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Keep Hope Alive Podcast
Keep Hope Alive through the power of knowing who you are as a person and expressing self-love. Life is a journey and with the blank pages we create our story. Keep Hope Alive is about the power of knowledge in today's world. ALL topics are welcomed.
Keep Hope Alive Podcast
Empowering Women Through Life's Storms
In this episode of Keep Hope Alive, we welcome the remarkable Stacey Johnson, a women empowerment coach whose profound insights on resilience and self-care will transform the way you view life's challenges. Stacey shares her personal journey, a path marked by her transition from a clinical therapy background into empowering women through coaching. Following the unexpected loss of her husband, she found her calling in helping others navigate their own storms with grace and strength.
Stacey discusses the importance of self-care, dispelling common myths and providing practical tips that can easily fit into everyday life. She emphasizes that self-care is not merely indulgence, but a crucial strategy for mental well-being. Throughout our conversation, Stacey highlights the profound impact of modeling resilience for children, encouraging mothers to equip their kids with the tools for navigating life's uncertainties.
Listeners will also learn about the Illumination Toolkit, a valuable resource designed to help women recognize and address overwhelm through guided meditations and journaling exercises. As Stacey shares her passion for empowering others, she inspires us to take actionable steps towards embracing our inner strength and creating supportive communities for one another.
Join us in this empowering discussion that not only brings hope but also practical knowledge to help you thrive. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and engage with us on social media as we continue to spread positivity and resilience!
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Love & Light - Keep Hope Alive
Hello and welcome to Keep Hope Alive podcast. My name is Nadine. I'm so excited. Today we have a wonderful guest. Her name is Stacey Johnson and she's a women empowerment coach and we're going to dive into her story today. Welcome to Keep Hope Alive. I'm so excited to have you on. Thank you, I'm glad to be here today. Yay, Well, before we get started, I have a question for you. Sure, Out of the past year, how many weddings have you been to? One One, Okay. Well, say, you got invited to a wedding and you're going into like the ceremony part and you're walking in and there's a little table there with something for you to sign to let the couple know you were there. What are you signing? Guest book? Yes, yes, so you'd be signing that guest book.
Speaker 1:Now, one of our biggest sponsors that keep up alive is Life on Record, and instead of that guest book, what they do is they have a vintage rotary phone that your guests can come up to, and it's usually placed on a beautiful wooden desk or something with the greenery, and they pick up the phone and can leave a message Congratulations on your big day. We're so excited for you. Many years of happiness. Now, right next to the phone. They have a little sign with a QR code. In case the line gets too busy, you can take out your mobile device and scan that QR code and leave a message by your phone. Now, after all these messages are brought into the system, they will burn it on a 10-inch vinyl record or they'll put it on a keepsake little speaker box for you. I call it the boom box. So years from now you can listen to all these messages and be like oh, I remember that it's so good to hear them again. So I call it the gift of voice.
Speaker 1:Not only weddings. You can use this for special events like birthdays or corporate gatherings, family reunions. I know I used it when there was an accident on the field for my son playing football. One of his friends got knocked down and, you know, the whole leg got broke. So the kids were calling in wishing him to get well and that got sent over to him as well. So there's many uses for them. Check out their website. Their plans start at $99. You get to keep the phone number not the phone, but the phone number for one year. There's a wwwlifeonrecordcom. All right, let's get this party started. So who is Stacey Johnson?
Speaker 2:I am. I well, I've been a clinical therapist for 25 years and now, about a year and a half ago, I decided that I did not want to be a therapist in a special educational school anymore. I wanted to get away from the. I just wanted to get away from the requirements of the time that I had to be in an office and I wanted to branch off. So I started working for myself.
Speaker 2:I do some private practice as a clinical therapist, but then I'm also a woman empowerment coach, and I decided to do that because when I started the private practice of therapy, everybody that was coming to me were these women that were overwhelmed and burned out, and I could totally relate to them. And so I wanted to be into women. I wanted to go into women empowerment coaching to help women like that because of what you know I had experienced you know being burnt out and just help more women than I could in clinical therapy. Because clinical therapy I am forced to stay within the state limits that I live in. I live in Ohio and so I was forced to kind of stay in these limits of Ohio when I do therapy. So that's why, you know, so that I branched off to being a woman empowerment coach. I'm a mom. I have two beautiful daughters that are ages 23 and 20. They still live with me because they're going into. You know, they're both in college and so I guess that's who I am.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, I understand about the 23-year-old daughter. I have one, but yeah, she made me a grandma this year.
Speaker 1:So, I'm spending time with my granddaughter, making her laugh and smile, and I'll put on my makeup and I was like, alice, do you want some makeup? She just giggles at me and I'm like, oh, I love it Every moment of it, but definitely so well, that is so cool. So, um, tell us back back like when you were younger, and I guess the structure of like getting to where you got to today. What was that journey like?
Speaker 2:Interesting question really. When I was growing up, you know my parents both my parents, my parents divorced when I was like nine. But we had a very loving, close relationship, even though there was two homes that I was going back and forth to and my dad owned his own business, my mom owned her own business and pretty much from a young age they were always like you're going to college, like that's just what you're expected to do, and so and I was a good student and I liked school. But when I graduated from high school I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I thought I wanted to be a teacher, because most young girls want to be a teacher, you know. So teaching kind of thought. I thought that's kind of what I wanted to do. And when I went to college, so I went in as undecided and I thought I was going to go into teaching and the school that I went to was a teaching college, like they had an elementary school on the campus. So everybody that I met was in some form of education and I thought I'm never going to find a job if I'm graduating with this many education majors. So I started researching how else I could help people and that's when I decided I would get a, I would go into psychology and I would minor in special ed. And so you know, my parents were like whatever, I'm not sure what you're doing with that degree, but whatever suits you and makes you happy.
Speaker 2:So graduated and got a job in a psych hospital as like a therapist that was not like they called me a milieu therapist and it was a kind of like an assistant or you know, I kind of ran the adolescent unit. So I was in charge of like coming up with activities for the adolescents, just being in a part of their unit, just being in a part of their unit. And as I was working there I started talking to, you know more of the professionals because I was like you know the social worker, counseling, and then maybe all I like I like being again that educational field. So I was like maybe school, school psychologist, someone's like all you're going to do is test kids. You're never going to really work with them as a school psychologist, you're just going to kind of test them and then you really don't work with them. You know, maybe you should look into counseling.
Speaker 2:So I did and I got accepted to a local college not too far from my house so I could commute, and I got into their master's program and I started my master's program there and started working for a different agency and that was more for drug and alcohol as, like you know, just an under you know, under the therapist there, kind of again helping with activities. And I got my master's and started working for a agency that was for children and adolescents. So I was a children and adolescents therapist and I was there for about a year and they asked me to start working. I was still working for them but they placed me in a local elementary school because that local elementary school had a special ed unit that was struggling and so that school district wanted to bring in extra resources to try to see if they could, you know, help the children in that unit because their mental health needs were getting in the way of them even accessing the curriculum the best way. And this was going to be a pilot program where they were going to put a counselor and like a case manager attached to a classroom and I. So that's, I did that and I was there and one it was like in May I did a full year and then in the following year I did a full year and then in the following year I was working there.
Speaker 2:So I started the second year there and then I was in the lunchroom one morning or one day and another, like a supervisor of another program, asked me, like they were all talking about summer breaks. I'm like, yeah, I don't get one. Like I'm counselor, I I'm actually hired by, you know, this agency, so I don't get summers off. And they're like, would you want to? I'm like, well, that's a dumb question. I have a one-year-old baby. Of course I would love to be able to have the summers off.
Speaker 2:So she's like, well, I know somebody that's opening up an alternative school and they might want to, you know, hire a therapist as well. So I applied there and he accepted my application and I started with him and he was fairly new. So I took that faith that you know we would grow. And it grew. You know, we start off with four students and by the end of the year we were full. And you know, two years later we had to open up a bigger building and then a separate building. So we, we continued to grow and I was there for 20 years.
Speaker 2:And yeah, I mean so it was kind of a combination with my special ed because it was a special educational school, so I had the background of my minor, but I was able to.
Speaker 2:I wasn't necessarily doing as much therapy as, like my license would say. I was more like helping teachers understand the mental health aspect that comes with special ed children and then the trauma that children face and helping kids when they were in crisis and then managing the structure of just the building. So I was considered the building supervisor as well. So like calling off staff calling off and after COVID that seemed to get higher. You know, staffing seemed to be more of an issue and my husband passed away in 2021 suddenly, and that's when my eyes opened up that I did not want to be trapped in a building from 7.30 to 3.30 or have to sub on a van because we were short staff and I would have to sub on a van so my days would be longer or and just the stress of that. And that's when I decided that I wanted to go into more of a private practice and be my own boss and start my own business.
Speaker 1:You answered that so good. That was a clear journey. That was amazing. So I guess you had a few challenges through those hurdles too and everything. So what would you tell the listeners when you get you know challenges and how did you learn to handle each challenge and get through that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think with my therapy background, it does definitely help. And every time I would listen to a podcast or see other inspiring posts on Facebook, I'm like I know this stuff. This is the stuff that I know because as a therapist, you have to attend so many continuing educational courses a year to keep your license, and so all of these things. I'm like I've learned these things and I just need to put them in practice for myself. And so you know that's when I was younger and working in the school and having kids in their own sporting events and just running. I was like, basically, you know, I called myself the CEO of the household. You know like everything landed on my plate to like make sure is organized, and that was when I was probably burnout the most and I started to really you know that's when I was like one day someone's like I think I came home and there was dishes in the sink. Or someone asked me like Mom, I need something at the store, I have a project due tomorrow and I need. And I'm like, and my husband's like why are you always angry? And I'm like I'm not angry, like I'm not an angry person. It was my. My responses were coming out as anger, but I was just overwhelmed and burnout. And that's when I first started to like, tune into, like, okay, you've attended workshops on, you know, overwhelmed, burnout, start developing your own system to help yourself.
Speaker 2:And that's when I first started looking, you know, digging into that stuff Self-care you know, really looking at my own self-care. You know, really looking at my own self-care, really looking at my thoughts and not overth could manage that stress so that I could make sure that my girls were managing stress as well too, because they were one was in high school when he passed and one was had just finished one program and was starting to work full time and was thinking about getting back into college for LP, you know, to be a nurse. And so I knew that I had to make sure that I was managing my stress well so that I could help them with the grief and the stress of this new life that we are living. So I knew I had to dig deep into the skills that I knew, the skills that I knew Self-care was the huge one, but then just the thoughts, you know, making sure that I didn't get consumed with these what-if thoughts, or I should have done this thought.
Speaker 1:That's kind of where I'm standing right now in my life. So you're hitting a point like it's good to hear it from you talking about this. So yeah, self-care is very important. And I had another guest what you manifest out there and I know a year ago, before I took my last job, I was like I really wanted to move to Oklahoma because, a I have my dad and the family out there. B I know my son plays football, he loves it out there, he eventually wants to go to OU. And then I was like, okay, it's cheaper to live out there, but I do have to take a pay cut. Will that be okay or is it going to be a shock? And then, being such a city girl, coming to country world, it's going to be really entertaining.
Speaker 1:And I was analyzing that part. You know Somebody asked me well, why are you moving? Because we love you, we don't want you to move and I go. Well, I'm going to find myself all over again. And you know, what I started to notice is you know the people who are so concerned about me moving.
Speaker 1:I've been here the whole time. You haven't reached out, like, why does it matter now is what I'm like, but I had to explain it's me taking care of me and my kiddo, and that comes first, and then being happy all the time. That's another thing. Yes, well, will I have to make changes? I sure will. But you know, other than that, I think I had a really hard pull because I love the church I go to and I just joined their choir and I made friends and I'm just I'm having the hardest time and I was like stay focused, nadine, because that's like every other week. You know, things do change. There is a brighter future on the other end. So, taking a look at that, but being there for the kids, yes, and you put your kids' needs there, because it is very much a grief area of that time of yours that you had to focus on that too, but you had to heal from it to move forward. So, yeah, right.
Speaker 2:So many people I've talked to and I say self-care, they're like, you know, they think, oh, I don't have time for self-care, or they think I don't have the money.
Speaker 2:Because there's this vision that, like, self-care is like, maybe, massages or, you know, getting our hair done, and I'm like, no, you know, self-care, you know, is I can do within a couple minutes of my day and it cost me nothing. You know, one was just literally, you know, taking some deep breath, making sure that I'm using my deep breath to, like, you know, release some of that stress that I was carrying, you know, in my shoulders. But then again, it had a lot for me. It had a lot to do with just my thoughts, you know, and not thinking all the worst case scenarios, you know, and the should have or could have, and you know, and there's different parts of self-care too, you know, in regards to that social piece and making sure that I was still, you know, connecting with friends or other people outside of my two girls, and then also my physical exercise, you know, making sure that I was still involved in things that made me feel happy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely, and that's really important. And you know it's weird. I live with my mom again and I just turned 47. My mom was like, why do you go out and do things? I go, well, I'm working all the time, I'm staying focused, but I'm not taking care of what I love to do. And so I would go out and sing karaoke, and this is before church, you know, joining their worship team and stuff. But now I've come to realize the karaoke has taken a step back because it is more powerful to sing at church and I love it. There is more powerful to sing at church and I love it there.
Speaker 1:You know, I was like, if it's a Sunday, I got to be there from like 7.30 in the morning to about noon. You know, I'm just like I need to save my voice. You know I'm starting to like pay attention to those little things and you know it's just, it's taken that me time for me. And my son told me yesterday he goes, well, grandma went to church. And I go, oh, she did. I didn't even see her. Well, she sat in a different row and she told me something in the car and I was like, oh really, what did she say? And she says you're the most happy while up on that stage singing. And I go, you got that right. And she got that right because I'm in my own world, I'm connected with, actually, god, you know, and I don't think everybody's just looking at one person in the choir, it's a bunch of us, there's like 45 members in the choir, so, but if we could touch one soul out there, that's amazing. So that's why me time lately, right, that's very nice. Yeah, you know, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1:People do think self-care is like oh, I'm going to go shop for myself and buy a new outfit. I'm going to go, like you said, a massage. I'm going to go get my myself and buy a new outfit. I'm going to go, like you said, a massage, I'm going to go get my nails done. Yeah, I can see where they do think that is self-care and it is a little. I call it taking care of yourself, but not the self part, because that has to come from your inner soul and understanding who you are. So, and that's something you teach, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes yes, yeah, I mean yeah, those little things of buying yourself something or nails, that is something right there in that moment, it doesn't last, you know, for the long time. Like you singing, you know that, again, you feel connected to other people and God, and so you know that feeling is lasting longer into the week than you know going and buying a new shirt. You know that buying that new shirt might make me feel good right then, or maybe every once in a while when I put it on, but it doesn't last. The longer period of time and that's the idea with self-care is that, again, it's it is it's about finding our joy and what makes us feel good. And so and those are the things that I can tap into, you know, when I'm, you know, on those moments when I am feeling overwhelmed, I can, you know, take my deep breath and tap into the things of self-care for me, and then that, can you know, it lasts longer than just going and buying a new shirt or something.
Speaker 1:Exactly. It's not like you're going to buy this shirt and be like every day, oh look what I got. Or even like I never get my nails done. But I did it recently and because it was my birthday and that was a little bit of myself treating myself, but I was like man. I think it's after week three. I'm like I want them off. They're not the happy moment that I expected it to be. They look good. Then I was like do I just tear them off? No, that's going to hurt. You know, it's just those little things. But, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:So, being connected, I'm awake and I don't know if a lot of people know what that term means, but I remember when I truly found myself and I was more in tuned with what my purpose in life was and stuff, and it's just building that foundation around it and just seeing the world as a light, and I choose to stay away from any darkness. Does darkness happen? Yes, it does, but it's up to you and your strength to make what this world is for you. Now some people will sit there and like, oh, I'm going to just tune in to the news station all day and they let that drain them throughout the day. Oh, did you hear this?
Speaker 1:And that my mom and dad. I love them to death, but I choose not to watch the news because it seems more harmful to the soul. To take in that energy than actually going for a walk is a wonderful way Seeing the ducks out there and enjoying the sky and what God has given us is right there and it's like take advantage of it. You know, I want to do a test. Can you take a month off from watching the news and enjoy life, you know, and see how many people do that and what changes there is? You know? So Right, yeah, yeah, so yeah, I want to know a little bit more. So, with the coaching that you do from your home, I guess that's Zoom related, is that correct? Yeah, okay, yeah, yep, go ahead.
Speaker 2:I do group coaching through, yeah, through Zoom, and so the women that are involved in my program we meet group once a week, twice a week if need be, and they, you know, bring their concerns. They get when they join my program they get 12 weeks of educational materials and so they work on those. In between the group calls and they can bring those questions too, if they had questions about the material, or they can just bring a question that you know, a lot of my clients bring questions of something that happened during the week that they want to like work through and um, and I will give them exercises to do in between. And then they also get three, uh, one-on-one Zoom calls with me during the 12 weeks that they're involved.
Speaker 1:That is so good. I like that layout and stuff. I mean that is something I would definitely sign up for and I think that selling point the three one-on-ones is like oh yes, I definitely need that, because it's one thing to join a group and then you feel a part of the group and it's great because it's open discussion too and you're really connecting. But the one-on-ones can be those times for their questions. They have to redirect their focus on how to, you know, push forward and everything. So you're bringing so much good into the world. I love that, but really really quick.
Speaker 1:I got to take a small little break with you and talk about my next sponsor for Keep Hope Alive. So have you ever seen snap bands on Facebook? They're always advertising my Pandora. I couldn't get it over the Pandora, but mine says hope on it and that's considered a mantra word for Snapvans. So they have different mantra words like peace, love, hope, fearlessness. They have a new one called faith. Now I'm going to quickly say in their code the only way you can get faith is put in K-H-A for keep hope alive. Now they come in all different colors. They have some that go with your corporate clothes, you know on a daily basis. Then they have those bright, fun colors. But what makes these very special? On the back of them they have this elastic band that you will pull out and with each mantra word like mine is hope.
Speaker 1:You will say like a little saying, or I call them prayers for me, for example. Let me use this Because this helps with depression, anxiety, ptsd. It is a scientific phenomenon, I call it the phenomenon that goes through and sends that signal to the brain to help you relieve those stresses. So when I'm at the hospital, I'm the hardest person to find a vein and I'm always like, okay, I'm going to pray over this nurse. She's not going to know what I'm doing, but like, please, not eat sticks, because that happens all the times. Do you drink water? And I'm like I look for those nurses that have the confidence built in and know, oh, I got this. When they say that, I'm like, okay, this is going to be a one-time thing, great, you know. But it's like, oh, I think I got you the word. Think I'm just like okay, dear God, let them get it, you know. But however, it really helps me. Take that anxiety I have, or what little fear I have. Am I going to get weak from all the sticks. You know what can we do, god, and I know I'll just sit there and pump my fist and I'm like I think I have medical PTSD in my head. You know, I've had to go through some major, major surgeries, so it's always like with the close of the eyes and saying the mantra word. I just let it be.
Speaker 1:Now, with all purchases of Snap Vans, they give a proceed to organizations and different charities that actually really help with the depression side of it, anxiety and helping people out there. So it's really good. They're nice and sturdy, very classy. Looking To visit more about Snap Bands? Visit them at wwwsnapbandscom. And Snap Bands is spelled S-N-A-P-P-B-A-N-D-Zcom.
Speaker 2:Cool huh, I got that out, yeah, yeah, I mean that kind of goes along with some of the things that I teach in my program is because when you're doing that, when you use the snap bands, you're basically disrupting the thoughts that you have, because you're becoming more aware of this than you are with your thoughts, and so and that's what one of the things that I teach is that sometimes our thoughts we get so consumed with them. That's when the overthinking and the rumination kind of gets kicked in, and so when we can disrupt them, then we become more in control, and so by doing that, you are now disrupting your thoughts.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I love it. I mean, I do it. It helps me sleep for some reason, because I guess my mind wants to work a million things over that I was like. Five years ago my doctor put me on Ambien. What a nightmare. I just finally said after the hundredth sleepwalk I'm done, I cannot do this. So they put me on a new medication. That's working, but I would dump on this at night too and I just felt like taking that deep breath in out. Let's see, I mean, after a year and a half of continuing to do that, it has helped me so, but I think it's mind over matter also, you know you're disrupting the thoughts.
Speaker 2:You're not. You're not. You're more focused on that than you are with the overthinking, you know so. So sleep hygiene is something that I talk about in my program as well Because, again, you know, with women that are dealing with you know, life storms and overwhelming thoughts when we try to rest, that's when our mind feels that it's time to do more overthinking, because you know you're trying to rest and it's saying, no, you're not going to rest. I'm going to give you a thousand things to think about. So I do help. I do help with the sleep hygiene as well and give tips that are about that, and that's. You know. What you're doing is again disrupting the thoughts about that.
Speaker 1:And that's. You know, what you're doing is again disrupting the thoughts. Yeah, definitely, I just learned with meditation music. I'll go on YouTube and just play an 11 hour peaceful video every night and just put my AirPods in and I call it let's block out the world and just relax. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Let it go, because, yeah, our brains can race a mile a minute. What did I do? What am I cooking tomorrow? What am I going to do about my move? What move am I going to? You know?
Speaker 1:For, like, all those things that disrupt your sleep and like it scares me to death, because I grew up with epilepsy, now if I don't get a full night of sleep, I will have a seizure. There is no question about it. I hate it and I'm like, if I'm up and I'm like, okay, god, you got the wheel, like, if I'm going to have a seizure and make it safe, you know I will do my best. Take my medicine, try to get a cat nap in somewhere out of the day, you know, but it's a scary thing. But, yeah, definitely, now you just mentioned you help women weather the storm. Can you give some examples of those storms that women will go through?
Speaker 2:Sure, similar to mine. You know a grief, some form of loss, you know I lost my husband suddenly, but three weeks before him I had lost my stepfather, so I lost two significant people within like the three and a half weeks. But other storms that we you know women face are divorce losing, you know, heaven forbid a child, loss of a child, a parent, even though sometimes, as we age, we kind of expect our parents to go. But that can also bring on a lot of this overwhelming feeling because, even if it may have been expected, you may have been in a caregiving role before your parent passes, and so then your identity changes, and so there's just that storm, you know. A loss of a job, you know. Or a change in a job, you know, even though you want to move, that can also be, you know, a storm, you know. So I describe storms as any kind of change that we go through, you know, good or bad, you know. Even though we might have wanted the divorce, it's still a change in our life system.
Speaker 2:And it brings on different, brings on a different identity. You know brings on, you know thoughts of like, even you know so, you know loss of like, envisioning what your future could have been or what it should have been.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, I mean with the storm challenge of me wanting to move. Like my friends that are guys and a lot of them understand why the move I go. Well, you know I've been trying to find love again and you know it would be different, like I could afford a place with somebody if I chose love last year and I go. But I don't want to do that to my son. I go. I want to fall in love for the right reasons, not because I need a place to live. That is just wrong. And I can afford Oklahoma so I could be on my own, be my own person, and that's really what it was about. But those storms they will come through and it's just how well I noticed. I did something different. I told my stepmom I am not going to sit here and I'm not going to worry about this and not stress. I'm going to take it day by day and I am going to breathe. I will look for jobs. In the meantime, I will apply, like this week, and I think I sent six applications out.
Speaker 1:And my son is so funny because he really wants to move and he's only 12. He's like did you hear anything from the jobs? I was like, honey. It's the weekend and then I woke up and taken him to school. Did anybody contact you or offer you a job? I go, let them wake up and get their coffee. I will let you know. You'll be the first one you know. So it's just cute because his energy is so like he has a church, he has the family, he's going on camping trips, fishing trips, he's enjoying that life out there and it's a good, positive energy. So it's like okay, I'm doing the right thing. Just don't look for love here in Texas, do not look for another job in Texas, stay focused, right.
Speaker 2:Right right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but yeah, so also the storms. I was reading your profile and I guess you developed something that is like a toolkit. Can you tell us more about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I have. It's currently called the illumination toolkit and it is a freebie that I give to women that you know have faced these storms or you know are just feeling overwhelmed. It has an overwhelmed checklist to kind of get an idea of what are some of the triggers that create this overwhelmed feeling. And then I provide a guided meditation and some journal prompts to get you started on releasing or you know, yeah, releasing or finding or dealing with those triggers in a better way so that you can start to feel less overwhelmed, less stressed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I definitely see that. So, and that's good because the journaling will help you. But I think it's funny because when I was journaling, I kept going and going and going and going. I was like, why am I writing this much? But I remember I went back and read everything I went through and I cried. I felt like it was somebody else's story. All of a sudden I was like, well, thank God I got out of that relationship. Like that was terrible. That was like living on eggshells and being in excuse me, hell, I had to get away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did everything right, you know, and I would journal. This would happen today. This is what happened, because I don't think any woman out there, if we're going through a challenge, we don't want to question back to us saying are we seeing this wrong? Am I like going nuts? Am I going crazy? Because that's what we'll do. It's like we want that you know, verification and clarity that we're okay, we did the right thing, we didn't do anything wrong. We got to move on. Either we're getting manipulated in life and just seeing things for the true colors, but also it comes to a point who can we talk to you without them thinking we're nuts or crazy Like what is your outsource there? So yeah, I can definitely see how being a life coach like you are and helping women out there is so beneficial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and part of the illumination toolkit is that I asked them to book a illumination session and it's a session where we can personalize this toolkit, because everybody can perceive things differently, so I want to make sure that they're getting the best benefit out of the toolkit. You know, and that's again like when you're talking about the negative, like self talk that we have. I work through that. Some of that's in the in my program as well, because overthinking comes from not even just you know the worrying about you know the what ifs or the should ofs, but we can also overthink our own negative self-talk, you know, and that self-doubt and when we don't have compassion for ourselves, and so I work through that too. That's part of the self-care is there's a section on self-love and you know changing the messages that we say to ourselves as well.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Yeah, that's really good that you put that out there and stuff. So I guess you stay pretty booked, don't? You don't?
Speaker 2:you, yes, I am, you know, and I love what I do. I love being able to help women because, you know, like I, you know, in my younger years I was burnt out and overwhelmed and luckily I had some of the skills when my husband passed, because if I didn't, I don't know if I would have weathered that storm as well as I did. You know, I was able to have the resilience and be able to get through it a little bit, you know, easier than other women that I have seen that didn't have some of the skills you know. And six months into this grief process that I had, or this journey, you know, my daughter, one daughter said Mom, you know, thank you, thank you for, you know, managing this the way you did, because I don't know if I would have been able to do what I needed to do if you didn't manage so well, like because I went back to work.
Speaker 2:You know, I was back to work, I worked in a school, so he passed away right around Thanksgiving. So we had Thanksgiving, naturally, a break at school, then we were only back for another couple of weeks, and then the new year, and then the holiday break, and then the new year, and then the holiday break Um, so I didn't miss a lot of work, but I was back to work, probably within technically I guess it would have been six weeks after his passing. Um, maybe, no, yeah, maybe like six weeks. And and then, on top of going back to work, I was back to being the supervisor, and then I was going to my exercise class a couple of days a week and you know, doing all the things that we always did. You know, like, and she's like, thank you, because if you didn't, if you wouldn't have handled this as well, then I don't know if I would have been able to get through my senior year of high school. You know so Well.
Speaker 1:That is amazing to hear because you know, taking that strength and being strong for the kiddos, it is so great, I'm so happy. Like that is just the strength overpours and it teaches our kids to be like you. If that ever happened or they will see like it could be even another problem that they're facing later in life. So there's always going to be challenges, there's always going to be something, and you know, yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's the other thing that I tell you know, when I work with women, I said you're not just doing this for you, but if you still have children that are in your home, you're doing it for them because you are teaching them how to be resilient and how to manage life storms, because there are so much noise out there, you know, in regards to negative ways to manage you know life, to negative ways to manage you know life. And when you teach them resilience, then you're teaching them that they're you know you can get through it.
Speaker 1:It may be hard, but you can come on the other side, yeah yeah, definitely, and I think it's, you know, interesting to me because something I noticed like Netflix, they have some of the best shows out, right. You know, I've been I can't say which one, but I've been watching one of them and it hit me because in the show he didn't know how to take care of problems and so they introduced him to drugs and alcohol and marijuana, I guess, and I was, like, you know, for kids watching the same show. That is not the answer, you know. I think the most interesting thing would be a podcast or like somebody you know they're going to teach not to do this stuff and they are absolutely right.
Speaker 1:And if they do go on that route, that's only a temporary fix. It doesn't fix your soul. I mean, yeah, it'll make you sleep and go, but no, it's not helping you or your soul and you have to fight that battle on your own. So, but definitely so, tell me something future plans for you and your company for, of course, this year 25, going into 26. What are those for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the goal is to continue to help as many women as I can. And then, you know, I'd like to see myself doing some retreats and inviting you know doing what I teach, but, you know, I know, maybe a three day retreats with also doing introducing, you know, some self-care in regards to, you know, yoga or hiking, and then so that's what I would like to see myself doing more of in 2026 is retreats or workshops, uh, and traveling, you know, a little bit more with the company outside of just doing zoom calls and doing some more in-person things as well in person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I, I've set some goals. I'm like I mentioned before we started airing. I started my book, but I see my book being a guest speaking event too. So I'm just like, okay, well, I'm going to get ready for that because I know I could be coaching people who've gone through the same thing too of to build that oh, what is the word they got to build their confidence in themselves, and sometimes we get lost in to how to do that. So, but yeah, it's just.
Speaker 1:I think the whole group of women thing in the retreat would be fun. So I definitely want to know when you have that and we're going to put it on the new VIP membership page and if you guys have not signed up yet, you want to do that. It's on Facebook, so it's Keep Hope Alive VIP group page for members and you're going to get to see what all our speakers have to offer. And when you're doing a retreat, I'm going to be saying to you make sure you put it up there so they can see and sign up and everything. So but yeah, if somebody wanted to reach out to you, how would they go about that? Are you on different social media links?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm on Facebook and I'm on LinkedIn and I have um. The YouTube channel is. The handle is Stacey Johnson coaching, but the name of the YouTube channel is surviving a shock.
Speaker 1:Oh, surviving shock. Okay, that's. Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good name too Surviving shock and I'm going to post that up on the Facebook page too, so we can look at that. Okay, I write like a doctor. I can never read my writing later on. I'm like what did I write? It looks like chicken scratches. But yeah, definitely. So I just wanted to quickly say thank you so much for coming and sharing your story. Now I always ask did we cover everything you did?
Speaker 2:good you did, thank you good, I'm glad.
Speaker 1:I mean this has been wonderful, um eye-opening too, to have you on the show. And you know, guys, wherever you guys find your podcast, you'll be able to find Keep Hope Alive podcast on this show. If you do have any questions for us, you can go to wwwkeephopelivepodcastcom and to the upper right there is a tab it says leave a message. So you can leave a message for us, ask any questions. I'll make sure she'll get them and then we'll get those answered for you in a short little video together. So definitely, and just remember, if you would ever like to be a guest speaker on Keep Hope Well Alive, there is a guest intake form that you can fill out and we just love having you watch the show there is going to be, for I'm getting booked up like crazy for this year 2025. So we have great shows coming for you different topics, wide range and everything, and I just want to say thank you to you and thank you to the listeners for listening to Keep Hope Alive and until next time. We will see you later. Love and light.
