Unlocking Your Inner Superhero: The Power of Authenticity in Business
🎯 In This Episode with Alyssa Aviles, You’ll Discover:
- How multi-passionate creatives can thrive without fitting into a box
- The warning signs of toxic work environments on your mental health
- Why embracing your humanity is the ultimate advantage in an AI-driven world
đź“ť Episode Summary
What happens when the world tells you to pick one thing—but your soul is wired for more?
In this raw and real episode, Alyssa Aviles shares her journey from burned-out employee to thriving creative entrepreneur. She opens up about the mental health battles she faced working in a toxic environment, the leap of faith that changed everything, and how stacking her creative talents (instead of choosing just one) launched her into a world of impact.
This isn’t just another business podcast. It’s a wake-up call to every creative who’s felt trapped, overlooked, or burned out. Alyssa reminds us that in a world chasing automation, your humanity—and your heart—are your greatest assets.
đź‘‹ About Our Guest
Alyssa Aviles (aka "the lovely Liss") is a multi-passionate creative director, Canva ambassador, ClickFunnels ambassador, and entrepreneur. She specializes in creative direction for six to eight-figure entrepreneurs, bringing stories to life through branding, design, and digital strategy. Alyssa empowers others to embrace their unique gifts and thrive without fitting into society’s mold.
đź’ˇ Key Insights from Alyssa Aviles
- Stack Your Talents – Your unique combination of skills isn't a liability—it’s your superpower. When you stack them instead of silo them, you create uncommon value.
- Watch for Warning Signs – Ignoring physical and emotional red flags (insomnia, stomach issues, emotional breakdowns) can cost you your health, your peace, and your future.
- Take the Leap Before You're Ready – Growth rarely feels comfortable. Sometimes you have to quit before the “net” appears—and trust that God will meet you mid-leap.
Connect with Alyssa Aviles
- Facebook: Alyssa Aviles
- TikTok: @thelovelylyss
- Instagram: @thelovelylyss
- Join Alyssa's School Community for Design: Higher Calling Creative Club
✝️ Faith Connection
Sometimes faith isn’t about a roadmap. It’s about obedience in the unknown. Alyssa’s story reminds us that when God says “leap,” He’s already preparing the landing.
🎨 Multipassionate Application
Alyssa’s path shows that combining your passions—graphic design, photography, branding—can create a new lane where you don't have to choose between your gifts. You can integrate them for greater impact.
🛠️ Resources Mentioned
- The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: [Insert affiliate link if you have one]
🔄 Related Episodes
- [Episode 32]: [George Bryant – Healing the Inner Game]
- [Episode 31]: [Devin Schubert – Building Through Breakdowns]
đź’Ş Resilience Corner
Your body knows when your soul is suffocating. Pay attention. Healing starts when you listen—and take bold action even when you're scared.
🧠Leadership Insight
True leadership begins with self-leadership. You can't pour into others from a place of depletion. Your first act of leadership is protecting your mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
âť“ Reflection Question
Where in your life are you feeling trapped because you’re afraid to leap? What would it look like to trust that God already prepared a net?
📱 Connect With Us
- Instagram: @leadwithjim
- Facebook: Lead with Jim
- Website: www.leadwithjim.com
- TikTok: @leadwithjim
- Threads: @leadwithjim
🙏 Support the Show
- Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or iHeartRadio
- Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
- Share this episode with a friend
- Watch and subscribe on YouTube: Youtube
Transcript
Welcome to Grace and the Grind, the podcast where we dive deep into the journeys of heart centered and purpose driven leaders and entrepreneurs.
Speaker A:We're here to equip and encourage you on your journey.
Speaker A:So let's get started and find the grace within the grind.
Speaker A:This is Grace in the Grind.
Speaker A:And now your host, Jim Burgoon.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grace in the Grind where we're here to tell the story behind the story of some of the most successful entrepreneurs and.
Speaker B:And today on the show is a very dear friend of mine.
Speaker B:I've known her for a few years.
Speaker B:L of the lovely List.
Speaker B:Welcome to the show.
Speaker C:Hey, thank you so much.
Speaker C:It's so good getting to hang out with you.
Speaker C:You and I go a little back and it's just been like, nice getting to catch up with you and see what's going on in your life.
Speaker C:And it's been really cool to see like this podcast and your passion for it.
Speaker C:So I'm honored to be here and I'm excited, man.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm excited for the conversation.
Speaker B:Can't wait to see where it goes.
Speaker B:And with that being said, just so the audience knows, give the next 60 to 90 seconds and let us know who you are and what you do.
Speaker C:Cool.
Speaker C:So, hi everyone.
Speaker C:My name is Alyssa Vilas, but my friends call me Lys.
Speaker C:And for a while my clients and my friends would introduce me and be like, oh, this is the lovely list.
Speaker C:Hence my personal brand and business name.
Speaker C:I do a lot of creative stuff, so I'm a multi passionate creative.
Speaker C:Jim and I were just talking about being multi passionate creatives before we started this.
Speaker C:I would definitely consider myself that right now I am doing creative direction for many six to eight figure entrepreneurs, mostly in the marketing, the digital marketing space.
Speaker C:Most people know me because I work with a guy named Pedro Adeo and I've been doing a lot of challenge funnels and challenge marketing.
Speaker C:I also am a Canva empower ambassador, which just means I love to encourage and empower people to do their own designs using a tool like Canva.
Speaker C:I'm also a recent Click Funnels ambassador.
Speaker C:That's one of the softwares that I use to build out all of these sales funnels.
Speaker C:And some of this is probably sounding really techie and nerdy to you guys right now.
Speaker C:Maybe we can dive into that later.
Speaker C:But essentially I do creative direction for these funnels.
Speaker C:So I do everything from coming up with the concepts for some of the creative and then actually getting to do the branding and then doing the design for it and just going through that through line of how is this going to look and feel for this entrepreneur?
Speaker C:Is it on brand, is it off brand?
Speaker C:Is it speaking to the right audience?
Speaker C:It's a lot of fun.
Speaker C:I really like what I'm doing.
Speaker B:So one of the questions that come about because this, what you do is number one, is definitely a multi passionate thing all over the place.
Speaker B:How did you come by this particular niche of getting yourself reined in here?
Speaker B:Because there's a lot of people out there, oh, I want to do this and I want to do this.
Speaker B:And they get stuck as you get to the place where you are today.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker C:So I have always been on the creative side of things.
Speaker C:Like even in high school, as I was painting and drawing, my parents are like, yeah, when you were a kid, we always had you in art class classes and always like doodling and drawing and painting and dancing and doing music and so when I went to college, I went with the intention to do advertising originally.
Speaker C:And I sat my first advertising class and I was like, I don't like this.
Speaker C:I'd rather do the creative for it.
Speaker C:And so I started learning graphic design.
Speaker C:And I'm just going to give you guys the sparks notes version of my story.
Speaker C:There's a lot other pieces to this, but just so you know, like, I was very interested in like digital design and graphic design, but I needed to apply for the program.
Speaker C:I had to go through this whole process.
Speaker C:During that time I was a photographer.
Speaker C:And Jim, when you met me, initially I was primarily a photographer.
Speaker C:I've been doing photography.
Speaker C:Oh my gosh.
Speaker C:Like I did photography for almost 15 years.
Speaker C:Shot with a lot of nonprofits, shot with agencies, shot with larger brands.
Speaker C:I really just love the concept of storytelling.
Speaker C:And I promise this is going to make sense because you're probably like, I still don't see how she got to like being a creative director if she was a photographer and whatnot.
Speaker C:But the heart of it really is telling stories.
Speaker C:And so did photography.
Speaker C:For a while.
Speaker C:I was learning graphic design, ended up applying for the program at ucf, did not make it into the graphic design program at ucf.
Speaker C:But I didn't give up.
Speaker C:I didn't quit.
Speaker C:I found another program I could do.
Speaker C:So I eventually went from being self taught in graphic design to going to school for graphic design.
Speaker C:And at this time, while I'm learning design, I'm doing photography.
Speaker C:I have my own business and I'm like, I need to have a website and I need to do this.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:If any of you guys are in that stage where you're starting your own business, even if it's like a side hustle.
Speaker C:You know how hard this is where it's like you've got to have the pieces to start marketing who you are and what you do.
Speaker C:And so I didn't know anything about websites, I didn't know anything about marketing.
Speaker C:I just knew the basics of design.
Speaker C:But if you look at my old stuff, it's horrible.
Speaker C:But I had to figure it out.
Speaker C:I then started learning the online marketing world with design.
Speaker C:Because in design school they just teach you like the foundations of design, but they don't necessarily teach you marketing, which may, maybe it's changed these days, I don't know.
Speaker C:But I did eventually graduate from Valencia College with my degree in graphic design.
Speaker C:And I started getting work from agencies and companies before I had even graduated.
Speaker C:So now at this time I'm doing graphic design, I'm doing photography.
Speaker C:I've made my first website and other photographers are asking me like, how did you do your website?
Speaker C:So now I'm like kind of teaching other people like how I'm doing my thing.
Speaker C:And it was great.
Speaker C:Until it wasn't great because I didn't know anything about business.
Speaker C:I knew nothing about business, nothing about marketing.
Speaker C:And so my freelancing journey ended very quickly.
Speaker C:I had to get my first full time job at a whopping $35,000 salary for a graphic designer entry level.
Speaker C:And it was one of those positions where I joined as a graphic designer and I unintentionally became the creative director.
Speaker C:I was the only creative working at this company.
Speaker C:And so I ended up learning how to do like printing, but like package printing.
Speaker C:Actually running a print press, doing boxes, doing car wraps, that's like the most random thing.
Speaker C:Some people don't even know that I've done that.
Speaker C:Like car wraps, I've done billboards.
Speaker C:I had to learn all this stuff.
Speaker C:Then also at this company, I started doing like their social media, I started taking pictures for them.
Speaker C:I started doing all this stuff without a increase in my salary at all.
Speaker C:And but what I loved was, oh, this is so fun that I get to use my creative gifts in all of these different areas.
Speaker C:So that job ended up being horrible for my mental health and I did end up quitting with a lot of tears.
Speaker C:It was really bad guys, like I would go out and at that time my husband and I were engaged.
Speaker C:I would be out shopping and I would just break down in tears because the stress of it was just so overwhelming.
Speaker C:Something random would trigger me and I would just break down.
Speaker C:I promise this is going somewhere.
Speaker C:But I left that job and I was like, I don't know what to do.
Speaker C:Freelancing is the only option.
Speaker C:But how do I use all these gifts that I have?
Speaker C:Do I go all in on photography?
Speaker C:Do I go all in on graphic design?
Speaker C:And I had kept hearing over and over again, jack of all trades, master of none sort of thing.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:No one ever talks about, like, the whole quote, but I'd heard about that just a little bit.
Speaker C:I was like, I need to focus on one thing, but I don't know.
Speaker C:So met with a friend for lunch one day and she's, you're missing a mentor in your life.
Speaker C:You need to find a mentor who can help guide you and give you clarity.
Speaker C:And I was like, mentors are a lot of money, and I don't have a lot of money.
Speaker C:I started looking and long story short, I found an ad from Pedro Deo, who you know as well.
Speaker C:Cause that's how you and I met.
Speaker C:And I joined his community.
Speaker C:I joined his mentorship.
Speaker C:I just started serving the community with my creative gifts.
Speaker C:And he didn't have a designer at that time, so he would like, present and drop a basic Word document with questions.
Speaker C:So I would take that, I would make it look pretty and I would put it back in the group.
Speaker C:And Jim, I don't know if you remember seeing any of that stuff, but I do actually.
Speaker C:Do you?
Speaker C:And then I used to do wallpapers on, like, mobile devices and desktops.
Speaker B:I had those.
Speaker B:The wallpaper ones.
Speaker B:I had downloaded a few of those.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:That's awesome.
Speaker C:So I just did that because I love that were in that community.
Speaker C:And it was fun for me to use my creative gifts and serve back.
Speaker C:And Pedro noticed and reached out to me and was like, what are you doing?
Speaker C:Not in a bad way, right?
Speaker C:Like, he was just like, hey, what are you doing?
Speaker C:Is this you?
Speaker C:I love it.
Speaker C:This is great.
Speaker C:Do you want to start working together?
Speaker C:And there's a lot more to the story that I'm going to leave out.
Speaker C:We can.
Speaker C:You guys can look me up and hear my full story on YouTube.
Speaker C:But I started designing for him.
Speaker C:He got famous in the marketing world.
Speaker C:And I just got started, scooped up into that.
Speaker C:And so what I have realized is I should say this before I talk into stacking my talents.
Speaker C:He's the one that told me, start learning funnel design.
Speaker C:And I was like, why not?
Speaker C:I'm a multi passionate creator.
Speaker B:Add it to the list.
Speaker C:Let's go.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:But his mindset was because you understand website design and because you understand graphic design, you'll understand funnel design really well.
Speaker C:And he was right.
Speaker C:And so I started learning funnel design and then soon enough I started to realize, oh my gosh, like all of these skill sets are layering on top of each other.
Speaker C:My whole life I was taught like you only focus on one thing.
Speaker C:But now I'm like, it actually all comes together in a very beautiful way.
Speaker C:And since then and like more of what I've done and like who I've worked for, I've been able to use all of these things and my encouragement to people.
Speaker C:Especially if you're a multi passionate creative, it's okay to be a multi passionate creative.
Speaker C:Like it's okay to be interested in a lot of different things.
Speaker C:You don't have to stay in one lane and focus on one thing.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:In some aspects that of course has its benefits but you don't have to do that.
Speaker C:Your story doesn't have to end right there.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:Let me jump in here too because I think it's a great story.
Speaker B:Not only just as a testament to being multi passionate because I think multi passionates we're all told, hey, here's a box.
Speaker B:That's the only way you're going to survive.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And as a multi passionate, we are not created for boxes.
Speaker B:A couple things that stood out which I think is hysterical.
Speaker B:First in the story you're like, I hate advertising.
Speaker B:Now I'm a digital marketer.
Speaker B:It's like full circle.
Speaker B:It's like you hate is the very things that you now do.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I think that's incredible.
Speaker B:And the other thing, you heard it here, listener to the audience, she builds your website.
Speaker B:She can also wrap your car.
Speaker B:So maybe wrap your car with your website.
Speaker B:So that make it a double thing because it's advertising anyway.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker B:But I want to jump into something you had said because I think this is super important because your life has been, it's an, it's.
Speaker B:You've been on an incredible trajectory and in a few minutes we're going to dive into you speak now.
Speaker B:So you're going to be, you have a conference coming up and you're a speaker as well.
Speaker B:But before that you had mentioned horrible.
Speaker B:That job you were in was horrible for your mental health.
Speaker B:And I'm going to dive a little bit into the mental health because mental health is not a whole lot of stuff that is talked about for entrepreneurs.
Speaker B:Matter of fact, it's quite the opposite.
Speaker B:We are told to suck it up, keep Moving forward.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now unpack some of that with that with me and let's just have this, converse this part of the conversation because you're like, I was in crying fits.
Speaker B:What was really bad for your mental health about that?
Speaker C:That's a really good question and a deep question too.
Speaker C:And I agree with you.
Speaker C:It's always surprising to hear how much the marketing industry and the entrepreneurship industry just doesn't really value mental health.
Speaker C:I feel like there is maybe starting to be more of a shift.
Speaker B:There is a shift coming.
Speaker C:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker C:I like, I'm seeing the bits and pieces, but I agree with you.
Speaker C:Like I used to see people all the time that be like, get over it.
Speaker C:If you want to hit seven figures, you got to do this and you can't give up and you got to sacrifice.
Speaker C:There's some big marketers out there, I'm not going to name drop them that still preach this and are like, sacrifice time with your family, sacrifice time with your friends, sacrifice going out, sacrifice doing all this stuff.
Speaker C:And for a while I did actually believe that I was like, the more I hustle, the more productive I'll be.
Speaker C:The more money I'll make, the more like I really started to believe that hustle culture.
Speaker C:At this time when I was at this job, it was a lot of my time was being taken up.
Speaker C:So I would go to work at, I'd get there by 8:30.
Speaker C:Sometimes I wouldn't leave until 7, 8 o'clock at night because I'm doing all of this work.
Speaker C:And like I said at that time, John and I were, we were dating and then we were engaged and we were getting ready to be married.
Speaker C:And my husband is a mental, a licensed mental health therapist.
Speaker C:And so obviously like, he really values mental health.
Speaker C:And so I had been learning things from him and he's so sweet.
Speaker C:I love my husband.
Speaker C:He's constantly checking in on me.
Speaker C:And so back then he started kind of seeing some signs and some concerns and he was like, hey, I don't think that this job is the right fit for you.
Speaker C:I'm very concerned.
Speaker C:And I would tell him stories about my boss at the time.
Speaker C:He's sounds very narcissistic.
Speaker C:I don't think that this is healthy.
Speaker C:You should really try to figure something else out, look at other jobs.
Speaker C:But you know me, I'm like, but I love the team I'm working with and I really do love what I do.
Speaker C:So I'm making like excuse after excuse.
Speaker C:And I really do, did love the team.
Speaker C:I still, we trauma bonded.
Speaker C:So I Still talked to some of these.
Speaker B:Subject right there.
Speaker C:And so like I still talk to many of them and we still like encourage each other and support each other.
Speaker C:For me back then, it was time was a big thing.
Speaker C:I was working overtime, I never got a raise and I was doing now triple the work in all these little areas and all these little things.
Speaker C:And CEO is profiting the most off of it, of course.
Speaker C:And like meanwhile I'm trying to get all this stuff done for him and I realized like I'm spending all this time and energy building his income and his wealth and his company and it'd be different if I was like getting compensated for that or.
Speaker C:But like I wasn't.
Speaker C:And it was just, it just wasn't.
Speaker C:It was definitely a toxic work environment because the way the CEO treated many of us employees and the way the, some of the language was and expectations and, and it had its fun moments too, which made it so hard, right?
Speaker C:Like it had really high highs, but then when it was low and I just, it just got to a point where the, the toxic language was a lot the my time, like having to work overtime and not getting paid for that time.
Speaker C:I was just burdened by so much because I had so much then relied on me.
Speaker C:And so if I didn't get my stuff done, they couldn't launch things and they couldn't do things.
Speaker C:So it had all this pressure on me all of a sudden.
Speaker C:And yeah, my husband was like, this isn't healthy.
Speaker C:And I'll never forget my husband and I were sharing a vehicle and we really needed to get a second car, but like we couldn't afford it.
Speaker C:And so my brother went to go look into getting a new car.
Speaker C:And while I was there helping him, I just sat there and I was like, I can't even afford payment.
Speaker C:We wanted to get a second vehicle.
Speaker C:Like, we just can't do that.
Speaker C:I just broke down in the dealership and the car dealers.
Speaker C:Are you okay?
Speaker C:And I'm like, it's fine, yeah, I'm just going through some stuff.
Speaker C:It's okay.
Speaker C:And so it was tough.
Speaker C:It was really, really tough.
Speaker C:And when I put my two weeks notice in, I was shaking, like full on anxiety shaking.
Speaker C:Handed it in.
Speaker C:Boss was upset.
Speaker C:I left to go to lunch.
Speaker C:To go because at the time I'd started taking some side clients.
Speaker C:So during lunch I was meeting with the side client and while I was at lunch they texted me and said, don't come back.
Speaker C:Don't finish your two weeks.
Speaker C:And I was like, what's up?
Speaker B:Said he was losing his best employee.
Speaker C:Ended up.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I have two questions that this all brings up, which, because you mentioned trauma bodying and stuff like this, I wrote this because I for.
Speaker B:And the listeners who've been listening to me for a while know that I take active notes, so I take actual notes so I can ask questions.
Speaker B:And so, like I wrote here, I said, she focused or prioritized her loyalty over her own health.
Speaker B:How did you break that cycle?
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, and the health.
Speaker C:I'm glad you brought that up, too, because, like, my health was tanking at that time.
Speaker C:Like, at that time, I had just been diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
Speaker C:And, like, we talk a lot about our health stuff.
Speaker C:I was gaining a lot of weight because of all the stress and, like, everything that was going on.
Speaker C:So I wasn't taking care of my body whatsoever.
Speaker C:And it was really tough.
Speaker C:And so I would say after about the third emotional breakdown, I had started gaining the weight, and I couldn't lose it.
Speaker C:Like, I was doing things that people are telling me to do, and I was on medication.
Speaker C:I was meeting with doctors.
Speaker C:And ironically, even though I'm married to a therapist, I didn't have a therapist at that time to process this stuff because I couldn't afford a therapist back then.
Speaker C:I didn't have benefits, kids back then either.
Speaker C:And so I would just process things with John and.
Speaker C:Which you're not supposed to do that when you're married to a therapist.
Speaker C:But I would process things, like, with John, and he wouldn't give me clinical advice, but he.
Speaker C:He just kept being like, I'm really concerned.
Speaker C:I'm really concerned.
Speaker C:I love you enough to say, you've got to break this.
Speaker C:You have to get out of this.
Speaker C:If you don't change something, like, this is just going to keep on happening.
Speaker C:So after about the third emotional breakdown, out in public, I was like, if I don't.
Speaker C:If I don't change this, it's just gonna keep on happening.
Speaker C:And it just built up to that point where I couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker C:And I was like, you know, what.
Speaker B:Did you do to actually change it, though?
Speaker B:Because you're getting to the point where you're like, I'm done.
Speaker B:So walk us through some of that.
Speaker C:Yeah, it was honestly, like, I hit that point.
Speaker C:I talked to my husband about it, and I was like, I think I'm gonna quit.
Speaker C:Even though I don't really have money lined up.
Speaker C:We had nothing in our savings.
Speaker C:I had no clue where I was gonna get my clients from.
Speaker C:But you And I are faith based.
Speaker C:And so I, I was praying about it and I was just like, okay, Lord, like, I'm really gonna take a leap of faith here and quit.
Speaker C:Even though I have no idea what the heck I'm gonna do.
Speaker C:And so, like, with shaky hands, from the moment I made that decision, I'm gonna quit.
Speaker C:So typing out my resignation letter, printing it out, going into work, shaky hands.
Speaker C:My boss wasn't in it yet.
Speaker C:And so I didn't hand it directly to him.
Speaker C:I put it on his desk.
Speaker C:Desk right there where he sits down every single day with his drink.
Speaker C:And I was just, I was like shaking the whole day.
Speaker C:But I was like, I know this needs to happen.
Speaker C:And yeah, like that's the body's response.
Speaker C:Like, my body was just like so anxious about it.
Speaker C:But I also, I don't know if you get this way, but I know sometimes, like when I know I need to do something and I don't want to do it, I get this shaky feeling.
Speaker B:I've been there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Have you been there?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's such a weird feeling where it's like anxiety but also excitement at the same time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so I know I'm meant to do something if I'm starting to get that feeling.
Speaker C:And so I knew at that moment, like, oh my gosh, like things are going to change starting today.
Speaker C:But it needed to happen.
Speaker C:So I don't know if that gives a little bit more clarity, but it was just something where I was like, I have to do this.
Speaker B:It does.
Speaker B:And so this brings up a follow up question because now mental health, physical health, what did you do to prevent yourself from going back into a similar situation?
Speaker C:That's a good question.
Speaker C:Oh, that's a good question.
Speaker C:Because I feel like I haven't done an amazing job with that.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:So I did end up going back into freelancing.
Speaker C:So after that, ending that job, I started freelancing again.
Speaker C:I freelanced for probably, I would say three years before I met Pedro.
Speaker C:And during that time I was a lot pickier about the people who I work with because I was nervous.
Speaker C:I want to make sure I'm working with the right people, I'm doing the right thing.
Speaker C:I don't have anyone that's a little crazy or just a little out there.
Speaker C:And so I would do discovery calls.
Speaker C:I was very intentional about my process with working with people, so I would do discovery calls to like talk more about who they are.
Speaker C:I'm very heart centered, so I like to have these one on one conversations with people.
Speaker C:To get to know them, see their heart, see their mission.
Speaker C:And the good news is, everyone that came to me wanted to work with me were my people.
Speaker C:It like, my fear of working with someone who was like my previous boss, it never happened.
Speaker C:Like, I started attracting the people that I actually really wanted to work with.
Speaker C:And that was really good.
Speaker C:Then when it came to working with Paige, Pedro, same sort of thing.
Speaker C:I was like, I need to get to know you bit.
Speaker C:And this is part of the long story, but like, the Lord told me to work for Pedro for free for one year.
Speaker C:And I was like, God, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard from you, because this man is a millionaire, and I am not a millionaire.
Speaker C:And so I was like, really, Lord?
Speaker C:And the Lord was like, work for him for free for one year.
Speaker C:So when Pedro was like, hey, I want to work with you, I was like, okay, let's just see how this goes, and let's just build the relationship.
Speaker C:I'm not going to bill you.
Speaker C:I want to see, like, how this is.
Speaker C:And at that time, it was like he would ask me to do something like maybe once a month.
Speaker C:It was very minimal.
Speaker C:And so I did it for a year.
Speaker C:And then he was like, I need to pay you, so please start billing me.
Speaker C:And I was like, okay.
Speaker C:So then I started billing him and contracting for him.
Speaker C:And then when he got really well known, I went on the team, got started working with the team, and it was is crazy, crazy.
Speaker C:And thankfully, Pedro is not like my last situation.
Speaker C:It is a big night and day difference.
Speaker C:But I will say this, like, there have been times, like, where I haven't held good boundaries with it because, like, we've talked about this.
Speaker C:Like, he.
Speaker C:Everything was so non stop because of the growth and the things that we were doing.
Speaker C:The whole team was just constantly, like, going.
Speaker C:And so it was hard sometimes to put boundaries in place and figure out, okay, how do we make this more efficient?
Speaker C:What do we do here?
Speaker C:And thankfully, over the years, I've done a better job of that, and the team has done a better job of that.
Speaker C:And now we have this flow that works really well.
Speaker C:I've been really more intentional, especially this year, because I'm not full time with Pedro anymore.
Speaker C:He's a retainer client.
Speaker C:And now I'm back on doing my own things.
Speaker C:And so I've been a lot more intentional with putting boundaries in my business, which is something that I was never taught to do.
Speaker C:I was like, I need to.
Speaker C:And looking back, I'm like, man, if I had better Boundaries.
Speaker C:At that job that I had, I probably could have pushed to make more money.
Speaker C:I probably could have pushed to be like, hey, you need to hire two other people to help me.
Speaker C:And not.
Speaker C:But I was nervous and I was a people pleaser.
Speaker C:Big.
Speaker C:I like, still.
Speaker C:I still have those tendencies.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:But like, back then I was really like hardcore people.
Speaker B:That's why we call ourselves recovering people pleasers because.
Speaker B:Tendencies.
Speaker B:So I'm right with you on that one.
Speaker B:I actually.
Speaker B:I have three terms I use.
Speaker B:I'm a recovering people pleaser.
Speaker B:A recovering perfectionist.
Speaker B:Because I tended to be much more into the perfection area.
Speaker C:Same same.
Speaker B:Recovering perfectionist.
Speaker C:Uhhuh.
Speaker B:And now the third term actually escapes me.
Speaker B:What was the third term?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:We'll figure it out in a few minutes.
Speaker B:When we hit end episode is when I'll figure it out.
Speaker B:There actually is a couple things, but I always say I'm a recovering people pleaser, which.
Speaker B:Because it's healing, it shows progress.
Speaker B:Shows healing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Give me.
Speaker B:Because there's two last questions before we.
Speaker B:We get to know how to find you and things like that.
Speaker B:Give me like a couple signs.
Speaker B:Like you said, there were signs.
Speaker B:And John was like, hey, here's some.
Speaker B:I'm seeing some signs that mental health is struggling.
Speaker B:Just for the listener who may have been maybe currently in the place that you were, what are some signs that we can look for and say if these are like red flags or signs in your own self, that if I see these, I need to start thinking differently, doing differently, and just start making myself more intentional about them?
Speaker C:That's a really good question.
Speaker C:So the first one would be like your physical body response.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So for me, my health was all over the place.
Speaker C:It was not great.
Speaker C:And I was like, something else has to be wrong.
Speaker C:And it was probably all the stress and anxiety, high cortisol, all those things coming into play.
Speaker C:So your body will for sure tell you, like, if you're having a big one.
Speaker C:For me was insomnia.
Speaker C:My insomnia was through the freaking roof.
Speaker C:I just couldn't fall asleep.
Speaker C:I couldn't stay asleep.
Speaker C:I was only getting maybe three to four hours of sleep a night.
Speaker C:Like, it just was.
Speaker C:My sleep was horrible.
Speaker C:Stomach issues, my anxiety.
Speaker C:And then the.
Speaker C:For me, the big one was the emotional breakdowns, like just going out into public and like random things triggering me.
Speaker C:And I'm just like bawling.
Speaker C:I was like, that was a really big one for me.
Speaker C:And I would try to hold back the tears and then just kind of let it Go.
Speaker C:So body response.
Speaker C:Pay attention to what your body is doing.
Speaker C:If you're noticing like your health is a little all over the place, there's a deeper root issue to that and a root cause that you should look at.
Speaker C:The second thing was I recognized that I needed to change something or nothing was going to change at all.
Speaker C:And I couldn't just wait and be the victim and be like, oh, like I'm in an abusive situation in the workplace and woe is me.
Speaker C:There's room of course, course like that, of course that's wrong, right?
Speaker C:Like of course all that stuff is wrong.
Speaker C:But I knew that if I stayed there it wasn't going to be healthy and like nothing was going to change unless I stood up for myself.
Speaker C:And like my co workers weren't going to stand up for me.
Speaker C:I and as much as I could chime in on my co workers, it's not my job to stand up for them.
Speaker C:Like I needed to do something else to get myself out of this position.
Speaker C:And so my alternative was looking for another job or going all in on me.
Speaker C:And I, I, at that point my co workers were so encouraging.
Speaker C:And I think here's another thing I would say too.
Speaker C:I can't remember, I think my husband and I don't think we were in a church community at that time.
Speaker C:We had our core friends and things like that but community was essential.
Speaker C:We had our core friends that we would process things with.
Speaker C:And even my co workers, they were constantly reminding me of how talented I am, like how great it is to work with me.
Speaker C:Like it was all affirmative positive stuff and I needed that in that time when things were so incredibly negative.
Speaker C:And so if you're not plugged in to a strong community, I highly recommend that you do that.
Speaker C:And now like when you and I met, like being in 100x and pages communities like my life is totally different now, having a stronger community.
Speaker C:Like back then I only had a small community.
Speaker C:Like now I have, I, now I have a village behind me.
Speaker C:So that's been a huge thing.
Speaker C:So make you're surrounding yourself in community if you are recognizing like I need to change something if I don't make a decision now, nothing's going to change.
Speaker C:You have to make the leap.
Speaker C:You have to take the leap and I know that's the scariest thing and I.
Speaker C:Where is it?
Speaker C:I have a book that I recommend and I read with creatives.
Speaker C:I highly recommend this book.
Speaker C:This is my bible.
Speaker C:Outside the Bible.
Speaker C:It is called the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
Speaker C:She sold over 5 million copies of this thing.
Speaker C:It is a life, life changing book.
Speaker C:And one of the first things she talks about in the very beginning of the book is the process of leaping and the net will appear.
Speaker C:You're not gonna know until you take that leap of faith and see what God does for you.
Speaker C:And so I know it's scary.
Speaker C:I know it's scary.
Speaker C:I've had it.
Speaker C:I've gone through it several times.
Speaker C:I'm going through it again right now as my husband and I are trying to figure out, moving across the country and take a chance on yourself.
Speaker C:You're worth investing into and you're worth taking a chance on yourself to see, like, what you can do and what you can build or like who maybe there's another company or a team that you can be part of that you can help raise up.
Speaker C:So I think some of it also has to do with confidence and loving yourself.
Speaker C:I think that's a big process, is loving yourself.
Speaker C:And in a lot of faith circles that I don't know about you, but for me, growing up, that was really demonized, which sounds crazy.
Speaker C:It sounds crazy.
Speaker C:But I had started to realize that the more I loved who God created me to be and the gifts and talents that were given to me, like, the more I have to give it to others.
Speaker C:So it raised my confidence in a bit to be okay with taking that leap of faith.
Speaker C:So I know that's a lot, but I would say those are like key things that I would look for, I would pay attention to and I would, I would change to get you into that, that, into this, this next up level.
Speaker C:I'll say this next promotion for you.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:So in a moment, I'm going to ask you about the wisdom bomb, because our audience knows that.
Speaker B:So while you get the second to think of the one or we wrote something you've already said to the audience, I want to speak to you guys for a second.
Speaker B:Mental health, it should be the first priority in your life.
Speaker B:And if your mental health is struggling, everything else in your life will struggle.
Speaker B:So make sure, as Liz was telling you, you have signs that you see physical, mental, emotional.
Speaker B:Those signs pay attention when they start showing up, whether it be stomach aches, insomnia, whatever it may be, pay attention to them.
Speaker B:Because what you refuse to pay attention to will hurt you.
Speaker B:It will.
Speaker B:And so make sure that you are focusing on that mental health, noticing the signs and making the appropriate change.
Speaker B:All right, so list now.
Speaker B:We're at the point where we're going to ask you about the wisdom bomb.
Speaker B:And for our listener, they know what the wisdom bomb is.
Speaker B:It's the portable truth.
Speaker B:Truth.
Speaker B:Hashtag, wisdom bomb.
Speaker B:You can see it on my Facebook at Lead with Jim.
Speaker B:Give us a wisdom bomb, a short statement that they can apply today.
Speaker C:Man, this is tough because, like, the wisdom bomb I want to give people is something we haven't talked about in this episode yet, but I'm leaning more towards that.
Speaker C:And so can I give a little precursor to this?
Speaker C:Sure, go for it.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:We've talked a lot about, like, mental health and my journey and being a multi passionate, creative.
Speaker C:And what I'm seeing right now in, I would say in many spaces in general, is people are more anxious right now.
Speaker C:They're not really sure what to do.
Speaker C:And we're entering a more automated AI sort of world, which for some people, super exciting.
Speaker C:For some people, terrifying.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:Like, fearful.
Speaker C:And I don't know, like, where you're standing at all.
Speaker C:I'm kind of somewhere.
Speaker C:I'm somewhere in the middle.
Speaker C:I'm like, man, I grew up watching Terminator and all these movies.
Speaker B:Terminator, iRobot, all of that.
Speaker B:I've read the.
Speaker B:I seminole, we know what's.
Speaker C:What's gonna happen.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:I love joking about that.
Speaker C:But what I want to encourage you guys with is your humanity is your superpower.
Speaker C:Like, this is my wisdom bomb for the day.
Speaker C:And I know we didn't really go deep into branding or anything like that, but I really, I love to encourage people with this because I feel like we're stepping into a new era where this is something that is already starting to get lost and it's already starting to get forgotten.
Speaker C:And even in this conversation, like, a lot of this gets to the heart.
Speaker C:Heart.
Speaker C:And at the end of the day, AI can't replicate what you've got going on inside.
Speaker C:Like, your authenticity is your superpower.
Speaker C:So I really want to encourage you guys with that.
Speaker C:I guess another wisdom bomb would just be when you want to give up.
Speaker C:Don't keep going.
Speaker C:Don't quit.
Speaker C:It's going to be worth it.
Speaker C:I know it's very basic, but I keep going back to that.
Speaker C:In every season where I feel like I want to quit, I'm like, no.
Speaker C:Oh, I gotta keep going.
Speaker C:I gotta keep going.
Speaker C:It's all good.
Speaker B:It's all good.
Speaker C:Someone out there's waiting for you.
Speaker C:Somebody out there is waiting for you.
Speaker C:They're waiting for your gifts.
Speaker C:They're waiting for your knowledge.
Speaker C:They're waiting for your insight.
Speaker C:And you carry the breakthrough that they need.
Speaker C:So I hope that all of that encourages you.
Speaker C:I feel like that was a lot of little wisdom bombs but you could curate it and figure it out.
Speaker B:No, I love it.
Speaker B:So you are the first to give rapid it wisdom bombs as.
Speaker B:Because I love it.
Speaker B:So we've setting a new standard here.
Speaker B:Instead of a wisdom bomb, we're giving wisdom bombs.
Speaker B:And I love it.
Speaker B:And you know what's the greatest thing is the whole thing about what you're saying.
Speaker B:I know that's basic over and over again in the years and years I've been doing in my industry, over 20 years, when you master the basics, you create the greatest success.
Speaker B:And so we never truly leave the basics.
Speaker B:So I am grateful that you said that that because there are still a lot of people that that are struggling.
Speaker B:I'm an AI enthusiast so I'm on that portion of.
Speaker B:Is Skynet possible?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:But it's going to be fun getting there.
Speaker C:We're gonna.
Speaker B:If we're going down in blaze and glory, we're gonna have fun getting there.
Speaker B:So anyway.
Speaker B:All right, with that being said, how do we find you?
Speaker C:Yeah, that's a good question too.
Speaker C:So I am on Facebook under Alyssa Aviles.
Speaker C:I mostly post on my per.
Speaker C:I have one of those professional profiles so I don't even post on my Lovely List business page anymore.
Speaker C:It's just my personal profile.
Speaker C:So you can find me on Facebook.
Speaker C:I'm also on TikTok.
Speaker C:I teach some Canva stuff on there.
Speaker C:I go live and I share behind the scenes while I'm building out funnels and websites.
Speaker C:You guys can learn from me live on TikTok.
Speaker C:It's under the Lovely List.
Speaker C:I am on Instagram but I don't really post a lot on Instagram to be honest.
Speaker C:I'm on Pinterest and then I have my own school community as well where I teach people.
Speaker C:I teach multi passionate creatives and the DIY solopreneur type people how to use Canva, how to do their own branding, how to do their own funnels.
Speaker C:And so I will give Jim his own link.
Speaker C:So if you're interested in that, you can check it out.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:And just to the listener, all of this will be in the show notes to make it easy, accessible and I highly recommend you connect with my dear friend.
Speaker B:I am part of the school community.
Speaker B:It's an amazing community.
Speaker B:Such a depth of knowledge in there and so I would highly recommend and we will show all of those links in there.
Speaker B:Liz, thanks for showing up and just being present during this conversation.
Speaker B:I am so grateful for you.
Speaker B:I'm so grateful for our friendship and this was a great conversation.
Speaker B:So thank you.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker C:Oh, thank you.
Speaker C:This is a lot of fun.
Speaker B:So to you, the audience, thank you for being with us to the end of the episode.
Speaker B:If you're listening on YouTube, please in the comments, let us know what your favorite part was or ask some questions that we can maybe address in a future episode.
Speaker B:If you're listening on any other platform, iHeartRadio, Apple, Spotify, if you could do us a favor, hit the review and leave a review for us.
Speaker B:It does help the show and we want to get this out to more people.
Speaker B:With that being said, you've been listening to Grace and the Grind, where we're trying to get the story behind the story of some of the most successful entrepreneurs.
Speaker B:And with that being said, we'll see you on the next episode.
Speaker A:This has been Grace and the Grind.
Speaker A:We hope you've enjoyed the show.
Speaker A:If you did, make sure to, like, rate and review and we'll be back soon.
Speaker A:But in the meantime, find us on social media.
Speaker A:LeadWithJim.
Speaker A:Take care of yourself and we'll see you next time on Grace in the Grind.
