The Bamboo Lab Podcast
"Ordinary people doing extraordinary things!"
The Bamboo Lab Podcast
Living Life by Design: Dylan Wade's Tale of Resilience, Family, and Intentional Living
What does it take to navigate life’s toughest challenges with grace and resilience? Join us as the vibrant Dylan Wade unveils her incredible journey, moving from a bustling childhood between California and Michigan to becoming a pillar of strength for her family in a small town. As the only girl among her siblings, Dylan’s unique experiences in wrestling, dancing, and gymnastics shaped her indomitable spirit. Her story is a testament to the influence of a supportive family and a small-town upbringing in cultivating resilience and a zest for life.
Discover what drove Dylan to triumph over adversity, including her battle with breast cancer while 13 weeks pregnant. At just 31, Dylan faced a daunting series of surgeries and chemotherapy, all while ensuring the safety of her unborn daughter. With unwavering determination and the support of her cherished Aunt Amy, she emerged stronger, embodying the qualities of loyalty, trustworthiness, honesty, kindness, and compassion. Dylan’s narrative is an inspiring beacon for anyone facing their own trials, highlighting the importance of perseverance and the power of a supportive community.
In an engaging and heartfelt conversation, Dylan reveals the keys to self-advocacy, confidence, and intentional living. She reflects on her achievements, the significance of trusting oneself, and the necessity of cherishing family moments. From her professional growth at CG Financial to her dedication as a wife and mother, Dylan’s story underscores the profound impact of hope and positivity. Tune in to hear her insights and be inspired to live your life by design, showing love and respect to yourself and others.
https://bamboolab3.com/
Hello and welcome to the Bamboo Lab Podcast with your host, peak Performance Coach, brian Bosley. Are you stuck on the hamster wheel of life, spinning and spinning but not really moving forward? Are you ready to jump off and soar? Are you finally ready to sculpt your life? If so, you've landed in the right place. This podcast is created and broadcast just for you, all of you strivers, thrivers and survivors out there. If you'd like to learn more about Brian and the Bamboo Lab, feel free to reach out to explore your true peak level at wwwbamboolab3.com.
Speaker 2:Welcome everyone to this week's episode of the Bamboo Lab Podcast. As always, I'm your host, brian Bosley, and today we are on episode 131. We are subscribed. We have, I think, subscribers and listeners in 78 countries and 2,229 cities, I believe, as of this morning. So I want to thank each and every one of you Bamboo Pack members out there for listening, subscribing and for sharing it.
Speaker 2:So, before we start, I'm going to ask all of you to please smash that like button, please rate and review us and please share this episode with at least three people, because, with the guest I have on today, I have a feeling she is going to connect so well with so many of you members out there. I have Dylan Wade on today and I got a chance to meet Dylan, oh my goodness, roughly four months ago and I have the privilege of talking with her on a consistent basis and hearing her story and listening to her wisdom and her life experience and just this amazing energy she brings to all of us here on this earth that I said, hey, I need to get you on, and she right away said, of course, I would be honored. So, ladies and gentlemen, let's all welcome Dylan Wade to the Bamboo Lab podcast. Welcome, my friend.
Speaker 3:Hi Ryan, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's a pleasure, you know that. Well, let's just get, let's jump into it. Dylan, Now I've gotten to know you very well since roughly the beginning of late June, early July of this year. But can you please share with the Bamboo Pack members out there a little bit about yourself, maybe your childhood, your family, who or what may have inspired you? Whatever you want to share, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:I am married to my best friend. My husband is my ride or die, uh. I'm a mother of five beautiful children, um, but I'm also a bonus mom to our two oldest. So we have four girls and one boy. Uh, poor kid is outnumbered, um, but yeah, so the oldest is 13. We've got almost an eight-year-old next month, a five-year-old and a four-year-old. They are Irish twins, so that was an interesting experience. And then we also have our little miracle baby, who will be 11 months here in the next few days.
Speaker 3:I grew up with three brothers. I was the only girl, um, but I also had. My mom was the oldest of seven. So my aunts and uncles were like brothers and sisters to me as well. So I had an uncle who was, he's, four months older than me, who was very much a brother, and I grew up.
Speaker 3:I kind of bounced around a little bit, if I'm being honest. So I was born in California, then we moved back to Michigan and we kind of settled in where our grandparents lived in Fowlerville, and then my mom branched off and built her house. Then we moved to the Durand area and that's where I went until I was a sophomore in high school, and then I moved back to California and went to school out there for a little bit, where I ultimately ended up back in Michigan and I graduated from Stock, uh, stackbridge. So if you don't know where Stackbridge is, it's a very, very small town Southeast of Lansing, um, but I love that small town, hometown, feel, you know, um, and that's like what I've, my husband and I, have been trying to get with with our kiddos. So we're now in the Mason area and we love it here, um, but yeah, so growing growing up like there was a lot of moving, as you can tell, um, but you know, growing up with, you know, being the only girl was challenging at times, as you can imagine.
Speaker 3:You know, sports wise we were, we were always into sports. We were always, you know, running, running around. We were in a small town, again, you know, growing up, so, riding bikes, you know I was always trying to do what my brothers did. I was always trying to do what my brothers did. I was always trying to like fit in at one. At one point I actually was, um, I asked my mom to join the wrestling like wrestling league because my brothers were were wrestling and they would want to come home and like show me their moves right, and I'm like this is just ridiculous sign. Sign me up, mom. Like I'm going to show them, you know. So.
Speaker 2:Did you ever do wrestling? Did she do that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I actually wrestled for four years. What?
Speaker 2:I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:Not in high school or anything. Not in high school. I was a little, I was a little tight, so but yeah, yep, I absolutely did, but I also danced.
Speaker 2:And I Yep, I absolutely did. But I also danced and I did gymnastics. So you know I had a very wide variety of things under my belt. I had to keep up with those boys. You know I've been so surprised of these last 130 episodes, or 131 now how many people on this show have been from small towns? I bet it's 80% or 85%.
Speaker 3:I love the small town feel. I just feel like everybody. I just love that. I know I can go to the store. It's like tenfold right, so I can go to the store like this. It's like tenfold Right, so I go to the store and see people that I know. Sometimes I want that, sometimes I don't, so it's interesting. But I do like to have that kind of close knit community factor, especially with my kids.
Speaker 2:So I had a very successful lady on here a few months ago and she grew up with a and she graduated with a class of I think it was seven or eight people. A graduating class. That's the smallest I've had. I mean, I had 75 in my home in my class, which was a small town of 3,000 people, but seven or eight in your graduate, I mean that's pretty small.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's very small. I think mine was 142. Okay, so you know. But yeah, had I graduated from you know, if I stayed in California, then you know that would have. I think our class was like a thousand or something like that, so it was a class.
Speaker 2:B school in Michigan.
Speaker 3:That's a big school. That's class B, that's huge yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's what it was. I could be wrong, but I think that's the number I remember. So wrestling, gymnastics, dance, and that's pretty Renaissance activity. What, or who, inspired you growing up? I mean, you've become a pretty strong woman. I mean, we've done some of the assessments on you, as you know, and you've come across with the people around you have some very strong positive opinions on you. One of them is you're dead at your determination and your strength. What do you think inspired you to be this person?
Speaker 3:What inspired me, I think, was probably the circumstances that I grew up in. Um, you know, I didn't know my dad. Uh, I didn't meet my dad until I was 23, and that was in 2013. And then he, he passed two years later, um, from multiple myeloma. So, um, you know, I think that was kind of a factor, you know, like I didn't have a father figure. So, um, I just kind of like, and I was also my mom worked, so I was also kind of like the mother figure to my brothers and, in a way, um, you know, cause, when she was gone, you know they, they still to this day, come, come to me with whatever, you know, like I'm like the go-to you know person.
Speaker 3:But, um, what inspired me to be you know where I am today, I think is just like the drive to always want to, you know, be in a better position and do better in life. And, you know, be in a better position and do better in life and, um, make sure that I expose myself to as many opportunities and experiences that I can. Um, and you know, my aunt is a big part of that also. Um, like I said, my mom's the oldest of seven and, uh, my aunt and actually I have, you know, a few aunts, but this aunt in particular.
Speaker 3:Her name is Amy. She has always been there. She is the person that you know. She's like a sister. I can always. She's the person that if I'm going through something or I need to make a big decision or you know any of those like pivotal things, that's the person I call because I know she's going to give it to me straight and she's always been there. She's been an inspiration to me, just her drive and ambition, her independence and selflessness. And her independence and selflessness. She's been the constant person in my life that's continued to show up for me and she does for me still and, you know, for my kids, and that is something that I hope I am to somebody else.
Speaker 2:And her name is Amy.
Speaker 3:Her name is Amy.
Speaker 2:Aunt Amy, this one goes out to you, man, Kudos, to you, because what you said about her drive or something, that determination, I want to point out. So we did some assessments a few weeks ago. Everyone and I had several people I know, dylan being one of them, to reach out to people they know and trust to ask them what each person thinks. In this case, dylan's top three qualities are outstanding qualities and we get all these assessments back and then we put them in this little program and then it points out what, of all these responses we got, what are the top three of all of them? And Dylan's were number one, resilience and perseverance. Number two, loyalty, trustworthiness and honesty.
Speaker 2:And number three, kindness and compassion, which, when I look at leadership and people who influence people or, you know, who have a strong ability to impact and influence other people in the world in a positive way, those are the three qualities I always look for in leadership and in leaders, and so that was one of the reasons why I wanted to bring Dylan on here today, and it sounds like Aunt Amy had a lot to do with that. So, kudos, that's great, thank you, you know, I know you've. What do you think in the last, let's say 12 months. You can pick your timeframe a year, six months, whatever it might be. Dylan has been one of the greatest learnings you had.
Speaker 3:Um, so I will say, the outstanding qualities, uh, kind of homework assignment that you had given us was, it was interesting and it was, um, it made my heart smile right, cause you don't, you don't get to have people tell you what these things are every day. Um, so to learn that that was what people were, um, thinking of me, was an interesting experience and it it really made my heart smile. Like I said, um, but you know, I I just feel like in the last, in the last 12 months, I would say that like, I feel like I've learned that I'm capable of doing amazing things, not in a selfish or conceited way at all, but you know, I've had some trials that I've, you know, made it out of, that I've, you know, made it out of, and I've had the opportunity to grow personally and professionally and I feel honored, you know, to be part of the team and at work at CG and, you know, just to really own my role as a wife and a mother and take that, you know, to heart every day.
Speaker 2:Well, I think you know I want to share. By the way, you just mentioned CG Financial. A lot of you out there in the audience will recognize that name. I think we've had five or six individuals from the company on the podcast already, which is an attestment to the company and the people they bring on and the service they provide to their clients. We're going to bring another one on here soon that I have in my radar, so you probably all recognize the name of CG Financial and that is where Dylan is employed right now, so that's where her career is. I'm assuming that when I know you've talked and we'll get into this in a minute Dylan is, you've talked about you.
Speaker 2:You alluded to the trials you've gone through and the fact that you have this, this perseverance and this, this resilience in you. My assumption is your kids are seeing that and I can't think of a better gift to to whether it's conscious or subconscious or subliminal or just through your role modeling, a better gift that you are giving your children than ability to be resilient and persevere through trial and tribulations.
Speaker 3:it's a blessing you know, I I hope so. That would be. That would definitely be the goal. Um, I I I hope that that is what they're seeing, because it's been an interesting, you know, year or so around our house.
Speaker 2:Well, I can attest to that. You know my mother you are just a younger version of my mom in the way I think you probably parent and what they're experiencing. You know my father died when I was four and a half and my mom left us with five children. She's only loved three men and she's buried three men in her life over the course of her 89 years and I've seen her resilience and her strength and her fortitude and she never talked about it, it was just. You saw it. I got to witness it over these years and that just has spread to her children, to her grandchildren, now to her great-grandchildren. So, trust me, they're picking up on it, they're soaking it in and it's going to make them much, much better people, there's no doubt.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:All right Now to the question of the day and I think we both know where we're going with this, Dylan is what is one of the most difficult challenges you've gone through in your life, and can you talk us through that and how you are and have gone, how you've pulled yourself out?
Speaker 3:So, in May of 2023, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I was about 13 weeks pregnant. So, as you can imagine that, you know, shattered, it shattered me, I didn't know to get that news that, you know, 31 years old at the time, um, you know, you don't ever think that you're gonna hear the word cancer and it, you know, be related to yourself. Um, and then to throw in a pregnancy, it was just like so overwhelming and, um, you know, it was, it's, it's been a rough road, um, there's been lots of obstacles, um, but you know, I guess, just to take you back, so, um, I was about 13 weeks pregnant and then I had to, you know, undergo surgery at about 16 weeks pregnant and we had to move fairly quickly because, uh, my, my cancer was almost 100% hormone fueled, so my pregnancy was working against me. Okay, um, which it's a lot to kind of wrap my head around. I've been talking and sharing my story more lately and I don't know that, like, I think I was just in survival mode for so long that I never really had or I guess I didn't realize that I hadn't, like you know, processed everything that happened because everything was happening so fast, but I, so I had had surgery and then, like two weeks later, two and a half weeks after I was diagnosed, and then after that, at about 20 weeks pregnant, I had to undergo chemotherapy for 12 weeks and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. It was the hardest thing.
Speaker 3:I think. I don't even have words, like I'm struggling to come up with them right now, because I'm just like, wow, am I really talking about myself right now? But you know, my daughter sorry, I should have said that I, ultimately I had a. I had a little girl which I thought was fitting, you know, fighting next to her mom. I told my oncologist I didn't think that if I hadn't been pregnant, going through this, I think that I would have gotten more sick and more like I just I wouldn't have. Like I said, I was in survival mode. So I feel like I leaned on my you know, unborn daughter to get me through this process, because I knew that I had to do whatever I needed to to make sure that she was going to be okay and I needed to make sure that I was going to be here for my family, my family ultimately, Um, so it's been.
Speaker 3:It's been interesting. Um, she was born. I think I've had four surgeries and the last four years, or sorry, in the last year and, um, I'll have my fifth one next month, in October. So, gearing up for that, um, but what got me through was, you know, I'm going to go back to that survival mode type mentality. Um, I feel like I've always been, you know, somewhat of a head like a fighting spirit, and so, um, I feel like that is what kind of got me through and, just like I said, my, my family, and trying is really really hard during that time to have a, a positive outlook and mindset, which is extremely hard going through something that is as traumatic as a cancer diagnosis. But somehow, somehow, I'm still here to tell the story.
Speaker 2:Well, your story, your story, is a story of just incredible hope, and a story of hope and dignity and resilience that we can all relate to, not necessarily because of a cancer diagnosis. But if I talk directly to the bamboo pack right now, I'd like you to think don't compare your life with Dylan's, but put your life alongside of Dylan's journey. Pair your life with Dylan's, but put your life alongside of Dylan's journey and think of the moments that you have gone through where things you had to put yourself in survival mode. It could be a health scare, a financial scare, a marital scare, it can be anything that really a career scare, that where you felt like the world was collapsing around you and you didn't know where to go. And I want you to think of her little unborn daughter who was still inside of her, and how that motivated Dylan. And really that little baby, that little girl, fought alongside of her mom.
Speaker 2:And all of us have something. It could be a person, it could be a memory, it could be a goal, it can be a dream, it can be a God, it can be whatever you feel. It is Something that will keep us going, that will give us that extra fight, or as they call it in Finland, sisu, that extra little push, that one more thing that you can do to keep fighting forward. Every one of us have that, and the key is to find yours during those moments of survival, those moments of, of, of challenge and um, I I've never heard that before that. That that part of your story, dylan, of that you know, your little unborn daughter was in there fighting alongside you. I think that's just that's. She is your miracle baby.
Speaker 2:There's no doubt that's incredible, incredible I mean now can you talk a little bit about, um, you know, as you're, as you're going through this, obviously over the past year, let's call it, you know a year, a year and a few months back, what? How did the family react to this? How does that? How, when you're, you have a lot, you have an amazing husband, you've got your beautiful children how does that impact your family? How did that?
Speaker 3:So this is an interesting question, because so which was my mother's dad? And then in March they lost her husband, so my stepdad, so another grandfather, and then in July my husband lost his grandmother and then, five days later, lost his grandfather and then five days later, lost his grandfather. So in a five month span, my children lost four grandparents and their mother was going through a cancer diagnosis. I looked different, I lost my hair, I was growing a human. So you know, I have this belly now. There was so much change and I think that was hard for my kids just them being so little and it being so hard for them to understand all of this change. It was like non-stop. We were, we just kept getting hit and you know, but some things that we did were, you know, we tried to. We tried to be as open and honest with them as we could, but also taking into account how young they are.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:So last year, the, the two little ones, it was their first year of school, so then you throw that all in there. It was, it was, it was chaos, I'll say that. But, um, I mean just being able to, to have that open kind of forum for them to be mad, be angry, be sad, you know, be happy too, because we had, we had a lot of happy moments, um, and we, you know, we celebrated birthdays and you know we did all these things and I, I feel like we put a lot of energy into the kids because we wanted to keep things as normal and stable as we could during this time of all the changes, like everything was ever-changing. So it was hard, it was not easy, and I feel terrible too, because it's like how do you explain all of this stuff to such little minds? But at the end of the day, when they saw, like dad and I, and like you know, we tried not to like let it take the focus every day.
Speaker 3:You know, of course, I had like bad days, but we tried to surround them by family and friends and you know, like a positive, happy atmosphere, and you know when, a positive, happy atmosphere, and you know when we weren't able to do that, then that's when, like, family and friends stepped up and they were able to help and take the kids for the day or the weekend. And this is where Amy comes in again. You know, kind of helps me out and does all the things you know like, helps me out and and does all the things you know like um, so and and and, you know, just trying to make sure that, like, they still had an outlet and opportunities to still be a kid when, when mom and dad had to have, like their, you know, game based on, essentially, mom and dad had to have, like their, you know game based on essentially and I think it takes an extra it takes an incredible amount of strength to create calm around you when there's a storm brewing inside you.
Speaker 2:You know, so often we have storms brewing inside of us and we just let those storms come out and create chaos around us on the outside, and it's it's. It takes a special kind of person and a special level of strength to be able to, you know, control the storm that's brewing inside of us but yet create the calm for others around us. And it doesn't work 100%, but as much as we can, you know we can try that and attempt to do that.
Speaker 2:That's a certain level of dignity, it's a certain level of compassion, it's a certain, certainly a certain level of strength that you, I didn't, I didn't realize about the loss of four grandparents in in in five months. I had never heard that before.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it was chapter two your story. Yeah, 2023 was, uh, yeah, an interesting chapter, if you will. But that's the beauty of it, it's just a chapter, yeah the book is still being written absolutely, and I'm grateful for that I know you are wow, that is I.
Speaker 2:I learned a lot more in the last 10 minutes than I knew over the past four or five months working and talking with you each week. I really have.
Speaker 3:I mean well. Yeah, it's a lot to swallow.
Speaker 2:It is, it is. I have a whole new level of respect for you.
Speaker 3:Oh thank you.
Speaker 2:Well, now that we're you know you're still got stuff you're going through. You have surgery coming up here next month, but what would you say right now for you at this?
Speaker 3:state in your life. This position is considered a win. What do you call a victory? Right now, I would say being able to share my story. I was fortunate and lucky enough to have been invited on the bamboo podcast, um, along with a couple other um, uh, what's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker 3:Sorry, kind of not commercials, but kind of uh, yeah, like opportunities to, yeah, promote and share my, my story and and get involved more with the breast cancer community. Um and so. So brain fog is still a thing from chemo, so I forget what I'm saying every once in a while. I apologize, um, but yeah, I would say that's a that's win, being able to share my story in hopes that I can help somebody that's you know, either in this position or in a similar position, know somebody that's going through a diagnosis like this and, you know, give them hope. Like you said, I feel like that's like my mission now, like my purpose. I feel like is much larger a resource to somebody going through a similar situation. That, I think, is the biggest win that I can think of.
Speaker 2:I can't think of a bigger one either, because it impacts so many people. And I think what your story gives more than anything, it gives hope and even if the person who it might you know obviously directly somebody who's been diagnosed with breast cancer or some other type of health diagnosis, but anybody who's going through something challenging in their life, that they think that, oh my gosh, I don't think I can get through this, I mean again, parallel yourself next to Dylan and say, yeah, she has and she is. I can too, and it can be anything but I, I. I think your story if I could put anything out there it is a story of nothing but pure hope that you give people like, yeah, we can survive this stuff.
Speaker 3:Thank you, we can get not only survive, but thrive. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:When I talk to you each week, there's nothing that comes out of your aura other than positivity and great energy. It really is, and that's exactly why your assessment came back with the three outstanding qualities. That's really what that means. You give off this good aura and we're all better off for it, and now you're just getting out. You're spreading your aura of hope to a lot more people. And the last, really in the last two weeks, you've started to talk. Yeah, you were a little we won't talk about. I won't give any specifics, but Dylan has been able to have the privilege of talking to one major org, company that all of us will know and share her story on camera, and then to another more local organization or more regional operation, but this is her first time on a podcast, I believe.
Speaker 3:Yes, very first time on a podcast.
Speaker 2:For the inaugural. What an honor. Yeah, this won't be your last podcast.
Speaker 3:It's an honor to me.
Speaker 2:This will not be your last podcast. I'll guarantee that.
Speaker 3:Oh, I hope not. I hope that I can continue to do it, but I'm glad that I got to start here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I am too. It's an honor. Well, that was just luck of the draw. I knew you, so I was the first one to jump on it. This is probably my favorite question. I ask our the guest, Dylan, and that is if, if I were to come down to your neck of the of the country today, or the world, and I was to bring my time machine, and we and I you and I are going to jump in it. You're going to go back to any state, any point in your life, maybe when you were 23, when you met your dad? Maybe when you're 18, just some point earlier in your life, and you're going to sit down and talk to the younger version of yourself and you're going to give yourself words of wisdom, recipes for success, some life advice. I'm just going to sit back and observe. What would you tell your younger self?
Speaker 3:sit back and observe. What would you tell your younger self? Oh boy, um, I think I would tell little Dylan um that, uh, you know you've always been your biggest advocate and never to stop that. Um, I would also say that you can do anything and overcome anything. Just keep pushing forward. I know that sounds cliche, but I really mean it and always keep that hunger, that hunger to do more to do better, to grow, that hunger to to do more to do better to. You know, grow um and and follow your gut, for you know the, the good and the bad, right Um, trust yourself.
Speaker 2:Perfect.
Speaker 3:That's. That's what I would say.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm going to recap that for the audience, cause a lot of the audience members are the bamboo Pack members might be driving, running, hiking on their treadmill. Let's recap some incredible words of wisdom. I love that first one. You've always been your biggest advocate. Don't ever stop that. You know, one of the things we've talked about recently I have with a few of my clients is the difference between confidence and self-esteem. You know, confidence is when you feel you can accomplish something, but self-esteem is when you feel you deserve it, when you are truly your favorite, your best advocate. That's one of the greatest strengths a person can have is to be their own advocate, to support themselves, to love themselves, to believe in themselves, to have faith in themselves. That's a powerful one. So that's a great piece of advice.
Speaker 2:The other one is you know, push forward, continue to push forward, keep that hunger for life and for self-expansion and growth and development and betterment of yourself. Because once we do, once we stop trying to expand and push forward and we lose that hunger, we start to atrophy our bodies, our minds, that hunger, we start to atrophy Our bodies, our minds, our spirits. Everything starts to atrophy and that is no way to live. And then follow your gut, trust yourself, believe in what you feel inside. That because that you know, they say. Your gut is just another form of your brain. It's just connected to your brain. So when you feel it, trust yourself. Great words of wisdom. All right, what's next for you? I mean, I know you have your surgery coming up. I know you're really making some marks in your professional life. Is there anything next that you see in life that you see coming up.
Speaker 3:You know, I, obviously, you just, you just said the obvious right To try and keep getting healthy, um, and gearing up for that next surgery next month, um, but for me, I think I want to, I want to continue to tell my story, um, and I want to, you know, seize these opportunities when they present themselves and um, be a resource and be able to help others. I think that's like what ultimately makes my soul happy, um, and if it's sharing this experience that I've gone through, I'm happy to do that. But, um, you know, aside from you know, my health journey, uh, in a professional aspect, um, I'm extremely grateful for CG, um, and I, I want to, you know, continue to, you know, expand my roots there and keep growing in with the company. And you know, um, there's a lot of opportunity there and I'm really excited. I've never worked for a company where I'm actually excited to go to work, um, so I think that's a testament in itself and it speaks volumes. So I think that's a testament in itself and it speaks volumes. So, where I'm going?
Speaker 2:next would be, you know, just trying to figure out what I want to do next in my professional career, what I want to focus on. Well, I think you know we talked about the three qualities you have are so made for the ability to influence and lead other people. I do think that's a quality that would be really good for you to develop more and more and expand on those three qualities more and more and more, and that also, within those qualities, gives you the ability to share your story more. And I'm going to reach out to anybody out there who would like to hear more of Dylan's story or perhaps wants to put them on a show or interview her. Reach directly out to me first and I'll pass anything on to Dylan and let her dissect what she wants to engage at any time.
Speaker 2:So if you have any podcast shows, books you're writing, tv shows you're producing or whatever, reach out to me and I'll pass anything on to Dylan. Thanks, brian, you're welcome. I have a question. Do you mind if I throw you a trick question or a pop quiz? Sure.
Speaker 3:Pop quiz.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, do you mind if I throw you a trick question or a pop quiz, sure, pop quiz. Okay, all right, this might take a minute for you to think of. Okay, so if we could eliminate all of your fears that you have inside, all of your irrational fears irrational fears for the next seven days, take away every irrational fear you have for the next seven days, what would you do differently this week?
Speaker 3:Oh, wow, oh, I would not have anxiety and not and not I say that to say, you know, when something hits you like this, I don't know that I'll ever not keep looking over my shoulder. And you know, kind of like always kind of it's in the back of your mind that you're going to have a reoccurrence or something's not going to work out, or you know, whatever the case may be, I would eliminate that and, you know, just focus on being happy with my family and creating as many memories as I can With my family and creating as many memories as I can and, you know, taking those snapshots in my brain of, like, all these moments that, like, my husband is happy and my kids are happy and we're just living this life.
Speaker 2:That is, you know, living life by design, you know is living life by design, creating the life that we want without any worry. Living life by design.
Speaker 3:I love that you might have just given me the title for today's episode. Oh, okay. That's a good one.
Speaker 2:Thank you. When the podcast is done, it goes through this editing process. It's AI and they always give a bunch of suggestions and most of the time they give you five or six to choose from. You don't have to I always I can bypass them, but usually they have a one good one in there, but probably 60% of the time they have a good one, but usually I have to change it or create my own. I think I found mine for today, so I guess if you look I like that one.
Speaker 2:So, but can I ask you a question what does living life by design mean to you?
Speaker 3:So living life by design is, you know, taking all the things in your life that keep you going, the things that you, that you can focus on, that bring you happiness and peace and, um, you know, it might even be like, uh, wealth or you know the things, you know the thing that just ultimately, like they make your soul at peace, and putting those into your daily routine. And you know you're not stressing, you're not worrying about the next thing, you're not, you know you don't have angry thoughts Like you're putting all of that and you're focusing on the good. Um, that's to me what living life by design is.
Speaker 2:I like that. So I think it would be good for a lot of people to actually to articulate what brings their soul peace, what brings them happiness, and what and and contentment you know what makes them smile and laugh and write that down, because I think a lot of times we chase dreams that we and then we step back later on it could be years later and say the dream really wasn't what made my soul happy, the career choice or whatever it might be. It was the moments I spent with my children or my parents or my grandchildren or my husband or my wife or my partner, or with my best friends, or it was time I was fly fishing or hiking or whatever it might be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the journey, yeah, the journey and putting those things down now, on today, listing them down and saying what brings me the happiness, what brings my soul peace, what makes my heart smile, laugh and say, okay, how can I indoctrinate these into each day to make sure that I do not let these things go? Because, call it what it is, jill and so many, we live in a society where we wait until we have time before we do the things we love. We're going to do this when we retire One day. I'll do when I have this. I'll do when I make enough money, I'll do this.
Speaker 3:And those days never really come.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 3:You're exactly right.
Speaker 2:You know, I was talking to my mother. I went to my, I spent four days with my mother last week and we were talking to one of my uncles and I said, you know, it's interesting, he worked really hard all of his life and he raised a family and when he retired he didn't do anything. He saved a lot of money and he didn't do anything. He literally didn't have any hobbies, he didn't have a lot of buddies to hang around with and then he died and I thought that's the saddest existence I can imagine, that's the saddest ending to a life I can possibly imagine, because we're always waiting and when we wait so long, pretty soon when we do retire, our kids are grown, some of our friends are moved away, or they're gone, they've passed on, or it may be too late to pick up a hobby. Maybe we can't hike anymore. Whatever it might be, it's doing those things we love with the people we love right now. That's what makes the journey worth living. It's not going to happen someday, it's got to happen right now.
Speaker 2:Great advice, I love that. Live life by design. Boom, perfect caption. Well, I have one more final question for you. It's kind of a net question that captures anything I may have missed, but is there any question, dylan, that I did not ask, that you wish I would have, or is there any final?
Speaker 3:message you want to leave with the Bamboo Pack members out there. Yeah, so I do this thing and I learned this from my uncle and it's where, like you, have like a power word Right. So ours is relentless. And when I think about this word, if I'm going through like life changes or, you know, um, just challenges, life challenges, work challenges, if I'm feeling down, if I'm feeling great, um, I think about this word and I just say I am relentless, like I like just it, it like heights me up, kind of Um, it's like this, this trick that I learned along the way a few years ago and I've kind of kept it with me and um, I just it just reminds me like I'm relentless, I'm never going to give up on myself.
Speaker 3:I'm, you know, my, I am my number one fan. I can do anything. Um, and it just like I'm relentless in the pursuit of being like the best I can be, and it just like brings me back to focus right, and so I, I, I encourage you to find your own power word and um, you know, hopefully it can, it can have that same effect on you and kind of just ground you a little bit in the chaos of life. But I found that to be an interesting thing and I just wanted to share that with you guys.
Speaker 2:Perfect. I've never heard anybody say it that way. A power word, I love that. Mine is expansion. Okay, I like that. I have the word expand in there a lot. It was just a few months ago. I'm like, well, that word must mean something to me, Because you always think of I use the word success or growth or betterment. I'm like those words are so cliched. But what is that word? To grow, to be successful, whatever that means to each individual, really means to expand every day, to expand your comfort zone. Yeah, Just to expand. Expand, I love that. I never thought of it as a power word, though. It's kind of like the I'm ready, I'm excited, I'm grateful. Those are three power words.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's a power statement, I guess. Absolutely. Yeah, I love it. I think like it's like don't forget about yourself. You know, right, it's easy to get lost in life and when you're a spouse and a parent and you're a career-focused individual and you know you got to treat yourself like someone you're responsible for helping you know, someone you're responsible for, for helping you know, and when you do that, then you know you just become better every day.
Speaker 2:Did we did? Have we talked about the doing the photo exercise of yourself when you're a little girl?
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:Oh well, here's an exercise that we would have gotten to. You know we talk a lot about you said something really important there is don't forget about yourself. And I think it's very easy for us to forget about ourselves. It's because of this low sense of self-worth, the low self-esteem we struggle with as human beings, especially in the Western culture. And it's an exercise of taking going to the old shoebox, metaphorically in your closet, and getting a picture of yourself when you were a little boy or a little girl, you know somewhere, maybe between two and ten, I don't know and finding a picture that resonates with you, and then going into a room with a mirror and saying look at that picture and assume now that that child is not you. It's a completely different child, but it's a child you love unconditionally. You love this child more than anything in the world, and I would challenge anybody out there to look at that picture and say to that little child you are worthless, you do not deserve happiness, success, you do not deserve to chase your dreams. You do not deserve to chase your dreams, you do not deserve to reach your full potential. You won't be able to do it because you love that child. It's not you. It's just a child you love, but it's a picture of you. But I'll guarantee many of us can say that to ourselves.
Speaker 2:We subconsciously or consciously tell ourselves every day that we're worthless, we're not deserving of success, we're not deserving of happiness or a great life. Now, sometimes we say that subconsciously or we say that through our actions. But then we look back and realize that child, you are that child. You are just a few more years behind. You have just a few years behind you than that child does. And then now look at that child and ask and say to that child look at that child, know that picture. And think about how easy it would be to say you are so worthy, you are so full of love and beauty and you are. You deserve to have the happiest, the healthiest, the most beautiful life possible. You deserve to chase your dreams and reach your peak potential. It's so easy to to say to that child those kinds of things, but you can't say the negative things to that child. It's so hard. But we say it to ourselves. And then, when you can do that to that picture of you, then connect that picture and say that picture is just a picture of me, I just have a few more years behind me and then look in the mirror and say those exact same things to yourself in the mirror. It's so powerful to look at that little child, that little version of yourself, and say powerful things to that little person, because you know that person deserves the best.
Speaker 2:But for some reason, when we get older we fail to connect. That that little child that we love so much, that is deserving of so much love, is now the same person we are. We're just more experienced, but we're the same DNA, we have the same soul, we have the same brain. You know, we're just a little bigger, a little older. So I think when we can connect with our I don't like to use the word inner child I think it's been so cliched and bastardized over the years but when we can connect with the fact that that little picture, that picture of that little child, is just you, and when you can look at that little picture and show unconditional love to that little child, you are really showing unconditional love to yourself and you're doing exactly what you said You're, you're, you know you're, you're, you're. You're not putting yourself last, you're not forgetting about who you are, and that's a really good exercise to do.
Speaker 2:We were, I think next week we would have talked about that. So we just got a headstart on next week's work. So but that's a good exercise for anybody to do, and I think I did a podcast on that a few couple of years ago on it. But but well, any final thing you want to share. I mean, you've shared so much wisdom here and I I I have a funny feeling we're going to get a lot of emails on this particular episode because, again, what people are looking for is the stories of hope. They want to be able to walk alongside your journey and say, man, dylan's doing this, she's conquering this, I'm conquering what I can conquer, and you've accomplished exactly what I was hoping you would, and a lot more, today, dylan. So I thank you so much.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you so much for having me and giving me a platform to continue to share my story. I am so appreciative and I feel extremely blessed to be here.
Speaker 2:Well, the honor is all mine for sure. So you were an amazing guest on the Bamboo Lab podcast. And there's just. I'm a little more speechless than I normally am at the end of a show, so this one hit me a little harder than most, in a good way. So you gave me a lot of goosebumps. You even gave me some tears that I hid behind my microphone and my little pop cover that I have over a microphone. So I'm glad we weren't on YouTube today. I'm glad this was not a video. Next year we're doing video podcasts. So I'm going to have to control my emotion a little bit better. It's easy to hide behind a microphone, but not a camera.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely All right, my friend. Thank you so much. Thank you Bless you and your family and go home tonight and give your husband and all those beautiful children a big hug.
Speaker 3:I will Thank you so much, my pleasure Everyone.
Speaker 2:I want to thank you for tuning in today. As I said at the beginning, this is going to be an episode you want to share with at least three people, so I'm going to recommend three people that are going through something, have gone through something or will go through challenges, which is everybody you know. Just share this out there. Let people hear the hope, the courage, the resilience, the determination of Dylan and let her spirit just kind of evade through them and really kind of inspire them to just keep pushing forward to design or to what am I saying? What's this? Live life by design. My favorite quote of the day I'll see all of you, I think, a week from today. I'll talk to all of you. In the meantime, please get out there and strive to give and to be your best. Please show love and respect to others. No-transcript.
