
[00:25:38] And then I really like getting like grateful practice or I'm not doing my meditation. So I do think that's really important to start off your day with that practice. what would you say to entrepreneurs when, they say things like, well, my mindset isn't really maybe where it needs to be.
[00:26:05] I'm feeling really challenged. I'm getting down on myself cause I feel like I'm not doing enough. I don't know if my business is going to take off right. I think I have what it takes. I think, I can do it, but then there's that part of them that might be pulling them back and saying, well, the negative kind of critical voice, what, would you say to people?
[00:26:32] And we all have that voice, of course, in that part of us, what would you say to entrepreneurs? Does that feel continuously like they're being pulled back into that place? Especially now witht the pandemic.
[00:26:44] Amberly: [00:26:44] Yeah. Well, first of all, I would really urge anyone who feels like they're getting
[00:26:50] stuck in that mindset to take a
[00:26:52] look at.
[00:26:54] Who they're surrounding themselves
[00:26:56] with
[00:26:57] what they're reading, what they're looking at
[00:27:00] on social media.
[00:27:01] Are they getting stuck? are you getting caught up in that comparison
[00:27:06] game? Because comparison
[00:27:08] is the thief of joy. And
[00:27:10] if we get caught, there's always going to be somebody doing more or a job maybe that we want.
[00:27:17] But if we can look at that with
[00:27:19] inspiration instead of, comparison that we're not doing enough,
[00:27:24] like if I,
[00:27:25] one of my best friends just got top
[00:27:27] 20 podcasts and I was
[00:27:29] literally so happy, I shared it in my story on Instagram,
[00:27:33] because that gave me hope that, Oh my gosh, if she did it, I can do it too.
[00:27:40] So
[00:27:40] it's an
[00:27:41] abundance mindset
[00:27:43] and the top players, no matter what you're doing
[00:27:46] for living, when you have an abundant mindset,
[00:27:48] that there's enough for everyone, that there's enough success. That there's enough for everyone to be successful,
[00:27:55] then
[00:27:56] you're going to be more successful.
[00:27:58] And I think we, like you said, we all
[00:28:01] have that
[00:28:02] little voice that can creep up and tell us that, I don't know if I'm doing the right thing.
[00:28:08] Maybe it's not
[00:28:08] good enough. Or that imposter syndrome that,
[00:28:11] we met might fill in. Believe me,
[00:28:14] I have had that so many times. I can't even tell you, for instance,
[00:28:21] When I got called to do my Ted talk,
[00:28:23] I thought I would
[00:28:24] be so excited. And I was, but
[00:28:27] I was scared to death because I had, scared and I, because you've got 14 minutes to share the most important message of your life.
[00:28:37] And not only that, this was for Ted ex Berkeley,
[00:28:40] which is one of the most.
[00:28:42] Prestigious TEDx stages out there and it was their 10th anniversary and it was already sold out. So we're talking 2000 people that are going to be there that are all teachers,
[00:28:54] students, and they call and say, well, the media is up.
[00:28:58] If you want to take a look. So I looked at the
[00:29:00] media and it.
[00:29:01] Scrolling up and I'm looking at all the names and it's
[00:29:04] so-and-so PhD, so-and-so PhD, Amberley
[00:29:07] Lago,
[00:29:08] nothing and PhD, PhD.
[00:29:10] Everyone
[00:29:11] had a
[00:29:11] PhD except for me. So I was
[00:29:14] getting caught up in the, oh my
[00:29:16] gosh, I'm not smart enough for this. Why are they,
[00:29:19] why am I, what am I going to say?
[00:29:20] What do you, what am I going to do? I'm the only one that doesn't have a PhD. And, my husband was like, really, you're the only one that
[00:29:28] doesn't have a PhD and I'm like, I know
[00:29:31] I already asked all that.
[00:29:33] And so the curator, called to go over details and
[00:29:37] logistics. And I said, I'm
[00:29:40] not trying to promote my book or anything, but is there any way we could put
[00:29:45] my fitness credentials or my book after
[00:29:48] my name?
[00:29:48] And she goes, wait a minute, what? I said, well, I'm the only one without a PhD. And she said,
[00:29:55] okay, Wait a minute. Are you, do
[00:29:56] you mean to tell me that
[00:29:58] you are worried because
[00:30:00] you don't have a PhD after your name? She goes, let me tell you something. She goes, you have a
[00:30:05] PhD in heart, and that is why we are having you talk to our, at our show.
[00:30:11] We, you have a
[00:30:12] PhD in heart and you don't forget that. And
[00:30:14] that shifted
[00:30:16] everything for me
[00:30:17] because. It not only gave me that little nudge of no, it's okay.
[00:30:23] You're we want you here. We want you a part of this, and we all want to feel like a part of, we all want to
[00:30:31] feel included and accepted and. If we just know
[00:30:38] that we all have a PhD in heart, we all have a PhD, or I like how you said it lives.
[00:30:45] that entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial spirit
[00:30:49] that we
[00:30:50] all can go after our goals,
[00:30:52] because we, have that
[00:30:55] light inside of us, that fire inside of us.
[00:30:58] And I think to keep
[00:30:59] moving forward,
[00:31:00] we have to focus
[00:31:02] on. What is your, why? Why are you doing what you do?
[00:31:07] And
[00:31:08] for me, we're not always going to be motivated.
[00:31:10] You're
[00:31:10] not always going to get up every day and want to work out, or you're not always going to get up every day and go,
[00:31:15] Oh, I can't wait to post this on social media. Sometimes it's so
[00:31:20] hard to come up with
[00:31:21] social media post or
[00:31:23] content or whatever that may be, or your next
[00:31:25] big idea that you think is going to get gain traction or
[00:31:32] engagement.
[00:31:33] But if we remember. R Y and you know what, I'm sorry. All, if you hear the trash trucks, I'm in my,
[00:31:39] home office and I'm like, Oh yeah,
[00:31:41] the trash people come on Fridays.
[00:31:46] but, really if
[00:31:48] I just remember, like why it is. I'm
[00:31:52] doing what I do that gives me the motivation.
[00:31:56] And if I get really set in my morning routines
[00:32:01] and my daily
[00:32:01] routines,
[00:32:02] if I don't have the motivation,
[00:32:04] I already have smart feet and I know what the next steps are to do.
[00:32:08] Like I'm just going to do it.
[00:32:10] it's, kinda like working out, is such a part of my life
[00:32:15] that even on days where I don't feel motivated,
[00:32:18] it's already a part of my routine. So
[00:32:20] I'm just It's my
[00:32:23] routine just to go
[00:32:24] to the garage and get on the bike and start pedaling. That's part of my routine.
[00:32:29] But, right before we started interviewing, when,
[00:32:33] I was waiting and I clicked open my
[00:32:37] Instagram and I got a message or a comment from someone and
[00:32:42] it's messages like this,
[00:32:43] that really. That are part of my, why that are really a big part of why I do what I
[00:32:50] do. And
[00:32:51] it was from a lady who happens to have the same nerve disease as me.
[00:32:55] And she said, Thank you so much,
[00:32:59] I'm doing like a 30 day challenge right now, or for 30 minutes a day, we moved 30 days in a row for 30 minutes and believe it or not, most of the people that are participating in it are people that have chronic illness. They're struggling with sobriety, or they're just struggling in general.
[00:33:18] They're part of the challenge. And there's
[00:33:20] one, the lady that wrote me the message.
[00:33:23] She has not moved her body in two years. And,
[00:33:28] when I say not move, she hasn't even cleaned the kitchen. And not moved because she was diagnosed with this disease and she found me on Instagram
[00:33:37] and she's Oh, well, if she can do it, maybe I can do it too.
[00:33:42] And so she had an open enough. Mind that she thought, well,
[00:33:46] I'm going to give it a try.
[00:33:48] She
[00:33:48] has been moving we're on day 23. She is moved every single day for the first time in two years. And she said, thank you for giving me
[00:33:57] a new look on
[00:33:59] life. Our new lease on life.
[00:34:01] I have a new
[00:34:02] outlook with my future self and CRPS.
[00:34:05] And so it's moments like
[00:34:07] that. It's
[00:34:09] that want me to make
[00:34:11] just persevere.
[00:34:12] And I think that part
[00:34:14] of having grit is when our passion and our perseverance really come together. And
[00:34:21] if you don't know how to
[00:34:22] get there, then it's
[00:34:24] really
[00:34:24] taken a look
[00:34:25] at what is your, why? Why are you doing what you do
[00:34:29] if you get caught up and
[00:34:30] in comparison or, I don't,
[00:34:34] I don't know
[00:34:35] what, if it doesn't work out, we'll always say what's the best thing that can happen,
[00:34:41] because.
[00:34:42] Look, I had so many people that were like, Oh, you want to write a book? Really good luck, fitness girl. Like, why don't you just try to just stay to the fitness
[00:34:51] and
[00:34:53] whatever, you don't have
[00:34:54] a college education, you don't even
[00:34:56] own a computer. Well, I hand wrote my entire book. I went out and bought a computer.
[00:35:03] And typed it up
[00:35:04] and
[00:35:04] look, I knew how to top I was the fastest typer in my class. I'm very proud to say
[00:35:09] so I knew how to type, but
[00:35:10] I didn't even own a computer and I didn't know how to work it. And I remember being in tears one day, cause I asked
[00:35:16] my husband, I'm like now how do you
[00:35:18] attach a picture to an
[00:35:20] email?
[00:35:21] And he's what do you want to know now? Fine. I'll just
[00:35:26] figure it out myself. and so I was like,
[00:35:29] went on line, found an
[00:35:31] Apple class, like a class that I could take at the Apple store, took a class and the instructor. Stopped the middle of the class. And he was like,
[00:35:41] you know what I have to say?
[00:35:43] I'm really impressed that you're asking
[00:35:46] so many questions because
[00:35:48] usually people are too embarrassed to ask
[00:35:50] so many questions.
[00:35:51] And I said, you know what? I am not embarrassed.
[00:35:53] I need to learn.
[00:35:55] I want to
[00:35:56] figure this out
[00:35:57] because I want to do
[00:35:58] more.
[00:35:58] I want to do big things. So I'm not
[00:36:00] embarrassed. Ask
[00:36:01] questions. And, if you can take anything
[00:36:05] from
[00:36:06] listening to this the day, I want you to know,
[00:36:09] never be embarrassed to ask questions, never be embarrassed or too,
[00:36:16] Get, let your ego get in the way of asking for help.
[00:36:20] That is one of the bravest things that you can do is to ask for help. And, in order
[00:36:25] to have success, I think having a coach, having a mentor,
[00:36:29] having an accountability partner, having some guidance along the
[00:36:34] way is, just going to do you so much. Good. And look. Yes,
[00:36:39] you can
[00:36:39] do it on your own.
[00:36:41] Of course you can do it on your own, but
[00:36:43] I believe if you've
[00:36:44] got some guidance or you have a mentor coach, you can get
[00:36:47] from point a to point B without making as many mistakes
[00:36:52] as.
[00:36:53] I've made. I
[00:36:54] mean, that's what I, share the mistakes that I've made
[00:36:57] along the way. Cause
[00:36:59] I've, made a lot of mistakes. I had a great mentor when I became a trainer. I had a great mentor when I became, a health coach.
[00:37:08] I didn't really know where to turn. When I was writing my book, so I made a lot of mistakes.
[00:37:14] And so I'm always happy to share when people ask me. And I actually, I just did a podcast, with another author about mistakes that I've made along the way,
[00:37:24] because
[00:37:25] it can cost you a lot of money as an entrepreneur to make those
[00:37:29] to make those mistakes.
[00:37:30] And I know I got way off topic and started rambling on, but I just think it's important to share those things.
[00:37:36] Liz: [00:37:36] Oh yeah, absolutely. I can identify with so much of what you, said there I'm in a training program right now,
[00:37:44] for ifs.
[00:37:45] I don't know if you've heard of this modality. It's called internal family systems and, It's like an incredible modality. Lisa knows a little bit about it, but, I'm training to become a practitioner.
[00:38:00] And I looked at the list of my classmates and there's 50 people in the class, same thing, PhD, PhD, therapist, therapist, PhD. And I literally was the only one in the class who like who I don't have that degree. So part of me was feeling like, Oh my gosh, I'm in with, and, it's one of those things where
[00:38:22] you can go this way or go that way with that information. And I just thought, you know what I want to learn and I identified with your why, I want to help heal. I want to help people heal around stuff. And that's my why I want to help female entrepreneurs. And, yeah, your story really resonates with me.
[00:38:45] So thank you for, sharing all of that. so, you've come all this way, right? what do you see when you look back? In terms of your milestones, what, what would you want to say to, what would you want to say to that woman that was on the road, on Ventura Boulevard?
[00:39:07] What would you want to say to her?
[00:39:15] Amberly: [00:39:15] well there's something
[00:39:17] that,
[00:39:18] to keep it simple, there's something that I have written
[00:39:21] on the wall, above my.
[00:39:24] Office or above my desk. And even my business cards printed across the business card. And my best friend always tells me before any
[00:39:35] big, stage event or anything like that is you got this.
[00:39:41] And I think,
[00:39:42] if
[00:39:42] we can have
[00:39:43] these little mantras that we tell ourselves
[00:39:46] that
[00:39:47] help us,
[00:39:48] keep moving forward.
[00:39:52] To say those things.
[00:39:53] And that always gets me.
[00:39:55] I just like, if, I just say you got this, sometimes keeping it that simple. but I think sometimes we don't
[00:40:03] realize why we're going through situations,
[00:40:07] but
[00:40:08] sometimes our biggest tragedies
[00:40:10] can come,
[00:40:12] And B later on down the road become a triumph.
[00:40:16] And sometimes
[00:40:18] when we share our story, it can really become the survival guide for someone else to get through a really tough situation.
[00:40:28] And I think if, when we
[00:40:31] are transparency, Leads to our transformation and it took me a long time
[00:40:38] to really take a good look.
[00:40:40] Good hard. Look at where I was, because I was in denial and I was so used to trying
[00:40:46] to just stuff down the
[00:40:47] pain or numb out the pain or ignore the pain.
[00:40:51] And it wasn't
[00:40:52] until I really was in acceptance for where
[00:40:55] I was and who I was
[00:40:57] that I was able to start to.
[00:40:59] Love myself again,
[00:41:01] and then start to take action steps to make my life better. So I would say just embrace where you are in, and
[00:41:11] who you are because when we do that and we own our story and we can share vulnerably,
[00:41:19] we build connection, meaningful connection, and we build a community.
[00:41:25] And for so long,
[00:41:26] I felt so alone. I felt like no one understood me. No one understood
[00:41:30] the
[00:41:30] pain I was going through and I didn't want them to
[00:41:32] understand. I was very isolated and I was trying to pretend like everything was
[00:41:36] okay, but when we can
[00:41:39] really be transparent and we can open up our hearts and we can do things together.
[00:41:46] We're unstoppable. And
[00:41:48] especially women, we need to come
[00:41:50] together and really,
[00:41:54] lock arms and support one another. And so
[00:41:58] I think, yes, we can do things on,
[00:42:01] our own, but. I tried to do a
[00:42:03] lot on my own and it just didn't work.
[00:42:06] And so that's why I'm
[00:42:07] passionate about building community
[00:42:10] and sharing my story
[00:42:12] and, sharing
[00:42:14] things that work for me.
[00:42:15] And I just, recorded. Like my first solo podcast, cause I'm always interviewing other people
[00:42:22] and
[00:42:23] I just recorded my first solo podcast and,
[00:42:26] I was a little nervous to share because I'm
[00:42:28] sharing, some stuff that people don't talk
[00:42:30] about,
[00:42:31] like what medications I take, what
[00:42:34] I do for my pain.
[00:42:35] And I thought, but no,
[00:42:37] if something works for me, whether it's in business, whether it's health wise, whether it's for pain, if it works for me, I'm going to shout it off the rooftops
[00:42:47] because
[00:42:48] maybe it'll work for you, and the more we can share what works for one another, we can just grow our businesses bigger.
[00:42:56] We can grow our teams bigger. We can, just evolve.
[00:43:00] And I think that's what it's all
[00:43:01] about is, really supporting one another so we can keep,
[00:43:06] moving forward.
[00:43:08] Liz: [00:43:08] Yeah. We'll love that. So inspiring. Thank you so much, Amberley. You are just a true gift. I've really enjoyed having you on your message is so inspiring and motivating and
[00:43:22] Amberly: [00:43:22] thank you.
[00:43:23] Oh my goodness. You ladies
[00:43:25] are so beautiful
[00:43:26] on the inside and
[00:43:28] out, and I'm just honored to be here with you. And thank you for giving me the
[00:43:32] opportunity to
[00:43:33] share with your audience and get to sit and
[00:43:35] talk with you. This is. The highlight of my day,
[00:43:38] getting to be here with you. It's like the breath of air I needed.
[00:43:42] So thank you.
[00:43:44] Liz: [00:43:44] amazing. so where can people find you?
[00:43:48] Amberly: [00:43:48] you can find
[00:43:49] me at amberleylago.com.
[00:43:53] I, hang out on Instagram at Amberley Lago motivation, and you can see some of the behind the scenes,
[00:43:58] or
[00:43:58] if it's one thing to hear something and go, I feel motivated, but if you want to keep that motivation going and.
[00:44:06] want to downloadable
[00:44:08] goals, grit and grace playbook.
[00:44:11] You can text me at eight one eight two one
[00:44:14] three.
[00:44:15] Oh, wait, (818)
[00:44:17] 214-7378.
[00:44:19] So again, that's (
[00:44:19] 818) 214-7378. And just text the word grit
[00:44:25] and
[00:44:25] you can get your downloadable,
[00:44:28] Lisa: [00:44:28] playbook,
[00:44:28] Amberly: [00:44:28] because I think it's important to us, keep us motivated.
[00:44:31] Keep us moving towards our goals.
[00:44:34] Liz: [00:44:34] Amazing. Love it. Love it. I used to have an eight one eight area code too when I lived in the Valley years ago.
[00:44:42] Amberly: [00:44:42] Yep. And that's
[00:44:43] a Valley number for sure. Woodland
[00:44:46] Hills, you know that eight one eight.
[00:44:50] Liz: [00:44:50] So thank you for being our true bad-ass of the week. Amberly. It's been so amazing to listen to you and,
[00:45:00] Amberly: [00:45:00] Oh, thank you.