Would the Life Story of a Parent or Grandparent Change Your Perspective?

Just about a year ago, I spoke to my father (then 82 years of age) about a writing platform I had discovered called StoryWorth. He had mentioned after I published my last book that he had written a great deal during his life but never did anything about it. Over the years he had told many stories to us but they were never recorded in any way, only engrained in our memories.

11 months later, at our family Christmas, the book he had finished writing titled, “Pappa Pete, My Journey” became a Christmas gift for the family. It was a moment in time I’ll never forget and I don’t think it would have been possible without StoryWorth.

StoryWorth is the easiest way to record family stories and print them in beautiful hardcover books. I became his “partner” and every week sent him a question to respond to. I took on the editor hat and everything flowed beautifully. We searched for photos and easily added them into the chapters. When my father needed a break, we paused the questions. Dad simply replied with his story via email or the website, and at the end of a year, it became his book.

My father was a child in Scotland and recalls hiding in the bomb shelters. His recollections of the family emigrating to Canada, his teenage years, shenanigans, triumphs and tragedies are a treasure for each of us now. My daughter said, “I’m so happy he shared his journey! I will cherish it forever and loved hearing his story!”

This was the perfect gift and we kept it a secret between us for almost a full year (other than my husband). I learned so much about him and my ancestors. Of course, some of his memories differ from mine. Everyone sees things from different perspectives and our memories cloud over time. How fascinating it was to have these regular conversations with him over the year. This will now be an heirloom for generations.

On a side note, I wish I had thought of creating such a program myself! It’s user-friendly, holds every entry, allows edits at any time, has a question bank you can use (or you can write your own), and support is readily available.

In today’s world, our grandchildren won’t even have handwritten letters to hold on to for memories. Don’t hesitate to capture the life stories of the people you love by beginning the conversation. There is nothing more magical than seeing them hold their own book in their hands, knowing that generations to come can take a walk in their shoes.

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TRANSCRIPT OF HELEN PANOS | HELPING PARENTS AND STUDENTS ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES

Listen Link

[00:00:00]
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the last episode of 2022. If your child is struggling in school, this is the episode to listen to. Our guest today is Helen panel.

[00:00:14]

Muic Intro Are you facing a crisis in your life or business? It's time to steer yourself in the right direction through the real experiences, passion and courage of our guests. We're taking the helm with your host, Lynn McLaughlin .

Helen Panos is a lifelong educator, but she left teaching to open her own business called the Dynamis Learning Academy. She's offering tutoring services, is branching out into supporting students with mental health, helping students to learn to advocate for themselves and parents to understand the school system, what school systems offer and don't offer, where the gaps are, and advocating whether or not their children have special needs. All right, Helen, you are our last guest of 2022.

[00:00:58]
And what do we close out the year talking about students, students, progress, parent advocacy. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to inform your guests about advocacy and helping their families be successful. Yeah.

[00:01:16]
So just to give everyone a context, Helen is in the United States, I'm in Canada. We're going to do our best to mesh the two languages and worlds together. But the bottom line is, it doesn't matter where you are in the world. Your children are in school, they're struggling, you're trying to find a better way for them. We're here to talk to you today.

[00:01:33]
That's right. That's correct. All right, Helen, tell us a little bit about your background and why you're doing this today. Where did it all start? I'm an educator of 25 plus years of a public school system in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US.

[00:01:46]
And that's one of the biggest school systems I was in is Fulton County. And so I was a teacher for many years and most of that time also gifted leave. So then I decided it was time to start my own business. While I was teaching, I just had the idea that I didn't feel even back then, this was probably about ten years ago, I was already getting the thought that I didn't feel school systems could really truly meet the needs of children. And I wanted to be able to do that.

[00:02:15]
I have a passion about that, and it's not necessarily their fault. It has a lot to do with funding, resources, all kinds of things, and personnel being appropriately trained, to be honest. And there's not enough hours of the day. But I decided to start Dynamic Learning Academy. It's a K through twelve tutoring and now student advocacy program.

[00:02:38]
And we do SATs all over the nation. We also do tutoring nationwide, virtually. Here in Atlanta, we do it virtually, and we're in person because my tutors, I have 15 tutors right now, and that's growing rapidly. So we help kids, we match. I listen to what the parent needs.

[00:02:56]
I match them up with the right type of tutor. I have that experience and knowledge from being also a 504 chair that I got promoted to. Right. As we were going into COVID. I had done it for three years, so I've heard a lot of stories and sat in a lot of meetings, almost to the point I don't want to say I will diagnose your child, but I can get pretty close to suggesting what you need to do.

[00:03:19]
And so I felt like I needed to start my own company, and then now it's branching and rebranding into advocacy, which we're going to talk about today. All right, so those of us in Ontario, Canada, the UK, who are listening, which is a lot of my audience, do not understand what 504 means. That's a good point. You might have a different program. Right?

[00:03:40]
So in America, the Section 504 plan is under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you have a medical diagnosis of some kind, whether I think the original might have been like, diabetes is why it started in the first place, was that kids might need to leave the classroom and go get their insulin shot or something down in the nurse's office. Right? So it started with that, then it's turned into the biggest one being ADHD. So you have a medical diagnosis of something.

[00:04:06]
Anxiety is very large here in the US. Probably nationwide now, also dyslexia. So if you have a diagnosis from a doctor, a professional, then you get what's called a Section 504, and it's got accommodations to it. You meet yearly, and then you get a reevaluation every three years in this plan. So you can get accommodations, like extended time, frequent breaks for, like, Sat and act here in the US that we give as a big exam going into colleges.

[00:04:38]
So there's a lot of great things related to a 504 plan. And other countries may have something similar. It's very similar. The terminology is different, but we have AODA accessibility for Ontarioins with Disabilities Act.

[00:04:54]
We have Regulation 181, the Education Act in Ontario, where special education is ingrained in there, and the rights for students to attain accommodations, modifications, or alternative programming when they're identified. And of course, that leads us to an Individual Education Plan. And the work that you're doing now to help parents, I think, understand what that all means, what their rights are. Some people don't like me using the words rights. You have a right under the law for these types of accommodations and plans under your child's IEP.

[00:05:24]
And I love what you're doing to help people understand that and how to navigate the system. So what are some of the things, Helen, that a parent would get from you if they said, oh my gosh, my child has an IEP, and they're not getting any of the accommodations they're supposed to be getting? So I want to add two to that. As I was a gifted lead before I go into that. And I don't know about other countries, but here in the US.

[00:05:47]
You can have dual classification. So don't assume. I want parents to realize that even if you have a gifted child, I was a gifted lead for almost ten years. If you have a gifted child, what I was seeing was they can be special ed and gifted. That's called dual classification in the US.

[00:06:03]
So you shouldn't assume that you're gifted child. And I see this in my tutoring business. We've got kids that are 4.0 and they're having issues, okay? So they need a 504 plan. But to answer your question, I listen to what parent needs, and with my experience, I can pretty much either feel like we can help you ourselves in Dynamos Learning Academy, and that might be through starting with some tutoring so we can get an idea of your child to see what they can do or not do.

[00:06:34]
Then we can see, could it possibly be a disability? Could it be something medical? Then we might direct you another way to a doctor to say, go get a psychological done, or we can help you up to this point. But school systems are not going to tell you this, okay, because they don't have the funding. There's a lot to that as to why they don't.

[00:06:59]
They're afraid of lawsuits, let's say. So I also have people that I can direct that they think they need an IEP. They do not have one, or they feel like they're not being treated correctly, and they already have an IEP. I just referred a family that has a four-year-old with an IEP, and she's definitely helping them. The young lady that I've referred her to, and she's a special ed background teacher that came out of the school system.

[00:07:26]
So I feel like parents do not know where to turn because they think, yes, you should go to your school first and see what you can get from it, because there are certain schools that understand and will help, and then there's a bunch that won't for a lot of reasons. So there's other people out there that you can reach out to and get help, so you can have a conversation with them and discuss what is going on with your child. Yeah, so I have to put my superintendent hat on. Retired four years ago with the superintendent hat. And the school systems are very different.

[00:07:56]
We operate on the principle of inclusion in Ontario, right. Which has its pros and its cons, absolutely no question about it. And every school does have some supports within it. But I have to say it's the exact same thing. There's an educator or a leader in this province that won't tell you that we're short on staffing, we're short on funding. There's a waitlist for services. If your child needs counseling, for example, we'll do a referral to the community. There might be something short stop in the middle for emergency situations. But it's very much the same here. There's just not enough for what the needs are.

[00:08:29]
The needs have increased substantially, and you can change the way things are done. And I think that's what we need to be looking at. It can't be the same old, same old. The kids growing up have a different set of circumstances and challenges. Now we've got to change the way we're thinking.

[00:08:42]
And changing a school system is a long haul process. We put a reading intervention program in my school board, and it took four years to do it. It's slow-moving. Wow. And then you're behind the times.

[00:08:57]
But anyway so yes, absolutely, Helen, what you're doing is offering supports and services for parents who need something in addition outside the school. And that's a fact. It's a reality. It's out there, and it's out there across the world in different ways. So you and I talked also not only about tutoring, and I love the fact that you've got educator eyes, helping parents see from an educator's perspective what the gaps might be, because it's not just a diagnosis, it's what's the expectations and what's the gap?

[00:09:25]
And then why do we think there's a gap? I love that idea, but you've now branched out, as we all have to, into mental health. You and I were speaking about this last week. Let's talk about that umbrella. Yeah, I was just speaking to someone I refer a lot of business to that's a psychologist who saw her at tea this weekend, and she is busy until May.

[00:09:46]
So I want parents to realize there is a shortage, like you said, a psychologist. And also they're booked out for months here in the United States. And I'm sure that's everywhere then what do you do while you're waiting for five months as a parent? You're like, struggling. What do you do?

[00:10:06]
So that's why you need to reach out to these other resources and talk to different people and see what can at least be done. I don't want to say put a band Aid on it, but until if we think something is really serious going on, let's say, or there is something more that could be done, until you can be seen by a psychologist and psychiatrist and really have that thing, of course, a lot of school systems do it too. You can go inside the school system, but they're just as busy if not busy. And we're not talking about crises. And that's a different where you're taking someone into an emergency room or a crisis drop in center right when kids are really struggling.

[00:10:44]
That's a fact. And we as parents, this is all new. I wrote a book about my daughter who had debilitating anxiety for a couple of years as an adult. It's all new to us. So, I mean, there are hell and podcasts organizations like yourself. There's lots of places where you can go to get information, to inform yourself and then be able to understand it. I think if we understand the struggles that our children are going from whatever perspective, we can do that because like I said, even just social media puts pressures on them that we never had growing up. I think that's a great first step. Yeah. And even one of my tutors right now, he said to me he's going to stop teaching if he can get into this full time mental health program at Georgia State University here in downtown Atlanta.

[00:11:26]
So I'm probably going to be able to use him. He's already tutors for me and he'll be a great resource that will be down the road. But that's the kind of thing that I think businesses will have to shift to and be with the times. I hate using the word pivot because people get tired of their ears.

[00:11:47]
But really you pretty much do have to change over and kind of try to. I like to say we're like a one stop shop. People come to us at first for tutoring, right. But I have a group of people I can collaborate with that have all these variety of specialties underneath them. So I just did that this weekend.

[00:12:07]
My tutor couldn't work with this child who a teacher gave a big project to. It came from geometry into trig for a unit. She just threw it in here at the end of the year, at the end of the semester. So I had to call in another tutor who met with him for 3 hours on Saturday to get that done. And then he's got a final on Tuesday. So then he met with him again yesterday to prep for that final. But that was like my tutor was honest that I don't think I can do this. I don't even understand what this project is asking for. On top of the fact teachers are burned out across the nation, across the world. So yes, go to your teacher first.

[00:12:47]
I always say that as an educator and see them inside of the building, the principal, the assistant principal, the counselor, see what they'll do for you. If not, you can reach out to us. And I like to hook up my tutors with the permission of the parent to get with the teacher on email because they talk differently to educators. I'll just be honest about that. I'm sure you know that one.

[00:13:11]
So they know we understand the inside world, I like to call it, which is the school system. And parents are just out here trying to figure it out and just going crazy trying to figure out and all they got to do is call me and I'll say, connect me to that teacher. And then when I start talking, they realize they know what I'm talking about. Now they sit up straighter, let's say, and they're going to offer more support to the parent because everybody cannot afford all these outside services. Of course not.

[00:13:45]
I hope that's not happening. I certainly hope that administrators are treating parents as respectfully. We have our different experiences. But you've lived there too. It's happening. Burned out, right? They're burned out too. A lot of them are getting ready to retire. A lot have actually here in Ontario, I can tell you that. But I want to take it to another segue where we're helping our kids advocate for themselves as opposed to us having that responsibility.

[00:14:12]
And I've read a lot of research that's saying as young as twelve years old, we can start to talk to our children, and professionals can talk to their children about what their strengths are, what their needs are, and what tools they need to work around those needs. And if they have an Individual Education Plan to say, you're not giving me not this way, in a very respectful way, I have accommodations in my Individual Education Plan, can we talk about that? And I know twelve years old seems awfully early, but just imagine the future. If these kids are growing up saying, yeah, this is what I need to learn, and I'm going to make sure I get it. I love it.

[00:14:43]
I think it's brilliant. Everybody here in the US. Is pretty much from middle school, 6th grade on, at least, if not a little earlier, fifth grade, probably because they transitioned into a middle school, they kind of start pushing the independence, right? And having parents kind of back off a little bit. But what I'm seeing right now is you got to be careful about that.

[00:15:07]
I'm doing my own podcast, which is Smart Parents, Successful Students podcast. You can follow us on Anchor Spotify and some other places. But I just interview one of my tutors, and she's a high school teacher for many years, and she said sometimes it's too much to the extreme. So parents really need to look at their child, even if it's a 4.0 student, if they're having medical issues, like what I'm seeing right now, that child needs to slow down the independence. She's got other medical issues.

[00:15:38]
So putting the stress on herself is really causing a problem with pain and other things and concentration. So it really depends on I definitely agree with independence, but every parent needs to identify every child in their home, and they could be different in how you deal with them. So this child may be very independent and you can let them kind of go and they'll be fine, but then. It'S a different umbrella, it's a different set of circumstances. A child who's nonverbal with autism, for example, you're going to be advocating them.

[00:16:11]
That's an extreme example, but it is an example for sure, as individuals. But I think if we can all understand what our strengths are and what we need I'm not a math wizard, I'm not a math wizard, but I found some ways around it now that can get me to where I can be a long way, but I get there. Right? Yeah, definitely. We need to definitely promote.

[00:16:32]
I think families need to sit down, maybe have weekly meetings on a Sunday or whenever, pick the best time for you all and sit down and really find out what your child's strengths are. You may think you know, but I think sitting down, pausing the outside world around you and really getting to know your child in terms of what's going on, what do you have coming up this week? What can you do? Speaking of strengths, what can you do yourself and what do you think you need help with? I think it's brilliant checking, because you and I talked about this before.

[00:17:07]
We're on this go, go, go constantly. And especially if you have children in different schools or whatever, two children, three children, five children, regardless, they all come with needs. Right. And you want to be there for them whenever you can. But to have that one to one time, once a week that I'm sure they learn to look forward to. Even if they're 15, if this is. Something that you've taught them and you cherish this time with them, and it's not only about the academics either, then, Helen, what you start to do is put your eyes on when they're starting to struggle with their mental health. And I want to throw out the name Jackie Simmons. You and I talked about this. Jackie has done a TEDx Talk about talking to our kids, our teenagers, just like we would talk to them about drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, about suicide.

[00:17:47]
And she has four specific questions we should be asking them on a regular basis, and then we're going to know when our kids are struggling. So your suggestion to meet weekly has a whole larger umbrella about total to me overall well being, and I love it. I wish I'd have thought about that when my kids were younger here. We all sit in meetings all the time, right? Yeah.

[00:18:10]
Having a meeting in our own family, it's kind of strange, but my corporate families, where these guys are the fathers are executives or whatever, and they're doing that in their home, and I find that I'm listening and I'm looking at, those are the kids that seem to be communicating more. They seem to know what these children need. If they have to reach out to the tutoring company, they reach out to us. They may have a package already, so they just use it immediately as they need it. And we have a tutor available, but it's interesting to watch.

[00:18:48]
Here we all are in meetings all the time, and we don't think about, quote, having a meeting with our own children. He's sitting around the dinner table. In my family, when we're here, we all still sit around the table, but that's still not a place to have that one to one conversation. There's sibling rivalries and there's ins and outs and all those kinds of things. Okay, I want to jump over to something, Helen, you just shared with me me this morning, a report that came out.

[00:19:11]
I believe it was published in an Atlanta newspaper. And I know globally we're all struggling with this as parents. Is this a gap that was created because my child was in virtual schooling for a year, or is there something more that I need to address in terms of a possible special need? What is this report recommending? Well, they definitely are kind of confused in the school systems themselves about that because they're not sure they're very careful about who they put in special ed.

[00:19:43]
Right. Because once you get that I don't hate to call it a label, but once you get into that program, then you don't want your child in there if that's not really where they need to be. Right. So I think they're very careful in trying to determine that the pandemic cause what is being seen in your child right now, or is it something else going on? Or was this something that they had before the pandemic and then the pandemic might accelerate?

[00:20:11]
It's kind of hard. There's a gray area. They talk about that in this article, and it's in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. People can find it. If you want to, I can attach the link.

I'll attach the link to the chat. It's about, do all struggling kids need special education? And the answer to that is no. But do they need something like you're offering like a tutoring service, something to bridge that gap? Especially in my mind.

[00:20:34]
I know you work with children of all ages, but what I see in the biggest gap, gap academically is those kids who are in kindergarten, grade one and two and learning how to read, learning how to write, learning the basic math skills. And I'll speak from a teacher's perspective, doing one to one intervention or one to one instruction online. It's not doable you're going to get to a certain point. So, I mean, let's not place blame on anybody or anything. It's a fact that gap exists. So if we can find a way to fill that gap, then your child can be off and running again. But if you can't find a way to fill that gap and I'm making it very simplistic, and I'm sorry that I am, well, then there's something else that has to happen here. And maybe it's mental hospital off. Maybe it's growing anxiousness. Maybe it's those other things that are getting in the way of them, actually.

[00:21:23]
Is one big thing and confidence building. So those things all seem to be lacking, and one on one will work virtually. If there's some kids, obviously, that can't do one on one kids that might be ADHD and not medicated, if they're very high level ADHD, some good number of special ed kids may not be able to do it. We do a lot of actually 50% of my business is now virtual because high schoolers can do it and they're kind of used to that. It's because it's one on one and we can customize it to meet your child's needs and we connect with the teacher and we get more information now exactly.

[00:22:03]
Now it can kind of be done. The context I was speaking of, just to be here was a school teacher with a class of 35 students able to do one to one. Not the context, one to 30 totally different beaver. They were turning off their cameras. We didn't know what they were doing.

[00:22:20]
They weren't showing up for class. The things that the media wasn't really reporting. But I know that because I was in the school system at the time and I know that's what was happening. But there is this big gray area that they're trying to figure out, which is I mean, and parents can't wait. You can't wait around for your going, well, is it special ed?

[00:22:41]
Is it 504? What is it? So it's best to definitely reach out and get some assistance, at least at a minimum, speak to people, get on these webinars like what I'm going to have here in first quarter of 2023, where I'll just jump right in. And in January we're doing a study skills course because we find out there's three skills that we're seeing lacking. And we're going to do it for 6th to 12th graders. And anybody can join in from anywhere, the UK. Canada anywhere us. But we're going to talk about study skills. And we're inviting the kids to come on with their parents. So my assistant will be on there and or a tutor, and we will be able to do a breakout room and talk to the kids for a few minutes as well and giving them some strategies.

[00:23:27]
Because a big problem we're seeing is I don't think they realize they have to study or what that means. It's kind of interesting. And then the second one in February is going to be I know the first one is January 26 at 730 Eastern Time. That's us time. And then there'll be a replay.

[00:23:45]
So at least register it's free. You can get the replay later if you're somewhere else and you can't watch it because of your time zone. But in February we're also going to do a time management one because that's a whole other issue about habits. And then in March, we're going to do test taking strategies because here in Georgia, they have Georgia milestones that they take. So there's a lot of kids that are taking Sat Act in June and so that will be very helpful for them as well.

[00:24:12]
So that's what we're doing around three series of what I call skills webinars. I love that you've identified. And I teach in post secondary, and I'll go back a year ago when we had students coming into college and they'd been virtual learning for two years, they hadn't experienced exams. And here they were, first year college in a larger class in a different setting, wearing a mask, not able to really communicate, move from their desks, all of these kinds of things happening and then exams. It's a huge transition for them.

[00:24:40]
And I think that empathy part, that giving them self compassion and caring and understanding, but at the same time saying, all right, we're moving on. And these are the things that you now need, and teaching them to look for them themselves too. I think that's fantastic. Yeah. So there's going to be a bitly link and it'll be in the podcast notes and you can just register to come on free and join us for that.

[00:25:04]
Excellent. And those skills apply to anybody anywhere in the world. That's right. And in the workplace, these are skills you need to have in life. Absolutely.

You're right. The parents joining in can learn as well. Right. I mean, we went through our own challenges in the last few years with COVID and these things were happening prior to COVID but the gaps are now so much more larger because more services are needed that are not. And while we could get into staffing shortages, let's not get into that, because that's another reality.

[00:25:32]
Supply teachers that aren't being covered because there isn't someone to educational assistance, and they're pulling people off the street because there's not enough people to do the job. So when the needs become so extreme that we can't fill them, that's a whole other kettle of fish to address. And that's a system. Yeah, right. Especially today, the middle and high schoolers especially.

[00:25:54]
Even though the elementary, too. The kids are very involved here in the US with sports. I'm sure it's like this everywhere, church things. They're involved in dance troops and dance groups, and then those have big conferences and they have to practice more often to be a part of a competition. There's just so much going on that I don't think children are mature enough in their mind.

[00:26:19]
Of course, to everybody cannot manage that time and don't know how to balance it, and they don't know how to make it happen. Or it may come down to, I just need to give up this one thing and this just frees up a bunch of my time. Setting your priorities. What's most important to you? What brings you Passion? Yeah, for sure.

Helen, where can people reach out? What's your website? My website is Dynamis.

[00:26:44]
https://www.dynamislearningacademy.com. And my podcast are all on there, the shows right now, we're just replaying some very popular ones, so you can catch all my seasons in the back. We're recording number seven right now and actually, Lynn will be on season seven, so you'll have to catch her episode. Thank you. And that hits every Thursday morning. On my website starting in January. Season seven will, but all seasons one through six are on there. Plus I have blogs that are awesome and a lot of information in there. And we run those every Tuesday at night on my Facebook page, my Instagram, my LinkedIn. We're doing Facebook Live, so just follow us on Dynamos Learning Academy.

[00:27:31]
On Facebook. And my assistant does Tuesday tips. We'll pick those back up in January. Took a break here in December and I usually come on on Thursday sometimes. And I'll do interviews with people like Lynn or anybody else out of my podcast group.

[00:27:48]
I'll put them back on again so we could talk a little longer and again about other things. So, yeah, reach out and you can join my newsletter on my website as well. There's also a smart goal planner. I wanted to mention that that's a free gift on my website that you can get. You could just sign up to get that and it's awesome.

[00:28:06]
I would suggest everybody start off the new year in 2023, 1st semester with this goal planner. Smart goal planner. So we can find you everywhere and anywhere it looks like. Helen. Yeah, we pop up everywhere and we'll be talking more about the advocacy piece come January as well.

[00:28:23]
All right, well, it is the end of December, and I guess we'll end this by wishing everyone a very happy transition into 2023 and celebrate what we've accomplished in the past year and moving on to even greater things. Yes, I can't wait for 2023 and making new plans for it as well and helping more families. Looking forward to it. Awesome. I am as well.

[00:28:47]
Thank you so much. Take care. Thank you for having me. Take care. Bye bye.

[00:28:51]
Now, carrying on with the parenting connection, and we are talking an awful lot about children's mental health, and so we should as well as our own, amy Stone is going to be our first guest of 2023. If you're in a blended family, you're a stepparent, or you're about to make a huge decision in your life about whether or not this is going to be your future, tune in for our first guest of 2023, Amy Stone. She's been through it and she's helping families and individuals just like you. Stay healthy and safe. Everyone will see you in 2023.

[00:29:48]

Thanks for tuning in and posting your review of taking the helm on your favorite platform. We'll give you a shout-out in a future episode to be inspired by people who are steering us in the right direction. We'll give you a shout-out in a future episode to be inspired by people who are steering us in the right direction. Go to lynmclaucklin.com, where you can search previous guests by the topic of your choice. And while you're there, download Lynn's gift. There's more than one way to get through a crisis.

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TRANSCRIPT OF NATASHA FEGHALI | WHEN DOORS SLAM SHUT, NEW OPPORTUNITIES OPEN UP

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[00:00:00]
Again as we take the helm. If you are interested in exploring other options in your life, if you're one of these people that is a two or three year person and you gotta have a change, or you are interested in philanthropy, opening your own business, and coming to the realization that when doors close for you, new ones will open. If you have the right mindset, listen up. Our guest today is Natasha FeFeghali.

Music Intro Are you facing a crisis in your life or business? It's time to steer yourself in the right direction through the real experiences, passion and courage of our guests. We're taking the helm with your host, Lynn McLaughlin .

[00:00:46]
Now, let's do a little introduction before I bring Natasha on. Natasha FeFeghali is an award-winning Canadian awarded for her philanthropy and community and dedication to education. She is a recipient of the 40 under 40 United Way Leadership Windsor Essex Award the Sovereign Canadian Medal, the Odyssey Award from the University of Windsor. She owns her own business and is currently also teaching internationally. Welcome, Natasha, all the way from the other side of the world. [00:01:22]

I always remember seeing you at work, actually. Very often. No, maybe like not so often, but often enough. And I am also from southern Ontario. But now I live in Kuwait.

[00:01:40]
Let's make that connection then. Okay, so you're working with a public school board as I was as well. But now you've accepted an international teaching contract overseas. First of all, how's does that happen? There's a lot of new graduates out there or people who are saying, I want to try something else in my life.

[00:01:57]
How did that happen anyway that you are now over in Kuwait? And then I have to ask the second question of the same thing and why Kuwait when there are many other countries to choose from internationally? So it happened because in around 2014, 2015, I had kind of a life event happen. And so I wanted a change. I was also kind of wanting just a life change.

[00:02:28]
And I saw a show on TV about these people living in Kuwait and they had this very luxurious, glamorous life and they had a boat. It's so simple, they had a boat. And I was like, I'm going to go live there, I want to do that too. And as that happened, then my life event happened. Then my sister had a friend working here at the school where I start.

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I got a job, I just applied and they were looking ironically, for a French teacher. But then when I got here, that kind of changed. I became like team lead for Junior. The whole thing massaged itself. However, I loved it.

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And so I came back and there are so many reasons that I love it. And I think one of the biggest ones is that I kind of felt at home here, and I felt like I wasn't deviating too much from my regular life that I have in Canada. It's a really seamless transition. And the first time I came, I just connected with the principal or sorry, the superintendent of the family of schools, and they gave me a job. And then this time, actually, another life event happened.

[00:03:52]
And you'll never believe this. Lynn a headhunter found me and knew that I was already working in the family of Intervention instructional coaching itinerant, and found me and offered me a position. And it all kind of happened. Like it's as if it manifested itself. And that's how I got back here.

[00:04:18]
And it's as if everything kind of worked itself together so that I could come back, because it was always kind of in the back of my mind that I'd like to do it again and again and again and again. And then I don't know, it just all worked itself out and massaged itself. And I was on the path, and I got a leave of absence for the second time. I'm so grateful and blessed. I need to say that.

[00:04:49]
And I always say that. I'm so grateful and I was able to come back and work again. And I work in the same position, which I love. I love doing this. And it just worked out.

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And I think it is easy for people to go abroad if you're open, you're open-minded, you're easygoing, and you're ready to be uncomfortable because there are things that are different. Well, I'll just jump in and share. My daughter is teaching English through English First, which is an approved agency through Canada. Actually, she's more of a teaching assistant, and she's in Indonesia. And, yes, it's a really, really different way of looking at things and living, and she's adjusting and she's doing okay, but being open-minded to that.

[00:05:37]
I love what you said, Natasha. If you're open-minded to those experiences and, you know, I said to her before she left, what's the worst-case scenario? You pack up and you leave. And yes, you have to end your contract. But you describe Kuwait as being similar to Chicago, which is very surprising to me.

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Yeah, I would say that the Gulf countries, for the most part, so, like, you know, the Emirates and Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, they are very, very modern, opulent countries. And everything is functioning a lot like it would in any Western nation, if not better. And, yeah, living here is a lot like living in Chicago. We have really big, beautiful malls. We have main strips, we have a lot of shopping, we have a lot of beautiful restaurants.

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It's really calm. There are some desert areas where I would say, like, some nomadic people might live, but you can't even really call them nomadic in 2020. They just have different attitudes and behaviors and say, we would have culturally however, very friendly. And we have all the same kinds of brands and restaurants. There's obviously like local business too, but everybody's really Westernized, I guess I could say, and everyone speaks English.

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Not that that's a prerequisite. However, it makes it a lot easier and it's a very international community, all kind of a lot like Chicago. And it's got a great nightlife and it just has all the amenities that you would need in a big city, I guess you could say. But it's also kind of a small city because Chicago, although being really big, it's kind of really homey too, like different communities. OK, so when we had our pre discussion, Natasha, the way you described and we got to get into your property management piece as well, because I'm blown away that not only are you working full-time internationally in an educational setting, you also run a property management company here in southern Ontario, in Windsor, Ontario.

[00:08:06]
But you describe it as when doors have closed. You've seen it as actually new opportunities have opened for you in your life. Yeah, every door that's closed led to a new opportunity, I would say. I have to be fair, I was kind of born into properties. My grandparents did it, my dad did it.

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I was kind of ruined into it. I would say that I started basically when my dad was like, my grandparents have passed on and all those properties got sold. And my dad was kind of at the tail end. And I had a life event. And I met a mentor at that time because I was doing makeup for free with the Windsor community for film.

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They were looking for makeup artists just to come in. And makeup is kind of like I love makeup and hair as a side passion, you know, something I like to do. And I met somebody who was also in real estate. And he was like he made an assumption based maybe on my look. And he was like, you know, you're kind of going to be not maybe on the income that you want in your life.

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And you look like you like to enjoy the finer things in life. So you might want to get a second income. That is easy enough to do because you really love your work as well. So you don't want to be so over-exhausted. And let me show you what I do.

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And he managed to get to a point where he doesn't even work anymore. He just does film, his passion. And then he has so much property that he's just a full-time investor but does his passion as well. So he kind of showed me a little bit and then I would talk to my parents about it. And I bought my first property with my brother.

[00:10:18]
And I also had something happen where someone closed doors on me. I didn't do it. They closed doors on me. And I was like, I was so devastated. I felt like, you know, oh, my gosh, because I was on one trajectory, and then that person closed doors on me.

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Obviously, they had a reason, but that wasn't a good reason. And then I decided I'll give it a shot. And within a month, I bought my first property. And then I've just continued to grow from there. And now you grow, you change.

[00:10:56]
So now I'm doing some other things, which is like, working with other investors, and then we sort of come together as a team, and we invest, but not exactly in brick and mortar. We invest in housing, but not in brick-and-mortar. And so in saying that, I've kind of been able to offload the arduous part of it on to, I guess you could say, my team, because I see them more as like family than my team because they do everything to help me and work together well. Because otherwise, it could become a 24 7th thing with your phone always in your hand, always putting out fires. I don't know how anybody could manage something like that.

[00:11:43]
And still we always talk about Natasha and still manage our own well-being with some level of balance. And we all have a different description of what balance means to us, but as long as we can get to what we believe is balance in our lives, that's the goal, isn't it? You know, Lynn, I've had to put up something that I'm very uncomfortable with, which is boundaries. I never really did that before. And I've had to explain to people in my life who I love that, and I do always have my phone.

[00:12:14]
I'm not going to lie. I always have my phone. And I've had to explain to them that we're all different and I have a different lifestyle, and it's not a bad one. I'm not doing anything to hurt or harm myself or others, and just please be accepting of this. And you know, as well, like, there are like, my family gets some benefits from this, you know, like, my nieces and nephews get some benefits, my mom gets some benefits.

[00:12:47]
So please just be patient with me. And I've had to just explain that I can't attend this right now because I have to take care of this. But I guess a gift that I was born with was I'm really organized. I'm very organized, which can be a. Wonderful thing or can be a detriment as well, when we only get back on those kinds of things.

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I think being organized, but also being open and flexible. And any teacher, anybody who's in the role of education is definitely someone who's flexible, then you can shift, right? You can shift, but you've got that plan to always fall back on. I'm not wait too. Absolutely.

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Yeah. And I see it a lot like teaching because it's kind of like, as we were sharing earlier, I have a lot of spreadsheets and I have a lot of different digital portfolios that I look at, and everything is digitized, and it's organized and everybody's color-coded, and everybody's got a number, and it's a lot like teaching. All you got to do what I realized very early on is you set up that these are the rules and regulations. These are the provincial rules and regulations, the municipal rules and regulations. So this is what we're going to do.

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And if you're uncomfortable with that, well, then maybe this isn't a good fit. It's just like a classroom. These are my norms. I always kept a tidy, organized classroom. If you're not okay with that, well, unfortunately, you might have to sit out this activity until you're ready to join and participate.

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And when I come to your room at your house, your parent's house, and you like, it messy, well, I'll just leave my plate and my shoes and my stuff everywhere. I've done party things. So it's like, people got to meet you where you're at. And obviously, kids are so beautiful. They are so flexible.

[00:14:58]
They start to become cleaner than you. I don't know.

And the tenants, well, they are also loving it, too, because they don't live in a pixel. Oh, boy. Okay, well, let's talk about something, another thing that we have in common, because we have so much in common, and that's early intervention, helping kids identify where they're having challenges early and getting in there so that we can change that trajectory to a positive one. So you also are working with ESL. I'm just going to throw it out.

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I'm not the person who's at the board or anything, but having you come back to the board after your sabbatical, Natasha, you come with all these additional skills and levels of expertise, courses that you've taken internationally. My goodness, you scoop you up in a second. You should think about going into administration. I'll just put that plug in. Oh, my gosh.

[00:15:52]
Everybody tells me that a former colleague of ours would put the principal application on my desk every day. And I was like, oh, no, I. Tell you a story. I was in a different county, and my husband and I wanted to move back here. Both our families are very much in this area.

[00:16:09]
We wanted to move back here. I was pregnant with my third child, and I came down for a vice principal interview with the public school board in the area that we're at. And I wore a bright red dress, and that was in 1997, when, you know, you think that might not work in your favor. Yeah, awesome. I got a job offer for September.

[00:16:28]
I had to decline it because I had a baby on September 17, but we came down several months later and yeah. So you're moving from different boards. Moving from different yes. There's lots of opportunities, and I'm speaking to all of the listeners and the viewers who might be looking at, hey, I need a change. Right?

[00:16:42]
And you're not stuck with who you are. You just have to be saying, hey, what are some options I maybe haven't thought about before? So if you're a teacher and you think, I want to make a change, it might be to administration and then you can move to another board, right? Yeah. You know, Lynn, it's so interesting you say that.

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And I have to preface this by saying that Lynn was always an amazing dresser. You always dress very elegantly and professionally. And I'll never forget that day when I saw you with that brown suit. It was just so beautiful and you had a little belt and she looks great. It's hard for us to take compliments, isn't it?

[00:17:1]

So, I mean, that's the other thing where in the past I would be embarrassed and now it's, you know, okay, thank you very much. If we did that more for each other, just imagine how we could lift each other up. Thank you. That made my day.

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Yeah. I think that is part of our self-appreciation. And as we said earlier, self-forgiveness is to accept compliments because we don't see ourselves. And especially sometimes when you're very organized, you might I'm just saying people might be very A type. We don't see ourselves, we see our fault sexually and we think we're imposters.

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And for a very long time in this job, in this role, I thought I was an imposter. And I would look around and be like, what am I doing here? I don't need to be here. And then I realized, no, I also come with skills and abilities. And one of them is ESL, because I'm really good at language, so I can speak to the families and explain to them.

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Because part of our culture I am Middle Eastern as well, and part of our culture is that we're coming hopefully to terms with the fact that kids have special needs. And that's something that I do here as well in intervention, is I work with families and I explain to them that it doesn't mean that you did something wrong. It just is and it's okay. And it's a part of diversity. And your child will have other gifts.

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And just because they can't read right now doesn't mean that in five years they won't be able to read that's right. We just have to look at it in a different way. Alright. I hate because we could go on with this forever, but we got to talk about philanthropy. You and I didn't discuss this before, but you are described as a philanthropist.

[00:19:13

So help us understand how did that all happen and what is it that you're doing Natasha?

So I've done a lot of work in the community. I still do a lot of work in the community. I don't give like I used to say, I kind of invented different good products. At one point I had a chapstick and I would sell that in salons and all the money I would donate to downtown Mission or different things.

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When I started my business, what we were doing is taking 10% of the monthly rent and giving that to different charities or anybody who had a call out. So united Way would do a lot. We would give a lot with United Way. And I just felt like, you know, because I invest in Windsor, Essex and my tenants are living and working in Windsor, Essex and I feel like the more a community is supported, the better living they have. And if we can give back to the community, they're giving to us.

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So I felt like as a business, we should give back to the community and support them the way they're supporting us. And because we invest locally, we should give locally. And so we were doing that and we still do it. We still do it whenever anybody contacts us or we see something. And when I say we, that's because I have accountants and lawyers.

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So whenever something comes up and then so we just cut a check for whatever it might be. And I feel that it's really important because if you're blessed, then you should be a blessing to others. You know what? I need to have a sidebar conversation with you because my niece and I, who just published the children's book series right, we're on book three out of book five. We've been making donations to various places in the community, but we are looking for a not-for-profit that is not under a larger umbrella where we can do a partnership with some type of permanent partnership where a certain percentage of our sales or there's all kinds of different ways that you can do.

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Right. I'll just put that out there for anyone in Essex County. Yeah, absolutely. Oh boy. And you're just going to have to model what we talked about earlier.

[00:21:29]

You've received many awards. I'll put you on the spot. Could you just speak about one in particularly? I'm sure they all move you in a different way. What's one you can focus on today?

[00:21:42]
I'm really grateful for all of them. I just think I'm kind of a hard worker and I'm a little bit ambitious and I like doing things and it's nice that people recognize that. But what I'm really proud of is I was able to go to Stanford this year and I did a fellowship at Stanford. So I'm a Stanford fellow and I did have a fellow in law and policy and I was there to defend the fact that we need to change that law and we need to change 100-year-old law that was under colonial rule and it's not okay in 2022 and it just is just not okay. And so I'm really grateful that I was accepted after applying so many times and I'm really proud of myself because there was a lot of very important people there.

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And I'm proud that I was able to speak on this subject and let it be known that it's just not okay. Well, and so that leads me to another branch because I'm really proud about that. But in your professional speaking, too. So you're so busy right now. Are you still able to accept invitations to be a professional speaker at any forum at any event?

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I do. I mean, I do accept, and I do like, workshops and talks and things like that. I slowed down a little tiny bit, only because I've had to focus a lot more on my work and my business. And I think I've kind of focused my lens a little bit more, and I think that that has taken up a lot of my time. But of course, I don't decline invitations.

[00:24:00]

And I also seek people out where I think their audience might like to know, they might feel uplifted. And everything is possible if you focus and you plan and you organize, and everything is possible, and you don't have to do it. All. I have to say, I'm not married and I don't have children, so of course I have extra time. I also live in a country currently where health is very readily available, and it's very cheap.

[00:24:37]
So I don't have to clean my own house, I don't have to do my own laundry. That buys me a lot of time. Yeah, but, you know, which goes to my mission to making conscious and positive choices. Right? So where do you spend your time? And some people don't have a choice.

[00:25:00]
They have to go to a job they hate, because there's just not an option for right now. They have to pay the bills out around the table, but that doesn't mean they can't start looking or keeping their eyes open for other opportunities. Those of you who are listening and watching, all right, we've got to jump over to something because you just had an experience. You weren't guitar for the World Cup games, for the FIFA games. All right?

[00:25:20]
So just give me a little bit. Where were we? Oh, I can't remember. Three years ago, four years ago for the World Cup juniors, and we were in Lisbon. And I'll tell you, the energy whoa, boy, do you fly off.

[00:25:33]
I can't imagine. What was it like?
I have never been to something like this before. I've been to games, local games, house games, school games, and stuff like that. I wasn't going to go, but my mom was like, this is an iconic game because A, Canada managed after 36 years to get back in. B, they're playing in Qatar for the first FIFA in the Middle East, and they're playing against Croatia, which is my mom's home country. And my favorite Premier League team is a Croatian team.

[00:26:20]
And so it was like, you gotta go. And at first, I was like, no, I don't have time, I'm too busy. And then a friend of mine from Canada is there for a month and he was like, you have to come. You are a 1-hour plane ride. What's wrong with you?

[00:26:41]
You need to be here. So I got it. I don't even know how I got a ticket and to that specific game. And then I went and it was from the moment I got off the plane, it was as if I was in a magical land. First off, Qatar is the richest country in the world, fuel and gorgeous.

[00:27:05]
And they have this thing organized, like down to the tea, nothing is missing. And it was phenomenal. Like, I've never seen fireworks.

[00:27:25]
You cut out there. Go back to I've never seen fireworks.

[00:27:31]
Okay? I have never seen something like this. Fireworks, people on stilts, bands playing. It was like a carnival dancing. And I mean, the opening ceremonies for this game, I didn't even know that they did something like that for a game. It was out of this world. And, you know, they had this, like, this World Cup, like, spinning in the air and I was just I was in awe for the last two days. In awe. I got back home and I was thinking, do I have to go back to work?

[00:28:12]
It was amazing. Amazing. As you know, you've seen it. Yeah. And we're hoping to go in 2024 or just you think ahead. Oh, well, you should start thinking about you start planting the seed right, to make it happen. Listen, we could talk forever. And I want to apologize to people who are viewing because we've had some ins and outs with the internet here. We're doing our best from two sides of the world. But do you have any final closing comments, Natasha?

[00:28:36]
And where can people find you if they want more information? Sure. So they can always find me on all my social media. It's all the same at Nefese Feghali and that's all my social media. Or Natasha FeFeghali on basically my name, you can find me online.

[00:29:01]
And I would say that when you don't think that you have any more courage left and you can't be brave, that's when you can be your bravest. And where you will find that little ounce of courage inside of you somewhere to push you to the next path or dream or idea. And even if the idea doesn't go anywhere, at least you tried. Who can fault you for having an idea? No one.

[00:29:37]
I just have nothing else to say because those are perfect and beautiful and inspiring closing contractors. And that's what you do. It just comes to you naturally. So thank you so much for joining, for joining us from overseas, and I wish you all the very best. Natasha thank you, Lynn, for having me.

[00:29:55]
And I feel like this won't be the last time. No, I'm very grateful. I'm very grateful to you. I'm grateful to you. Right back at you.

[00:30:05]
I just love it when there's so much energy and I connect with my guests. We just have this two-way connection. It's fantastic. That was awesome, Natasha. And our next guest will be Helen panels.

[00:30:15]
And Helen's doing some really fascinating things in the United States around advocacy for parents. She is the CEO of the Dynamics Learning Academy, and she and I have connected pretty well as well. So we'll see you in two weeks’ time. Stay healthy and safe.

[00:30:37] Music Outro
Thanks for tuning in and posting your review of taking the helm on your favorite platform. We'll give you a shout-out in a future episode to be inspired by people who are steering us in the right direction. Go to lynmclaucklin.com, where you can search previous guests by the topic of your choice. And while you're there, download Lynn's gift. There's more than one way to get through a crisis.

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TRANSCRIPT OF BENJAMIN YEH | THE POWER OF IMAGINATION VOICE AND INTUITION...ALIGN YOUR MIND, BODY AND SOUL!

Listen Link

[MUSIC INTRO 00:00:04]
Are you facing a crisis in your life or business? It's time to steer yourself in the right direction through the real experiences, passion and courage of our guests. We're taking the helm with your host, Lynn McLaughlin.

[00:00:20]
Hello and thanks again for joining us. We are most certainly going to take the helm today with our guest, Benjamin Yeh. Ben Yeh. Oh my gosh. He's blown my mind and I think he's going to blow yours too.

[00:00:31]
Benjamin left two careers after he saw a vision and he followed his vision, as difficult as it was from a left brain person to someone who's discovered his connection to the mind, body and soul. And now he's helping us do the same as an entrepreneur. Hi, Benjamin, thanks for taking the home with us today. It's such a pleasure to be here, Lynn, and I'm very grateful to share this time with you. I just want to share with people.

[00:00:59]
Just before Benjamin I hit record here, he asked me what my intention was for this podcast and 104 guests. I've never been asked that before. Benjamin shared his intention, I shared mine. And we are in sync. And I really love the way that we did that, Benjamin, because you're right, it kind of brought our energies together, didn't it?

[00:01:18]
It's interesting because it was one of the techniques I learned and we'll probably go into a little bit later, but back when I was an investment officer, the head of HR, I remember there was this really difficult conversation we're going to have with one of our partners and we brought in the head of HR to also have to be with us in this conversation. And he started a conversation in the very beginning to say, hey, I just want to declare my intention for today's call and my intention here is to create a win win, but to really be authentic with you in terms of what can we do to share what's happening, but what's the resolve and something about setting that intention. And he also even said anything I say, anything response that I have is going to be in line with that intention. I just want to be upfront with you on that. And when you do that, it just completely shifted and changed the energy.

[00:02:19]
In a conversation where knowing from a different conversation, it wasn't like from anger or from anything was because the intention anchored what the energy want to hold. And so ever since I learned that technique, it's like, wow. Especially the work that I do now, it's all about energy and it's all about how to raise that vibration. I just found it a beautiful way to like, hey, why don't we just do that in the beginning? Because it also, like I said, it harmonizes a bit on what the energy frequency is for any conversation, any meeting, any interview.

[00:02:49]
And I've been on the side of the table like you have as well. And wow. I can just see the tension in the room would just drop immediately because there's no dismissal, there's no termination, there's no breaking of the contract. We're here to find a solution. I absolutely love that.

[00:03:03]
So thank you for introducing me to that today. No worries. Benjamin, tell us about yourself. Thank you so much, Lynn. Oh, gosh.

[00:03:14]
Where I begin. So I am in my third chapter of my career. First started off with my first chapter as a real estate hospitality consultant. So essentially live out of a suitcase for about four Yehhars, right. Different time zones, depending on where the clients and the projects may take me.

[00:03:32]
And I remember it was the day before Christmas in 2008 where I was driving into work and I had this gut feeling where I'm going to be laid off today. I remember going in and sure enough, I got laid off, which was lovely, heading into the holidays with that.

[00:03:57]
And what's interesting is usually when one door closes, another one opens up if you're just being present, looking at the right way. Right. And sure enough, I had a really amazing opportunity that popped up to be an investment officer for a family office. And so family office is just a fancy term for investment team, usually for high net worth individuals or family that has come into wealth. Right.

[00:04:25]
And I happen to work for the principals that made their wealth and continue to grow their wealth in the restaurant business. And so that's when I embarked on my second chapter of my career as an investment officer, where basically all the money they generated in a restaurant group. We bought a lot of real estate because that was predominantly in my background, but also investing in companies, start ups, private equity venture, I mean, anything under the sun, you name it, I've probably seen. And in that capacity, we invested well over a billion in the span of seven years. Right.

[00:04:59]
And it was a lot of money, a lot of energy. And back then, if you hadn't met back then, when I was very much left brain, very much 100% logic based. And what was very interesting is I was very grateful to meet my wife there. So met my future soulmate and we got married. And halfway through in that second chapter, when I was on maternity leave, I was forced to turn off my BlackBerry because I had no incoming email coming in, so I was forced to unplug.

[00:05:34]
And usually when you're put in those situations, it gives you time to reflect, which normally sometimes you might not, right, depending on the pace of life that you're in. And I remember very vividly, it was the second week of my maternity leave, I was laying BENX, my wife, staring at the ceiling, and had this vision come in. Really odd because I was seeing a house with a front yard and two kids were running around. I was there with my wife and I, everyone seems very happy. And I knew this vision was a vision of the future because at the time, my wife and I were still living in an apartment, and we just had our first child.

[00:06:14]
But what was very conflicting and odd as I was watching this vision play out, was everyone was seeing very happy, but on the inside, I was feeling empty. Wait a minute. Why is what I'm feeling internally not matching with what I'm seeing in this vision? And it took time for me to sit with it, to really understand that. And my breakthrough was that, wow.

[00:06:41]
I think the path that I was on was really a path created by others, by society, by my parents. It wasn't a path that my soul wanted to be on. And when I came to that realization I'm getting into chills right now even saying this, but when I came to that realization, it's like, what do I do with that? You walk away from a career that's serving you so well financially. Right.

[00:07:09]
If my intention was to be an investment officer for a billionaire Ford 500 family, this is it. There's absolutely no better people to work for. And they were so loving, and it was such a great environment to nurture. But in my gut, I knew this is what my soul wanted to create, wanted to be on. And it wasn't until a few years later that I took that leap of faith, and I was like, okay, my kids are still young, or my child at the time just had one at the time, but was still young.

[00:07:41]
But I needed to take that leap of faith because I knew I wanted my life to be more meaningful than a number. A number just being IRR, internal rate of return. I wanted to be more impactful. And so after close to seven years that's when I decided to leave and start my third chapter as entrepreneur to really figure out what is it that my soul really wants to create. And in the third chapter of creating different businesses with different partners, what I came back to and this is my wife being more intuitive than I am, but also always being right, she shared that, you know, Ben, I see your soul always lit up when you're coaching people.

[00:08:23]
And she was right, because back as an investment officer, when you're investing into companies and you're betting on the CEO and management companies because you want them to succeed, right? Sure. We'll talk about KPIs. KPI stands for Key Performance Indicators. Right?

[00:08:40]
Scorecards. And from a logic sense, how to improve your business economics. But I always see more of myself as a holistic perspective because at the time I met my wife, that's when I started really embarking on my spiritual journey. My family is Buddhist, but I wasn't like a daily practitioner. But I got experience.

[00:09:02]
What's? A Reiki healing session. What's beta healing, right? And it opened a beautiful can of worms and it really opened up my eyes in the spiritual journey that I started to embark on. And the best way to describe what I do now when I coach and empower entrepreneurs and career professionals is how do I help them sort out what's really your true north?

[00:09:26]
What's the direction that your soul is yearning to go towards knowing that, then how do you build success in alignment with your mind, body and soul? And it's a convergence of my personal, my professional, my spiritual journey into really this one path. Because I really see things from a lot of different perspectives and dimensions. And how do I share that in a language for people to understand? Because looking at my 30 year old self, I was very left brain, I was very logic based.

[00:09:58]
And having those moments of feeling stuck, it's like, what do you do with that? There was no language out there for me to really comprehend, how to kind of sort it out internally. And that's what led to my coaching, to my Building Vision podcast and really kind of how I reached out to you because I love the name. Name has energy behind it. And taking the helm was like, oh my God, there's so much alignment with that when I share.

[00:10:21]
And here we are today. Okay, I want to unpack a couple of things because I've shared with people the last year, I've really been on a quest to be more intuitive, to be more in touch with my own spirituality, meeting people like you and oh my gosh, so many along the way. I'm about to do a retreat. It's so exciting. But how do we and this is why.

[00:10:43]
This is why you're doing what you're doing. You have to figure it out yourself. Then, as a left brain person, how do you watch for those signs? How do you follow? How do you know that, oh, I'm supposed to go this way, I'm supposed to go that way.

[00:10:57]
What do we do? Give me just one thing that we could do to tap into our intuitiveness in a better way and an easier way. Oh, man, that's a beautiful question. And we could probably go 2 hours deep into this. Not too big.

[00:11:11]
I know one little thing. Well, let me zoom out a little bit and show it in this context because everything is interconnected and it's good to at least understand what those bearings are. Let me explain it this way, Lynn. So what I share in my show is that there are three core pillars in building a strong mindset. And those three core pillars are imagination, voice and intuition.

[00:11:37]
So you're talking about intuition piece, but all three are really interconnected. So what I mean by imagination, voice, intuition, imagination is what we see mentally. The voice or the inner voice is what we hear mentally. Intuition is what we feel internally, what we see, what we hear, what we feel, completely creates your inner world. That then amplifies you out of reality.

[00:12:02]
So if you know how to strengthen what you see, what you hear, what you feel internally, then you're really strengthening your inner world that they can translate to what the world you want to create an outer reality. And you have to bring those three into alignment. Because sometimes what we see and what we hear in our mind is not what we feel we should be doing that's right. The easy way to break that down, if I go one level deeper is your imagination, for example, right? Are you imagining on an eight and a half by eleven piece of paper or are you imagining that the world is your canvas?

[00:12:42]
How expansive is your imagination? The voice or intervals, right? Are you your best cheerleader or are you your worst critic? How I define that further is I think Dr. Bruce Limpton has shared that 5% of our data is really operated by a conscious mind, but 95% of it is from my subconscious.

[00:13:06]
And the best way I describe it is in terms of subconscious. It's that autopilot programming, right? There's times where I'd be driving down the same path in the same road where I'd take my drop off my kids to school on the weekends. I impose of your right to go to the market or the farmer's market. But if I'm deep in thought I'm on autopilot, I'm going to veer left as if I'm dropping my kids off to school.

[00:13:30]
And then once I take the turn, I realize, oh my gosh, I was supposed to go, right? I was on autopilot. My kids will call me on my dad, are you on autopilot? That's my subconscious operating. And how it defines subconscious is SOS subconscious operating system.

[00:13:47]
We get the programming from earlier really on age from zero to seven in terms of what we absorb through our parents, through our environment. And those programming that I share with my audience but also my clients is have you spent time to have the awareness of the existing program you have? Is it serving you and where you want to go? Or do you need to upgrade or. Do you need to leave some of it as baggage?

[00:14:12]
Right? Some of them stick with us and you got to let that go too. So upgrade, ditch some things. Yeh that's exactly right. And to go even further of that baggage, I love how you brought that up.

[00:14:22]
Lynn, is that in business or even career? Everyone's thinking about if cars a metaphor of the vehicle of your business. Everyone wants to upgrade your car. Everyone wants to upgrade from a camera to a Ferrari, like today. Right.

[00:14:36]
I don't want to go faster or they always want bigger, faster, or whatever it may be. And what I explained is like, look, at the end of the day, it's never about the vehicle. It's always about the driver because you can upgrade your car today. But guess what? That 10,000 pound lime belief baggage that you have in your trunk that gets transferred over to your new car regardless of whether you want it or not, and by virtue of recognizing what baggage you might have in your trunk and letting that go, by virtue of that, you're going to already go faster.

[00:15:08]
I love that analogy. That's an awesome analogy. It's time to take a short break.

[00:15:16]
When a child, you know, feels worried or scared, do they have the tools they need to make positive decisions? The Power of Thought children's book series. Winner of the Mom's Choice Award is what you've been looking for. The children on the planet Tesla cannot hide their emotions because they haven't learned how to control them. Imagine glowing in the color of how you are feeling.

[00:15:36]
Each book in the series begins with a conflict that every child can relate to and teaches an evidence based strategy that adults can model. Children will learn in a fun way how to problem solve to find positive solutions to everyday situations. The Power of Thought Children's Book Series has been developed alongside clinicians, educators, and parents to use as a proactive resource in teaching children emotional literacy. We are Tasmanians who hover and live on a planet made of crystals. Join us and have some fun.

[00:16:06]
You can become an alien to read these imaginary and practical books to your child, your grandchild, or to your students so they can start practicing the strategies right away. Check it out at Lynn Mclaughlin.com under the books. Tab. Now let's get back to our guest. Okay, I want to talk about Boom Vision, your podcast.

[00:16:26]
I've listened to several episodes. I got to say, I love your voice as well as well as the work you're doing and the messages that you're helping us all kind of grapple with. How did you come up with the name? I think I've shared with you taking the helm, how that all came about. How did you come up with Boom Vision?

[00:16:40]
Yeh, it's a really interesting story. This is one of the times in the universe telling me that this is the name. So when I decided to create a podcast because my intention for creating a podcast was, I wish I had language out there that I can comprehend, and then because I couldn't find it, why not just created, right? And as I was thinking about name, because there's energy behind the words for you. So I wanted the name to be very symbolic of what it represents.

[00:17:09]
And if I think about, okay, what is it that I'm representing here? It's about building and thriving on mind, body, and soul. But to strengthen the mind, it's imagination, voice, and intuition. So if I take those five words imagination, voice, intuition, body, and soul, if I take the first two letters of those five words and I scrabble it. Either you get vision, boom.

[00:17:34]
Or you get boom vision. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. And I remember sitting in this office, I was like I said out loud, I was like, well, is it vision, boom, or is it boom vision? And right when I said, that a bird, because I have a window right in front of my office, a bird literally smacked right into my window. I was like, what?

[00:17:56]
And I even took a picture of it because there's still feathers stuck to the windows. No one's going to believe them. I say that. I was like and the birds okay. Right?

[00:18:04]
It was very random, but I was like, okay. I looked up and said, Universe. Got it. It's boom vision. Hear your loud and clear.

[00:18:12]
Oh, wow. No, mine was not that clear, but wow, that's awesome. It's interesting how we all come up with names to represent what we're trying to do and say and portray all of it. Okay, Benjamin so how we start our day off very often is how we align how things are going to happen, either angry or upset or happy or having gratitude. You've got some steps to share with us.

[00:18:36]
How should I start tomorrow? Yeh, no, great question. Lynn so I have a ritual, morning ritual that can help really set not just the intention, but to anchor the energy you want to create for that day, right? And so it's four simple steps. So the first step is being able to get into a comp state.

[00:18:58]
You got to be able to come what I call quite the wind tunnel, because there's always 10,000 things going on in your head. And it's like, wait, how do you calm that first? And then you can get that clarity and what is it that you want to create for that day, that week, that month, and that year? So the first step is getting into the calm state. And I actually created a 1 minute breathing exercise for people that can play, that can share with you at the end, too, where people can just download, because everyone has different ways of calling.

[00:19:26]
Like, if you're telling me to meditate for half an hour and sitting cross legged, I'll fall asleep within a six minute because that method doesn't work with me. But at least you can sit cross-legged for half an hour. Some of us would need a chair.

[00:19:40]
So it's really about how to keep it simple. Because if it's simple, then it's a lot easier for you to adapt. So whatever it is, it can compensate. The second step is setting your intentions, right? We set our intentions before an interview.

[00:19:52]
And so what's? In one phrase, you can say out loud in setting your attention. So a simple statement could be, my intentions for achieving X is why? Because it makes me feel Z. My intentions for achieving X is Y, because it makes me feel Z.

[00:20:09]
Now, this is going to make you think about what X, Y and Z is in that statement. Because I'm going to do something because of what it is, because it makes me feel that way. That will give you clear why you're doing it.

[00:20:25]
Exactly. Because the thing about intuition, you got to feel it. It's a feeling. If you don't practice that sensory of feeling, then guess what? It's hard for you to tap into it.

[00:20:35]
So this statement is really the starting to practice of how do you set that intention? Right? And then once you make that declaration out loud, when you know that feeling, I want to achieve X because of Y, because it makes you feel Z, then now that you have that feeling, hey, what music can you listen to to raise your vibration that matches that feeling? So then the third step is picking the song. What song will raise your vibration?

[00:21:01]
That's complimentary, and that would harmonize that feeling that you stated when you set the intentions. Do you need higher energy? Do you need to feel more confidence? Do you need to feel love, whatever it may be, what's going to support you in accomplishing those intentions? So the first step is listening to a song.

[00:21:19]
Song could be like four or five minutes, right? And then the fourth and final step is making a declaration out loud. I am dot, dot, dot. I am powerful. I am worthy.

[00:21:32]
I am love. I am confident. Whatever that word you feel associated, that will help you reach your intentions. Now, why is I am so powerful of a decoration? I am, I am I stands for intentions.

[00:21:47]
A stands for actions. M stands for manifestation. What I put my intentions to, what I backed up with, my actions I manifest. And by saying it out loud with conviction, I am. That's literally the actions you're taking to make sure that intentions you have in your mind is being declared out to your outer reality.

[00:22:08]
And that's what I want to create. What you just shared resonates with me.

[00:22:16]
I really have struggled with the word meditation huge. So for me, meditating for me is walking in nature, sitting in my back yard, closing my eyes and using all of my senses rather than just vision to be in present and be in the moment. And I struggled with that for a lot of yoga. Okay, Yeh, to a point, Yes. But then when you pull in music, oh, my gosh.

[00:22:38]
That just lifts me up right away. Benjamin because music is I mean, I crank the music to clean my house just to get through it, that kind of thing. And that's a very simplistic example. But now I think you told me you have a playlist to help us choose those songs. Yes

[00:22:54]
No In the website, listeners. It's basically my website, so it's https://www.benjaminyeh.com/

[00:23:05]
Thankyou you're. Able to download and if you subscribe to the Boom Vision community, you're able to download a 1 minute breath rough exercise to help you in that calm state where I just walk you through breathing exercise. Breathe in, breathe out. It just takes 1 minute. And then doing that I have three curated playlists, one for high energy, one for confidence, one for self love and whatever song that you feel you're gravitated towards to help you support that intention you want to create.

[00:23:32]
There are songs already there for you to be able to pick and pick one that just resonates, that becomes like your anthem for the year, for the quarter, whatever it is, and helping to raise that vibration. Oh, I love it. Okay, I'm tuning in as soon as we log off. And I wanted to share a little something funny before we I asked Benjamin, is it Ben or Benjamin? And he said, well, you could call me Ben.

[00:23:51]
Yeh like the French dessert, beignet I had to share that as we were laughing on the side. I have learned so much from you. I'm sure that our viewers and listeners have as well. And if nothing else, everyone please take the first step. Go to Benjamin site, maybe try the breath work, maybe just play a song to find out what resonates with you.

[00:24:12]
But take that first step into becoming more happy and fulfilled and tapping into your soul. I think maybe that links I'm trying to link as well as I can with you, Ben. Thank you. Thank you. And one thing I'll just share too is that if the language of imagination, voice, intuition resonates with you too, I have my Boom Vision podcast that's available on all podcast directories.

[00:24:34]
And so I invite you to also listen and chime in because it's really about how do you create a thriving life at an alignment with your mind buying soul. So I share frameworks, interview folks and experts to help you get different perspectives. That's all it is. And I love how you title your episodes with questions so you can scroll through and find something that resonates with you as a first time listener. So thank you so much.

[00:24:57]
No, thank you. One thing I'll just add to that too is that when you start asking different questions, you start getting different answers that then profoundly can impact the reality you want to create. And so that's really the intentionality behind that. So now we have to learn to ask the right questions.

[00:25:17]
Thank you again. And everything will be in the show notes, everyone, to go and check out what you need to for Ben. Thank you. I'm very grateful to be here. Lynn, thank you so much for having me.

[00:25:27]
Well, I guess there's always something new to learn, isn't there? I suppose that's where the expression lifelong learner comes from. Alison Livingston is our next guest and if you got a combative strong-willed child, you'll want to listen in. A lot of us have been through that experience. She coaches parents and understanding their child's strong emotions.

[00:25:48]
And she has a Five Steps to Connect framework which she's going to share with us. We'll see you in two weeks. Stay healthy and safe, everyone. Thanks for tuning in and posting your review of taking the helm on your favorite platform. We'll give you a shout out in a future episode to be inspired by people who are steering us in the right direction.

[MUSIC OUTRO 00:26:09] Thanks for tuning in and posting your review of taking the helm on your favorite platform. We'll give you a shout-out in a future episode to be inspired by people who are steering us in the right direction. Go to Lynnmclaughlin.com, where you can search previous guests by the topic of your choice. And while you're there, download Lin's gift. There's more than one way to get through a crisis.

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TRANSCRIPT OF MARGARET WALLIS-DUFFY | WHAT'S NEW IN YOUR PREVENTATIVE TOOLBOX? BECOME THE CEO OF YOUR OWN HEALTH

Listen Link

[MUSIC INTRO 00:00:04]
Are you facing a crisis in your life or business? It's time to steer yourself in the right direction through the real experiences, passion and courage of our guests. We're taking the helm with your host, Lynn McLaughlin.

[00:00:20]
Hello to you and thanks again for joining us as we take the helm today, we're going to become the CEO of our own health with our guest, Margaret Wallace Duffy. I am beyond excited to be talking about health in a proactive way as opposed to a reactive way, which is what we've all been trained to do, haven't we? Margaret has been in business for over 30 years. She is going to introduce us to some new home health monitoring technology that is new and approved by Health Canada so that we can move ourselves into a proactive place. If I knew when I was 20 years old what healthcare challenges I might be having now or later in my life, would I have done things differently?

[00:01:00]
I think so. Margaret's going to take us to a place where we can be proactive. Margaret, we have so much to talk about. I really don't know how we're going to do it in half an hour. You know what?

[00:01:10]
I'm so excited to be here, and if we can't get it all in, I can come back. That's right. That's fantastic. I want to start by thanking Marilyn Farnworth. She's a previous guest on Taking the Home.

[00:01:19]
She's also the person I've been going to take yoga in the pool classes with here in Kingston, Ontario. She's very active and very fit, and she is the one who connected the two of us. So. Thank you, Marilyn. I know you're listening because you listen to every single episode every time it's published.

[00:01:34]
All right, let's jump into it because, Margaret, when you told me your story, it's not even the right word. Journey is not right the word. I don't know what we're going to find it here, but when you told your story of illness from childhood all the way through into your adult years, we got to go back to that time so everybody can understand why you're doing the proactive things and becoming the CEO of your Own Health today. Sharing my story is something I'm very passionate about. It really was a gift.

[00:02:01]
I didn't know it at the time, but it really was the foundation that set my career going from a very young age as a very young girl. I was a competitive gymnast. I have amazing parents. I'm an only child. And I went for years undiagnosed, in and out of hospitals with severe abdominal pain, distension in my belly, and I was labeled everything from a drug seeking teen to a hypersensitive only child to a competitive athlete with a nervous stomach. And thank heavens for incredible parents like I had. They continued to advocate for me because they knew it wasn't in my head. They knew there was something wrong. But here's the thing. Lynn I didn't look like my story.

[00:02:44]
I didn't look like the picture that I was projecting or saying that I had. And that's because my disease was internal and it was severe. And it wasn't until university, three years in a row, that I ended up in hospital. I mean, I was in hospital more than out for a good part of my teen years and even into my mid 20s, until I finally said, I'm not leaving this hospital until you find out what's wrong with me. There's something wrong.

When I was diagnosed with very severe endometriosis where there were lesions on my bowel, there was a lesion on my lung that caused a lung collapse. I've had four bowel obstructions as a result of this ten surgeries. When I finally got married and was hoping to get pregnant, it's a major cause of infertility. I had many surgeries before I could have my first child. Hormonally I've been through a lot and what I knew from this really difficult journey, and since then, even since after a diagnosis, I went through menopause.

At the age of 39, I had a fecal transplant. Yeah, a poop transplant, because I had C. Difficile, a hospital borne infection that almost killed me, yet I had a poop transplant to save my life. Here's what I know from my journey and why I'm so passionate about preventative and integrative health, and that's this if it wasn't for conventional medicine, I wouldn't be speaking to you. I'm a science geek.

[00:04:09]
I needed to have surgery when I needed it. But equally, and is profoundly true, if it wasn't for complementary medicine notice I didn't say alternative medicine, because I don't. Let'S talk about that in a minute. Yeah, it wasn't for complementary medicine, I wouldn't be speaking to you either. And so it sparked a spark in my belly that fired me up to want to bring an integrative preventative health clinic to the world long before the world was ready for it.

Because 30 years ago, as a massage therapist, massage therapy wasn't even in the consciousness of most people. I mean, I wouldn't hang my postgraduate diploma, my undergrads in kinesiology, because it said masseuse. I didn't see myself as a masseuse. I saw myself as a preventative health practitioner that was going to change the health and well being physically and emotionally of the people I had the honor of treating. I've earned that respect over the course of the last 30 years.

[00:05:09]
And I've built and I'm sure we'll talk about that wallace for Wellness, an award winning integrative health clinic. But it came from my story, which I feel has given me the experience, the skills, and the ability to be able to educate and empower people to get into the driver's seat of their health and become the CEO of it. Okay, we have a lot to unpack. I want to go back just a little bit because it's a very important piece I think about the diagnosis of endometriosis. So what tools are used right now if someone is experiencing symptoms and you can all look them up online or meet with Mark to find out what that was like.

[00:05:45]
But what diagnostic tools are physicians using to get to that diagnosis now? Well, that's a very interesting question. It's kind of timely because do you know, Lynn, sadly, 30 years, almost 30 years later, just last year, just last year, was there a national strategy put together for endometriosis? For years, women have been suffering and continue to to this day. I went undiagnosed for so long because my ultrasounds were normal, because I didn't always present showing and I had significant disease.

And it wasn't until they went in laparoscopically and could see it for themselves. It's also about training physicians to what to look for. They used to call it chocolate cysts and be looking for these dark blood type lesions where I had pigmented lesions. So even when they did go in, they didn't see them, they didn't know what to look for. I'll be candid, I don't know all the latest and greatest what the new strategy is.

[00:06:41]
I just found out about it. In fact, I got a call from my mom who was in tears saying, turn on the television. You're not the biggest newscast. Tears streaming down both of our faces as we watched the television. And I feel like I had some part in that because I've been an advocate for years, not just in endometriosis, but in preventative medicine and empowering people to be accountable for their health and to be listened to.

They have more technology now, ultrasounds, laparoscopics, therapeutics, the importance of nutrition and diet, the importance of exercise, the importance of mental health and how that connects to chronic pain that I was experiencing. I pushed myself, Lynn, as a young girl, an ambitious girl, an athlete. I was told everything was in my head. So I push, push, push, push, push. Which made me sicker.

[00:07:30]
Sure did. Right now, if we're listening and we're empowering people with a whole toolbox of tools, whether it's endometriosis or any other chronic disease, we have more knowledge now to support people, to prevent disease from progressing, to manage disease when it's here, and even to cope with disease when you have it so you can feel the best you can. That's what I love about what I do. Whether you're going through cancer, whether you've had a brain tumor, whether you're having mental health issues, even when we're sick, we deserve to live as well as we can by being supported by all kinds of measures that support our mental, physical, emotional, spiritual. Wellbeing, all right.

[00:08:13]
So the second thing I wanted to unpack from your introduction, because even we're just going to keep going on is the advocacy piece. When you were in the hospital and said, I am not leaving, I hate to say it, and I don't want to put any more pressure on medical practitioners right now or emergency rooms. There's a big push in Ontario and in many municipalities to have nurse practitioner clinics more expanded, which takes away some of that pressure. But we're still in a responsive, reactive state, right? We are getting our tests when we get those letters from the Ministry of Health saying, it's time for your PAP smear, it's time for your mammogram, it's time for your colonoscopy.

What we're trying to do, Margaret, and I'm so thrilled about this, is how do we find out about these possible diagnoses much, much sooner in our lives, right? How do I find out that maybe I was predisposed to a brain tumor? I don't know. I'm going off on a tangent. But it is about stepping it back.

[00:09:07]
If you could have found out when you were ten years old that you had endometriosis and then maybe that would be a little bit young in most people's eyes, think about the trajectory of your life that you could have changed. You know, it's a very big point and this is a very big discussion, and it's not I'm passionate about this. I could talk and I talked to everyday people about this. I talked to a radiologist about this week in a program that I'm offering right now on bone health. I'll talk to anybody who will listen.

But here's the biggest challenge and the onus is on us. Which is why I use the word or the phrase become the CEO of your health. We have lived in this pill for nail, wait till it's broken, responsive sick care system for so long, where everyday people like you and I are disempowered because we wait possibly until something is broken, or till that diagnosis happens before we take action and take accountability. You're going to hear it from me because we've been taught to be passive and go to our doctor and say, fix me, Doc. I've got many friends that are doctors, that are specialists that I have tremendous respect for.

[00:10:19]
They're important, but so are we. And so are we responsible for listening to our bodies, for articulating. But here's the problem, because we've had a system that doesn't empower people and teach people to listen, to honor that, and to find a way to communicate and work better together with their healthcare team. Because at the end of the day, you're the most important person on your team. Your health care team is you, because it's happening to you.

But our system has not been set up to encourage that. We don't invest in preventative medicine, we invest in reactive medicine. I want to jump in about daughter's physical health, mental health, too. Let's put in more supports. Let's put in more supports as people are getting close to her, falling off the cliff.

[00:11:06]
And I'm with you. It's all of us. It's our whole selves. We have to move back to a proactive mode and here's another link you and I have in common. We have health care navigators.

You and I talked about this, and I get to know you healthcare navigators who actually sit with families and say, well, this is where you need to go for this. If you need speech, you go here. If you need physiotherapy, you go here. That is just crazy. And so you're making a lot easier for us, Mark, at least trying to.

[00:11:32]
Open your awareness and empower you to recognize that you can do this. It takes work. There's going to be a lot of headbutting moments, but find your voice. Break down some of the silos. Find your integrative health team that wants to support you in moving your health and well being forward and your family's health and well being forward, and take some responsibility and recognize that it takes some work, that what we eat matters, if we move matters, what we think matters, all of it works together.

[00:12:06]
Yes. The conventional medical model is we're very lucky to be a candidate and be here when we need that brain surgery, or I have a bowel obstruction and I need surgery. But what about the role we're playing in our day to day, where we're pretending that the onus is on the healthcare system to fix us, but in our day to day living, we're not doing anything to help ourselves. What I want to do is stock people's toolboxes to educate and empower them and encourage them to build the toolbox so that they can go in and start to help themselves find their voice, so they can communicate to their team, health care team, which should be a wide range because we know we live in a siloed healthcare system. You go to the gastroenterologist, but we should all be working better together.

It starts, however, with the everyday person pushing up. We can't wait for the system to completely change and push it downwards. If we're waiting for that to happen, it's going to be a very long time. Have I seen tremendous change in 30 years of my practice? You bet I have.

[00:13:09]
My clinic was 80% doctor referral. I'm partnering with radiologists and other specialists to bring preventative health modalities education to the masses. That's what this next phase of my career is about. When I closed Wallace for Wellness in April of this year, I had a big dream to bring this legacy project so that I could change the way Canadians think about healthcare. It starts with us.

And don't underestimate what each individual person can do because it spreads to their families, to their communities. Oh, yeah. And to be empowered so they can have conversations with their doctor. Not through Doctor Google. Not going on Google and trying to diagnose yourself, but rather taking some ownership, empowering yourself with strategies, taking action and having the conversations in a respectful way.

[00:14:02]
With your proactive way. In a proactive way. So you can get the answers you need, because there isn't one answer for every person.

It's time to take a short break.

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You can become an alien too. Read this imaginary fun and practical book to your child, your grandchild, or to your students so they can start practicing the strategy of I have Choices right away. Check it out at Lynn Mclaughlin.com under the books tab. Now let's get back to our guest.

[00:15:24]
Okay, three tentacles again. Let's go to the toolbox. First of all, I'm going to pull everybody. Everyone is listening or watching. Let's all move ourselves into a proactive mode. Wherever you are in your life, whatever age you are at, whatever ailments you have or don't have, let's go to the toolbox.

The toolbox should be customized, because when I think of health care and preventative medicine, it has many silos, doesn't it? It's mental, it's physical, it's emotional, spiritual, it's financial, and all of those matter. And so we need to stock our own toolboxes with what we need as people. What do I mean by that? Well, movement is really important.

[00:16:01]
So what have we got in our toolbox for movement? What have we got in our toolbox for nutrition? Do we have someone in our corner that can help us? Whether it be a dietitian or a holistic nutritionist? And there are tons of resources online, credible resources.

That's one of the positive things about social media is that if you can get connected to the right accounts and the right people, they give a lot of education away for free. There's a lot of resources out there, but you have to dig for them. And I'm trying to work and find ways to help streamline that. It's a big thing to do. But slowly, community by region by region, we can do that regionally to help each other.

[00:16:45]
What's in your toolbox in terms of pain management? Somebody like me, that's a massage therapist. Do you have a massage therapist on your team? Do you have a physio on your team? Do you have a psychologist on your team?

[00:16:57]
A social worker on your team? Who's in your community. So what I'm trying to do is, through education, both preventative health education, perhaps sometimes actual products, state of the art technology. I'm constantly letting my followers and viewers know what I'm finding out. Evidence, informed, health, candidate approved reality that you can get your hands on, but then taking it into their communities so that you can build your toolbox that's going to suit your needs at your stage of life.

Because I got to tell you, Lynn, and I'm sure you'll agree, what I had I needed in my toolbox when I was 25-year-old woman versus what I need now at 55, completely different. Two very different things. Okay, so we talk about mobility, we talk about nutrition. Let's go to the mobile part. You have just had something very exciting happened in the last week.

[00:17:48]
A mobile unit that can change the trajectory for our bone health. Oh, my gosh. I am so honored and beyond excited. I'm still vibrating from this inaugural preventative clinic. Isn't it wonderful than what you're doing just invigorates you and gives you more energy and more drive every time?

[00:18:05]
You're absolutely right. Just like anticipating this podcast today, I get really excited because it's another opportunity to connect, to educate and empower. And that's my mission. I feel blessed. So I was approached by an incredible team of professionals.

[00:18:22]
One who happens to be a funny story, happens to be an ultrasound technician. Her name is Megan Burnester and her partner are cofounders of Sonohealth Inc. They have brought a technology from Italy to Canada that is going to be a game changer when it comes to bone health and bone health prevention. In terms of prevention of osteopenia and osteoporosis, the current standard is DEXA, a bone scan that's done to test the bone architecture and to let you know if you're osteopenic or osteoporosis. Here's the problem.

You don't get access to it until you're a certain age. And doesn't it involve radiation? It involves radiation. And you're absolutely right. Either you don't get access to your 65 or have high risk.

[00:19:12]
But here's the problem. We lose bone mass from peak. Bone mass happens in about 25, and then it starts to decline for all kinds of reasons. Hormonally after giving birth, perimenopause and menopause. Many medications that people are on that they don't even realize are having an impact on their bone health.

So we know that it starts to decline after 25, but we can't qualify for a bone scan until we're in our 50s or 60s. Unless of course are you ready for this? You have a fracture. Yes. So you have a fracture like the patient I had two weeks ago at 58 who fell and fractured her wrist.

[00:19:50]
And guess what? Then they did a DEXA. Well, here's the problem. She now found out she's osteoporotic. But what if we had technology that doesn't have radiation that we could put you into the driver's seat of your health proactively.

So you could find out your bone health and have knowledge so that you could put a treatment plan in place with nutrition, with supplements, with exercise, and with medication if needed. Because here's what we know about osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures, especially in the aging population. But once you have the fracture, it dramatically impains and impacts quality of life, independence, and even mortality. Don't we want to find out that we might be osteopenic and then or osteoporotic and do things to prevent us from worsening? Or do we want to wait till we have the fracture?

[00:20:45]
Do we want our mother that's in a senior's home to fall and break her hip and find out only then? Or do we want to have the knowledge so we can empower ourselves to make a difference? They came to me to help me to bring this to Canada. We did our first one in collaboration with Health Span Wellness here in Georgetown and Holton Hills, where I live in practice with a naturopathic doctor called Dr. Julia Fountain.

She's incredible. We sold out Dr. Christopher Guest, a radiologist from Royal Victoria Hospital. Barry was there. It was an incredible night of empowerment, of education.

[00:21:21]
And do you know, Lynn, that two or three women that were there and men are welcome to come to didn't know they were osteopenic and two were osteoporotic? And now they can do something to be proactive and you can take this context and apply to so many different things. I'll tell you, bring that mobile unit to every community across Ontario and let's get going. And maybe, Margaret, as people hear about this, they're going to say, I want in, I want in. I want in.

[00:21:47]
Okay, so that's our plan. I get excited. So it says our plan. And in fact, the fact that people now have this report now, do they have to pay for it? Yes, but it's accessible.

[00:22:04]
It's not outrageously expensive. What's the cost? I always say invest in your health now or your illness later. $150 scan. I know many people that are going out to dinner or getting their hair done or whatever, and they're spending that and have nothing to show for it.

You invest in your preventative health and you get this information, not only are you going to get the scan, you're going to be able to hopefully get a team together to help you with your bone health. But here's the other thing we're doing. We're putting together a doctor's package so that the patient can now take it to their physician and say, I have this bone scan. Here's the information that it told me. You read my mind.

[00:22:47]
I was about to ask that exact same question. Is this new technology going to be recognized by doctors? So they look at the scan and say, okay, now what are we going to do about that? And then they're on your team, right? It absolutely is, because it's showing the gold standard currently is DEXA, which is in a lead room.

It's big, it's difficult. This is a mobile device that can go anywhere. If there are clinics out there that want to have it, that's a model as well. We would love to get clinics, other clinics having this, but we'll also bring a mobile clinic to you. But here's the thing, doctors are going to pay attention because the results are as accurate and in some cases, and I'm going to share this, so what was really interesting at our inaugural bone scan day this week is one of the patients brought in her DEXA scan that she just had.

[00:23:37]
And then we did the echo light scan with her and it was really interesting. And the radiologist that was there was quite intrigued to see that because of this REM technology, this new echo light scan that takes ultrasound and instead of ionizing radiation, we were able to depict Osteopenia and the decks ahead and picked that up. Oh my gosh. Wow. How exciting is that?

[00:24:05]
Exciting. And for that person too. My goodness, how much? Now they've got this information that they can advocate for themselves and go forward. All right, I've got to ask you the question, Margaret, because right now in Ontario doesn't matter.

It's around the world. So this is approved by Health Canada, to be clear. Yes. So the challenge between private health care and public health care, this is a proactive measure. Yes.

To pay cash, to get some information, to then go to your provider to get all of the treatment shot, you say, looking at the options that are available to you through the publicly funded system. So to me, you know what, it's just a difficult conversation to have with people because of that privatization of healthcare. You know what, I think I'm going to maybe be a bit controversial here. But do it, go for it. Let's do it.

[00:24:58]
I think one of the gifts that Covet is given, and there's not been many, because it's been a very challenging time for all of us, for our world, for our system. And I don't want to minimize in any way the people that have been lies have been lost and the stress that everybody's been under. What I've seen as a practitioner in preventative health that COVID has done is has woken people up to their wellness and sadly has made them actually recognize and pay attention to the fact that this already strained health care system long before the pandemic was here, this safety net of a hip where we thought it was the saving grace and it would always be there for us. You could go to your doctor, you could go to emerge, you could get your surgery. They're realizing, oh my goodness, that may not be the case.

[00:25:50]
It's not the case. Listen to our medical practitioners alone, our nurses in the emergency room who are at their burning point or at their breaking point, medical practitioners who are taking their own lives because exactly. We can't do it. That's why we have to take some ownership of our own health. And if that requires us to invest a little bit in it now, don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong.

I want to advocate for insurance companies to cover this, just like they cover my services for massage therapy or physio or whatever it may be. But let's be candid. Are we not willing to invest, in this case, $150, if it means the difference between your health, your independence, your longevity, your quality of life, but you'll spend $150 going through Starbucks for a month drinking stuff that perhaps could reduce your well being or through the McDonald's drive through or wherever it will be. It is a mindset and a choice. And I think the hard work has to happen.

[00:26:55]
And when I said a gift from COVID, people are waking up and changing their mindset, recognizing, oh, wait a minute, I need to be more accountable. And I feel for people because our system has taught them to be passive and they don't know where to start. Which is why I'm so excited and passionate about this next phase of my career in advocating and educating and empowering everyday people to get in the driver's seat of their health. And yes, sometimes you may need to invest. I'm going to continue to advocate with people like you and others in our system so we can help our system be healthier, help ourselves be healthier, and as a result, be better together.

[00:27:34]
It's long overdue. I think Covid just highlighted how bad. It was, and I think our youth are pushing back and saying, no, I'm not working 80 hours, weeks anymore. And if you don't figure it out, guess what? You don't have enough employees.

And how many help wanted signs do you see around? I'm totally with you, Margaret. You know that. That's why we're here together. I can afford the $160 to have this bone scan done.

[00:27:55]
I can drive to wherever there's going to be a clinic if I really feel this way. Is there something, some type of a subsidy that's available for people who are stealing from Peter to pay Paul with an expression my mother used to use, what's available? Because that's the equity piece, right? When we talk about the private and the public. This is brand new.

[00:28:14]
We just had our first inaugural clinic. Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say. I remember when I started 30 years ago, massage therapy, I wouldn't, like I said, hang my diploma because it said masseuse and there was no coverage for massage therapy. We've come a long way. Sure.

Still more to go. A lot more to go. So as of right now, subsidies? No, certainly. Could it be a write off on your taxes?

[00:28:40]
Absolutely. Am I going to advocate strongly for getting some insurance covered? Yes. Currently, I'm not aware. Of anything, you'll be the first to know.

If stuff like that comes down the pipe, I recognize in my heart bleeds because I do understand that the $150 is a lot of money. I'm not saying it's trivial, without a doubt. That being said, sometimes even if someone has to wait to save up some money and put $5 aside, we spend money. And this is coming from a place of love and support and advocacy, and I know people are struggling to put food on the table, so I'm not minimizing that at all. But I do think that it's amazing how much and I've done exercises with some of my patients about this and tracking what they're spending during the month on whatever.

[00:29:36]
Maybe it is just going through Tim Horton’s drive-through and they're shocked to see at the end of the month how much has gone through the drive-through door window and they're looking at that disposable income. Well, if we shift our mindset and say, okay, you know what, I really want to take some control of my health because it's important, I'm going to put $5 aside away until we can find those subsidies or insurance or changes in the legacy of healthcare in this country, which isn't going to happen overnight. It's just not. Then maybe we can. But I hear you.

I'm also thinking, how can we do fundraisers? How can we help communities fundraise so that marginalized populations can have access to things like this? When there's a will, there's a way, but when technology in our hands and a passion and fire in our bellies to make a difference, there's solutions. Are they here right now? I love your idea of tracking your expenses, too.

[00:30:27]
And I just saw this online a couple of days ago, I thought, brilliant. I haven't looked into it. I'm not going to say the name of the app, but basically if you go to Starbucks and spend oh, I don't know, because I'm not a Starbucks shopper, what is it, $7 a drink? Then when you spend that $7, you put $7 immediately into this account on this app. Or don't spend that $6 or $8, instead, put that in, do that immediate deposit.

[00:30:50]
And maybe it takes a little bit of time, but $150 could be there for your health, for your future, because all of the things that you went through growing up, man, if we could go back 20 years to say what are some indicators and what we can we do differently? And I'm not suggesting that we wait for a diagnosis, right? We all know about nutrition, we all know about exercise, we all know about vitamin intake and those kinds of things. But you're right, Margaret, we do have this way of thinking that, yeah, with a problem. I'll deal with it right now.

[00:31:19]
I'm just going to live my life. I love to give this analogy because it resonates with my patients and it is a mindset shift, and I understand that it's well entrenched for decades in our system, in our culture, but we do ultimately have control. And when I explain this to people, we have wellness and we have sickness, and typically in our healthcare sick care system, if I had a penny for every time somebody that I treat says to me, mark, I just don't feel right, or I don't feel well, but my doctor says everything is within normal range. When we get quiet and we quiet down the noise and we truly listen to our bodies, when we get real about our actions or inactions that we do day to day, our choices, I don't make all the right choices. I'm not here standing on his rope box because I'm not perfect.

[00:32:19]
But if we get real about what we choose to put in our bodies, on our bodies, whether we move or don't move, the stress, wind or all of those things, and we get real about it, we realize and this is what I say rather than waiting until you finally get a diagnosis, because your levels have gone to a point where medical science can detect it. And that's what we value because we invest in this country in reactionary medicine and diagnostics, which is important, but we as people the body knows. There's a great book called The Body Keep Score, and I suggest your readers listen for the auto book or read it. I have laid my hands on people for 30 years. The mind and body are connected, and when we listen to our bodies, it tells us a lot.

[00:33:04]
What I like to refer to this middle wellness sickness right in here is the opportunity gap. Right in here is a chance to make a difference. This is where I've lived and where I work in this preventative medicine area where it's empowering, where you can still change the needle. And maybe rather than get to this diagnosis, you either starve it off longer or we don't get there at all. And what does that do?

[00:33:34]
Not only does it not tax our system as much, it doesn't cost health care as much, but more importantly, it increases and improves the health and well-being of everyday Canadians, mentally and physically, day in and day out. So we can live well until we don't. And that is so important. Rather than wait till it's broken, let's patch you together and, oh, when you've got a symptom, let's give me another pill for that symptom. Now, don't get me wrong. I've taken many medications in my life, and they've saved my life. But numbing society and wanting a quick fix is not the answer. I work with so many pharmacists. We need pharmacology when we need it. But what about taking action and accountability and utilizing that opportunity gap?

[00:34:22]
CEO of your own health, as you say? Yeah, that's it. Okay. I want to go back to the very beginning I still have these little things in my mind, these tentacles. Wait, wait, we gotta get to this, get to that, because I was using, until you and I had a conversation, the term alternative health choices.

When we talk about naturopaths and you have cautioned me that that's not a term I should be using. Let's help everyone understand so they can learn with us, with me. Yeah. And I understand that everybody's vocabulary and the way they present themselves may be different, but words matter. Especially when it comes to changing mindset and culture and human behavior.

[00:35:05]
It matters. So when we think about the word alternative medicine, in my mind, I think you either do this or you do that. You see your doctor or you see your naturopath, you see your doctor, you see your chiropractor. I like to think of the word complementary medicine because at the end of the day, the person in the center is you. The ones that are living in your body and know your health the best.

We're surrounding you with a health care team of, I hope, like-minded professionals all within their own right, both from conventional and complementary medicine. So your doctors, your surgeons, your dietitians, your naturopaths, your physios, your massage therapists, all of them, to link arms and work better together with one purpose in mind, to educate and empower you, to take action in your health and to make sure that you are part of that health care team that's going to help to move you forward. So just by changing the word that we use, the connotation that that brings, that you have a choice to make. And this isn't only from the patient perspective, but I challenge my health care professionals, all that alternative thing. And I'm not saying, listen, I want things to be evidence-informed.

[00:36:22]
I want things to be proven and shown in research, without a doubt. But I earned the respect to have 80 plus percent doctor referral. I'm working with radiologists and optometrists and all kinds of people that a lot of massage therapists don't because they've earned a respect. Why? Because I know what I'm doing and I stay in my lane.

[00:36:42]
I respect what they're doing and they stay in their lane. But I'm the connector to bring them both together, which is the role I'm playing in this new phase of my career, to say, no, we're better together as one rather than to be an alternative. So I cautioned you because if we can change the way we speak about this neuroplasticity, we're going to lay down new pathways of thinking and doing and changes in behavior that I think will serve our children and grandchildren in years to come. And that's interesting because when I use the word alternative, I never, ever thought of it as this or that. To me it was.

But obviously people interpret things in different ways. A lot of people this is like pie in the sky, but it's not pie in the sky because you're already making it happen. You're already helping us change our perspective. You've already got a mobile lab that's ready to go that can put people in there in that driver's seat for bone health. And every one of my podcast interviews now with my guests, I always want to talk about children's mental health.

[00:37:46]
You've had personal experience yourself, talk about your qualifications and some of the really awesome things that are now available that we probably don't even know about. I sure didn't before I spoke with you. Well, thank you. Yeah. With my background in kinesiology from the University of Waterloo, my postgraduate massage therapy, I've gone on to do my international certification with infants and children's with special needs.

I've done several research workshops at the Jackson Medical Center, University of Miami School of Medicine, and I even did my professional designation as a consultant in aging because that's how I treat every age and stage of life. And it excites me to really be able to give a practical, hands-on approach to stocking your toolbox. So whether I'm speaking at a workplace wellness event. Whether I'm speaking at a senior's home or in a community or on a podcast. I literally have a toolbox.

Because what better way to engage people and to make them feel like they can practically do something than to pull it out into a toolbox and pull it out to say. Hey. Listen. If you're willing to fix your car. Fix your home.

[00:38:54]
Fix everything in your life. Why don't you have a preventative health toolbox? Now, depending on what we're talking about or the population that I'm speaking with, I'll put different things in my toolbox or your toolbox, but some consistent things that I talk about when we're talking about children's mental health, it's something I'm crazy passionate about. As a massage therapist, I have seen more in the past two to three years with depression, anxiety, and panic in children than I care to admit. And the laying on of hands is such a powerful, healing way.

And the one thing that the pandemic taught us is that we are frontline health care professionals as massage therapists because touch is powerful. When a global pandemic said we couldn't connect, we couldn't touch one another, the failure to thrive for all human beings was rooted in our inability to have connection. That's what I do for a living. I lay hands on. I see that in children.

[00:39:54]
All right, Margaret, let's go from children to seniors. And I don't think my aunt would mind me using her as an example. 85 years old, I think my aunt is now, and, oh, my gosh, she's broken so many bones in her body and recently eight ribs. I don't know. I would like to think that there's something else that's available to her right now that can get her through.

I don't know how long it takes ribs to heal. But I can imagine it's a very long time due to her age as well. It's probably going to be longer. Yeah, I'm so sorry to hear about that. And this is something I hear and see in my practice and also in my life.

[00:40:28]
My father, rest his soul, broke his femur at 84, his arm just months before he died, and ribs, as well as compression fractures. And that's one of the reasons why we're so passionate about this new echo light scan and why the radiologist, Dr. Christopher Guest, was so excited about it, because he's the guy that's seeing these fractures in the hospital and watching the suffering that's happening. And when people live, seniors are living in retirement homes or long-term care, if we know that someone is osteoporotic. And in terms of this echo-like scan, what's incredible about it, not only does it give us a score and tell us about the bone architecture, but it gives a fragility risk score for a fracture, or osteoporotic fracture within the next five years.

[00:41:14]
Why should we care about that? Well, it's critical because if we understand, say you work in a long-term care facility or in a retirement home, if you know that Mrs. Smith has a high risk of a fracture in the next five years, well, we might approach her care day to day. Maybe she's not showering by herself. Maybe we're going to make decisions differently, because we know that she's at a high risk of a fracture that could change drastically, change her life, her health, and even her lifespan by knowing in advance.

[00:41:48]
And then things like, I think immediately of your aunt and my dad, this microcurrent point stimulation device for pain and helping to heal something caught, helping to heal bone and reduce pain and inflammation is so important, and it's natural, and it's not going to have often side effects, which is so important. So even though they may be medicated, there are other things like the microcurrent point stimulation therapy device and preventative things like the scan that we should know in our toolbox. And that's what excites me about what we're doing. Are there any cautions, people who should not use that device for whatever reason. Somebody with a pacemaker or less doctor permission?

[00:42:30]
Because there are cases where you can, and I would always say, talking, talk to your health care professional that has educated you about this and have that support. I have people at all ages and stages using the dolphin device. It's unbelievable. But connect with somebody like me so I can educate you and help you navigate the waters and find the best solution for you. But I always want to have different things in my toolbox.

And I'm excited to pull a couple of things out today because this particular device, Health Canada approved, FDA approved. I've been using this device for going on seven or eight years. I've been involved in some research behind it. Okay, so as you're explaining it, Margaret, remember that the large majority of our audience are listening and not viewing. So you're just going to have to be very articulate.

[00:43:21]
I'm going to show it and then I put it down because I could explain it. So this little device that kind of looks like a television converter is a remarkable device that I've seen jaw-dropping results in a wide range of populations. So what is it? This takes the principles of needless acupuncture so it doesn't pierce the skin needless acupuncture and combines it with microcurrent. Now not current like you would see in a ten machine, which is alternating current.

[00:43:53]
This device has direct current which mimics the current in our body. Why should we care? Well, we know through tons of studies and thousands of years of using acupuncture and acupuncture meridians, we can have a tremendous impact on the nervous system, which can impact inflammation, pain, anxiety, depression, healing. It can put the body or take the autonomic nervous system from a sympathetic overdrive state to one that's parasympathetic, rest and digest and heal state. When I was involved in some of the research and I've used this clinically and I put this in the hands of hundreds of Canadians, because that's the cool thing about this.

[00:44:38]
I can use this in my clinic, but then it can be put in the hands of everyday people like you and I. It even comes with for those that aren't watching video, it has actually a protocol book, almost like a paint by numbers. Like check this out, you got headaches. Here's where you put the device and this is what you can do to help with your headaches. Whether you are a child with anxiety, whether you're my mother who is almost 80 and was using it during the pandemic for her cluster migraines and to help with her COPD.

[00:45:13]
How cool is it that we get to put into your hands an evidence-informed Health Canada approved device that every day can have an impact on your autonomic nervous system, to decrease pain, to decrease inflammation, to improve circulation, to drop cortisol your stress hormone and to do so much more. And just this spring, an attachment for the device came out and it's been approved as one of the first devices to impact tone of the vagus nerve, the largest nerve in your body to be used for covert long-haul recovery. All right, why don't we know about this? Because it's not a secret. That's why people like you inviting people like me.

[00:46:01]
Get the word out is that I got top-notch new technologies. Whether it's the echolite bone scan or the microcurrent point simulation therapy device, this is my job. It's to educate and empower. And then guess what? Hundreds of my patients have had this covered through their extended health insurance plan now and then they're using it at home every day to help themselves to help their children to help their aging parents.

[00:46:27]
You don't know about it because it's so new and it takes time to penetrate. Which is why I tirelessly work at Media. At writing. At social media. At public Speaking. And every day. Hour by hour in my clinic to bring you the latest and greatest things out of your toolbox. Just like this. If I could. Because this is very accessible and I actually know the inventor in Canada.

[00:46:51]
This looks just like a regular mat, but oh, no, it isn't. This mat is called a spike mat, and it also comes in a cushion form. I sold so many of these through the pandemic and people are sitting at a computer and they've got back pain and sciatica. The mat is actually called Spike because for those that can watch, there's hundreds of spikes that move in 360 degrees, diffusing pressure over a larger surface area, taking pressure off nerves, increasing circulation, and proprioception. It's a game changer for so many conditions.

[00:47:27]
It's simple. It's closed-cell formulation. It's good for prevention of sciatica, prevention of flathead and children, helping with poststroke recovery, helping children with special needs with proprioception, helping when you're sitting at your desk and taking pressure off the spine if you have the nuclear disc. And at the end of the day, the seat cushion is $54. Okay, so I'm interested in all three.

[00:47:53]
I'm putting myself in the seat of everyone who's driving, listening, walking, watching, whatever. Where can I go? Because when we're advocating for ourselves, we're gathering information, we're making informed decisions. Where can I go and find all the information, not only about these three devices, about the toolkit, about the traveling mobile clinic. And hey, everybody, if you're listening, maybe reach out to someone in your own community and say, have you heard about what Margaret Wallace Duffy is doing?

Let's get this mobile clinic here. Let's start pushing it forward. Where am I sending people? Margaret? So thank you, first of all, for having me and for being an advocate with me.

[00:48:29]
I want to link arms and partner with people like you that share my vision because I can't do this alone and it excites me. So my website is going through a transition right now because I did own a multidisciplinary award-winning clinic for 30 years. And on April 1, I took the leap of faith and sold that so that I could have time to do more of this advocacy work. I'm still treating a little bit, but I'm doing more of this bigger-picture stuff. That being said, if you go to www.wallisforwellness.com. Wallis is spelled W-a-l-l-i-s.

[00:49:00]
You're going to see the website and you're going to see the transformations that are happening. You're also going to be able to go to become the CEO of Your Health.com. They'll be linked and you can reach out to me, send me an email. I am accessible.

[00:49:15]
If you are a practitioner, and you want a bone scan in your community, if you want information on the spike mat or the dolphin, if you want me to speak at your workplace, if you want to partner with me in some way. Because you share the vision of making Canadians more accountable for their health and becoming the CEO of It so we can together change the legacy of healthcare. You can even send me an email, become the CEO of Your Health@gmail.com, or give me a call, 647-577-4757. You can find me on social media, you can find me on YouTube, become the CEO of Your Health on YouTube. You can get me anywhere you want.

[00:49:51]
I will listen. And I am looking to partner with people that share my vision. Health care professionals and everyday people, corporations and government. Everyone needs to be at this table. We've got a lot of work to do, but I'm up for the challenge.

[00:50:07]
Do we have a cloning device? Well, you just put out there. I can't imagine how you could possibly keep up, but oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm not. Because I've already got partners like you.

[00:50:19]
Right? I've already got partners like you. I'm not doing this alone. I happen to be the center of Spoken, a wheel. But I've created a network over the last 30 years that it's spinning and catching different people as we go.

Which is why I was grateful for Marilyn to forward my information to you and for me to meet you and the amazing work that you're doing. We can do this better together as one. So I'm not alone. And I just know that the more we get this out there so thank you for allowing me, the better. This is going to be beautiful and very inspiring closing words.

[00:50:51]
Thank you so much, Margaret. It's been my honor and my pleasure to have you with me. And I know we'll stay connected. You bet you we will. And we're coming to Kingsville.

[00:50:59]
So let's find a clinical location, a community center, somewhere that we can come this fall to become the CEO of Your Health. Phone. Scan the echolite scan. Our team would love to come. I've put a couple of feelers out, so we'll just see. You may get a call in the next few days. All the best of health and happiness to you and yours. And to you, too.

Now, let's flip the switch to our next guest. It's Benjamin Yeh. Benjamin is the host of a podcast called Boom Vision, and he empowers entrepreneurs to gain clarity in their souls, purpose, and truly thrive in their business and their life. And you'll find out why Benjamin has moved in this direction because of the crisis that he faced himself. Stay healthy and safe, everyone. See you in two weeks.

[MUSIC OUTRO 00:51:52] Thanks for tuning in and posting your review of taking the helm on your favorite platform. We'll give you a shout-out in a future episode to be inspired by people who are steering us in the right direction. Go to Lynnmclaughlin.com, where you can search previous guests by the topic of your choice. And while you're there, download Lin's gift. There's more than one way to get through a crisis.

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