Ep. 15 - Willow - Neurodiverse Kids & The Spiritual Gift of Long Suffering

** CONTENT WARNING** This episode discusses losing a loved one to suicide. If that content impacts, you today, please skip this episode. If you or a loved one is struggling, please dial 988 on your cell and know being a human is hard and you are so loved.

Willow Clerici is a married mom to three boys who currently resides in Tennessee. We discuss raising neurodiverse kids, the healing nature of service AND how Willow stays young by trying hard things daily.

To find Willow: Special Forces: A Journey of Love, Resilience, and Advocacy: Clerici, Willow Paige: 9798310563261: Amazon.com: Books (2) Facebook Willow Clerici | LinkedIn

Fragile X Syndrome: Resources for Families | Our Fragile X World Fragile X Syndrome Research & Treatment • FRAXA Research Foundation - Finding a Cure for Fragile X Home - Fragile X International

Non-Profits mentioned: Travis Manion Foundation | "If Not Me, Then Who..." Apogee | Reseeding Freedom Through Whole Family Education 2026 Night to Shine About Us: NJSP Survivors of the Triangle 

Healing: Trauma-Informed Jiu-Jitsu | Psychology Today Spartan Beast: OCR's Half-Marathon Endurance Event

Transcript

Ep. 15 - Willow

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Sparking the Torch Podcast. I'm Jess and I'll be your guide. I lost my brother, Sergeant First Class Zachary M. Brown, while he was on active duty to suicide. These days I'm obsessed with actionable kindness. Individually, we are a light, but when we share our stories, whose torch might we spark? Today, on episode 15, we talked to Willow Page from Tennessee. She shares insights on raising children with fragile X syndrome, navigating a firefighter brother's loss, and what it means to live authentically.

Intro & Meet Willow

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Hey there, welcome all you new faces to Sparking the Torch Pod. And a huge thank you to those who keep coming back. Plato is credited as saying, those who tell the stories rule society. Today's guest is a true powerhouse. She's navigated, diagnosing and advocacy for her special needs kids, divorce and blending families, losing a firefighter brother to suicide, and her own breast cancer battle. She wrote a book that really should be a 10-part series. So virtual claps for Miss Willow Page from Tennessee. So how are you today, Willow?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

I am well. I am well. Enjoying this closing in of May, unofficial, about to start of the summer, and ready for it.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Okay. You have three kids. How old are they?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

I do. So I have three boys. I'm a boy mom and my oldest, Ezeke's 22, Eli is 20. And then we've got our surprise, Joseph is 12.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

That is a surprise. You think you're done with the baby stuff. Yeah. Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Here we go again. I was just out of all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Okay. So I gave a glimpse. You are a published author. One of my favorite things about your book, and I thought it was a really creative tool to move your story forward, was your daily life snapshot because you use that through all the things you've battled since your 20s to the stage of life we're

Daily Life Snapshot

SPEAKER_00 1:59

at now. What does a daily life snapshot look for you in 2026?

SPEAKER_01 2:03

It is it's somewhat open. It's pretty, I try to keep it flexible. So it starts with uh I wake up early, I prayer and meditation time consistently daily. And then it turns into whatever workout that might be jujitsu, strength training, or running. And then it's getting the kids situated. Our youngest is still virtual learning. So he's kind of in that homeschool situation. And then it's whatever the kids need during the day, if something navigating my older two, if they need to go somewhere or an event they're at. And then I'm also coaching still. So I had I see clients daily. And then usually the usual dinner time, time for family or picking up, doing the taxi driving, especially for the 12-year-old, and then off to bed.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

That is for those 12-year-olds, they don't realize how much stuff they say yes to, and that we have to figure that out for them. I'm glad you brought up the coaching because I just now thought about it as I was listing your resume, and it sounded TMZ-like. I said the dramatic things, not the flip side of the coin. So clearly you've overcome some things in your life. And what does this other side of that look like for you?

Coaching & Neurodiversity Work

SPEAKER_00 3:15

You said coaching. What is that?

SPEAKER_01 3:17

So I am a board certified functional medicine health coach and a leadership coach. I get the gamut of people, people that are trying to lose weight or get healthy, to people navigating challenging relationships. Uh, I do get a substantial amount of parents who are uh living life with neurodiverse kids and how to support them, especially in that way. And to support themselves, really. What it comes down to is how are they supporting themselves and living their lives in order to support their kids their best way. And it's also, I coach with a leadership program called Apogee. And it's a how do I describe apogee? It's becoming sovereign and free in your own life. And there's men's and women's parts to that and kids' parts to that. And it's just this awesome opportunity to share and coach in that too.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Oh my gosh. See, you really are superwoman. I think the right person for this. You, I love that you talked about I have neurodiverse kids, and we as parents, and it's a fault on our part, right? But we will do anything for them. And oftentimes that is sacrificing our own, it's the airplane analogy. We don't put the mask on ourselves, we do it others. And you can see it when parents have because we don't do it on purpose. We're scouring the internet, we're not sleeping, we're trying to find solutions or what specifically, and you can see it when they connect with somebody that gets it or is on a similar journey, and it's like whatever emotion and you know, tears. And so that's really beautiful. You support them that way.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, it's part of it's one of my favorite spaces to be in. And even in our community, I have people that know written the book and they'll reach out to me and ask, Do you know any about services or what can we do here? How can we navigate this for our kiddo? And I just certainly, when my children were diagnosed, never thought I'd be this person, right? To help support and grow people in their understanding and knowledge of this world of neurodiverse children and services, things like that. And it's been such a blessing to be able to do that. I really feel honored that I get to support these amazing families.

Raising Neurodiverse Kids

SPEAKER_00 5:28

You say that when you started this journey, you didn't think you'd be this person. What did this younger version of you think you would be?

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah, I certainly in my twenties, I was, I just want to be the mom, have the kids, the picket fence, the house, and all the happiness life's gonna be so perfect, perfect, right? The Norman Rockwell painting, if you will. And nobody realizes until you're in it that life is not a Norman Rockwell painting and that there's moments of that for sure. And without question, I never thought I'd have neurodiverse children. That wasn't something I ever imagined would happen or was like, oh, could happen until it did. And then life changed very drastically. And even in the book I share it was kind of like life before this and life after this. It really shifted my life greatly.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah. I had never thought about this until you just said that, Norman Rockwell. Maybe our thinking of what motherhood was a 2D version before, and now it's 3D, 4D. It's kind of richer, it's better. I can't think of what the event is Tim Tebow does with special needs kids at the ball, like a gallup. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

The the prom. Yeah, I forget what it's called.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

I think of seeing videos from that, and I know they're not curated. I know it's not AI or the best of the best, but there is something about the pure joy in with some of our profoundly special needs friends. They are living their best authentic self. They say that's the highest vibration, that's the highest frequency. We don't get to experience that level of. I mean, we have to work hard to not care about anyone in the room to I can't dance like that.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

I no, yeah, their freedom is awesome. And to shout out to Tim Tebow, it's called a night to shine. And it really is their shining. They just are just the brightest lights and they see this world so differently. And even now I've had people ask me if there were things that you could do to support your child or to change the neurodiversity in them. And when they were young, I was what is there a pill? Is there a medication? Is there a diet? Is there something I could do?

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Do I need to fly to a foreign country and be somebody?

SPEAKER_01 7:36

What could I do? Okay. And I didn't, I was young. You're a parent, you're first of all, you're a parent of new kids in general and trying to figure that out. But I wouldn't change them. They're just Zeke. They're just Eli, just like any other human being is just them. And they just, I would not want to rob them of who they are because they see this world so differently. They have been my biggest teachers. And their light just is so bright in awe of them so often. And especially my oldest Zeke, he's just pure joy. And he's known as the mayor about town. Okay, we can't go somewhere in town that people don't know him. And it's crazy. And to think in that space, you often think that your child's going to be an outcast, that your child's not going to be welcomed or accepted. And that's not the case with Zeke. Zeke will be make himself he will make himself known, whether he's not a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

100% the opposite. You thought fitting in looked a certain way, and he is ruling it.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Oh, yeah. He is hands down, just ruling it. And it's just been a delight to watch him grow, but to watch even neurotypical kids around him embrace him and support him and cheer him on and recognize him. I definitely was more scared, especially as he got older. He's not this cute little kid anymore. Totally. You know, he's a man. Yeah. And what do people think of him? And he just has no problem. He could go up to the biggest, scariest dude. Sup, fist bump. What's up, ma'am? Nothing, nobody. He's just, hey, what's going on? Homeless people. Fist bumps, homeless people down the street. I'm like, please don't. It looks like at the same time, I'm like, I love you. I love that you just love. You just love everybody for the same. And he just, it's just awesome to see.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

You want to hyper correct it in certain situations. But yeah. Man, what a gift. They're exactly who they're supposed to be. That's interesting. The mayor thing. Uh, I bartended in Baltimore near Raven Stadium for a long time in the neighborhood I was in, Federal Hill. We had a regular Ryan Waddell. He has Down syndrome, but he also he worked for Under Armour. He had an apartment close to his parents, but he would frequent, like he'd come into our place for breakfast, and we would call him the mayor. And everybody looked out for him. Everybody loved him. He's still doing well. Okay, let's see. I love that we talked about the boys. Okay. I'm going to go back to your book. Yeah. I tried to write a book when I was 28. And the criticism I got when I sent to a query agent, I thought it was tough. She was like, no one's going to want to read a book of somebody that's overcome multiple things. But I've looked back at it now, and what she was saying is I needed some perspective or some time from things to see things differently. So with your book, you said, I see the spiritual gift of long suffering. It's not a gift anyone wants, but the fruit it bears are undeniable. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Yeah, I for sure. And even as you share that with me, I get chills because you see that there are these gifts out there. And I think the first time I really saw that was in I Share About My Stepmom in the book and the losses that she experienced in life and how she just continued to put her foot in front of the other each day, how she continued to inspire others each day, how she continued to fight for the things that were important to the people around her and to her family each day. And I was like, wow, I never really saw that. And then I started to see it right in my own life as I'm writing the book. I'm like, oh my gosh, I also am seeing the fruits of this gift of long suffering. And I'm like, wow. Like when you, but you don't, you're not going to see that until you're farther into it and to appreciate the wisdom that comes out of it. Because all of these experiences I've had have shaped who I am and have allowed me to become a person who can be so compassionate and so understanding and so just loving and for other people rather than jaded and angry and hurtful towards others. It could shape you dip many ways. And my faith has allowed it to shape me into somebody that I desire to be. Not somebody that I regret being.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Okay. So that quote still rings true today. You can see it in all parts of your life. You talked about faith. One of our volunteer things is with the same organization. Was faith and was that one of your higher character strengths?

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Yeah, spirituality is one of my top three for sure.

Parenting & Advocacy

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Back to parenting. What parenting pivot or advocacy move are you most proud of when you look back?

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Allowing my kids to be who they are. You know, not trying to change them or get them to fit into a certain size or shape. I mean, there's social appropriateness, don't get me wrong. We discipline our children. You're not going to act like an idiot on purpose in public just because you feel like it. But that we allow them to be who they are. And I think you have this picture of what your kids are going to be like when they grow up. And hopes too. But as they grew, it was like, wait, what am I doing? They need to like what they like and not like what they don't like and allow them to figure it out in the process.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

And sometimes the it's such a generalized view for such a large system, but sometimes the education system wants to produce little robot worker bees. And so then it's almost a gift when our kids don't fit into that box and we have to blow it up or find a different scenario that works for them so that we don't crush their little souls, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yeah. Oh, 100%. We could have a whole podcast on my perspective of the education system. Okay. But yeah, that's what you said for sure that we are not robots and it is not meant to we are meant to be individuals and so many kids need a different form of education, a different way. To learn and would just explode if they were allowed to learn in that way. But yeah, and that's what I had to do for my boys was fight for what they needed, fight for how they would learn best, fight for the people and the services and the therapies that I knew that they needed to help them be successful in this world in life.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

And then you have to, when you're ready to make the hard call, you have to do it. My middle one, the way her IEP looks right now is generalized anxiety disorder. And she's allowed breaks, but she also has dyslexia. But there's a part of it, I'm doing all these accommodations to fit her in that box. But if she was in a different school that had different learning styles and maybe some different classroom management, she's allowed breaks because sometimes she has kids in her class that are still learning their emotions and throw chairs at a teacher. Like I couldn't work on my math test like that. So you just yeah.

Joy, Faith & Finding Yourself

SPEAKER_00 14:42

What is something you do for joy?

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Oh gosh, so many things. I just go for a walk.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Look outside. I live in Tennessee. The mountains are right outside my door. I'm just it's creation. Okay. Immediate. You're not a minute, you're not a native Tennessee. No, I am originally a Jersey girl, a South Jersey girl.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Are you missing the beach in your beautiful new surroundings?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

I do miss it, but we have lakes. So I get my water in one way or another. I do miss the beach, yes, for sure. And it's a fair trade-off.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

You're good with either the nature of beauty. Is there something in your journey? I heard somebody yesterday say they learned by pain. They wish it wasn't that way, but you had to go through painful things to get to this. Is there anything on your journey that you wish you could have got to that destination without all the hard lessons?

SPEAKER_01 15:37

I am for sure what I call an experiential learner. So I fit that bold very easily. My husband will say to my middle son, why does he always have to do everything the hard way? And I like raise my hand. Like that's because of me. Great. Thank you. He learned it by watching me, right? In the space of that, what would I have wanted to learn earlier? That it's okay to suffer, that pain is not indicative of failure. Pain helps us be molded and shaped into who we're supposed to be. That without, we need that pain. We need that struggle. We need that suffering in order to learn the gift of overcoming. Learn the gift of achievement. Learn the gift of, oh, that didn't work. I've got to try something else. Learn the gift of, oh, I don't always win. And it's okay. I'm still me. I'm still worthy. I'm still gonna walk my walk. That would probably I would have liked to learn that a little bit sooner because then I could have enjoyed the not enjoyed it, but had perspective in the moments, in the other moments of pain rather than wishing it away, praying it away in certain ways that I did and not allowing it to be the shaping that that it could have been.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Right. To just exist, not judge it, not hide. Yeah. Yeah. That's very Buddhist of you, or my understanding, Buddha teacher. Yeah. I think that even with the kids, if we teach them that life is supposed to be fair or fun or achievement-based, then we're just setting them up, right? Hard things are gonna come. You will be changed for it, maybe. And then the next time a hard thing comes, you're better, not better, but you know what to do. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yeah. It's a teacher.

Loss, Grief & Albie's Legacy

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Do you want to talk about your brother? I can. Have you heard that whole it's a Simon Sneck thing? But he said how there's a helping yourself section in a bookstore. There really should be a helping others one. And I thought of that with your book. Each one could be how you go through this or things that worked for me going through this.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Yeah, I have thought about that. And doing smaller little e ebooks, if you will, or something in that space, because yeah, there was still a lot of lessons and a lot of meat that I could share from each one of them.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Totally. What is that? It's a digital platform, something where people share writings, somebody in my cohort that writes on it. Like a HubStack or something. Oh, yeah. That's true. If you don't have enough projects, don't you want to? You gotta put that on the list. We briefly talked in the opening. Uh you and I share that we lost a hero type profession brother to suicide. What would you like to share with our audience about that? Or who he was or anything?

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Yeah. So my stepbrother Albi, this June, it will be nine years since he died by suicide. He was an Atlantic City firefighter. He was larger than life. He had the personality of he was the star quarterback. He was the biggest man in the room. He was hysterical and he was a lot to handle for sure. And he still missed. I was even sharing with someone in my cohort today who just lost another family member from suicide. And just leaving him a message, time heals, but it doesn't, it still hurts. Right. It's still, there's still the moments you're like, oh man, I wish I could share this with you. There's still those moments when you're watching your they're his kids grow up. His youngest is about to graduate high school. And it's it just is sad that he can't be here to join us in the physical life, if you will. I pray, I certainly pray that he, that his soul is at peace. I certainly pray that he can see the beauty and the joy that his boys are and how they've grown into these gorgeous men who are just such good kids. And at the same time, our parents age and they're in that season that he doesn't get to be a part of that too, and watch his niece and his nephews grow up and be a part of that. My son's graduation this weekend and things like that. So it's it's still hard. And I see my stepmom still struggles with it too. We all wish he had stayed. And at the same time, we do carry on his vibrancy and vitality for life, his joy, his leadership. And that's in terms of my service with Travis Mannion Foundation has always been in honor of Albi. That I've taken his leadership of what can I do for my community? What can I do for those who serve and who have honored us with their time and their sacrifices to be there for them and to begin to build the character of the young people of today and what can I do to instill all those really good qualities that he had in others? And I feel privileged that I get to do that, you know, and honor him in that way. And I know I've had some dragonflies fly by often. That was what I just wrote. Invalidation. Invalidation. Yeah. Oftentimes, so in Tennessee, the dragonflies come out in the summer and we have a pool. And there's often, I'm gonna say every single year since we've had the pool, there is usually one massive dragonfly at some point that hammers me in the beginning of the pool season. And I'm like, you son of a it knocks me off the float because it scares the bejesus out of me because like it's quiet, and all of a sudden there's this massive. That's too much to handle Albie, right? Yeah, exactly. I'm like, you son of a. I'm like, yep, thanks. Thanks, reminder. And then it just chills on the side, it doesn't even bother me again. It just watches, it tags out, and it just makes me laugh. Yeah, there's definitely signs that he hears us and he's around for sure.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Oh man, I love that you said the vibrancy. I think you communicated that well. He just, it's such an interesting thing. People that haven't lost someone this way, they have an idea of the type of person that passes this way. Anyone I have met, and it's gotta be triple, if not four digits now in my four years. You said my brother was a lot to handle. I used to think of Fred Flintstone, Wilma and him would fight and she'd whack him over the head. My brother, if it was a 500 person wedding, everybody had to know Zach Brown. But I'd want to get the frying people go to bed. Just you don't have to win this one. So I get that. I did not know this till you agreed to talk to me on this in that profession. Firefighters are three times more. likely to die by suicide than in fire. Yeah. Man. Yeah. Okay. What did I write in the milest parents' age? Do you think with your brother having that sort of personality and your takes on spirituality, will he be the first one when you guys cross over there with the high fives? Or it's possible.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

It's possible in the space of he literally was a quarterback and a baseball player and his kid's biggest cheerleader, but also that big like your brother, the loudest voice in the room. Totally. Yeah. If not, if he's not there high fiving, it's the shout, the holler from the crowd. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

The quarterbacking, the leading. How uh I try not to talk about other people's experience, but how has your stepmom's healing journey gone? Has she being older and that generation, again, typically speaking, handles things differently than we do. Has has she found some good people or some good help?

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Yes. Yes. She immediately so she so she's a very unique individual. She lost her husband who was a state trooper in the line of duty. Uh Alby was 15 at the time. Loss is not new to her. So she went through that and because of that she actually created or founded the Cape Atlantic chapter of Cops, which is concerns of police survivors at the triangle. So he was a state trooper. She created her tribe right out of she saw I don't remember where the first one she met people from maybe Chicago or something and learned that she could create the same thing where she was. And so she co-founded that one and created a whole community of people to support people who lost loved ones that were first responders. And so when Albie passed the amount of love the amount of outpouring that she had around her was phenomenal. And then when she knew that she talked with some people she found some support services to to help her process as well as her grand grandsons to encourage that and we're Catholic but she's very faithful and so she continued to seek in her faith the support that she needed when there's definitely been a lot of times she was pissed. Yeah. She's also Irish vice the Irish woman I'm half Irish. And anger was pretty quick to the top right and it was hard and there's still times we get angry we're like what the hell yeah you know but she's done okay though I think for sure it's taken a toll on her health and her well being having experienced such grief in her life she built the community she needed before she really knew how much she was going to need them.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Oh yeah. How okay with you guys losing people that are public servants that with very select people that want to put the goods of mankind over state troopers, firefighters, military so in you guys's next generation kids talking about your stepmom's grandkids if they want to follow in any of these footsteps are you guys encouraging are you cautious? Do you have any feelings with that not at all.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

We consistently offer what if you find a passion and you find something and this is what you want to do, do it. I don't think my nephews I don't know that they're interested in that per se as much not that and maybe they will be you never know what kindles something in your desire to be a servant in some way. Certainly for our youngest my husband is a is a veteran he was Air Force and we always tell him if you want to be in the military great but you don't have to be there's no expectations of that and we want you to choose and be clear about your choice in that space too don't just make rash decisions but make an educated one. And if that's what you want to do great. You know again not stopping them from being who they are because I'm afraid something's going to happen to them.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Something could happen and then they walk outside the house like totally so what are you never going to walk outside the house right exactly I pulled this quote today too please never forget how brave it is to continue to show up in a story that looks so different than what you thought it'd be. That's you Willow yeah

Advice & Closing Wisdom

SPEAKER_00 26:24

yeah for sure. Let's see okay we didn't even talk about your health journey and all the wonderful things you've learned. So I'm going to open this big in anything you've overcome if you could talk to somebody that is going through that now what advice would you give them it sounds a little bit jaded when I say it's really important to love yourself.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

And I don't mean like you're your bestest friend and you look in the mirror and you say I'm wonderful. I'm good. Josh garn it I'm good enough right there's this SNL skit back in the day for that one. Anybody who's older and listening in, but that you do care for yourself because your body, your being is the only one you're going to get and it's important to pay attention to what it's telling you. And not only because of your health but because we are mind body spirit we are a three and one and that intuitive spiritual nature that we have is one of our best communicators and it will give you such insight if you allow it to and I do feel that if I were in 20 years ago 30 years even as a teenager get to know yourself and listen to that inner voice. Listen to what your body says listen to those some of those feelings some of those emotions that are coming up and don't be afraid of what shows up just listen and just begin to develop this self-awareness because it will teach you so many things and clue you in to a lot that's going on around you that you may not see. And that's been such a gift for me even in my coaching experience especially as a parent to really listen in when I'm like this is what I'm really sensing or hearing. It's given me this gift of understanding that I never thought I'd have till I was in my super late stages of life.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

Your Betty White years. Yeah my Betty well I don't know Betty White she's pretty fierce. She is pretty fierce. But yeah that's a really good one that's something I still am working on.

Connect with Willow

SPEAKER_00 28:31

Okay. Where can people find you talking about the book or coaching or if people are hey I need somebody like Willow in my life where would you tell them so you can always reach out to me on the socials like Facebook and Instagram at Willowpage on Instagram and my Nate Willow Clarisi on Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

But yeah and the book is on amazon.com you can get it paperback or Kindle but anyone can just DM me and if you want to coach coach I don't have a website I coach by word of mouth and subcontracting things like that and I'm just here to support people if they need the support and I'm just excited to to be able to share and give back that's one of my biggest choice I would imagine you've experienced this as well that through pain and loss I find more joy in offering support and love and doing for others. Totally. And that has been one of the biggest supports in my life is that is doing for others, being a part of Travis Manny Foundation, doing things for other organizations that I can support in like when you're when you're hurting to go help be the helper is one of the best gifts. So yeah I just get to if I can be the helper.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

I agree. It was a gift the first time service came into my life was I was a teenager doing punk teenager things and I got court ordered assigned to help people with my pastor and it helping other people is the best medicine there is for whatever it's perspective, it's community, it's connection you've been we know each other briefly and you've been such a great example to me because trying to get into this healing space you talk to people that are influencers or busin people trying to make money from it and they have a very idea of what that looks like and like you I'm trying to make it happen organically I'm not trying to have some social media campaign of let me tell you why I'm awesome because I'm not but I just but you are but if anyone ever if something about our stories reaches out you will reach back. Is there anything we didn't cover today?

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Clearly we need 10 more podcasts because I have to know more about the foundation there's so many ways we can go I guess just to if you here to do something or you desire to try something new or to play or to have fun or to learn something new do it. You're never too young to begin again. You're never too old to to try something new or to be in a new experience because all those things help to help us to learn who we are and what we're capable of. And I offer that especially in the space of doing hard things do hard things on purpose. That really teaches you a lot about yourself and it's something I do on the daily training jujitsu is probably the hardest thing that I do. We co-own a school and it's not some I'm not confrontational. I do not love fighting that is totally beyond me. Yeah there is such a satisfaction when I get off the mat after being mauled by other women and men it's so much fun in in the space of it not while you're doing it necessarily we do laugh often because it is fun. But and I say that because there's so many times I was having a conversation with some of my jujitsu women the other day and I said I'd almost be probably at my black belt now if I had stuck with it years ago. And I said I probably would have had a bump with the breast cancer. I would have had to clearly some time off for that. But other than that, I'd be pretty far along now and I'm a blue belt which is awesome and I'm in it and I'm still very new at learning this whole game. But it's such a the sport itself is such a dynamic space of learning who you are allowing all the pride and ego to just go away that it is just you and it is you're in this experience and you're it's just this awesome opportunity to learn about who you are and what you're made of in a very safe and easy way to do so. But it's really been a cool teacher in my life and and I I don't care I'll be 50 this year and I'm still doing it.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Everyone's there for their own journey and that is I don't know if that's our trauma or us as women but we want to still please everybody right you can't get jujitsu you're just worried about not getting choked out right exact 100% I just don't want to get put to sleep here and nothing broken.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

Right. And that's the space of most of us still have day jobs to go to so we're all pretty don't touch the face yeah let's keep the digits let's keep the hands and feet together but it's fun and when you get a great when you're in a great school and you have great people around you it's really cool. So do those things that you're scared of and then I'm doing a Spartan beast this summer with a bunch of ladies together and I'm like this training might kill me.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

I don't know if I'm going to make it to the race but we'll see do hard thicks with friends. It's fun. Yeah we get one life nobody else's but ours okay thank you so much for taking time out in this busy season to do this today. Thank you Jess greatly appreciate the opportunity. That was Willow Page if you like what you heard please leave us a five star review on Spotify or your chosen podcasting network. In this episode we unveiled Willow has been through it and rather than relishing in her pain she shows up every day coaching others through their most difficult chapters. It means the world to me that you click Sparking the torch pod. Our stories are the spark. We can only hope they rise to a flame and set this community ablaze. Be sure to follow us on the final salute llc.com. Have a great day