Obstacles to Opportunities
When faced with life's obstacles, let's channel that negative energy into positivity and forge opportunities. Throughout the nation, business owners will share their experiences of triumphing over daunting challenges in their careers and lives, illustrating how they've harnessed these experiences for growth opportunities.
Obstacles to Opportunities
Christine Harrison's Leap: Embracing the Dance of Life and Change
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Christine Harrison joins us to share her incredible story of leaving everything behind in Canada for the U.S. in order to advocate for her child's healthcare options. Beyond this recent life change - life has taken many turns as a serial entrepreneur and we talk about it all during this episode.
Jess met Christine on the sidelines of our kids' soccer games and was quickly amazed by her journey from a national-level synchronized swimmer to a world champion hip-hop dancer! Jess knew, she HAD to get her on the podcast.
Get ready for Christine to open up her next venture here in SWFL as she opens up her dance studio to students (and hopefully adults). Follow along for all of the fun!
welcome to the obstacles to opportunities podcast. I'm jess pal, your host, and I'm heather kane, your co-host, and I'm so pumped. Today we have christine harrison in the house. You can see her. She is dancing. She's got the energy. The vibes are up in here. I love it. Oh my gosh. I mean dude, is that like the word? We are recording that for the teaser?
Speaker 2yeah, I'm showing you got it. Oh my gosh, I already feel the excitement, right now.
Speaker 1So christine and I met on the soccer sidelines and I feel like we graduated, gravitated towards each other because we were just like hey, are you like a normal soccer mom? And you're like I don't know if I ever not. I was like we graduated, gravitated towards each other because we were just like hey, are you like a normal soccer mom? And you're like I don't know if I ever not.
Speaker 2I was like we either let's hang out what is considered a normal soccer mom.
Speaker 1Oh, should we get into that?
Speaker 3well, well, you know, there's some very passionate parents, yeah, passionate about eight you soccer, yeah, um, and they just you really are hopeful for the future. Yeah, um, and I'm just taking it, you know, sometimes one week at a time, sometimes one day at a time, yeah and uh, and we realized that we were both the same in that sense, I mean, there's some really serious combo going on about soccer, for 8u, yes, so I.
Speaker 2So I always remember eight. When you say eight U, you mean eight years old and under. Yes, oh gosh, so they're eight. I mean it is a travel team air quotes.
Speaker 3But it's, you know. Yeah, some people are just really serious about this kind of stuff and I think at eight, as long as my son and his teammates are learning to you know, be great teammates and be good kids and learn some great soccer, then that's really all that matters.
Speaker 2That's the goal, right. I feel like team sports is. I mean, that's what it is. It's. How do you, how do you be on a team, how do you utilize strengths of others and all those kinds of things.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2It's not necessarily about the actual physical sport. It's about how collaboration works.
Speaker 1Yeah, and how they learn. And so that's how we met. And so quickly, when I met Christine, I was like, okay, so so what's up like, what's your background, where'd you come from, what's going on? And the reason that I liked Christine is that quickly things started to unravel from her past and I was like, oh okay, so let me just go through here go.
Speaker 1So not only is Christine a mother and a wife, she also was a national-level synchronized swimmer for seven years. What she also then went into hip-hop and ended up winning two world hip-hop championships with her crew. She also was on the national team for sport aerobics. Had to Google that. I'm sorry about that. I did Google. I did Google. I was like what is this? What? Is going on and I was like can I find your videos that?
Speaker 3was my next struggle.
Speaker 1Did you find it Well?
Speaker 2no, I don't know your maiden name, all right Because sometimes you're proud of things that sometimes you're like whoa, I mean, I'm proud of it. I feel like I'm proud of you for that, like it took a lot of energy.
Speaker 1I feel like, if you saw, her just moving around, you can tell like, oh my god, you gotta like break it down in the office for it. Michelle, yeah, she, she's actually gonna be doing a, an adult hip-hop cruise where you learn how to do hip-hop on a boat.
Speaker 3So naples we're gonna give some context there, folks, Some context. So I was talking about how I have a studio in Montreal and there's crews, right, and I was like, yeah, we have two adult crews and they're super into it. You mean like crews. Right, or like crews, like boats we're going to go on a boat and you do hip-hop and I'm like, oh, I'm like, wait a minute, Crew C-R-E-W. The crew and she was like oh my gosh, I totally was imagining a cruise ship and everybody's doing hip hop.
Speaker 1Actually, that's a great idea. I'm into it as long as the ocean's kind of like calm that day, right, I feel like we could pull it off. You could?
The Power of Dance and Business
Speaker 2So, so y'all do not want to see me doing hip-hop, is all I gotta say everybody can listen, everybody can't.
Speaker 3I think we, we forget how fun it is to dance and to let go.
Speaker 2You know I gotta like shake the booty, but like anything anything that's like actual, well, I can do choreographed, but if it's like right on, yeah, like if you want to like waltz, like that's too slow for me, let's just like bring it out yeah yeah, exactly, see it's in everyone yeah you get a good, you get a good song on there, good jam everyone's bumping.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, there was a moment in covid where dance had like a like a moment to shine in covid because people were like we need to like get natural endorphins going. And like dance is like a way to do that in like our house. And so there were all these videos of people like dancing and I just like I find so much joy in watching other people dance. I am not that good like at all, but I like watching other people.
Speaker 3You don't have to be good. I think that that's the thing we. You know, when you look at kids, kids dance, they just let it out and they go, you know, full out. And as adults we kind of let go of that inner sort of freedom and that inner child to just dance.
Speaker 3And everybody has a favorite song. Everybody has songs that just make them like a little late and little knee tap, a little head bob and next thing you know you're like I love this song. You know everybody has that song. I love this song. You know everybody has that. I love this song too. Everybody kind of has that. And we have to kind of go back to that sometimes because as adults we become very professional and we're holding it all together, you know. But that sort of freedom of dance is so good for not only the mind, like you were saying, endorphins, but there's so much research even I mean technically speaking on the brain and reducing chances of Alzheimer's, any kind of dementia, for the brain, because where you're using left and right brain the whole time, so which is so great for anyone, all of us, aging or not, even for kids obviously I'm not aging- I'm totally preserving myself teaching.
Speaker 2I am I'm totally preserving myself reverse, I'm in reverse everyone, I'm in reverse, um, so I'm incredible background, but not just that. You're a business owner, yes, yes, yeah, so how? What tell us about all your businesses?
Speaker 3yes, so I opened, uh, h4l, which is the name of the dance studio, uh, in 2008. I was in the dance business already for 10 years before for another company, and then it was time to venture out and, to be totally honest, I actually never wanted to have my own studio. You know where we're from there's, you know there's anywhere. There's politics, dance politics, things like that and I was not interested in sort of diving into that again. But then reality happened and it was like oh, we have a mortgage. Oh gosh, what are we going to do and how are we going to do this? And it was really random. It was really really very much an act of the universe saying no, no, no, you're going to do this.
Speaker 3I was approached to put a sign up on a street and then I thought, sure, I'll put a sign up for $30 on this like billboardy thing and hope somebody calls. Well, obviously nobody calls a billboard. Um, so I made a flyer at what you would call staples, but at home it's called bureau en groupe, which is the same thing in French and I made a little flyer and I literally went door to door and rang people's doorbells and put it in their mailbox and said hi, my name is Christine and starting this local dance school and be really great if you would join and literally started with 40 students and kids and adults yeah, kids. At the time when I started it was just kids and it was just hip hop. And so we started with 40 students and then it turned to 80, and then it turned to 120, and then I needed to move where I was and then I had to go the next one, and then the same year I opened my own studio.
Speaker 3Two years in, I was getting married at the same time and then that grew and then exponentially, every two years we were doubling in numbers. So we had to keep changing and expanding the space. And then in 2000, oh dear, 10, 50, yes, 10, my gosh, 2010, was it 2010? Anyways, doesn't matter.
Speaker 2father doesn't matter. It's very small date.
Speaker 3Yeah, doesn't matter um, it was a Wednesday, no, just kidding. I got approached to buy my arch nemesis business and that's yeah, that's a big story. So he approached me to purchase and acquire his company and I thought, oh my gosh, really I don't know. And he turned into me acquiring the business and I was moving into that space, which was really a very incredible space. It was more centrally located, et cetera. But then that turned into the biggest challenge, one of the biggest challenges of my career in business, unfortunately being naive at the time and not and trusting not on paper, but, you know, verbal- agreement.
Speaker 3Yeah, and trusting, you know, kindness and integrity. Anyways ended in lawsuits, multiple lawsuits, three of them. Hardest thing that's definitely an obstacle that I've overcome, but you know there's a lot of. I don't know if any of you have been through that sort of thing, but there's a lot of guilt that comes with that. You know how did I not see that? What?
Speaker 2could I?
Speaker 1have done.
Speaker 2I got it all Right.
Speaker 3How did I not see that? What could I have done Right? I got it all Right. How did I not notice? How did I not see the signs of the narcissism.
Speaker 2So do you? Did you okay? So, christine, did you have a gut feeling going? Did any part of you have that little feeling inside of you that was like, oh, I'm just not sure?
Speaker 3Well, it wasn't even not sure. It was like oh, I'm just not sure, Well, it wasn't even not sure. So he had a reputation already preceding him of being, you know, narcissistic, being unkind. You know this is a person who wants his name in lights and doesn't care how he gets there, kind of concept right, no matter what, at any cost.
Speaker 3And money is preceding all of the other qualities, everything. Money was number one. I knew that and I thought that as I went through the process I was like how is this like not too good to be true, but sort of I'm like what's the catch?
Speaker 3and I and I kind of ignored it and I didn't follow through on certain things that I probably should have, as things changed. And that's where I got caught. It was during renovation, this and that, and things got changed, and then he played that against me, according to. Anyways, those are the details.
Speaker 2So what I've realized and this is something that you know took me forever to figure out, but the moment I have that gut feeling in me, I stop, pause, pause, pause, because I have realized that the gut feeling is your intuition and I believe in the Holy Spirit is in me, working through me to say, heather, this is not going to work.
Speaker 2Yeah, so the second I have that feeling and I've always, like, pushed through it and it's never, it's never served me, right, right, and I think those are people that are listening right now. If you have that feeling, pause, yeah, like, because it it usually means that you're going down the wrong path.
Speaker 3Yeah and I'm not. So it's interesting. I'm not regretful for the choice and doing it. The only regret I had not even regret, but what I've learned is that I need to be smarter and and not as trustworthy in it not saying the trustworthy in general, I mean with in business and it took me that to sort of say, okay, wait a minute, we're changing terms and not just trust that he was going to.
Speaker 2Well, do we have it in writing. Correct? It's the writing by all parties Like yeah, no matter who the person is. I'm in the process right now of partnerships and all of these type of things and, as much as I love the person, I'm not going to trust the word. It has to be in writing. It has to be read by attorneys. It has to be executed by attorneys. It has to be executed. Everyone has to know the exit plan, the entrance plan.
Speaker 1You know what I mean Like real estate, every single transaction, every single transaction. If there was not a very clear contract that we were all abiding by, it would be a mess.
Speaker 2And sometimes it's still a mess.
Speaker 1But but I mean, it was a mess, let me tell you I was in a.
Speaker 3I was in a big old mess.
Speaker 1But to your point. Like you're, you look back and you're like you know what I had to learn that?
Speaker 2I did, I had to learn that, and now you're better right, absolutely.
Speaker 3You know better, you do better Right.
Speaker 2Well, I'm the way I am now because I screwed up so many freaking times and didn't get things in writing. And then there was gray area, and then everyone was confused, and you know what I mean. So it's like no more.
Speaker 3Yeah, and that was the big. That's the big takeaway. There is a few takeaways, but that just in business in general, and I am a super trustworthy person because I think that we all have to Well you're positive, you're going to see that I can already tell.
Speaker 2You're going to see the best in people and if you see the negativity, you're going to be like why would he do that to me? I'm a freaking badass. Why would he do that to me?
Speaker 3I didn't do anything to him. Why would he do that to me? Oh wait a minute. Oh wait a minute.
Speaker 2Narcissism is something that is. It's a beast.
Speaker 3And I being in touch with that was really difficult. That was actually the. The business part is one part, but it was the emotional side of it. That was really difficult and and as it turns out and I will say this because you can google it, I'm not going to say the person's name, but I mean he got in trouble. It was during the you uh, me too, movement, so he got in trouble with me too. There was a huge article against him for certain things that he had done to dancers and yeah.
Speaker 3So there's like more, there's more behind it yeah, and then I think, and I as and I was a grown woman at the time, I mean I was, I don't know whatever I was 42, whatever 40? I don't know and he still did a number on me. So my sadness was also, oh my gosh, what he did to those young girls at 16 and 17 and super impressionable positions, and so it was all of that.
Speaker 3That was really the harder part, the emotional side of it and kind of getting intertwined and and then figuring out, okay, wait a minute, yeah, and I was mad for a long time that I allowed that darkness in.
Speaker 2Yeah, and then it was like how did you, how did you take that darkness and fuel it for you for good? Well, I did see some cool spiritual people. But I did do some stuff like that, but to kind of Did you grow spiritually from that experience? Yes, and I think, isn't that amazing how? God works in you in those certain situations.
Speaker 3Yeah, I think my appreciation for many young dancers and women and girls who have been, you know, misled and mistreated, made me even more empathetic and more aware of it, hyper aware of it, and that what my role was I mean, I always knew my role as a leader or as a owner of a studio and we're dealing with so many girls, young girls, who are looking at themselves in the mirror and how they feel about themselves, and you know all of that, and listen in COVID at home was a whole other bag of tricks which wreaked havoc on our society as a whole.
Speaker 2Especially in Canada.
Speaker 3Oh, nelly, okay, Whoosh, that's a whole other bag of tricks.
Speaker 2That's a whole other obstacle right there. That's a whole other bag of tricks. That's a whole other obstacle anyway.
Speaker 3So when I kind of and I felt like I, when I stood up to him and I won and everything, the other women or girls that were now they're women but were in the shadows they kind of came forward a little bit more and they did come and confide in me and they were, like, felt stronger, if that makes any sense, and it was really. That was the biggest happy part out of that really dark part. Yeah was also saying listen, I see you and I can't imagine what you went through, because I just went through something really terrible with this person. So I really empathize with you and you're not alone and a lot of them would come forward and speak to me about it and they would never want to talk about it because it's really not a great experience. And this is during your formative right time 16, 17, 18, 19. You want to be a professional dancer, you want?
Speaker 1to get up, and he's the leader. He's telling you what you need to do to get there, he's coaching you, he's shaping and forming yeah, yeah, and it's unfortunate.
From Canada to Florida
Speaker 3you know that there's. And forming yeah, yeah, and it's unfortunate. You know that there's some. I mean during Me Too, we all saw it right what was going on and how these young women want to be successful, and you find yourselves in these positions where you're like how did I get here?
Speaker 2Yeah, how did I so? Let me ask you this, christine, because I think a lot of people you know you had grit, you did the work, you put the, you made the flyers, you you door knocked your way, you did it you noticed success right, so those of that are listening right now, you know it wasn't by accident no that you became zero success. Oh gosh, no, correct. So now you live in naples, florida. Yeah, like, how did that? How'd you get here.
Speaker 2How'd you get here? How'd you get here? Okay, how much time do we have?
Speaker 3Okay, so we have 14 minutes and 31 seconds. I'm going to condense it. So there's a few factors. So we, like you know, kind of led into a little bit. Covid was really, really tough. For those who know, I mean Canada, quebec especially. We were closed. My studio was closed for 18 months, my 18.
Speaker 2How do you even survive?
Speaker 3financially. That's the interesting part, you don't. So you hang on. And then it became a lot of studios. Some studios closed, which was really devastating. Everything was on Zoom. It was really tough but it became like, do I want to continue, do I want to rebuild or am I done? And it was I wanted to. I wanted to rebuild, but there is some you know PTSD, if you even from that, because watching your life's work dwindle in with a matter of months was really tough. And we also have a son. We have three children. We have three boys. I have three boys. My middle child is special needs. He has developmental language disorder and his neurologist is in Miami. So I've been going back and forth for four years, yeah, for treatment for him From Canada to Miami.
Speaker 2Oh my goodness, yeah, four years for help. How old is he?
Speaker 3He's now 11. Okay, so we started the process at six. Okay, we found her at six.
Speaker 1Does that look like a monthly thing or quarterly?
Speaker 3Yeah, so I was going. I want to say six to eight weeks. I would get on the plane and go to Miami, have about a week of treatment or so or 10 days, and then come home and fly home, yeah, and then continue this process. But I mean it wasn't just treatment intervention anyway, it was change of diet. No electronics, I mean super iep like super clean, uh, everything eating and no inflammatory foods, because all our neurotransmitters I don't get in the details of it.
Speaker 2Your, your brain is your gut, is your second brain for a reason, so yeah and if that's not balanced, then your brain doesn't work either.
Speaker 3And all our neurotransmitters that fire to our brain start in our gut. Yeah, so our gut health is our health.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3Point. So it's really that, and I have a degree in neurobiology, which was ironic. So when she was talking about everything and we connected, it was like, oh my gosh, finally I'm making, it's making, cause I wanted to understand why he was the way he was. So there was those couple of things. And then also, the grace of the universe, again, my husband's best friend from high school, from Montreal, is an American. Now he's married to an American and he moved to Estero. And we're like Estero, where's that? Is that a city? What is happening? And then we Googled it and we found out that, oh, it's only two hours. Tiny, tiny, little spots.
Speaker 1Yeah, like alligator alley.
Speaker 2From alligator alley.
Speaker 3Boom, chicka boom. So we're like all right, we're going to go visit. And then that turned into more conversations about potentially leaving and, yeah, it was really tough. I didn't want to leave, to be honest. I mean, I personally didn't want to leave, but I wanted to leave for my son's happiness and help and intervention and my husband's. My husband was ready to get out of Quebec. That's where we're from.
Speaker 2Now it's his business. He could do it from anywhere. Uh yeah, he's in construction.
Speaker 3Okay, so yeah, and uh, as it turns out, his husband, his good friend, is actually a real estate agent, so that was a nice kind of little coupling. Um, but then we had to jump over the hurdles of immigration, so so you have to start a business, right.
Speaker 2How does it work? An obstacle, I mean, I know because I've got, uh, jess, and I have decided that we are. What did we just call ourselves?
Speaker 1no, we were a canadian connectors oh, yes, yeah, I just want a shirt that says, like I love canadians, like I'm gonna get that shirt, I think. Just walk around, I just trust me. A lot of people will come up to you be like oh, my gosh, my gosh, do you? Hi. Canadians are our people. Yeah, they're great.
Speaker 2Yeah, you guys, just yeah. There's something about a Canadian, Absolutely.
Speaker 3I'm just saying Well, obviously there's something about Americans, because we keep coming, yeah, right.
Speaker 2I'm just saying that's something to say there too Welcome to the bright side.
Speaker 3Right, welcome to paradise. Well, it is. Oh boy, is it ever? It's hard to be mad here. Yeah, it's so hard, it's really hard.
Speaker 2Palm tree staring at me when we go to New York. My husband's from New York and I always say I'm like everyone's just so angry.
Speaker 1Like they're just so angry.
Speaker 2I'm like I'm waving'm just being nice. Just want to say hi, I just want to be nice. Yeah, okay, so you're here.
Speaker 3Yes, now we're here.
Speaker 2So what is the plan? Oh boy, so we have a lot of plans. I mean, I know we're going to be doing hip hop on a cruise.
Speaker 1I mean Jess already informed me of that that's happening, that happening now, next week, yeah, maybe let's go princess.
Speaker 2I mean like where are we making here?
Speaker 1some space. We're gonna have to kind of like buy out some seats or something yeah, we can do that.
Speaker 3Seating right, totally there's no sitting, we're gonna be standing, we're gonna be dancing.
Speaker 1Yeah, we're gonna just need a big platform, yeah, and some time, and we just need you you're gonna?
Speaker 2are you gonna open up a studio?
Speaker 1yeah, so what are you thinking?
Speaker 3Yeah, so I still own, obviously, h4l in that's the name of the studio in Montreal in Canada and I go back and forth. Actually, I'm going back next week, I go back almost every month. I wasn't really in the plans, but again, this is so how things work for me and I think that's a lesson for all of us. It's like when you're steered in those directions and it kind of presents itself, you know, you're ready for the opportunity and I. We found out that the really only way to stay we do have a visa an E2 visa is what it's called which is every five years you reapply, yada, yada. But to have a green card status here it's not through the E-2 visa anymore. So if you have an existing company in Canada and you bring it to the United States and it's successful, et cetera, you can get a green card eventually. Lots of details in between. So, as it turns out, that's the way for us to stay. So here we go. So now there's going to be.
Speaker 2So we're locked in. We're locked in H4O Florida All of our followers. Okay, we've got to make sure, like I mean, you can watch Jess and I make a fool of ourselves, so right.
Speaker 1When are we doing this? Yeah, we will, we'll, we'll do a little break it down. We shall be ready to go, I'm ready, we're in your first customers. I can't wait.
Speaker 3No, really I, and it's so funny as these opportunities present themselves.
Transition and Resilience Through Challenges
Speaker 1I was like all right, I'm doing it, yeah, let's go. I feel like that is. That is that at your essence, though. That's why you've been a synchronized swimmer. You've like you, you see certain like maybe a gift of yours, as you see those opportunities and you're not scared to try it and do it, despite everything that you know other people would be like, oh well, but well, but this, but that, like, you choose to not think about those things and just think like let's do it Steer ahead.
Speaker 2Isn't that kind of a blessing? So this is like me just being silly so many people overthink something and they don't execute. You don't have the privilege to overthink it, because you have to do it. I do In order to stay, but don't you think that's kind of a blessing?
Speaker 3Yes, but everything, and I think that, and also, when you're in line, when you're in alignment, it just flows.
Speaker 3It just goes. And I know people talk about it. They're like how do I get in alignment, how does that work? I think that when you are listening to yourself and what makes sense for you and what you love to do, it, things just fall into place, with work, obviously, and perseverance and all the good things. But it just falls into place. I mean, oh gosh, I. There's so many times when I'm like I love teaching, I love teaching dance, I love hip hop. I've been in it 26 years and I still love it and I still love the impact I have. I still love watching. And then my, my position is very different today, like I'm not teaching. Last year was the first year of my 26 years. I didn't teach, so you're just very hard.
Speaker 3Yeah, it was tough. How many a lot of tears about that.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, it was tough. How many a lot of tears about that. Yeah, cause we met I guess it was probably what nine to 10 months ago maybe, perhaps, and that that was her season of like. Like she came off of a very intense like business life with, you know, taking Everett down here very busy, and then all of a sudden it was like like everything stopped. Yeah, and I met you at that time and you're like I don't know Like it's like what are you doing?
Speaker 1You've had kind of like this this transition period until you, until you've gotten some direction on what you're doing. Yes, you know.
Speaker 3So I also. I also owned a cafe. So I opened a cafe during COVID also with a neighbor, a friend of mine, and so that was a wonderful. I've always I've been in the coffee business also before for years and I was a barista for a long time in downtown Montreal in my twenties during university and I always wanted to have my own cafe. So I did that and then I literally was open a year and I'm like so hate to tell you, but I'm leaving, I'm moving. She was like what, yeah, yeah, it was really hard. Um, it was hard on her for sure too, and um wasn't the easiest separation, you know, uh business wise.
Speaker 2And uh, is it still functioning? Yeah, the, the the cafe of, yeah, yeah, so it's great, it's beautiful.
Speaker 3Yeah, you can all go check it out. What is it called? It's called Cafe Coco and Bean. I'm not the owner anymore. I sold my shares, but it's beautiful and I'm really proud of it. That's beautiful, yeah. So I did that too and I left. So it was like leaving not just my parents, my family, my aging parents, but, like my friends, my people, my hip hop community, my businesses. So was that a right decision? Yes, what makes you have that clarity? It took time, like I say, it was overnight. Moving was tough and I, when I met jess too, I think I was very much like well, I, I just uh, stay at home.
Speaker 1I was like christine, do you get out? I started rattling. I was like have you been here? Have you been here? She's like no. I was like, well, I'm gonna here. Have you been here? She's like no. I was like, well, I'm going to need to take you out immediately.
Speaker 3No, I just don't know so and I didn't. To be totally honest, I didn't like it at first. Yeah, I really didn't.
Speaker 2Understandable. Yeah change is scary. I mean, yeah, I was happy for why we did it.
Speaker 3Yeah, of course, and course, and my son and you know, intervention for a child with any kind of neurodivergency it's before puberty is really important. Um, because the brain is more like malleable and it can move in. The neuro feedback is much more successful before puberty. And he's 11 now. So we're like this is our window, we got to do it. We don't ever want to have any regrets with him and anything that we could have helped him with or, to you know, know, help them get the best chances. So I wasn't upset about that, it was more how do I? Who am I now? Who are you?
Speaker 1now Right, the invention of.
Speaker 3Christine, Like what's next? Yeah, it was so like I didn't know where to put myself. And then again finding other Canadians or people, and again random but not random. Right again finding other Canadians or people, and again random but not random right, and it's not zero random but yet, wow.
Speaker 3So my son was playing lacrosse and another mom, canadian, okay, uh, her son's name is Harrison, that's my last name. I was like, okay, we're destined to be friends. And then she says, would you like to play pickleball? That's right people. So I was like, absolutely I'll go. Because again I'm like, what am I gonna do? And then I board my friend's outfit no, full outfit guys. I showed up in a full outfit and to this super hilarious, awesome group of women and that was it. I was laughing. I I love trying new things and being terrible at it and succeeding. I just love that. And then I've met this. I met a bunch of other Canadians and, yeah, some awesome women from here, but also women from South America. Anyways, that actually was the huge pivoting turning point and I had a massive car accident I forgot to mention that I
Speaker 3don't remember that here, which also Reset some things. It was, yeah, it was very traumatic, yeah, uh, it was on the 75, the highway here and uh, I, there was a huge tire in the road. I was driving to Miami for Everett, he was in the back seat and huge tire was in the road and I the guy in front of me came off the road and went back on. I was like, oh my gosh, I saw it and I hard turned right and then I tried to regain balance of the vehicle and it just I couldn't and I lost it and I crossed all the lanes of the highway and then I slid and the car rolled into the embankment.
Speaker 3Oh, my gosh, so I flipped, we full rolled and then ended up upside down. So it wasn't until like even a month later I was talking to my father about it and I realized, because when I had the sensation of coming to and my son was screaming, mommy, mommy, are you okay? And I thought, oh my gosh, how sweet his first thing was, am I okay? And then I'm like, wait a minute, I think I was passed out. So I didn't even realize that I was unconscious, I was passed out. Then I kind of like jumped and I turned around. I was hanging upside down and I looked at him and I said, yes, I'm fine, I'm totally fine. And I again miracle, my phone was literally in front of me, like on the door because I was upside down, grabbed it, 911, and then this amazing, my heart's like beating.
Speaker 3I know I'm like.
Speaker 2I actually feel a little nauseous, right now I'm telling a story.
Speaker 3And then but this is the beautiful part Then I heard this really big, burly voice hey, how many are you? And I yelled two. And he's like, are you bleeding? And I check around, oh no, and he said, okay, I'm coming. And then he pushed all glass cause we compacted the car Right so he opened, he poked his little head in and he says oh, wow, you guys look great, I'm going to get you out of there. And I said, yes, yes, you are, we're going to get out of here. And Everett's crying, and and then I would go from like like this, like feeling like I was in control, to not. And then they pulled us out the back window and then I handed my phone over and then I, as he pulled me out, I like my knees buckled and I was, you know, bawling there's another gentleman there too and then they disappeared. They, literally these little angels came and killed you.
Speaker 3And the firemen were there and the whole shebang, and I turned around and thought oh, that was all for me. So what do you mean? They disappeared, I don't know where they went, they just left and you still, to this day, don't know who it was.
Speaker 2No, I asked them?
Speaker 1I don't think it was anyone.
Speaker 2I think you have angels that came in and protected you. I don't know, but we were pulled out of the car and even the state trooper.
Speaker 3When he pulled up he thought oh gosh, yeah, how many fatalities like. I'll show you pictures after it's. We saw the pictures.
Speaker 1They sent it within our team snap and I didn't know you that well, but I was like, oh my goodness, like it's a miracle it's a miracle.
Speaker 3Yeah, neither one of you were injured no, I have like this weird scar on my foot. I was really concerned about my foot. It was really funny. Oh, my foot is bleeding as if that was the big deal, but um, nothing, wow oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you, but I felt like I wrapped up all my other stuff, my trauma, like a cocoon.
Speaker 3this is really maybe too far for some, but I did like a session with a woman after, because the trauma of the accident was quite intense, like why did I survive that? And it kind of felt like I just kind of was like a cocoon inside this little car, compacted. And then I went through that, pulled through this window and like I, you left it all.
Speaker 3Let it all there and I was like, okay, now it's new, this is a new beginning. Yeah, I'm letting go all the stuff that happened Good, bad, ugly, wonderful that are still a part of me, but I'm not going to carry it as a backpack.
Speaker 2That's powerful right there. That is so powerful. But those moments in life are where you realize what's important and what's not. Yes, you know.
Speaker 1And intentionally living like how you want to live. I've had a few moments and same I'm like I'm letting go of the backpack yeah, I've carried it around. Yes, yeah, but it's not serving no I'm not who I want to be with it like I'm. You know we're done absolutely and that's what it is.
Speaker 3And I yeah, I just felt lighter. I kept saying that I felt so light after the accident. It was weird.
Speaker 2I think you let it all go and that does make us feel lighter. We could talk for another hour. Are we going to need to have part two?
Speaker 1Let's have you back. When you have your studio up, let's have her back. Maybe we'll do a little video promo Our first class.
Speaker 2Let's go, I'm going Our first class. Yeah, let's go, let's go. I want to bring it down. I'm holding you to it.
Speaker 1Woo, all right, I'm holding you to it.
Speaker 2Well, thank you all for watching, listening, yeah, and we'll catch you on the next episode.
Speaker 1Thank you so much, christine. Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you so much, ladies. It's been so fun, and we'll be back for episode two with Christine. Absolutely All right, thank you.
Speaker 2Thank you.
