*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.
Q and A with Lisa, Saskatchewan, Canada
“Take care and love yourself. You are worth loving! You have everything you need inside of yourself. You have the cognitive power to improve your life through your thoughts and emotions.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: There are many things that I’m passionate about…#1 is family–my two kids, Elle and Jude, and my husband, Elvis. Plus, our parents, siblings, and extended family too!
Next, I’m passionate about music (Arcadia), modeling, travel, language, and pretty much anything to do with marketing, film, and ecommerce.
I used to study and perform opera. To me, opera is like traveling through language, time and space. You get to glimpse into an old world, different languages and almost forgotten culture through your whole body. I eventually crossed over into Americana and French-English Electro (Mine Tonite). My music has been featured at the Cannes Music Festival, aired on radio and TV stations in France (Come 2 Me). I’m a HUGE Beatles nerd/fan on top of it – they’ve been a major influence on my music and life.
For travel, I’ve lived on and explored 4 continents/about 23 countries so far. I’ve done school exchanges in Quebec, France, Croatia, and China. Traveling is like a hunger that can never be satisfied–once I do a trip, multiple others show up on my travel list.
For marketing, from a young age, I learned sales techniques from my parents, who at the time, were selling Amway. I graduated high school with a chemical technology scholarship but quickly decided that was not the route for me (even though I adore chemical bonding!). I got a job as a sales rep for The Source (formerly Radio Shack). I was the only female employee at the time, but within 3 weeks, I soaked up so much information and performed so well that I was promoted to Assistant Manager. Within a few months, I became the top sales person in the province and the first female to hit that position. I knew I had found my calling (well, one of them).
Afterwards, I traveled for about a year in Australia and Asia then I moved to Kelowna, BC ,to start my bachelor’s degree in business administration majoring in marketing. After my first year of business, I did a summer French exchange to La Pocatiere, Quebec, where I learned French (in 5 weeks!), guitar, dance, and fell madly in love with opera. In my third year of business, I did exchanges in Caen, Normandy, France, and Zagreb, Croatia. I traveled to about 14 European countries while modelling, acting, and recording music–it was so incredible!
In 2013, I completed my BBA in marketing and started working in media and film in Kelowna, BC. I dabbled in ecommerce a bit but I didn’t catch on…yet. I was on the board of an independent film nonprofit called OSIF. I moved to Vancouver in 2015 to pursue film, music, and marketing, but I got side-tracked with a relationship…I ended up moving around feeling lost and started a business with my ex.
I became pregnant with my 1st child and things started to go sideways. Pressure started to build and my ex could not handle it and turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with all the stress. He started cheating on me and became abusive to my daughter and I–mainly verbally, but it started to build and build with more physical, mental, sexual, and emotional controlling abuse. It was not a surprise that I became pregnant with baby #2.
The abuse got to a very intense and scary place. Luckily, my sister came to save me and brought my family into the discussion as I had been hiding it for a long time. That’s something I learned later on that’s a typical reaction to controlling abuse is becoming a “battered woman”. This is where the woman (or man) being abused ends up so controlled they feel they have to hide and protect their abuser. My abuser controlled me in many ways, but one thing he would do was threaten to commit suicide if I didn’t forgive him. He even cheated on me when I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter, he blamed me for it, then said he was going to kill himself over and over again until I said I forgave him.
At age 30, I was a pregnant single mom moving into my parent’s basement. I was completely broke, anemic, depressed, could not find work, I was not eligible for maternity leave (I ended up going on social assistance/ welfare) and was on the road to bankruptcy. My ex was using our business cash flow for drugs, which was a very expensive habit. It felt like I was living in a nightmare.
Thankfully, I went to counselling, I meditated every day, and after applying for 100s of jobs, I said “screw this!” and started my own business back up again–Unbound Market. I took every free e-course, downloaded every free e-book, and watched tons of YouTube videos to learn as much as I could about ecommerce and online business. Out of my darkest time, I was able to rebuilt my life and find myself again. It was extremely hard to go through it, but now I’m grateful for everything because I am pretty much indestructible now–I focus on what I love, and I leave behind the old negativity behind.
I was born and raised in Saskatoon, SK. We have extreme weather here. +30c in summer and -40c in winter, sometimes -50c to -60c with the wind chill (86f summer, -22f to -76f winter). I enjoy finding the silver lining in most situations–the cold is excellent for reducing inflammation and has anti-aging effects. I spent many winters tobogganing under the northern lights soaking in the light vibrations. And, many summers camping at nearby lakes (Saskatchewan has over 100,000 lakes). I have 2 siblings–a sister and brother, I’m the youngest and pretty much got away with everything and still do!
Typically, I’m a girly girl but with camping and lots of outdoor activities, it’s helped me to not be afraid of getting my hands dirty. Also, being able to appreciate things on a deeper level. I know what it’s like to have nothing but family. I’m so grateful and appreciative of my life every second of every day.
When I was younger, I felt like there was so much more out there that I needed to experience. That feeling helped me to get out of my comfort zone and I sought out those experiences traveling to 23 countries, studying 6 languages, creating 3 bilingual music videos, being a board member of a nonprofit film group, working on commercials and TV movies in Kelowna and Vancouver, BC, modeling all over Canada and Europe, being signed with multiple agencies, completing my bachelor’s degree in business administration specializing in marketing, international business, and linguistics, plus giving birth twice with no epidurals.
Q: What is something valuable you’ve learned that you’d like others to know?
A: First, ladies (and gentlemen), if a person uses suicide as a way of getting out of guilt from bad things they’ve done, give them a self-help pamphlet and please run away as fast as you can. I know that’s harsh but even if you think you can help them, you can’t they can only make that decision themselves. Here’s a video I recently posted about overcoming an abusive relationship that gives a bit more insight to my story.
Second, YOU are amazing!! Take care and love yourself. You are worth loving!! You have everything you need inside of yourself. You have the cognitive power to improve your life through your thoughts and emotions. If you’re stuck in a bad relationship or situation, know you have the power to change that. I highly recommend EFT (tapping- it’s like a full body reset), cognitive thought therapy (to reverse negative thought patterns and even disease–Louise Hay is amazing!), forest bathing and grounding (get outside for at least 10 minutes per day), and take your vitamins (B12, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin C & D and Iron are my go-tos along with Cardioflex). And lastly, meditation (or calm breathing if you prefer)…it is by far the most powerful technique to manifesting your true desires. Solfeggio frequencies are usually my go-tos–they can help repair your DNA!
I posted about my recent marriage and how my life has turned around significantly in 2 years through manifestation and energy healing. I hope by sharing my story, I can encourage others to overcome trauma and create the life they truly desire and ultimately deserve.
I met my now husband, Elvis, when I was 6 months pregnant! At certain points, I never thought it would be possible to meet and trust a man. But I had this overwhelming feeling of love and I heard a voice that said, “Go for it!”. Something just clicked, we met and fell in love. He was so understanding of my situation and was like the perfect puzzle piece to the kids and I.
Elvis came to the hospital a couple hours after my son Jude was born on January 20th, 2018. Just under a year later, we got engaged on my birthday January 10th, 2019, and started wedding planning asap. There’s been many other ups and downs (I had 3 surgeries within a year–check my YouTube, as I’ll be posting videos about those soon). Elvis has stuck with me through so much! I’m so grateful for him and the kids! And, grateful for staying strong with loving myself and manifesting my true desires.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism, to me, is a very loaded subject. I’ve tended to work in male-dominated fields (such as selling electronics, film and ecommerce). Being the only female gave me huge advantages. One of my favorite (dis)advantages was being underestimated. I constantly surprised people with my knowledge, ideas, and expertise. I’ve had older males literally push past me asking “I wanna talk to a man”. Once they realized I was in a management position and knew so much, they’d be shaking my hand while leaving the store or after signing a business contract.
I personally prefer female empowerment over feminism. I feel women are rising up greater than we have been able to in many lifetimes. We’re taking over and the world will be a better place from it.
Connect with me! I’d love to chat with you!
Links: Unbound Market is business and Unbound Heart is personal.
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